Monday, December 26, 2011

Merry Christmas Dinner!


Let me start this post with a Christmas greeting...


These past few days, I have been very busy preparing a Christmas dinner menu for 3 adults - me, the husband, my mom-in-law. For the past 4 years, every Christmas dinner menu is planned weeks in advance and prepared 2-3 days ahead. Yes, I am that OC. Since the days leading to Christmas eve was pretty busy for me, what with our company's Annual Strategic Planning, Business Review and Christmas Party all happening in one jam packed week, i had less time than the usual in preparing our Christmas dinner. 

Since i cook everything from scratch and am a bit OC when cooking, I personally handle the grocery shopping myself as i tend to scrutinize every ingredient that goes in the food i cook. Guess how stressful grocery shopping is 2 days before Christmas eve? VERY STRESSFUL. So anyhow, here is my final Christmas dinner menu for three: 

MAIN
Baked Ribs
Roasted Rosemary Lemon Butter Chicken 
Bakes Mussels
Lasagna

DESSERT 
No Bake Blueberry Cheescake
Fruit Salad 


I normally don't cook a lot of variety during Christmas, I tend to do this during New Year instead. So two days before Christmas, i had all my ingredients ready, save for the mussels which i wanted to buy on the morning of the 24th to make sure it's really fresh. Unfortunately though, i could not find any mussels AT ALL the morning of the 24th. I went to 2 wet markets and 3 grocery stores, and found NONE. Weird, all the mussels in Cebu must have decided to take a leave on this particular day. So, here's my Christmas dinner, sans the Baked Mussels. 

Here's my lasagna swimming in sauce and cheese. I know it doesn't look appealing, but this is how the husband likes his lasagna- very saucy, creamy and cheesy. 



My baked ribs that i am very proud of. It's so tender and yummy! I marinated the meat 2 days prior, and slow baked it in the oven for 4 hours. yep, that long.



And here's my Roasted Rosemary Lemon Butter Chicken that i marinated in rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper, Kikkoman, and lemon  for 2 days. I then roasted it in the turbo broiler together with lots of whole onions, butter and baby potatoes. Very simple but very delish!



Here's my no bake blueberry cheescake made of crushed graham, cinnamon, nutmeg, cream cheese, all purpose cream, evaporated milk, gelatin and blueberry filling. It took me 3 tries to perfect the overall look of the cake. I am satisfied with the taste, but there's more work to do on the look of the cake though. 



Overall, i am very happy with my Christmas menu and how they all tasted in the end. The husband and mom-in-law loved it so much. The ultimate satisfaction of cooking is seeing your loved ones happily enjoying the food you prepared. Guess what my secret ingredient is in all my cooking? LOVE. lots of it! 

Merry Christmas everyone!  And a Prosperous New Year! 

P.S.
Here's my tentative menu for New Year's Eve: 

MAIN
Baked Creamy Carbonara
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Kebabs
Chilli Prawns
Garlic Butter Crabs
Hamonada

DESSERT
Mango Creme Pie
Oreo Cake
Lecha Flan


What was your Christmas dinner? What's your menu plans for New Year? 


♥ blushbaby

3 comments:

  1. Everything looks so delicious! As for me, I don't know what we'll have for the the New Year's dinner since my mom will be the one cooking. I hope whatever she'll come up with will be as delicious as those from your menu.. ^^ Merry Christmas sis and have a wonderful new year.. :)

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  2. Thanks Sumi! Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year to you too!

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!