Eggnog

Earl- we're here to stay!  You always have a place to stay in HK!

Feeling inspired by the holidays, Paul suggested we spend our Wednesday night in making eggnog, with hopefully a positive result we could bring to our friend Helen and Dave's on Saturday for their Christmas party.  We decided to start small.  Often times (gnocchi disaster night) we make too much.  And then we (Paul) end up eating it for weeks.  Seriously weeks.

Paul's recipe:

4 1/2 egg yolks (we learned we are both pretty fantastic at separating yolks)

1 cup cream

1 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark rhum

whiskey to taste

nutmeg

cinnamon 

This made enough to fill a medium tupperware, of which I anticipate Paul will finish off tonight.  I decided to make a slightly less indulgent version.

Lauren's recipe for one:

1/2 egg yolk

2 tablespoons 5% cream (super healthy!)

1/2 cup skim milk

couple drops stevia

splash dark rhum

splash whiskey

nutmeg

cinammon

Both are delicious.  And one won't totally kill my 'intense' 30 minutes of iron pumping yesterday.  Let's talk about that.  As I mentioned on Facebook, I have belonged to quite a few gyms in my day; including 3 in Asia.  Well never have I ever been so gawked at.  I swear everything I moved machine all eyes were on me.  I suppose I usually have an ipod on and don't notice, but geeze.  AND there was only one other girl in the weight room (others on treadmills/cardio) AND I was the only guillo (whitey).    Looking forward to the new location near my office to open up.

What else what else....

OH YES, last week we had the most fun wine dinner at Ma Maison, a private kitchen.  I briefly introduced the wines before each course for 14 HOFWs fans.  The food was all spectacular, the wines were fantastic, and it made me a little more confident (or was that the wine) in my knowledge and ability to convey it.  Anyone have any pointers on speaking in public?  This is definitely a place I need to focus some attention.

Friday evening Paul and I attended the Golden Gate Wines Christmas party.  It was super fun and the girl FiFi there was ultra informative about several things.  a) where to get a great wedding dress made in HK b) don't waste your money on the AWSEC diploma level WSET course (I'm better off taking it in Singapore and flying to the tests) and c) introduced me to this fantastic company.  Did I mention there was homemade hummus?

Saturday and I had to work for a bit, then Paul and I got the tackiest shirts we could find (his gold chain print, mine pink and sparkly) to prepare for Alicia's Christmas party. Unfortunately, Alicia's toilet flooded, leaving us party goers stranded in Central :)  A few drinks in Soho and these kids turned in.

Sunday was fantastic.  Beautiful blue skies and warm!!  We went through the Island East Market at our doorstep running into friends, sipping mulled wine, and shopping, then hoofed it over to TST to meet Kameron and her boyfriend Charles for dessert.  Amazing place, and it was soo good to catch up with Kammy after so many months!  And her boyfriend is cool to boot.

Then boated to Central for a wine tasting (read all about it on HOFWs blog) at California Vintage.  Monday was another day filled with work, and a night filled with work, but at least there was wine :)  Tuesday was less than exciting and now tis eggnog/christmas card writing night. One cup is enough for this kid.  4 cards down...