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It’s another Thanksgiving Celebration in the Philippines!

Yep another Thanksgiving celebration again here in the Philippines, American style. What I mean by that, we usually celebrate our Thanksgiving just like the way Bob’s family celebrated when he’s growing up. Then when I came to America I observed them and I liked it. So Bob and I decided to celebrate the thanksgiving the way his family did, and we can continue on the tradition. Hopefully our kids will follow and continue the Martin tradition. Woo, I’m just hoping that our to be daughter-in-laws likes to cook just like our daughter Jean. Jean can cook most of the food that we prepare during Thanksgiving.

We cook a lot of our food from scratch. From the stuffing mix (croutons & sausage), sweet potato, mashed potato, pies and other stuff. As you know a few years ago, it is hard to get the most of the ingredients here in the Philippines, especially we’re outside of Manila. Thank God for the sprouting malls now, lots of them carries the imported ingredients. But to be honest I hardly use the imported ingredients anymore, ever since using the local substitute it works for us and it just tasted the same as the real one. Bob and I decided that we’re not going to buy the imported and expensive ingredients since we can make a good one just a fraction of the price. LOL.

Thanksgiving Turkey

Thanksgiving Turkey

In the past years of living here we do our Thanksgiving 2 days after the Thanksgiving in America. Since Thursday kids have school here. It’s not a holiday here for that. So we do ours during Saturday so that the kids can help out and enjoy the whole day with the family. We did our Thanksgiving celebration a bit early this year. It was actually celebrated yesterday. Bob has some commitments to go to on the weekend after the Thanksgiving in the USA. So we decided to do it this weekend. The kids will be home and help us cook the turkey and other dishes. I usually decorate Christmas a week before we celebrate Thanksgiving. Thank God I’m done with decorating with the help of my kids, my nieces and helper. So everyday this week it’s going to be a busy day for us.

Starting with making our homemade squash for the pies and pumpkin roll, pumpkin pudding low-fat. We are also making chocolate chess pie, some of my kids would not eat the pumpkin pie. I’m thinking of making the yam (sweet potato early).  Mix the rest of the ingredients and bake on the day of the party. Have to make the croutons ahead of time too. It seems that the sourdough bread taste much better than the ciabatta bread, but it really all depends if I can find some sourdough bread near us. Sometimes the bread shop at SM carries them. Oh well, french bread and ciabatta works good as well anyway. So not a problem there.

So here’s our food for our thanksgiving here in the house: Turkey, Mashed Potato, Stuffing, Rice, Beans, Yams, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chess Pie, Pumpkin Roll, Pumpkin Pudding and ham (we have ham this year). Good for sandwich later and turkey soup too. :-)

So what about you guys? What are you preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday? To those expats here in the Philippines, do you had a hard time getting the ingredients? Do you celebrate just the way you do back home? Some restaurant here in Davao do some Thanksgiving lunch and dinner. I’m sure some restaurant in your area too.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL AMERICANS ALL OVER THE WORLD!!!

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“The Pandesal Kid” named Delmer!

My daughter and I did our early routine, walking in our neighborhood early in the morning. When we were almost home a kid showed up on the corner and yelled “Ate you want pandesal? It’s still hot”. I said to Jean we will just buy later at the bakery shop  since it’s too early. While following the path of that kid, I told Jean I think we’ll just buy so that the kid will make a little bit of money. So we then called the kid and told him we will buy some. I asked him how much per pandesal? He said it’s 2 pesos each Te (kids here called the older to them female “Ate” or “Te” – short for Ate).  So we bought 20 pieces. I gave him 50 pesos and told him to keep the change.

Delmer

Delmer

Then I was asking him what’s his name? Where does he live? How old is he? And what school is he attending? He answered my query. His name is Delmer. He lives in Maa, a bit far from us. So I asked him if  he walk from Maa to our subdivision? He said yes. Wow, he must starts waking so really early. He said he’s 13 years old. He’s attending public school in Maa. The sad part is he already quit school before and now again because the mom gets mad at him every time he comes home late. He said he comes home late due to he had to stay later in school because the teacher still teaches the slow reader kids. And he is one of them. So to satisfy his mom, he quit school. I guess the mom would rather have Delmer sell pandesal than go to school everyday. Delmer looks like a really good kid and very respectful. He probably thanked me a dozen times.

Delmer the pandesal kid

Delmer the pandesal kid

I was really telling Delmer before we walked separately away from him that he should try to go back to school next year and not stop. I told him if he won’t finish up at least high school he will be continue on getting lower job since he had no education. His mom works as a stay out helper for somebody near their house. The dad’s job was collecting plastic bottles, cardboard and metal stuff (They call it here “bote bakal”). So really they don’t make that much. I think he said he has 2 other siblings.

It really makes me sad that so many kids here have to stop school because they have to help making money for the family at a young age. It’s one of those unending cycles going on here in the Philippines.

I wish those families that struggle to live in the city will go back to the province and try to raise poultry and pigs for meat. And make a small garden for a start then maybe expand later to sell. Sad part for so many of these people they don’t want to live in the farm. Even though they struggle living in the city, still they stay. I know for one family, our laundry lady, they have a farm not far from here in Davao. But she said she doesn’t want to live there because it’s too quiet for her. Her husband and kids said the same thing.

Anyway, I’m really hoping for the best for Delmer. By the way, he is a 5th grade student. I’m really hoping he will continue his studies next year and will continue on until he graduates high school. I’m crossing my fingers for him. So many kids like Delmer here in the Philippines. Hoping for the best to all of them too.

Cheers!

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Have you tried Ginataan? How about binignit?

I am writing here about one of the famous dessert “The Ginataan in Tagalog Binignit in Bisaya”. It is  one of famous dessert in the Philippines!

Made most especially during All Souls Day and All Saint’s Day. You probably wonder what’s that event I’m talking about? Really it’s the day to remember and honor the people that close to us who passed on. It’s on November 1st (All Souls Day – they said for the adult that died), November 2nd (All Saints Day – for the young one that died). It’s one of the big holidays here in the Philippines. People will gather in the graveyard of the loved one. Some even stayed in the cemetery overnight or the 2 day event. Some offer food for the loved one that died. I think to some of you that are from abroad that lived here already and experienced the event, I’m sure you’ve observed that people will be staying at the cemetery overnight having a party. Big restaurants even put kiosks near the cemetery. I’ve seen Pizza Hut, Greenwich Pizza, Jollibee and others have booths there. Those cola companies sell there too.

Ginataan - Binignit

Ginataan – Binignit

But one of the desserts that almost every Filipino household has during that event, that would be the ginataan or binignit. I know it is present in my family. But in every family the recipe of the ginataan and binignit will not be the same. I know for certain in my household there are certain ingredients that I don’t and won’t include and that would be the taro root, ube and squash. But with other household that might be their favorite. So really to each his own. LOL. I will be sharing with you our recipe.

“The Bayoy-Martin Ginataan/Binignit Recipe“

Ingredients:

  • 6 cups coconut milk
  • 8 cups of water
  • 2 cups of brown sugar
  • 1/4 lb langka (jackfruit) julienne cut
  • 4 pieces of banana (Saba here in the Philippines) (plantains) cut into cubes
  • 3 pieces of sweet potato (kamote) cut into cubes
  • 1/4 lb landang (palm flour jelly balls in English, not sure what you call that in Tagalog))
  • 1/2 lb of ground sweet rice (glutinous rice balls)
  • 1 lb sago (tapioca pearl or tapioca balls) different colors (red,green, blue, beige, yellow & white)

Procedures:

  1. To make the glutinous rice balls, moisten the rice flour with water just until it sticks together. Roll the dough into 1/4 inch balls.
  2. On the side, boil water for the sweet potato and banana to be cooked. It is better to cook it separately so that it will be quicker.
  3. First put around 8 cups of water in the pot(big pot preferably) and let it boil. Then gently drop around half cup of sweet rice or regular sweet rice will do and the sweet rice dough balls, let it simmer until the rice becomes soft and the sweet glutinous rice balls will rise on top when its cooked.
  4. Next, put the palm flour jelly balls (landang). When the landang softens put the coconut milk about 4 cups and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. Then, put the one cup and a half of sugar, stir, add more sugar if needed. Keep tasting until you reach your desired sweetness. Then, add the rest of the coconut milk and let it simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Next, drop the tapioca balls and let it continue to simmer for 10 minutes and keep stirring it, so that it will not stick to the bottom of the pan since the coconut milk makes it thicker. Then put the jack-fruit and let it simmer for maybe 5 minutes, then put the pre-cooked banana and sweet potato and let it simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste again if its the sweetness you desired. if lucking add sugar before it cools down. Enjoy!!!

What’s the food that you are preparing during the All Souls/All Saint’s Day? Ginataan? Binignit? It might just be for us here in this part of the country. This might not be so famous in your area. Would like to hear if this is one of the fave in your family? What you guys do during that day? Feel free to share here.

Have a good visit to the cemetery. Stay safe too. Many people drink there too. I’m not talking just drinking pop though. You know what I mean?

Cheers!

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My homemade “Pita Bread”!

I am writing about a simple recipe that I thought before was harder to make. I was wrong on that though.

Bob got a recipe and immediately me and Jean tackle it.

I try to buy a good active yeast and put the rest in a sealed container and store in the refrigerator, but I often find that the yeast here in the Philippines is already dead, or just not working very well.

 

We used to buy Pita Bread at our local SM Mall, but they have been “out of stock” for a long time, so Bob asked me to make some to satisfy his craving!

Pita bread can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Anyway here’s the recipe for the pita bread.

Pita Bread Recipe:

 

A few homemade Pita Breads

A few homemade Pita Breads

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water ( make it warm not boiling, on my water I just put in the microwave for 30-35 seconds)
  • 2 teaspoon active dry yeast (hard to find good yeast in the Philippines that last longer in the fridge, so I put 3 teaspoon)
  • 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour ( the other 1/2 cup use it when kneading the flour)
  • 1 – 2 teaspoons of salt
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil

Procedure:

  1. Put the 3 teaspoon yeast to a mixing bowl, put the warm water with the yeast. Let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes until you see the yeast dissolved. Add the flour, together with the salt and the olive oil. Mix it together until it formed into a dough.
  2. Sprinkle the clean surface of your counter with the flour and put your dough. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes until the dough become smooth. While kneading you might have to add more flour for the dough not to stick with your hands and the counter.
  3. Put some olive oil to the mixing bowl, the one you used to mix all the ingredients. Put the kneaded dough there, put some oil on top of the dough. Cover it with clean cloth or cling wrap. I used cling wrap. Let the dough rise until its almost doubled when you originally put in the bowl. Approximately an hour to 2 hours.
  4. After the dough was rising, gently deflate the dough  and divide the though into 8 equal parts. Put all the dough again on the floured surface.
  5. Use a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces into a circle like 8 inches to 9 inches wide about almost quarter of inches in thickness. Keep turning and lifting dough as you roll the dough. Make sure the dough is not sticking on the counter. Sprinkle flour if its sticking.
  6. When cooking the dough, I put like a tablespoon of oil in the skillet in medium heat. Lower the heat if necessary. When it’s hot, drop the rolled dough and turn the dough every 3 to 5 seconds. Keep doing it until the dough is done. Keep an eye it gets burn easy. Just eyeball  the pita if its done cooking or to your liking.
  7. Let it coll in a plate and cut it in half with scissors. Open the inside of the pita and you can put anything you like. For us we like to put salad inside or some meatballs or some ham.
Sandwich on Pita

Sandwich on Pita

***I just used a small amount from the dough, so I just got one or 2 like an almost the size of tennis ball and keep the rest in the fridge. If you don’t use all the dough, wrap the one that you are not using in a cling wrap and put it in an air tight container. Put it on the fridge until the next time you use it. Pita can be in the fridge for one week.***

Good luck everyone and have fun cooking!

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Cooking style in the house:

Since living back here in the Philippines we pretty much change the way we cook our food. Of course we had to, when we arrived here a lot of the stuff that we are used to in the States before were so hard to find here. So I had to adjust the cooking on what’s available here. Sometimes I’m lucky to find the right substitute for the product that I want.

So when Bob was hospitalized a month or so ago, I had to be careful on what to serve him. Jean or Glenda my niece , or myself, one of us were the one to prepare Bob’s food. We are gearing towards the diet that’s good for his diabetics. We are eating fish and poultry more and more now. We mostly grilled or cook it low fat.

Bob will eat light dinner now. A bit heavier during lunch time. He is into sa

Lots of good seafood in the Philippines
Tuna Sashimi
Pomelo Salad

shimi (tuna or malasugui), salmon steak (I cooked in the pan with a small olive oil. Just make the pan smoking hot and just drop the salmon to seal the outside. Feel it that it won’t overcook), Salad, just simple salad with arugula, romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, turkey ham or lechon manok or shrimp drizzled with a small amount of Italian dressing. I also make pomelo & shrimp salad (with that salad goes with spring onions, crushed peanuts, and vinegar mixed with a little bit of sugar or artificial sweetener). We are also making some soup and chili. We are into mussels & clams now too, cooked with pasta and a small amount of olive oil, butter and white whine. Sometimes we grilled the mussels & clams and put some barbecue. Yum.

For breakfast if you want cereals you can pretty much find different kinds of cereals in almost every grocery stores in the mall. Like SM, they also have an organic store there “The Healthy Option”. I mainly buy the whole wheat or whole grain pasta there and the barley at the healthy option. I also make banana muffins or strawberry muffins for breakfast  I used the splenda or a small amount of brown sugar and the rest I used liquid sugar-free. It worked for us.  I try to be creative on my cooking now. I try learning it by reading on the net and watching cooking shows on TV. I’m so amazed by the resources nowadays, almost anything is posted online. If you have some difficulty on any recipes try to Google it and you will find answers to your query.

Bob’s been doing good on his diet for his diabetics. He really strives hard to eat proper food. I’m so proud of him. He really surprised me now. When I first met him he would not eat salad and some seafood especially mussels and clams. I guess only clam chowder and clam strips. Now he likes to eat mussels and clams cooked differently – grilled or cooked with pasta. I’m still learning and reading more on good diabetic recipes for us to cook everyday.

To our readers that live here in the Philippines and have diabetics too, good luck to you guys on your diet. If you’re a fish and vegetables eater not a problem for you then. You can pretty much find fish in the market and also different kinds of veggies there too.  Remember, though, there are more and more diabetic friendly foods available in the Philippines than there were even just a few years ago.  Many more healthy choices for all of us to enjoy.

Its really more fun living in the Philippines!

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