Christmas Lunch?

[Outdated]

I really loved the BBC series Shameless, it reminded me so much of my youth. I tried watching the yankee version but it was all just potty humour.

 

[Streetwise]

That explains a lot, the neighbourhood I grew up in....

my childhood was informed by a man who stole direction (mileage signs) from the motorway and stripped unoccupied houses of copper wiring, melted both down and derived an income from that ,threw a dead dog shark over our six foot fence i was shocked on occasion, wonder where my bicycle went

 

[Streetwise]

I really loved the BBC series Shameless, it reminded me so much of my youth. I tried watching the yankee version but it was all just potty humour.

yes where i live backed on to a shameless type area so didn't need to watch it

 

[Outdated]

Back in the 80s our copper coins were worth more by weight than they were as coins, some people in my area used to collect them and melt them down for scrap.

 

[Streetwise]

Back in the 80s our copper coins were worth more by weight than they were as coins, some people in my area used to collect them and melt them down for scrap.

people just leave them beside the shops ,last time i was there ,might be using them now

 

[Outdated]

people just leave them beside the shops ,last time i was there ,might be using them now

It must have been a while ago that you were here, we stopped using them in the late 80s, and introduced a $1 and $2 coin. By 1990 they were no longer valid as currency.

 

[VictorR]

Back in the 80s our copper coins were worth more by weight than they were as coins, some people in my area used to collect them and melt them down for scrap.

Oddly, the US nickel (5c) has yet to change in size or composition despite costing more in metal alone than its face value, let alone manufacturing and shipping costs.

Current scrap metal values of US coins (in USD):
US 1c 1981 and earlier (bronze): 2.5 cents
US 1c 1982 and later (zinc): 0.8 cents
US 5c 1870s to current (copper-nickel): 6.5 cents

 

[Duna]

There’s usually Prawns in there somewhere.

Yummy!

I know people in many parts of the world make a lot of fuss about Christmas dinner, but this is the first time I read about Christmas lunch.
Is it an Australian tradition?
Does it replace dinner?
If not, my Christmas lunch would be a glass of water maybe if I can't avoid the dinner. I eat only once a day.

To make my mom happy, I will sit at her table and have Black Angus with Roquefort sauce, potatoes that are golden but not fried - don't know what they are but they have Rosmary and very tasty. Hopefully spinach. Some dessert which I will take home because I don't want to spoil the lingering taste of the other stuff.
Can't drink wine because I have to drive back home. But I might join my stepdad with a black label before eating (the sauce had whisky, too)

 

[Mary Terry]

I don't want to nag but everyone please be careful with alcohol consumption and the likelihood of drunks on the roads this time of year.

I mention this because my 24-year-old nephew and his new wife had a Christmas party at their house Saturday night. One of the guests was my nephew's closest childhood friend. Long story short, the friend left the party at 2:00 a.m., my nephew told me that he didn't observe his friend slurring his speech or staggering around but told the friend that he was welcome to spend the night at nephew's house. Friend decided to drive home anyway. Less than 2 miles from my house, friend crashed his car into a tree, not wearing a seatbelt so he was ejected from the car and died at the scene. No one found the crash for 3 hours. Skid marks indicate that the friend either tried to dodge a deer or simply hit the brakes and swerved off the road into trees.

Whatever happened, the young man who was the father of a 3-year-old daughter, is dead. His parents are heartbroken, and my nephew is consumed with guilt and grief.

I have lectured my nephew and his (idiot but beautiful) wife that they may be sued for wrongful death of the friend since the alcohol was consumed at their home, and for them to SHUT UP about what happened, and to tell anyone who asks that they don't know how much alcohol was consumed by the friend because they really don't know how much he drank. No one knows what happened or whether alcohol played a role in the accident and death.

Friends don't let friends drive drunk. And never try to dodge a deer, livestock, dogs or even humans with your vehicle. Just hit it and you may live another day. Liability can be sorted out later.

 

[Outdated]

I know people in many parts of the world make a lot of fuss about Christmas dinner, but this is the first time I read about Christmas lunch.
Is it an Australian tradition?
Does it replace dinner?

Maybe it's a climate thing, I'm not sure. But the tradition here is that we all have a big lunch on December 25th, after the sharing of presents. The afternoon and evening are for drinking.

 

[Streetwise]

Maybe it's a climate thing, I'm not sure. But the tradition here is that we all have a big lunch on December 25th, after the sharing of presents. The afternoon and evening are for drinking.

nope its a british thing christmas lunch \ christmas dinner (same time of day but in northern england poor people)

 

[Outdated]

nope its a british thing christmas lunch \ christmas dinner (same time of day but in northern england poor people)

When I was a kid some new (british) neighbours told me that they were having a big dinner and inviting everyone in the street so they could get to know their neighbours. I asked her if she meant Lunch or Tea and she got angry with me. "Dinner is Dinner!".

 

[Streetwise]

I have no family any more either but I don't miss Christmas. It was always too noisy, too many fake smiles, and the eating is obligatory unless you like insulting people. I found it a difficult situation to cope with and I prefer it when I can stay home by myself.

For what it's worth, I always hated Christmas. Eating until you feel unwell. I avoid invitations if I can.

similar to my mothers family but! i hated not being able to see my mam(irish,northern english for mother),so !i suffered my mothers mother mainly

 

[Streetwise]

When I was a kid some new (british) neighbours told me that they were having a big dinner and inviting everyone in the street so they could get to know their neighbours. I asked her if she meant Lunch or Tea and she got angry with me. "Dinner is Dinner!".

It depends on the person but usually in southern england :dinner evening meal 7-8pm ,tea 2-4 pm light small sandwiches or slice of cake and english breakfast type tea with either sugar,milk or black ,coffee as before.

Tea in northern england 4-7pm can be sandwiches ,cooked animal flesh and vegetables or baked ,fried,grilled vegetables and \ or soup- veg or animal flesh + veg ,with a drink if not soup.
In n.england salad in summer.

 

[Outdated]

We seem to have picked up on the same words but use them differently. Lunch is normally only a small meal and Tea is the main meal of the day, usually between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.

 

[Mary Terry]

I don't want to nag but everyone please be careful with alcohol consumption and the likelihood of drunks on the roads this time of year.

I mention this because my 24-year-old nephew and his new wife had a Christmas party at their house Saturday night. One of the guests was my nephew's closest childhood friend. Long story short, the friend left the party at 2:00 a.m., my nephew told me that he didn't observe his friend slurring his speech or staggering around but told the friend that he was welcome to spend the night at nephew's house. Friend decided to drive home anyway. Less than 2 miles from my house, friend crashed his car into a tree, not wearing a seatbelt so he was ejected from the car and died at the scene. No one found the crash for 3 hours. Skid marks indicate that the friend either tried to dodge a deer or simply hit the brakes and swerved off the road into trees.

Whatever happened, the young man who was the father of a 3-year-old daughter, is dead. His parents are heartbroken, and my nephew is consumed with guilt and grief.

I have lectured my nephew and his (idiot but beautiful) wife that they may be sued for wrongful death of the friend since the alcohol was consumed at their home, and for them to SHUT UP about what happened, and to tell anyone who asks that they don't know how much alcohol was consumed by the friend because they really don't know how much he drank. No one knows what happened or whether alcohol played a role in the accident and death.

Friends don't let friends drive drunk. And never try to dodge a deer, livestock, dogs or even humans with your vehicle. Just hit it and you may live another day. Liability can be sorted out later.

Update - the toxicology report came back and shows the young man was well within the legal limits for alcohol. He was not drunk. Something happened on the road that night, most likely deer. However, the new weird twist to this sad story is that someone apparently robbed his body before the accident was reported to law enforcement. The wreck occurred about 2:00 a.m. but it wasn't discovered until about 5:00 a.m. His wallet, shoes and winter coat are missing. Someone stole from his deceased body.

 

[Outdated]

Update - the toxicology report came back and shows the young man was well within the legal limits for alcohol. He was not drunk. Something happened on the road that night, most likely deer.

We had a whole spate of unexplainable fatal accidents in rural areas in Australia, including a few near where I was living at the time. No alcohol was involved in many of the cases. Drivers went off the road at high speed for no apparent reason and it wasn't until investigators started questioning bush people that they found the answer.

Wallabies. They don't normally cause much damage to a car, not even a small car, but they have just the right solidity to set off the air bags. Country people always disconnect the airbags for that reason, it's illegal but it's better than being dead.

 

[Duna]

Maybe it's a climate thing, I'm not sure. But the tradition here is that we all have a big lunch on December 25th, after the sharing of presents. The afternoon and evening are for drinking.

Interesting!
People here have a family dinner December 24th that lasts well after midnight, when the presents are opened (it's summer, the days are long and summer vacations just started, so no problem with the kids staying up, plus they are usually too hyped up to sleep, anyway).
December 25 it's visting friends and extended family, mostly just for an hour or so. No big meals or routines.

 

[Streetwise]

We seem to have picked up on the same words but use them differently. Lunch is normally only a small meal and Tea is the main meal of the day, usually between 6:00 and 8:00 pm.

Probably because Australia is tropical n.t,QL,W.A,top halves, then semi tropical,then warm temperate (N.S.W,VIC (apart from Ballarat),S.A )bottom half ,Ballarat ,Vic another land with its own climate . So eat: light when hottest ,heavier when cooler .

Whereas n.e.england sometimes frigging freezing 10-11 months of the year, one hot month in dribs and drabs between May to August so frying or baking in fat !for lunch\dinner or tea then salads (summer)if !have an appetite

 

[Outdated]

then warm temperate (N.S.W,VIC (apart from Ballarat),S.A )

that gave me a smile, although I've only ever driven through Ballarat at high speed on my way to Melbourne. Canberra is worse, a climatic anomaly, it's often colder there than in Hobart.