We went to the Christmas morning service in church that day as we were at my cousin’s daughter’s wedding reception and could not go for the one at night on Christmas Eve and we did not have any special dinner that evening either. We had one at home on the night of Christmas Day instead and of course, we invited my sister and my brother-in-law and his wife to join us.
I bought a pair of New Zealand lamb foreshank for around RM35.00 only and my missus stewed them with bolognese sauce…
…and yes, it was very nice. She did not serve them on a bed of mashed potatoes even though my girl made some and served that separately and yes, we sure enjoyed it a lot…except my brother-in-law perhaps – he’s not so into western cuisine, not lamb especially.
That was why my missus had these chicken wings…
…cooked using the air fryer that was given to us by my niece in Singapore and also his favourite, my missus’ chicken curry but I did not take a photograph of the latter.
We also had those giant tiger prawns…
…from Sabah that my generous friend, Eric gave me and everyone was impressed by the humongous size of those crustaceans! These were just the first batch – because they were so big and there were so many, my missus had to do it a few times in our small oven.
My girl saw this ham…
…gypsy flavoured, whatever that is at the supermarket round the corner from our house and did not hesitate to buy it for our dinner. A long long time ago, I bought a very small one like a hand grenade from the supermarket on the lower ground floor of Sogo in KL and we loved it so much. Unfortunately, I had not come across any like that since. This one was quite big, maybe not as big as a bowling ball but it was big. Everyone said it was a bit too salty but I was fine with it and enjoyed it very much.
My missus tried to replicate the mangosteen salad…
…that we had at the Vietnamese restaurant in Kuching and loved so much. Everyone else liked it but I felt it was a bit too sour – the one we had in Kuching was much nicer.
It was New Year’s Eve a week later – that’s the thing about the end of the year, one festival after another and Chinese New Year is on the way, just a fortnight away. We went to the special service at the church after which we had a pot luck party so we did not have a special dinner of our own at home.
We had not had our family New Year’s Eve/Day dinner together for six years, at least, not since my girl got posted to her jungle school. She would have to be there a few days earlier for meetings, registration of pupils and what not and they had to work even on New Year’s Day and school would reopen the very next day on the 2nd…but I think even before that, when she was studying in Sg Petani, Kedah and Wellington, New Zealand, we did not have the chance to sit down together as a family on this very special occasion.
I, for one, cannot understand why they must start school on the 2nd (and if I am not wrong, they do not have a public holiday in some states!). During my time, even way back in the colonial days, school would reopen on the first Monday of the year. I’m sure those extra few days will not make much of a difference and will not turn those kids into geniuses, not at all. Stupid is as stupid does!
Well, finally, after so many years, we were able to sit down as a family on New Year’s Day and my missus cooked this gluten-free pasta…
– one of those that we bought and stocked up at one time, not that we would need it anymore these days. I don’t know what sauce she used but yes, it was very nice.
She also baked this slab of deboned chicken, Italian-style…
…and my girl said it was nice. I thought it was just so-so, not anything I would ask her to cook again.
She made this lovely salad…
…and baked potatoes…
…for the sides to go with the roasted leg of New Zealand lamb…
…that I bought for over RM70.00. I think next time, I shall just stick to the lamb shanks as they seemed to be cheaper and at the end of the day, it was what it was – lamb.
Yes, that was a delightful dinner and most importantly, we got to sit down together as a family to eat together on these significant occasions. Those guys in their ivory towers should realise that no amount of teaching in that Moral Education subject in school can ever come near to actually doing it and practising it ourselves – action speaks louder than words!
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 