A Christmas that Could Have Been Way Better

Christmas is celebrated on the eve in Germany. Christmas is usually celebrated with immediate family members in the form of a nice, well-planned, warm dinner. Last Christmas, my two younger sissies celebrated with us in Malaysia. This year, we had planned to celebrate with Meme and Pepe. The menu suggestion (above) was so well-thought out by Chantal, from starters to main course to dessert, each causing one to drool. But heaven had it planned another way.

Ludwig laying on the couch, listless. We caught the virus from Bart, who caught it from standing in the cold outside a week ago.

Christophe, Ludwig and I were ill. Ludwig and I were so ill, we could only lie in bed, the whole day. We didn't think we could accelerate our recovery by the evening, so we had no choice but to call Chantal and Pepe to cancel the dinner plans, with lots of regrets and reluctance.

We were all so looking forward to a wonderful dinner, to our first Christmas after our move here, to have a great time with my in-laws, to an evening of the kids opening their presents, to enjoying a joyous evening. It had to be called off because of the stupid flu bug.

Despite the bad news, Chantel and Pepe still went ahead to prepare all the food suggested in the menu and delivered them to us, so that the rest of the family who were not sick, or not as sick, could still attempt to have a normal Christmas dinner.

Amuses-Bouches Scones Waldorfsalat.

I feel so bad looking at these pictures. I could imagine the work, time, efforts and love behind it. Even though my back was breaking as I sat at the dinner table, I had to take a picture of the dishes that were served by the not-so-fit Christophe. That, was the least I could do.

Roasted suckling pig with bread dumpling.

The rest of the food from the menu didn't make it to our stomachs. In fact, there were a lot of leftovers due to poor appetite. Overall, it really could have been a much better Christmas!