This was what we had for Christmas lunch last year - Steamed Tilapia, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Cream of Mushroom Soup (in stainless pot), and Mango Ref Cake for desserts. Normally, brother let my sister and I handle the Christmas foods, while he takes care of the New Year's Day dishes. Our family don't really cook for Noche Buena; we just eat what the neighbors gave us because we will be sleeping after a few minutes anyway, so we don't exert a lot of effort in cooking anymore.
We are a family who are very easy to feed, and we take delight in the simple things in life, but for this year's Christmas, I think it will be a lot challenging for me because my sister won't be able to help me as she still has to go to work, even on Christmas eve. What made it more challenging is that for the last two years, my mom's eldest sister has been celebrating Christmas here, and we are already anticipating her and she might take one of her children or grandchildren with her. She has diabetes and since my mom's blood sugar is quite high, too, I really have to think of a dish that would not compromise their health. My mom has no control with what she eats, so I just want to serve something that would help instead of add more harm to her.
I initially plan of cooking some dishes I saw in different culinary magazines, but then, we just received a message that two of my cousins (daughters of mom's youngest sister) will be here for Christmas. Currently, they are staying in Aunt Mary's house, and since Aunt Mary will take them here, for sure they will here for Christmas, too. Aunt Mary has three children, adding them to the list, and because Aunt Mary and Aunt Paring will be here, for sure mom will call their brother to come here, too. Now, Uncle Carlito's grandson (cousin Dennis' son) is my godson, so we anticipate them coming over, too. I consulted mom about the food situation, and she suggested I stick to the basics instead.
With that in mind, I will be preparing these for Christmas Day lunch:
- Spaghetti. Filipino style, of course. I never liked sweet style spaghetti, but I really have to go with this because most of our guests will be kids and teens.
- Lumpiang Shanghai. The close neighbor's party will be on the 26th and we plan to serve this as our potluck dish, so might as well prepare lots on Christmas morning and serve some for lunch, and just freeze the ones we will serve on the neighborhood party.
- Vegetable Salad. Simple mix of lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, corn kernels and pine nuts on honey-mustard dressing... just to have something fibrous.
- Cream of Mushroom Soup. The ever favorite soup... just something from the can.
- Thai Fish Curry. I need to have fish in the menu; I just hope I could find Kaffir lime leaves to make this dish.
- Menudo. Sticking to the basics it is... but I won't cook much, just enough to fill the bowl.
- Buco Pandan. The holidays won't be complete without it.
I still don't know if I can be able to pull all these off, but for sure my brother will help me. I will finish off the shopping on the morning of Christmas eve, just so the ingredients will be fresh.
By the way, for Noche Buena, I plan to cook Grilled Chicken Quesadilla (thanks to the Certified Foodies blog). I know we don't cook anything for Noche Buena, but since my sister has work and often comes home late at night, I wanted to prepare something for her just to ease up her emotions - she is a bit sad knowing they still have to go to work on that day.
What will you be serving for Noche Buena and Christmas Day?
*** Jenn ***
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