Monday, December 31, 2012

Christmas trivia

1. What was the vegetable dish made off?

"There were three veggie dishes. One was coleslaw. One was five bean salad. One was a rocket and mixed leaves with cherry tomatoes salad."

2. What was the potato dish made off? How did you cook it?

"I peeled five medium to large sized potatoes, chopped them up. I chopped up five garlic cloves and quartered two red onions. I put it in a dis and poured lots of olive oil on it. Sprinkle with salt and grinded some black pepper. Then tossed it. Then placed a rosemary sprig and roasted it in the oven for a good forty five minutes."

3. What did you put in the chicken? How long did you bake it? How much does a chicken like that cost in England?

"I bought the chicken raw from ASDA for GBP 8.48. It's a special variety, grown slowly so that the chicken can become larger and more succulent before it is slaughtered. I then defrosted it for 24 hours before the big day.
On Christmas morning, I took it out of the fridge and patted it very very dry with kitchen towels. The dryer the skin, the crispier it will be when roasted. I then rubbed salt, garlic powder and black pepper all over the skin. I stuffed the cavity with lemon wedges, three rosemary sprigs, four garlic cloves and four onion quarters. I also seasoned the cavity.
I popped it into a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees for an hour. It took a long time to cook because it was a large chicken. Then when I took it out, I stuck a fork into the thigh joint. If the juices that run out are clear, that means it is done. Never undercook a chicken but also, never overcook it."


4. What is the is tinfoil wrapped gift? Chicken or a badly wrapped gift?

"There is a pic with chicken and tin foil.
But there is also a picture of a badly wrapped gift in gold looking wrapping paper. Maybe you thought the gold looking wrapping paper was tin foil? That was David's badly wrapped present. I found it so endearing so I took a picture of it."


5. What is contained in the vanity gift set? I love it.

"The vanity gift set is from Body Shop containing: Hand butter for extremely dry skin, hand moisturiser, hand oil for super super dry skin, and a hand-washing soap. All were made from hemp seeds and smell like hemp. The smell is soothing and the butter feels very good on my skin. I've been having very bad hand skin problems due to hard work. I sustain lots of cuts at work.
At home, I frequently do washing in hot water. Since it is so cold, sometimes I burn myself without realising it on the hot water. So I have burns on my right hand in particular. Whenever I peel oranges or chop lemons, my hand hurts because it is full of open cuts. So the hand butter and moisturiser is timely and badly needed to help heal my skin."

6. Tell me more about the wallet

"I love it too. David chose the right colour (navy blue is one of my favourite colours). The more I look at it, the more I like it. It feels like it comes from a different era, an era where women still wore gloves and hats."

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Christmas dinner & gifts side by side

Wow....a nutritious Christmas dinner

This must be the best dish!


Potatoes & champignons


Exquisite




Can you guess?

This one looks like....er...tau foo?

Rocket salad....!

Is this the badly wrapped present or the roast chicken in the foil??

Friday, December 28, 2012

Cath Kidston

Cath Kidston - I love this brand but more for the young people....

Cath Kidston wallet - beautiful....

Lovely gift set for the lady


Ladies vanity set
A lovely gift for a lovely lady


Christmas gifts for the lady & the guy

Classy Christmas gift set for the lady...
Collectible for the guy

Christmas dinner pictures

Christmas roast chicken

Salivating....


This is Christmas in England

Adeline's last Christmas in England...

"I had an awesome Christmas Eve meal and Christmas Day experience.

David surprised me with two presents. On Christmas Eve, he told me that he had forgotten to get my gift because he had no time (too busy with work). I just said, that's okay, I expected it. Then he went into a long discourse on how he doesn't like celebrating events and how bad he is at selecting presents etc Oh well, so much for that.

Because the next day, I woke up to find a badly wrapped present next to my bed. Looks like it was a ploy! So I was very touched and happy (not because he got me unexpected gifts but because he went the extra mile to wrap them. He's very bad at wrapping presents).

Anyway, here are pictures of the day, plus pictures of food that I made. We had a lovely Christmas Eve meal of soup and homemade garlic bread with a starter of rocket and cherry tomato salad. On Christmas Day, we had a nice roast dinner with lots of sides.

Okay let the pictures talk! (Next post)

I got David a Liara T'soni figurine from the game, Mass Effect and an Optimus Prime Transformers toy. He got me a hand cream gift set from Body Shop ( I really needed hand cream) and a wallet from the famous UK designer, Cath Kidston. Cath Kidston is a brand that I really like but would never spend on because the items are overpriced. Many middle to upper class women love Cath Kidston and I can always tell the financial status of a customer from the kind of wallet they possess. 
David actually got me a pattern that I'd never seen before! So I was really excited to receive it"