Hello and happy Boxing Day!

Judging from my Instagram and Facebook, Christmas Day looks like it was as special for all of you as it was for me.  Thank you for sharing moments from your day on the socials.  It was just lovely being able to scroll through all the love and happiness at various points throughout the day.

Today’s theme for ‘Life This Week’ is ‘Appreciation’.  I’m pretty sure I’ve got  more than enough inspiration to stick to theme this week.  The only problem is my epic case of post Christmas lunch lethargy..  Solution?  Say it with pictures!

This week more than any other, I’m appreciating my family.  It’s been such a joy to have my parents come to stay for Christmas.

Finishing touches were added to the tree thanks to a set of miniature wooden figurines from my aunty in Perth.

Amongst us, we put together quite a spread for Christmas lunch.  Yes, they are fried Hokkien noodles nestled in between the roasted pumpkin and turkey roll.  And.. sigh… they are curry puffs to the left of balancing on top of a tray of baked potatoes.

The busy person’s curry puff is baked not fried…

Both the noodles and curry puffs got two thumbs up from my parents and my uncle and aunty.  They’re a tough crowd to impress, having been raised on the hawker food of Singapore and Malaysia.

If you’re making fried Hokkien noodles and you’re using a supermarket brand of noodles (as opposed to the Asian grocer brands which are a bit firmer), don’t soak in hot water or they’ll get soggy.  Just use enough warm water to separate the noodles and then drain ASAP.  A tip from both my uncle and mum.

For the curry puff filling?  I used Not Quite Nigella’s mum’s recipe with a Malaysian curry powder for meat.  There’s a bit of spice without too much heat if you use around three tablespoons of this particular brand.

The mango cheesecake melted in spectacular fashion.  I used this recipe and something went wrong when I added the gelatine to my cream cheese layer.  It tasted superb though.  I think I’ll use my usual cheesecake recipe next time and just add mango to it.  The appearance of my cheesecake was the only disappointment of the day.  Something’s bound to go awry in a household kitchen trying to cater for larger than normal numbers for lunch.

With the local cafes shut for that necessary morning cup of coffee, we fell back on dad’s special coffee recipe.  All you need to do is make a mug of instant whichever way you prefer it and add a scoop or two of the the best vanilla ice cream you have at your disposal.  Moccona is our favourite coffee to use.  Try it and you won’t miss your daily from the cafe quite as much as you thought you would.

Preschooler SSG got everything he asked for in his letter to Santa… plus the much anticipated visit by his grandparents.  Ikea trains fit on Brio train tracks!!!!

We went for a walk after lunch and out of all the fabulous presents he received, the one thing Preschooler SSG wanted to bring along was his ‘bag’ – made from the tinsel and card off his gift from my brother and sister in law.  Then he fell asleep at 6pm and slept for a solid 12 hours.

Leaving me with the evening to myself with some Lego, Netflix and a DIY manicure with some The Body Shop nail polish.  I’m counting that as his Christmas gift to me.