Happy New Year's Eve Bash (❁´◡`❁)*✲ﾟ*...

Let's get this party started right...! Instead of cooking up dinner for my family bash, we grazed all night with cold and hot appetizers in intervals like a cocktail party but laid out casual buffet-style.

I wanted to do as little as possible but still make head waves with the smorgasbord of appies. Relying mainly on prepared frozen entertaining small-bites to fry up or oven-bake (I know it's so unlike me, but this is the kind of crowd-occasion to do it and I think I owe it to myself this year-end to let my hair down and wrangle in pure fun without doing too much work). The one thing I did make from scratch-- bruschetta brought back so many party memories as it was THE starter to whip together and perfect to whet your guests appetites. Fresh, vibrant, tangy and flavourful served over toasted bread-- what's not to love? 

Easy Crowd Bruschetta

Makes 5 cups

10 firm ripe tomatoes, quartered with core and seeds removed (save for pasta sauce)

1/4 cup finely chopped red onion

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

10-12 leaves fresh basil, finely chopped

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (your best)

3 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar (your best)-- if too acidic dissolve a little brown sugar in it

sea/kosher salt and ground black pepper to taste

French baguette, sliced on an angle and baked/toasted

Place all your fresh ingredients into a large bowl. Drizzle with EVOO and balsamic. Season with salt and pepper; toss. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve over baguette slices.

TIP: Remove some excess liquid if serving later, as tomatoes continue to emit juice.

Can't think of an easier crowd-pleasing cold appetizer than a charcuterie board 
with cheese, sausages and pâté served with crackers assembled just before.

Deep-fried vegetarian spring rolls and shrimp tempura nests add Asian-flair! 

Beef meatballs simmered in homemade sweet onion BBQ sauce.

My sis-in-law made two quiches-- spinach and bacon, and tofu and blue cheese.
Mini franks and salt-and-black pepper calamari graced the table too...

But the main attraction, was none other than a box of five dozen Valentine Oysters from Diana's Seafood! 

Truly a buck a shuck, $60 (no tax) for 60!!!

Plump, creamy, juicy, slightly sweet with nice chew-- Valentine oysters are so divine!

My dear sister and brother together to celebrate every occasion ever with our families!!

Oh, here come's the bubbly.... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

HAPPY NEW YEAR FOLKS!!

It's A Paint and Cook Party....

This year, we forewent Kris Kringle with my closest friends and their families and instead enjoyed the real spirit of the holidays with time together-- painting and cooking! Since I recently & proudly accomplished baking up tall, flaky, brown-golden, crunchy and chewy basic best-ever scones, I couldn't wait to impart the learnt techniques to my girlfriends-- perfect for a hot-out-of-the-oven midday treat with tea. For something fun, crowd-pleasing and healthy with lots of freshness and flavour (a welcomed break from heavy meats, carbs and fat-laden holiday dishes)-- a dinner fiesta of steak and chicken Mexican fajitas with all the fixins of course! 

Basic Best-Ever Scones and Homemade Lemon Curd

My closest friends since early school days.

It's a paint party.... what is everyone's inspiration?

There was abstract, landscape, and mine inspired by elements from a couple of photos I took years ago in Japan that I've been meaning to paint-- a Japanese garden combining a temple, bridge and cherry blossoms (bottom left). This will take me a while to complete, and so happy this occasion gave me the opportunity to initiate it...

I came from a family of talented artists-- my brother Dan alias Marten Go, an accomplished artist of all trades, but these years a hand-crafted sculpture artist and our dad a landscape and portrait artist. His most recent work is a large canvas oil painting inspired by a photo taken from his trip to Vietnam a few years ago. I especially love the details of the sky's reflection on the gentle waters. You are incredible dad!

My dad's On the Waters painting inspired from his trip to Vietnam

Dinner preparations for our Mexican Fiesta...

Colour upon fresh vibrant colour!! Olé!

And to think I will be cooking up a storm again in a few days as I host my big family on New Year's Eve! 

I say... Bring. It. On!! .....

Thank you for a wonderful evening of friendship and conversations! Here's to more good times to come...

Spiced Nuts and Everything Nice For X-Mas...

Getting together with my family over the holidays is precious--- our first with my entire side of the family together with my brother, his wife and son permanently back from Japan since January. At my parent's house, everyone was preparing something and I decided on a huge Caesar salad, and also a crunchy snack for pre- and post dinner munchies, like nuts which are awesome after we polish off our meal, dessert, clear the table and bust out the hard alcohol :). I've come across many alluring spiced nut recipes over the years, but have yet to make my own concoction. Sweet spice is a favourite over the holidays but I personally gravitate towards savoury. I made my own with all the elements I love in such a cocktail nut mix-- the warm exotic flavours of coriander and cumin, jazzed with hints or garlic, onion and cayenne for kick bound together with egg white and Dijon mustard-- deliciously flavourful and crunchy that falls in the betcha'-can't-eat-one category! Use you favourite combination of nuts as long as you get 4 cups, and split your batch to make spicy and non-spicy offerings at your affair.

Spiced Nuts

Makes 4 cups

2-1/2 cups natural almonds

1 cup walnut halves
1/2 cup pepitas

2 egg whites
2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. packed brown sugar

2 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. onion powder
2 tsp. ground coriander

2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, whisk the egg whites and Dijon mustard until frothy; toss together nuts until coated. Combine spices in a small bowl and add to toss with nuts to coat. TIP: To make some non-spicy, divide batch in half and add cayenne to one; bake separately on baking sheet and serve/store in different marked containers.

Arrange the nuts in a single layer on parchment paper–lined baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes until golden and fragrant. Cool for one hour. Break the nuts into bite- sized pieces and place in serving bowls or store sealed in container for five days for freshness.

Here is how our Christmas night went at my parents.... My brother ever-the-artist created his own make-shift tall Christmas tree taping together tissue paper for strands covering a floor lamp... incredible!

My spiced nuts amongst other snacks...

Cooking up a feast with my dad...

Roasted veggies in turkey gravy, and salt and pepper shrimp.

Dad cutting up slabs of oven-roasted ham

My big hit Homemade Caesar Salad.

The feast is ready: Roasted Stuffed Turkey and Vegetables, Oven-Roasted Ham,  Roasted Beef, Sweet and Sour Cabbage Slaw, Caesar Salad, Chinese Vegetarian Medley, Steamed Choi Sum with Oyster Sauce, Salt and Pepper Shrimp, Shrimp and Artichoke Pasta Salad and Garlic Bread.

So nice to have my dad's brother Chef Uncle for together since he usually works Christmas Day. 

Let the crazy eating begin...

Crunchy spiced nuts to munch on are perfect along with after-dinner drinks...

 Some quiet gift unwrapping at home Christmas morning...

Before the frenetic chaos with all the cousins post dinner...

I hope everyone had a superb Christmas with your loved ones!

From Ours to Yours....

Best-Ever Flaky Scones and Homemade Lemon Curd...

I've adored scones since my days back in the Kraft Kitchens. I've been making my own over the years yielding soft cake-like cream scones and we just love them here for occasional weekend brunch. But not until I recently came across Baker and Scone scones beckoning to me at a nearby Pusateri's... I've tried their lemon and black currant (my favourite scone combo), fresh blueberry vanilla and triple berry vanilla... the superior texture and flakiness have completely ruined me for just any ol' scones FOREVER... Tall, brown-golden, crunchy, layered and slightly chewy-- they are so-O eyes-rolled-back incredible!! Instead of ogling and drooling by the sidelines, I just had to know how to recreate these. My search led me to Baker and Scone owner-- lovely Sandra Katsiou-Baker, a Chef I worked with back in the day at Dish Cooking Studio. The key in the super flakiness is super cold butter and folding the dough as many times possible to trap the bits of butter and create the multi-layers without over-handling. Here is a video on how she does it. Vowing to get to scone heaven, I tried my hands on Sandra's basic scone recipe and I have to say it is the Best-Ever-- although I could have baked them another minute longer to get that golden brown crunchy crust (I think I got too excited when I saw the tall flaky results)-- but that's what leftovers are for :)! Coupled with a homemade rich lemon curd, I think I seriously died and went to heaven!

Basic Best-Ever Flaky Scones and Homemade Lemon Curd

Sandra Katsiou-Baker, owner of Baker and Scone

Watch Sandra's Folding Technique to Yield Tall Flaky Scones

Basic Best-Ever Flaky Scones (Baker and Scone recipe)

Makes 16 scones

3-¼ cups all purpose flour
2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 cup unsalted butter (chill in freezer for 10-15 minutes)
1/2 cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
1 cup half and half cream
1/3 cup buttermilk (make your own by mixing 1/3 cup milk and 1 Tbsp. white vinegar)

2 tsp. vanilla
1 lemon, zested
turbinado sugar for sprinkling

serve with lemon curd (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 415F. Combine in a large bowl - flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Zest lemon directly into bowl. Stir with a whisk to evenly incorporate. Grate the cold butter into the flour mixture. Toss in the butter well.

Mix cream and buttermilk together, and add vanilla. Add the cream mixture to flour mixture and knead very gently just until dough holds together. Pat out onto counter dusted with flour and fold over, then gently knead and repeat a few times. Cut into half, then each into 8s, and place spaced on baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 16-18 minutes. TIP: For a crustier top crust, bake for an extra minute to brown-golden.

The process of folding and kneading out gently creates multi-layers that leads to super flakiness.

Oh my, can I say these are the most gorgeous batch of scones ever coming out of my kitchen-- 
next time I will give it an extra minute or so to brown tops! 

To me, how can you have a batch of basic scones without lemon curd!! This homemade recipe is super easy and creates such a luscious perky lemon filling with just the right balanced sweetness, it's impossible to resist! They are perfect little jars to gift and can be refrigerated up to five days.

Homemade Lemon Curd (adapted from Chatelaine)
Makes about 2 cups

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs, at room temperature
3 egg yolks, at room temperature
1/8 tsp. salt
2/3 cup lemon juice (juice from about 3-4 lemons)

Beat sugar with butter, eggs, yolks and salt in a medium saucepan with an electric mixer on high, until creamy, about one minute. Beat in lemon juice. (Mixture may curdle but will smooth out during cooking.) Set saucepan over medium-high. Cook, whisking constantly, until curd is thickened and smooth and coats the back of a spoon, three to five minutes. 

Serve scones with warm lemon curd as a topping or filling. 

Store leftover curd in sealed jars and refrigerate for up to five days.

Perfect for breakfast, brunch and with afternoon tea.

For a softer texture scone, try my Lemon Currant Cream Scones.