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!

Early X'mas for Sunshine

Gimme gimme gimme... heck, I'm jumping for it!

Thank you Bessy & Aunty YL! :D
They smell and taste so good, even my human wanted to eat it.

It's a month to Christmas

And I haven't planned Christmas dinner.
Heck, I haven't even been talking about food for quite a long time now. How weird is that? Doesn't mean my appetite has diminished in any way. With all the exercise I'm getting, I'm constantly hungry.

Saw this wonderful recipe for a Slow-roasted Shoulder of Lamb rubbed with Rosemary, Anchovy and Lemon Zest on Chocolate & Zucchini and decided, maybe for the first time ever, I won't roast a turkey.

I'll make soup, maybe pumpkin... a nice big salad, mash potatoes, the lamb and a dessert. Maybe something chocolatey this time. Though I am itching to try a banoffee pie, with black pepper added into the pie crust for some kick. Hmmmm....

Gosh, it's also time to put up the tree!

A feast of purples and blues and earthy hues

Christmas Feast 2006 Menu


~ French Onion Soup
~ Roast Turkey with Mushroom Stuffing
~ Blue-Rippled Mashed Potatoes
~ Red Cabbage with Prunes and Apple
~ Spicy Pumpkin Pie
~ Cranberry Cooler
~ White Wine (from LY) & Red Wine (Penfolds Bin 389 Cabernet Shiraz vintage 2001)


The soup

This turned out sweet and earthy. Lots of thinly sliced onions sauteed in butter until brown, then brought to a simmer with real beef stock (freaking expensive at RM9.89 for a small carton) and chicken stock. It was buttery and comforting, served with a slice of baguette and topped with cheese.


The bird

The bird had quite an adventure. An overnight defrost. A quick massage with olive oil, lemon juice and butter. Loose stuffing of its nether regions with the used lemons and cut onions. And then 'plop' into the roasting pan for a trip to YL's place.

Little did we know that the bird's surrogate oven was actually a GAS one. And we didn't know what the Gas Marker equivalents were in Celcius. Aiya. We made a guess, popped it into the oven and went out to do some last minute Christmas shopping.

When we got back we found out there had been a black out in the past hour. Uh oh. The cooking time of the bird went all wonky from then on. YL's mom upped the temperature when we were out, but the turkey didn't even break into a sweat. By the end of the stipulated cooking time, it looked a light brown, barely golden. And the pop-up indicator didn't pop to announce the bird's ready.

So I took it home and gave it another blast in the oven, 15 minutes at a time, to a total of 45 minutes. Still no pop. Oh dear. Better a slightly undercooked turkey than a stringy dry one. So I took it out.

The result, it wasn't undercooked at all. In fact, the breast was a tad on the dry side. Drat. And after searching high and low around PJ and Subang for roasted chestnuts, there were none to be found. So I took the mushrooms meant for mushroom bruschetta, and turned it into stuffing instead, with some of the turkey's roasting juices, celery and onions.


Something blue

I bought the loveliest blue potatoes, boiled them with some normal ones, mashed them separately with butter, milk and salt, and swirled them together. Mom thought they looked like mouldy 'tatoes. But I thought they were pretty, in a blueberry in vanilla ripple ice-cream kinda way. They were the waxy type of spuds though, and were hard to mash (hence the lumpiness). My fingers were cramped by the time I was done. I think I'll try it with purple sweet potatoes next time.


Deep purple

This was a first with red cabbage for me. I sliced it thin and it looked so nice on the cutting board. It was almost a shame to cook it into mulch, with sliced green apples, prunes and spices (nutmeg, cinnamon). I had a bottle of red wine open and poured in a slug of that. It had a complex taste - earthy, tangy, sweet, savoury, all at the same time. I liked it, but it was a little strange to my family. Red cabbage was always a salad by-the-way, and never eaten like this. I'd make this again, but in lesser quantities.


Pie, oh, pie!

Oooh, I love pumpkin pie. Maybe because it's not easy to get at the shops and I love all things pumpkin. I followed the instructions to an ordinary pumpkin pie, with shortcrust pastry and a pumpkin custard made from canned pumpkin, eggs, evap milk. After the pie set, I crushed enough ginger nut cookies to pile a layer of spicy crumbs on top!

Didn't get many pictures this time. My camera battery died on me right after I took the red cabbage photos. Haha! The rest were from LY's camera :)

It's been over a week since the dinner. I'm gonna finish off the rest of the wine right after this. Cheers!

Planning the Christmas feast

It's that time of the year again.
And it's my favourite time too. When Christmas lights go up in shopping malls and pretty trees get all dressed up, the kid in me goes "YAY".

The kid in me has also gotten over Santa a long time ago. Nobody told me he was as real as snow in KL, but I kinda knew all along anyway. That's a cynical child for you. If a fat guy in a beard and red suit were to squeeze into my house through the air well on Christmas eve, we'd prolly beat him up with a stick. And rob him. Yeah. Let's see him say ho-ho-ho to that. Ha-ha. :P

Shopping and gifts planning aside, the main event in my book is my family's annual Christmas dinner. I started it in 2000, cos my family was boring - Christmas was like any other day before I did something about it. There wasn't even a Christmas tree until I got one that same year.

Turkey has been a staple every year on my table since, usually the weekend before Christmas. And once you've tasted home-roasted turkey, shop bought birds are simply *blehh*. Too salty, too dry, too expensive.

For last year's feast, I roasted the turkey sans stuffing to cut cooking time. I should've learnt to do this much sooner. Another new discovery was the 'bird flip' - roasting the turkey breast side down towards the second half of cooking time to prevent the breast from drying out.

And as far as stuffings go, I've made the traditional chestnut (with freshly roasted chestnuts, painstakingly peeled), sage and onion, as well as a sausage and apple stuffing. I loved the chestnut stuffing the best, but that needed the most amount of work. Haven't quite decided what stuffing to make this time, but I may revisit the chestnut again.

Now my main worry is the oven. After dying on me at least twice this year, it's working again. But it makes the weirdest, scariest noise. A turkey takes over 4 hours to roast, and I fear the oven would explode or fry, taking my precious turkey with it. Thankfully, YL has offered her oven as my turkey's surrogate roaster. And after debating if I should be less ambitious and cook something simpler like lamb chops or a pork pot roast... NAHHHHH.

The turkey's a once a year bird.
It shall be granted an appearance.

And this is the menu I'm planning. Mmmm.

~ French Onion or Minestrone or Beetroot Soup (depending on where my impulse nudges me at the supermarket).
~ Mushroom Bruschetta.
~ Roast Turkey with Traditional Chestnut Stuffing.
~ Spiced Red Cabbage with Apple and Prunes. Recipe from C&Z. Although originally meant for roast pork, it sounded too good (both turkey and pork are white meat waaatt, hehe)
~ Pumpkin Pie with Ginger Glaze.
~ Cranberry Cooler.

Hmmm. Better go buy the turkey before they're sold out again!

Very late but...

It's been two weeks, but here's a little list of what I got for Christmas. Apart from a stiff neck.

- Chicago and Moulin Rouge Original DVDs from D! Yipppeeee! Can't wait to watch them again. It's quite sickening but D and I know practically all the songs from Moulin Rouge by heart. We try not to sing in public. At least not when no one's paying. Heh.
- A Roald Dahl Box Set with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Glass Elevator, James & The Giant Peach and Fantastic Mr Fox from LY. It was like a book exchange this year. Hehe.
- The Family Ipoh Trip from my brother (he drove, paid for gas, toll fees and threw in breakfast for good measure)
- A beautiful collection of postcards by Yoshimoto Nara, an amazing Japanese artist, from YL. Wow. She probably supplied half the postcards in my collection over the years with all the travelling she had done.
- A lovely CD from Box and a package filled with love from Mint, all the way from Chicago.
- An eye-opening book, From Beirut to Jerusalem, from JL the marchan-wannabe and a baking book from D's mom (can't wait to start on some of the recipes).
- A doggy bag from JH (a bag with doggy prints all over, not a takeaway bag for leftovers) and a T-shirt with a sequined Indian woman on it from PC (her parents - my Godparents, gave me a cute bathing kit and a 2006 diary).
- Christian literature on Mother Theresa from AT and a nice wooden-beaded rosary from CC.
- Lots of knick knacks, chocolate and cookies from colleagues and friends

I remember opening my presents early on Christmas day cos my neck didn't allow me to sleep without tremendous pain.

So much love.
I'm very blessed.

Thank you.

Christmas Feast 2005

The menu:
~ Fresh Mushroom Soup
~ Mesclun Salad with Roasted Garlic Balsamic Vinaigrette
~ Garlic Mashed Potatoes
~ Roast Turkey with Sausage, Sage & Onion Stuffing
~ Chocolate Volcano with Vanilla Ice Cream
~ Cranberry Cooler
~ Shiraz, Wyndham Estate Bin 555 2002


Kinda early for a Christmas dinner, but necessary knowing how insanely hectic Christmas Day itself could be.

Even yesterday (Sunday), I was running behind schedule with the food. We only started eating at 8.30pm (dinner was planned for 7.30).

It's the TURKEY's fault.
I saw the frozen birds at Carrefour, Midvalley going at RM12.90 per kg, two weeks ago. But guess what, they were all sold out when I went there on Saturday. And at most places, the birds were too big (above 6kg). I wanted a 3-4kg bird.

So yesterday morning, I went on a mad turkey chase and finally found a place with smaller birds. But the smallest were at least 5kg or just slightly under. And at RM15.90 per kg too. Oh well. Not like I had a choice. So I bought two (one of last night, and one for JH's party coming Friday).

From 11.00am:

1. The turkey. It took several hours in a water bath to defrost it.

2. The stuffing. Because I was running late, I had to cook the turkey sans stuffing (which saved me an hour). So I cooked this separately, and gave it some turkey flavour with stock made by boiling the bird's giblets and neck.

3. The roasting. I read that covering the breast with bacon keeps the breast moist. So I tried that and it made the bird look rather interesting. Into the oven it went for 4 hours. Did that tip work? More on that later.

4. The mash. I boiled the potatoes and roasted a clove of garlic.
Then I mashed them with butter and cream before leaving it in the fridge (it was still early).

5. The soup. I sliced the mushrooms, cooked them in butter with chopped onions till soft, addded chicken stock and pureed half the pot in the blender (so that there were fine mushroom bits as well as juicy slices). A dash of cream and I left it to simmer.

6. Dessert. At this point, it was already 7pm. I quickly melted the chocolate in a bowl over a hot bath (the bowl, not me, though I desperately needed one at that point). Then I creamed the butter and sugar, added eggs and flour, a dash of rum, and folded them into the chocolate evenly. Then into the muffin tray it went (I wanted to get ramekin dishes but didn't have time!).

7. The salad. The pre-packed salad leaves went into my salad bowl with cherry tomatoes and sliced onions. For dressing, I mashed a clove of roasted garlic into olive oil and stirred in balsamic vinegar with a pinch of salt. My favourite vinaigrette.

8. The drinks. It was a very very hot day. And keeping with the festive season, I mixed half a jug each of cranberry juice and 7-up. Juice from half a lemon, ice and we had a jug of Cranberry Cooler (copied this from Dome's menu).

9. The gravy. When turkey was ready, it was placed on a serving dish and garnished, while the meat juices went to a saucepan, and thickened for gravy.





The verdict:

We were stuffed (though the turkey wasn't).

The soup was nicest, in my opinion. Maybe it's cos I love soup. And the fresh button and Swiss brown mushrooms made it really earthy and delicious.

The mash didn't turn out as smooth as I hoped it would. And it was perhaps too heavy on the garlic.

The salad was simple to eat. The way I like it.

The turkey and stuffing were okay. And the bit about bacon keeping the breast juicy - A LIE. The breast was like typical roast turkey breast - on the dry side. Maybe I should try roasting it breast down next time. The turkey was tasty though, and the stuffing quite unnecessary. I'd skip it next year.

The volcanoes exploded prematurely again - when I tipped them over. Upset. Even after baking it an extra 2 minutes. I really MUST MUST MUST get it right next time. And buy proper ramekin dishes for it too.

What a day. I was full and exhausted. But it was great fun.
I'm grateful it's only once a year.

All I want for Christmas...

It's over a month away, but I'm starting to think about how broke I will be before the year is out.

1. The Tree. I bought a 6ft Christmas tree at a good bargain (RM75) a few years ago. But its leaves were made of paper and collected alot of dust over the years, so mom threw it out. I'm looking for a new tree, one that has plastic-like leaves, but the cheapest I've seen so far range between RM200-300. I could do without a tree this year. But where will I put the presents?

2. The Gifts. I spend an average of a few hundred bucks on presents for nieces and nephews, close cousins, my family and close friends.

3. The Dog. I'll be looking at some pups this weekend. If all goes well, there should be a doggy in my house by Christmas.

4. The Feast. I've been roasting the annual turkey for the past few years (each time with a different stuffing). And my family with the occasional guest or two will sit down to a 4 or 5 course dinner, wine and all. Turkeys however, are getting more and more expensive. I'm thinking of roasting a leg of lamb for a change, courtesy of a recipe from Vish. With pumpkin soup for starter, grilled portabellos, a salad and chocolate volcanoes (molten chocolate baby cakes) for dessert.


I SPOIL MYSELF

I think I've been quite indulgent this year.
Buying 'gifts' for myself, justifying them with
"Oh, I deserve it, dammit."

Stuff like my new camera, my new wallet, new books I bought whenever I felt like it (some are still yet to be read) and the impulse shopping at Blook.

Why I declare this an indulgence? You see, I usually shop only when there's A SALE, with at least 30% off the item or when I really need something. These days, it's "Oooh, I like. Buy." (within reason).
Or "Oooh, I like," stew over it a few days, then "Buy."

So here's my wish-list. Stuff I think I'll push into next year's "TO GET" list. That is, if I survive Christmas.

MY WISH-LIST

1. An iPod. In black. With video. 30G. Retailing in KL for RM1600, cheaper in Singapore at RM1200.

2. Books from Neil Gaiman and Roald Dahl. I've read some if not most of their books, but don't own a single one.

3. Some Lonely Planets. For Cambodia or Spain & Portugal. LY and I plan to visit at least one of these places next year.

4. A holiday to Cambodia or Spain & Portugal. Sigh.

5. Original DVDs. For Big Fish, Nightmare Before Christmas, Moulin Rouge, Chicago. I should give my favourite movies due respect.

6. A blusher brush (better yet, a basic set of brushes). In an attempt to be more girly as I grow older, I shall need the proper tools. The last I checked, Bodyshop has a decent, affordable selection. Note: I rarely, rarely wear make-up. So mar-farn (troublesome)!

7. A full manicure & pedicure voucher with 6 months validity period. Yet another trying-to-be-more-feminine attempt. I need to get out of my nail-picking, finger-mutilating nervous habit. And 6 months should give me enough time to grow them out, so I don't let the voucher go to waste. I'm pathetic, yes.

8. A freaking new computer for the house. I must make my brother share the cost of this with me. Heck, he should buy it this time cos I bought the current one a few years ago. It's slow and cranky now, makes weird noises and the monitor's RGB has lost it's green. I can only see things in red and blue (so that's what being colour blind feels like).

My, my... a girl can ask for quite a lot.