Hot & Cheesy Cauliflower and Broccoli

Butter
Olive Oil
Chili Flakes
Minced Garlic
Parmesan
Broccoli
Cauliflower

Steam veggies. Melt butter and olive oil in wok on high. Reduce to medium, add chili flakes and garlic and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. Take off heat and toss in veggies, then parmesan. Serve!

Broccoli & Mushrooms with Oyster Sauce

1 small bunch of broccoli, cut up
150 grams (1/3 pound) white button mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
about 1/4 to 1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons good-quality oyster sauce

Heat your wok or pan over high heat, and add the oil. When hot, add the broccoli and mushrooms and stir well. Add a splash of water, and continue stirring and tossing the broccoli, adding more water as it evaporates.

When the broccoli is about half cooked, add the garlic. When the broccoli is mainly cooked, add the oyster sauce and toss well. Cover and cook for a minute or two more.

Hillier’s Mini Christmas Puddings

Hubs and I began a new (for him) holiday tradition on our 1st Christmas living together - Christmas stockings. That first year, I think I explained the process incorrectly, as while his stocking was full of candy, books, and other such items, mine was chock full of chocolates! This wasn't a bad things, and since then, we've stuck to candy filled stockings. This year, I ran all over town and did about four separate candy runs, looking for a few unique and special items. While Darrell Lea provided my 'xmas choc of the year' in 2008, this year my choc of choice came from Hillier's. Wandering through Harris Scarfe's Christmas section, I spotted this bag of Mini Christmas Puddings. Not sure about the brand, and wondering how it could possibly taste as good as the real thing, I thought why not try it out. The rest is history! Of course I had to have a taste before handing them all over, and ended up eating half the bag before the rest made it into hubs' stocking;) Rich dark chocolate covered, spicy, nutty, creamy, candy Christmas pudding was too much temptation to pass up. The intention was to go back and get more, but alas, I never made it:( Next year...