What's For Dinner This Christmas?

 I'm excited to make strufolli for the first time this Christmas.   

I'm doing Giada's recipe from familycircle.com. 

This is a common holiday dessert in Naples and Italy and can be prepared a day or two ahead of the party that's why it's convenient.   I'm sure this will add a festive touch to my Christmas table. 

Christmas should be the happiest time of the year but we homemakers are often anxious about Christmas dinner.  This feat can be overwhelming sometimes, yet we are determined to make it great. 

There is no reason to fret because there are lots of ideas going around.  On tv alone, celebrity chefs are sharing their ideas, claiming that they are all super easy; it's just searing the meat with herbs and spices, popped in the oven, forget about it until the oven dings.  

Supermarkets and bakeshops offer lots of endless delicacies to enhance our spread.  There are also plenty of delicious pre-prepared dishes for sale at delis and restaurants that we can easily put together a sumptuous meal and spare us the trouble if we don't have much time.  But if we want something different we can always Google for more ideas. 

Early on I felt I needed to gather more inspiration for my Christmas feast, so I spent sometime watching the Food Network, the Asian Food Channel and Lifestyle Network;  I've read holiday blogs, surfed the net and actually tried the recipes that I found interesting.  

I realized that too much information is not always good; at least to me. The idea of preparing what my family really want eludes me.  However, just like shopping for the right shoes or dress, when I see it, I know that's the one; the idea for my Christmas dinner dawned on to me just like that. 

I aim to make it like a home-cooked meal yet festive at the same time.  It should be special but simple, sans the fancy; light but nutritious because most of us are so health conscious nowadays.  Most of all, it should be something that everyone would enjoy. 

I wanted to depart from the traditional Filipino dishes like caldereta, afritada, menudo, mechado, adobo or at least put a twist on one of them to make it sound new and interesting. 

So this Christmas, I think I'll work with lamb and the other dish could be salmon.  I will cook the lamb like a traditional stew and make a complimentary side dish, I'm still debating whether it will be mashed potatoes or au gratin.  

One good tip I learned is stick to tried and tested dishes at times like this to lessen stress.  I'm not into roasting so much, so I won't roast.  

The salmon will be light and refreshing baked on top of fettuccine and asparagus that will blend with fresh herbs and lemon to counteract the heaviness of the lamb.  Since lamb is not everybody's favorite, I'll sneak in a dish of Osso buco to make everybody happy. 

I will include the Celebration Chicken Salad because I want crunch with apple, celery stalk, cucumber, red radish, almonds and walnuts.  

Did you know that this was first prepared and served at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II by two chefs at the Le Cordon Bleu in London?  The addition of curry and tumeric was borrowed from India due to their significant presence in the UK.  Isn't it interesting to know this bit of history? 

Dessert maybe fruit salad and hopefully I can squeeze sometime to make Angel food cake or bread pudding. 

Of course I will bring out the queso de bola and Chinese ham which is everybody's favorite. 

I don't believe in an over-flowing Christmas table so I limit my preparations but ample enough for everybody; I don't want to handle a lot of leftovers.  Do you think my menu is good enough and fitting for a holiday feast?

The Quest for the Best Breakfast Cafe in Alabang and Paranaque

It's been sometime now that Jim and I are more inclined to eat out for breakfast or brunch rather than dinner.  Every Sunday we wanted to prolong that great feeling after mass so we continue to celebrate by having breakfast in a Cafe; shall I say,  "to break the fast"?

 We rarely go out for dinner anymore because for one, it's becoming more difficult to drive at night.  Besides, we don't eat much at night; I myself don't eat dinner unless we dine out or have company at home.  

So breakfast or brunch is our thing nowadays.  That's when I ditch my banana-granola-oatmeal and green tea frap for a gourmet breakfast and special coffee blends, decaf and skinny preferably. 

 "Where shall we have breakfast today?" Jim asked one Sunday morning.   So I told myself what better time than now to start checking out whether the recommended breakfast cafes in Alabang and Paranaque are worth the reviews.

Let me clarify here that the quest is about small, stand-alone cafes only; definitely not those in hotels like the Belvue, Vivere, Crimsom, Hotel B, etc. 

Our first stop was the Exchange Alley Cafe House at Molito.  

We ordered each an open sandwich of toasted ciabatta topped with prosciutto, (the other salmon) and poached egg dressed with mustard-mayo. 

Their latte is great as well. 

Next Sunday, we located the L'Epiciere Gourmand at the River Park in Filinvest.

It is a French cafe and a deli as well.  So far this is our favorite. 

We enjoyed their cheese and cold cuts platter.  

Jim, a sausage aficionado like our son couldn't help but add an order of the kielbasa with fried potato cubes. 

Here we are at Cafe France 

We often go to Cafe France whether for breakfast, lunch or snack.  We always get an appropriate food for a meal, that is properly prepared to our taste, presentated in an appetizing manner and the price is reasonable.  It is frequented by seniors though the menu could be everyone's favorite. 

Today Jim wanted to go to Cafe France again but I suggested we check out the newly opened J-Rams cafe along Aguirre Ave so we can get on with our quest for the best breakfast cafe.  The place is bright, cool and nicely decorated but sadly, it was not our kind of food or maybe it was the manner it was prepared.  That's the problem when the cafe is not recommended.  

Our search for the best is a work in progress, I think we are not even halfway.  In Aguirre avenue alone, new cafes are being opened. Personally, I like to eat at a new place most of the time  and order something different, though I think most men often prefer to go to a familiar place and possibly order the same food like last time. 

Of course we've been to Pancake house many times; to Conti's and Mary Grace; and don't forget the Big Breakfast at McDonald's, the breakfast joys at Jollibee and the double burger at Tropical Hut.

Our quest is about finding the best cafes we can go to and enjoy a great breakfast on Sunday mornings.  We don't intend to critique them or find anything lacking about their food.   After all, people have different preferences, we just need to find out which of them serve our favorites.