Thoughts On A Friday Morning

Etna.

A friend and a former office mate at Bank of the Philippine Islands posted some wonderful photos of Etna. The family travels every year to far off places in Europe.

And it’s Etna this time. I felt quite embarrassed to ask where Etna is so I just googled the place. It is where one of the most active volcanoes Vulcano Etna is located. My gosh, the picturesque views are just so awesome.  When you are lucky enough to travel the world, you’ll find wonderful places on the map. Some places you could only dream of visiting.

Italy is lovely. I’ve been  reading memoirs and some fiction books about it. I love how the authors described the place – the vineyards, the rustic chalets, the food, those endless mountains and valleys that arrest the senses. One good thing about books is that you can imagine the place. You can feel like you were there with the characters.

Friday.

Finally it’s Friday and this early I am thinking of what to cook for  Media Noche. Nothing fancy though, just maybe something hot to greet midnight and 2019.  This time of the year, some people are too busy buying fruits even if some are not in season just to complete the tradition of having 12 or 13 kinds of fruits on your dining table. I don’t plan to buy that much though. We still have some left over ones that we haven’t touched last Christmas.  Last year, I went on a frenzy and bought so many round fruits  and we ended  up eating fruits every day for almost a week.  Anyway, it is part of our traditions to serve something sweet and sticky come New Year.

2019.

Are you looking forward to it too? I don’t want to touch on politics this side of town but we’ll have another mid year election next year. Twelve candidates for senators down to the lowest barangay captains and councilors. I just wish people would stop electing those who are just too easy with words but not in deeds. Experience did not teach us anything, people continue to choose corrupt candidates who empty the country’s coffers for their own ambition.

Wish you well. Today is the fifth day of Christmas. In the Christian concept, the twelve days of Christmas  have their meanings.

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues

4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists

5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which gives the history of man’s fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments

8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes

9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit

10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments

11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed

The partridge in the pear tree, naturally, represents Jesus Christ.

May you always be blessed. It’ll be 2019 in a few winks.

Wishing you a pleasant Friday.

 

 

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Getting Ready For Media Noche

I’ve blogged about this before. There are some New Year traditions that is truly unique in our country. We got to have sweets  (any kind) pancit (Chinese noodles) for long life and of course the 12 fruits that represent the twelve months of the year.  We all prepare this for the traditional  Media Noche which is the New Year’s equivalent to our Noche Buena, the  Christmas Eve meal.  Add three or four  dishes of baked ham, baked macaroni, lumpiang Shanghai  (spring rolls), embutido and menudo.  The latter is a Spanish recipe which we inherited from  our ancestors just like embutido. Just prepared the spring rolls, they are ready for frying.  Wanna know how spring rolls would stay crispy for long? You put a little amount of bread crumbs on the wrapper before you finally roll it.  The embutido is ready for steaming.  We don’t prepare chicken meat during new year.

Splurged a little on twelve kinds of fruits. Believe me, they are more costly than before. Just went to the wet market this morning to buy all these.

 

I saw Japanese pears which are not normally in the market at any time of the year so I bought some too. Other round fruits which are locally grown abound in the market. Honey dew is also grown here and it is sweeter than  cantaloupe melon.  I didn’t buy grapes. I find them too sweet.  I wonder what the vendors would do with all those  fruits once January 1 is over.

This reminds me, I just bought watermelon sinigang mix  a few hours. I needed to buy more ingredients for my pasta dish so  I went to the supermarket this afternoon.  The first time I tasted sinigang with watermelon was a few years ago in a high-end restaurant  somewhere in Quezon City.  Sinigang is a Filipino soup or stew which is sour  and savory. We normally use tamarind fruits to make it sour but  there are now so many variations of the  dish. You could also use guava to flavor it.  Pork, fish, shrimp could be cooked as sinigang. 

How do you spend the New Year?  There are designated places where they could use firecrackers to meet the new year but I   still see some households  with their stash of it.

 

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