I didn’t see yesterday’s spectacular lightshow that lit up the evening sky over much of Germany as well as Belgium and France. However, the streak of light was neither Santa on his sleigh nor the Star of Bethlehem (it appeared just as many churchgoers were leaving the evening services) but the result of a failed Soyuz rocket launch. According to all report, it looked spectacular, though. Here’s a video.
For Christmas Day, my uncle came over for lunch. We had pork curry with rice and pickles for lunch. The same dish was served aboard the ships of the Norddeutscher Lloyd – my Mom got the recipe from one of their cooks years ago. It’s not the most authentic curry out there – I suspect the ship’s cook adapted it to whatever ingredients were available in mid-century Germany – but it’s still my absolute favourite dish. And since it’s quite a bit of work to make, I don’t have it all that often.
And now, as promised some photos behind the cut:
The 2011 Christmas tree in its full glory
Like most years, the tree is from my parents’ garden. My Dad cut it down on the afternoon of December 23. This is a very good tree, well-shaped with plenty of branches for hanging ornaments. Compare it with last year’s skinny tree.
Yes, our tree has real candles in addition to electric lights. This year I even managed to procure real beeswax candles. They only burn for a fairly short time, though.
The ornaments are a wild mix of what my parents and I have collected over the years. Some of the earliest ornaments date from the mid 1960s and are very fragile.
Close-up of the Christmas tree ornaments. You can spot several paper ornaments from the 1960s and a santa head that I made from a seashell at the age of five.
Another close-up look at the Christmas tree ornaments, including a rhinestone studded heart from the 1960s, the frog prince, angels made from wood shavings, the ubiquitous Erzgerbirge type wooden figurines, some handmade and handpainted Disney ornaments and a Hallmark Tasmanian Devil
This year's Christmas card haul.
Wrapped presents (my parents')
Wrapped presents (mine)
It may look like the aftermath of the Texas chainsaw massacre, but it's actually herring salad. The colour comes from the beetroot which is an important ingredient of the salad.
Me unwrapping presents
My Dad really likes his new motorbike boots, while my Mom looks on.
Unwrapped presents (my Dad's)
Unwrapped presents (my Mom's)
Unwrapped presents (mine). Lots of lovely books.
My Mom, me and my uncle at lunch today.
sending...
That looks like a really nice Christmas right there (How nifty that you have managed to keep so many old ornaments in good shape). We were doing pretty well, too. And there was meat fondue!
A Healthy New Year to you and your family!
Until a few year’s ago, we always used to have meat fondue for New Year’s Eve. However, in the past few years, we’ve been going to a restaurant instead.
Thanks for the wishes and a happy and healthy new year for you and your family as well.
^^ My mum has been moaning about the effort involved preparing for fondue herself. It’s my favourite though. But then she always does major cooking for this holiday. One of the other two Christmas holidays is always veal and the other one some sort of poultry.
This year we had rabbit and duck breasts.
We used to have rabbit on one of the Christmas days for years, when I was a kid, because my grandmother would always give my Mom and my aunt a whole rabbit in November. Since she died, nobody ever thought of getting another rabbit, probably because it was a lot of work to prepare. These days, we have filet of hare on one of the Christmas days and pork curry on the other and herring salad in the evenings.
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