Voice of Real Australia is a regular newsletter from Australian Community Media, which has journalists in every state and territory. Sign up here to get it by email, or here to forward it to a friend. Today's is written by Jodie Bruton, a journalist from The Border Mail.
On the third day of Christmas my true love sent to me
Three French hams
Two free-range eggs, and
Pampas pastry in a plastic sleeve.
The day after Boxing Day - ie: better known as the second day of the cricket - is when the real Test actually begins at home.
Do you still have any leftovers?
Can you really feed the family on what remains lurking in the back of the fridge?
Do you still have enough food to scratch together another meal without putting on shoes and mascara to go out to a shop or supermarket?
Worse still - are you fresh out of dishwasher tablets?
On the third day of Christmas, you could always tart up leftover turkey with a simple sauce to make a pie filling, pronto.
You could upcycle leg ham and duck-fat roasted potatoes into a quiche, right?
Alternatively, shred the Christmas roast of the day to make up soft-shelled tacos.
Still need more inspiration? The Canberra Times journalist Karen Hardy has recipe-tested the most useful cookbooks of 2019 for us here.
And for an ethical omnivore's dilemma, here's a column I cooked up earlier.
Celebrity chef and Tasmanian producer Matthew Evans (Fat Pig Farm) says people who want to blame beef for its carbon-emitting use of land, may just as well take a swing at golf.
If you're not a huge cricket fan, you can binge Evans' compelling book On Eating Meat over the Christmas break. (Cricket fans can feel free to ponder it in the New Year!)
In the true spirit of the post-Christmas festive season, however, The Daily Advertiser serves its top 11 backyard cricket tips.
Read up on the rules here.
The Emperor is back in but the reviewers' jury is definitely still out.
"The film title, unlike the other eight titles in the story arc, doesn't reflect what the movie is about. Perhaps a more apt title would have been, The Emperor's New Clothes."
Still looking for ways to support NSW rural communities post-Christmas? The Illawarra Mercury can help here.
Among its top 10 ideas, take a road trip to regional area. This Facebook page - Stayinthebush - provides a showcase of beautiful places to stay in the country.
Alternatively, check out randomactofkindness.org for tips on how you can make a difference.
All of this activity making you peckish, though?
It begs the question how long until Christmas Day leftovers become dangerously, second-rate?
On the third day of Christmas, you do not want to give your true love a belly ache!
Australian National University researcher, Dr Rhiannon Wallace, said hot weather - which Australia was forecast to see into the new year - provided a breeding ground for food poisoning.
So sports fans, here's my top tips: Eat any Christmas leftovers within two days, keep your fridge below four degrees, don't leave food at room temperature for hours on end, wash your hands often (like your mum always told you!) and stock up on dishwasher tablets.
Howzat!!
Jodie Bruton, Journalist, The Border Mail
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