Merry Christmas and My First Buche de Noel

Merry Christmas! Just had the awesomest Christmas family dinner ever. My mum whipped up a couple of dishes, a Roasted Rosemary and Honey Mustard Pork Loin and Grilled King Prawn Thai-Style Noodle Salad, bought some Fresh Oysters as well as Salmon and Scallop Sashimi, and put together a simple Vegetable Salad for the big day. All I had to do was to make sure I have a dessert in time to end off the meal!

My mum's a real genius, and often, a perfectionist and an over-doer. But that's also what I love about her...haha. I merely suggested having a simple, home-cooked Christmas dinner and she went over the top and spent two whole days shopping for ingredients and putting together this delicious spread.

Appetisers from top: Grilled King Prawn Thai-Style Noodle Salad, Fresh Oysters, Salmon and Scallop Sashimi

The sashimi were fresh and good! Didn't touch the oysters at all cos I really detest oysters...but they do look good!

This was my favourite dish of the night - Grilled King Prawn Thai-Style Noodle Salad. The sauce was absolutely delicious! Restaurant-standard definitely :).

The mains - Roasted Rosemary and Honey Mustard Pork Loin, was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. I love the flavourful and tender meat with juicy insides...super yummy!

Vegetable Salad, for a balanced meal  :).

 

And you know what, this totally blew me away:

A Tropical Fruit Punch, done in a fresh and novel way! It was basically orange juice and pineapple juice with pineapple chunks and fresh blueberries, topped with a starfruit slice! This is super delicious and cheery!

After seeing the amount of effort she put into the dinner, I feel a little bad about my dessert. I "cheated" and left out one of the layers as I was too busy running around doing things and errands the entire month. Hence, this was what I ended up with:

A pure chocolate Buche de Noel, comprising chocolate mousse, chocolate hazelnut praline feuillitine, chocolate caramel ganache and chocolate dacquoise decorated with hazelnut praline pieces and a sprinkle of powdered sugar. It was pretty simple and straightforward to put together, since I "cheated". The overall taste was good and my family members each had two slices at a go, which is really good to see! I'm glad they enjoyed it. Given a second try, I would have loved some raspberries or liquor to give the chocolate noel a little more kick.

Despite the mad rush to get all the presents and cards together, this is my favourite Christmas of all time. The times spent with my friends, family and loved ones were so so precious. I wish every Christmas can be like this, or even better.

Happy Holidays everyone!