Ube (purple) Jam

Can you believe it_ in 2 nights it's gonna be Christmas Eve !!! panic**. . rush%%. . The Noche Buena!!! I remember when I was small, at this point my mother would already be busy in the kitchen.  The likes of leche plan, macapuno, gelatin would be by this time, in my mother's time, already in the fridge_ ready to serve! And never to forget the most tedious to prepare but one of my favorites_ the ube (purple/water/winged yam) jam.

Well, in the mommies generation I belong now, where everything is instant_ gone were those days of bicep/tricep- aching, hand mixing of ube jam until achieving the right sticky consistency. If you really want a personal touch and want it homemade, a handful help of a food processor/blender is not bad .

Me?_I had long resolved the issue of my failure to achieve my mother's ube jam. I quit doing it myself! I just buy bottled ube jam. But I make sure I get the best in town.



I buy from the Good Shepherd in Baguio City. That's why an annual, nearing Christmas day, visit to the city of pine is a must.. hehehe!! Along with the ube jam, I also buy some of my favorite preserved sweets and condiments from this convent store.

The 3 bottles limitation is easy to resolve_ after me, I send the rest of the group to buy more for my household.

While the ube jam and other regular products lane is always jampacked. .

I found myself alone in the organic section.

The annex bakeshop amused me thu' in my recent visit. Freshly baked healthy breads were selling like hotcakes. I especially liked their whole wheat pandesal. Unlike those I buy from the pugon bakery here in Manila, Good Shepherd's were surprisingly tasty and not weight-y. Just right!



The gals enjoyed Good Shepherd's original version of siopao which was kindah' uncanny. The meat fiilings were shelled in a pandesal- like bread. I took a bite and my my it was so good!!!



These mothers only want the best for their families and don't really mind the long travel to Baguio for the best ube jam on the Noche Buena table!!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!

Bibingcrepe

It's the sixth night of misa de gallo/simbang gabi/rooster's mass. Many vow to complete the traditional Christmas novena, but not all end up to be successful.When I was young and single, I used to complete the whole 9 nights masses with my friends ofcourse. After each mass, pinoy native delicacies were such a treat. The puto bongbong and bibingka.



At Halfmoon Asian Cafe (Baguio City), a variation of bibingka can be found.



It is called  bibingcrepe. A thinner, crepe-ly version of bibingka . Delicious but a box is not sufficient. Unlike the original thick version which is a piece is hearty enough to be an early whole meal breakfast.
I miss simbang gabi's bibingka.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Dampa : Tonya's

The lady on green  facing on your right _ Tess  last visited P.I. six years ago. So when Tess saw my blog post about Dampa with another bff Lulu who's N.Y. based ( see that post here and here ) , this Sydney based bff called us up right away for a request of a Dampa lunch for her already then scheduled visit with her family.



So upon arrival, after few hours warming in their hotel, off we went for a lunch in Dampa, Macapagal.






Ofcourse, our Dampa expert bff couple hosted the lunch. Straight from our hometown, we met them at the place. Along with the seafoods they gathered at the wet market of the place, were freshly catched fishes they brought along from our  province.

This is one of those. So you could also do that. Seafoods are not meant to be exclusively bought from the Dampa market. Anyway, restos cooking charge here is per kilo and don't mind where the sea food come from.



Other fish was cooked as sinigang sa miso ( a filipino soup based dish).

Crabs were cooked two ways_ sweet chili crabs and the resto's own crab special.

Prawns were sweetly buttered.

Grilled stuffed squid.

Always present on the table_ green mango-bagoong salad.






The Pinoy -Aussie family obviously missed our pinoy seafood and was excited to partake on the table feast.

The eldest  shown a lot of love to our pinoy dishes.

The younger siblings were not so aware yet of what was happening on the table and were happy about their rice bowl with nothing on it but the sinigang soup.

I have to mention thu' that this resto _ Tonya's had one of the best cooking I had tried in the area. Expert bff/host agreed and added that this is one of the pioneer in Dampa cooking way back from the first Dampa in Baclaran.



We were all happy tummies. Left overs were inevitable thu'. Always, everytime we eat at Dampa, there would always be half full left.



So we had them on a home dinner before we went out for a bar. hahaha!!! Happiness with best friends!!!

Pueblo's Breakfast

Pueblo por la Playa's complimentary buffet breakfast was served at Cafe Oaxaca (the resorts resto).



The buffet was sufficient. . yah, it was ok, nothing grand.

They served Filipino and American breakfast. Dishes were so-so.

Muffins and brownies were like came from a low quality- local bakery in the town.



 it was free wi-fi area and the girls diverted their disappointments to their lap tops.

Honestly_ I was disappointed with the food. I expected more cos I found the place so awesome but the food (included all other food we availed during our stay there) fell short behind the beauty of the resort. Adding insult to injury was that the guest had no choice but to avail meals inside the resort cos outside bought foods were not allowed.



daughter exiting from the cafe on a rainy morning

.. I better stop here if it was ranting I'm all into, right? Anyway, the foods were free ( complimentary breakfast), enough reason to say thank you;D

*see the rest of the resorts here

Vue Bar

Wrong room. We were up for some drinks and fun at the Vue Bar.

We found it at the 22nd floor of The Bellevue Hotel in Alabang.

A band was playing and the only member I recognized was Panky of PBB (Pinoy Big Brother of ch. 2).



I was actually more interested to the sky view of Manila by night from this 22nd level of the hotel.

The group was teasing me for choosing the wrong table. Unlike me, everyone wanted to watch the band. I chose a table by the glass wall so I could enjoy the skyline. I gave the group a hard time watching the band cos of the partition blocking the stage. Hahaha!

Don't be fooled by the beer infront of Jerry ( Tess hubby). It stayed untouched til' the night ended. He was really firmed not to drink alcohol. I had to mention it for Tess & Jerry's friends.

He actually had what the ladies had. Some fruit shakes. . .



. . . sure to be an alcohol-free drink? So why the ladies including Jerry felt tipsy after the night? And the following morning, we all felt some hang-over headaches? hahaha!!!

Well, could the after-the-night headaches caused by the fried and cheesy side snacks?

WTFood!!! We surely had fun together!!! But at the end of the day night, we're still doting parents to our God's sent children...



It was a delicious night with Bffs ;D

Bagoong (shrimp /fish paste)

When you pass by the province of Pangasinan, it's hard to ignore the bottled products for sale infront of the residences. These are fermented fish and shrimp products which to us Filipinos are favorite table condiments complimenting our local dishes.

They are being fermented for almost 10 to 12 months before ending up in a bottle for sale. Expect the most unlikely aroma from this condiment known to us a bagoong.



A lil' trivia : when we passed by to this town in Pangasinan (coming down from Baguio city), the place looked like a ghost town. It was quiet and almost no people around. This particular bagoong stall was our 3rd stop cos all stalls we passed by had no vendor. Even in this one, I had to knock the house to call for the owner. There_ we found out that everyone in the town was inside his house, infront of the television watching Manny Pacquao's most recent fight.

We all love Pacquao as much as we love our very own bagoong.