Christmas Cocktail – Encore!
Birds never fly on one wing. How can a Christmas dinner be capped off with just one cocktail? Just browsing through the cocktail book, we chose another one – B-52, one of our all-time favourite shooters.
B-52
25 ml Kahlua
25 ml Bailey’s Irish cream
25 ml Grand Marnier
Pour Kahlua into a shot glass, use a bar spoon to float Bailey’s on top of Kahlua, do the same to float Grand Marnier on top.
Though there is a lot of alcohol in this drink, it’s not as strong as you think. At least I am still writing without any spellling misstakes – I hope…….
Credit and thanks to Bar Moose for making such a hearty shooter!
Winter Warmer
One of the Christmas gifts I received from Alan – a cocktail recipe book. No time wasted, I went to the “Winter Warmers” section and chose the “Mexican Marshmallow Mocha”.
For 2 servings:
4 teaspoons cocoa powder
50 ml Kahlua coffee liqueur
175 ml hot coffee
mini marshmallows
whipped cream
Method:
Put 2 teaspoons cocoa powder into each glass, add the Kahlua and coffee until mixed. Drop in the mini marshmallows and float the cream on top. Garnish with cocoa powder and serve.
It really is a great after-dinner drink and can almost substitute as a dessert. Just don’t count the calories when you sip it in – a moment on the lips and a lifetime on the hips!
The best comment to this blog will receive one of these cocktails!
Christmas dinner (without turkey)
Christmas is a time for sharing. We just finished one of our best home-made Christmas dinners, and not a turkey in sight! Thanks very much to Alan’s friend who owns a food import company for giving us a fantastic rack of lamb. True to her word, this Australian lamb rack is the best you can find in Hong Kong.
It didn’t take us long to decide on what to do with the rack of lamb. We found a great Jamie Oliver recipe. Simple to cook, and the flavour is disproportionately good compared to the effort you put in.
Tray-baked lamb with aubergines, tomatoes, garlic and mint oil
Ingredients (serves 2):
8 rib rack of lamb
1 aubergine
8 ripe plum tomatoes
8 cloves of garlic
1 large handful of fresh mint
Method:
Slice aubergine crossways into 1 inch thick pieces and cut tomatoes in half. Fry aubergine slices to give them a little colour. Remove the aubergines from the pan and place on a roasting tray. Put tomatoes and whole garlic cloves beside them and sprinkle with oregano and seasoning.
Criss-cross the fat on the lamb, season. Fry it until lightly golden on all sides. Place lamb skin-side up next to aubergines and tomatoes and bake in oven for 30 minutes at 200C. Remove from the oven and allow the lamb to rest for 5 minutes.
For mint oil, put the mint into a pestle and mortar with a pinch of salt and sugar, mash up until smooth. Add a couple of tablespoons of red wine vinegar and loosen with 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Drizzle mint oil over vegetables and lamb.
The lamb was cooked to medium-well and retained its juices giving it a very rich taste and tender texture, which was in a word simply mouthwatering. For home cooking, this has surpassed restaurant standard. You simply won’t guarantee this superb quality even if you are willing to pay a high price in a top-end city restaurant.
To complement this, we also roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and garlic in a separate dish for 1 hour. The garlic in this tray is cooked to perfection – melt in the mouth style, whereas the garlic in the lamb tray (baked for only 30 minutes) is mainly added for flavour but not soft enough to enjoy.
Tip: For roasting beef or lamb, it’s important to pan-fry it to seal the juices before you pop it into the oven.
Where to get the rack of lamb: www.freshin.com.hk
I hope by the time you read this blog, you have also had a great Christmas celebration. Happy Christmas to you and yours!
連續兩日炆牛腩
剛剛這個weekend天寒地凍，最適合打邊爐或者食羊腩煲。但奈何我屋企一向只煮西餐，所以我就攪攪新意思，試試西方窩心暖意食譜。西餐中冬天暖胃菜式有炆肉，stew。和中菜炆的菜式一樣，一炆就要幾小時，慢火炆到肉淋。這個weekend試了兩個口味截然不同但都十分成功而且易煮的stew，想在這裏介紹，讓你可以在Christmas party時，impress下你的guest[click title for more...]
中咗六合彩,你仲會唔會番工?
回想十多年前，我剛開始做見習律師時，我一股雄心壯志要創一番事業，幹勁十足，樣樣工作我都要做到最好。十分之幸運地我遇到的幾個上司都很賞識我，每每給我機會去嘗試不同的工作，比起其他同期的trainee有更加多的發展機會。我還記得第一次自己跟對家律師樓的partner談判合約內容，我有條有理地成功說服了對方，我的上司非常之impress，對方還不知我只是個trainee呢！那段律師生涯的光輝歲月，真令人回味。那時我熱愛工作，我真的想，就算中了六合彩，我都一樣會上班，因為工作帶給我很大的滿足感。
隨着年資增長，從前覺得新奇刺激的工作已變得熟悉而且重複。日日復日過長的工作時間令我吃不消。做了近十年相類似的工作，份份差不多的上市文件，令我開始萌生大部份香港人都有的期望－發了達我就不用上班。
我不喜歡這種為金錢而奔波的日子。我每日花大半天時間在公司，做自己不enjoy的工作，為咩？為咩？這個問題自從過了初初開始工作的黃金歲月後，我問了很多年很多年。
剛剛這個weekend，我在準備未來幾個wedding的paper work，為新人找background music和乎合他們的wedding theme的speech。我將material整理好，寫好wedding的詳細rundown，然後email他們，原來不知不覺我已在電腦花上十小時。但我一點都不覺得累，我很enjoy所做的一切。我翻閱我的email，覺得沒有另一個律師會有這份心機去提供一樣的服務。我忽然再感受到十多年前的光輝歲月，擁有比人更勝一籌的自信心。真的已經太耐沒有這種感覺，我覺得很開心，我好似終於找到自己喜歡的工作！
雖然我一向知道自己沒有橫財運，甚少買六合彩，但我又再一次可以理直氣壯地說：就算中了六合彩，我都不會改變我的工作！
Recipe – Serves 4
Prawns with Chilli, Parsley, Ginger and Garlic on Toasted Ciabatta bread.
A fusion between Italian and Thai comes to mind when you taste this quick and easy to prepare dish and it should prove to be a popular one for friends and family. It can be served as a starter or a main course – you’ll need the following ingredients:
Extra virgin olive oil
1 finger-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
2-3 fresh red chillies, deseeded and finely sliced
16 large whole tiger prawns, tails on or off (use more if prawns are small)
1-2 lemons
1 handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Sea salt and ground black pepper
4 long slices of ciabatta bread, toasted
Method: Heat a large frying pan and add 4 tablespoons of olive oil, ginger, chilli, garlic and prawns. Stir-fry for about 3 minutes, then turn the heat down and squeeze in the juice of 1 lemon. Add the parsley and add a few splashes of olive oil. Toss around and remove from heat. The sauce should be nice and juicy. It may need a little more lemon juice. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Serve immediately over the ciabatta. Enjoy!!
Tips: Keep a bottle of chilled white wine in the fridge to accompany this dish. Add more chilli if you like it spicy.
Best Christmas song ever – Anna’s version!
我的舊朋友都應該記得，中學大學時代的我創意無限，隨時隨地都可以改歌詞。我曾經為每一個牌子的衛生巾以聖誕歌的tune作廣告歌。我仲癲到錄了錄音帶，在聖誕樹前放滿M巾拍唱片封套。今年都有朋友記得，叫我將經典的歌放上blog。我未有機會將錄音帶轉為digital，但我見Alan寫了best Christmas song ever，我就想同大家分享我當年只用了十秒隨口唱出來的生活寫照，取曲Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer。
亞媽見麻雀開眼
去咗去咗打通宵
個女冇飯開點算
午餐晚餐冇得食
家姐去行街睇戲
dum底個妹係屋企
個妹喊住想死呀
佢都講聲隨得你
另外還有一隻聖誕歌，細個時困擾了我很多年，點解人人都唱我呢？
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
We wish you a Merry Christmas
ANNA Happy New Year
唔好亂信人（二）
出來行，最緊要講個信字。
我一向以誠待人，希望別人會因為我的誠信而被感動，從而建立互信的關係。我對朋友如是，對找我證婚的couple也如是。Obviously，我當然知我這個想法很天真很傻，在商業角度這是不work的。但我都依然希望可以盡一點綿力令世界更美好更單純。
自從開始做婚姻監禮人後，真的很開心。我認識到找我證婚的人，和啱傾的，尤其是準新娘做朋友，除了傾結婚之外，還可以甚麼都講。因為我不想別人以為我很市儈，所以我會相信別人口頭約定，不會催逼人先付訂金。
終於第一次有人令我失望。先兩日我打電話給個準新郎，confirm final details時，他話我知有朋友介紹，他已找了另一個律師。我不介意他要找另一個律師，但我真的不可接受他通知我一聲，取消個booking的基本禮貎和責任心都沒有。如果不是我打去找他，是否真的等我去到婚禮現塲，才發現不需要我，要我白行一趟？
喂喂，先生，將心比心，如果約了你的那個律師打算不來但又不通知你，又或者你個女朋友靜靜雞揾了第二個但又完全粒聲唔出唔話你知，你會有咩感受？
雖然我甚為不滿，但我都沒有跟他說甚麼。因為我相信：
出來行，遲早要還。
Best Christmas song ever!!
Without a shadow of a doubt when any ‘informed’ Irish person is asked to name their favourite Christmas song of ‘all time’ there is surely just one reply – ‘Fairytale of New York’!
Produced by Steve Lillywhite, written by Jem Finer and Shane MacGowan and performed by The Pogues with British singer and wife of Steve Lillywhite, Kirsty MacColl. The song was released in December 1987 for the Christmas record market, although it was completed several months earlier, and was a breakthrough for the Anglo-Irish folk-rock group reaching the No.1 spot in the Irish charts and No.2 in the British equivalent, at the time of peak record sales – Christmas!
This Christmas ballad touches the hearts of Irish people in particular and non-Irish people at home and abroad during the festive season. In fact it continues to be voted one of the best Christmas songs ‘of all time’ by television, radio and magazine polls in Ireland and the UK. It is certainly the most requested song at Christmas. And it has become ingrained in the fabric of Irish Christmas culture. If you could experience the atmosphere in an Irish pub when this song is played you would have a clear picture how revered and loved it is. People see it as an anthem, which it is, in the world of musical entertainment – they will literally stand up when they hear it, sing along with a passion, cry, ball, hug each other, anything goes. And I know personally, it would be impossible not to see several pub-goers with tears in their eyes as they sing along to this classic while they cast their minds back to an ideal place in their lives.
Shane MacGowan, lead singer of The Pogues is as much a poet as a singer and many would argue and agree that he is a much better writer than singer and this is instantly recognisable if you heard him sing. There is absolutely no question that Shane MacGowan sings ‘Fairytale of New York’ with a style and a passion that is unrivalled by all those who have tried and, actually failed to perform this old favourite to the same standard. The point is, when anyone else sings it, even great Irish performers, no matter how hard they try, no matter how much emotion they apply, there is something lost or absent – there is just nothing like listening to the original group and the two original artists blast out this epic tune! The song has found its place in the hearts and minds of the millions who love it, for whatever reason, only they know.
The Pogues continue to blast out this and many other great ballads at live gigs around the world but sadly, when they sing ‘Fairytale of new York’, there is always a voice to fill. Kristy MacColl was tragically killed in a controversial boating accident in Cozumel, Mexico on 18th December, 2000. She shall be remembered on her anniversary. I’ll leave you with the first verse of the song, always sang at a very slow tempo, and a link to watch the original video. Wishing you and yours a safe and peaceful journey through Christmas!
It was christmas eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me: won’t see another one
And then they sang a song
The rare old mountain dew
I turned my face away and dreamed about you
Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I´ve got a feeling
This year´s for me and you
So happy christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
Where all our dreams come true.