Happy Holidays From Down Under

A Very Hot Christmas

Happy Holidays to all our readers! Thank you for your support this year. We hope you've enjoyed following our adventures. While my family was absolutely freezing in Wisconsin, David and I were able to enjoy some sizzling hot weather in Australia. Keep reading to find out how we celebrated Christmas in Australia this year! 

Christmas Eve

During the day we went to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. It was really hot, so the kangaroos were relaxing in the shade and a lot of the birds were holding out their wings to cool down. The kookaburras recently had a chick and it was all fluffed up, attempting to balance on a branch.

After we had our fix of Aussie animals, we went home to whip up a quick recipe to bring for Christmas Eve dinner with our Brazilian friends.

We still haven't named the recipe, any ideas?

Ingredients:
3 sheets of filo dough
5 eggs + 1 yolk
A dash of milk 
fillings of your choice: chop up whatever veggies or proteins you'd like ... we usually use red peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, onions and maybe tuna or salmon 
salt and pepper to taste
1 dash of parsely
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
Butter for the muffin tin

Directions:
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F.
Butter a muffin tin.
Cut the filo dough sheets into four squares each. Bend the squares at the edges, overlapping the corners to form pockets that are open on the top. Place the pockets into a muffin tin. In a bowl, crack open 5 eggs, plus one egg white. Save the extra egg yolk in a seperate bowl. Chop and add in any veggies and/or protein that you would like. Add the parsley, salt and pepper. Whip lightly with a fork and transfer to a container with a spout. Pour the egg mixture into the pockets about half to 3/4 way. Add cheese to the top to complete the filling. Fold the top closed and brush with the egg yolk. Bake for about 10 minutes or until the pastry is fluffy and golden brown. Remove and allow to cool slightly before removing from the tin. Enjoy!

You can see the unnamed muffins next to the white bowl in the photo below! We had quite the Christmas Eve spread!

We had a great time at Andre and Nadia's house complete with a White Elephant/Secret Santa exchange! By 3am it was time to go home and get some sleep before Santa's arrival.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day was scorching hot! We exchanged the presents that had appeared under our traveling tree (see above), David made a quick Chrissy lunch and then we headed to Bribie Island to the beach! The water temperature was spectacularly warm ... however the warmer temps also bring the Bluebottles! These jellyfish pack a painful sting and we witnessed a few people screaming in pain after being stung. Luckily David and I managed to stay sting free and enjoy our day at the beach. This is definitely the first Christmas where I've had the possibility of receiving a nasty jelly sting. 

It's hard to be so far from our families and friends, especially around all the holidays, but know that we miss and love you all!!! Our favorite gift is being able to share this adventure together as a married couple and those who are brave enough to come visit us! How did you spend your holidays this year? Leave a comment below!

For more pictures of our adventures: Check out our Instagram