Our Noche Buena (A Filipino Food Journal)

My tummy was filled with  delicious food  while my heart was overflowing with joy and love on Christmas Eve. We were (almost) complete as a family during Noche Buena.  (Mr Sweetie was not with us.) My mom and dad were with us this year from the Philippines as we celebrated this traditional Filipino Christmas dinner. We ate at 9 pm instead of at midnight when this dinner is traditionally eaten.  The table was overflowing with delicious Filipino food that my mom and sister-in-law cooked. We prayed and thanked the Lord for the blessings of  abundance and  togetherness this Christmas as a loving family.  Then it was tangle of arms and hands as all 10 of us went for the food. On the menu were the following:

1. Honey baked ham
2. Roasted pig
3. Salmon with lemon
4. New York Steak (Which I brought and my brother cooked.)
5. Kare-Kare and bagoong (Oxtail and tripe in peanut sauce served with shrimp paste which is bagoong.)
6. Vietnamese pho (Because it is tradition to have noodles at every feast to celebrate long life as introduced by the Chinese settlers in the Philippines.)
7. Chicken lugaw (congee)
8. Tokwa't baboy (Boiled pigs ears and fried tofu in spicy vinegar and soy sauce. My ultimate favorite!)
9. Steamed veggies
10. KFC (Yup, fast food! LOL!)
11. Rice (because we are Filipinos and everything has to be eaten with rice)
12. Crescent rolls which my nephews and I enjoyed baking together

For dessert, we had:

1. Cassava cake
2. Filipino-style Fruit Salad (with sweet condensed milk, fresh coconut and cheddar cheese).
3. Candy Apples from Rocky Mountain Apples

I did not really get to eat because my mom fed me chicken lugaw and tokwa't baboy before  dinner since I have not eaten all day.  I just had a bowl of pho during dinner.  My mom, however, sent me home with containers of almost every dish which I really enjoyed on Christmas Day.

I am so thankful for this beautiful Christmas Eve with my family.  I pray that we will be blessed with many more years of togetherness on Christmas days to come.

Christmas Eve 2017

 But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD. - Joshua 24:15