A Mini Christmas Pre-Dinner @ Witchy Crazy Mommy’s House

Things have been really hectic lately and so busy that it has taken me a while to get this posted. Blame it on the post Holiday stress. Hopefully I’ve gotten my bearings back and will post more regularly since I do have a lot to write about. I mean, we just finished with the Holiday season and I don’t have much to show for it where my posts are concerned. Forgive me dear readers and friends.

Usually we have an annual get together Christmas event with good friends and for last year (2011), our venue or always have been our venue is Witchy Crazy Mommy’s house. I can’t wait to get there because I know I’ll be surprised and excited to come to her house because I can’t wait to see what she has whipped up. Although we do potluck, she has always something extra special. We love you JHO!!

So, no surprise when I got to her house to find that she outdid herself this time. She made us some tiny mini canapés to start with. She served us with her Salmon Belly and Dill Canapés. Lovely little mini toasted bread slathered with a creamy salmon belly spread loaded with tomatoes, basil and olives. A perfect start. She arranged them in a tray tower so plus points for presentation I’d say! Super effort, super YUM as well!

Then, I came upon this bowl all colored in black. I suspected there was squid somewhere under that murky coloring and I wasn’t wrong. It was Adobong Liempo in Squid Ink. How luxurious can you get. For those of you who can’t imagine it, you should try it. It’s something new on my taste buds. I never realized they’d go so well together. There’s that creaminess in the squid ink but it didn’t overpower or overwhelm the adobong liempo. Really delish!

Next was the Roasted Bell Pepper Meatballs. Big meaty meatballs topped with melting cheese. Super meaty and cheesy! This dish is for kids. And we did have kids during that party, so they were not forgotten in the menu choices. This dish tends to be a bit heavy though and I wanted to have room for more so I only ate about a half and the other half I gave to my sister. Happy sharing!

And for the piece de resistance! Seafood paella galore. I say galore because when you see it, there is a cornucopia of ingredients on top of the dish for everyone to see. Great dish Jho! You should be selling this. Meaty crabs, juicy prawns, steamed mussels and a variety of other ingredients cooked together with rice and prepared the Jho way. This was a meal in itself. You have your protein, carbs and veggies all into one. I stuffed myself with Jho’s paella. It was that good. You should open a paella store Jho. This was a sure winner.

 

To finish everything off, we had a great big ice cream cake courtesy of DQ. Honestly, it was great but after a few spoonfuls I feared I’d get tonsillitis because it was also super sweet. A big ice cream cake! All in all I had a great time with good friends and some new ones and the lovely pre-Christmas spread that Jho prepared for us. Thanks mommy!

XoXo