In 2016, we started a tradition of inviting our family over for Christmas. Since his family is overseas  our first dinner was just my immediate family. I made the starter and main course and my sister made the dessert. It was a really nice way of spending time together and just enjoying the festive season even though we do not celebrate Christmas. Last year (!) my Aunt, Uncle and first cousins were in Cape Town over the festive season and we decided to make the circle bigger and have a huge dinner. I went from cooking for five people to eleven, my perfectionist tendencies were off the charts and hubby had to have a lot of patience with me lol. It took ages to finalise my menu as there were more tastebuds to consider but in the end I was happy with what I made and everyone enjoyed themselves which is the most important thing.

The Menu

I used Canva to create my menu, you can download the App on your phone or use the website. I got them printed in A5 in colour and hubby used his creative skills to make them stand up on the table with pegs. A really cute and inexpensive way to add some festive cheer to the table.

The Starter

I served Pani Puri, an Indian street food snack as the starter. To see how I made these little pockets of joy, click here.

The Salad

This one dish incorporated all the flavours that traditional Christmas Dinners contain: Apple, Cranberries and Pecans. I wanted to make a huge salad that would look like a centrepiece on the table but that would be fresh and different to the regular salads that we eat on a regular basis. It ended up looking like a beautiful Christmas Wreath, thanks to my sisters handiwork. Click here for the recipe.

The Main Courses & Sides

I went a bit over the top for the main courses, but if Christmas like Eid, isn’t a time to go overboard then I don’t know when is. I make a prawn curry (which I still need to type out for you), jewelled saffron rice, butternut mash and creamed spinach, roast beef and mushroom sauce. We also indulged in Gajar Halwa from a family members wedding, brought all the way from Mpumalanga to Cape Town! Needless to say it was delicious. I didn’t manage to take individual pictures of all the food, since I was busy cooking and stuff, but here are some pictures that my cousins took!

Dessert

I instructed my sister (no really, I had a bossy moment) to make two desserts. She makes a fantastic Black Forest trifle so that was a no brainer and she made Tiramisu (minus the alcohol duh). They were both absolutely divine, we didn’t have much space left after supper but we had plenty of leftover to eat the next day and the next..and the next.

I had so much fun cooking for everyone and spending quality time with my family!