I don't really like champagne but somehow at 11am on Christmas morning, I enjoy a glass. It is part of the tradition, I suppose - like waking up early and opening the presents. For the past 30 years, most of our Christmases have been spent on top of a mountain in the Italian Alps. We have a log cabin that we built in a place called Monti della Luna, about an hour and a half from Turin. My husband Francesco is from Piedmont and he grew up skiing there when he was young. It's not like Verbier: there are no nightclubs, just around 20 houses. It's the kind of place where doing the shopping means bundling up, hitching the trailer to the snowmobile and heading to the nearest village. A bit of an ordeal really, but it's outward bound and full of adventure.
With Francesco being Italian and me Australian, we grew up with two very different experiences of Christmas. Although I think there is a real charm to those Aussie Christmases with prawns on the barbecue and swimming at the beach, I do love the traditional English Christmas. And that's what our four children - and now our six grandchildren are used to. We all come together at this time of year.
I suppose our Christmas is a bit of a hybrid, including the menu. We might start with some agnolotti, a classic stuffed pasta from Piedmont. There would be two: one filled with spinach or aubergine, with a butter and sage sauce; and the other with meat, served with a tomato sauce. But then that would be followed by turkey and Brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes and the rest. Yes, we'll have a Christmas pudding, but we'll also have panettone. Thank God panettone comes out only at Christmas because I'm addicted to it. On Christmas Day, we serve it filled with whipped cream - panettone farcito. Not exactly healthy, but delicious.
We tend to have a late lunch or early supper in the kitchen, where we have a big wooden dining table that sits 16 (I never use a tablecloth because the wood is so beautiful). The house is surrounded by pine trees, so I'll gather some branches and twigs to decorate the table, which is lit by candlelight. I always use napkins that my mother made me many years ago: beautiful red ones that she embroidered herself with little green Christmas trees.They remind me of my darling mamma, whom I miss so much.
For years, I collected carved wooden Christmas decorations made in the Adirondack Mountains in the US. I bought them from a lovely shop on the King's Road, SW3, which sadly is not there any more. But I have a big stash of them, which I keep in Monti della Luna and bring out every year when we arrive, mixing them with some more colourful glass baubles from India that I've also been amassing over the years. They work beautifully together on the potted tree that we'll use for two or three years and then replant it in the woods around the cabin.
Obviously, I love flowers, but there isn't a huge opportunity to decorate with them in the mountains at Christmas time. But I do get to indulge myself before we head to Italy. A friend of mine and I take turns hosting a Christmas party earlier in December. It's my turn this year and I'lI really enjoy decorating our house in Richmond for it. There will be a handmade wreath and big pots of paper-whites at the front door. I love paper-whites - they have the most wonderful smell. Twigs and greenery and berries will be woven into the balustrade in the hall. And we'll have a great big Christmas tree in the ballroom, which is the perfect place to have a party. (I know that sounds so grand, but the house had one when we bought it.) There will be more paper-whites and early hellebores in old Victorian pots on the table.
I'm obsessed with Christmas, so I'm completely in my element being lucky enough to have two homes to decorate and celebrate in. Though they are two very different experiences, both are so special and come with such strong memories.
