By The Filipino Community Christmas party — fully restored, fully attended, the three hundred lumpia frying, the community center smelling like garlic and oil and reunion. Two years of pandemic and the party survived and the surviving is the story — the party that cannot be killed, the community that cannot be dispersed, the lumpia that will be fried regardless of circumstance.
Angela stood at the lumpia station, belly enormous, eating lumpia with the focus of a woman ten months into growing a human and hungry in a way that transcends ordinary hunger. She ate twelve. I counted. Not a record (she'll beat it next year, I'm sure) but impressive for a woman whose stomach is being compressed by a baby.
Lourdes was in full command. The frying station, the serving line, the distribution of plates — all orchestrated by a woman who treats community Christmas parties the way generals treat campaigns: with strategy, with logistics, with the unshakeable conviction that failure is not an option and the vinegar is always Datu Puti.
I made puto bumbong — the purple rice cakes, the Christmas morning food. I don't have bamboo tubes so I improvise, which Lourdes notes with the critique that is also love: "Next year, we find bamboo." Next year. The promise of next year. The certainty that there will be a next year, a next party, a next batch of three hundred lumpia. The certainty is the gift. The certainty is the party itself.
After the lumpia were gone and the puto bumbong had been eaten down to crumbs, someone handed me a cold glass and said, “You earned this.” That’s the thing about a party that survives everything — it deserves a proper toast, something cold and sweet and unambiguously celebratory. I’ve been making this eggnog milk shake as my private Christmas punctuation mark ever since, a one-person counterpart to Lourdes’s vinegar discipline and Angela’s twelve lumpia: rich, unapologetic, and entirely worth it.
Eggnog Milk Shake
Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes | Total Time: 5 minutes | Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 cups vanilla ice cream
- 1 cup prepared eggnog
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, plus more for garnish
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Whipped cream, for serving
Instructions
- Blend. Combine the vanilla ice cream, eggnog, nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla extract in a blender. Blend on medium-high speed until smooth and creamy, about 30–45 seconds.
- Check consistency. If the shake is too thick, add a splash more eggnog and blend briefly. If too thin, add another scoop of ice cream and blend again until you reach your preferred texture.
- Pour and top. Divide the shake evenly between two chilled glasses. Top each with a generous swirl of whipped cream and a pinch of ground nutmeg.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy right away while cold and frothy — this one waits for no one.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 390 | Protein: 9g | Fat: 18g | Carbs: 50g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 160mg