From Christmas envy to a tri-celebratory recipe

For the first time in 19 years, Christmas and Chanukah are aligned, and it warms my heart.

My introduction to Christmas was brief but memorable.  I was 10 years old, on a short road trip with my parents, somewhere in rural Victoria. At the end of our picnic lunch, my mother brought out a Paterson’s cake tin. As she prised open the lid, I could smell exotic spices – I’m guessing allspice, cinnamon, cloves - and a hint of brandy. It was my very first Christmas fruit cake. Soft, sticky, golden cake studded with plump raisins and bright red cherries, whole almonds and bits of orange peel. Unfamiliar flavours and smells, love at first sight.

My Christmas education came from movies and TV shows, from the coloured tinsel in the newsagent and from the carols by candlelight. It was a time of Christmas trees and coloured lights. It was a time when Australians sat down with family and friends, feasting like there was no tomorrow. A lot like the Pesach seder or erev Rosh Hashanah, and a little like Shabbat, but only once a year. But I knew nothing of the story of Christmas, and certainly nothing of Jesus.