Pinoy-Style Fruit Salad

Sorry for the blurry pic...

I made this to bring fruits to the New Year Party we had yesterday at my friend Cecilia's house. I also brought frozen almond brazo de mercedes that went untouched during the Christmas Dinner I hosted (because my MIL brought cheesecake so I did not bother to bring the BDM out).

Although some of the fruits were not typically added in the usual fruit salad I used to have back in the Philippines, I just gathered the canned fruits I had in my pantry and made the dressing as close as I could get to the taste of that dressing my Nanay used to make. Cream cheese is a good substitute for Nestle Cream that is not available here.

I have not offered this to my American family/relatives, because I doubt they will like it. But my kids, including stepd, like this salad.

Ingredients:
Canned fruits
4 oz (1/2 package) cream cheese
1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
a dollop of mayonnaise

Instructions:
Let cream cheese sit out at room temp to soften.
Drain the fruits.
Using hand mixer, blend cream cheese and condensed milk, add a little of mayonnaise and blend. Taste and see if you like the balance of sweetness (condensed milk), saltiness (cream cheese), and creaminess (cream cheese and mayo). Adjust as needed. (I usually don't need any more than the ingredients I listed above).

Blend gently using a silicone spatula the fruits and the dressing. Place in a covered container and chill.

Serve chilled after at least 3 hours.

Sabi ng friends ko as they introduced me to new Pinay friends, "Lagi namin inaabangan ang dala nyan kasi masarap!"

I came home with empty containers of the fruit salad and BDM. I brought home containers filled with leftovers of anything else in the party.

LP: Paskong Pinoy: Our Filipino Christmas Party 2009

I modified this post to participate in this week's LP theme: Paskong Pinoy. I have a related post in my tahanan blog here.

What are the major differences between the Filipino Christmas Party and a typical American Christmas Dinner? These are the differences in the two parties I hosted and will be hosting.

Pinoy - you will find a lot of main entrees (needless to say, some of which may be repulsive to some Americans
American - One main entree

Pinoy - buffet type table, with people in line waiting to dig in
American - Serve formally on the table

Pinoy - everyone can pitch in
American - I am expected to be able to make everything since I am hosting.

However, since I will have to include traditional desserts that I cannot make from bought groceries, my MIL and SIL offered to make them, especially that those are not my specialties. I will, however, make desserts that they truly find interesting and to die for (at least, in my MIL's opinion -- SANS RIVAL). And though they would be forgiving as to have bread from a bread maker due to time constraints and the stress of prep, I am inclined (still!) to make rolls (espcially that hubby requests it)...something that my in-laws are in awe of me for. To them I am the yeast roll/bread master.

Anyway, this post is about our recent Filipino Christmas Party. My close circle of friends always look forward to it now, especially with my penchant for preparing truly Filipino traditional favorites and my perseverance to find ingredients for it.

Hubby had to ask me which foods he had to avoid...not surprisingly, 3 out of 4 meaty dishes I prepped were not American-friendly. Good thing my friends brought some foods that our kids and hubbies would eat. Even among the desserts, many of our hubbies did not care for the consistency of rice- or cassava- or custard-based desserts, nor did they care for the coconuts. They liked the puto I made using white cake mix, though.

We would have had monito monita exchange gifts, but I myself forgot to get one, so Thess announced that instead of that, they would just give me the gifts since it was my birthday the past day. Nobody contradicted! It was done on a Sunday and some had to go to church, so we only had afternoon to be together and have some chitchat. They had to leave as early as 4pm (there was a snow storm beginning), no karaoke this time. But we had fun, especially with the buko salad!

I admit it was a stressful event, with lots of hard work from me and my kids who helped me prepare, but it was all worth it. Once a year indulgence in exotic ingredients...once a year reveling in each other's friendship...actually, twice a year now...if you count summer get-togethers for cookout. Filipino gathering just somehow brings me back home, and it is all worth the effort...

Do you need Buko? Here's a tip...

I so want to post more about food, but these times are busy. However, I am posting this, hoping to help anyone in the US (particularly in New England) who needs buko/young coconuts in time for Christmas.

Last week I went to Hannaford hoping to find some buko (young coconuts) to make into pichi-pichi (for the juice) and to mix with cassava cake and sapin-sapin. I did not find a single one. Desperate to get them, I approached a guy unloading some produce from crates, asking who I could talk to if I wanted 15 pieces of young coconut, which I knew they carried before. I was asked for my name and telephone number, and would be referred to their manager (in the produce section). I told them I would need the coconuts by the next week. I also added 5 yucca (although I had several frozen grated yucca packages in my freezer).

Next morning, I had a follow up phone call about who would be the acting manager to assist me (they left a message). I was told they would try to see what they could do about my order.

In the afternoon I was told the coconuts would be coming to their store the next day, then I would just have to ask a guy to get them from the cooler at the back. Whoa!!! So soon! I did not expect that! I was expecting them in about 5 days if they could actually get those.

So off I went to the store on the afternoon of the second day after I made my request. Now they are sitting in a cooler, out in the garage (protected somehow from freezing by the insulation of the cooler.)

Now I am thinking of making them tomorrow into buko salad (although I originally intended to make a fruit salad) instead of just using some in pichi-pichi or cassava cake. My Filipino Christmas party will be on Sunday. My menu so far includes cassava cake, sapin-sapin, dinuguan at puto, bopis, escabecheng tilapia, beef lengua with onions and mushroom, and humba. Giveaways will be hopia, siopao, ensaymada, pan de coco, and lengua de gato plus some jams and pickles. I told my friends it would be potluck.

I hope you have a Hannaford store near you so you can do the same if you plan to make anything with more than 5 buko for Christmas or New Year. I love how they have accommodated my request and so fast too! They just made me into a loyal customer!

Thanksgiving/Christmas Dinner

It is not my turn to host the Thanksgiving Dinner this year nor last year. So I am not hysterical at the moment...I will come Christmas time. Haha! But since we have basically the same menu for both Holidays, it is like having a preview before I actually have my turn to host.

Anyway, this post is about the traditional Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner our family has...We cannot deviate from the basics...we can only add if we want anything new, but there should always be the following:

Roast Turkey & Gravy with Stuffing
Bread (usually white bread)
Mashed Potatoes
Boiled and Mashed Turnips
Boiled and Mashed Onions
Cranberry Salad
Fruit Salad
Bread & Butter Pickles
Pitted Olives

No we are not pumpkin lovers, so there are no pumpkins here.

We usually get 20++ lb turkey for a gathering of 14 people. The stuffing is cooked with diced celery and onions sauteed in butter. Some stuffing is stuffed into the turkey cavity, and some kept warm in a slow cooker.

My in-laws love the boiled-mashed-buttered turnips and onions (I tried, but they don't appeal to me at all, and they laugh about it, being smug that they found out something I would not eat!).

The cranberry salad is something my SIL Stacey makes, a mixture of cranberry and marshmallows and whipped cream, but I do not know the recipe. I like it, but not so much that I want to learn the recipe.

I love the fruit salad, but my MIL and FIL make that using their own canned fruits (peaches and kiwi in particular came from their own trees, which they canned right after harvesting, and the only fruit here that they get from the store is the cherry topping).

Bread & Butter Pickles is a must for my FIL.

Pitted olives from the grocery store is part of the tradition.

White Bread is made using bread machine/breadmaker.

[Now my frustration is, the same menu is what we have for Christmas. I would want to deviate, but my husband and in-laws are such traditionalists, so I cannot. Ham is for Easter. I can add other desserts, but I cannot change the entree.]

What we are thankful for? That we have a happy and closely-knit family. No one is antagonistic to others. No one is envious or jealous. Everyone is supportive, warm, and loving. The youngest generation, for the most part, behave how they should behave. And of course we are thankful for generally good health for everyone, and all the blessings we receive.

Here's wishing a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Filipino Christmas Party

I miss the kind of Filipino Christmas Celebration...no matter how little money we had then, we would always have something special on the table for Christmas. I remember my usual role was to prep the leche flan and lumpiang shanghai. My Nanay would prepare the buko salad (or macaroni or fruit), and my younger sister would cook pancit. The men are usually busy with the bakery giveaways and distribution then. My older sister was not living with us anymore since she was in college, and would just visit us during holidays, often not really to join in the cooking. This preparation time I missed most because of the "stress" of preparing food in time for Noche Buena. Then we would always have some party-ing involving karaoke and some dancing, whether or not we actually knew how to. In the small subdivision where we lived then, we had a brief Christmas party with exchange gifts and some singing/dancing program and eating the potluck foods. Then we would come back home and have our own Noche Buena, followed by the most awaited moment by the kids: giving our gifts to them. They were always excited to receive theirs, no matter how cheap they were. The adults get gifts and had to be content with what the others could afford (don't we all?). Very little did we have in money terms, and it was with heavy heart that we indulge in this once-a-year important event...a time to forget about our worries no matter how short, and just bask in the presence and love of one another in the family.


Now here in the US, as I try to recreate the same atmosphere, I only have several established friends that I do these things with, although some are still quite shy to dance or sing, and most of the kids do not feel like joining in with the adults. They have their computer games to enjoy, in the company of other kids. I don't mind, really. As long as we are having fun, that's all that matters. However, I wish I had my family of origin to share this moment with as well. The photos below show the foods we prepared. They were all lined up on my countertops. We used the dining table mainly for eating.

In trying to recreate the hustle and bustle, I prepped quite a lot of foods, although it really got tiring to prep all I wanted singlehandedly. Of course my sons could pitch in some, but it is never the same preparing foods while chatting with the other females in the family. I created and sent out 20++ invitations to Filipinos here, both known to me personally or not. Only 4 were able to make it, one declined (out of state) and the rest did not even care to respond/leave a message on my phone. Would I dare do the same thing next year? Probably not. I will just call my closest friends and plan for the party, just like we did in the previous years.
My visitors all had some food to share. We had monito-monita both for us adults and exchange gifts for the kids. I made it a point to emphasize that the gifts be less than $15, only so we get into the spirit of gift-giving. While the kids did DDR, we adults just contented ourselves chatting with one another.

We had fun enough to somewhat satisfy our craving for Filipino companionship during this season.

I do not have any religious allusions to this season. Please do not attack me for being an agnostic Christian.