Christmas Celebrations

[Jollygoodfellow]

Now that Christmas is just around the corner, I was wondering how are you going to spend your Christmas day,if you are in the Philippines you may be celebrating on Christmas eve like the locals. Anyone have any special plans or family traditions they will follow?

[johnb]

Every Christmas the whole of the immediate family [about 18 with kids] come to our house on Christmas day for a boozy lunch, I also invite a couple of expat friends, plus our tenants so in total about 25 people, I do all the cooking, nothing traditional, spare ribs is the favorite, with honey glazed potatoes, sweet corn, coleslaw, chili pork stew, rice cooked with lemon grass, chicken legs in bread crumbs, mixed salad and French bread, the kids like the local hot dogs served on cocktail sticks with some of that awful processed cheese, I also make two big tubs of Jelly with a couple of cans of mixed fruit added, mama will bring noodles, one sister in law will bring a pasta dish, another fruit salad other family members will bring bbq pork and beer, we also have a supply of soft drinks and a few beers.I knocked up a seven foot table yesterday pinned some red cloth for skirt, added a table cloth so we now have a running buffet, will start cooking on Thursday and finish of Friday morning and prepare the fresh salad and dressing, although we have a cooker with oven and four burners, only two burners work, and the thermostat on the oven has a mind of its own, so the whole thing is always a massive headache but always worth it in the end, of course songs will be sung, kids will be running around squealing with joy pushing there toy cars, we'll also see tantrums and tears, I guess its all part of it,Merry Christmas to you all, if any members are lost in Cebu over Xmas, let me know, we can always find room for a few moreJohn