Monday, 1 March 2010

Steamboat @ Valerie's House

Be it chinese new year gathering or steamboat gathering... you named it, it shall be it! We have been talking about it, and the day (27Feb) finally comes. A list of food items was collected by Val earlier and I am sure all will have their food wish layed on the table...haha! As usual, I am the last to arrive. Not too late, merely about 5mins past 6.30pm. Immediately I set off to prepare the yu sheng I brought over. When it was ready, the mummies decided that the children should eat 1st before we messed up the table, so I left it aside and placed the salmon in the fridge for later use. Val's fridge was a 'classic'! She had so many magnets displayed all over on the exterior, and guess what? She had lots inside the interior as well! haha..!!! Nonetheless, there is a spot for salmon. The ladies are kinda-of busy inside the kitchen, while the 2 men (Laurence and Jeremy) and the children are all at the living 'entertaining' themselves. Well, the kids have the TV, toys... while the 2 daddies helped to keep an eye on them. Oh, there's Geneve's helper as well. After cooking and settling the kids, the adults gathered once again by the table for Yu Sheng. Ashton and Janelle joined us in the 'lao'! Geneve commented that this is the 1st time she tasted pear in the yu sheng, which was nice. Yes, the pear makes the Yu Sheng not so dry, and add natural sweetness to it. ;-) Thanks to Mum's recipe. After the Yu Sheng, mummies finally settled down and enjoy the steamboat. A causal and homely dinner together.... really an enjoyable evening affair. I love the cocktail that Brandon mixed specially for his guests (though he is physically not able to join us...) The kids love the corns in the soup. Laurence captured a funny video. I titled it -'The Kid's Corn Battle' (Joey and Janelle stealing corn pulps from Kai Teng's bowl) It was extremely interesting to see how the kids interact with one another. Guess who won the battle of the last corn-between Joey and Kai Teng?? The answer will be at the bottom of this page. Haha! After the hearty steamboat dinner, Val presented her desert for the evening... Whoooo... home-made carrot cake! She baked it on her own. We are all very full, but each took a small slice to try. I have to admit that I am not a carrot cake fan, I mean those western carrot cake... but this one was rather good. Just 1 short fall on my opinion, the icing is a little too sweet for me. it will be better w/o the icing sugar I think. But the rest of the gals enjoyed... so, it was my personal preference. Hehe! The night end with a performance by the children. It was a band concerto with 3 little dancers! Well, Kai Teng took a fancy on the trumpet and flute and he went marching in circles with the instruments. Ashton was dancing away with the music from the organ, while Janelle following his dancing steps. Joey on the other hand, also stood up and in her own dancing moves. It was really entertaining. What happened to my kids?? Ashley was the little devil that keeps the organ on/off with music while Cieran just sat on the little stool as if he is enjoying a band performance! How entertaining right? Oh! Cant missed out the youngest kid, Chloe. She is busying crawling and picking up the loose puzzles on the floor! Each child had 'something' to keep them busy, while the adults enjoy watching them.
It was a night full of laugther for the adults, and full of fun for the children. Thanks to Val... for her steamboat invitation!

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