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Recycled Christmas Tree Decorations

Christmas at Compost-A-Pak

Christmas at Compost-A-Pak

And just like that, suddenly our youngest can reach the top of the tree.

It’s a family tradition to rotate the important positioning of the angel each year. Usually it’s a somewhat precarious task as the kids are lifted to hover over the tree whilst everyone yells instructions at once. This year with a small step ladder, the Angel was in position within seconds.

Our beautiful silver Angel purchased pre-kids on our first international holiday then sits for the season, perched at a slightly strange angle watching proceedings.

Our tree is heavy with history and memories. After discussing ideas for a sustainable, reusable tree, Pete and our youngest built this over a very hot summer weekend a few years ago. They both take great pride in their construction with annual tales of the trial-and-error process.

Sustainable Holidays

The tree is decorated with second hand crystals, many from an old chandelier that hung at our wedding and wall lights which didn’t make the cut when we renovated. Other ornaments have been purchased, one every year since the kids could choose. Most years in the excitement of putting up the tree we seem to break a few, so now it’s an attrition and replacement process.

We then decorate the house with annual Santa photos, telling a typical family story, starting with a crying photo that Mum had to get in, pictures of new additions, cousins, and covid times with no Santa at all. As someone who tends to embrace the moment and forgets to take pictures, this Christmas display is even more special.

Christmas Snacks

 

Christmas will be quieter for us this year, with a smaller gathering.

We have been allocated predinner nibbles as part of our Christmas day feast, which I love. We keep it simple with small bites of lovely produce. By lining our creations up on plates, the dishes are elevated from a regular cheese platter to something more festive. There are two dishes which we always make. Poppy’s favourite home Marinated Figs and Fetta Toast. It’s a dish that is requested every year. We also often make Mini Roast Vegetable Tartlets. The best thing about both these dishes is that we pre-prep so on the day it’s only a matter of assembling everything. We then add a few other dishes. This year we are adding Cheddar Cheese and Quince Paste Biscuits we well as a Christmas Terrine and Gherkin Biscuit.

Our rosemary is in abundance, so we use newer twigs as a Christmas garland to dress up the plates.

Compost-A-Pak Christmas

Christmas will be a great chance for our amazing team to have a break and reflect on our achievements. 2024 has been a busy year for us as the industry has continued to evolve. It’s exciting to see FOGO being embraced across the country, with many other councils scheduled to roll out their programs in 2025. Some stage governments are also pushing for commercial organisations to do their bit to reduce the food waste being sent to Landfill, where it releases methane and contributes to global warming. Such legislation and investment will allow Australia to achieve further milestones in our Landfill diversion rates.

However, such great progress does come with challenges, and compost processing facilities continue to struggle with cheap ‘bio-hybrid’ bags that are hitting the market. If something is half plastic and half organic, it can’t be recycled and can’t be recycled and can’t be composted. It’s worse for the environment. Such products are marketed to confuse consumers and it’s a shame we don’t have stronger regulations to manage this risk. If in doubt, also check for Australian certifications on all compostable products.

 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Mel

Sustainable Christmas

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Christmas Bites – Mini Roast Veg Tarts

I love Christmas cooking. This year we are providing predinner nibbles, so rather than a traditional cheese platter, we make up little bites of simple food and dress the plates in rosemary garlands. The presentation really elevates the dish, so it looks as good as they taste.

A family favourite is these Mini Roast Vegetable Tarts. They taste delicious and we can make everything in advance, which is a bonus on Christmas Day when you don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen. The other thing we love about this dish is the leftovers. We always make extra vegetables, as the leftovers can be mixed with goats cheese and rocket, and then dressed in balsamic. Secretly I like the resulting salad as much as the tarts! It is perfect with cold ham! Boxing Day is often my favourite eating day, with all the gourmet leftovers being enjoyed in such a lazy relaxed way.

 

Ingredients

  • Savory Tartlet Cases or Puff Pastry Sheets*
  • Two Garlic Cloves
  • Olive Oil
  • A hand full of Cherry Tomatoes
  • Good quality Olives (Pits removed)
  • Zucchini (one but I make extra for salads)
  • Red Onion (one but I make extra for salads)
  • Goats Cheese
  • Sticky Balsamic
  • Salt and Pepper
  • Herbs for garnish. I have Basil int he garden however you can use Parsley or Chives

 

Christmas Eve Prep

Crush a few Cloves of Garlic into approx. three good lugs of Olive Oil and warm over a medium heat until it softens. This will give you a fragrant Garlic Oil. Let sit to cool

Slice your Zucchini lengthwise into strips approx. 1/2 centimeter thick

Brush each strip with the Garlic Oil and cook over medium-high heat in single rows on a ribbed skillet until charred (Approx. 3 minutes per side). Brush the second side with Garlic Oil before turning*.

Slice strips of Red Onion into 1-2 centimeter rounds. Try to keep the round together as you cook, as it’s much easier to flip. Repeat the cooking process above brushing again with Garlic Oil.

Cool and refrigerate in a sealed glass container

*The ribbed skillet gives a lovely pattern and allows the moisture to escape as they cook for a crisper finish, however you can use a flat skillet.

 

Christmas Day Assembly

Simply stack the ingredients to taste  – Sliced Red Onion, cuts of Zucchini, half a Cherry Tomato, an Olive (or half if you prefer a more subtle flavor)

Finish with crumbed Goats Cheese, a small splash of Sticky Balsamic, a sprinkle of Salt and Pepper, and Herbs.

 

Making the Cases

Optional to add to Christmas Eve Prep

*This dish is easiest and looks most professional if you prepurchase savory tartlet cases, however I prefer to make my own with Puff Pastry Sheets and our patty pan. If you have time, making your own pastry from scratch is always worth the effort, however at this time of year, it is just not an option for us.

We use a tuna tin as a guide to cut the Puff Pastry into shape. It is critical to weigh the Pastry down with pie weights, or you will end up with circular Pastry Puffs. I sometimes still have our ceramic weights being thrown off into the bottom of the oven.

Bake as per instructions on the pack and cool. Store for the next day in a sealed container.

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Christmas Snacks

Christmas Bites – Poppy’s Favourite

I love Christmas cooking. There is something so lovely about coming together with family and friends to celebrate the year and be thankful for all our many blessings, as we indulge in a shared feast.

We travel at Christmas so dishes which can be prepared in advance are perfect for our contribution to the family feast. Such dishes also mean I can join in on the festivities rather than being in the kitchen for hours.

This year we are providing predinner nibbles, which is a course I love. Rather than a traditional cheese platter, we make up little bites of simple food and dress the plates in rosemary garlands. (As usual our rosemary is in abundance.) The presentation really elevates the dish, so it looks as good as they all taste.

Our favourite Christmas Bite is Marinated Fig and Fetta Toast. Poppy requests this every year so it has become a tradition. For me this tastes like Christmas!Fetta Toast

 

Ingredients

  • Mini Toast (I purchase these however you can toast your own bread)
  • Olive Oil
  • Good quality Marinated Fetta*
  • Marinated Figs**
  • Chives

 

Pre-Christmas Prep

 

*For an extra injection of flavour, you can swap out the Fetta for Blue Cheese.

**If your Christmas shopping is done, and you have time, you can choose to marinate the Figs at home. I’ve included the recipe for this below.

 

Christmas Day Assembly

Simply smash the Fetta with a little Oil so it is softened

Spread the Fetta on each Toast

Add a slide of Marinated Figs with some of the sticky juice

Sprinkle Chives

 

 

Marinated Figs

Note this recipe requires Figs to be soaked overnight, so plan ahead.

The taste of Christmas! You will only need a few Figs for your toast, however I always make extra as they are perfect with ice-cream as a dessert, to throw in a salad, add to a cheese platter, or to eat with ham as we indulge in Boxing Day leftovers.

 

Ingredients

15 White Dried Figs

Approx. 1 and then 1/2 cups of Boronia Marsala (Needs to cover the Figs in your chosen jar)

One Vanilla Pod sliced in long strips to release flavour

Cinnamon Stick

1/4 Cup of Honey

1/4 Cup of Orange Juice and a few strips of peel

 

The night before

Cut each Fig in half and place in a jar

Mix 1 cup Boronia Marsala and the rest of the ingredients

Pour mixture into jar over Figs

Use the remaining 1/2 cup of Boronia Marsala to top up the jar until covering your Figs

Cover the jar and place in fridge

 

The next day

Over a low/medium heat, gently cook decanted mixture until it reduces to a syrup

As it cooks, gently turn over the Figs so they maintain their structure

Cool and return to jar in the fridge. These are ready to serve immediately or will last a few days in the fridge (unless your husband finds them 😊)

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Rocky Road Christmas Trees

Christmas Festivities – Our Rocky Road Trees Have Been Delivered

As we do each year, I’ve just spent the morning packing up our homemade Rocky Road Christmas Trees and dropping them off to all the people who have made our life both manageable and very memorable this year. From amazingly dedicated teachers who take so much time out of their own family life to support our kids, band leaders, neighbours, suppliers, logistics partners and team members.

Rocky Road Christmas Trees

They say it takes a village to raise a child, however it also takes a community to successfully run a family business. It’s uniquely a consuming, challenging and rewarding experience. We are so blessed to have an amazingly dedicated team, who have so much passion to see ‘our’ business thrive. We also ask a lot of our partners and suppliers. Deliberately, most of our suppliers are other Australian family businesses, and they consistently always embrace and deliver on our crazy new ideas.

I love coming to work each day to be emersed in the amazing community we have built, and I hope everyone knows how much Pete and I appreciate their contribution. We simply couldn’t do what we do without them.

Em and Indy Christmas Photos

 

So… it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Everyone has embraced Christmas dressing as a new work uniform, and the Christmas tree is up. Ellie also has Christmas Carols playing across all the speakers, although the warehouse speaker does seem to be getting ‘accidently bumped’ back to the radio station every so often! 😉

At home we are busy preparing our traditional Christmas foods. We have our preserved baby cucumbers in the fridge ready for platters and Matt’s sweet chilli jam made for Christmas ham. We have also pulled out our gorgeous reusable wrapping paper for a third year in a row to wrap presents. It’s such a lovely tradition and a great way to help avoid the piles of single use paper associated with Christmas morning.

Re-usable wrapping paper, Chilli Jam and Pickled Cucumbers

We will be closed from 23rd December and reopening on 9 January to kick off another amazing year. We know it can be an inconvenience to have orders take a little longer, however this is a unique chance to give our team a break to spend this special time of year with their family and friends. I’m certainly planning on making the most of some really slow days relaxing by beautiful Lake Macquarie.

I hope you have a fabulous festive season however you choose to enjoy the sunshine it promises, and a happy and healthy 2023!

Thank you for your support of our special team and extended business community!

Mel

Home made Christmas Decorations

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Reusable Gift Wrapping

Celebrating 2021 With Our Team

2021 Christmas Time

Our work tree is up, and just like that 2021 is nearly over… I’m not sure how we actually made it to the end of what turned out to be such a challenging, and often chaotic year. It did however also hide some surprising blessings, like more quieter moments with immediate family.

Reflecting back, there were many highlights for our team. Most notably our graduating trainees were both recognised externally. (We already knew they were amazing!)2021 Awards of the year

Emily was selected amongst thousands of trainees, as a finalist for the Trainee of the Year (NSW Group Training Awards), with your family business also winning the Small Business Employer of the Year category…such a proud moment!

Then more recently Indy was selected to participate in the ‘Today’s Skills: Tomorrow’s Leaders’ program, a professional development program run by National Apprentice Employment Network (NAEN). Early next year, he will be off to Canberra for a week of immersive leadership training, meeting inspiring Australian leaders including the Governor General, and learning more about how to shape his career to realise his full potential.

After finishing their traineeships, both Emily and Indy have accepted direct roles with our team, Emily in her service role and Indy as our Warehouse Manager in Newcastle. It’s been so rewarding to see these individuals grow in their ‘first real job’, as Indy describes it. They both brought such energy and determination to their roles, and even though they were often well outside their comfort zone, they worked through challenges with a consistently positive, open manner. As a direct result of their efforts, they both thrived, and they have genuinely inspired me. As someone on the other side of their career, I’ll be thinking about their achievements as I spend a few quiet moments over the break ensuring my goals for 2022 are ambitious enough to have me out of my own comfort zone, achieving personal growth.Christmas Tree

Being December, our family is also busy with our holiday traditions. The Christmas tree is up, although we are back to our old tree, after I planted our gorgeous native from last year. The tree is loaded with sparkling crystals this year, after we repurposed a few wall chandeliers that were thrown out when our extended family renovated. We have started making presents, including my favourite Chilli Jam and Pickled Cucumber, although this year we have experimented with Carrots as well, which are so far tasting great. We had an overabundance of carrots in the garden after the seed planting occurred with limited supervision… imagine carrot seeds everywhere! The priority for our vegie garden in summer is greens, and with so much rain, we have peppery rocket and lettuce in abundance. It’s so easy and really rewarding to see the little seeds flourish.Carrot Gardening

Our kids have also been making Christmas tags out of recycled paper with Kierra, one of our creative team members. Taking our scrap paper at work, they have transformed it into amazing textured paper. It complements our gorgeous reusable wrapping paper and is a great way to teach kids about a circular economy, where we recreate rather than simply throw away and repurchase.

Earth Friendly Wrapping Paper

Wishing everyone a lovely holiday period. I’m mindful that not everyone celebrates Christmas, however I do hope, given the year that has passed, that everyone gets a chance to use this time to catch up with people they love.

Let’s hope for a healthy and open 2022. We have some exciting new changes and projects at Compost-A-Pak, which I’m looking forward to sharing with you next season!

Mel

 

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