(Last updated: Feb. 4th, 2011 at 21:47)
I love Christmas because of the quality family time. In our family, Christmas means that most of our extended family in Ottawa is all together under one rooftop. Sometimes we even have relatives who visit from Toronto.
Christmas dinner was essentially the same this year, other than a few differences...
My mom usually makes something to snack on before we start making the turkey dinner. Something to keep our stomachs from being empty, ya know? Mom made hang jing bian (aka ham chim peng or bánh tiêu) two years ago. She had just started to experiment with the sweet dough a few months earlier.
In addition to the usual mashed potatoes, Lucy made scalloped potatoes this year.
Desserts are usually different every year. My aunt brought over her homemade Vietnamese dessert called che suong hot luu. There were also chocolate chip cookies that A and E made.
Our Christmas dinners are in a dire need of a makeover, though I’m not sure our family agrees. It's pretty much the same thing, year after year. To further my point take a look at our 2007 and 2008 Christmas dinners. I would love to change up the sides, but can't think of anything. Do you have a favourite side dish that we could make for our next Christmas dinner?
I love Christmas because of the quality family time. In our family, Christmas means that most of our extended family in Ottawa is all together under one rooftop. Sometimes we even have relatives who visit from Toronto.
Although the holiday is always fun, one aspect of the holiday is getting a bit tiresome. Christmas dinner. We make the same dishes every year: turkey, ham, my uncle’s famous heart of palm salad, mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey gravy, and garlic bread. As a kid, I always looked forward to our Christmas dinners because we only make and eat turkey dinners twice a year (the two occasions being Thanksgiving and Christmas). The excitement just isn’t there anymore.
This was the spread during our 2009 Christmas dinner.
For dessert, M made a few apple pies and mom brought over krop knao.
Christmas dinner was essentially the same this year, other than a few differences...
My mom usually makes something to snack on before we start making the turkey dinner. Something to keep our stomachs from being empty, ya know? Mom made hang jing bian (aka ham chim peng or bánh tiêu) two years ago. She had just started to experiment with the sweet dough a few months earlier.
Our Christmas dinners are in a dire need of a makeover, though I’m not sure our family agrees. It's pretty much the same thing, year after year. To further my point take a look at our 2007 and 2008 Christmas dinners. I would love to change up the sides, but can't think of anything. Do you have a favourite side dish that we could make for our next Christmas dinner?
Great blog! I live in Ottawa too, so it's nice to see all these familiar places.
ReplyDeleteOnto the actual post - my family always makes a creamy macaroni salad (with mayonnaise, celery, red/green bell pepper) as a side. It's easy and it goes really well with everything else.
You could also try roasting some root vegetables. We've been trying this out using maple syrup, which gives the vegetables a nice sweetness to contrast with the other savoury dishes.
Your dinner looks great anyway though!
- Susan
Hi Susan, I like your ideas - especially roasting some root vegetables. I'll keep that in mind and see if the family likes it.
ReplyDelete