Okay, that was not good, but it is the theme I came up with for this year’s holiday party. It is now a tradition (three years strong) that we throw a holiday party and I cook lots of food. Last year, we tried to do it for NYE but I think only one couple actually stayed until midnight. This year, we decided (okay, I decided but he went along with it) that December 30th would do. Everybody was gone by 9:30 pm but honestly, I still think of it as a success. We had a good time! Also, I was able to give away enough leftovers that we only have to eat the party remnants for like three days.
So, theme-wise, I decided on noodles but I could not think of any noodle-based appetizers, so I made samosas because everybody likes them, including me! I did come up with more noodle dishes than I ended up making but thankfully cut back because adding noodle kugel, pho, stroganoff, etc. would have just made my life more stressful! I did have plenty to do, especially since I made the spaghetti noodles myself. I did not try to make the others from scratch though, only the one kind I have successfully made before.
I ended up making five noodle dishes. Well, four plus a ramen bar of sorts. I made macaroni & cheese, using several kinds of cheese plus cream instead of milk for the béchamel sauce. I baked it, of course, although I did not top it with breadcrumbs this time, I was a little wary since I burned the top the last time I did that although I did put plenty of extra cheese on the top and broil it just a bit. To go with my homemade noodles and marinara sauce, I made a bunch of meatballs. I used soy milk in the panade so that they would be friendly to my fiancé’s tummy but otherwise they were pretty standard.
The pad thai is probably what turned out the worst among my dishes. The flavor was okay but I oversteeped the rice noodles and so they kind of clumped up and fell apart instead of having the proper noodle texture. On the other hand, the japchae turned out quite well! I was a little self-conscious about it since my [future] mother-in-law served japchae just two days before and we actually had some leftover but I was assured that it was excellent, so I will happily take that compliment!
For the ramen bar, I made a broth from chicken thigh bones plus scraps from onions, mushrooms, garlic, and ginger. Of course I threw in some peppercorns and bay leaves and just a pinch of MSG. For protein, I made poached chicken, air fried tofu, and marinated soft-boiled eggs. I was actually very pleased with how the eggs turned out, the yolks were properly jammy in my [admittedly biased] opinion. Vegetable-wise, I sautéed some bok choy and some beech mushrooms, which are pretty much my go-to ramen veggies, and I cut up some scallions that are amazingly still growing in a pot outside.
I deep fried the samosas because; yum! I did cheat a little and use egg roll wrappers instead of making my own dough but I do not feel too guilty about that. I made the filling myself and two kinds of chutney, so I am still a passable Indian Auntie! I don’t tend to do dessert but a friend / guest is good at it and she made delicious oreo truffles and dipped wafers. We also put out a cookie tray from my MIL. It was the second one we received this year. I am definitely developing a cookie problem!
So, other than feeding people, one of the things that excited me the most about the party was the opportunity to use my new Christmas present – a super fancy Japanese chef’s knife. It is great, it cuts super easily through carrots; mushrooms are like butter; onions give off fewer fumes! Of course, that level of sharpness does come with its dangers. My fiancé warned me several times not to cut myself and I replied that was less likely with such a sharp knife since I would not be exerting as much pressure. Even so, he said, I needed to be careful.
I concentrated very hard on not cutting the fingers of my left hand and so was super surprised when I saw some blood on the cutting board before I even felt the pain. It turns out, I should have been more worried about my right hand! How did I cut my dominant hand? By choking up too much on the knife and letting my index finger touch the base of it. That is a mistake I will [hopefully] not be repeating anytime soon! The cut was clean but deep and long and it just kept bleeding, keeping me from being able to bandage it adequately right away. I left a lot of blood droplets as I flitted about trying to take care of it but eventually I managed to staunch the bleeding with some tightly wrapped gauze. It is mostly on its way to healing now but even four days later I have to keep a bandage on it in order to protect my environment from occasional blood droplets. Also, the affected finger is definitely swollen but I guess that is to be expected. I am keeping an eye on it for pus but am not too worried, I am working to keep it clean.
I also burned myself a little on my Instant Pot. I was using the air fryer lid. That makes the rim of the metal pot get a lot hotter than pressure cooking does so when I leaned across it and my arm touched – ouch! (The photo is almost four days post-burn, so it has had time to significantly discolor.)
Despite a few wounds though, the party prep went well overall. A few friends could not join us due to illness but we had a decent crowd and, as always, a lot of fun doing a white elephant gift exchange. Personally, I gave everybody socks! They were selected for each person individually, like when I got them all mugs last year or tee shirts the year before. I don’t know what generic / personal gift I will be able to come up with for next year! I might have to start thinking early.
KalyKnits 