Christmas waves a magic wand over this world!
The past few days have been really exciting. Beginning with catching up with an old friend M and I (who returned from London after such a long while). It's heartening to see that M's daughter has grown so much and that she's now preg with her second one! My affinity with little C grew when she warmed up a bit.
Look at that angelic face! As pretty as mommy. Sure to be the belle of the school when she's older. Already, she has loads of "boyfriends" in her neighbourhood. Who can resist her charm?
I really love Christmas and all the typical traditions. Ever since our visit to the States in 2007 when our dear friend N brought us to his dear friend's house for a party, I've been embracing such a tradition. I love parties with family(ok, not so actually) and friends. I love the celebrations the food, the carols and the presents!
Pressies galore from dear students. Every year (after our honeymoon days), sweetie and I 'wholeheartedly' and 'mutually' agree that we don't need to buy each other presents. Each year, he doesn't fail to surprise me! This year isn't an exception.
Invited an army of friends (17pax) over for a Christmas party. It's really enjoyable to see everyone gather and have fun. It's even more heartening to see my culinary skills appreciated. The process however didn't come easy. Grocery shopping started on the eve. After cleaning our house and a siesta which dragged till 9pm, sweetie and I went for dinner and grocery shopping at NTUC Bedok as it is now operating 24hours. Was disappointed when I learnt that the seafood and ham section was closed at 930pm. Then what's the point of being 24hours? I might as well visit 7-11 convenience store for my canned food or snack fixes! Hopped over to Seng Siong. It's array of food is far superior. At least you could still find a live fish swimming in the tank at 10pm! Was ecstatic when I found aluminium trays worth only 55cents. Well, to be honest, I was having mixed feelings. Overwhelmed with frustrations as well as joy. Frustrated becoz earlier when I visited at Value shop at Potong Pasir, I bought similar trays for 99cents, thinking that they were a steal! A joy coz I didn't buy enough and found cheaper ones at Seng Siong!
Xmas morning was spent at the wet market. Spent only 15mins and got all that was needed. This was followed by the washing and cleaning of foodstuff. Peeling of 1kg of prawns and skinning 1kg of squid is absolutely torturous! After lunch, I stood all the way to prep for the great Xmas party. Started actual cooking at approximately 330pm and was still frying when guests arrived at 630pm! It wasn't coz I was inefficient! Simply becoz i was multitasking! Was trying to be innovative with my food thus prep work took a long while! Fortunately D came over early and helped skew the bacon to the scallop and the asparagus with enoki mushrooms. Sweetie was also a dime (only a dime coz he went to the range in the afternoon for some golf!). He helped make the pumpkin mash. There's a strange madness in the Christmas air. It's as if something's pumping through the air that makes people grumpy. Instructed sweetie to do stuff, but after one task, he forgets the other. All in a span of 15mins! Memory of an elephant!
Halfway through prep work, we decided to chill over some drinks. Give the chef a booze to calm her nerves!
I know I'm big on recycling, but this is getting ridiculous! Found my 2008 placecards in the storeroom!
The spread was finally served at 7pm. The menu:Appetisers
- Scallop bacon wrap
- Butterhead with Crab and apple salad
- Potebello Mushroom with ham and cheese
- Asparagus wrapped with enoki mushroom
Mains:
- Hickory Honey baked Ribs
- Crockpot Mid Wings
- Pork Chops with cranberry sauce (Took almost half an hour to fry the chops..Need a bigger non-stick wok!)
- Satay (sponsored)
- Sirloin Rolls (these were painstakingly rolled onto lemongrass. Marinated it with a special sauce which I concorted. Inspired by a certain recipe from Morton's)
- Salt and Pepper Squid
- Garlic Prawns (a flop in my opinion as the garlic didn't turn out golden brown this time. Very disappointed as this is one of my specialties!)
- Pumpkin Mash Potato
- Butter Rice
Dessert
- Tiramisu made by C. Always like a guy who can bake! Think it's sexy!
Christmas is a season for indulgence. It's a way of justifying self-damaging excesses of food and alcohol. So to make my menu less sinful, I figured we need something light and refreshing. Couldn't find French Endives at the supermarkets thus had to make do with butterheads. Works just fine. Several found it refreshing. It's a nice blend with all the meats.
Binge drinking all in the name of joy, giving, happiness, generosity and love! haha
We welcomed guests to a cup of Nespresso. All who drank fell in love with it. My little coffee corner's looking adorable!!
Leftovers-- some wings and butter rice. We did good. Managed to finish 99%. Sweetie's mash potato was unfortunately thrown away as it was simply too much. Sigh...think my baby shouldn't make anything for nxt yr's Xmas...
'I' brought along her party gear and I had fun acting like a dumb blonde! haha
Games Galore! This year I've assigned Lieutenant Ang to be in charge of games. He proved his worth. everyone was entertained! However, the most actively participated one has to be gambling! Chinese New Year came early! ahaChrstimas always throws us into disarray. Fortunately this time round we have the wkend to recuperate! Today feels like Sunday, but it's consoling to know that it's only Saturday thus I can afford to blog.
Love, peace and joy came down on earth this Christmas day to make you happy and cheerful. May Christmas spread cheer in your lives,
May joy and happiness snow on you,
May the bells jingle for you and
May Santa Claus be extra nice to you.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
