Christmas came again as promised this year. While I am always excited for the holiday season this year I was a bit distracted. I normally have the tree up by the day after Thanksgiving (which I normally host except my medical condition prevented that this year) and most of my shopping done pretty early. House is usually decorated and I have Christmas music running constantly. This year we barely got the tree up in time and I did all my shopping online at the last minute. There was no way I could waddle through the stores this time of year without causing stress for me and Jude. But all was well and we started our Christmas visits with family. Adam and I are both from families of divorce and have many people to see. We started a week before Christmas and visited the Dahlstrom side, followed by the always fabulous Christmas Eve at my sister's with the Goff Family, on Christmas Day we have a small celebration with just me and my guys and then off to Ketterhagen/Baumeister Christmas with Adam's aunt and mom. Aaron got to play with his cousins and show off his sharing skills. I got to munch on an incredible blt dip I still think about. After that we head over to my dad's for Goff/Ouwens Christmas. Today will go to my brother and Taylar's for our last Christmas with my sister and fam and my mother and stepdad. That should wrap up Christmas for us.
At the Goff/Ouwens Xmas we typically celebrate our Indonesian heritage. We have for years. Instead of typical ham/turkey feast we make Soto, which is an Indonesian soup consisting of a stock that has been made a day in advance, chicken, rice, eggs, celery leaves, potatoes, fried onions, lemon juice, soy sauce, and sambal (an Indonesian pepper paste). We also have krupak (prawn chips) we fry and I make Lumpia Semarang (Indonesian Egg Rolls). This year we also had an Indonesian Punch that I cannot remember the name of right now. There is also talam pandam which is an Indonesian dessert consisting of layers of coconut, fruit, and gelatin. So good.
The person who introduced this wonderful cuisine to our family and is the inspiration for my love of cooking is my Oma. Oma is grandma in Dutch. Her and my Opa where both born in small villages in Indonesia. My Opa is of mostly Indonesian descent and my Oma is what is called Dutch-Indonesian, as the Dutch colonized Indonesia. After my uncle, Humphrey, was born in 1957 or so they took a ship from Indonesia to Holland (the Netherlands) to start a new life there. Life in Indonesia was hard especially after World War 2. My Oma was a survivor of WWII as a young girl. She spent many nights running from the Japanese with her little old Indonesian Grandmother and lost most of her family during that time. Her father was killed in the war and her mother was very distraught at this time as the Japanese had taken their land and business which sent my Oma's mother into a depression. She sent Oma to live with her mother. Oma also lost her sister at age 8 to a tooth infection which wasn't uncommon back then in those parts. Many people don't know about the Japanese invading Indonesia and treating it much like the Germans treated most of Europe. My Oma tells a courageous tale of how she almost got a bayonet in the stomach from a Japanese soldier on a bus and how her grandma stepped in front of it and convinced the soldier not to stab my Oma right there.
Anyway, (I'm jumping all over the place here) after Oma met my Opa they married and decided to move to Holland. Imagine taking a ship from Indonesia to Holland? If you don't know where Indonesia is get out a map and study your geography. There isn't exactly an easy route. They had to go all the way to the south of Africa and back up. This journey took over 3mths to complete and they had a little baby at the time as well. Once in Holland they continued to expand their family and my aunt, Laura, and my mother, Flora, where born. Many people in Europe where moving to the United States at this time. My Oma and Opa where also intrigued by the promise of a new life in the States. This time they took their little family and flew to New York. Once in New York, the immigration placement program was putting people of the same ethnicity in the same areas. The Ouwens family was sent to live in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a large number of other "Dutch-Indo" families. These other families would prove to an extended family to not only my mother's family but would carry over into my generation as well. They where a very tight nit community. All of the women where called our "Tantes" or aunts and the men where called our "Omes" or uncles.
Growing up my brother, sister, and I would often go to the Dutch Indo Club at MacArthur Park in West Allis for meetings and holiday celebrations. Those where some pretty fun times. We ate all kinds of ethnic foods and got to play with all kinds of other kids. Christmas time was especially fun. As many cultures do, we celebrated a combination of the Indonesian Christmas and Dutch Christmas. Most people think of Indonesians as Muslims, however, many areas and villages had converted over to Christianity after visits from missionaries.
We where told as children that if we where good Sinterklaas (Saint Nicholas) and his Zwarte Piets would bring us gifts. If we where bad here is the legend taken from Wikipedia.
Yes, a bit racist and offensive today but was merely folklore as we grew up. But was still frightening as they also had the birch branches you where sure you where going to get beat with. Obviously that never happened and Sinterklaas just gave us presents. Oh wait, not until my sister and I got up in front of the whole club and sang "Sinterklaas Kapoentje" which is a Dutch Christmas Carol .Yes, we had to sing it in Dutch. So embarrassing. I posted it on a separate blog. So that is a bit of background on our traditional Christmas celebrations!
Back to the present. This year Oma was unable to make it to Christmas. We where devastated as she said she just felt to ill to come. Two days later she would be in the ICU. She developed a severe kidney infection and her kidneys had completely failed. On Tuesday evening, our entire family gathered at the hospital to prepare ourselves to say goodbye. The doctor had given her a less than 10% chance of recovering and making it until the morning. She was not conscious and it was a very difficult time. I spoke softly to her hoping she could hear me. I expressed how much she means to me and how she has helped shape me into the woman I am. I told her I understood if she wanted to be with Opa (he died about 17yrs ago) but I still wanted her to stay. It was one of the most difficult days of my life. I told her I wanted her to see her two great grandchildren on the way and that we had to have them know their Oma as she is a one of a kind lady.
After leaving the hospital I had shut down. Emotionally and physically. I battled between facing the facts that this happens in life and just simply not wanting her to die. I slept very little with my phone in my hand anticipating the phone call I dreaded. At around 7:30am on Wednesday I checked in with my aunts. I figured no news was good news at this point. Oma had woken up. She asked for water and wanted to watch channel 12! Nobody could believe it. The doctors where amazed and continued to tell us to take it one day at a time and there where no guarantees. We remained hopeful. For the next couple of days my family spent majority of the time at the hospital being together, talking about the past, and visiting Oma when she wasn't resting. The kidney doctor told us that her kidneys had started to function and heal themselves. No one could explain the amazing turnaround Oma was making. By the way, everyone calls her Oma. It's always been that way. In just a matter of days we went from being told to get her living will together and start thinking of arrangements to it might take her a month or more to fully recover! The human body is an amazing thing and sometimes will do whatever it takes to make you live. I also believe that all the thoughts and prayers where heard and answered and helped Oma get stronger.
We continue to be optimistic and hopeful. This is one holiday season that meant a little more than usual. The family time I have had has been amazing. My family is truly wonderful. I also put my own situation into perspective. When I'm having an "Alex Pity Party" I remind myself of what I should focus on. While each day is still a struggle for me I feel I have a little more bounce in my step. I really don't know what this blog is about. It just kind of developed itself but I'm happy to have gotten some thoughts out.
In honor of my Oma I am including my egg roll recipe that I have taken from both Oma and my own ideas. Now this is a sacred recipe that I share with no one which is why I am just including the ingrediants. I will not include amounts as that is part of the tradition. Trial and error until you have the perfect eggroll!
Lumpia Semerang
1-package of egg roll wrappers
1lb of ground pork
green cabbage shredded
carrot shredded
green onions chopped
purple cabbage shreddeda wok or deep fryer
canola oil- enough so the egg rolls float
pressed garlic
sesame seed oil
soy sauce
Seasonings:
pepper
salt
ginger
Oriental 5 spice (use very sparingly)
cayenne pepper
-Preheat canola oil to 350 degrees
-Brown pork in a large skillet. Add garlic. Drain grease. Does not have to be fully cooked.
-Add vegetables and onions along with sauces and seasonings
-cook about 5 minutes but not until the veggies are wilted
-layout eggroll wrappers.
-place a small spoon of the mixture in the middle
-wet fingertips with water and add to the perimeter of the wrapper
-Wrap eggrolls in a traditional fashion.
-Drop into oil.
-Cook until golden brown
-Important Notes!
-Make sure the eggroll is not overstuffed as it will burst and you will ruin the oil
- Make sure the eggroll is rolled nice and tight
Enjoy!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment