Christmas with Shanners

Christmas - a time to show love, have some peace, give and share and most importantly, a time to honour our Lord Jesus Christ as we commemorate His birth. 

Chocolate mousse

It's Christmas morning and Christmas songs are playing in the background, Chef Shea is in the kitchen bustling about, preparing Christmas meals. Shanners is holding her camcorder, taking in every single detail of the day, from the mumbled good mornings to the sibling squabble between her and her big sister, Shea. It was a typical morning in the Gutsa household, except with more buzz, more noise and more people. Aunty came down for Christmas and mum was getting ready to go home - Zimbabwe. Soon after Christmas breakfast, everyone gathered round to open presents (Yes, we're the keen ones who don't wait for Boxing Day to open presents - ain't nobody got time for that.) One by one, everybody opened their presents which were in a neat little pile for each person to find their own presents. There were highs and lows, some disappointments and some extreme ecstasy. 

However, it reminded me that the most important part of Christmas is being around your loved ones, commemorating Christ. We've pulled Christ out of Christmas so much so that it's losing its meaning as it is now hugely commercialised. I won't lie, I LOVE my presents and giving presents, but I also want to keep the spirit of the Lord alive in my life on Christmas Day so I won't focus on what I got (or didn't get), but on the fact that I've had a blessed year, I'm still alive and kicking and I'm surrounded by the ones I love dearly. 

On Christmas Day I made a chocolate mousse, with a twist. I added Amarula, my family's favourite cream liquer since Zimbabwe. I'm going to post the recipe to debut my new sub-blog which will be dedicated to my cooking and any recipes or anything related to food/eating habits. This blog shall be called (unsurprisingly) Chef Shanners. I always hashtag my cooking #ChefShanners and I think it's high time I blog about it! What I need though is to invest in an amazing camera for those times when lighting is just too poor that my phone's camera can't justify how yummy the food looks :P. I'm also hoping to grow my readership on both Just Shanners and Chef Shanners in 2015, sharing my stories, sharing tips and sharing food ideas! Hoping everyone has had a wonderful Christmas filled with love. It's not about the presents, it's about the presence of those close to you! One love

Xoxo

Chivalry is NOT Dead!

I repeat, "Chivalry is NOT dead!"

Chivalry; the word that most people nowadays have to read about in books, as it seems to be vanishing from our society, replaced by mean-spirited, sexist and insensitive beings. Having spent years and years being a hopeless romantic with such a positive attitude about most things, I've been living that pessimistic lifestyle for the past year or so, due to a series of unfortunate events which led to the (slight) destruction of my faith in humanity. Well, not that my opinion matters much in a world populated by at least seven billion people, but it does to the ones close to me.

Chivalry as we know it is still alive (hoorah!). I found it in the last place I’d have ever imagined to meet gentlemen, kind-hearted people, and a friendly smile, let alone a helping hand. This happened as I made my way back home from university. I have to pass through London (don’t we all :/ *sigh) and that means dragging my thirty-tonne suitcase up and down the stairs on the underground trains. When I first got to Liverpool Street Station, I dragged my suitcase slowly (it had all my books, I’m not a crazy packer :P). Everyone was about their business; hardly anyone paid attention to the girl struggling to pull her heavy luggage (well, to be honest, it wasn't really their problem, was it?) Then when I tried to carry it up the stairs, two men at once rushed to help me. I was surprised but so thankful because my back was already killing me! Only one of them carried my bag up and I could tell even he was wondering what on earth was in my bag! He took it up two flights of stairs and left me to my own devices as I dragged it to the platform.

Soon afterwards, when I had to get the Hammersmith and City Line from Liverpool Street, another set of steps presented themselves to me. As usual, I attempted to pull, and within minutes, the most handsome Italian guy I've ever set eyes on asked if I needed help. I grinned like a fool and allowed him to carry my luggage. He actually struck conversation and the more he spoke, the more I noticed he was gay :/ (The tight leather trousers, an undoubtedly feminine V-neck top, a floral scarf and the copy of Vogue in his hand should have given it away to be honest, but oh well). We parted ways when I got to the platform and I carried on with my journey.

When I arrived at Baker Street, another set of stairs presented themselves to me! (seriously, why can’t they put lifts or something for people like me L such discrimination should have ended in 1928 to be honest lol) However, another person offered to carry my suitcase when he noticed that there was clearly no way I was going to do it on my own. I was grateful once again, and thanked him as I carried on, with a big smile on my face. Once again, I had to get down to my platform, and that required me to drag my suitcase and pray nothing breaks. A nice Nigerian woman asked her son to help me carry my bag down. I had earphones in (guilty) so I couldn't hear her at first, until I felt some resistance when I tried to pull my bag down. That’s when I realised what was happening. Again, I thanked them both and carried on to my platform. (Yes, the journey was a long one and I had to connect trains like a gazillion times!) I finally got to London Marylebone (yay, escalators!), but before coming out, I had one more flight of stairs to conquer. Another nice gentleman helped me up and I just knew it’s going to be a great Christmas holiday! The spirit of loving, giving, caring, sharing and helping is definitely alive in this place.

You might be wondering, “Well, what’s so surprising about someone offering to help?” Well, the answer is because it’s the twenty-first century, and this was London! In London, most times I travel, nobody pays anybody any attention; people are too busy rushing to different destinations. When I’m in quiet areas like Aylesbury or Colchester, I rarely get such treatment. Not just in London, anywhere to be honest. We've all become too busy, too consumed by our “busy” lives to care about the next person. We've shut the world out and grabbed our smart phone to stay “connected”. If only there was an app that could carry my luggage for me or magically summon an elevator whenever I needed one, I’d fully rate this new age of technology! But, it’s nice to see more and more people willing to spread the Christmas cheer in the littlest ways possible, because it’s the small things that go a long way. A tiny spark can set the whole forest on fire!