When the annual company Christmas party was announced in November, we were told that it would be held at the Bahay ng Alumni over at the UP-Diliman campus. That said, you could just imagine the shock that came over everyone when we were told that the party was to be held at the posh Dusit Thani Hotel (formerly known as the Dusit Hotel Nikko) over in Makati. 
Anger was the first emotion that struck me: where were these kids' parents? Why in blazes were they letting their children worry about where their next meal would come from? Where the hell were these layabouts who gambled and drank themselves into insensibility while their children fretted?! 
Pity was the next thing to kick in: these children should be having fun and looking forward to Christmas rather than going door to door in search of a little food or money to help alleviate their families' misery. You could say that there are charitable institutions who could help them, that local churches and community groups hold soup kitchens and feeding programs, that we must shun mendicancy because most beggars are working for this mob or another - but none of that will take away the pathos of seeing kids begging in the streets.
Just this Saturday, I attended another Christmas party - the one held annually by my mother and her friends from high school. It had a completely different vibe from the company party: it was filled with warmth, laughter, and people talked to each other with ease. Sure the food didn't involve smoked salmon or pureed monkfish, but who were we to say no to all the goodies set before us? The entertainment was simple, too: the little ones performed songs and dances and Tita Girlie did the hula version of The Prayer that was such a hit at her last Soroptimists' meeting. People actually enjoyed themselves despite the simpler fare and the kids' antics. Hugs were bestowed by one and all, the laughter more honest and heartfelt. The only cloud on this party's horizon was that Ninang Ruth, our hostess-with-the-mostest for over twenty years was in the United States, undergoing chemotherapy for colon cancer. A short but fervent prayer thanking the Lord for over two decades' worth of celebrations was uttered before dinner - something that wasn't done at the company party.
People who have known me for a long time know that I'm not a very religious person by nature, but I personally believe that Christmas is about family and community.
It is not - and was never - about the gifts or the parties or the decorations and things. Santa Claus and all the other secular fripperies weren't there when it all began. It is a time for remembrance: a time to recall that our Savior was born over two thousand years ago - not in some hospital, not in some palace, but in a cold and dark manger in Bethlehem.
Artwork: Linger - Audrey Kawasaki, 2008
Trois tentations - three temptations en Francais - are what make this particular spin on my chocolate chunk cookie recipe so devilishly decadent. Instead of the usual "100 grams dark + 100 grams milk choc" formula, this recipe has 100 grams of plain dark chocolate, a 50-gram Meiji Milk Chocolate bar, and 100 grams of Toblerone Dark. Sounds dangerous, doesn't it? ;)
Try them for yourself or give them as gifts to your friends - that is, of course, if you don't start getting selfish!
Trois Tentations
1 - 1/2 sticks salted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 - 1/2 cups flour
100 grams dark chocolate roughly chopped
100 grams Toblerone Dark or Frey Chocobloc Noir, roughly chopped
50 grams Meiji Milk Chocolate, roughly chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees / Gas Mark 4. Cream together the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Add the egg and baking powder; mix thorougly. Add half the flour and the chopped chocolates and mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix until well-combined.
Drop dough by rounded tablespoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. Cool on a rack before storing in an airtight container. Makes 50 cookies.
