Every year I swear I will be organised, and every year I am wrapping presents at midnight on Christmas Eve. Not this time. Here are seven picks for our Xmas Gift Guide that are getting me through my list, from a night under the Big Top to a toothbrush with a camera, to a host who has everything, the friend who flies too much, a pet parent and the person I never know what to buy for.
For The Experience Seeker
Cirque du Soleil KOOZA: The Gift That Gets Everyone Off The Couch
For the person who would rather make a memory than unwrap another candle. Experiences are the presents I never regret, and this one is the best we have given ourselves all year. Cirque du Soleil has pitched its Big Top at the Entertainment Quarter in Moore Park, and I walk in expecting a nice night out and walk out calling KOOZA our favourite Cirque yet. There is a cute dog (cue a person wearing a dog outfit) who appears with the ‘clown crew’ and actually wees mid performance which is hilarious. There is the Wheel of Death oh and a live band. There’s a section where they pull someone out of the crowd which has us all laughing. Juggling and stunningly honed human bodies which scale chairs into the height of the tent, or strap stilts to their legs and fly in the air – my stomach is in knots but the set, the art and the experience are world leading. Tickets are the easiest gift on the list: no wrapping, returns, or queue at the shops. KOOZA plays Sydney until 3 January 2027, so there is still time to book in for the school holidays or a post-Xmas catch-up. Tickets from $79. Book at cirquedusoleil.com/kooza.
For The Home Entertainer
Skull Island Tiger Prawns: Delivered, Delicious And Dressed For Christmas
We had ours delivered fresh n’ frozen, and wow. The flavour is stunningly sweet. Way better than a lobster! We split them, slathered them in garlic and herb butter and cooked them on the BBQ. Delish. We have had them at restaurants but never in our home before. These are wild-caught tiger prawns from the Gulf of Carpentaria and the biggest you will find in Australia, often around 22cm long and up to 80g each. They come from the world’s first MSC-certified sustainable tropical prawn fishery and are snap-frozen at sea. The catch runs from around August to November, so they land just in time for Christmas. Whilst ours where delivered to our door, you can hunt them down at the Sydney Fish Market. To order, you pop your postcode into the website and it takes you through to choosing your prawn: Giant at 80g each or Jumbo at 60g each. Every box is 3kg, so this is a gift for a crowd. A BBQ Christmas lunch for the host who loves feeding a crowd is sorted. 3kg box: $220 for Giant, $170 for Jumbo. Available at skullisland.com.au and selected fish markets. If you want a laugh watch their viral Eat the Wild video here
Barbetta Dolce Vita Caffè Box: After-Dinner Entertaining, Sorted
We loved the chocolate cantucci in this box. They are crisp, buttery, studded with chocolate and made for dunking, which makes them my idea of perfect after-dinner entertaining. Nobody has to bake, nobody has to plate anything fancy, and everyone assumes I am organised. The rest of the box is just as giftable: Di Lorenzo coffee, Lavoratti milk and biscuit chocolate, a colourful La Dolce Vita plate to serve it all on, and a Muzzi mini panettoncino for a little hit of Italian Christmas. It arrives beautifully boxed, so it is the ready-made present I would give the host, the neighbour or the friend who already has everything. $120. Available at Barbetta Cucina, Paddington, with Australia-wide postage.
ALDI Christmas Range: Freezer-To-Table Entertaining
Aldi has a new Xmas Freezer range which is being launched We tried the Curated Collection Lobster Tails (380g) with Garlic Butter Glaze and the Atlantic Salmon Side with Tuscan Style Herb Crust (700g). I cook both straight from frozen, with no defrosting. We slathered the salmon in butter, in addition to the Tuscan seasoning of tomato powder, paprika and black pepper, laid lemon slices on top, set it on baking paper and cooked it at 180°C for 25 minutes in the oven, (the pack says 30 mins, but we rested it in foil). The lobster is cooked at a higher heat, so I used the Sunbeam Alinea instead (the oven instructions where 200°C/30mins) whilst I cooked them both for 25 minutes at 180°C, and they were perfect. The salmon is amazing value: $23.99 for 700g works out at $34.27 a kilo. A whole salmon at a fishmonger costs a lot more than that when you consider de boning and filleting. Whilst fresh fillets run from $40 to $54 and up. For busy families, it beats the queue for fresh seafood at Christmas time any day. We didn’t try others in the Christmas range which include: the Split Rock Lobster (450g) in Garlic & Herb or French Style, new Curated Collection Prawn Toast (168g, a new Lemon & Chantilly Cream Roulade (425g) for the dessert table, and the Festive Selection Mini Puddings and Fruit Mince Pies, which are back. Lobster Tails with Garlic Butter Glaze 380g $32.99, Atlantic Salmon Side 700g $23.99, Split Rock Lobster 450g $29.99, Available at ALDI.
Sunbeam Alinea Wide Ceramic Air Fryer 10L: The One For Feeding A Crowd & The Quietest on the Market
Our favourite Sunbeam to date is still the Sunbeam Steam, but this new Alinea Wide is the one I reach for when I am entertaining: it swallows a 1.8kg chicken with no drama at all, which is exactly what I want from a benchtop appliance when the whole table is coming over like they did this weekend! It also did really well with the fries, which came out evenly cooked all the way through. Other air fryers we have tested have heat spots. The ultra-wide 10L basket splits into two 5L zones with a removable ceramic divider, so the main and the sides can cook side by side, this is far superior to any airfryer with two pull out trays (please don’t get them!). Worth knowing: the divider keeps foods apart rather than running two different programs, as no separate temperature or timer if offered. There is a viewing window and an internal light which I really like and a 40 to 200°C range at 2000W, and the tray and divider are dishwasher safe. It takes up about 40cm by 40cm of bench which is sizeable against all the other gadgets, but it’s a more manageable height at 30cm tall. QuietFry Technology is a thing, it works and is a game changer it sooo quiet! Available at Sunbeam, The Good Guys, Betta and Amazon.
Dreame Tasti AF30 7L SmartSteam Cyclonic Air Fryer: All The Steam
The steam is the hero here. As well as a steam fry mode, the AF30 has a button to add a little burst of steam while I cook, which is excellent for things like my sourdough, it came out with an even bronzed tan. It cooks fish beautifully. The low-temperature dehydrator (50 to 65°C) is a handy extra too, especially for homemade dog treats, its great for left over salmon skin which dried nicely keeping in the fish oils. It has a 7L basket, 2300W, 12 preset modes and a nano-ceramic coating with dishwasher-safe parts, and it is a serious machine. This baby does it all air frying, steam frying, grilling, reheating, baking, and baking functions 6-in-1. Unusually it has a top and bottom dual heat source which is great for my spinach quiche with a crispier bottom than most airfyers can achieve. The bottom element is exposed so keep fingers on the basket handle. My quibbles are shape, placement and noise. The tray is square, and I prefer a rectangle: it is better for chicken and ribs, or for heating two ready-to-heat meals side by side, which is much harder in a square. The buttons are also on top. When sunlight streams into my kitchen, the display disappears in the glare, and at 5ft 4 I am up on my tiptoes to see the top of the air fryer buttons when it sits on a normal bench at 38cm tall. It is also the loudest air fryer we have tested. Someone taller than me, or with a moodier kitchen, may never notice the placement grumbles. I love the steam function enough that I would still gift it to the steam-loving cook on the list. $349. Available at Dreame Australia.
For The Tech Lovers
Twelve South Frost Collection: Travel Tech That Finally Looks The Part
Twelve South has dressed two of its best travel gadgets in fresh translucent colourways which includes Glacial White, Black Ice, Mint Ice and Fuchsia Ice. I love the new colours. Stocking fillers rarely look this good. I ordered both in Mint Ice. The AirFly Pro 2 gets a bonus Teal. The AirFly Pro 2 plugs into any 3.5mm headphone jack, so wireless headphones work with the seatback screen on the plane or the treadmill at the gym. It pairs two sets at once, mine ran easily for over 24hrs, it flips into receiver mode to give an old stereo a Bluetooth upgrade. Its ground partner, the ButterFly SE 25W, is a compact two-in-one charger that powers a phone (25W) and an Apple Watch (5W) at the same time, with a braided cable in a matching colour. This is a fantastic travel companion and was so good to pop by my bedside on a recent Melbourne hotel stay. It needs a 30W or higher USB-C adapter, sold separately. I would buy them as a pair for the frequent flyer, the gym bunny or anyone with a summer holiday booked. AirFly Pro 2 $89.95, Butterfly RRP $179 but check out sales at JB HI-FI and major retailers
MOVA Fresh 20 Vision: The Toothbrush That Tells On You
For the person who has everything, how about a toothbrush with a camera? The MOVA Fresh 20 Vision comes with a separate plaque detector that uses fluorescence to make invisible plaque visible, then maps what it finds in the MOVAhome app so it shows exactly where to focus. The routine is scan, brush, check: the wand goes first, before the toothpaste, and then comes out again after brushing to confirm the glowing spots are gone. 1029 Hot Tomato’s review notes that the brush ramps up its vibration in the plaque-heavy zones it found, and that, unlike Dyson’s CameraJet with its built-in lens, MOVA keeps the camera on a separate wand so the brush itself stays light. Then the brush gets to work with sonic sweep vibration, a small colour display, bone-conduction voice guidance that talks through the teeth, and a pressure light that turns red when the pressure gets too hard. MOVA claims up to 120 days of battery (based on two minutes, twice a day), it is waterproof to IPX8, and a travel lock stops it buzzing to life in a bag. The box includes two brush heads (whitening and sensitive care) and a wall-mounted holder. It charges through a USB-C port at the base of the handle and hangs on that mount, rather than standing on a charging base. In this day and age everything has an app, including my toothbrush. The MOVAhome app is where I can alter things like the speed (MOVA lists 10 levels of settings for vibration intensity, sweep angle and speed). I connect the brush to the internet through the app, and the separate camera wand gets connected the same way. For me, the setup is not the smooth part. I found the toothbrush a bit fiddly to set up, and the plaque detector’s wifi setup guide has a QR code for a video tutorial that took me to a dead page so it was a bit of trial and error to get it working. $399 RRP. Available at MOVA Australia and Amazon.
For The Pet Parent
Pet Water Fountain: Fresh Water, Zero Floating Bits by Dreame PY10
I love this for Georgia and Maggie my greyhounds. We used a large bowl before, and food and bits were always floating around in the water. Which is so gross. This is a USB charged game changer! My pups love it and there is so much less water sloshed on our kitchen floor with the dispensing system. The radar starts the flow when Georgia walks up or I go past! (it detects up to 1.5m away across 120°), and the water refreshes on a schedule anywhere from every 4 to 24 hours. Clean water sits in one tank and used water goes to a separate waste tank, so nothing from the drinking tray flows back. The mesh filter rinses clean with no replacement cartridges (which is something which sets it apart). The tray is stainless steel, and LED lights flag to show a low battery or a full waste tank. All a big win in my book. It looks stylish in our home and for big dogs the tray is elevated which is good for their necks. I also use Dog Rocks with our water – sounds like a gimmick but they totally work. With this system i can drop the rocks easily into the water tank, and it avoids yellow stains or killed grass. It holds 3L of clean water and runs on a 4,000mAh battery that Dreame rates at up to 90 days (we have had it for 3 weeks). So it does not need to sit beside a power point. Love it and a great gift for any Pet Parent. $169. Available at Dreame Australia.