Christmas Was Fabulous!
Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I khnow this is SO LATE, but I had Christmas dinner with Bubuh’s family - aunties, uncles, cousins, and his Momma. This was my first Christmas dinner with them and I was a little nervous, but it turned out to be so great. We went to Auntie Esther’s house and her house is GORGEOUS. I don’t have any pictures because I thought it would be a bit rude snapping away in a house that wasn’t mine, but take it from me, one of my favorite houses in the world belongs to Auntie Esther and Uncle Manuel. Let’s get to dinner!
Champagne? No, just sparkling apple cider. =) Auntie and Uncle had a great antipasti tale set up with brie cheese, crackers, asparagus spears, and various dips. Again, I didn’t take pictures because this was my first time here and I thought it would have been rude to take photos right when we got there. *tear* Now let’s start on dinner.
Bubuh’s Momma made this hearty vegetable soup with celery, beans, and other fresh garden vegetables. It really warmed me up and got me ready for the rest of the meal.
I thought these were so cute. Sean skewered Romaine lettuce, salami, cheese, and little tomatoes, and provided some dressings for us to apply ourselves. These were so clever. Everyone gets their own skewer and there is no big bowl to clean at the end of the night.
This screamed CHRISTMAS to me. Just the hominess of the bread and the holiday-ness of the dried cranberries. It was sweet yet savory. Best of both worlds. This is the type of side dish you’d see in Better Homes and Gardens or something. It looked so lovely on the dinner table.
…and Bub’s finger in the corner
Nuo Mi Fan is Chinese sticky rice. This is my first time having savory sticky rice. I’ve had sweet rice that my Inang and Aunties have made with coconut milk and brown sugar, but having rice with mushrooms and vegetables was new to me. I really liked this rice especially with the bok choy.
Auntie Edie made a vegetarian version of the Nuo Mi Fan and also made this one with baby shrimp. I didn’t try this one, but it looked great.
The family’s friend Beverly is from Hawaii and made Kahlua Pig. SO good. Nice and tender and meaty. I love my meat!
Beverly also made some sushi rice to go with the Kahlua Pig. She said she made with sushi rice with sugar and vinegar. It was served almost cold, like sushi rice should be and it was a great flavor to go with the savory and smoky Kahlua Pig. Two sticky rice dishes? Awesome.
These were very tasty and you know that I ate a bunch of these.
I would say that this was one of my favorite dishes on the table. The tofu was cooked in a miso gravy. It is totally vegetarian, but the miso gravy is so rich that I did not miss the meat. The tofu itself is full of protein and almost acted like meat. Very satisfying and the gravy went so well on top of the sushi rice. DELICIOUS!!!
The food on the table was incredible. There was no pre-thought out menu. It was a potluck, so it’s sort of a surprise to see what’s going to be brought. However, all of the dishes went lovely together. Our Christmas dinner is totally different from the traditional American turkey dinner, but I would have to say that it was one of the more memorable Christmas dinners I have had ever in my life. Spending time with Bubuh’s family and feeling welcome and at home was wonderful and I can only wish for more holiday dinners with them in the future.
I know that me posting this today is really late, but I hope that everyone had a fantastic and delicious holiday season. Until the next holiday dinner! Have a great 2009, everyone!
1 tonguegasms:
Awesome Christmas dinner! I would love to have tasted the kahlua pig w/sticky sushi rice . . . !
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