Thursday, December 13, 2007

Christmas Fever !

Dear Foodies,

Merry Christmas - with Kalakhand
Did you guys catch the Christmas fever too ?? There is something about this festival that I have always loved ! Whether it is the beautifully decorated Christmas tree, or the red, white and green colors that take over everything and every one or was it the carols we got to sing .... maybe it was because of the convent school I studied in which intertwined my memories of school days with those of Christmas. Being a Hindu, Christmas is not part of our tradition, but celebrate it we did ! We had neighbors and family freinds who celebrated the festival and so it has been part of my childhood, making it very much part of me.

During Christmas vacation, my friends and I would create hand made greeting cards for the Sisters at the convent and go to school on Christmas day to give them the cards and get loads of goodies in exchange. I now think we had a couple of very close family friends who celebrated Christmas, that meant more cards and tons of goodies. Each had their own specialty, one made the best fruit cake, another churned out the most flavorful and crunchy rose cookies and ginger ale...another made a sweet whose name I don't quite remember now.... On the whole we had about 5 families in the neighborhood and there was the convent.

The whole day was packed visiting each house, ooh'ing and aah'ing at the decorations and eagerly waiting for the sweet treats. Looking back, I have to admit, the best part of the day would be the smile on their faces when they saw our cards and were touched that we made it ourselves and hand-delivered it to them...

Joy of sharing...
The celebrations at school would begin at the start of December with competitions for the best Christmas play and carol singing. If I remember correctly, my group one the first prize during my last year at school. And it was not plain vocal singing, we would have a guitarist and some music playing in the background too. So with all those years of carol singing I know quite a few of them and love listening to them even now.

Another fabulous thing about Christmas was the aroma of fresh fruit cake wafting out of every little bakery on the road. It is just impossible to stay away from them, even if you were the most staunch non-believer of the festival.

Wrapped to flatter..
Christmas here in the US is all the more beautiful, with the snow laden trees and houses, the magic spreads into everything you do. The stores are all decked up, everyone makes the extra effort to beautify things around them. People in general are in high spirits & you are enveloped in a feeling of goodness and cheer all through the month. (Well, I am going to keep the issue of Food TV and gift stores going totally overboard with things, just to keep the cheer going on !! )

Now if you are wondering about the photographs, we have a potluck luncheon on our floor today at office and I made some Kalakhand. I wanted to make something Indian and I was juggling between Rasgulla and Kalakhand and decided on the later cos its easier to eat at a potluck. I wrapped each one in plastic wrap and due to the fever I've caught, I tied a little bow with red and white threads. I placed them on the table this morning and have been getting compliments ever since. Yayyyy !! Not many could place the cardamom in the sweet and were left wondering how it was made, and what was that mysteriously good flavor...ummmm I also added some saffron this time, giving it the pretty yellow color (Manisha, thanks for asking !) (Now you know why the whole post is overflowing in goodness ...hehehe)

Merry Christmas !

20 thoughts:

Finla said...

Best gifts are indeed the home made ones

Indian Food Rocks said...

Beautiful, Priya! Did you put saffron in them? And, yes, let's go carolling together!

Priya said...



HC, that is sooo true :)

Manisha, I did add saffron this time. I'll join you any night for that! Did you see that Ad for a greeting card where the family goes around giving a musical card instead of singing !!!!!

Indian Food Rocks said...

No, I didn't! I hardly watch any TV. But wow! It must be wonderful! Kudos to anyone who does that though - esp in this cold winter blast! We have an annual Parade of Lights in the first week of December which is held regardless of what the weather is. And, 3rd graders from our school sing carols in the parking lot on Main Street. Guess who sang last year?! My toes froze despite wearing woolen socks and winter boots - it was that cold! But they sang SO well!

Shilpa said...

Ohh they are so beautiful...

Priya said...


Yup, the winter does makes things tough Manisha. Looking at her sing would have filled your heart with warmth though ;) hehe.. Going door to door in such weather is such a tough task. The toes, fingertips and nose are the first to freeze !! It was soo much fun in India, the moment we heard them in our lane, we would all rush outside and listen to them sing, and we were lucky to have 2 families on our tiny street, so double treat for us :)

Thank you Shilpa :)

Padmaja said...

Priya
Home made goodies are always the best!! So nice to hear you that you love christmas!

bee said...

those looks so dainty and adorable. wish you a wonderful christmas.

TBC said...

We don't celebrate X-mas either but I just love everything about this festival season and love putting up my tree and decorating it:-)
Your goodies look wonderful!
Happy Holidays!

EC said...

I wish i get such gifts......

Rajitha said...

kalakand..yumm..i like this cheer of christmas..totally keeps me away from all shops coz the crowds are insane!!

Raks said...

Lovely presentation priya!

Sagari said...

those look so cute priya lovely pics

Anonymous said...

Merry christmas

Anonymous said...

Happy Holidays to you as well. Lovely picture and nice recipe. my husband is a sweet lover. Will surely try and let you know how it turns out.
You sure did take a lot of effors to wrap the kalakhand in a pretty manner.
Archana
http://www.archanaskitchen.com/

Mansi said...

Priya, I would have gladly taken the rasgullas, but with the sweet tooth that I have, kalakand will work for me too:)

Wish you a very Happy and prosperous New Year!

Anonymous said...

Wow...this looks good.Wish Christmas was near....

Anonymous said...

hi priya....thts a gr8 gift idea.ur blog looks gr8...will come abck to chk more of ur creative gift ideas..keep up the good work!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Priya,

My name is Shannon and I'm the editorial assistant at Foodbuzz.com. Following up on a recent email invitation to be a part of our newly launched Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I just want to reiterate that I am very impressed with the quality of your posts. I would love to send you more details about the program, so if you are interested, please email me at Shannon@foodbuzz.com.

Cheers!

Shannon Eliot
Editorial Assistant, Foodbuzz.com
shannon@foodbuzz.com

Unknown said...

hey nice blog i really enjoyed it and i really appreciate the recipes nice one
with regards
edgar dantas
www.gadgetworld.co.in

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