EVERY sign from Point A to Point Z seems to lead to Christmas.
For example, you enter a mall. You realize that from the ground floor to the third floor there is nothing else except Christmas-themed ideas.
I have been stirring up my brains for two weeks now on what I would write this week. You would not be surprised if I am a little dizzy today. Have you ever tried stirring up your brains with a carrot stick?
“Uncle, why a carrot stick?” My favorite nephew, Pannon, asked.
“It sounds healthy. Anything healthy is trendy these days,” I replied.
“Yeah, because it’s unhealthy to stir up your brains. I never thought you had—” I stopped him.
“Pannon, it’s nearly Christmas. Please be nice,” I said.
My Uncle Gustave came in with a loaf of fruitcake. “Do you know anybody who would like to have this cake? Our family friend Gwen gave this to me yesterday just to tease me. She knows I hate fruitcake.”
“That’s part of her Christmas buffet, Uncle. When I asked her what she usually serves for Christmas, she told me she serves fruitcake, caramel brownies, baked ham, stuffed roasted chicken and garlic bread. It is an outstanding meal.”
Gwen’s festive meal gave me the idea for today’s column. Every day, I pass by a corner store owned by a grandmother of two. Leslie, the grandmother, sells a variety of gift items, biscuits and other kinds of snacks. To maximize the income of her space, she also sells lunch food.
An idea was now brewing in my stirred up mind. What do other people have on their Christmas table?
Leslie, who is an excellent cook, said, “I often make fresh lumpia, leche flan, lechon kawali, adobo, mango cake, chicken macaroni, bam-i and fried chicken.”
“That’s a lot!” I told her. She said that she only makes a small batch of each food item for her family of eight.
Another person I asked was a laundrywoman. She shrugged her shoulders when I asked her about Christmas food.
“It all depends if I have money. It’s an expensive meal, you know. Sometimes a neighbor would send over some of her spaghetti and fruit salad. Last year, my daughter made fruit salad and spaghetti. She also bought soft drinks. I don’t know about this year.”
“Do you have some dream food?”
She smiled and said, “How I wish we could have lechon, real leg of ham, ice cream, cake, soft drinks and pizza.”
As I headed off to work, I saw two women. I asked one of them if they were teachers.
“Yes, we are.” I then asked them about their favorite Christmas food. One of them, the one wearing glasses, said, “We usually have spaghetti and fruit salad.”
Her friend said, “Oh, we have spaghetti and chicken macaroni.”
How about you, what is your favorite Christmas fare?