Not very Christmassy...

Been busy. Been lazy.
Work. Gigs. Training.
Hence the cobwebs on this blog.

Christmas came and went and the New Year's approaching. The older I get, the more blah I feel about this time of year. From the festive standpoint, I didn't feel any happyjoyjoy. From the religious standpoint, well... I was as dry as leftover Christmas turkey breast.

Turkey baloney
Speaking of turkeys, boy do I have a wishbone to pick on this one. Price of turkey went up by 2 to 3 times compared to previous years. Why? Because there was a dumb new ruling about importing only halal turkey. And guess what, only one distributor got the tender, giving him the right to monopoly and inflate prices. Guess what again! There were dirty politics involved. Of course, this was not highlighted in this news report.

Then I thought of cooking lamb instead for my Christmas feast. Only to find the lamb legs available at Cold Storage supermarkets near my place (Subang Parade and Summit) didn't look all that fresh. Not to mention it was RM150 for a really small one the size of my arm. Oh-kay.

I was fed up. And decided to take my family out instead.
We had a really good meal at Pizza Uno. I always felt their food were kinda mediocre. And despite being really skeptical of Christmas menus at restaurants, I was pleasantly surprised by what they had to offer this time.

We ordered half a free range roast chicken (with chestnut stuffing), a serving of roast lamb (really juicy slices on grilled potatoes, served with mint sauce and a mushroom ragout), a pasta to share and 2 desserts. The fruit cake with brandy sauce was a dry disappointment, but the rum and raisin ice cream was marvellous. Loved its homemade taste. Total damage: RM166.70. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Banoffee Pie
I didn't cook, but I did make a banoffee pie. Took it to LY's gathering on Christmas eve. It was quite well received though the whipped cream kinda collapsed. I think it's meant to be whipped and spread right before serving. Maybe I'll try a meringue topping next time.

It was easy to make.
- Boil condensed milk in its own can for 5 hours to make dulce de leche (toffee). Make sure there's always water in the pot or the can will explode. Also good to boil 2-3 cans at once to keep for future use. They can last indefinitely once boiled.
- Prepare and bake the pastry (the day before also can). I made a sweet ground almond pastry. Kinda rich, so I think I'll use a basic shortcrust next time.
- Spread toffee on baked pastry. Layer on bananas. More toffee if you like it that way.
- Top with whipped cream and a sprinkling of coffee powder.

Food & Booze
- A bunch of us were drinking every evening leading up to Christmas in the office (after work of course). That's when I discovered my new favourite beer! Asahi Super Dry. We also had vodka. And TL makes a killer Mojito. Though it was rather embarassing how I look like such a drunkard after only one drink.

- Finally saw AW again after a long time at her dinner party on Sunday. Yummy food. And great company with so many familiar faces. Youth fellowship friends. Ex-schoolmates. Ex-colleagues from DDBi. Thanks to JK, people I know from these different circles are now hanging out together. How cool is that! And I had a taste of my first Watermelon-Chili Padi Martini. It was freaking AWESOME!

- For the first time in history (hahaha), there was no Christmas Eve party at LY's place this year. Only a small gathering of friends. The family abandoned her for another holiday to China. We drank a lot less this year - a sign of age, perhaps? And boy, do I miss that huge roast lamb that was the main event at her annual party. Sigh.

Timber...
I didn't put up the tree this year. Mainly because the tree's space in the living room was taken up by a new shoe cabinet. My house being so small and cluttered, there was no other place for it. It's now standing quite happily in D's apartment. I kinda missed having a tree in my house, but I got over it pretty quickly.

Santa Pause
It wasn't just the tree that went missing. I didn't bother with gifts for my family either. I only got presents for close friends and cupcakes from Happy Belly for my colleagues. Well, that's cos I already got my bro a pair of Adidas tennis shoes when I was in Hong Kong recently. My mom wanted cash. I didn't know what to get my dad, so I gave him cash as well. My favourite cousin and niece migrated to Melbourne (got them gifts but wondering how to send them over). My other nephews and nieces didn't really appreciate my presents from previous years (who the hell wouldn't appreciate complete booksets!!!) so too bad, I ain't giving nothing this year.

Presents for me! Yay!
Got a few lovely books for Christmas this year, a cute robot t-shirt from JH and a few odd things here and there! Best of all, D, LY and SM got me a whammy combo of my favourite games - Scrabble, Taboo and Boggle! Wooohooo!


Sunshine's present from me - a doggy seatbelt. A cookbook wrapped like a chocolate bar from my art director. Kakakaka!

Merry Christmas everybody.
Happy New Year!