Barry wrote:

> Times have changed though...We do live in a 'Hot' climate here in Oz.. The
> reverse to the 'Northern Hemisphere... (some of us celebrate the old
> traditional Christmas in Oz during 'July')

Informal meals seem to be the rule of the day for summer, and that applies
to Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere -- for the most part. However, there
are those who'd like to see a more formal affair, and I think that Barry
listed most of the things that would naturally grace a formal dinner table
in hot weather: Poached salmon, cold chicken/turkey, cold ham, and grilled
seafood.

My brother lives in Australia, and one year he asked me for guidance on what
would be a good menu for a formal holiday meal in the summertime. (Most
years he grills his catch of the day along with some other seafood, and has
a party on the patio, as seems a common Christmas practice there.)

Thing is, we in the USA don't *have* any tradition of formal holiday meals
in the summer; our summer holidays seem to revolve around cookouts. But a
cursory perusal of my old Gourmet cookbooks turned up chaud-froid, which
seemed to fit the bill nicely, so I tried to craft a menu around it.

Here's the menu I suggested to my brother (who was serving four adults and
two children):


Cold cream of zucchini soup
Lightly-boiled asparagus with vinaigrette dipping sauce
Cold ham covered with chaud-froid
Gingered cucumber salad
Moroccan cooked carrot salad
Tossed salad with a variety of dressings
Chocolate meringues with orange sherbet


Bob