My brother-in-law from Bintulu was coming to town to attend his friend’s son’s wedding on Christmas Eve so my missus was keen on inviting them over to our house for lunch on Christmas Day. Of course, I would be most happy to have him and his family here – they are very nice people and we would ask my other brother-in-law in Sibu and his wife to join us as well.
Wowwww!!! My missus cooked up a storm and the lunch spread that afternoon included these very lovely and tender stewed lamb shanks…
…and there was chicken curry…
…too and satay beef…
*Archive photo*
The photograph of the latter turned out blur so I had to use this old one here though this time around, my missus did tweak the recipe a bit and it looked a shade darker and tasted a whole lot nicer.
She bought some Basmati rice to cook this…
…but this time around, she used butter instead of ghee and with all the spices and other ingredients added, it was very nice too. We saw a tin of ghee at a supermarket the other day selling for RM32.00 a big can and normally, we would just use a tablespoon or two and stuff the rest in the fridge, to be thrown away eventually – such a waste…and besides, the brands available these days are not nice, not as fragrant as the one long ago in small green cans with lots of words all over it. I don’t know the brand but I would know it when I see it.
No, we did not have turkey for the simple reason that we are not that fond of the meat but that morning, my missus was about to go out to get one huge chicken to roast in its place like what she did before…
*Archive photo*
…and to us, at least, it was a whole lot nicer but I stopped her in her tracks since we already had chicken in the curry and she had cooked so much meat, enough to feed a multitude of 5,000, like we were having some grand open house and expecting a lot of people to show up…when we were only serving lunch for 9 people.
We also had this salad platter…
…with the traditional family dressing…
…specially made using this salad cream…
*Archive photo*
…that I got from my cousin from Kuching when she was here recently.
Other than that, we also had this pomelo salad…
…my missus’ attempt to replicate the one we always have here and I would say that she did a very good job and everybody loved it.
It was a good lunch, everyone enjoyed themselves and had their fill but this time around, we did feel the absence of my dear mother-in-law who passed away in August. All those times when we gathered together at my house like this, she would definitely be with us…and because of that, my in-laws will not be celebrating Chinese New Year this year so my Bintulu brother-in-law and his family would not be coming back to Sibu, something they would do every year without fail. That was why we were looking forward to grabbing this opportunity to have them over for lunch, Christmas day.
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 
Wow! Your missus really cooked up a storm there. I love lamb shanks, chicken curry, pomelo salad and all of the above.
It’s nice to have a gathering now since your brother-in-law wont be coming back to Sibu for CNY.
2016 is coming to an end. I hope the remaining days of 2016 will be great for you (and family) and 2017 will be a blast!
Hopefully, it will be the same for you and your loved ones too. It was a good lunch, great food, pleasant company.
Mrs Wee certainly cooked up a storm. That was a good spread.
Can you get fresh turkey in Sibu?
Frozen ones, RM30 a kg so one would cost around RM100, prior to cooking. I saw a lot of leftovers in the frozen sections in the supermarkets this year, didn’t sell well…obviously.
Give a salute to your missus. You also did a good job from stopping her to roast a chicken. That’s too much meat on the table already. She is one great cook & you know what I like most?…of course, the pomelo salad.
She did a really good job with that – can give the guys at Payung a run for their money. Very nice and refreshing, served chilled.
She really whipped up a storm. So much food to feed a whole kampung! Hahaha.
The salad platter was so beautiful.
Yes, she’s good at presentation – I am quite hopeless at it, not nice at all. No prize for guessing what we would be eating right into the new year. π
Mrs Wee can cook very well… If me to cook, mine will be no eye see…
Practice makes perfect. Keep at it – you’ll be just as good or even better!
How many kgs you have put on Mr Wee?
Still the same, not much. I just nibbled…and now that the festivities are over, it is back to my gardening – gotta sweat it out before the coming New Year weekend. You? Been working out at the gym?
Too poor to pay for the gym subscription…
You? Drawing a graduate salary? Definitely a lot more than my measly pension. Perhaps you can do like me – take up gardening. My neighbour said I’ve gone thinner…and darker. π
The ghee I remember was also in a green tin, called “QBB”, I think. Wonder if that’s what you’re thinking of.
That’s the RM32-a-tin one I mentioned in the post, my missus said it is good but at that price, we decided we could do without it. We had Three Rifles and Windmill, I think I did see the latter around still but they were no good, none of that lovely ghee fragrance.
In my younger days, my mum would send me on my bicycle to that stall in town to buy the pre-pounded curry rempah (spices) for how many kilos of meat (the lady would scoop the right combination of everything) and I would be told to grab a tin of ghee too. All I can recall is it was a small tin, green in colour and had a lot of words on it, Arabic words or whatever. That was what everybody used then – I do not see it anywhere now. π¦
Such a Big feast! The salads are so tempting especially the pomelo… Kudos to your wife, she really can cook up a feast fit for a king!
King Arthur, that is! π π π π
Wow, so many dishes! Your missus must have started very early in the morning to get all those done.
The lamb shank was done the night before, the curry and satay beef could be cooked earlier and kept in the fridge, just heat all of them up – the salads and the rice were done that morning.
Those stewed lamb shanks look mouth-wateringly delicious. π
Yes, it was really good. I wouldn’t mind having those again come Chinese New Year.