Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Catching up..

How time flies! It's been so long since I wrote a post but I was extremely busy preparing for another party which took most of my free time. This Christmas I decided to prepare a three course meal rather than the usual party with so many nibbles to create.
As starters I prepared three kinds of vol au vents with mushroom, salmon, and artichoke stuffing. This was followed by courgette and parmesan soup. Next came stuffed chicken and pork, potatoes, cauliflowers and a mixture of other veggies. As for dessert our friends helped themselves to pancakes with a selection of stuffing of their own choice, strawberries, nutella, banana, nuts, cream and ice-cream.
Finally, at tea-time, some of us played boardgames and the rest competed on the Playstation. We had chocolate dipped figs, (thank you Juniper for the recipe), Bacio-cake which I incidentally found in another bloggy friend's site (thank you Dina), log cake and mince pies. Our friends must have really enjoyed themselves for they came at around half noon and stayed till very late. And somehow I pulled it off once more!! Don't know how I managed but having two ovens did help me cheat a little bit in preparing everything on time. Oh I nearly forgot to tell you that I nearly freaked out when I went to take out my courgette soup from the fridge and did not find it there. My husband had put it in the freezer instead and when I peered inside the pot I found a green circular block of ice!!! I found this out at 12:00!! So you can imagine my panic! But I managed to thaw it in good time. Phew!
Now to come to the other subject...Another thing which kept me from posting was my surprise at finding I was pregnant on Boxing Day. That was one Christmas present that I was surely not expecting! Now I'll just have to get used to a new way of life - a slow-paced life -and I think this will take me time to adjust to. I'm so used to running so many errands at one go, carrying heavy stuff by myself, and eating so many kinds of food which now I'll have to give a miss. Now I have to think twice at whatever I do - is this wrong? is this good to eat? Can I nibble some more sweets? So many questions... Don't want to get over the moon or over excited because I might feel drastically crestfallen if anything goes wrong. So I'm taking it day by day. As the Maltese like to say "Issa naraw.." We'll see...
Incidentally this is my first blog post without a photo. Didn't know what to put up here.

10 comments:

Jientje said...

Congratulations!!!! Aww, I'm so happy for you, the best Christmas present ever!

You did magic with the food! All those options and choices, you really call that a THREE course meal?

Robin said...

Welcome back, and with such an exciting update too! My very best wishes for a happy, healthy and above all uneventful pregnancy and delivery.

PS Courgette and parmesan soup? Do tell...

Isabel said...

Oh dear! Congratulations!!! I'm so happy for you. Will keep you in my prayers! Oh you'll soon startthinking of babay food rather than huge lovely dinners!

Let me see if I remember the rules of eating during pregnancy:

You shouldn't eat: peanuts, liver, soft cheeses, mayo, raw eggs and unpasteurised dairy products. Of course all meats have to be thoroughly cooked. DOn't forget your folic-acid supliments! Oh I'm so excited I wish I could hug you!

Suki said...

Thank you all girls!
@Jientje - well you're right I think I should have called it four course dinner.
@Robin - I shall put the link for the Courgette recipe in the same post. And yes my pregnancy is uneventful so far, no morning sickness, no craving for weird food.
@Isabel - I've started taking my vitamins and I'm doing best at steering clear from all the foods you've mentioned but I didn't know that I couldn't eat peanuts and mayonnaise as well. How boring ta! And I have to stop drinking my favourite drink - coke -I keep forgetting that I'm pregnant at times.

Sue said...

How nice to find you posting again!
Oh what wonderful news too!
Congratulations dear, now then don't over do things , take it easy.
What a nice surprise for Boxing day!
Wonderful way to end a year and start off a new one... this is what I call a new beginning!
Joy to you my dear friend!( and to your husband too).
Sue.

Angela said...

As everyone else has already said, Congratulations on the pregnancy! Indeed that would be quite an unexpected surprise! I cannot say from experience yet, but this change in your life will be a major one but one that I'm sure you will look back on one day and cherish. Congrats again on both the baby and the party!

Doreen said...

Oh what wonderful news! We have just come back from a Christening too : )
And how nice to see you back on your blog (I need to get back to writing on mine too LOL)! Well done on your party...the food sounds great!
Well dear Zen, here's wishing you a Healthy and Happy pregnancy and a wonderful year ahead to both you and your husband.
Hugs and many Blessings,
Doreen

Juniper said...

what fantastic news-congratulations!!!
Enjoy the pregnancy, keep a journal if you have time too, I remember having some of the most vivid incredible dreams while bring pregnant. Your senses are so very alive. I ate all kinds of peanuts and peanut butter and mayonnaise while I was pregnant. Am pretty sure they are safe as long as you don't have a family history of nut allergies and unless the mayo was out in the sun for too long of course. It's funny every country has their own list, no deli meat was a big one in the states but never mentioned in the UK for example.
Get plenty of rest and enjoy this new chapter of life!

Dina said...

OH my I am finally catching up and what lovely news I am reading here today!! A BIG CONGRATULATIONS. This time last year I had just found out I was pregnant aswell!! So baby is due in September right? Oh how exciting!!! I also ate most of everything in my three pregnancies and all varied from healthy eating with my first and lots of fruit, nutella diet with my second and all sorts of food with my third ;) good luck dear and keep well .

Suki said...

Thank you all.
@Angela -yes it'll definitely be a major change in my life. So while you'll be getting used to living on our island + living a married life I'll be getting used to having someone totally dependent on me.
@Juniper: I like your idea of keeping a journal. Somewhere in my house I've got this book which I was supposed to have used as a Wedding Guest Book but which dear sis forgot to hand out to guests - I think it would make a pretty journal.
@Dina: Baby's due in 22nd August.