Christmas 2010 - 12/25/10

Christmas seemed to come up pretty fast this year. Maybe I’m just getting older. But maybe it’s because I didn’t have any days off between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Either way, the past month really flew by and Christmas was here before I knew it.

As usual for this occasion, Christmas is a two-round affair; lunch with my mother’s side in Alameda and dinner with my father’s side in San Francisco. The menu for Christmas is usually pretty similar to Thanksgiving with some variations.

Breakfast Sliders (my aunt called them Breakfast Jacks) with chicken-apple sausage, scrambled egg, cheddar on a biscuit

Shrimp Toasts – always one of the most popular items

Pork Lumpia

Crab Rangoon

Fried Wontons

Stir-Fried Shrimp

Chow Mein

Chinese Sticky Rice

BBQ Pork Ribs – cooked low and slow then basted with sauce

Chicken Pot Pie Pockets

Mini Chili Pot Pies

Pork Potstickers – one of my personal favorites

Salad

Lasagna

A variety of desserts were served as well.

Coffee Crunch Cake (semi-homemade)

Passion Fruit Mousse Cake – love the decoration on this one

My cousin, who has her own baking company (Baked Vanilla), wrapped up some homemade treats to take home. Clockwise from top left: gingerbread men and snowflakes, vanilla marshmallows, smores, and pecan sandies.

After lunch, we went into San Francisco for dinner. The menu here is definitely more meat-centric, as just about everyone on my dad’s side is a meat eater.

Starting with some of the sides:

Mashed Potatoes