Gourmet [gor-MET]

For the past several Christmases we have the most fantastic tradition--an eating style called gourmet. Our friends the Peschier's gave us a set of six burners that you use as a family to prepare your own individual portions of different foods. Tyson had it with us last Christmas and asked if we could have it one more time before he left on his mission. And it was a splendid idea! My favorite thing to cook is Nasi, a Dutch-Indonesian dish that is absolutely wonderful, and this is how you make it:

1. Get the burner started. We found that there is a delicate balance of fluid in order for it to work properly. Too much or too little will not sustain a flame. The first time we did it we forgot the burner fluid and it was Christmas Day so no stores were open. We improvised with Petroleum Jelly. :)

2. Choose your flavor. There are all kinds of things you can cook on your personal frying pan. We had the ingredients for stir fry, Nasi, and little smokies. You can also cook pancakes, little hamburgers, anything you can dream up. Nasi begins with chicken that is marinated in Saute, a special Dutch marinade. You add onions and chicken and let it cook until it's halfway done.

3. Add veggies. Most of the dishes we made tasted best with vegetables, and so you add them next because they don't need to be cooked as long. My favorite way to eat Nasi is only with onions, but I guess it's healthier when you have veggies. :) They looked really pretty too...

4. Rice, Ketchup, and Nasi herbs. Once everything is done then you add a little "Ketchup Manis"--another Dutch ingredient, equivalent to soy sauce-- a tablespoon of Nasi herb mix, and a good helping of rice. Mix together, warm a little and then eat!

5. Start cooking something else while you eat!

It's a social dinner that is slow moving, but so much fun! We had lots of fun talking, creating new mixes, trying to cook the little smokies, and accidentally touching the bottom of the frying pan and turning hands, towels, and pants black.

We discovered that beef cooks much slower compared to chicken, and Dad became impatient and pulled out the blow torch in hopes of speeding up the process. That's my Dad!

We had a wonderful evening talking, sharing stories, laughing, cooking, and relaxing on the patio. It was so much fun to do it outside, and we stayed out there until it became dark and we were stuffed full.

Let me teach you a word: gezellig (click to hear). In Dutch it means cozy or comfortable. My mom always imagines a little warm fireplace in the evening with everyone gathered close. It's her favorite word in Dutch because she hasn't yet met it's English equivalent. It doesn't quite mean the same thing as cozy, even though cozy tries. But it's such a wonderful word, and in honor of our Dutch feast only a Dutch word could describe such a night. :)