Surprise Delivery

Well, look what I received on the front porch tonight when I came home from work. What a great surprise; the Christmas pudding all made and posted down from Canberra. Yarralumla in fact - very ooh ahh. Seeing that suburb on the box always gives me the feeling that I'm getting something direct from the Prime Minister's Lodge.
Three years ago my boyfriend's cousin offered to make an extra Christmas pudding for me. He used to work as a pastry chef, so who was I to say no? His family live in Canberra, so just before Christmas he went up to see his parents and used their kitchen for the mass pudding creation. This tradition continued last year, but this year I wasn't expecting anything as my boyfriend and I have ended our relationship a few weeks ago. However, he phoned me last week and said I was one of the few people who truly understood the effort he put into the puddings and really appreciated the quality, so he'd like the tradition to continue. Yay - my puddings will keep coming!

He uses a Roux Brothers recipe, and each year has modified it slightly. Last year he felt it was a little too "bright" and fruity, so he increased the spices this year and reduced the citrus. This year the pudding is also wheat-free as he used a flour with mostly maize in it. Low-carb is always fine in my eyes, especially after a huge day of constant food-consumption. Apparently I have to phone him on the day and let him know what I think.
The Christmas day forecast looks to be about 25C and sunny. Perfect! Not too hot, so we can sit by the pool with a few drinks in the evening.
Now I should go off and make the fabulous brandy sauce that is my contribution to the Great Pudding Tradition.