Christmas wrap up

Of course we aren't all just about turkey and dessert. We had quite a lot of other things for our Christmas lunch as well. My sister is still top cook for these occasions and that white casserole thingy is her sheperd's pie. Supposedly a meat pie is traditional Christmas faire so she gave it a shot. On the left is Sisisa's green bean casserole - always a holiday standard. I'll let her tell you about that. There was also my dad's roast beef (made with the one and only Showtime Rotisserie) - but he can get his own blog if you want to hear about that. I like the block of cranberry sauce there the best.

No second fiddle dessert!

My sister is guaranteed to bring dessert on all our family gatherings, but that does not mean that she is the only bakery chef of the family. This was Chris' contribution for Christmas: Caramel apple pie. Dried apples and caramel sauce over yummy cheesecake. Good stuff.

Christmas Turkey!

So I had Christmas at my house this year. I had a lot of success with my Good Eats turkey for Thanksgiving (sorry, no pictures. we ate it too fast) that I decided to brine another one and do it again. Well I personally think that this one turned out even better. It was juicier and I think more evenly cooked. Well, the picture isn't as nice as my sister's work, and by the time I got the camera a hunk of it was gone, so just trust me that it tasted good and looked pretty nice as well.

My first tart!

Wedding registry is just great for getting stuff you've been meaning to get but keep putting off. I got a tart pan (ok, it's technically a quiche pan), and this is the first time I made something in it! I'm always in charge of bring the dessert at my family gatherings, so Christmas is the perfect time to try it out. The filling is pears and blueberries glazed with a berry jam. I could probably improve the appearance of this a bit. Maybe some dollops of cream? The taste is really good though.

Cleaning time!

We're leaving for Hong Kong on Christmas night and we needed to consume as much stuff in our refrigerator as possible. Since we will be having Christmas Eve dinner with family and Christmas lunch with more family, breakfast seems to be the right meal to try to do this. The frittata came out tasting great AND used up all the bits and pieces of vegetables lurking around in the refrigerator.

Popcorn Chicken

I tried. I really did. I tried to eat good during the week. But on weekends, my junk/fast food craving is almost impossible to resist. With Chris gone this weekend as well, I gave in. (He seems to get sick everytime he eats anything remotely resemble fast food.) One of my favorite is the popcorn chicken at Q-Cup here in Daly City. I get the meal with sweet potato fries and milk pearl tea. The picture only showed half of the portion. I never could finish the whole thing. Doesn't mean it stops me from trying everytime.

Wedding Shower

First I must say that I have the best coworkers ever! They decided to throw me a wedding shower so I was expecting a little gathering with some snacks. But this is what I got when I walked in the door of our very plain office lunch room. We had a very nice proper afternoon tea. Real china, sliverware, and glasses were used. Of course we had little sandwiches, scones, cheese & crackers and Fresh chocolate dripped strawberries! I can't thank all the people enough for making it happen. Don't even get me started on the presents....