Christmas is full of friends and food
From a couple of friends' yearly Christmas Party, wherein I made Ottolenghi's delicious Vegetarian Christmas Platter, and ate this utterly amazing watermelon cake (made by a guy who does professional desserts), to the big family luncheon of my mother's side of the family wherein we do our once-a-year catch up.
That's an almond "macaroon" style base, with layers of chantilly cream, watermelon, another "macaroon" layer, and glazed straberries and blueberries on top.
Did I mention it tasted AMAZING? Because it did.
--
Christmas Day this year was quiet. The usual 'relatives bash' was happening on Boxing Day (the 26th) rather than Christmas Day, so the sistren and I went to mum's for a light lunch of Vietnamese rice paper rolls, and bombe alaska.
The bombe alaska was my fault - she asked what dessert we should have on Christmas Day, and for some reason, I'd been thinking longingly of bombe alaska.
A bombe alaska is a dessert from the 1970s, that involves ice cream over a cake, covered in meringue and heated long enough to harden the meringue, which then has heated almond liqueur poured over it and is set on fire.
Sounds complicated? It is, kind of. Mostly, it takes timing...
Cake on the bottom, ice-cream on top of that, and berries, with the meringue cover being put on.
Setting it alight turned out to be a bit tricksy, my stepfather boiled the almond liqueur which meant the alcohol fumes all evaporated and the almond liqueur wouldn't set alight! So we had to heat some more and try again...
(Not sure if the video works.)
And then because my mother had made it flat-topped like a cake, the flaming alcohol wouldn't drip down the sides properly. But it was still delicious!
I also learned to play Monopoly Deal (which is Monopoly with cards, goes a lot faster, is a lot more prone to the status quo being upset, and rather more fun as a result).
Gifts were...actually, my sisters and I kind of skipped the gift-giving deal. We're awful at giving each other gifts, mostly because I buy everything that I want when I want it and have the money, and most of the time they would rather me do something for them, or give them money straight out.
--
Boxing Day was the big party with relatives - my mother, her brothers, their wives/partners, their kids, their kids' partners, their kids' kids, and anyone else who my aunt and uncle decided to invite.
It was mayhem. Happy, foody mayhem, but mayhem nevertheless.
On the whole, a good Christmas, except that I have spent most of today sleeping and drowsing and snoozing and not writing my Captain Hill fic which is due in a couple of days...
That's an almond "macaroon" style base, with layers of chantilly cream, watermelon, another "macaroon" layer, and glazed straberries and blueberries on top.
Did I mention it tasted AMAZING? Because it did.
--
Christmas Day this year was quiet. The usual 'relatives bash' was happening on Boxing Day (the 26th) rather than Christmas Day, so the sistren and I went to mum's for a light lunch of Vietnamese rice paper rolls, and bombe alaska.
The bombe alaska was my fault - she asked what dessert we should have on Christmas Day, and for some reason, I'd been thinking longingly of bombe alaska.
A bombe alaska is a dessert from the 1970s, that involves ice cream over a cake, covered in meringue and heated long enough to harden the meringue, which then has heated almond liqueur poured over it and is set on fire.
Sounds complicated? It is, kind of. Mostly, it takes timing...
Cake on the bottom, ice-cream on top of that, and berries, with the meringue cover being put on.
Setting it alight turned out to be a bit tricksy, my stepfather boiled the almond liqueur which meant the alcohol fumes all evaporated and the almond liqueur wouldn't set alight! So we had to heat some more and try again...
(Not sure if the video works.)
And then because my mother had made it flat-topped like a cake, the flaming alcohol wouldn't drip down the sides properly. But it was still delicious!
I also learned to play Monopoly Deal (which is Monopoly with cards, goes a lot faster, is a lot more prone to the status quo being upset, and rather more fun as a result).
Gifts were...actually, my sisters and I kind of skipped the gift-giving deal. We're awful at giving each other gifts, mostly because I buy everything that I want when I want it and have the money, and most of the time they would rather me do something for them, or give them money straight out.
--
Boxing Day was the big party with relatives - my mother, her brothers, their wives/partners, their kids, their kids' partners, their kids' kids, and anyone else who my aunt and uncle decided to invite.
It was mayhem. Happy, foody mayhem, but mayhem nevertheless.
On the whole, a good Christmas, except that I have spent most of today sleeping and drowsing and snoozing and not writing my Captain Hill fic which is due in a couple of days...