Christmas Dinner 2009

Christmas dinner at my brother’s house is always a massive bath of generosity. Despite more than our family’s share of bumps and potholes this year, this Christmas was no different.

The family was together and we all contributed something to the meal, my brother far more than the rest of us. We brought lumpiang shanghai and roasted duck for appetizers, and homemade cannoli for dessert. My brother’s sister-in-law brought a fresh mango mousse cake.

We kicked off the evening with Italian sweet peppers stuffed with herb cheese, roased garlic, deviled and lobster-stuffed eggs, bagel and lox. We added lumpiang shanghai and a roasted duck with plum and hoisin sauce. Appetizers were complemented by a 1996 J Brut Sparkling and a 1997 J Brut Sparkling – a touch of honeysuckle and orange blossoms on the former and toasted almonds on the latter.

We took a break to exchange and open gifts, always a fun and raucous time of the evening. We had gifted our niece and nephew a bit of cash, encased in miniature Christmas stockings that we had sewn shut. Why do we always feel like we made out like bandits?

We couldn’t wait any longer for dinner, and its centerpiece was my brother’s horseradish-crusted prime rib. Also on the table were a Honeybaked ham, haricots verts with crisp-fried shallots, sautéed mushrooms and onions, oven-roasted fingerling potatoes and carrots, roasted broccoli florets, and Yorkshire pudding.

To accompany dinner, my brother opened a 1996 Opus One – luscious and smooth, dark berries, well-tamed tannins, just the right amount of pungency. That was followed by a 2005 Edizione Pennino zinfandel – fruit-forward, a touch of black pepper, soft and rounded texture.

We waited about a half hour before diving into dessert. We had brought homemade cannoli. Our son makes the shells from scratch, a long and arduous process. Someone had brought chocolate chip cookies and another purchased a fresh mango mousse cake. Rounding out the selections were some Point Reyes blue cheese with candied walnuts and sliced apples and pears, and homemade marshmallows. And an incredible Donna Fugata Ben Rye Sicilia Passito Pantelleria dessert wine.

Our son and his cousins concocted some Romulan Ale – a lethal mix of Blue Curacao, 151 Rhum, and Everclear. Flammable and frightening.

We all tasted a candy unique to Baguio in the Philippines called Kulangot. Translation: Booger. It’s actually a little bit of coconut jam in a nut shell. Gross name, delicious little morsel.

After dessert we took another break and headed to our cousin’s house in the next town. We visited with our aunt (our uncle’s widow) and five of her six children and their families – a nearly full house. We brought them some lumpiang shanghai and brought our aunt an orchid plant for Christmas. We shared stories of loss – we had just lost our eldest brother in Southern California and she had recently lost her younger brother in the Philippines. We sampled some of the food on their groaning board – baked lumpia, purple yam jam, fresh pineapple, grilled jumbo shrimp.

When we returned to my brother’s house we finished off the last of the Ben Rye and watched a little Filipino TV. Then it was time to call it a night. Until next year…

All photos courtesy of my niece. Please follow her as @foodiesecrets on Twitter.

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