There’s this event this Sunday 5-7pm @ Palate Palette. It’s organized by my friends Cee and Haanim who gave birth to a couple of twins – Gustav and Hannes. If you’ve seen my blogposts/instagrams of me at Dusun, you’d have seen Hansi (Hannes) who’s the HAPPIEST baby ever! Unfortunately… his brother Gustav passed away from congenital heart disease at 3 weeks old. Hence, his parents are putting together a fundraiser for IJN (Institut Jantung Negara) in the name of their children, Gustav and Hannes.
Cee (who’s a well known DJ and producer!) has made an album for the kids and have printed 100 limited edition copies which will be sold for donations at the event this Sunday. The event will be hosted by Malik Taufiq, and performances by Bernice Chauly and Darren Ashley.
These donations will go towards heart surgeries of infants, and IJN Foundation will be at this event to collect donations and give out tax exemption receipts.
Do come to this event if you can – to meet this wonderful family who are so dear to me, and to have a copy of the album while making a contribution to children in need of life-saving medical procedures at IJN. They hope to raise at least RM30,000; this will help one child live a much happier life.
If you can’t make it but would like to make a contribution, please email Haanim at haanim@thedusun.com.my. I know every contribution would be much appreciated by them.
This is the first year i managed to NOT put on any Christmas weight. You know how it’s done? The trick is… to be so busy cooking that you don’t have the desire or time to eat yourself. :p I was cooking for two days straight and felt so WEIRD after it was all over. Like, Whoa. I have no work to do. And nothing i need to cook… What do i do now… 0_o
That being said, i enjoyed EVERY moment of deciding what to cook, noting down ingredients to buy, splitting them into three different shopping sessions so i could book the necessary meats and get them when fresh and being able to carry everything, organizing what time which dish goes into the oven, etc. Out of ALL the time i spent cooking, there were four minutes i berated myself for being an ambitious idiot and wanting to cook for 25 people. Seriously, i thought to myself as i hurriedly chopped and washed six sticks of fennel, WHY do i do this to myself? DID I NOT LEARN from the last time?!
I am stubborn. And when the occasion arises, i get all ENTHUSIASTIC about cooking and knowing i’ve done it before, i know i can do it again… and do it and end up inviting a few extra people when i’m drunk -.-
Big Ben hovered around me as i prepared the potatoes to roast in duck fat, and said, “Who knew, that one day Joyce Wong (why does everyone call me by my name like this now!) will be in the kitchen.”
Me: Yeah, who knew :p
Ben: From your pass out days..
Me: Okayyyy Bennnnnn people grow up okay!
Friends started arriving at 3 plus cos i said the lamb would be ready at 3pm. I lied. Didn’t mean to. I just couldn’t wake up early cos i was so tired from the cooking and drinking the night before!
Pictures below stolen from EVERYONE cos i only took a grand total of five pictures.
I think Ah Hoong took this pic
Thanks for documenting my tree this year Clouds 😀
Pumpkin for the lasagna
On the menu that day was:
Pumpkin & feta & ricotta lasagna
Slow-cooked roast lamb in butter beans & fennel
Strawberry salad
Roasted potatoes in duck fat
Oh and half a turkey from the day before, which was gone before the lamb came out of the oven cos that took 3 hours.
Baby and me! I thought the present was from her (kancheong time) but it’s from Chelle. On another note, i’m so glad i put aside 15 minutes to put on some make up so i didn’t look so shattered when everyone came.
My brother turns 27 today, on the second last day of the year, so there’s almost a 3 year gap in between us. Almost.
A picture of us in our parents’ house. He looked really American-Japanese when he was young. Don’t know where he got that from! Clem thinks i look cheeky in this picture, like i have this IDEA in my head and am not saying it.
Mummy cooked a big family dinner for 7 of us last night.
Daddy and the king of the house.
This fellow gets more likes on my Instagram than anything else -_- But i have to say he’s getting cuter and cuter every time i see him! He’s like a BIG FLUFF BALL to HUG.
I decided that the turkey i do this year should go to my family first, so the plan was to have them over on Christmas Eve, then have friends over on Christmas Day. What transpired was me cooking for 2 days straight. Thanks to that, I even DREAMT that i was running down a hill chasing a turkey, with potatoes rolling behind me which i had to catch too! Chef overdose.
My favourite part about roasting Christmas turkey is brining it! Throwing all the spices, herbs, honey and fruits into water to soak the turkey in for 2 days feels so FESTIVE. Thanks to Nigella for the recipe (same one i used last year).
I brined the turkey on Saturday seeing i’d be cooking it on Monday.
On Sunday i went to pick up my new Christmas present from… myself. HEEEEE!!
I was toying with the idea of getting a Z3 thanks to Kenny who also got one a few months ago. He totally hantu-ed me on this one. When i told my family that i was ‘just looking’ online for one, my dad and bro excitedly started surfing as well and even suggested i get an Audi. Erm, looks like i didn’t need to lose the plot for myself -_- My mom on the other hand started forwarding me emails of how people in beemers are getting jacked and how i should just stick to my Swift.
I wanted a Z3, but only if it was a hardtop (to put my mother’s and my own mind at ease)… it’s been my favourite car for years and every time one comes up behind me on the road, i’d let it take over and then follow it from behind while gazing wistfully at it thinking, “One day… maybe…”
AND THAT DAY HAS COME! To be honest, i never thought i’d buy one… like if i were to rate my own chances, i would have said the possibility of me getting one would have been 3/10. But now i have it! And when i look at it my heart swells up a little and i think, “Hells yeahhhhh”
So i’m gonna sell off my trusty little Swift soon (okay i’m quite sad about letting go off my first car…) and will blog about selling it when the Z3 is back from the mechanic (changing absorbers).
On Monday, i spent two hours in Maxis to get myself an iPhone5 and hurried home to start cooking Christmas Eve dinner!
Ingredients for the All Spice Gravy
Melted down butter, goose fat and honey to baste the turkey with as it roasts for 2 and a half hours.
Earlier this month i wrote a blogpost about Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Cream. Packed with Regenerist’s signature Aminopeptide Complex, Olay Regenerist reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles in just 10 minutes and works continuously over time to reduce volume of deep eye lines by 20% after 14 days of twice-daily treatment.
If you missed my earlier post, you might have missed news of the amazing Money Back Offer where Olay is so confident you’ll love Olay Regenerist, that you’ll get a full refund if you don’t!
Besides its long-term effects, the formula in Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Cream also creates immediate benefits of being a quick-fix wrinkle minimizer and have converted hundreds of women into being 10-Minute Witnesses. This breakthrough proprietary blend manages to show results in even as brief as 10 minutes, by filling in the tiny valleys between fine lines and wrinkles.
Sheila is in her 40s and has twin 5-year-olds Trish and Mo (you know what, i managed to dig up a blogpost with pictures of them when they were born in 2007!).
Sheila washed her face before applying the cream, and mentioned how smooth it was right after application. I asked her not to tell me anything more and wait for 10 minutes while i watched Trish colour some Disney princesses (she’s very good at it… Mo just colours his Transformers picture with one colour pencil haha boys.)
After 10 minutes, i asked Sheila what she thought of the cream: “It feels very smooth, and not greasy like other moisturizers.” Then i told her how Olay is having their Money Back Offer promo, and whether she’d return it. She said, “I don’t think i’ll return it, it’s nice,” and mentioned how she’d like to use it for a longer period of time to see end results.
Woohoo i got another 10-minute Witness!
Success!
Speaking of success (ahhh Christmas season is making me corny), three readers who took part in my contest each win an Olay Regenerist Hamper worth RM250!
The winning entries! >
Congrats ladies! 😀 Please email me at joycethefairy@gmail.com for prize collection details.
Try Olay Regenerist Wrinkle Relaxing Cream yourself and be a “10-Minute Witness” by picking it up next time you’re at a pharmacy for RM99.90. You have peace of mind that if didn’t work for you, you can get your money back at www.olaymoneyback.com!
