Christmas Lunch 2008

Christmas - the day or season where it evokes joy and peace and a sense of completion. The year is coming to an end, and it is best spent with family and friends. Reflecting upon the last 11 months and wondering what the new year will bring. Thanking God for seeing and living through another year, plus of course the most precious gift of all - His son, Jesus, who died on the cross to save us. Christmas is always my favorite holiday season. Much more than Chinese New Year.

As usual, we gathered at IC's place for the Christmas lunch. Somehow I was the first one to arrive this year, so I had the pleasure of waiting for everyone else who came about an hour or so later. Actually people came late this year :p

We had loads of food - all home cooked. No store bought food at all. So we had yummy and healthier food - more veggies though I didn't take pics of them all.

Orange cranberry butter cake with lemon icing which was baked by my oldest niece. Isn't it pretty? It is pretty darn good too! The cranberry and lemon prevented it from being too sweet. Love the tartness of it.

The turkey, all carved out and sliced and ready to be devoured by hungry people. This was just 1 turkey. We made 2. The sausage stuffing was so yummy too. I love John's turkey. He taught me how to make it super moist. I never order turkey in restaurants as so many places do not get it right at all.

Roasted carrots. The color looked scary as I used flash. This was super sweet. So nice.

Roasted small tomatoes. Very good too. Lots of other veggies not in pictures were steamed broccoli, sauteed mushrooms, mashed potatoes.

My favorite dish - ratatouille. Vegetable stew. IC did a really fantastic job with this. I so need to get the recipe. Zucchini chunks, bell peppers, lots of tomatoes in there.

Roast beef. I had a teeny slice. It was tender and went well with dijon mustard.

IC baked the ham herself. It was super moist and not overly salty like those bought in supermarket. Charm said it smelt like char siew. Lol.

A new dish this year - roast lamb. IC saw a nice leg of lamb and decided to add that to the plethora of dishes. So we had lamb instead of salmon this yea.

The rest of the lamb still in the foil. We had enough food to feed a small village? There were close to 30 of us I think.

Cheesey cauliflower. This was surprisingly not bad. Then again I am not a big fan of cauliflower at all. I prefer broccoli.

Table of food before the the other dishes were ready.

Another view of the table of food. Again this was taken before the rest of the dishes were added to the table.

My 1st plate of food - roasted carrots, cheesey cauliflower, roasted tomatoes, ratatouille, tiny bit of lamb, turkey and stuffing with mint sauce and cranberry sauce. I love the cranberry sauce. It would be even better if it was a little bit more tart. Leftover turkey with emmental cheese and cranberry sauce sandwich would be so yummy.

Home made Christmas cake. The cake was baked and stored since October (I think) so that the alcohol would be totally absorbed into the cake. Frosting and decorating done by the 2 youngest children.

Christmas carolling - another first for this year. Everyone was on a Christmas high :)

I love this shot of mother with Naomi. Grandma and granddaughter sharing a moment during present giving time. Naomi was holding her precious face powder from Pigeon. Yes, she will grow up to be like her aunt - makeup crazy - in future. A girly girl and a tomboy all rolled into one.

Rose (a bit dry for me) for Christmas. A wonderful way to spend the day with loved ones, which was filled with Christmas cheers, joy, peace and laughter.