Xmas lunch

Definitely OFF ‘christmasy’ traditions this year.

No tree this year as we are still ‘groaning in tiredness’ in un/packing, cleaning and sorting – couldn’t bear the thought of having one more thing to sort out!!! Hopefully it’ll get much better by CNY!!! Ha ha ha

Last minute, decided to have a small do at our place.

While I can only imagine people having their traditional roast turkey with stuffing or roast ham/pork, roasted potatoes and vegetables…..guess what I dished up for our Xmas lunch inviting my parents over for a simple first meal at our place?

…..after much vexing considerations – believe me, had sleepless nights deciding what to prepare – would be chicken, salmon or quiche…..but finally decided on……PIZZA. *ahem, afterall it is a Friday right?!!* Ha ha ha….yep its pizza for Xmas lunch. So not ‘traditional’ ya, no fun bonbons to pull either (but then hey, I’m an Asian leh!!!) Lolz. Of course when D and MP heard about us having pizza, let’s just say there were no protests but a whooping loud unison concurrence!

Might leave the roast chicken or salmon for New Year eve dinner instead – we shall see (got another week to plan this right? And since I’m on leave, got more time to do more).

Not sure about you but I need to prepare mentally what I am cooking otherwise get overly disorganized and kalang-kabut. Of course it also makes getting the groceries easier :)

To celebrate our first meal…..we popped open a champagne. Its no Dom Perignon but well, good enough for us. No proper flute glasses but at least I’m thankful we didn’t need to drink out of mugs or bowls (ha ha ha….reminds me of Uni days – those were fun time too).

Great bubbly....we all got a little 'high' and heady after a couple of glasses *....zzzzzzz...*

MP’s pizza – sausage, ham, crabstick and lots of cheese.

The ‘super-special’ Lot – pepperoni (chicken and beef), ham, mushroom, olive, garlic, sausage and onions.

Gourmet vegan pizza – mozerella, rocket, basil, grilled zucchini, eggplant, garlic and tomatoes. More effort required because you need to grill the vegetables separately first but well worth the effort.

Spicy Thai Roast Chicken

And for dessert.....we had Dark Gingerbread with Pear Upside Down Cake

Merry Xmas

Was looking forward to a low key Xmas this year (still tired from packing and unpacking) until a good friend of mine invited me over to celebrate at her place on the eve. Didn’t leave me much time to plan as I wanted to bring something to share (I mean afterall don’t people spend weeks if not months planning their Xmas menu!!). I know she’s hosting but couldn’t resist bring something over. One thing I like about her place is that she has a big family and its always a delight to share something with them (cos everything good or not gets wallop!) Thought I’d keep it simple by bringing something I’ve done before – that way not too embarrassing in case it doesn’t turn out!! They may be forgiving eaters but don’t want to overextend my welcome, ha ha ha.

Didn’t opt for a traditional Xmas log cake (haven’t tried one yet), baked the Very Vanilla Baked Cheesecake instead. We try not to repeat our mistakes so here’s the cake, decorated slightly better. Must say that the Xmas ornaments helped a lot!

Also brought over an olive bread. Was hoping to attempt a new shape but it didn’t turn – think it is meant for a different type of dough, well there is always next year :) Thought it looked like a big fat roasted chicken!! Glad it went well with the other dinner dishes.



So Merry Xmas to everyone. Master Prince is looking forward to singing some carols and so am I!



Here's a peek of the very yummy Xmas eve dinner served, all with a German twist :)

The spread - roast pork, roasted vegetables, caramelized onions, gravy, brussels sprouts, sauerkraut, olive bread, stollen and chocolate xmas candies :)

The cumin flavoured roast pork was very good.

The Sauerkraut was out of the world, best I've ever tasted. Will never be able to eat those commercial ones served at restaurant anymore :( Understand the trick is to stew the commercial ones overnight with some cured meat and bacon, that will bring out the flavour even more!!

German rum filled Stollen. Very moist and lovely with black coffee!! We were served brewed Vietnamese coffee. It was very fragrant, tasty and kept me up all night!!! Worth every drop though ;)

It was a great night - good company, food and wine filled plenty of laughter and carols.