Christmas Dinner for Two

For an early Christmas dinner for two, my husband and I decided to keep things simple. To get the party started, I mixed some dry sparkling wine and mint liqueur with a bit of lime zest. I would suggest excluding the lime zest as it made the drink bitter. We instead just enjoyed the sparkling wine on its own.

As a small starter for us to enjoy while my husband was braaiing the pork chops for the main course, I set out tortilla cups (cut from large tortillas, placed in a mini cupcake pan and baked in the oven for a few minutes) filled with avo and cream cheese, topped with sweet peppadew.

For the actual dinner we kept it intimate. The table was simply decorated with artificial flowers, small Christmas crackers and red underplates on top of bamboo placemats. We also enjoyed some of the remaining sparkling wine with our food.

Dinner consisted of pork chops, roasted potatoes spiced with garlic and paprika, as well as cut green bean bake (topped with some crunchy potato chips before baked in the oven). Although nothing fancy, the combination of food was delish and homey.

For dessert I made homemade ice cream, which is really easy to make. The base is Orley Whip and condensed milk, and you can add any flavour such as vanilla, liqueur or frozen fruit. For our ice cream I didn't add any flavour, so that we could add our own toppings . I added some mint liqueur with lime zest, while my husband added instant coffee granules. This could also be a really fun dessert with friends, where everyone can add toppings of their choice (the possibilities are endless).