Christmas in Singapore - House Tour

My calendar says December 23rd or 23 December as it's called here. Really. It does. Except that it doesn't feel like December at all.

Sure, the tree is up and the Christmas carols are playing, but goodness, I feel like I'm stuck in July. I guess that's what happens when you move to Singapore.

For the very first time ever, we didn't get a real tree. And we decided that if we going to go fake, that we'd go reeaaally fake. Andrew calls it the reverse Christmas tree. And we love it. White tree, green garland. Friends say, "Oh, you must really miss the snow!"

 And we do. I miss being cold. Strange I know. But it's true.

But here, the snow shows up only on the windows with palm trees peeking through the background.

Or in the jam jars turned candle holders. They smell like Christmas. So good. A sweet gift from my kids. I've caught them smelling the candles over the last few days. The smells remind us of home.

 Before we left, we purged, paired down and brought very little with us. But some favourite Christmas decorations did make it across the ocean. And thankfully all in one piece.

 There's not much room in this tiny place for big Christmas displays. Just enough to spread a little Christmas here and there.

No fireplace for stockings, but stockings none the less. Including one for little Sneakers of course.
The presents are wrapped. Mincemeat tarts baked. Tomorrow we pick up the turkey and make some yummy cookies. Just in time for Christmas.

Thanksgiving in the Tropics

It's hot here. All the time. Morning. Noon. Night. The calendar says October, but it feels more like a heatwave in the middle of July. It's hard to believe that we celebrated Thanksgiving last weekend. Despite the hot weather, earlier last week we pretended it was fall.

We roasted pumpkins. Two tiny halves from different pumpkins bought from the local wet market. Both grown locally, meaning that they are from neighbouring countries. The pumpkins were all being sold in halves. I couldn't find a whole pumpkin! I did see whole pumpkins this week though. They are a totally different variety than those grown in Canada, harder skin (is that what you call it?), paler and bumpier, but they tasted very similar. The grocery stores here are now selling the standard orange pumpkins imported from the US. But at $25 -$50 a pop, um, I think we'll stick with these. It smelled like fall. Did I mention that we were wearing shorts? 

Tracking down the pie filling was the easy part. Making the pastry turned out to be an adventure in itself. So apparently lard is not sold anywhere on this island. Or if it is, I couldn't find it. After a friend and I made a trip to the butcher for some pork fat, I then had to render it to make pastry. Um, what?! Thank goodness for google. It was actually an easy process. I know you're dying to know how to do it... Just cut up the pork fat into cubes. Put in a dutch oven. Add 1/3 cup of water. And cook it uncovered at 300F for about 3 hours or so. Just check it every 30 minutes. Pour through a strainer. Let it cool. And voila. C'est tout fini! Easy peasy. But smelly. Be warned. Heck, just go some Tenderflake from the shelf, unless of course you live in Singapore. 

Andrew ordered a turkey. Not quite the same as ordering a turkey in Canada where you order one so that you are guaranteed to get the size you want. Here you order a turkey so that, well, you can actually have a turkey. Andrew was more than happy to continue the long tradition of bringing home a turkey in his red backpack. Before moving to Guelph, Andrew trekked home many a turkey from the St. Lawrence Market on the GO train. This year, same backpack, but wearing shorts under palm trees. Crazy!

We brought our roasting pan with us, but it doesn't fit. At all. Not even close. The ovens here are small. Minuscule really. Between a small oven and only three burners, we really had to think about how we were going to get everything cooked.

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Thank goodness for tin pans. We actually had to bend it to fit in the oven. But fit it did. Just.

A few hours later the turkey emerged from the tiny oven.  And it was delicious.

 We kept the decorations simple. Maple leaves place cards -- a nice nod to home. Fall colours amongst the palm trees.

And a simple Happy Thanksgiving banner. Letters cut from newspaper and edged in sparkles. Love. We won't mention that there are still sparkles everywhere. Everywhere.

And the best part of celebrating Thanksgiving in Singapore? Friends. For most of them, it was their first Thanksgiving. It was so fun to share our traditions. 

Happy Thanksgiving  and happy fall to everyone back home!

Christmas 2012

We started by counting down the days. One day at a time.

Teeny-tiny boxes lined the window sill, marking off the days one at a time. For me the days rushed by, but I know the days moved slower for kidlywinks as they opened one box at a time, waiting and waiting.

The days rushed by until late one evening, past bedtime in fact, the tree went up. Chosen from the tree lot and lugged home in the van. Transformed with lights and ornaments new and old.

And always a reminder. A reminder of why we count the days - the anticipation of hope and peace wrapped up in a little baby. 

And come Christmas morning did at last. Christmas pyjamas opened on Christmas Eve and worn on Christmas morn. Pausing, much to Mr. Man's chagrin to take a photo by the tree.  

Gifts carefully chosen and wrapped were given to those we love. Unwrapped...

 ...and some enjoyed right away.

Two family Christmas dinners enjoyed by candlelight. 

The last of the sparkly decorations are now all packed away. 

Give Thanks

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the last couple of weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, my little family has been talking about being thankful. I love the changing seasons. And although I am sad to see summer go with all it's sweet, wonderful sunshine, it was time for a change. Time to focus on giving thanks.

That bright orange refuses to be ignored. Reminding me to give thanks. Insisting, really.  And I do have a lot to be thankful for. The paler repetition of give thanks over and over and over again in the background, whispers and urges me to be thankful for the little things, the day-to-day life, even for the things that aren't so welcomed. 

Inspired by this and above all, this.

Cocktail Party - Mad Men Style

Last weekend Andrew and I hosted a classic 1960's style, Mad Men cocktail party. Oh so fun!

We dressed up in 1960's cocktail attire. A little consignment dress and vintage cocktail ring for me and a 1960's tie for Andrew. 

And our lovely guests came dressed with 60's flaire as well.

Ali even had her hair done. Isn't it lovely?

And Cherolyn styled her own pin curls. Fab, eh?

After all the picture taking (because, really, when are we all dressed up this nicely?) the cocktails began.

Andrew was our bartender. He is good. Really. Andrew served up cocktails from the 1960's. On the cocktail menu: Lime Gimlet, Old Fashioned, Tom Collins, Mojito and a Manhattan. 

The bar cart normally acts as Andrew's bedside table, but for this occasion it was put to its original use. Complete with a vintage ice bucket.

 Although we have some rock and martini glasses, we were in need of more for the party. Thankfully kind friends lent us theirs. Using a china marker, we wrote Men Men on the bottom of our glasses so we could easily tell them apart.

As for the borrowed martini glasses, we simply wrote Mad Men on metal rim tags. It made returning the right glasses so much easier.

 And of course what is a party without food? I raided my mom's china cabinet for some authentic 1960's serving dishes. So fun!

Kind friends brought food. Thanks Marshal & Cherolyn, Leslie and Rik & Ali. They brought awesome 1960's inspired food. We ate Pigs in Blankets, Deviled Eggs, Salmon Mousse, Shrimp Cocktail, Chips and Dip, Jelly Rolls and other yummy goodness.

We kept the rest of the decoration to a minimum. A cocktail banner.

And Mad Men inspired hoop art.

A fun evening indeed.