Country Cottage Arts

Christmas came a bit too sudden for me this year and I was caught unprepared and somewhat stuck in mid-air.  A week before Christmas, my husband had the misfortune of being involved in a car accident and having had to undergo surgery to fix his fractured ankle, he was stuck in Assunta  Hospital for a good part of the week..  The daily driving in traffic jammed roads and the constant worry  did not do much for a festive Christmas this year.

On a brighter note, however, I did manage to bake my traditional gingerbread man cookies to give to some of my students  and made sure my kids wrote their letter to Santa.  No, it is not posted to the North Pole but put into the Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve before we leave for church for Midnight Mass.  Since my husband was confined to his chair with strict instructions to minimise movement ,  the running around for everything and everywhere  was left to me. Shopping was a nightmare at Isetan, KLCC, not because of  lack of choice but rather my daughter took the longest time to choose the minimum clothes! To tell the truth,  I'm not much of a shopping person and the horrendous amount of time waiting for my daughter to try on the clothes freaked me out, so much so that my son and I made a solemn decision to not go shopping for clothes  again  with his sister/my daughter !

Lunch was a quiet affair with only the family and immediate members involved. Since I had little time for preparations this year, I only managed to bake a bread pudding with custard sauce for Christmas tea, while lunch was, as usual,  prepared by my sisters- in-law.  It was indeed a far cry from last year's celebrations, but still, the spirit of Christmas  was evident in our family, aided very much by the daily viewing of  the feel good and heart warming  Christmas movies in STAR channel.  Didn't miss even one,  from Fred Claus to the Gringe and all the re-runs in between ...... !

And you know what, the best gift this year came from my baker friend,Yati , who pleasantly  surprised me by baking for us the best ever  chocolate cake, complete with Christmas decorations of Santa on his  sleigh with Rudolf, his  Red Nosed Reindeer.

Magnifique