The whole family immediately felt Christmas in the air when we visited UPLB Christmas Park. The Giant Christmas Tree, The Manger and Santa’s Sleigh were all sights to behold!!!

The sun was still up when we got there. We had some corn on the cob, “kwek-kwek”, peanuts and “puto-bumbong” as we waited for the sun to set and for the lights to turn on. Finally, UPLB boasts off the magnificence of its decorations. All eyes looked with amazement, and I mean all, not just the kids’ but ours adults as well.

Apparently UPLB, which is known for academic excellence is also home to creative geniuses. The kids’ favorite was Santa in his Sleigh and my 3-year old son was smiling and very cooperative the whole time for he knew good kids receive good gifts from good old Santa.

In a few minutes, the crowd has become so huge because apparently, there were many of us scattered within the campus and nearby areas, all awaiting the moment.

I remembered UPLB Christmas decorations as symbolic but simple. After seven Christmases away, decorations remained symbolic but I don’t think what I saw qualifies as simplistic. Decorations have become more elaborate but generally have evolved beautifully.

UPLB Christmas Park, as I call it was definitely worth the family’s time. The campus is near from where we live, the park is free and is for everybody, so we will definitely come back a number of times more.

Ingredients:

• 500 g Beef Sirloin strips
• 2 tbsp Calamansi juice
• 3 tbsp Knorr Seasoning or ordinary soy sauce
• 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
• ½ cup Mixed Pickles with syrup
  
• ½ cup Water
  
• 2 pcs Potato, small, cut into 2” strips
  
• 1 pc Carrot, small, cut into 2” strips
• 1 pc Red Bell pepper, julienne
  
• ¼ cup Coarsely ground roasted peanuts
  
• 1 cup Grated Cheese
  
• ¼ cup Raisins
  
• 250 g Tomato sauce
  
• 2 tbsp Brown Sugar
  
• 1 pc Onion, chopped
  
• 3 cloves Garlic, chopped
  
• 3 tbsp Cooking Oil

Procedure:

Marinate beef for at least 1 hour with Calamansi juice, soy sauce, black pepper, the first tablespoon of sugar, and pickles. Drain beef strips and save marinade. Sauté garlic and onion then stir in beef strips. Stir ingredients in pan for about 2 minutes before adding the marinade to slightly brown the beef. Add water, cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes or until beef is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in potato, carrots and peanuts and simmer for another 5 minutes or until potatoes and carrots are almost cooked. Add tomato sauce, the remaining sugar, bell pepper, grated cheese and raisins. Stir constantly for 2 minutes after boiling to allow cheese to melt and be completely incorporated into the sauce. Serve hot.

Back to Our Christmas Dinner 2009.

This year, there will be ten of us together for the Christmas Eve Dinner and celebration. Considerations made to come up with the menu are the following: (1) Budget- the ingredients should not be too expensive. (2) Preparation requirements- some procedures can be done ahead of time to avoid cramming in the kitchen. (3) Health and variety- meat-based dishes should be balanced by vegetables and fruits. There will be pork, fish, chicken, beef, vegetables and fruits. Much as I want to have prawns or crabs in the menu, the artificially high cost of these commodities during Christmas season make me shy away from them.

Christmas Embotido

I have been making embotido for its taste and convenience. My children love them for breakfast and packed lunch. This is very convenient because one preparation can last for weeks in the freezer. Adding a few ingredients will make it a little more special for the holidays. I will make this a week in advance of the Christmas Dinner and a few loaves will be saved for the New Year’s Eve. One kilo of ground pork would be enough for the two occasions. Click here for the recipe.

Sweet and Sour Fish

Sweet and sour sauce will be prepared a day before and will only be reheated before pouring over the fried fish before dinner is served. There are many kinds of fishes suited for this dish. They are the white flesh type and usually the more expensive ones. Tilapia is a more affordable option. One medium-sized Tilapia weighing about 1 kilo will be bought for this dish. You can find the recipe here.

Roasted Chicken
Pollo Iberico or Roast Spanish Chicken appealed to me but I was not able to complete the herb ingredients listed when I tried it 3 months ago. The recipe was further modified when I got tempted to incorporate other ingredients I normally use to marinate the local ‘Lechon Manok’ or Pinoy Roasted Chicken. It turned out great and everybody who tasted appreciated its unique pleasant flavor. One whole chicken will be marinated a day before so what’s left to do on the 24^th of December is to put it a broiler. I’m sharing the recipe with you through this link.

Cheesy Beef Caldereta

This is another family favorite. Kids love this dish because it catered to their preference for cheesy, sweet and not too spicy sauce. Half a kilo of beef strips will be marinated and tenderized a day before. The rest of the procedure to be done on Christmas Eve is simple. For the recipe, click here.

Buttered Vegetable

Broccoli, being a very expensive vegetable in this part of the country, is not always served in regular meals. For the Christmas Dinner, the inclusion of broccoli will make this dish so special. Other ingredients are carrot, green beans and corn kernels. My sons will surely dig in to this dish first before anything else.

Sliced and Chilled Fruits

Rather than making fruit salads or floats that would require the use of creams and sweetened condensed milk (my favorite), we will savor a variety of colorful and freshly sliced fruits. This is a healthier and cheaper option I would think…less sweet, less fat and less cost. Fruits more likely to be included are pineapple, watermelon, mango, banana and pomelo. This will be chilled in the afternoon (around 2 pm) of the 24^th.
Sliced Fruits photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/miheco/ / CCBY-SA2.0
Roasted Chicken photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/anniemole/ / CC BY 2.0