I'm not the Grinch

When I saw we don't celebrate Christmas, it doesn't mean I hate it or don't want to do anything about Christmas at all. I do love the decorations, the lights, the trees but I am not one to set something up. I grew up in a home that don't believe December 25 is the true birth day of Jesus. There are lots of sources online that you can read how December 25 came to be Christmas Day. We have our own convictions and beliefs so let's settle with that.

We do gather as a family and prepare and cook food. We would then wait for the fireworks display at midnight. Kids were put to sleep earlier and woken up before midnight so we can all feast on the food and watch the fireworks. However, fireworks had been banned years ago especially the big ones. Accidents and death brought by these fireworks have led to the banning of fireworks so we saw less and less display of them as the years go by.

Last year, almost all have not been able to to celebrate Christmas like it used to be. However, this year have seen the eagerness of everyone to be with loved ones and celebrate.

It was just me and my partner here in our apartment. My brother spent his Christmas with his girlfriend's family.

I saw online someone selling a charcuterie board. Charcuterie board consists of different cured meat which includes cheese and some crackers. I have never tried this one so yesterday was the first. I have never encountered the word charcuterie even.

What I saw online was for pre-order so that's not a possiblity. I searched for another shop and saw one of the delis here selling a platter. We then decided to go and check it out.

We got there and my impulsiveness is trying hard to break free but I had to contain it. There is just so much that I wanted to buy for those are not familiar to me. But I have to have a strong resolve to just buy what we needed which is the charcuterie platter. In addition, we bought beef franks for the spaghetti and I also bought mixed nuts which was expensive for me. It costs PHP236.00 but I still went ahead with it. It was not as crunchy as I was expecting but rather chewy.

In addition to that, we cooked spaghetti, just enough for both of us. I like adding celery to spaghetti. We always do that as long as there is available.

My partner's company also gave them sparkling wine. This particular brand was too sweet but it is nonalcoholic. Checking the sugar content, it is 15g/100 mL. It does taste sugary.

We had spaghetti for dinner and then my partner slept while I did some online stuff. By midnight, we had wine and the charcuterie and what's left of the spaghetti. There were some fireworks heard outside but it didn't last long. I say it was more silent than what I was expecting but better than last year for sure.

Then we slept it off.

That is how my Christmas Eve was spent this year.