post-Christmas din-din

i have been missing going to my favorite thrift shops here in Gib :( they won't be open till at least the first week of January, so i am whiling away my time either trying to learn the ropes of a new "machine" (will tell you all about it on my next post) or meeting friends and inviting them over for some rosé. the shops are also still prepping up for their big after-Christmas sale so all i gotta do is wait, really. *sigh*

i mentioned a while ago that we had my in-laws over for a post-Christmas party. i decided to pull an asian-themed dinner since that's really what i cook most of the time in the house. its quick, tasty and i've already cooked them before so very little chance of screwing them up. i was a bit worried though that my food-fussy in-laws will not have anything to eat or nibble! my parents-in-law are old school Gibbos (Gibraltarians) so they always, ALWAYS eat the time and tested ham and cheese on rolls as well as old Spanish favorites like the jamon serrano, gallos (fried John Dory in very light batter), vol-au-vents (very 70's i know!), etc., etc. they are not too adventurous in their food, am afraid.

my sister-in-law is a vegetarian and so is her friend so thats also a bit of a challenge. whew!

for my parents-in-law i served: (1) jamon serrano (of course!), (2) my dad's beef steak (they've tasted this before and loved it), (3) gambas pil-pil (the mister's speciality) (4) french bread and "crujientes" or bread sticks (they also had some of the potato samosas and the gnocchi)
for my sister-in-law and her friend: (1) cabbage, bamboo shoots and carrot dumplings, (2) potato samosas, (3) fried vegetarian spring rolls, (4) vegetable tempura, (5) garlic fried rice, (6) gnocchi (Italian potato balls in tomato sauce)

for drinks i served homemade California iced tea and freshly squeezed orange juice. we also had the staple Coke, raspberry soda, and pineapple juice. for the wicked, we had beer, WKD and Disaronno (mix it with Coke and you have a Dr. Pepper in your hand!).
for dessert: i just threw in some dried sweet figs, my favorite fresh berries (blackberries, blueberries, strawberries), mini-magdalenas (Spanish cupcakes), traditional "polvorones" (with cinnamon), some choco sticks, some candy corn (believe it or not!), Hershey's chocolate kisses which we don't get here and all kinds of nuts.

the mister was so surprised when his parents actually had some of the garlic fried rice and the potato samosas! his dad even went for seconds! needless to say, the party was a success and they even took home some of the leftovers!