Housewarming/Christmas Party 2012

Just 2 days before what seems like the biggest day of the entire year, K and S had the brilliant idea of hosting a get together and combining both their housewarming and Christmas celebrations.

It is the congregation of seemingly endless food, drinks, family, friends, receiving presents (and maybe giving them) all over the world that makes this short, yet so big part of the year just so special.

K and S are newlyweds themselves and using their prime honeymoon time to help all the other couples getting hitched during this period, they barely had any down time to enjoy their Just Married status in between.
So a big thank you to them, for taking time out of no time at all to organise such an enjoyable day for everyone who probably deserves it so much less than they do :)

Lamb Spit Roast

This was a sight to behold for guests who s-l-o-w-l-y trickled in, as I waited as patiently as possible as my starvation levels hit climax.

A slightly charcoal, hazy meat roast smell lingered teasingly in the air as the whole lamb rotated slowly on the rotisserie; a continuous motion that gradually cooks the meat and crisps up the craggy surface as the skin turns to a glistening brown.

Oops, better stick to societal norms...

P had a glance at the carcass's ass and thought we were having pork that day, which triggered this response from K. We definitely did not have a deformed pig roast, haha.

If only all misassumptions had explanations as clear as this!

Slow, almost TOO slow cooking of the lamb

This meat show is really an audible process, with the slight spitting sounds and almost robotic like movement of the rotisserie as it rotates the lamb.

Standing even a small distance away, the blasts of heat from that strong invisible flame is intense (I'm probably just feeling the sun, on this 35 degree Celsius day) as it slowly transforms the outer skin into a crisp and crackly layer.

Not a giant sausage

The body of the roast; lean, tender and basted in a mixture of herbs coating every inch of flesh in every mouthful.

Before the party on the lamb roast started, everyone snacked on much tamer food at the table.

A big plate of assorted breads fuelled me early on, with mini toasts, sliced turkish bread and bread sticks. I couldn't stop eating those bread twists! I think I had a mild addiction to their slight spiciness and salty flavour, with specks of what I think were bacon and chives.

The essential salad component of party food was delivered with this smashing pumpkin salad, with sweet pumpkin cubes, crumbled feta, and toasted pine nuts atop a bed of baby spinach leaves.

"Caesar" and "salad" were just meant to be

Caesar salad is a most popular choice when it comes to salads, probably because there is just nothing that salady or healthy, especially with the heavy pouring of creamy salad dressing before giving it a thorough toss. And NOTHING is left uncoated, ever.

There's just something so indulgent and enjoyable with a big plate of crunchy cos lettuce leaves, boiled egg, salty bacon strips, parmesan cheese and crunchy croutons, laden with calorific dressing on top.

Yes, loads of bread left over at the end of the day, even after enthusiastic scooping of all the tubs of dips provided. The amount of products made into dips these days is mind boggling!

This simple antipasto platter was a winner among guests, with an assortment of semi-dried tomatoes, thin crackers, marinated olives and salami twiggy sticks, paired with a creamy onion and bacon dip.

A surprisingly close winner also is the raw vegetable platter in the background, with sticks of raw carrot, zucchini and celery - collectively termed "rabbit food", and should probably be everyone's diet after the festive season.

A very simple cheeseboard on the day, featuring a small mix of cheeses.
This was barely touched; just not anybody's cup of tea or slice of cheese that day!

Dangerously moreish are these party platters with small snackable sized food items, which I realised after making a huge dent in the plate.

Roasted with a lime and sweet chilli flavour, all the salted peanuts, almonds, cashews, macadamias, brazil nuts and crisps are just too easy to pick up and pop into the mouth, and just too hard to stop.

Party helpers did a wonderful job of dessert duty (with the aid of the miraculous Thermomix - maybe, maybe not? ;)) and made bowls of refreshingly sweet mango pudding and almond jelly (not pictured) for all the [now plump] guests.

Lets eat!...and eat, and eat some more...

Deep fried spring rolls was also on the crowded table, with a choice of vegetable or taro fillings.

And I haven't even mentioned the rolls of buttery garlic bread, mountains of fresh fruit, L's box of delicious moist chocolate brownies, the hot dog station cranking outside the house, the big box of party junk food that didn't end up being opened, and the aromatic batches of grilled marinated chicken wings that definitely warmed the entire house up with delicious smells at this housewarming event.

And a special mention to the burnt red velvet cupcakes that never made it to the party.

Ready for some Dirty Santa action

A fun and playful method of gift giving is a game of Dirty Santa and all the rivalries created from gift snatching.

The only dirty thing about this game is the right to steal (and the mind of the person who decided to buy a revealing French maid costume as a present).

Indoor spearfishing

Note: NERF guns - always popular with the male species, no matter how old you are.

Evidence?

The boys trekking to the nearest shops, buying 5 new guns and turning the new house into a battlefield.

Take a break (from plain old red and white packaging!)

I came home heavier than I had expected! (Not the extra food baby I was now carrying. Obviously.)

It was this very beautiful and enticingly packaged box of assorted kit kats that L had generously lugged back from Japan, the land where kit kats exist in more than just their brown and white chocolate forms.

Kit Kats: Strawberry, Green Tea, Rum & Raisin and Wasabi flavours

Even though I was stuffed and in a horizontal position on the couch straight after lunch, the moment of kit kat distribution was the kick I needed to realise there was still room in my stomach.

These are still resting in my fridge, reserved as my "break glass in case of emergency" sugar fix for when urges arise unexpectedly. I'm still working my way through, slow and steady, one flavour at a time.

Hello, my name is Antisocial. If you ever need me, I'll be in the corner.

So before I do a few rounds and forget, I hope you all had a magical Christmas.

May you all be merry, laugh lots, eat as much as you want to, get fat, then lose it all after the new year again.

Yeah, I wish too.