Better Homes and Gardens Australia December 2014

You can’t beat Christmas, can you? That warm and wonderful planning of who you’ll have with you, or who you’ll share it with. What you’ll cook, feasts and festivities, gifts for the people you adore, gifts for the people you don’t adore, and that gorgeous tree and your decos. Really, is there any better time? Here at BH&G it’s about as exciting as it gets as the discussions begin. With the food gals, oh my Lord, starters, mains, desserts, something traditional, something new, and a whole lot of things to take your breath away – that’s the biggie, to take your breath away! Hours and hours of talk, prep, styling and pics – so you, dear readers, will just love it. The craft chicks bring in fabric, ribbons, sequins, felts,…

Enjoy every minute of the exciting lead-up! Choose your top picks, then make and bake until the magazine pages open next to you are speckled with equal measures of batter and glitter. Triumphantly tick off your list – your most special Christmas ever is sorted! Get ready for the good stuff! Meet our cover stars, plus a host of other beautiful ideas inspired by natural materials, all sorted into three easy-to-re-create themes sew krafty This Christmas, keep your shopping list small and sweet – just sheets of card and a little thread. Using only simple hand stitches, these pretty-in-pink cuties will be adored. Of course, kraft brown and cream happily team with almost any accent colour, so mixing and matching these lovelies with ideas from either of the next two…

The spirit of giving is one of the marvellous feelings Christmas brings about. And it’s easy to share this joy by baking up a storm and gifting your makes in special containers. Add personal touches to every gift with matching ribbons, tags and delicate paper, or for a real hoot you can craft a few of our festive friends from the previous pages to perch on top. Enjoy! Walnut fudge From just a few basic ingredients and a super-simple method you’ll have creamy fudge with hints of vanilla, ready to pack in store-bought boxes as gifts. Recipe on page 47 Surprise your loved ones with delicious homemade dainties, all perfectly packaged in gorgeous gift tins or beautiful boxes wrapped in oh-so ravishing ribbons Rosewater biscuits You can use a variety…

Now is the time to up the excitement with your Christmas feast! This guide makes planning your festive menu as easy as choosing from drinks, starters, marvellous mains and gorgeous desserts to create your own individual menu. ’Tis the season for something magical! Drinks and starters Before the main event, begin with a range of zingy drinks to sip, accompanied by delicate nibbles full of flavour Cook’s tips Lobster and chervil fried wontons ■ Fresh crab, prawns or scallops could replace the green lobster in this recipe. ■ Any unused wonton skins can be wrapped in plastic wrap, placed in a zip-lock bag and kept in the fridge for up to two weeks or frozen for up to three months. ■ Frozen raw lobster tails can be found in selected…

Arguably the world’s most recognisable Australian wildflower, waratah blooms are a symphony of curved florets, cupped by a skirt of petallike bracts. If you think of waratahs, deep blood-red is the common image, but over the years the colour choice has expanded and today you can enjoy varieties in pure white, pink and soft golden-yellow. All are gorgeous, and well worthy of a space in your garden. Bush beauty Mainly spring flowering, waratahs are evergreen shrubs, occasionally reaching small tree size in the wild. They belong to a very small genus of plants – just five species – and are endemic to New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The NSW waratah (Telopea speciosissima) is a the best-known species – it is the floral emblem of the state and is grown…

Whether your garden is oriental, tropical, modernist or simply in need of fascinating greenery, there is one group of plants that fits the bill perfectly – bamboos. These magnificent, fast-growing species have been around for centuries and serve many wonderful uses in the garden, such as privacy screens, hedges or feature plants. But they are also one of the most misunderstood plants in the world, with many novice gardeners shuddering at the thought of growing them. That's because there are two distinct types of bamboo – clumping and running, and the running species can become quite invasive if they aren’t well contained. But if you choose the right type and species of bamboo, you will see there is a lot to love about these amazing plants. 1. A feature plant…