Dec.31
As usual, I've been busy preparing our New Year's Eve spread. As early as last week, I've been preparing the menu for New Year's Eve. This would be the second year we would be celebrating the holidays without Papa. Ritchie and I decided to go to Robinson's Metro East to do some last minute grocery shopping.
For this year's New Year's Eve spread, we've decide to go light since it'll just be four of us whose going to eat it. Here's my menu:
1. Queso de bola
2. Salami
3. Pear shaped ham
4. White bread
5. Beer lyonner
6. Bacon and dill pate
7. Baguette chips
We also decided that it would go nicely with a bottle of ice cold champagne. We bought Alex a sparkling grape juice. And for dessert, we had a nice, rich and very refreshing root beer float.
The atmosphere in our house is lighter now than it was a year ago. It was a good thing that Mama was able to move on now and accept that Papa is no longer with us.
As the New Year approaches, Alex was so excited about playing with his fireworks. Ritchie bought him some sparklers that he was playing with since this afternoon. We had to remind him that if he played with all of it, he won't have any left for that evening. So as soon as he got a go signal from his dad, he immediately went outside the terrace and played with what remained of his firecrackers. My, what a blast he had.
Marianne was not able to eat with us since she had to go work. She wrapped some food instead and brought it to work. We had a nice little family picture before she left for work.
We slept at around 3 am and boy, was I exhausted having done some last minute shopping and cooking. We were all stuffed with good food anyways.Jan.1
We woke up at around 11 am that same day and again, I prepared a nice New Year's Day lunch for us. My menu... Baked Ziti. So here's the recipe of my Baked Ziti.
Baked Ziti
1 pck San Remo Penne Pasta noodles
1 pck Traditional Spaghetti sauce
1 pck Tomato sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 small white onion, minced
1/2 k ground pork
1 small can of button mushroom, sliced
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Bechamel sauce
Bechamel sauce:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 c fresh milk (you could use non-fat)
1 pc egg yolk
Procedure:
Saute garlic, onion and ground pork Add spaghetti sauce and tomato sauce. Add water as necessary. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Cook penne pasta according to package instruction.
For the bechamel sauce:
Melt butter, add flour . Mix until it forms a paste. Gradually add milk. Stir well until there are no more lumps. Simmer until sauce thickens.
Assembly:
Toss cooked pasta in meat sauce. Transfer in a Pyrex dish. Top with bechamel sauce, grated cheddar cheese and grated mozzarella cheese. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Jan.2
Finally, all the holiday bustle has come to an end. I will definitely take this opportunity to rest. I'll probably take a nap this afternoon. Since everythung is back to the way it is, Alex has brought out his PS2 again and as usual, he will be playing the whole day. Talk about being a kid.
Jan. 3
The last day of holiday break. Tomorrow, its back to work and back to school for Alex. I'll be preparing his school things today. Check if its still all complete. We went to church this morning and like every Sunday, we went to Papa's grave. This has been our routine for more than a year now.
Time to take a nap now.
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