Home Living and Other Things : 2021-10-03

Hello again,

I started this blog because I wanted to talk about things that are affecting us when it comes to home. Nowadays everyone is staying at home to be safe from the COVID-19 cases. I am sure that many have already jumped on the bandwagon and started many interesting trends, tips and tricks.

Now I'm not assuming that I am the best when it comes to home improvements or anything around the house. What I am trying to start up here is a blog where people can come to, read and go like "Oh, I did not know that." It is about making your lives (and mine) easier. I know now the trends are TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, generally video clips that quickly captures the attention span of the next consumer.

Being a homebody, I am generally camera shy and feel like the camera does not portray me in the best light. Well, seems like I'm like most people who prefer to read and to leave the video watching to night time just before bedtime.

Okay, so now, rant's over. Let's get back to the topic on hand. An early start. What does it mean? It can mean, an early riser just waking up to that damn annoying bird, an early jumpstart into an investment plan while one is young just to leverage on the competitive premiums, or my personal favourite, an early start in planning a Christmas feast.

Yes, you heard me. I did say Christmas feast. In October. When Halloween isn't even over.

All those who love Christmas as much as I do, can I hear a woot-woot!?

So I have scoured TikTok and YouTube, trying to find home cooked Singaporean Christmas feasts. I have also googled and tried to see what are the usual things that Singaporeans usually have for Christmas. Side note: I fell in love with cooking during Christmas because before 2019, every Christmas we would go up to my aunt's place and my uncle would cook up this amazing feast. He's Peranakan and there would be very little leftovers for the next day. Yes, he is a great cook.

However as the years inched by, his food became more and more Asian based on the taste buds of our parent's aging generation. Not that I am not a fan of Asian food, but I think that there are so many more ways of Christmas dining in different cultures. Take for instance, an Australian Christmas dinner consists of the usual ham and beef but one thing really unusual for someone with an Asian background, BOILED prawns on ice. This is Christmas, mind. Christmas summers in Australia can be really hot and they serve their chicken cold from the refrigerator. I can already hear the disapproving sighs from my parents' boomer generation.

So, as I sit at home with the COVID cases skyrocketing daily, (we are up to 3,486 new cases as of yesterday), I was thinking, "Hang on, how about I plan Christmas and pretend we are not in Singapore?" Travel seems to be out of the picture for the next few months, so why not take this time and slowly plan out the Christmas feast? This would include dressing the table for Christmas, preparing the food and even planning the games at the dinner table. How foreign it must be for my parents!

I've checked online for Christmas recipes and found a few from this very amazing Nagi at recipetineats.com/.

So I've come up with a rough sort of time table and pray that things will work out that day. Maybe I'll do a trial run for Thanksgiving this year, it falls on 25 November for US and 11 October for Canada. Well, it's not enough time for me to celebrate the Canadian Thanksgiving. US Thanksgiving, it is!

Timetable

Cooking times:

A) Turkey (8 hours on low, 5 hours on high) Slow cooker

B) Ham (1.5 - 2 hours baking) Oven

C) Beef (8 hours on low, 5 hours on high) Slow cooker OR 2 hours Stove top

D) Rice – Stove cooked, 30 mins, Oven proof skillet

E) Potatoes – Boiled, 15 mins

F) Mac & Cheese – Oven Proof skillet, baked for 25 mins

G) Prawns – Pan fried – 16 mins

H) Salad – Chopping and mixing

23 Dec 2021		Get turkey, beef, ham
24 Dec 2021		Prep Ham – Clove stud, Glaze Prep chopped veggies Find eucalyptus if cheap	2 slow cookers A (faster) and B (slower)
25 Dec 2021	10am	Start browning beef	Beef: Cast Iron pot
	11 am	Do beef stuff and put in slow cooker B on high 5 hours	Beef: Slow Cooker B
	12 pm	Rub mix over Turkey, chop and put in slow cooker A for slow 6 hours	Turkey: Slow cooker A
	1 pm	Do pomander (orange with cloves) as décor
	3.30pm	Take Ham out of fridge	Ham: Oven Roast Pan (1)
	4 pm	Beef – done, prepare mushrooms to put in	Msrms: Large Frying Pan
	4.30pm	Put ham in the oven (Baste every 30 mins)	Ham: Oven (140^oFan)
	5 pm	Start boiling Macaroni	MC: Any pot
	5.30pm	Start boiling water for Potatoes	Potatoes: Nonstick Pot
	5.45pm	Start boiling Potatoes	Potatoes: Nonstick Pot
	6 pm	1. Remove Turkey from Slow cooker to rest for 20 mins 2. Prepare dressing for salad – soak 30 mins 3. Start cooking Mac and Cheese 4. Start cooking Rice Pilaf	Turkey: Oven Roast Pan (2) MC: Stainless Steel Pan Rice: Cast Iron Pot
	6.10pm	Marinate Prawns	Prawns: Marinating bowl
	6.20pm	Broil Turkey for 5 mins to crisp Turkey skin Check on Potatoes; if soft, drain and rest before adding butter	Turkey: Turkey: Oven Roast Pan (2) Potatoes: Nonstick Pot
	6.30pm	1. Take Ham out of oven and rest for 20 mins 2. Do Turkey Gravy 3. Do Cucumber Salad - chopping 4. Start baking Mac and Cheese until top is golden – 20 mins 5. Fry up garlic prawns 6. Pour in butter and herbs into potatoes	Turkey: Gravy Boat MC :Stainless Steel Pan MC: Oven – 180 degrees Salad: Salad Bowl Prawns: Large Frying Pan Potatoes: Glass mixing bowl
	7 pm	Dinner is served

It's still in the works but I will continue working on it and also subtly buying Christmas decorations from Shopee and Lazada.

Thank you all! And I shall see you next time!

Kanchiong Spider xx

Stuff from the mail

An early start

Introduction

Packing for Australia in Autumn - COVID edition