Cooking up a Storm on Christmas Eve!

Suddenly I found out that I was not going to cook for just my parents and myself but also for my two uncles, aunts and a cousin on Christmas eve! But that was a challenge that I was ready to embrace.

I've always had an interest in cooking Western meals but usually it's quite simple and some times I would refer to recipes.. So this would be the first time that I cooked so many dishes for one meal! Fortunately I had our helpers' assistance - so I functioned as the main chef while they helped me cut the food and do the washing up! :p

The shopping for ingredients took about two hours in the early afternoon. I'm glad to discover Village Grocer at BV had stocked lots of fresh herbs which I needed! I started close to 3:30pm - with almost an hour break to go and collect my car back (yep! my car is finally repaired but not without some minor problems that still needed to be mended..). So it was pretty good timing as I finished by about 7-ish when the guests arrived.

Here's the menu of our Christmas eve `feast' :

• 1. Roast Capsicum with Balsamic vinegar
• 2. Cream of mushroom soup
  
• 3. Roast new potato with garlic
• 4. Grilled Portabello mushrooms with garlic butter oil
• 5. Baked salmon with lime and fresh herb cream
• 6. Char-grilled prawns (cooked by dad)
• 7. Chargrilled sirloin steak with garlic spice (marinated by me and cooked by dad)
• 8. Apple pie with vanilla ice-cream (bought)
  

To be honest, I was a little stressed earlier in the day. I've devised the menu but then worried that I might not be able to managed the dishes in a few hours! But thank goodness everything turned out well, considering that all of the dishes (except the soup) was totally new for me.

So what was the verdict? My dinner companions seemed pretty amazed at what they saw and tasted. I mean it was not the most sumptuous culinary experience but consider it came from me, it was good enough! :p Even my uncle who was quite particular with his food remarked that they were of 4-star hotel standard (but not quite 5-star)! And that was a nice compliment I thought.. :)

Yeah, cooking is fun! But just don't ask me to do it everyday.. it would then become a chore. I will reserve it for special occasions! :p