Everybody's favorite kind of food is Filipino.... so we each contributed a dish and a little bit more.
The assignment of Jing and Sherman were Bicol Express, soft drinks, red eggs and my request, pan de sal from the bakery near their house. Why Pan de sal??? Because the day started very early, my friends held a garage sale in my "garage". It started at 8:00 am.... so I asked them to bring pan de sal for me!
The Bicol Express as usual was good, just the right amount of heat. It was Sherman, Jing's husband, who taught me how to make the ginataan.
I asked Mayette to bring her famous Adobo!
Ohhhh goodness! It was so delish! The "natural" oil (translated as saturated fat hahaha) was to DIE for!!!! We drizzled the sauce/oil over our rice. She also made radish and tomato salad.
I have to ask her again for the recipe. I wasn't paying attention earlier because I was too busy eating.
I woke up very early and went to Seaside Macapagal to buy the rest of the food..... they gave their monetary contributions days in advance. I also cooked it for them.
Mona's contribution was Grilled Pork Belly which I marinated in 2T. brown sugar, 2 t. rock salt, 3 cloves garlic and 1 T. Thai patis for an hour only. My new helper grilled it to perfection.
Mariger's assignment was Steamed Suahe (shrimps), then she also bought ice cream and chips at Rustan's, Rockwell.
Cory's assignment was the Alimango (mud crabs), hehehe I bought the female crabs with lots of Aligue (fat)
and then 1 male crab for Tita Cena... no fat (SAD crab hahahaha).
Mine was the Grilled Squid.
I chose the big white variety called Lumot. I marinated in 1/4 C. honey, 1/4 C. soy sauce, 1/4 C. brown sugar, 2 t. rock salt, 2 T. chopped ginger, 2 T. chopped garlic and 2 pcs. chopped chili peppers. I got the recipe from The Maya Kitchen cookbook.
Of course, the "sawsawan" (dipping sauce) should not be forgotten. Garlic-Vinegar and Soy Sauce/Calamansi/Onion/Red Pepper.
For appetizers, we had the Inasal Pate with Piyayitos, gift from my Casa Carmela tenant. Plus all the chips from Mariger.
We all enjoyed our "Christmas Party"! We couldn't stop eating! Our common denominator - good food... no holds barred degustation... and our love to be in each other's company while savoring a meal prepared with love.
wow! it was a sinful lunch. okay lang sarap naman. had a good time with my friends. i hope we can do this more often. im looking forward to our picnic.
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