Dish wish-list (Sydney Morning Herald - Nov 2011)

Christmas and feasting are long-time partners.  But for most of history, the traditional sweets and roast meats were a once-a-year treat to be awaited with great excitement.

Today, we don't need to be wealthy or royal to eat fine food every day.

So, how to make Christmas a special event at the table? Seafood is our default choice, of course. Who doesn't love a spread with prawns, bugs and the occasional crayfish?

No table is complete in my book without a ham and I enjoy making lots of salads to accompany it, while a half Stilton cheese is a nod to my childhood Christmases in England.

And I love a whole salmon, served cold.

I'm a little less confident when it comes to thetraditional pudding.

I've not yet forgotten how, not long after leaving home, my friends and I forgot its foil lining and smoke curling from the microwave announced a small fire.

And there was the year- a longtime ago, I hasten to say-when a Christmas cake I'd spent
hours preparing found its way inside a hot oven, where it became forever welded to its plastic
container. I was a bit upset but it made for a great Christmas-table story for years to follow.

This year will be disaster free-mum will be here. And that's what Christmas is really about: family, memories and fabulous food.

We're a big group ranging from the youngest to my uncle, who is travelling from Canada;
he'll celebrate his 90th birthday with us. I'm not sure how we'll all fit around the table but who
cares? I've begun to think of the menu because expectation is half the fun.

With family, friends and more fine food than we need ... who could ask for anything more?

FOOD
Sus Bennett
Good Living Editor

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