Noche Buena

For the 1st time in so many years, I didn't find myself at the mall for some last minute shopping on the 24th! I was not used to being 'relaxed' the day before Christmas. My entire family was out almost the entire day, running errands and still finding that perfect gift. Since I was the one stuck at home, I took up the kitchen duty and started early preparing for Noche Buena. It was quite tiring but everything paid off as we prepared for the midnight feast.

As always, I was in charge of setting up the table and out came all the Christmas settings. From the centerpiece...

glasses...

table napkins...

to the serving platters...

and the plates...

everything was just very festive!

Now for the menu. We kinda overdid it again given that there were only 5 of us. But then again, it IS Christmas and lots of food is happiness!

For appetizers, we got our favorites from Bizu - Mushroom Duxelle and Smoked Salmon with Pistachio Mousse:

My mom also made some Russian salad:

For the main course, we each had an assignment...

Prawns Thermidore for me:

Lengua Estofado for my mom:

and Mushroom and Parma Ham Risotto for my sis and brother in law:

We didn't have the energy to make dessert anymore so we got our favorites from Bizu again...

There's the mini Amour cakes - orange chocolate mousse in between layers of creme brûlée and brownie:

mini Samba cakes - milk and dark chocolate mousse between layers of chocolate cake and coated with chocolate sauce:

mini Opera cakes - classic gateau of sponge cake with coffee butter cream and chocolate ganache :

and the Clichy cake - layers of almond joconde, raspberry and rose gelee, pistachio creme legere and mirror glaze:

And of course, our meal wouldn't be complete without some wine (sparkling for my sis since she doesn't drink!)...

Suffice to say, it was a very good feast and such a fitting celebration for the real reason of this season - Happy Birthday, Jesus! We have so much to be thankful for and we are indeed blessed for the all the things that happened to us this year.

A blessed Merry Christmas to everyone! :)