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Christmas eve dinner
Thursday, December 27, 2007
My Christmas eve cooking this year was relatively hassle free as most of the preparations were done the weekend before. Made a pot of cranberry sauce (Jamie Oliver's recipe) but did not serve the sauce with the turkey. We had it topped with our waffles for breakfast instead and it was pretty good.
Also tried making Nigella's ham in coca cola which had rave reviews on the internet. The problem was finding a 2 kg gammon ham as stated in the recipe. I ended up having to buy a 4 kg ham and had to get the butcher to slice it into half. The cooking process involved boiling the ham for about 2 hours in 2 litres of coke. The ham was then glazed with a mixture of treacle, mustard powder and brown sugar and popped in the oven for 20 minutes. It was a success and everyone loved the slightly smokey coke flavoured ham.
I decided to try Jamie's stuffed turkey this year. Made the stuffing and the rosemary bacon rolls a couple of days earlier.
Also tried making Nigella's ham in coca cola which had rave reviews on the internet. The problem was finding a 2 kg gammon ham as stated in the recipe. I ended up having to buy a 4 kg ham and had to get the butcher to slice it into half. The cooking process involved boiling the ham for about 2 hours in 2 litres of coke. The ham was then glazed with a mixture of treacle, mustard powder and brown sugar and popped in the oven for 20 minutes. It was a success and everyone loved the slightly smokey coke flavoured ham.
I decided to try Jamie's stuffed turkey this year. Made the stuffing and the rosemary bacon rolls a couple of days earlier.The end result was a juicy and flavourful turkey. I finally got to sit down to enjoy my turkey this year as there were less guests to entertain. We had plenty of time to take some nice shots of the food while waiting for our guests to arrive, and it was a relaxing dinner, with good food and wine.
For dessert, we had an exotic fruit log cake($48 for 1 kg) from 'Something to Go' at Regent Hotel. From Co, myself and our two little ones, blessed Christmas and Happy New Year 2008.
For dessert, we had an exotic fruit log cake($48 for 1 kg) from 'Something to Go' at Regent Hotel. From Co, myself and our two little ones, blessed Christmas and Happy New Year 2008.Labels: home cooking
posted by Co&Ji at 1:05 PM, | 
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Co also made a batch of gingerbread man and we had fun icing these little men. Tasted pretty nice too, but would need to add a wee bit more ginger to spice up the biscuits.
A perfect accompaniment to the rib-eye are grilled portabello mushrooms topped with a mix of garlic, thyme and chilli flakes.
The Staub looks much prettier and seemed more sturdy, plus it had a black matte enamel interior and self basting spikes underneath the lid. Also, I do not have any use for another frying pan that came bundled with the Le Cruset.
For our main course, Co had the Fett Nero Mare ($25) while I had the Tagliolini Gamberoni ($26), a squid ink pasta with seafood which was very yummy.
Ended the meal with pancakes and ice cream ($12). The pancakes had a nice caramelized outer layer and went very well with the ice cream. Overall, the service was excellent and the waiters very attentive and friendly.
We went for the American Express 1-for-1 set lunch at Michaelangelo's the following week. Since the weather was cool, we chose to sit in the al fresco area as lighting inside the restaurant tend to be very dim and not conducive for photographs.
The main course was penne pasta with beef tenderloin and desert was a rich tiramisu, with loads of cocoa powder.
A very satisfying 3 course lunch for two for only $29.43. Service was also prompt and attentive.
Today was our last day at Tokyo and thankfully, we did not have too much trouble packing in all the goodies and foodstuff into our bigger suitcases last night. My new Samsonite four wheeler was such a breeze to carry compared to my previous wobbly suitcase which overturned so many times while I was lugging it through the busy streets of Shinjuku and train stations during our last trip.
The temple also has a shopping street, 
We bought a Japanese doll, a sakae set, a pink dumbell (chook chook) for the boy and a kimono for our little girl. 
We were thrilled to find the chook chook as we have been looking for his favourite toy all over the pet shops back home and imagine finding one on the streets of the temple!
I think the little girl would rather have a toy , but we just couldn't resist buying the kimono. 
We wished we had more time to browse through the shops and explore the temple grounds but had to leave for our final destination, the shopping district in Ginza.
We visited the food halls as usual and oogled at the fanciful pastries and cakes, which all looked too good to be eaten. We also did something unconventional in Japan, i.e. ate our bento sets along the side streets and drank Sapporo beer. I noticed the local Japanese women curiously staring at us but then, they must have concluded we were tourists.
The park was less crowded compared to our visit here last year and we used our FastPass, which was very useful when the queues were long and especially so for the more popular rides. I am still fascinated at how well behaved Japanese kids are and it was such a pleasure watching the parades and shows with everyone sitting down in an orderly fashion. We were totally amazed by the attitude of the staff at 
We spent a fair bit of the time browsing through the colourful and pretty merchandise in the shops and had an early dinner, so that we can sit down and enjoy the electrical lights parade. 
The fireworks in front of the castle was also spectacular, with the cool breeze and Christmas songs. A truly enjoyable day out at our favourite theme park. 
Finally checked into our room at the New Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Since the hotel was in a relatively remote location and a good 10-15 minutes walk from the shops and Shinagawa station, we decided to retire early and have a good rest. 