Christmas at Norman and Annie's

We spent a very pleasant Christmas afternoon and evening over at Norman and Annie's in Whitestone, after picking up Pickle in Manhattan. This was a big family get together, bringing together lots of young people we had not seen in a lot of years. Norman and Annie's older son, Justin, had recently been married. His wife, Sera - the younger, and her parents (Paul and Sera - the older) were there. We also met husbands and wives of family members that were little children last time we saw them. Eva and Nels and Maya, Kim and Mike, Lauren, Amy and Donald, Cindy, Roger and Lisa,  were all there.

The best story of the whole night was that of Kim and Mike, who met in college. When Kim mentioned meeting Mike to her parents, they told her that they knew his parents from a long time ago. Well, it turned out that Kim's grandma and Mike's grandma were good friends in China before they emigrated to the US. And Kim and Mike had met before, when they were 2 years old! Kim's family had a picture of her and Mike holding hands at 2 years! Apparently Mike's family moved, and the two families drifted apart, only to be brought back together when the two met again. It really had the feeling of kismet!

Interesting work: Eva/Nels - gold leaf work and decorating, Mike - former ADA in the Bronx, now moving to a Manhattan law firm, Roger - interior decoration. I always enjoy hearing about people who lead a much different lifestyle than E and I.

Norman and Annie laid on a huge amount of food, easily enough for 50 people. We tried our best, but couldn't even get half way on it. One of the dishes was Chinese broccoli, with long stalks.When people had difficulty with it, Aunt Annie got out her kitchen shears and wandered around the house, cutting up the stalks on people's plates so they could eat it more easily. She also got to the strips of barbecued beef, which were a little difficult to cut with a fork. Bradley, their younger son, showed a taste for cooking and hospitality. He had taken a small watermelon and cut a decorative cap from it, then filled it with watermelon juice laced with Korean rice wine/brandy. The drink is apparently a traditional Korean libation called (phonetically) showju. Not my cuppa, but his strawberry daiquiris were.

Lots of people brought desserts, some homemade. There were also cookies from the Stork's pastry shop,  a famous German bakery in Whitestone. They were terrific.

Poor Pickle woke up just as we were getting ready to go home. Somebody fixed her a plate to take along so she would have some dinner back at her apartment.