Monday, January 12, 2009

Belated Yuletide

So much to blog about, so little time. Christmas barely came and went, and I'm already tucking into the annual Prosperity Burger, from MacDonalds which is a sure herald of Chinese New Year approaching us with the speed of a charging bull.

Nevertheless, since I had so painstakingly edited the pictures from Christmas, I thought I might as well put it up for posterity. I am in the unique position to witness the birth of a family tradition, I think. Not hailing from a Christian family, Christmas Eve dinners were something we only read about in Enid Blyton books, Beano comics, ....and when we were abroad, perhaps the odd Christmas Day lunch, but we ourselves, the FBB family, never really celebrated it in any way.

A number of factors precipitated this change. First, my late grandmother became a Christian a year of so before her demise. That year, my mother said, oh, lets have a Christmas Eve dinner since Poh Poh is a Christian. That was rather shortlived, as she (my grandmother) died the following year, and my folks continued with their annual holidays around the yuletide. Meanwhile, the Christmas tree and its pretty decor was gaining "importance" in the seasonal decorations, as there were the grandchildren slowly popping out of the ovens....

Then my mother herself embraced the Papal religion, and must have decided that London was getting too cold in December, so they stayed put in the equator, hence precipitating the final straw that completed the evolution of the Christmas Eve dinner tradition in our household. It is unanimously agreed that we spare the large bird the slaughter, since it's nice to look at, but no one really can truly say they love turkey.

For starters, we had a duet of pizzas, with a dried tomato pesto sauce as the base, and another one with the normal basil pesto, sprinkled with scallops, funghi and bacon.

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Those aren't fishballs. They're scallops.

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The smoked salmon platter.


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Lovely dunno whatchewcallit, from France. It's something like a cross between a sausage, with the texture more akin to luncheon meat, and didnt require cooking. Delicious!

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I often wonder why we don't eat brussel sprouts more often, as I actually belong to that strange category of people who LOVE brussel sprouts.

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Quail Eggs and Walnut Salads. Those who frequent my dinner parties would recognise the blue salad bowl instantly, I am sure.

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Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding. The cut was a Rib Eye, good, but not as good as the Wagyu Rib Eye we had a few weeks ago. It's bad when standards have been set so high.

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Satay From Kajang, courtesy of the inlaws.

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Observe this manger scene. Birth of another tradition.....

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Notice the difference between this manger scene and the previous one? I'll explain later.

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Desserts. No Marks & Spencer's Christmas Pudding this year, since we hadn't even finished last year's (2007) one. Sigh. I love Christmas pudding though. We had to make do with my brandy soaked Spencer's Four Seasons Cake.

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....and the Durian Cheese Cake....

To answer the question about the manger scene, well, I think its a Roman Catholic practise. Anyway, in the first manger scene, there was no baby.

After doing the reading from the gospels.....

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...one of the grandchildren would then place the baby Jesus into the crib. Awwww.....Christmas, is afterall, about the birth of Jesus Christ, not the sales in Mid Valley Megamall featuring Santa Clause.

Then there is the mad scramble to open the presents. No waiting till Christmas morning in this household. Afterall, no one believes in Santa, so the kids aren't gonna be waiting for his sleigh to be flying through the night skies. But the unparalleled look of sheer joy when baby boy opened his present of a transformer toy....sigh, would melt the heart of the greatest cynic.

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Poor Santa.....kids becoming too adult for their own good eh! I remember an Ally McBeal episode where a teacher was getting sued for telling the kids there was no such thing as Santa Clause. Roll eyes..... Americans....

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Crucified
Laid behind a stone
You lived to die
Rejected and alone
Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
Though you are Lord
Above all.
(from the Christian song, "Above All")

20 comments:

Precious Pea said...

Drooling at your overloaded pizza!!!

Speaking of McD's Fatt Choy burger..do you find it ridiculously priced this year? I got a shock when i was told to part with almost RM14 for a burger. I remember it used to be slightly more than RM10!

Babe_KL said...

pea, i'm drooling at the whole spread!!! btw did you see the price for the double prosperity burger??? i nearly fainted ok!

Rebecca Saw said...

ohh... if only i can get a pc of those cakes!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hehe, it's a belated Xmas post and everyone's talking about the McD Fatt Choy burger? We sure switch between celebrations uber-fast here in Malaysia hor? :)

P.S. I did notice the missing baby in one of the scenes! I love doing these "What's Different?" games... Do more lah, ok? :D

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

i just got a brand new spanking oven...so is it really that easy to make that roast beef? i.e. stuff it in the oven with a thermometer and cook it till it reaches that temperature?

Anonymous said...

oh no, its only early morning :( i am drooling. i would die for the scallop pizza man!

fatboybakes said...

xin, hahha, and they're not easy to find...(scallop pizzas, with that many scallops)

nipples, yup, bung it in the oven and shove in the thermo. but if you want rare, your thermo needs to start at 120C....

LFB, arent you observant!!!! even i didnt realise. but that's stemming from my inherent lack of interest in babies....apart from making them...

TNG, come, come, anytime my dear.

babe, now i'm wondering if i had a single prosperity (is there such a thing?) or double, coz mine was only RM9.30 for the burger. ARGH, i've been had!!!!

pea, ya, my bro in law was complaining the value meals are almost RM20!

Unknown said...

Hello,
I was wondering how come your Xmas menu was dated 24/12/06...
Cheers!

fatboybakes said...

BUWAHAHHAAHH, jeff, you deserve a free cake for such powers of observation!!! hahah, i must have copied the template from an old menu!!! and forgot to change it. guffaw....excellent !! malunya i!!!

Diary of Kay El said...

Great spread!! whatchewcallit - saucisson?

fatboybakes said...

Diary of KL, long time no see. Yeah, you probably right. Is that what its called? Mmm longing for some now.

Anonymous said...

That song's been playing in my mind over and over again...I love singing it (maybe I'll sing it for you someday, eh, tangechi?). Fantastic spread, as always. Your family is blessed.

HairyBerry said...

i think the only place that serves brussel sprouts as a side is coliseum cafe lar. lurve it. it's like a spring chicken version of choy tam.

i wonder if it can be made into a cream-type soup, since it tastes as strong as a broccoli.

fatboybakes said...

OOH, GOOD IDEA, hairy berry....wink wink...can try for you know when...

AWOL, i always knew black women were gifted with song...whitney houston, jennifer hudson, tamyra gray, dionne warwick, or nearer your time, eartha kitt....

pigpigscorner said...

wow the food looks amazing esp the pizza with scallops and durian cheesecake!

Argus Lou said...

Looks like you had a superb Christmas, FBB. Again I was undone by the semi-unclothed crab claw a couple of posts below. Sigh... fried mantou soaking up sauce.
(I've been busy with house guests and pup training, so have been rather MIA.)

fatboybakes said...

argus, yes, christmas was quite fun.... amidst all the doom and gloom in the world, one must learn to count one's blessings, although i was a bit melancholic throughout the season. you missed the DBC last month too?

pigspigs...lovely blog you have there!!! already i am wanting to try the linguine bisque and smoked salmon rolls....

Henry Yeo said...

what happened on new year's eve then?

we want the story behind your 18 hour recovery.

fatboybakes said...

henry, haha, posted oridi... nothing dramatic la, just old age...

Ciki said...

ooooooo roast beef and yorkshire... can die! yorkshire drenched in medium rare beef juices and brown sauce till it's one big, bloody, gorgeous mess..! hahaha