I will never cram for Christmas dinner ever again

This year, I wanted to try something new. Steamed/buttered (haven't decided yet) veggies with portobello mushrooms and salmon over couscous (left). Thing is, I've never tried cooking couscous before! I've been planning to do a dry run prior to Christmas dinner but I always have something to go to or something to do that I just realized yesterday that I only have a couple of days to decide if I'm really going to do it or change the entire menu. You see, if there's only four of you, preparing a big, fancy Xmas feast isn't really necessary. All you really need is a starter, a really 'different' and filling entrée, a good bottle of wine and you can even do without dessert! Trust me, it'll only frustrate you if you cook more than that for four people. A lot of it will be left uneaten, only to be placed in microwaveable containers or kept in saran wraps for tomorrow's lunch. Yes, there was a bit of bitterness there.

For the past holidays (i.e. Xmas, New year, birthdays), we have been eating steak as per my wife and mom's request. This year, fish trumps beef. Yes, I made the decision to have salmon this year. I know, I know, there's nothing really 'wow' about salmon, we even eat salmon for Sunday lunch... but hey, I'm tired of scrubbing the stove-top grill after dinner! I'm thinking, we'd have less dishwashing time if we have fish instead. Hehehe! After all, it's our anniversary, if you know what I mean. *Wink*

Three or four years ago, my wife and I ended up doing kitchen duty pretty much the whole day. We had pumpkin soup, my famous jumping mushrooms and probably pasta, I'm not sure. It was a nightmare! Pretty much everything needed a lot of prep time and actual cooking time. To make things worse, my parents came over at least an hour earlier than our agreed time. Then of course, there's the dishwashing problem. Ugh! Worse anniversary ever. Never want that to happen again!

This year, I made another mistake... Well, hopefully it doesn't go all the way until tomorrow evening. I just made a little mistake with the scheduling, you know, with no dry run whatsoever. So today, I had to rush to Rustan's to buy some feta cheese and apparently, they've stopped selling the brand we normally buy. To make things worse, I wasn't sure if the brand I saw was feta. I then had to go to Shopwise. Saw the same brand, did a bit of research (thank god, my GPRS was working!) and confirmed that it IS feta. I also got a kilo of salmon, some veggies (my father's request), portobello mushrooms and, as per my wife's request, good ol' Xmas ham (We can't even remember what we had last year! How pathetic is that???) Oh, and stupid me even had to research on how green onions look like! I swear, I'd shop earlier next year, even do a dry run if I'm trying a new recipe, just to make sure everything goes well.

In fairness, my friend at work said the recipe looks easy enough. Yeah, I agree. I just don't want to serve crap, you know... especially to my family! LOL Wish me luck tomorrow evening! Hopefully, everything goes well. Watch out for pictures! =)

P.S.
As if my day wasn't crazy enough, I'm still thinking of adding a last minute dessert on the menu. Hehehehe! Now seriously, do you think I can pull this dinner off???