Brace for it people. Winter officially arrives on Monday \u2013and with it all the joys of morning frosts, shorter days and the cherished doona.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something very special about a Sydney winter.<\/p>\n
Sure, we don\u2019t have the razor-sharp winds of Melbourne, but the season has its own charms here.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s a list of what to expect for the next 90 days.<\/p>\n
SOUP. Is there a better way to celebrate cold weather?<\/p>\n
My late Nanna use to put a broth on the stove at the beginning of every June and you knew on arrival to her house that there would always be something to immediately warm you up. It\u2019s one of my fondest memories of her home.<\/p>\n
These days I\u2019m just as satisfied with a can of something, but the bread roll has to be crispy and fresh.<\/p>\n
One of life\u2019s few guilt-free pleasures.<\/p>\n
UGG BOOTS. Bear with me on this one, and for the uninitiated these were a fundamental fashion necessity in the 1970s, and weren\u2019t they just divine? <\/p>\n
I wish one of Sydney\u2019s influential fashion icons would do us all a favour and step out in a pair.<\/p>\n
Someone please send ugg boots to Delta or Nicole Kidman so they become socially acceptable again!<\/p>\n
OPEN FIRES. Bugger the greenies, nothing better than putting a few logs in the fire pit and returning to your primitive instincts.<\/p>\n
After Sunday luncheon at our house I can\u2019t wait to grab some marshmallows and call the kids outside, brandy in hand, for an old-fashioned toasting.<\/p>\n
Sunday nights were meant to smell of smoke, just the way nature intended. <\/p>\n
ROASTS. We never need an excuse to tuck into a roast at our place, but there\u2019s something about the winter months that make this traditional British cuisine very special.<\/p>\n
Now, you\u2019d be risking eternal damnation if you didn\u2019t complement your roast with gravy, baked potatoes, string beans and sticky date pudding.<\/p>\n
I know some families insist on brussels sprouts on these occasions. Personally, I think they are an abomination, but don\u2019t let that influence you.<\/p>\n
SOCKS. I don\u2019t care how cold it is, there is never an excuse to wear socks to bed. Just don\u2019t.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what the Pommy does, and we are better than him.<\/p>\n
PIES. How good are they? Obviously if you can get to Heatherbrae\u2019s, Glenorie, or one of the Harry\u2019s Cafe de Wheels pie carts then you are reaching the pinnacle of your winter dining experience, but even a Four and Twenty fresh out of mum\u2019s oven will fill the spot.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve instructed my family that my last meal, whether it be served on my death bed or at the Long Bay gallows, is to be a pepper steak pie.<\/p>\n
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. If you want a true winter experience you have no option but to take the bride for a Saturday afternoon drive up to the Blue Mountains, or, better still, spend the weekend.<\/p>\n
Our go-to village is Leura, but there are plenty of outstanding alternatives that will serve up a decent hot chocolate or Devonshire tea.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re in luck you may even chance a spot of snow.<\/p>\n
HOT TODDY. One of the greatest things the Scottish diaspora brought to Australia was this recipe.<\/p>\n
When I was Police Minister I tried to bring in legislation to make it illegal to drink a Hot Toddy without a cinnamon stick, but I couldn\u2019t get it through the Upper House.<\/p>\n
Heathens.<\/p>\n
BONFIRES. OK, so you\u2019ve enjoyed a few backyard open fires and now it\u2019s time to step up.<\/p>\n
When I was first elected to Parliament I lobbied to bring back the traditional June Cracker Night but got thwarted at every turn, so until the election of a much-anticipated Elliott government, you really have a moral obligation to get the neighbours together and have one hell of a community blaze.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t worry about Fire and Rescue, I\u2019ll deal with them. Just keep flammable liquids well clear, because with the price of petrol these days \u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Brace for it people. Winter officially arrives on Monday \u2013and with it all the joys of morning frosts,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[19529,23,133,19543,19542,3062,19541,19531,19539,8699,19536,19546,19549,19535,19528,19545,19547,19527,355,3936,19371,120,19533,19526,19534,19538,19537,19532,247,19544,19530,19540,19548],"class_list":["post-20339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sydney","tag-afternoon-drive","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-backyard-open-fires","tag-baked-potatoes","tag-blue-mountains","tag-brussels-sprouts","tag-cherished-doona","tag-cinnamon-stick","tag-cold-weather","tag-david-elliott","tag-eternal-damnation","tag-fire-pit","tag-fondest-memories","tag-fundamental-fashion-necessity","tag-influential-fashion-icons","tag-moral-obligation","tag-morning-frosts","tag-new-south-wales","tag-newcastle","tag-nicole-kidman","tag-oceania","tag-open-fires","tag-outstanding-alternatives","tag-pepper-steak-pie","tag-pie-carts","tag-primitive-instincts","tag-sticky-date-pudding","tag-sydney","tag-sydney-winter","tag-traditional-british-cuisine","tag-winter-dining-experience","tag-winter-experience"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}