Announcing Christmas in July

The perfect Christmas in July soundtrack:

Jan Terri's "Rock and Roll Santa"

It's almost the end of July already, and we are well and truly in winter's icy grip. Given that the cold weather is perfect for open fires, hearty roasts and red wine, we thought we'd take yet another detour from our usual format by holding a "Christmas in July" dinner before the month is up.

And so, on July 31st, we are heading back to our friend Holly Williams' cozy inner west home to cook up a Yuletide feast, complete with traditional mulled wine. Now, mulled wine is something we haven't prepared before. In fact, no one can remember even trying it, since it is naturally never on the menu during our sweaty 30 degrees-plus Aussie Christmas lunches. But Holly assures us that mulled wine is delightful and that she has the perfect recipe. All we need to do is bring a bottle of red, ideally either a shiraz, cabernet or some sort of easy-drinking blend. At this stage we think we'll use De Bortoli's Windy Peak Cabernet Merlot because it has balanced berry and plum flavours that should be just the thing for spicing up.

Now we just have to decide whether:
a) to roast a stuffed turkey or do delicious pork with crackling?
b) to have a Secret Santa gift system?
c) get some mistletoe and have a "kiss in"?

Tough decisions. See you next week!