Year end is always exciting! It lets me eat Whatever food I want. It's the only time that I let myself free from worrying about my diet, I just do the necessary work-out after the week long celebration. During Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, I always make sure to cook everything that my family love and have been craving for the whole year. For health reasons, I just cook these foods only once a year, and also to make the year-end special and memorable also to make them feel the special day. In the Philippines, Christmas and New Year celebration is always bongga, meaning engrande or very special and expensive when it comes to food preparations. Year-end in the Philippines is always special, during Christmas eve, a typical family usually prepares gifts or small present to their friends and loved-ones.Some give money and some prepare delicious food as presents. This is how food recipe is very important during these seasons.
My List of Food Recipe for Christmas and New Year:
Halaya is a type of dessert that similar to jelly and is popular in the Philippines. It is made of purple taro or ube mixed with sugar and milk. It is often seen at banquets and occasions in the Philippines especially Christmas and barrio Fiesta. It's pretty hard to prepare halaya because it is slowly cooked gently over low heat while mixing strenuously to achieve the finest texture of purple taro or ube. In stores along the highways especially in parts of Los Baños and Calamba Laguna you'll often find this type of food, tourists most favorite favorite food present because of its very delicious taste. Halaya is often served as dessert.
Lecheflan is a creamy, sweet custard cooked by steaming. It is usually served as dessert in most occasions in the Philippines. For me, it is the best dessert that i could serve because of its extra-ordinary taste that my kids love so much. This is why I make sure to make lecheflan at least once a month to serve a delicious dessert for my family to show my love for them. Though lecheflan is not a healthy food, I still want to follow my family's craving for it. I just make sure that it won't be very often since it has a very high sugar content which is not good for our health and can lead to diabetes.
Puto is a filipino term for steamed cake. It is usually made of flour or glutinous rice. Puto made of flour is more fluffy than puto made of rice but both are spongy or soft like American muffin. There are various kinds of puto in the Philippines, some are: puto kutsinta, puto alsa,puto bumbong,puto maya and more. Puto can be eaten plain or with flavors like cheese butter or grated fresh coconut.Puto is usually served in the morning or in filipino's merienda time or meal in between lunch and dinner.
There are two kinds of spaghetti recipe, one is the Italian style and the other one is the Filipino style which is loved by of course by most filipinos. An occasion will never be complete without this sweet and spicy pinoy style spaghetti.
Biko is one of my most favorite kakanin. It is a Filipino rice cake made from glutinous rice (locally known as malagkit), coconut milk, and sugar.In Laguna, it is commonly known as sinukmani. Biko is a variety of kakanin (derived from the word “kanin” which means rice) and is often served as dessert or mid-afternoon snack. Biko is very common in all occasions celebrated in the Philippines.
Macaroni is a variety of dry pasta that usually cut in short or elbow like shape. Macaroni salad is a pasta recipe that is usually prepared with mayonnaise,chicken and onion with other vegetables and spices. Some people call it chicken salad if the amount of chicken is more than the amount of pasta. It is usually served cold as dessert in gatherings and parties.
Carbonara is an Italian pasta recipe filled with creamy sauce topped with ham,cheese,tuna and mushroom.
I've been a fan of this Italian dish ever since the first time i tasted it. Before I just knew a classic Pinoy style spaghetti but when I tasted carbonara, I was so in-love by it. Creamy, tasty, and very delicious.
New Year and Christmas celebration is not complete without a yummy buko salad on the table. No one will refuse to eat this super delicious dessert. My kids love buko salad so much so I always make sure to prepare this food a day before the occassion. Buko salad is better to eat a day after you made it. The sweetness and creaminess becomes more effective when it stays for hours in the refrigerator. What's good in eating buko salad is the benefits we can get from its ingredients especially milk and fruit. But diabetic should take it with cautions for it has a higher sugar content. But you can let your craving even once a year but make sure to take necessary steps after to make that you'll maintain your sugar level.
Lumpiang Sariwa is a Filipino dish also known as "fresh spring rolls". It is made of vegetables rolled in wrapper made of egg and flour plus minced garlic and ground peanut on top.
Maja Blanca is flour cake flavored with milk and corn kernels with cheese on top.
Kare-Kare is a Filipino stew flavored with peanut with bagoong or alamang on the side
Graham or Refrigerator cake. Enjoy sweet and creamy cake without the use of oven.
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| Maja Blanca |
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| Pork Kare-kare |
Maja Blanca is flour cake flavored with milk and corn kernels with cheese on top.
Kare-Kare is a Filipino stew flavored with peanut with bagoong or alamang on the side
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| Ref ca |