My Wee Little Christmas Dinner Tradition

Oh, yeah! I finally salvaged my photos of the Jamaican jerk barbecue we had for the Christmas of 2015!

It was great too. I wonder if I can splice that into the first post right quick.

Well, last Christmas had a pretty severe dampener placed on it — namely, my father's death from COVID-related pneumonia about two weeks beforehand. So for a bit there, it looked like Christmas was cancelled, and Christmas dinner along with it. But since Mom had separated from Dad and was living up north with my brother and my sister-in-law in Missouri, and since they didn't want me spending Christmas alone, they bought a round-trip ticket to Saint Louis for me. So that's where I spent Christmas, and I got to cook Kedjenou — Ivorian stewed chicken with eggplant and other veggies — for our Christmas dinner.

The recipe which I used:
https://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/kedjenou-recipe



Into the pot it all goes!


Electric burners aren't quite the same as fire, but they'll do.

(I added about a quarter-cup of chicken stock halfway through the cooking. The chicken was looking a little dry, but I figured that the recipe's call for half a cup would be too much. As it turned out, I chose wisely. )


Looking good!


Into the bowls it goes!


We didn't have any couscous, so we buttered up some dinner rolls and toasted them for about ten minutes. You just can't have stew without bread, right?


My nephew Drew liked the kedjenou too (even though he let it go cold because he talks too much).

I reckon it's time to edit the first post again. I wasn't in much of a mood for photography, with losing Dad and all, but I'm glad that I did.

Although the photos from 2014's Christmas Pierogi seem to have vanished into thin air, I also dug up some more pictures of 2012's borscht and 2015's jerk rub barbecue while I was at it.

Hold still for the camera, Dad!

(I still miss you, Dad. )

Looks like it was tasty though!

It was! Chicken, onions and eggplants won Christmas that day!

(26-12-2018 09:37 PM)CatherineTCJD Wrote:  The only Black Eyed Peas that I like - sorta - are the singing kind, and I'm certainly not gonna eat 'em! (They're only good for one or two songs anyway...)

Let's see...Meet Me Halfway

I Got a Feeling

Just Can't Get Enough

Hey Mama

Girl Like Me

(And no, the addition of Shakira doesn't make it any less of a Black Eyed Peas video. )

That's a little more than "one or two songs." You lied to me, Catherine!

(Also, updating the first post because New Zealand came up this year! Two of my Australian friends from Illusion Vale and Facebook already recommended Hangi, so that's on the menu for this Christmas. Does anyone have any other tasty New Zealander suggestions? )

(02-10-2021 10:34 PM)Pizzatron-9000 Wrote:  That's a little more than "one or two songs." You lied to me, Catherine!

No... no, I really didn't (I can't say any of those are worth my listen *shrug*)
I also don't know any NZ dishes - don't they eat a lot of lamb/mutton?

(04-10-2021 02:00 AM)CatherineTCJD Wrote:  No... no, I really didn't (I can't say any of those are worth my listen *shrug*)

If you say that you don't like the Black Eyed Peas because you're down with Insane Clown Posse, I'm officially disowning you.

(04-10-2021 02:00 AM)CatherineTCJD Wrote:  also don't know any NZ dishes - don't they eat a lot of lamb/mutton?

Lots of tropical fruits and seafood too, I suppose. But I'm in the process of learning more in-depth about New Zealand's cuisine, and I expect to be pleasantly surprised; after all, I was about to pass on Ivory Coast and reroll until I saw that they have dishes which don't use snails and animal feet as ingredients!

You should ask @ekrubynaffit about NZ dishes, as she is from there.

It's worth a try, but it doesn't look like she has a very active history here, and she hasn't visited Leefish since April. Does she still come around?