Christmas Dinner '12

This year, we didn't have a "traditional" Christmas dinner menu - we didn't even have one that was entirely correlated.  However, the food turned out pretty well... the only dish that could clearly improve would be that the rice would've been better with less water.

Following were the dishes and associated comments:

• Soup - made with chicken broth, broccoli stems and an Asian vegetable mixture of roots, bamboo shoot, tofu, etc.   It had an interesting taste and the bamboo shoot flavor was definitely noticeable
• Singapore noodles - this is almost a staple; though this time I used celery and dried mushrooms  (fresh mushrooms are always better)
• Beef Stew - cooked this for 8 hours with the typical ingredients; always good comfort food
• Marinated shredded chicken with green beans - Got good compliments on this, even though it was sort of a last minute change since I had originally intended to make cream of mushroom chicken and green beans
• Spinach Quiche - This was my first time making quiche and it turned out quite well and was fairly easy to make.   The only thing was that for one I forgot to put the cheese on the bottom first, and ended up putting the cheese on the top.   It browns more on the top with the cheese; though it actually was pretty good tasting.   Also, it's important to cover the edges so the crust does not burn.
• Yams - I added some vanilla this time along with the cinnamon, nutmeg, honey, and butter.  Also, added coconut flakes with the marshmallows on top; but, got feedback that the coconut flake texture didn't fit in so well.
• Hot Apple Cider, Rolls, and Rice