A Sample Christmas Dinner

Having grown up in the Philippines, Christmas dinner highlights meant hamon (ham, from the spanish word jamon) and keso de bola (literally "cheese ball", from spanish queso meaning cheese, and "bola" for ball). The ham is usually store bought, with a sweet honey glaze, and the red ball of Edam cheese. Having turkey was not a usual thing in our household, so don't even ask if we had cranberry sauce.

This year, despite being several days early for the actual Christmas dinner, was an introduction to Christmas dinner, European style.

parsnip fries baked in the oven, leg of turkey, baked potatoes, and ham

This year's ham was made of a particular store bought pickled pork which was only discovered after quite some time of asking around (inquire through your butcher!), boiled with herbs and spices for a looooong time, but with extreme caution on the cooking time as the preference would still be slightly pink pork, as overcooked pork tends to be dry. Turkey was the best part - roasted in the oven until the skin was crispy and the meat moist and tender.... perfect with those potatoes, with a slight hint of pepper. Together with parsnips, this meal is not for the faint-hearted, make sure to wear elastic-waisted pants to make room for a lot of food!

Just a sampler, this one. With 3 days to go before Christmas, all that can be thought about is food actually!