Christmas Dinner Closure : What a disaster!? January 4, 2010

So the morning was bright and shine, warm and such welcoming on the day of Christmas, except for the fact that I got my PMS kicked in, the night before, didn’t wake up until like 2PM in the afternoon…

Yeah…I so did not planned for this…

>///<

@2PM

Got up  and got all freshen up with my baby, headed toward my kitchen to make  cookies as I planned the first thing on my task list, although it was nearly 8 hours late for that.

@3:00PM

Oh well, by accidentally mistaken the cinnamon powder with ginger powder which instead of sieving  the ginger powder into the dough I ended up sieving cinnamon powder into the dough which of course it was a failure…such hurry did me no good at all..

@4PM

Started all over again…(Too much of cinnamon scent was not smelling good at all. >///< I guess I didn’t like cinnamon that much.)

Duh~ It’s ginger bread cookies not “cinnamon bread cookies”!

@6:15PM

Second trial of ginger bread cookies were a successes, and that went into the oven to bake.

Hurry! The chicken must go in!

So I tossed the bones removed chicken thighs into the oven and set it to roast for an hour.

@6:30PM

Started off on preparing the menus ingredients for fruit salad, roasted chicken, traditional meat sauce pasta and all-mushroom pasta for my dad and aunties whom are veggies. sadly there was no time for deserts…thank God the cookies turned out just OK.

@7:00PM

First two guests arrived, my cousin and her friend Kevin.

(The salad was nearly done but was short for 1 ingredient; the apple which wasn’t peeled at that time)

15 minutes later my friend and her brother with his wife and their daughter arrived as well, barely ready to serve the fruit salad.

Oh! My chicken! As I was serving the roasted chicken, the meat sauce was ready as well as the pasta.

7:30PM

My parents showed up with my aunties (veggies) and I was no where close to finishing up the all-mushroom sauce for their veggie-pasta! So they had to wait and the results  were everyone is eating somewhere in my house and they weren’t all together…

!Isn’t the Christmas dinner supposed to be gathered around and to eat on a table!?

Guess that didn’t happen in my house…

Oh and the pumpkin soup…total disaster, too much water and completely forgot about the potatoes…

>///<

Christmas dinner…was a total disaster this year…

My first Christmas dinner in Taiwan……

I can only hope the next year I will make it better!

…perhaps not many people next year…

…pfeeew! I only have 2 burners! and one mid sized oven…

!OMG! December 24, 2009

Yeah…OMG!!!!!

Last minute shopping I CAN NOT find any store that sells lasagna sheet…

(Completely melt down)

Menu is done, and now I don’t have lasagna…

WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO FIND THAT DARN LASAGNA!?

…great…

Think, Julian think!

…What should I make to compliment the chicken!?

…thinking…

Maybe the traditional meat sauce pasta will do…?

(Keep my fingers crossed!)

All vegie or 1/2 vegie!?

…”your aunts are all coming to dinner”…

First thing I woke up this morning, my dad called and dropped a bomb on me for Christmas dinner…

So that adds up to 15 people including me and two kids.

So the debate begun…

…”Make the dinner entirely vegie-friendly”…demanded by my father, and of course it will not be doable…

!Because all my friends are NOT vegies!

…”Why not!?”…questioned by my father with the wondering face looking at me…he supposed making other people eat vegie is something rather easy than difficult to do without knowing the fact that the chicken will be gone, the lasagna will be gone and so many other tasty dishes…

I honestly think my friend will be able to make it a meal without meat, as much as I know they are all pretty much like me, love a good chicken, roasted in honey mustard sauce and backed from teh oven with some warm hearty pumpkin soup and because my vegi families don’t eat onions and garlic so those will be gone if I changed the menu to all-vegie at last minute…

…”I’ll do vegies and others”…I said to my father, and I can see now how busy and terrified myself is tomorrow…screaming and cooking…

Dear God, please help me to do this right and get through this safe and sound!

>///<

…Thank God none of my family or friends would ever read English blogs…so I am safe here…

Aaaaaah~

(Screaming!)

CHRISTMAS DINNER OR NO CHRISTMAS DINNER!? December 23, 2009

Just yesterday, I’ve decided to do something rather unusual for me and it’s something I used do every year during the time when I was living in the states…Christmas Dinner!

I used to do it with my friends since my parents weren’t able to come and I wasn’t able to go home neither; friends would be the people who I invite to Christmas dinners.

Why was it so unusual!? Because in Taiwan, Christmas is just not some holiday you gathered around with your family and friends at your house or at a place where is hosted by s sweet lady friend of yours, or s lovely guy friend who can cook, or your mom’s, with delicious food, good wine or Champaign and some good laughs. Here in Taiwan, it’s either you go to the church and join a bunch of people singing holy songs, say the prayer, then have a hearty meal that served at the church, or you simply go party with your friends or love ones. Families!? We only get to see them on Chinese New Year holidays once a year…

It’s sad that people here in Taiwan don’t know the real meaning of Christmas besides the story where Jesus was born at this date and a true meaning of a good old Christmas dinner with your family and friends is about, but rather spend the time drinking and dancing in clubs.

Except for those religious Christians and Catholics.

Although the decoration is hung all over the place where I live, a little town in size of a Solvang, Santa Barbara, CA. I remember those days where I got to drive around the town cruising and just enjoin the scent of snowy winter (not every year I must say but I do that in several different places), the essence of Christmas decorations and that good old spirits of Christmas is what truly is about.

So for my little daughter Molly, since she’s grown old enough to memorize things and events, I supposed it is a good year that I start this Christmas dinner tradition and make that our own. So be it! Anyone who’s reading this, please pray for me that I don’t mess up… >///<

Or is there any one!?

Still, I’ll keep my own fingers crossed!

Go! Julian, go! (Does me cheering for myself helps!?)