Happy Thanksgiving Day USA!

November 28, 2013 by feyma

Happy Thanksgiving Day USA!

It’s that time of the year again for a Thanksgiving holiday celebration in America. Today, I am writing about the way we celebrate our Thanksgiving day in our house here in the Philippines, and the food that we prepare.

Thanksgiving is celebrated every fourth Thursday of the month of November. Here at our house we celebrate our Thanksgiving on a Saturday, since during Thursday our kids has school (Thanksgiving is not a holiday in the Philippines). We want our kids to enjoy and can stay up later than bedtime, so we decided to move our celebration to Saturday then. We also want our kids to remember the reason we are celebrating Thanksgiving. We want them to remember the way Bob’s family celebrated the holiday tradition when he was a kid.

Decor to highlight the season

It was really a fun learning experience for me the first time celebrating with Bob’s family and the whole time I was living there in the US. I learned all about the Thanksgiving celebration and the cooking with the help of Bob and his mom. It was really a fun experience for me. Living now here in the Philippines, we celebrate the Thanksgiving the way the Martin family did with a little of my style in it. We are intending to keep it that way till Bob and I pass on.

The food that we are preparing will be the typical food in America during Thanksgiving Day. Me and my niece Glenda usually prepare everything, I mean the cooking and the table decorations and arrangements. But now with Jean taking off from school for a year like AJ, she’ll definitely help with the cooking too. She’s really a big help for me. She’s in-charge with one of the pies. We always do our pies a few days before Thanksgiving. We bake different kinds of pies. But of course the main pie that we will be making is the pumpkin pie. She will help me and Glenda on the pumpkin, but she’s in-charge with the chocolate chess pie and the pecan pie will be new for us this year to make.

Celebrating with friends and family

Living here in the Philippines, finding ingredients sometimes can be a challenge. Thank goodness for the sprouting malls for the past years. Not so hard to find ingredients, “sometimes I guess”. Well to make it easier for us I will just substitute it with the ingredients that can be easily find here. I am not going to wait few months or never before the next shipment of the items to come here in Davao. Sigh. LOL. I will give you details of the ingredients that I will be using for the menu during Thanksgiving that can be a bit harder to find sometimes or the mall might be out of it.

Making Pumpkin Pie with local ingredients

One of the menu is the pumpkin pie. Sure you can buy pumpkin pie in the restaurant. A few years ago we did order at one of the restaurants here. But it’s too expensive. We paid like 600-700 pesos per pie if I remember on that. And you know in my household 1 pie ain’t enough here. We have boys that can eat pretty well. So I have to order at least 2 or 3 (just one kind of pie) to satisfy all of us. So that got me thinking, if I don’t do anything, a big chunk of my budget will just go to the pie from the resto. So that’s when Bob told me that “I think you can cook the pumpkin hon, homemade”. He really had confidence in me. Thanks Honey. So I tried to research it and viola got the recipe and I tried it and it worked. At that time I was really using the pumpkin in a can (imported). So then, I realized that sometimes the mall doesn’t have shipment of the pumpkin in a can, I had to do something. I research again and invented a recipe of how to make pumpkin pie out from Kalabasa (squash that’s what we have here). Guess what it worked really good too. Bob and the kids love it. So it’s been 5 or more years now that I’ve been using the kalabasa for my pie. Way cheaper than before. I guess with the S & R now here in Davao, they are selling pumpkin pie for 300 pesos plus, you can purchase from there. But I’m just sticking with my kalabasa “pumpkin” pie. I can’t be so sure if S & R will have it when I go there the day before Thanksgiving. They might run out.

Table Setting

Another menu in mind that I’m using substitute: “Yams”, I found sweet potatoes in a can here before. It’s one of those thing, that the mall order it and will have at their shelves if they felt like having it. It’s not so popular with the Filipino families. So why stock when they are not sure they will sell the items as quickly as they want to. In our household, Thanksgiving won’t be complete without yams. So I had to do the thinking and researching again. Sweet potato in the US, I compared that to “camote”. At first I tried to bake the camote and do some tweaking to be so close to the taste the way my mother-in-law cooked there. With the bake camote, it’s not even close. It’s to dry, even I put lots of butter. It didn’t work. So that got me thinking, with the dryness what if I boil the camote and put some sugar to make it sticky a little and to sweeten a little bit before baking. I will just add more sugar as the cooking goes along. And you know what it work. I had it boiled and bake it later with marshmallow and wow it really work and it taste good. Even my mother-in-law was impressed when she was here spending the Thanksgiving with us.

You guys probably wonder where in the world will we get the turkey (Butterball) here. Iv’e heard people saying that they can’t find turkey here. People of the world – we have turkey here in the Philippines in nearly every mall in fact, and its year round too you guys. So turkey for Thanksgiving is not extinct here in the Philippines. Aside from all the malls here in Davao, you will see turkey at the deli shops here too like Swiss Deli and Gourmet Deli shop in Chimes. They even have turkey ham. With the S & R now in the Philippines, they have plenty of turkey there. Also they are selling turkey breast and turkey legs. The only thing that’s different here the turkey here are smaller than the turkey in the States. But I’m okay with that.

In the Thanksgiving spirit

Cooking the turkey

How do you guys cook your turkey here? Well, for us, we used to roast the turkey in the oven. You can even buy the turkey bags where you can put your turkey inside the bag before you put in the oven to make it stay moist. For us now we cook our turkey roasted outside in the rotisserie (lechon style). After I cleaned the turkey I rub butter and salt and peeper in the turkey inside and out. Then I stuffed the turkey with the typical stuffing with sausage. Then seal and tie the turkey after putting to the rotisserie rod. We use charcoal for roasting the turkey. Really keep an eye of how much fire under the turkey. Use a thermometer to check if the turkey is cooked or not. That way you really know.

What about stuffing?

Another menu item we have: ” The Stuffing”. I am making homemade stuffing. I used french bread for croutons. I buy the bread few days before Thanksgiving. Then I will cut the bread into cubes (bite size), just leave in the cookie sheet over night. Then like few hours before cooking for stuffing put it in the oven to brown. Keep an eye to not burn. Let it cool before mixing it to the other ingredients for the stuffing. Cooking the stuffing with the homemade breakfast sausage, onions, celery, chicken stock, thyme and salt and pepper and mix the croutons. Eyeball the mixture with the wetness of the croutons and the stock. Let if cool before stuffing the turkey.

Our food that we will have during Thanksgiving:

Turkey – While turkey was cooking at the rotisserie, it’s stuffed inside with the croutons and sausage mixture. The extra stuffing that won’t fit inside the turkey, bake it in the oven maybe with the turkey neck or legs on top to have the turkey taste.
Mashed potato – Boil the potato until it’s soft when poke with a fork. Put butter, milk and salt and pepper and mashed it. Eye ball with the consistency you want.
Stuffing – Cooked croutons and sausage that was stuffed inside the turkey or the one that was cooked in the oven.
Beans – Cook beans and put butter (just keep an eye of how much you want to put), onions sliced into cubes, bacon (fried to almost crispy-save the grease for your future use) and salt & pepper to taste.
Rice – Of course don’t ever forget to serve the rice to the Fil-Am family.
Yams – The cooked yams and bake in the oven with marshmallows.
Gravy – Home made gravy either from the turkey drippings or if lechon turkey just cook other parts of the turkey and use the drippings for the gravy.
Pies – We will have “pumpkin pie”, “chocolate chess pie” and “pecan pie”, sounds so good to me.
Eggnog – Our homemade eggnog here in the house.

We prepare our table somewhat the formal way. With our good china and good silverware. Our kids were already used to that. They want it that way. They told me that everything has to be nice because we are thanking God for whatever we have that He gave. So even with the hard times that the Philippines experienced right now, still we are thankful that we are alive and did our share of helping them there (The Visayas people). It’s so unfortunate that too many people lost their lives over there. I know people think they just help out a little but because a lot of the people help out, still it makes a difference to someone’s lives over there. It’s not an easy year here in the Philippines, it’s going to be hard for a lot of our kababayans from the Visayas. We will just continue praying for them for the years to come that they can rebuild and move on with their lives.

Coming up next it’s Christmas

What about you, how would you celebrate your thanksgiving? Feel free to share here. We will be happy to hear from you.

HAPPY GOBBLE, GOBBLE DAY AMERICA!

October 31, 2013 by feyma

Hypocrisy

Have you guys been reading or hearing on Philippine news TV? Regarding one of the big celebrities here in the Philippines wanting to marry his girlfriend. Why would that be a problem? The guy, he is 60 years old and the girl is 16 years old. To be honest I think if the girl was over 18 it might not cause a lot commotion here.

I think one of the reasons why it makes some noise not just here but all over where lots of Filipina married to foreigners community. The guy he is so nationalistic that sometimes he sounds like he doesn’t like the Pinay to be married to the foreigners. But his sister married someone from Europe. Well that’s just his opinion. It doesn’t bother me really. But what does bother me when he’s one of those person that’s against older foreigner guys marrying the young Pinay.

Freddie Aguilar with 16 year old girlfriend

But look what he is doing. He is wanting to marry an underage girl. My Lord my daughter is older than his girlfriend. To be honest, really just thinking, I know my daughter is too young to marry any guy right now, and I know she’s just not ready to have another life (babies) to support. It’s just like babies making babies. I know that celebrity guy can afford what the young bride wants, I would also say the same to any foreigner that married to Filipina, he can afford whatever the young bride desires.

For me that celeb guy should just zip his mouth before, since he already know that he had desire for youngster. I’ve read somewhere that his second or third wife, he married her when the girl was just 17. He said he loved her too much that he let her go later. He should know better, the media now scrutinized him and the girl. Honestly I felt sorry for the girl, now she’s going to be followed by the paparazzi. And he claimed that he didn’t know the girl was just 16 years old before they had the relationship. That really shocked me. He didn’t ask her birthday or what year in school she is? Knowing the year level of the girl, he can already figure it out her age. I don’t think the girl stopped schooling. I don’t think they are too poor. Or like he said he was blinded by his love for her to backed out. It’s already too late for him to know her age he said. But what can we say the parents were okay with it, and they approved of him marrying the girl when she reached the age of 18. Not sure if they are now living in one roof. The way he said in the interview, it didn’t sound like they are living apart. But who knows.

Really, I’ve met a lot of older guys married to a young Filipina (the Pinay is over the legal age) like a little over 20′s. And you know what I saw the love and care with each other. The thing that I had in mind now with the 16 year old, most of them were so immature, just a few are not. What if hard times/trials come along, can the 16 year old think right away on what to do? Maybe some can too. This is a difficult subject to tackle because for me it’s really up to the person. But I am hoping too that it will not happen to my daughter or other members of my family. I saw a lot of what happen when a 16 year old married that early. Trouble in paradise mostly.

*** But I guess it’s not so uncommon to a young girl become the mistress of someone here (some were pushed by poverty and the parents). So I guess its just the same. It’s one of the other unending cycles here in the Philippines “The young ones (underage girl) married or living in with the older guy”. ***

October 10, 2013 by feyma

Racism comment: Give the Bambi moment!

You’ve probably read and heard of the Miss World pageant controversy. The pageant was held like 2 weeks or so ago. Miss Philippines (Megan Young) got the title. Megan was born in the USA, shes a Fil-Am. She came to the Philippines and become an actress. She’s also active in charitable work. Everyone here was celebrating and so happy including myself. It was the first time for the Philippines to get the title ever since the pageant started in 1951. While the Philippines was in the celebration mode, someone made a bad comment and not happy with the result.

Never know at first about the criticism until seeing it on FB. Just didn’t pay much attention with it until one of my kids asked me if I saw what somebody said about the the Miss Philippines winning the title. I told my kids that I saw something and didn’t pay much attention about it. So I went through my news feed on my FB wall. I just can’t believed what that woman (by the way her name is Devina Dediva) said.

Megan Young – Miss World 2013

I’m quoting what Dediva says:

“Miss Philippines is Miss World? What a joke! I didn’t know those maids have anything else in them. Ha Ha Ha”…

She did not stop there. Another quote from her. “they are poor, smelly from cleaning toilets and uneducated.”

Still another comment from her and I quote “they are less privileged everywhere! M surprised one can win. What a joke those people cleaning our toilets won miss world.”

After seeing what she said I was thinking how could she said that. When I look at her picture, I could see she had an Indian descent. True enough when I google her name this is what I saw:

“Devina DeDiva is a Singaporean national of Indian origin”

I’m surprised she said what she said because I know that many people from India also seek job and work as an OFW in the countries were Filipinos seeks works too. Like a cousin of mine worked in Egypt for 8 years and now in Kuwait and most of her co-workers were from India. My cousin never said bad stuff with those co-workers of hers. When I was working in the States before for 2 months I had lots of Indian co-workers too. I never think low of them and them to me. To be totally honest most of us Filipinos that works there were almost all college graduates. Those Indian workers some of them were not even a high school graduate. But you know what both Filipinos and Indians never ever bash each cultures and descent and no calling names.

I don’t want to demean people, when she said Filipinos smells bad because they cleaned toilets. Well, I want to know then if she will be put inside one room with Pinoys after cleaning the toilets and the other room with her fellow Indian after cleaning toilets. Then I want her to judge who smells bad. She should not say the bad smelling because it will bounce back to her what she comment. I will say though that we also had people here that smells bad but who had the most smelly people. Just asking here.

You know I tried my very best not to judge people because I don’t want to be judge also. If a person from the Philippines say something like that to other person (contestant) from other country too after winning I would not like it too. The reason the pageant has judges, they are the one that has the right to judge who the winner is. We are not there for the pre-pageant.

Bambi

I just want to advise Devina Dediva to watch the Bambi movie. I know it’s a kids movie, but its a good movie. Theirs a good moral lesson there that she needs to know and maybe put in her mind all the time:

Thumper says “If you can’t say something nice… don’t say nothing at all”

Keep your big mouth to yourself from now on. I’m pretty sure you want to continue living the good life. I heard you are out from your job now. Not fun anymore for you. Theirs time for fun and theirs time for sacrifices. I’m sure if you say sorry sincerely people are very forgiving. Try to be humble. God bless you.

Mabuhay Philippines!

August 15, 2013 by feyma

Our mischievous pets in the house!

You probably saw on Bob’s Facebook photos of our newly made Turtleville. It was really a fun project for the whole family. It all started a few days before our Anniversary. My brother-in-law Jhun came here for a job that we wanted him to do for one of our businesses. It took him 2 days for that job. I told him after his work for the business, I had projects for him to do. For one, I would like for him to build a bigger place for our turtles, so that they could roam around instead of just in that small plastic tub that were in.

So Jhun started the project that I wanted him to do. He bought the cement and pebbles and other stuff. So while Jhun was finishing up with the “turtle swimming pool” Bob asked Jhun if he could make the pool have an opening with a ramp to go down, that the turtle could go in and out easily. Bob wanted the turtles to go down and have room to roam around. So we decided to use some big rocks, like bolders, that we had in our yard for the fence. They really are huge rocks and very heavy too. So we settled for that. While the new pool was drying, Jhun started moving the big rocks with our help. Later that afternoon the pool was safe for the turtles to go in, so we put them inside. Soon enough Chuckie (the big turtle) figured out right away how to get down the ramp. We were so confident they would not get out of our rock fence that we built (arranged really) for them. Shocking to say but it just took Chuckie less than 30 minutes to figure it out how to get out of the rocks. Gosh he’s so tricky. Few times he fell on his back but he knows how to flip over to his tummy again.

That’s when Bob decided we will make a bamboo fence for them. Chuckie was on a hunt to look for a place to escape the new bamboo fence. He is so restless. We we’re so confident that we built the nice bamboo fence, (duh), but the next morning, I was just sitting on our porch talking to my sister on the phone. I saw Chuckie almost got out of the fence. He climbed next to the tub with his other legs on the bamboo fence and just keep moving up and his head was already on the other side of the fence. In shock I was screaming to Jhun that Chuckie’s almost out. That problem was fixed for now. He is trying to climb at the roots of the tree, but he didn’t make it yet. Thank God for that.

Today I saw our cat Sputnik climbed inside the turtle kingdom. She’s the other mischievous pet in the house. I was just observing her. I thought she might hurt the turtle but I guess she was just watching the turtles for now. Not sure if she will do something if we are not watching. I’m not sure what would Chuckie learn from Sputnik in the long run. Sputnik really knows how to get our attention. She knows how to show other cats what to do. Whenever she’s sleeping in one of the kids’ bedroom, come morning like after 5 am and no one was up, she will meow near the door, if no one will get up and opened the door for her she will bite somebody’s toes if out in the blanket. If no one still listening to her meow she will then go near the ear of the person and meow louder. If no one still listening she will push important stuffs on top of the side table especially cell phone. That will get the kids’ attention then. She also knows how to wake Bob and I. If it is past wake up time and no one gives them food, she will knock/pound our door to make sure we know that she’s out there calling. Problem is, she knows I am usually up early and feed them. So if I’m late she will be outside our door knocking and meowing.

Every morning now Bob and I sit near the turtle kingdom and just watch our Chuckie and Sputnik. It’s kind of our stress reliever. We are now thinking of putting some new projects soon.

July 18, 2013 by feyma

Reconnecting friends from over a decade of friendship!

Yesterday I went to see again a friend that Bob and I knew for over a decade now. We knew them through the net. Her name is Effy, she now lives in Texas with her husband John and their 2 kids Jessa and little JP. Now joined by Effy’s mom Ate Ermie.

We met her just not long after we arrived here from the States in early 2000. At that time we used to live in GenSan. Effy just graduated her college and got engaged to her fiancee John from The States. At that time Effy was still the shy girl. Just talking and interacting with her I remember my days with her before meeting Bob and before my days going to the States. The typical Pinay, so shy and timid. Effy really is every parents dream to have for a daughter. Bob met Effy and John when Bob came to Davao for a business trip. John came here to see Effy for the first time. Bob and John had been communicating on the net for awhile. John decided to visit GenSan. We’re so happy to show them around, we brought them to Lake Sebu and Isla Parilla and other nice places there.

The long time friends

We still got in contact with Effy after John went home. One day we had some business to do here in Davao. We then proceeded to Tagum to see Effy. I think at that time she’s working at the hospital there. It happened to be her off day at work, we invited her to come with us to Davao to have lunch. We brought her to one of the restaurant here. I think that was Don Henrico’s Restaurant near Gaisano South. We ordered foods and one of the things we ordered was onion rings. That was the first time Effy tasted onion rings and she really like it a lot.

John came back few months after and they had pre-wedding celebration here in Tagum. Bob and I were invited. It was really a nice and beautiful celebration. Effy’s mom Ate Ermie who is a fabulous wedding planner, she prepared the whole thing. It was grand since her lovely daughter would be married in a few weeks in the States. The party here was for the family of Effy who can’t attend the wedding in the States. We were sort of the grooms family during the pre-wedding. Our friendship did not end after we atteneded the pre-wedding. John and Effy went to the States a few days after the pre-wedding celebration. Effy first lived in Seattle for a few years before settling to Texas until now. John is a chef at RainForest Restaurant.

Aaron and Jessa

Even when Effy was already in the States I am still communicating with her mom. Then when Effy visit her family here after living in the States for a few years. She came to our house and just catch up with our friendship. Then a few years ago Ate Ermie’s went to States. We still continue on our friendship. Thank goodness for Facebook and the telephone. We continue knowing each other activities through there. I can see now that Effy is a very busy mom to her daughter who happens to be modeling. She’s traveling to have shows on some other areas in Texas.

Effy and her mom Ermie also do some wedding planning and flower arrangement on the side for wedding in there area in Texas. Effy also accepts Balikbayan Boxes shipment for the Philippines. If ever you want more info just email me on that.

To Effy and Ate Ermie, little JP and Jessa. It was really nice seeing you guys. Thank you so much for visiting. Thank you for the gifts too. I hope to see you guys before you head back home. Have a good visit with your family here in the Philippines. Have a good trip home.