I am sure that for many of us, Christmas is starting to feel like a distant memory, as we all settle into the swing of the New Year. However, this year we had a particularly lovely day, and I feel it would be a little sad to leave the photos and memories stored away in their files without sharing. And besides, it is always nice to have a blog post to reflect back on in the years to come. Feeling a little weary as the year drew to a close, we opted to keep things low key this festive season. Many of the gifts we chose for friends and family took the form of vouchers, and we tried to keep our ‘social calendar’ to a minimum. Christmas Eve, however, was set aside for carols, family time and this year – gingerbread house making. I purchased the ‘kit’ from Kmart (I think it was) – and added extra icing and lollies along the way (well the ones that weren’t quality tested by my ‘helper’, that is). The finished product was a little rough around the edges, but it was a fun project nevertheless. Christmas Day itself, was equally quiet, relaxing and rewarding. C got a visit from Santa overnight, and seemed positively thrilled with her toy kitchen! C wasted no time in making us all “bacon and eggs” for breakfast, before eagerly  unwrapping the other presents she found under the tree (and had so patiently left alone over the last month). Needless to say, she was thoroughly spoiled! As for Christmas lunch, this too followed the ever-emerged ‘relaxed’ theme. We had Mr BBB’s parents and sister over, and with everyone contributing a dish, I didn’t even need to turn my oven on! Taking colour inspiration from some gorgeous bon bons I picked up from David Jones, we had ourselves a blue, white and silver Christmas table. Just waiting to be adorned with the real stars of the show – Christmas lunch! On the menu? Christmas Ham, turkey, homemade stuffing, prawns, eggplant / feta salad, potato salad and a caprese salad. For dessert I made a raspberry, rosewater and pistachio semi-freddo (although it set rock hard so perhaps not the best…..). Luckily we had lots of other sweets to keep us happy (think chocolate shortbread, fresh berries and stolen). And, although I missed out on champagne this year – our mocktails (apple and ginger syrup with sparkling mineral water) – turned out to be a refreshing alternative on what was a humid Christmas day. Overall, we had a beautiful day – filled with good food and good company.  And its hard to believe that this time next year – we will have a 10 month old joining the fray! What about you? How did you spend Christmas Day this year?