December 18,2011
Christmas
preparations for my family start right after Halloween's Trick or Treat. As
soon as the last horror mask and artificial pumpkin is packed ( artificial, of
course, we're in the Philippines), our house transforms into Christmasland with
the Christmas tree in the center and the twinkling star lanterns or parol
outside the windows. Then, there are the fairy lights. We can never have enough
of fairy lights.
For the celebrations on Christmas eve and day itself, I
must tell you, we really get goin' in my family. I belong to a very big family
on both my mother's and father's sides. Mommy and Daddy both have 10 brothers
and sisters on their sides,so I have 20 uncles and aunts... and with an average
of 3-6 children per uncle and aunt,I must have around 100-120 cousins, who
in their generation, have 2-3 children each. Our family is also extended
: my dad and his sibs, having been orphaned early, were taken into families of
their aunties and uncles and grew up, dormed and studied in the city with their
cousins and so are sibling-close with them, to that effect. How many guests do
we have in the house for Christmas? You do the maths and you better be good at
permutations.
And then I married into a family with nine children. You
can do the maths again. You can imagine how much shopping, gift giving, eating
and partying happens during Christmas for me and my family.
On Christmas eve, my sister Vicky has made it a tradition for the
past few years to invite our immediate family to her home. She cooks up a feast
but that doesn't stop us from bringing our favorite foods. So we have a table
groaning with food, glorious food. Until now, there are still no staples. Each
year is experimental. We love trying new recipes in the family, and Christmas
justifies buying all these expensive ingredients. One time it was a New England
Dinner with pot roast, potato salad, mashed potatoes and classic apple pie.The
only thing missing was the Yorkshire pudding, a trifle or a plum pudding and
snow.
For breakfast on Christmas Day, we wake up at 4 am
and start packing for what we call a Christmas marathon, for indeed we will
show up in three family parties for the day, from breakfast to dinner, in three
different locations.
Breakfast with the Gutierrezes in Cavite is a pot luck
affair. Lola Nanay prepares pans of Canalones Montaner, a savory canneloni
casserole made from ground pork and Majestic scrap ham and livers, wrapped in
very light, homemade crepes and topped with cream and melted cheese.This goes
well with warm pan de sal or the sweet moist raisin bread a la Baguio Country
Club which Patrick and Annie bring from Marikina. There is also Lola Nanay's
homemade ham, rich in flavor and aroma, cured lovingly for 3 weeks and then
baked with cloves, pineapple juice and brown sugar. Nothing is like it, not
Majestic nor Purefoods nor Adelina's Christmas ham. Christmas is not Christmas
without Marca Pina queso de bola, grapes and apples, potato/fruit/macaroni
salad on the table. Lola's apple-walnut cake and lemon poppy seed cake
recipes have been perfected by daughter-in-law, Maricor, and caps the
delicious homey breakfast.
Everyone also looks forward to a good sized, crispy lechon during
Christmas. And if some Titas are up to it, we have hot Dinuguan too. Having
more aunts and uncles with strokes and hypertension, seafoods are served more
often now- fried sugpo, steamed oysters from Tito Nick. The younger generation
is lazier and just order pasta or Pansit Malabon, Red Ribbon cakes and ice
cream for their contributions. It is understood that we also bring out
our noche buena leftovers of ham, macaroni salad, grapes, apples and
castanas(chestnuts) to share with the rest who are having leaner Christmases.
Children line up for their Aguinaldos given in small, red ampaw envelopes. For
the grown ups, gifts are shared and there is a lot of updating,gossip, chatting
and picture taking for the rest of the afternoon.
There is some time for a nap in my family's
house after this. My dad being the eldest son, hosts the family party for the
Casanovas in the evening. The big family starts trooping in at 7 pm. With roots
in Romblon, and intermarriages with people from the North, the evening menu is
a mishmash of urban, Visayan and Ilocano cuisine. Staples on the table
are Lechon funded by dollars from our US based relatives (we look at the
lechon's head and voila, they are with us in spirit every Christmas), Tita
Munding's tart and spicy dinuguan (my favorite), my mom's karekare,
Julet's Kalderetang Kambing, Reggie's Papaitan, Lolet's excellent tasty balut
from Sta. Maria, Bulacan cooked in a flavorful seasoned broth, Tita Au's Buko
salad with a “secret” or her refrigerator cakes. Tita Abel and Tita Cely are
sure to bring in special pastries or pansit. And my mom makes sure there is
lots of fresh fruits like mangoes, ponkans and bananas to balance the heavy
meal. Young aunts and cousins bring in Red ribbon cakes. There is always a
cousin who emcees the games and talent shows for the children, and then
the litany of names and gifts over the sound system until midnight. You think
people would have given up on food by this time, but after the fun games and
raucous laughter, the family is again hungry and hovers around the long dinner
table, checking out newly served dishes or desserts.
It is a indeed a Christmas marathon, but a
pleasurable and fun filled one. Food, laughter, stories, gossip and gifts
shared make it all worthwhile. The daily grind can be lonely and predictable
and can sap our life of memories, of joy and laughter, of sense of
belonging to big warm families. I'm glad there is Christmas to
bring it all back, even for just a day.
No comments:
Post a Comment