So folks, in a week’s time, it will be the eve of the day! What have you been up to and how are preparations coming along? Are you working on the check-list from last week and checking it twice? As for me, this is where I am at.
The menu has not evolved to include a lot more. Sticking with the theme of making things that can be consumed in various ways, such as a side dish or main, I have decided that I am going to make a generous bowl of chicken and potato salad with boiled eggs. There will be enough protein and carbs in the salad to make it a balanced meal. If I want, I can add a garden salad. The only other thing I have decided to add to the menu is broccoli. Again, keeping versatility in mind, I can steam, roast, or bake the vegetable or even turn it into a rich creamy soup. That’s it. Nothing else on the menu. You might be thinking, how scant the menu is (lol). The truth is for the past several years I have not had a Christmas meal at home, so I try not to do too much, but enough to share with friends. And based on the items I have it is easy to add a few other side dishes to expand the meal for entertainment.
I’ve ordered a pork roast which I will pick up on Thursday from the butcher and I have also ordered lamb which the butcher will cut to my specifications for a curry. I do not know about you, but the spice combo, heat and flavour of a curry is always a welcome relief to the palate and the senses during this time of heavy sweetness, accompanied by spice notes that rule the roost from the ham to the sorrel to the cake.
Where else am I… oh I am going to buy the ham on Thursday and leave it at the bottom of the fridge to slowly defrost. Speaking of the fridge, one thing I must do this week is to go through the fridge, remove stuff I do not need, give away things and re-arrange for easy access and to create room.
As I go about doing certain things I ask myself, why am I doing this… and then I remember. The holidays are all about rituals, traditions, memories – old and new ones. So we may not be in the same physical space, the ones we hold dear may not be near or even here, but we carry on because they have given and left us with such rich memories, it’s as if they are right here with us.
The other day I was thinking of the first time I had been back to Guyana since moving to Barbados. It had been 8 years since (2006). One of the highlights of that trip was what I called, “The Night of 3 Cook-up”. As I have told you before, it was traditional that on Christmas Eve night for Mommy to make a large pot of Cook-up Rice that had a bit of everything, including the ham skin. This would be eaten after midnight mass in the wee hours of the morning. It was a tradition that my late brother and my sister would continue in their own homes.
On that trip in 2006, by mid-afternoon, my brother, Eon, had finished cooking and so his was the first I ate – all beef with red beans along with some steamed okras. It was delicious. In the evening at about 8, I ate my mother’s cook-up. I thought back then, Man de woman should market de ting and teach a masterclass on how to cook Cook-up rice, de ting taste wicked – black eye peas with the works. I was a little worried because my sister was coming over later and bringing some of her Cook-up for me and I was full, full, full. However, as the evening wore on I found I had room for a little more, so about midnight, I ate some of my sister Pat’s food: pigeon peas with chicken and salt meat – another winner. My mother had taught her children well.
I think I make a good pot of Cook-up Rice, at least I have been told so by a variety of people. However, every time I eat the Cook-up I make, I think that I am searching for the taste of my Mother’s Cook-up. Fortunately, I have a friend, Gillian, who makes excellent Cook-up, hers always reminds me of Mom’s.
As you scramble and rush about in the last minute hustle and bustle of things, remember to make some time for yourself and enjoy what you are doing. Be present.
Happy Holidays!
Cynthia
cynthia@tasteslikehome.org
www.tasteslikehome.org
