The night before Christmas, 2009


I don’t think I ever believed in Santa Claus. Sad, I know. As much as I would have liked to believe there was a jolly bearded man in a red, velveteen suit who brought people gifts every year, I was a realist from early on and my parents never encouraged my imagination otherwise. For starters we didn’t have a chimney (because, you know, how else would Santa get in?) and then, being Asian and not of any particular religious denomination, we didn’t celebrate Christmas in any way so there were no gifts to be found under the tree.

Oh, but yes, the irony was that there was a tree! (Not the one pictured to the left – that’s a current tree.) And a tall one at that, which I enjoyed prettifying with the same set of decorations year after year but never was a wrapped gift to be found underneath it. It smelt of cheap plastic – and I will never forget the first time I smelt a real, pine Christmas tree (albeit in Asia) many years later – but it was still our tree, which bore many sparkly adornments and only made a limited annual appearance.

So Christmas for me now, as an adult, means all things shiny and sparkly. Although highly commercialised, it is nice that there is a time of year where people do at least think about what to give others. The husband and I have never been big on giving each other gifts, choosing instead to share food outings for celebrations. As there is nothing open at Christmas, it serves as an excuse to prepare something celebratory myself and a chance to try something a little different from the usual and get a little bit fancy.

But back to gifts. I received a lovely package from the ever-thoughtful Anna which suits my interests perfectly. Every girl needs pretty pink, polka-dot cupcake cases and a purple shoe bag with pink embroidery in the shape of a stiletto! I will definitely make use of those paper cases, so keep your eyes peeled for their appearance here soon. Thanks again, darling!



Not specifically for Christmas, I received souvenirs from Mistress from her recent trip to Japan which were, no surprise, food-related items. A tin of M&Ms (I love tins!), a mobile phone strap from the Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum and cute-as Japanese chopsticks – a pair for my husband and one for myself. Thank you, you know me well.



And lastly, again not specifically for Christmas, my husband got me a book that I had lusted after ever since finding out it had finally been translated into English. Although it didn’t come gift-wrapped, I have purposely left it in its shrink wrap to ‘open’ on Christmas day. Can you guess what it is?



As Mademoiselle Délicieuse, this is the only book it could be! I may like French things, but my French language skills don't stretch that far.

It will be a quiet one this year with just the husband and myself, whilst various family members are holidaying overseas. I hope Christmas finds you spending time with the people that matter, rather than having spent too much money and battling those in the stores. Be grateful for these people and the gifts which they bring, especially those which cannot be bought, wrapped or bagged.

merry Christmas, happy cooking, happy sharing & happy eating!

12 comments:

  1. Happy Christmas, Mlle D! Hope you have a great day, translating your lovely new cookbook.

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  2. That is one cool M&Ms tin! Merry Xmas and I hope you have a fun day! BTW, Chinatown is always open on Christmas Day, so it's not true that nothing is open. Hehe.

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  3. This rings so true for me too! I didn't have much of a christmas growing up - now it's a rather lovely materialistic one! Loved your pressies and hoping you're having a great Christmas!

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  4. aw i want your giant m&m! hehe merry christmas dude!

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  5. Merry Christmas Rita! Lovely pressies!

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  6. What a fantastic haul! :D You are so lucky and I love that book I know How to Cook-you'll have a ball with it! Merry Christmas! :D

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  7. Merry Christmas! I am glad to have met you this year and hope to see more of you in the next! Merry Christmas to your hubby too!

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  8. merry christmas to you too:) and niice presents! I love tins too haha especially ones filled with rainbow m&ms

    anyway I'd really like to know what's between the covers of I Know How to Cook... I could use some help in that area hahaha

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  9. Merry Christmas Rita. I hope you and your family had an awesome day. Me I believe in Santa. My dad would make so much effort to make sure that we would believe. Even though we didnt have a chimney he would run from the back to the front of the house and ring the door bell. There would be 2 sacks of presents for my brother and I. It was the best.

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  10. I also don't remember ever believing in Santa! Hope you had a fantastic Christmas day - you received some cute presents!

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  11. i stopped believing in santa claus very quickly. all i did was find christmas presents in my parent's cupboard and asking mum who they were for, she would look away and go, they're for other children. lol, it was funny though!
    anyway, i got myself a copy of i know how to cook a month ago...been quite eager to try some of the recipes. let me know how you go!

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  12. Hey Belle, merry Christmas again! I have yet to properly look through the book. I ceremoniously un-shrink-wrapped it and have only flipped through some pictures!

    Hey Joey, merry Christmas again! Haha, yes, Chinatown and the airport are always open, but neither are up on my list of 'to-eats' for Christmas Day =p

    Hi Forager, merry Christmas again! I'm trying to establish some Christmas traditions with the husband so that hopefully we'll have some to share with the future kids!

    Hey Suze! Merry Christmas and, I know, I'm loving that giant M&Ms tin too even though I haven't found a use for it yet!

    Hi Ellie, merry Christmas again! I'm very happy to have received such lovely gifts =)

    Hey Lorraine, merry Christmas again! I need to have a proper sit-down to drool over the book, although it already has an allocated spot on the bookshelf =p

    Hey Trissa, merry Christmas again to you and your hubby as well! So glad to have met you this year, as well as discovering your knack for story-telling =)

    Hey Grace, merry Christmas again! The book contains basics of French cooking - are you game to try? =p

    Hey Kath, merry Christmas! That's a lovely Christmas and Santa memory to have. My friend's parents used to make sled and hoof marks through the backyard and would drop bits of 'eaten' carrots around too!

    Hey Agnes! Hope you had a wonderful day and received some lovely presents too, which may or may not have been brought to you by Santa!

    Hey Panda! Haha, curious children always ruin surprises! I've yet to get into the book but maybe we could arrange to cook some of the recipes at the same time and then post about it?? Email me if you're interested =)

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