From gingerbread houses to hidden Danish almonds, Gemma Tiptonasks a gaggle of crafty folk about their family traditions
MICHELLE DARMODY OPENED DUBLIN'S CAKE CAFE EARLIER THIS YEAR
I'll be spending Christmas at home Cork with my family. We have about 15 for dinner. There are five children in the family, and we have Christmas dinner with the next-door neighbours, so there's a big crew of us. My mum is a brilliant cook and so is our neighbour, and we swap around, taking turns each year. This year we're on desserts; there'll be chocolate log, pudding drenched with brandy, Christmas cake (of course), and fruit salad - just in case anyone fancies a lighter option.
With so many of us, we get one present each. The shops are crazy at Christmas time, so it's nice not to have to buy loads of presents. It's not as organised as a Kris Kindle or anything, but someone gets nominated to get a present for someone else - although we all get one for Mum, so she does really well.
I think I got my love of baking from my mother. My Dad, who passed away, was the cook and Mum was the baker. There would be fresh bread baked at home every morning. I actually studied art at college; I went to the Crawford in Cork, and then on to Australia where I worked in TV graphics. But I also waitressed, and realised just how much I enjoy working with food.
For Christmas at the Cake Cafe, as well as the usual cakes and puddings, we're making gingerbread houses, with sweets melted into the windows to make coloured "glass". We're also doing cookies as decorations. We make them with little holes at the top so you can hang them on the tree. Cookies make lovely presents as well. Giving food as a gift is something I've always done - it's a present you know will be used and you rarely meet people who don't like cake.
• The Cake Cafe is just off Camden Street, on Pleasant's Place. Call 01-4789394 or see www.thecakecafe.ie
WICKLOW-BASED CERAMICIST GEOFFREY HEALY SPENDS CHRISTMAS AT HOME WITH HIS FAMILY
Christmas has different meanings for different people. For me, at this stage in my life, it's a watershed. Christmas can be a time of stillness, a time to take stock, to look back at the year just passed and to set ourselves up for the year to come.
We have a sort of a continental Christmas at home, in that we have our big meal on Christmas Eve. The rationale is that there's usually a lot of work involved, so it can make the day full of stress and tension. Having it the night before means that we can have a peaceful day. We usually invite someone over for Christmas dinner, someone who might otherwise be spending the evening on their own. But on Christmas Day, it's a day for family. My wife and I and our three children will go to church in the morning, and then come home to spend the day together.
When I first started making pots, people used to save up and compose their homes bit by bit. Now people go to the bank and borrow money to get everything at once, and that kind of thinking makes everything feel disposable.
The same idea also comes into present giving. You have the present that cost a lot of money, but maybe you unwrap it one year, and then wrap it up and give it to someone else the next. Those are the presents that have no meaning. Then there are the ones that have been thought about, perhaps they are handmade. They are the result of effort and care, and they are the ones with meaning.
• Geoffrey Healy's studio is in Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow. Call 01-2829270 or see www.healy-pottery.com
SALLY LEADBETTER OF JERPOINT GLASS WORKS RIGHT UP TO CHRISTMAS EVE
I think we have the perfect Christmas, it's our favourite time of year. The studio and gallery are just across the yard from our house, so there's always people coming and going, visiting and working there. But at Christmas we get the place to ourselves for the week. My parents and my brothers and sisters all still live here. There are a couple of annexes to the house, so my sister and I, who are both married, have our own places, but we're still all together.
My sister has two kids and it makes all the difference at Christmas to have young kids around. On Christmas Day we have a little routine that we've been working on for years. We'll eat our big meal in the evening, but there's no pressure to sit down at an exact time. Mum is a great cook - we may help, but she gets all the credit. We start the day with present opening, then there's the annual Christmas walk - we go somewhere local because there are so many beautiful places around here.
Mum is very creative so she takes charge of the decorating. She'll find ivy, branches, and pine cones and she creates garlands out of what she gathers. We always have a tree and put lots of decorations on that. We hang Christmas balls in the windows; we have our own Jerpoint Christmas decorations. Some are clear and some are frosted, with maybe a clear star shape on the glass. The Christmas table is set with Jerpoint glasses and candlesticks. And then there are plenty of candles, of course.
• The Jerpoint Glass Studio is in Co Kilkenny. Call 056-7724350 or see www.jerpointglass.com
CHRISTMAS FOR GEESKEMARIA AND DICK HARNETT OF SILK AND FELT DESIGNS HAS A MIX OF DUTCH AND IRISH INFLUENCES
Originally our intention had been to have a llama-trekking company. But when foot and mouth disease broke out we had to close the farm for a year. Then the only insurer willing to provide us with cover had pulled out of the Irish market, so we were thinking of a different business altogether.
Geeskemaria had been studying art, and had always been interested in fabrics, so she started using merino wool to make felted scarves. Now we're kept busy right up until the week before Christmas, supplying shops with our scarves and other clothes. Some of our stockists also take stalls in the Christmas craft fairs like the one at the RDS, so we're extra busy with production for those. But once all that's done we can relax.
Geeskemaria is Dutch. We lived in Holland for a long time, and three of our four children are still there. The main celebration in Holland at Christmas time is December 5th, which is Sinta Claus, and that is when all the children get their presents. When the kids were small we had our big day then, but now we'll spend the 25th with friends. Sometimes we'll have people over, and sometimes we'll go to a friend's house. It's always very relaxed and we haven't really decided what we'll be doing this year - even whether we'll have a turkey or not.
Silk and Felt Designs is based in Co Kerry. Call 066-9475006 or see www.geeskemaria.com
PIA BANG'S INTERIORS SHOP, PIA BANG HOME, CELEBRATES ITS FIRST BIRTHDAY THIS CHRISTMAS
In Denmark, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve, but as we're all working that day, we have our presents and dinner on the 25th. Jeff, my husband, is busy at his restaurant, The Unicorn, and Christian and Simon also have a restaurant (Bang Cafe).
Christmas lunch starts with a traditional Danish rice pudding. Somewhere inside is a single almond. Whoever gets the almond gets a prize. I serve it every year for the family, and I think they like the tradition of it, maybe more than the taste! I remember when I was a child, my grandmother forgot to put the almond in, and we were all looking for it in our dishes, before she found it sitting in the kitchen.
After the rice pudding we'll have goose or turkey with red cabbage, parsnips and another Danish dish - brown potatoes. Brown potatoes are new potatoes cooked in a pan with sugar and butter. Then there'll be a small Christmas pudding for Jeff, he's the only one who likes it, and the rest of us will have chocolate brownies. I do all the cooking, and Jeff and the boys set the table and do the clearing up.
I wouldn't have anything in the shop I wouldn't love to have at home. I have a huge tree in the hall, usually about 12ft tall, with a crib and little elves at the bottom. I decorate it with brown, glass and silver ornaments. I think there are trends at Christmas, but I prefer to keep to the classics. I want people to buy decorations in the shop that they will keep and pass on, perhaps adding something new every year.
Pia Bang Home is on South Anne Street, Dublin 2. Call 01-8883777 or see www.piabang.ie