1. Mom's Fruit Salad
My mom's specialty. A hands down favorite among all fruit salads I've tasted! I call this Mom's Fruit Salad that ends all Mom's Fruit Salad. It is that good. Creamy, as opposed to watery (as some fruit salads are), and lightly sweetened, Mom is very precise in using a certain brand of cream and condensed milk. She cuts up the apples in a certain way and sometimes, she would add macapuno (coconut sport) to make it more viscous; and she only adds the bananas (if desired) before serving, afraid that it would mar the pristine color of the salad with blots of discoloration. I and my sister A, always prefer our fruit salad with lotsa tiny chunks of cheese to add creaminess, as well as give emphasis to the sweet fruits. I've loved my mom's fruit salad for as long as I can remember and I have come to associate it with good tidings and holidays, because my mom only makes them when there's a reason to celebrate.
2. Tita Vicky's Pecan Raisin Bread Pudding
A get together at my sister's place introduced me to her mother-in-law's baking skills. She brought carrot cake and bread pudding. And how I love bread puddings! They're an ultimate comfort food, it's everything warm and fuzzy to me. I asked if she sells her products, "Oh no, I don't have time, I just do them for special occasions." Understandable for a woman who spends car ride time busily answering text messages. She's that busy. So, thank you New Year for I get to taste her bread pudding.
The bread pudding was very moist and clearly soaked through, with raisins scattered about and pecans adding crunch. The only lacking component was a custard sauce to accompany it, but then again it's all good, since I have been out of the gym for a while.
The bread pudding was very moist and clearly soaked through, with raisins scattered about and pecans adding crunch. The only lacking component was a custard sauce to accompany it, but then again it's all good, since I have been out of the gym for a while.
3. The Family Caramel Chocolate Cake
Oh this is good. Decadently smokey sweet, rich and a family favorite. I don't always make them and now I really wonder why. But it is always present in my brother-in-law's birthday, this is his most requested, ultimate birthday cake, on which we would place just one candle on the corner and baby Javi would blow it. And we'll all smile for the camera. And DIG IN!
4. Krispy Kreme (who doesn't?!)
I finished one donut in 8 seconds. Faster than I could think, talk, or sit. How glorious that halo of a fried dough is! So light and soft, a tad too sweet, but never mind that. I still salivate over it as I type this. I long for our next meeting.
5. Cebu's Lechon
Never a celebration without it! On Christmas Eve, we had it in several kilos; on New Year's Eve, we had one whole pig. How could I not sweat it out in the gym?! The flesh was, as always, tender, juicy and savory. I remember my cousins in Cebu telling me how Cebu's lechon differ from the ones sold in Manila, I learned that they put a concoction of various herbs and spices in the gut of the pig before roasting them, to make for that flavorful juicy flesh. They're so good even without sarsa...actually even without anything else but a steaming cup of Jasmine rice.
to be continued...
2 comments:
Speaking of Cebu lechon, did you know that there's a new kind you can get from Cebu that has 2 cooked chickens inside the lechon. So aside from lechon, you've got chickens that you can eat that taste like lechon! Then the next day, as you turn the leftover lechon to paksiw, the leftover chicken can be fried and eaten as fried chicken. Yum!
Talk about having your cake and eating it, too! 2007's already bringing new tidings of good food! thanks for that tip!
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