Almond Cookies

Christmas time is cookie time. I baked some almond cookies using Dorie Greenspan's recipe this year and this is a recipe to keep and remake indeed. Delicious and moreish!

Pineapple Tarts

This Christmas, we are having people over. People that live away from her and constantly miss Chinese New Year in this country, where pineapple tarts are commonly served. I could make pineapple tarts anytime, as long I have the ingredients and the time.  I decided, this year, to bake pineapple tarts this Christmas for them. Christmas time is the time when family and friends get together, supposedly to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior. I know there lots of cookies and cakes will be served and available, but let's include pineapple tarts too. Because, why not?

On Christmas Day

On Christmas day, we had our big feast with the main entree being the turkey. The eight of us only managed to clear half of the turkey breast but we had tons of fun that day. We baked and decorated a red velvet cake and had them after our giant meal. We opened our presents and had so much laugh. A fantastic day to celebrate a joyful day! Have a blessed Christmas everyone!!

PS: We also include our dearest Sriracha for our meal. Yum-my!

Santas Are Here!

These Santas are for sale. This is new to me. How interesting and I wonder who buys them.

Decorating Begins...

Christmas decoration in the city begins by the end of October. Main streets like Orchard rd., are decorated with lights and Christmas ornaments. With these being done rather aggressively, how can anyone forget that Christmas is nearing. Shopping malls start erecting Christmas trees inside or outside or in both of, their buildings. Ngee Ann City, where Takashimaya shopping center is, always puts a giant Christmas tree in the Atrium. This picture is this year's tree. There's a high chance that I will have a picture or two in front of the tree, as I did in the past, even though I do not care that much. I do not know why I still do it anyway. The tree is too big too ignore when one passes by. Maybe.

Boxing Day

It's Boxing Day and our intention was to stay as far away from the shops as possible, we had no plan to go the malls and try to get good bargains. Let other people have them! We went to St. Kilda beach instead. Absolutely not to swim! It's windy and too cold for us and many people. We strolled along trying to enjoy the scenery and took some pictures. That's all. And had lunch. And did a bit of window shoppings.

Christmas In Melbourne!

Merry Christmas from Melbourne! A view of Yarra river on Christmas day. Peace on earth and good health to everyone and their loved ones!

Christmas Cookies

They were baked, decorated and eaten!

Are We Close To Friday Yet?

That was the question I asked to Miss K when she was about to leave the door for school this morning. For a brief period, I had memory lapse, a glitch in my brain, completely forgetting what day today was. My daughter said, "Fat chance!" and I suddenly was made aware that it was only Monday. Which turned out to be a Manic Monday, thanks to The Bangles. What an utter disappointment! 

I happened to be in the neighborhood of Tanglin Mall after running the first errand of the day and took some pictures of their Christmas Decoration that the Mall put outside. It looked like it was not quite completed yet, I saw some work-in-progress nearby. The tree stood tall and the elves above were already there too, guarding the (fake) presents. They looked adorable, but warnings not too touch were pasted all over the place. Just look and be content!

One Of Those...

By now, wherever I go in the city, I can see Christmas trees and Christmas decorations. Here's one of them. The tree is in front of Paragon Shopping Centre in Orchard Rd.

Before Wicked...

We enjoy warmth because we have been cold. We appreciate light because we have been in darkness. By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sadness. David Weatherford

It was in the evening of 25 December, the children had their tickets to watch Wicked at Marina Day Sands' Theater. The theater is located inside Marina Bay Sands Shopping center, where the casino is also located. Go figure, being Christmas day, the place was so full of people.... DH and I dropped them off at the theater and went off.

Our car was parked at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, just minutes away from MBS and we walked there passing the Helix Bridge that was quite packed with visitors as well. We got to view the stunning scene around there at night.

 

Christmas lights were  lit up along the street and looked very lovely and brightened up the area. It was a pretty scene.

The Bird And The Leaves

The family got together for a Christmas meal and we had the turkey above. We chose the small one available but still ended up with a rather gigantic bird, it was 10 pounds! There was no smaller one available, unless we picked chicken. The turkey was already pre-cooked, which really helped a lot, but we still seasoned it with a mix of olive oil, minced garlic and rosemary from the garden. Miss K prepared the spinach salad with caramelized onion, dried cranberries and mozzarella cheese with whole grain mustard salad seasoning. 

We had ham and mashed potatoes too. Apple Cinnamon Crumbs for dessert and gelato and sorbetto of various flavors should one wished to have. They were more than enough to stuff ourselves and left us with lots of leftover....... One beautiful day to be grateful to God considering many people in some parts of the world do not have enough to eat! Five more days to the end of the year.... Yay or nay?

Practice Makes..... Better

The children, big children, but they are still my children irregardless what age, decorated more cookies a couple of days after the first try. They did it with more knowledge of what to do and more familiarity of the materials. We saw more exciting results here..... Credit to Miss P for the nice picture above.

Three more hours to Christmas.......

A Holiday Wish!

Wishing everyone a wonderful and safe holiday! God bless us all! Merry Christmas to you and your family!!

Cheese Scones

It's nearing Christmas and it's only right to shape the scones that we made in Christmas shapes..... We are warming up to Christmas.....!!!

It's Beginning To Taste Like Christmas......

We kicked off the festivity with Christmas cookies making and decorating. It was messy but fun and we managed to pass a few of them to others ...... Yes, we had the fun and passed the calories around.

Pain d'epice

Everything around me is so Christmas-ey these days and I feel so way, way behind everyone else. I'm not even sure if I plan to decorate the house at all. Yes, that bad. I feel so tired and so beat and I just do not feel like doing anything other than things that I need to do. I have baked some Christmas cookies for school last week. I also have sent some Christmas cards to selected number of people in Australia, California and Oregon.That's about all.

I found an interesting recipe for Spice cake last night, it's a French cake called Pain d'epices.  Originally they are  baked in loaves, but I love mine in smaller bundt molds like the recipe that I saw. Noticeably different than other cakes that I normally make, this one uses a combination of honey and brown sugar to sweetened it. The smell.... it's the spice smell... it's beginning to smell like Christmas........ Hohoho...

One Of Them...

It is impossible not to notice that Christmas is coming soon. Main streets like Orchard road is decorated for the occasion. Buildings are beautified with lights and ornaments and everything related to Christmas. The Christmas tree in the picture above is placed outside Orchard Central. It is one of the many around there.

Tree Cycling In The Rocks

This Christmas tree is found in the Rocks, Sydney. It is made from the recycled parts of up to 100 bicycles.

Merry Christmas 2010!!!

Christmas is here. Peace on earth and every household! May the joy be with all of us!! Enjoy your Christmas day!