Christmas and beyond

[elissande]

I’ve decided to make better use of this blog – one way or the other. Not that this is a NY resolution, mind you – I’m not going to commit myself to anything.

So what should I blog about? Food and books seem to be the obvious choices at the moment. I’ll start on food – Christmas food to be precise.

Last year – err the year before last, when it turned out that my sister-in-law ended up cooking 2 Christmas dinners (we have ours on Christmas Eve while her family has it on Christmas day) we all said that was unfair and I offered to cook for this Christmas just past. I may have gone just a little overboard – but here’s the menu. We have a cold Christmas meal, so there were quite a few things that could be cooked beforehand.

Nibbles: Spicy nuts, bean and rosemary dip, pastry twists (herb and spicy), Thai chicken balls.
Entrée: Freeform prawn pies with salad garnish.
Main course: Turkey with citrus stuffing, glazed ham (well, part of a ham anyway), potato salad, orange and date salad, roast vegetable and chickpea salad, raspberry and cranberry sauce.
Dessert: Ice cream Christmas pudding.
After: coffee and Adora chocolate.

It all turned out well, but the big hits were the Thai chicken balls, the prawn pies (especially without the pastry, which was, imho, pretty ordinary – I’ll use a different pastry recipe next time), the Raspberry and cranberry sauce and the Christmas pudding. I was pretty pleased with the hit rate. And at the end we were, of course, all stuffed to the gills.

Styvyn was my kitchen hand - which impressed my sister-in-law – and did a pretty good job of that and of helping to keep me sane. Cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen added an extra layer of stress, but it all worked out and I got to sit back and enjoy the meal.

And what did I get for Christmas? A new tagine and a pasta maker – as well as a few books of harp music (though I bought a few of those for myself). I think there’s a theme for that Christmas.

Comments

[dream-wind.livejournal.com]

Prawn pies... mmmmmmm.....

I really need to get out my pasta maker and use it.

New tagine? What's wrong with the old one? Actually, I really want one of them.

[elissande.livejournal.com]

The problem with the old tagine is that I didn't have one! :)

I've only managed to use the pasta maker once so far - must use it again! Must search web for good recipes.

[little-foxy.livejournal.com]

That sounds like an amazing christmas menu. Really wished I could have tried the thai chicken balls when they made an appearance here....

and food porn in the journal is greatly appreciated!!

[elissande.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'll try and come up with a chilli-free version (though I think they'd have to be called something other than Thai chicken balls).

Food porn - maybe I should start including pictures.

[little-foxy.livejournal.com]

pictures... oh yeah baby!

Can give you a good pasta dough recipe. the one Jamie oliver uses is really good and easy!

[elissande.livejournal.com]

Ok, that would be good. The one I used came with the machine and it worked - and it wasn't too difficult but was ok, but I wouldn't call it good.

[miladyred.livejournal.com]

It all sounds just yummy and I'd definitely be up for some recipe swapping. Hope to catch up with you guys next time I am in Sydney for coffee as my allergy to playing seems not to be abating.

[elissande.livejournal.com]

That sounds like an excellent idea. Do let us know next time you're up here. And we will actually try to make it out there sometime this year. We do miss you at Festival, but I can understand how these things go.