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 24, 2013 by feyma

Morning routine, breakfast for us!

Over a month or so ago now Bob and I started that all of us in the house will eat breakfast together. We were thinking of dinner, but some of the kids in the house will be going home late because of school. So the dinner together idea is off the table for now. We know that all of us will be here during morning so that’s one of the reasons why we started the morning routine for all of us. Really at first Bob and I were just thinking that we will have the breakfast routine just during weekdays. But, by the middle of the first week we talked to the kids if they want to still do the breakfast? Everybody said that they want to do it daily. So we have breakfast everyday now. Only thing during weekends we are flexible with the hours.

Today’s choices

During weekdays we do our breakfast early morning usually before 6:30, since the kids go to school early. During weekends we will eat no later than 8:30. If I’m making muffins I usually get up a little early. Sometimes my niece Glenda will make garlic rice, the kids like it a lot with sausage or the nuclear dogs ( ha ha ha). Jean helps with the cooking. She’s been cooking some muffins too. It seems to be a routine now to wake up early. I don’t even have to go to their room. She just wakes up by herself and helps out. Sometimes they go to the market early or the day before to buy fruits.

Breakfast Selections

Sometimes me and one of the kids go for a walk early to buy bread at the bakery here. Good freshly baked bread (pandesal especially). It’s so yummy. Sometimes we buy muffins at S & R. It’s like the muffin made from Costco. Very good. Here’s some of the foods we eat in the morning: Fruits (mango, banana, pineapple, pomelo, papaya, marang and many others). Cereals, banana muffins/bread, pancakes, waffles, baked french toast, garlic rice, regular rice, eggs (poach, boiled, fried), Hormel breakfast sausage, Johnsonville breakfast sausage, bacon, ham, hash brown, homemade Challah bread, homemade bread, biscuits and many others too. Our foods were suggested by everybody. We always have a few selections of foods in the morning in-case other people in the house don’t want the other food being served. We also have coffee, tea and other drinks. Really our breakfast, its a combination of Filipino and American dishes.

It’s really good to be together with the kids in the morning. We decided to eat at our porch, it seems cooler there in the morning. Really its good to be with the kids catching up with what they are doing everyday. The kids and nieces seems to be enjoying it too. We would not have done it if we are not all enjoying to be together. Even our helpers she eats with us. Ever since Bob and I lived here in the Philippines we always had our helpers eat with us.

All in all I’m so happy preparing the food for my family everyday. Something for all of us to enjoy and bond. I had a feeling that my kids might continue on this tradition too later with their respective families.

Have Fun Eating!!!

August 8, 2013 by feyma

Through the years, 23 years to be exact!

This first part is from Feyma.

Wow, 23 years ago on the 9th of August Bob and I said our “I DO’s”. Another year to create precious memories together. I just can’t believe it that it has been that long ago already since we became husband and wife. We were both in our 20′s then. Him in his late 20′s and me being in my early 20′s.

Can’t believe it that we’ve been together for over 2 decades now. It’s been a good ride for us. We are blessed with our 3 good looking boys, and 2 beautiful daughters (have to brag. LOL).

It’s been a roller coaster ride for us. We totally handled it good with the grace of God the almighty.

Of course we had our moments, just like the typical and normal couple. Our marriage is far from perfect, especially with the two different cultures together. Bob would say something and I take it differently. Sometimes we argue and fight, thank God not physically. Raising voices yes we do that, who would not. Being married for 23 years and together almost everyday (24/7 for a lot of years, since Bob has been working at home for more than 20 years) what can you expect? LOL. I’m so glad Bob put up with some of my shenanigans. I think he’s the only guy that can put up with it. Ha ha ha… Really he’s an amazing husband and a father to our kids. He is really good to our girls too. He’s also good to my family especially when my parents were alive. He was so thoughtful to them. That’s why I love him more for that. I know he will do anything for me. I do the same for him.

Bob works hard to support me, our kids and some members of my family. He never complained that. We’ve been burned out on helping other members of the family especially nieces that have been so ungrateful. One thing that’s so different on the 2 cultures. Filipino way, after what happened to some of my family members so disrespectful and not appreciating what we’ve done for them. I told Bob I had it, we are not sending anybody to school anymore. Western way: they would still support the other family members because not all members of the family are the same. In short not judgmental. I really applauded him for that. He totally open my eyes. I think I was just blindsided by my anger and embarrassment. I got over it and moved on.

To Bob: I love you so much honey. You and the kids really are my life. Thank you so much for loving me unconditionally. Thank you for helping me adjusting and teaching me living the life in the States. Thank you for pampering me. You really taught me a lot in life. Love you more for that. Happy 23rd Anniversary Babe. Another year to strengthen our marriage that last a lifetime!!!

A few photos from our years together

Now, this part is from Bob.

Thank you, hon, for your kind words! You know that I love you very much! Unlike most couples, this is the first (and only) marriage for each of us, and we will keep it that way, I know that!

We have had a lot of good times together, and a few bad too, of course. I have so many great memories of my times over the past 23 years! I know you do too. When we first got married, and you migrated to the States, I was able to help teach you and help you learn the ropes of how things worked there. After a few years of that, we both learned from each other (well, I guess we did that all along too, though). Then, in 2000, we moved to the Philippines and it was your turn to start teaching me how things work here. I love you for that.

Something that a lot of our readers may not know is about cooking. When we got married and you moved to the States, I quickly learned that you didn’t know how to cook! It was not a problem for me, though, because I enjoyed cooking, and I welcomed the opportunity to make meals for you. I hope you liked the things that I cooked. I quickly bought some Filipino cookbooks and I started cooking Filipino food for you. It wasn’t always perfect, but a lot of times it turned out great. I took great pride in the fact that I always made sure that you had some kind of food from “back home” to keep you feeling comfortable in the States. You never did learn to cook very much in the States. However, when we moved to the Philippines, you decided it was your turn to take care of me when it came to the cooking department. You not only started cooking most of the meals, you also learned how to cook American food, and you always made sure that I had the kinds of foods that made me happy! I love you a lot for that!

Marrying you was the best thing I ever did, and the thing that made me happiest in life. A close second was when we grew a family. We had 3 boys in the States, and they are all good kids, and I know that both of us are very proud of our boys. Still, as much as I love our boys, and you too, we always wanted to have a girl as well. Moving here gave us the opportunity to make that addition to our family by taking in two of our nieces and making them our daughters. It has really made my family life complete, and I love the girls just as much as I do our boys.

Happy Anniversary, honey, I love you from the bottom of my heart! Thanks for writing this surprise post, and I think you will also be surprised when you see that I added the second half to it!

July 11, 2013 by feyma

The eye popping show!

Been watching shows on TV. One that caught our attention was the show “Restaurant Impossible” by Robert Irvine. The show really is about drowning in debt restaurant owners and asking help from Robert on how to make their restaurant better and more profitable. What Robert will do he will renovate the restaurant and improved the menu for 2 days with the budget of $10,000. He will have help from his few different designers and his builder Tom. Both Bob and I really like the show and the people that help Robert. A lot of time we would be in awe of the outcome of the renovation. I also learned a few menus from him.

Robert Irvine of Restaurant Impossible

It’s really puzzling to me how could any owners let there restaurant be filthy, disgusting and so much gunk. Just watching the show makes my stomach turn upside down. Lots of time my eyeballs just about to pop out just watching those people when picking up the equipment in the kitchen and it’s filth every where. I felt that the workers just didn’t care and I guess the owners too. Too many OMG came out from my mouth in every episode that I watch of that show. It’s just mind blowing that the owners don’t have a clue how disgusting their restaurant has become. Like Bob and I were always commenting while watching the show, why can’t the owner start cleaning when they try to reach out for Robert before he come there to see their restaurant? At least when he comes to visit the resto it is partly clean already. Geez, if I would be the owner I would be embarrassed seeing my restaurant so filthy. Most of the restaurant that Robert would visit he always say its like a pig sty. And I totally agree with him.

Now since watching that show. My gosh, I was telling Bob that I felt like not eating at any restaurant now here in the Philippines, unless it is a newly opened restaurant. If the restaurant in the West goes like that so filthy and so disgusting, to think they had people from the government checking the restaurant regularly. What will be the restaurant here? I am not sure if they have regular people from the government checking the restaurant or do they have strict regulations on maintaining the restaurant here.

When going to the restaurant now all I’m thinking when ordering if the drinks and ice dispenser the inside is it clean? Are the cooking pots and pans cleaned? Are there mice crawling all over the restaurant during the night? Are the meats and veggies cleaned before cooking and serving? Gee, too many questions now in the back of my head. I mean I am not saying that the restaurant be super, super clean. Really it would be nice though if it would. But I would like it to be at least everything’s clean and the plates that were clean be covered that no bugs crawling in. No mice inside the kitchen running all over.

I don’t mind eating and drinking at some other good known restaurants here. Also right now I don’t mind eating at S & R since they just opened and some other restaurant that just opened recently. I know that the drinks & ice dispenser still in good shape.

Have a good eat everyone!

May 6, 2012 by feyma Leave a Comment

Easy to make pasty recipe!

A classmate of mine from high school asked me the recipe of the pasty that I posted on my wall on Facebook. I was thinking of emailing the recipe to her privately. Well, I notice another classmate of mine asking who made the pasty, so I just then decided to share the whole recipe with you guys. The recipe, its easy and simple to make. You can even put any veggies that your family like.

For some people they might prefer store bough pie crust. But being here in the Philippines, we pretty much make our own pie crust. I will share with you my pie crust recipe that I used.

Ingredients for the filling :

A kilo of ground beef
1-2 onions
2 stalks celery
3 potatoes, cubet
2 carrots, cubed
1 small singkamas (jicama or turnip), cubed
corn
Good amount of pepper
Salt

***Mix it all together using your hand. Put it aside after you’re done making the pie crust.

Pie crust ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purposed flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (or a stick) chilled & diced the butter (I put my butter in the freezer for 10-15 minutes before using)
1/4 cup shortening (same procedure with the butter)
3-4 tablespoons of ice water

***To prepare the crust. Mix all the ingredients together, for me I used my hands so that I can feel the consistency. Lightly flour the surface where the place to roll the dough. Cut the dough into 3 rounds. Using the rolling pin, roll the though until it reach to the thickness you desire. Then put the filling on the one side of the dough for the other to fold on top on it. Use fork to press the edge of the dough or start folding just a tiny edge from one side to the other. Like what I have on my picture. Cut a slit like an inch on top of the pie to vent. Brushed with beaten egg on the pasty before baking. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for an hour. Some use ketchup for dipping.

Thank you for asking shi. I hope you like the recipe. Let me know.

Have fun making and eating!

Easy & quick to make pasty!

Just add the veggies you want!

Pasty, ready for the oven!

Ready for the oven!

The pasty looks yummy!

The pasty with initials!

Yummy & tasty pasty!