A Family Tradition

TREASURED CHRISTMAS RITUALS CONTINUE IN THIS BEAUTIFUL MODERN FARMHOUSE IN THE NEW SOUTH WALES SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS

- Anna McCooe

Christmas at Louise Keats’ home will be bittersweet this year. The fabulous farmhouse in the NSW Southern Highlands will be filled with all of her favourite people on Earth: husband, children, parents, sister and her sister’s immediate tribe. Champagne corks will fly at kick-off, marking the start of the celebrations, while stockings will be filled with homemade nougat and tables will be piled with fruit mince pies and gingerbread. There will be glazed ham, cured gravlax and stuffed roast turkey with all the trimmings. But this year also marks the family’s first Christmas since losing Louise’s grandmother, Margaret Fulton, the legendary Australian food writer and national treasure. “She was custodian of all our Christmas traditions,” says Louise. “She always made sure we had crackers and wore our hats. And she made an amazing Christmas pudding with flaming brandy and homemade custard, studded with sixpence saved from her childhood in Scotland.”

Although her absence will weigh down heavily on the family, Margaret’s spirit will be felt in the Royal Copenhagen dinnerware on the table and the fizz of the champagne (always French). And, while Louise’s mother Suzanne is on pudding duty this year, it’s a safe bet whoever finds the sixpence will be thinking of Margaret as they make their wish. “It’s still really raw,” says Louise, “but Grandma’s old traditions will continue and they will be passed on to her great-grandchildren.”