On Christmas Eve I picked the boys up from preschool where they had had a lot of fun that day as well as a surprise visit from Santa before embarking on his round-the-world trip. Dahin had a radio broadcast at MBC with her choir, so Jack and Dahin were out until about 8 pm. When they got home, we made the cookies for Santa. We had made the dough the night before and kept it in the fridge overnight (this way the cookies keep their shape better). We used sprinkles and M&Ms to decorate the cookies. The kids did a great job and had a lot of fun with their cookie designs.
Early Christmas morning, I woke up to find Tashi in his cage peacefully chewing on a bone that the big man had obviously slipped him to keep him quiet. Tashi saw Santa, but wasn't talking. With gifts under the tree and in the stockings, I decided to make the pumpkin pie after feeding Tashi and taking him for his morning outing.
Because frozen pie crusts are not a commodity in South Korea, I had to brave it and make my own for the first time ever. After two failures and making it the right consistency, I found a video on youtube that was super helpful. Here's the link in case you want to try it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQ0GSSVymU
The recipe included with the video worked perfectly, so glad I was able to find these instructions from a chef who knows what he's doing. Boy, I was sure glad that I had bought that beautiful pie dish at a yard sale in Oakland years ago. And, I was doubly glad that I had decided to bring it with us to Korea. I didn't get the pie crust perfectly the right size, but make it work. You can see Tashi on the right side of the picture hoping desperately that I drop something yummy (he was obviously remembering the night before when the kids made cookies). Once the pie crust was set, I used a can of pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk I had gotten when in LA to make the filling. I was so glad I did because the "pumpkin paste" we bought at a foreign foods market here in Seoul (I had originally wanted to make two pies) was not a paste at all but really a nector or thick juice. That was a bummer since it cost me almost $5. Should have known better since the label was Korean. People here just don't get what canned pumpkin is all about. Anyway, I fed some of this "pumpkin paste" to Tashi as a treat and saved the rest for later.
The kids rolled out of bed around 8 am and headed right to their stockings. They had to wake Ronan up since I told them they could not get into their presents until everyone was awake. Santa had left candy canes in everyone's stocking (well, except for Tashi's) and on the tree as is the tradition in our home.
Above, Dahin helps Tashi discover the contents of his stocking. He got some yummy treats, a new toy, and some organic shampoo. He was most excited about the treats. Below, the kids opened the family gift which was a Wii. After years of asking for a Wii from Santa, Santa finally delivered. I couldn't get a good shot of them opening this gift since they kept jumping up and down and screaming.
Then, the boys and Dahin opened their gifts from Apa and Mommy. The boys got a Pokemon playset, but really I think they would have been just as happy with a stack of Pokemon cards (despite the fact they already have a gazillion Pokemon cards). Tashi, below, was a bit resistant to his other Santa gift: a doggy bed. He had hijacked one of our pillows and had been using it as a bed, and you can see on the right that the pillow is still the prefered lounging tool.
Dahin models her new coat and Christmas leggings, above, and, below, the kids play with some of the games they got from Santa.
The pie turned out perfectly. Because only 1 pie was doable, we had a lot of Christmas cookies the kids had made so we packed those up with the pie and got ready to go to Uncle Brad and Aunt Wendy's home for Christmas dinner. Also, I had attempted to make the yeast rolls I always used to make at the holidays, but that was a dismal failure as well. The dough did not rise at all during the night. The yeast here is different. It is instant yeast instead of the yeast I am used to. I think, when I go to Hawaii this spring, I will stock up on some yeast, canned pumpkin, and other holiday baking musts so that everything will be makeable in multiples next year. I made biscuits from scratch instead, but those didn't rise like that should have and were a bit salty. I followed the directions for adding baking powder to all purpose flour, but still very flat biscuits. I am not sure why, but maybe the baking powder here is different, too. Still, the biscuits weren't that bad, so they become part of our contribution as well as some cranberry sauce I had found at the foreign food market and some wine that we bought at Shinsaege Department Store.
Dahin knitted a bit using her kit Santa had brought as a stocking stuffer while she waited for everyone to get ready to go. Below, she models our Christmas gift for her cousin Mikayla. Merry Christmas!
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