One last (last) star

It's New Year's Eve, and none of us can dine out after 6 p.m.  So the same crew from Christmas Eve, when we also were barred from dining out, re-assembled for another quite evening at home.

Tonight, though, Hello Kitty decided that she wasn't going to cook.  Truth be told, she's cooked more in 2020 than the previous few years combined, so she certainly deserved a night off.  We chose to pick up different goodies from around town.

We started with these baked puff pastry with crab roe and cheese (蟹粉芝士燒餅) from China Tang (唐人館).  Kinda interesting, I guess.  Not a combination I would have imagined.

We also nibbled on some mortadella and prosciutto.

Hello Kitty tried to replicate the 黯然銷魂飯, as I went to pick up some fatty char siu (肥叉燒) and barbecued short ribs (燒骨) from Sun Kwai Heung BBQ Food (新桂香燒臘).  That char siu was damn fatty...

I also picked up half a roast goose (燒鵝) from my favorite shop Yat Lok (一樂燒鵝).  It's been about a year since I last ate there thanks to the pandemic, and it was good to have another taste.

Hello Kitty blanched some pea shoot tips (豆胚), because it's also something not available in Taiwan.  Little Rabbit decided to spoon a whole load of confit d'echalotes from Le Pont.  Pretty sinful.

For dessert, we dug into a Cake Ispahan from Pierre Hermé given to us by The Great One.  I can never resist anything from The Fat One that has Ispahan in the name...

We took the opportunity to pop open a few more bottles of wine. I do have an overflowing cellar, after all...

2012 Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame, dégorgée septembre 2019 - initially tame, but acidity gradually came out, with more depth on the palate.

1990 Domaine de Marcoux Châteuneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - farmy, earthy, a little bretty, and smoky.  Very soft on the palate.  Over the hill now.

1988 Carruades de Lafite Rothschild - served 30 minutes after decanting.  Very classic Pauillac, with tons of graphite, tobacco, and some cool fruit underneath.  Very clean and pure, with fragrant cedar notes.

Drappier Carte d'Or Immersion - honey lemon, a little metallic.  Pretty lovely and fresh, with a fine balance between ripeness and acidity.  Later showed more toast and yeasty notes.

I'm glad that 2020 is finally over. Here's hoping that 2021 will be better for us.