Christmas lunch- 12/25/2020
Kristie is working the night shift during Christmas time so I am hosting a lunch so she can at least enjoy a meal with both families. Cheryl (Kristie's sister) is in town so she is also joining us for a fun and relaxing family dinner.
Table is set up and decorated with Christmas ornaments, silver garlands, and different Christmas decorations to make it as festive as possible.
Close view of the decorations in the center of the table.
Once a year, I get to use my Christmas plates and I am very happy to have an occasion to take them out of the cupboard.
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More view of the table.
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Menu is printed. This is the front of the menu.
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In the back the menu is listed. Since this is lunch I am only offering a 3 course menu.
Cheers!
Left: Kristie, Kevin, and Me- Hoa in the center.
Right: Cheryl, Alice, and Mark.
Course #1: Egg Arpege, Pan con tomato with Jambon de Bayonne and fried quail eggs.
If you have a chance to eat at Manresa, the first thing they bring out is an Egg Arpege.
Egg Arpege is a soft boiled egg filled with whipped cream and topped with maple syrup.
Basically, it is a hot/cold, salty and sweet bite all at once.
Fried Quail eggs for two.
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The pan (bread in Spanish) con tomato (with tomato) is left for our guests to put it together on their own.
First, you take the toasted bread and put a layer of dice tomatoes with basil, next a layer of ham of top, and finish it with a fried quail egg on top. It is really delicious.
Course #2: Lobster ravioli with a reduced lobster broth in a light cream.
The ravioli are store bought but the broth is the star of this dish. The lobster claws are are butter poached.
Hoa loves this broth and he can never have enough. The lobster broth is made with lobster's shell and it takes a long time to yield a flavorful broth.
Course #3: Chicken Grande-mere (Grandma) Francine served with mushroom Rice O'roni.
Individual Pot for Cheryl.
Chicken Grande-mere (Grandma) Francine is a very tasty stew with lots of flavors. There Chicken, assorted mushrooms, potatoes, bacon, celery roots, and onion are browned and then chicken broth is added. The stew is cooked a low heat for about 45 minutes.
Alice loves mushrooms so I gave her an extra small bowl filled with mushrooms.
homemade rice O'roni with mushrooms.
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Bread are giving so you can soaked in all the sauce. |
Desserts
Dutch baby freshly out of the oven.
I drizzled some hot butter and sugar on top before serving. Fruits are served on the side so you can get as much as you want.
Galette des rois (King's cake) is made with puff pastry and almond filling.
It looks very simple but it is actually very good.
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Kevin and Kristie with Dora, George, and Millie. Kristie and Kevin just adopted George a 12 years old dog that nobody wants. He has been in a foster home with no interest for a long time.
He is a very sweet dog with luxating patella (trick knee) on his right back leg, he might be hard of hearing, and it looks like he has cataracts so maybe that's why no one is interested in adapting him.
George is now is great hands as Kristie and Kevin are giving him a loving home for many years to come.
Millie is the best dog ever, she totally accepted George in her home.
This is our first meal on Christmas day between the Taguma and the Nguyen. Hopefully there will be many more down the road.
Merry Christmas!
Filed under: BBQ/Thanksgiving/Holidays parties
