It has been a tradition here in our house not to do Noche Buena and just binge on Christmas Day lunch. However, there was a drastic change for this year's Christmas. For one, Aunt Paring didn't stay here... she did come here, but left morning of Christmas eve, so she can celebrate it with her own family. Cousins Angie and Jessica were here for Christmas, pretty much the reason why we decided to go with Noche Buena. Last week, I put up a list about what I plan to serve for Noche Buena and Christmas Lunch, and here's the follow up:
Noche Buena:
Grilled Chicken Quesadilla - We used the small tortilla wraps, so I just folded it in half instead of covering it with another wrap. It tasted good, and I really loved the salsa I made. :)- Fish and Chips - Beer battered, my sister helped me by cooking the fish as midnight was getting near.
Completing the Noche Buena were foods from our neighbors - Ria gave a bowl of tuna spaghetti and a plate of desserts/pastries; the Raboys gave us some cheese sticks and bibingka; and the Villarandas gave us macaroni salad. It was a sumptuous meal.
Christmas Lunch:
Well, like I said, there was no Christmas Lunch for us because mom took my cousins and they watched a movie. I still get to cook the dishes, but not really on Christmas day.
- Spaghetti - I cooked some for lunch last 26th. We had left over sauce, which I re-cooked for dinner last night.
- Lumpiang Shanghai - I prepared this one afternoon of 24th, froze the wrapped rolls, then cooked some for Christmas lunch, because it was just brother and I at the house. The rest of the rolls, brother fried afternoon of the 26th because it was our potluck dish for the neighborhood party.
Vegetable Salad - While doing the grocery shopping, I asked brother if he wanted a salad and he said no, so I decided not to buy the veggies anymore, which was a good decision because nobody would like to eat it anyway.- Cream of Mushroom Soup - We just didn't have the urge to cook this anymore.
- Thai Fish Curry - Doing the grocery shopping, bro and I decided to do Mixed Seafood Curry instead (still Thai inspired), but we weren't able to cook it because our cousins didn't like eating seafood. Well, they have a small fish pond in the province, maybe they wanted something different. The scallops, squid, shrimps, and dory fillets were still in the freezer, but I might cook this for dinner tonight.
- Menudo - I cooked some for Christmas lunch, then brother cooked another batch for dinner that night.
- Buco Pandan - Mom brought home a lot of leche flan, and our fridge had so much food inside that we didn't go for this anymore. Well, Christmas season is still far from over, so we can still have this for Media Noche.
Speaking of Media Noche, I am already passing the baton to my brother, and he told us he would go for a grill night, but I am worried about it because we actually don't have a grill big enough to handle it all. I say good luck, kuyatots.
During the neighborhood party, Ria asked if we would be having alcoholic drinks on New Year's Day again. When we welcomed 2010, close neighbor friends were here in our house and we all shared some cocktails of Media Noche... I think it will be another tradition in the making; for sure brother's grilled foods will go well as pulutan. :)
*** Jenn ***
ps - I wasn't able to take a picture of the table last Noche Buena, so I stole this picture from my brother's blog, More Than I Can Chew. Obviously, that was me on the upper right corner of the picture, taking pictures of Fish and Chips. :)
I come from a family who loves cooking and eating. I never had any formal training in cooking and that I taught myself how to cook based on the handed down recipes, but I could say that I can cook good food. In 2008, I started documenting my food trips for my