First Time for Everything

There's always a first time for everything and this year alone has been my 'a lot of FIRSTs year'. The first-time project leading in my company, first time getting a promotion in my 7 years career and yesterday, it was my first time actually cooking some serious legit roasted pork and opening up my house to host my own Christmas party. It was really exciting and I was happy that everything turned out well. Thanks to the amazing Yuna who helped me clean the house up and prep for Christmas the entire day.

Oh right! And it is also my first time actually getting a Christmas tree for myself. When I mentioned that I was going to host a party, I thought that 'hey... I think I should actually have a tree at least'. Yuna decided to help with the decorations of the house which I am super grateful for. She made the place look even more 'Christmasy', if there was a term for it.

This house party was going to be a potluck/potbless. This means that every guest had to either prepare a dish of their own or buy something to bring to the party. It didn't have to be a lot because everyone would be bringing their portion, so there would be a lot of food on the dinner table, which there was... If not mistaken, there are still food leftovers in my fridge waiting to be heated up for tonight's dinner.

As the host, I decided to take the risk and do something I've never done before. Crispy Roasted Pork

If you guys don't know me, here's something about me. All my life, I've only ever cooked rice, plastic cup noodles and burgers. I don't cook or have any experience in doing a more 'seasoned chef' dish but I've decided to give this roasted pork a go. It was scary because I spent quite a ton on ingredients and for the perfect cut of pork belly from the butcher, so if it went sideways.... I wouldn't know what else I would do.

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I seasoned the pork belly overnight with a few ingredients. Before that, I had to score the meat part before adding the ingredients. I've watched many youtube videos on this and which recipe to use but I ended up combining a few recipes together to make whatever works with the ingredients I bought.

My take on the recipe, 'Onion salt powder, Garlic salt powder, salt, soya sauce, 5 spice powder'.

That's about it for the marination.

I later flipped the pork belly over with the skin side up and scored lightly on the skin. Adding salt on it, later on, to get rid of any moisture that's inside the skin. I left the pork belly in the fridge for a day.

When the party was approaching, I started full blowing the oven on this awesome piece of meat. It turned out really well and was one of the first few dishes to be gobbled up. It had the perfect amount of juiciness, oily-ness, and boy... was the skin super crispy. It was so crispy my knife had a problem cutting through it. I added a plum sauce next to it if anyone wanted to balance their taste palette from the saltiness of the pork. It was a success!

Oh and this wasn't the only dishes that were there yesterday night. This was just a quarter of it as my other friends started arriving. We had twister fries, roasted pork, chinese dumplings, slow roast chicken, KFC, churros, rosti, mash bacon potatoes, pizza, croissant, cake for dessert and lots of alcohol. You can say it's a feast!

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A Good End to The Year 2019

Prior to this party, I was so afraid I invited too many people to the party. Being a host for the first time in my small little house, all I wanted for my guest was to feel comfortable without having to literally rub shoulders on their way to the kitchen. I guessed I learned one thing about hosting is that I can actually invite more because they would always make themselves at home and entertain themselves.

This Christmas party was thought up because I wanted to create a bond among my colleagues. I always believe that a team would work so much better if they were not just 'colleagues' but friends. Despite the many gossips around many workplaces, I will always choose to avoid negative noises and only do what's right. One thing I believe in is that 'Righteousness always wins' and that's a fact and I've seen it happen over and over again in my life. Righteousness in God, and you will NEVER go wrong. Furthermore, God helps and protects you along the way! Hey, it's a win-win!

I'm glad this year has been a rollercoaster. A good kind of adrenaline because I LOVE rollercoasters. I'm glad that things are beginning to happen in my life right now and I have faith that every step I take would be watched over and protected. I pray that my closest ones who are around me would also be protected as we head into the New Year with bigger and better opportunities. I'm just glad that I'm still alive and kicking and still praying hard. I also pray that my relationships would continue to grow into something beautiful in days to come.

May the New Year be ever so fruitful and blessed for you!

Thank You

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_{Credits to @pinstory & @coloringiship for this lovely photo of me.}

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://zord189.steemblogs.club/2019/12/28/its-beginning-to-feel-a-lot-like-christmas/

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