Today's Word: Luke 2:11

Today, we remember that our Savior was born to us thousands of years ago. What a glorious day it was when the Lord Jesus Christ was given to save us from death due to our sins! What great love it is that God the Father has for us! Let's not forget that this is the reason why we are celebrating Christmas. Whether there is a simple meal or a feast on our table to share with the family does not matter. It is honoring the Lord 
and thanking Him for giving us a Savior that's important, as well as being 
a blessing to our fellow human beings, especially those in need. 
Merry Christmas, everyone! May the Lord bless us all 

as we celebrate His birthday.

(Credit goes to the owner of this photo)

Merry Christmas!

While most people are busy preparing their Christmas fare or Noche Buena at this time, there are those who are not -- those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, or are sick, or are so poor they can't afford to put anything special on the table. 

Let's remember to reach out to them and help them in whatever way we can and include them in our prayers. Let's remind them of what God named the Lord Jesus when He came to earth by being born in a manger: Immanuel, which means God is with us! What a beautiful truth! God is with us! Through all our pains and suffering, the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth is on our side, and 
He said never will He leave us nor forsake us. 

(Thank you, Bible Verse Art for this photo)

Let us thank God today for His infinite love and kindness to humanity. He gave His one and only Son in His desire to save us from eternal condemnation because of our sins! Indeed there is no better proof that God loves us so very much. And because He loves us, He is always willing to help us in times of trouble and need. All we have to do is pray to Him and trust that He will answer. Let this be a reminder to those whose burden is so heavy they do not find a reason to celebrate the holidays.

Merry Christmas everyone and God bless us all.

Jesus: The 'Reason for the Season'!

Merry Christmas, folks! What breakfast did you wake up to? Christmas Day breakfast, to me, is the best in the whole year because there is the special Christmas ham and queso de bola. Of course, there's the family to share it with. Awesome! 

But before we get on with the rest of Christmas Day, going out to reunions or perhaps to the mall or park, having a feast and exchanging gifts, let's not forget that Jesus is the reason for the season! Let us praise Him and thank Him for coming to live on earth and die on the cross to save us from condemnation for our sins. He left His throne in heaven to suffer for our sake without reason except for His great love for us! 

Let us thank God, our good Father, for loving us so much that He willingly sacrificed His only begotten Son in order to save and give us everlasting life. He is worthy of all praise and thanks! Merry Christmas and God bless us all.

Today's Word: Isaiah 7:14

Today, we celebrate one of most important occasions in the lives of Christians - the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. For me, Christmas and Resurrection Sunday are the two most important celebrations for these are the greatest proof of God's love to mankind. As I ponder on the birth of Jesus, I can't help but be in awe of the deep and everlasting love of God the Father - that He let His only Son to live on earth as a human being, to suffer and bear our sins so that we may be saved. Indeed, no other love could be greater than that! 

 I hope people would reflect on the message of Christmas and not get lost in the sea of merriment that the occasion brings. Nowadays, Christmas has become highly secularized and commercialized. People have put the emphasis on material things (gifts!) and holding and attending parties rather than on the true spiritual meaning of the celebration. 
May I suggest that we read Bible passages on the birth of Jesus and share this story with our children, who may think that the occasion is only about receiving and unwrapping presents and eating lots of festive, delicious food. As we wind down tonight, let us 
spend time reading God's word and then thank Him for His great blessing - the birth 
here on earth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Merry Christmas! 

Christmas for the palate

It's that much-awaited time of the year again - Christmas! I bet everyone's now busy preparing the Noche Buena spread. I know what families are having - it's kinda easy 'coz it has become traditional for Filipino families to have lechon, morcon, pancit or spaghetti, ham and queso de bola, fruit salad, leche flan and ube halaya - on their table at Christmas. In our family, we try to prepare something different each year with my grown up kids now doing the planning and cooking. Hehe.. Come New Year's Eve, however, it's my mom who prepares the yearly star of the Media Noche spread - beef morcon! My mom's the best, I promise! 

In some restaurants, "limited edition" Christmas-themed food and drinks are offered to make diners feel the cheer of the Yuletide Season. Regretfully, I only started to scout for them a few days ago due to the busyness of December (you know, gift-shopping, preparing the home, attending Christmas parties plus working on year-end reports in the office!) Some of those Christmas food and drink offers, I've had and taken a shot of. 
Here they are:

Christmas Ube Flan Cupcake at Costa Coffee

I fell in love with this cupcake the moment I set my eyes upon it at Costa Coffee in Robinsons Place Manila. Isn't it captivatingly lovely? Sadly, I was disappointed at its non-distinct ube flavor and dry texture. It failed to awaken my taste buds though it indeed was a pleasure to look at. With that beautiful Christmas tree top, this cupcake is a sight to behold!

Bumbong Smoothie at Ka Tunying's Cafe

This smoothie truly carries the Pinoy stamp as it has Puto Bumbong, which is the traditional kakanin for Filipinos at Christmastime. The elongated, purple, sticky native cake is a favorite snack among those attending the "Simbang Gabi",  which are actually dawn, not evening masses in Catholic churches. Stalls selling puto bumbong as well as bibingka (also a native cake) are a familiar sight in the vicinity of churches in the Philippines starting 
the 16th of December until the 24th.
At Ka Tunying's Cafe in Quezon City, you can drink instead of eat your puto bumbong. And it has the authentic taste of the kakanin, much like you're eating it, only you can slurp it with your straw. This festive drink has "krema" powder, muscovado sugar, coconut and of course, puto bumbong. I loved it as it was deliciously creamy and just mildly sweet. Yummy!

Santa Mocha Cupcake and Snowman Strawberry Cupcake at Amor Bakery

Amor Bakery is that lovely, rustic bakeshop on Espana Blvd. near UST in Manila that offers so many kinds of bread and cake plus coffee and milk tea. For the holidays, they came up with Christmas-themed cupcakes topped with round chocolate drawn with familiar Yuletide characters. I loved the one with mocha icing. The cake, which is actually Japanese cheesecake, is soft, moist and fluffy and the icing is yummy although it's just a bit sweet, thankfully. 

Christmas Sundae at Dairy Queen

It was love at first sight for me for DQ's Christmas Sundae. How lovely -- an edible, cold and sweet Christmas tree! Below the green frost are three layers of treat - strawberry ice cream, crushed Oreo cookies and chocolate ice cream. It's the perfect in-between shopping indulgence!

Santa Claus donut at Krispy Kreme

Krispy Kreme offers six Christmas doughnuts and the Santa is my favorite -- lovely to have with a cup of brewed coffee to warm up 
on a cold December day.

Salted Caramel Chiller also at Krispy Kreme 

Krispy Kreme also offers this Yuletide Season the Salted Caramel Chiller. 

I ordered this for my daughter and she loved it, 

though it's too sweet for me.

Well, it won't be very long before Noche Buena as I write this post. 

Merry Christmas, folks and happy eating! 

Today's Word: Luke 2:11

Christmas is here! I bet we've all been busy preparing, some of us starting to shop for gifts as early as September or October. Now, all those preparations for the biggest, most joyous day of the year are about to end as finally, we're celebrating the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. May I remind my friends, however, not to forget the reason for this season: Jesus! Sure, we have presents for our family and friends. But what are you giving the Birthday Celebrant himself? You do not need to shell out any amount of money to make Him happy on His birthday, just commit yourself to Jesus, make Him your Lord and acknowledge Him as your Savior and you make Jesus happiest. Merry Christmas!

                                                   (Photo credit: www.godswillromania.blogspot.com)

Eat 'bibingka', have a merry Christmas

Cold mornings, simbang gabi, bibingka and puto bumbong. To us Filipinos, these are some of the clear indications that Christmas is here indeed. As I write this piece, it’s only three days before the most joyous day of the year. And yes, I’ve had my first bibingka. Haha! I’m not about to let the Yuletide pass me by without eating this festive Filipino rice cake. This afternoon, I went out of the office to have a merienda of bibingka and a cup of coffee at Ferino’s, which is arguably the best and most famous bibingka store in the country. Fortunately, I didn’t need to travel far to find a Ferino’s store because there’s one near our office in Quezon City. Spending a hundred pesos for one bibingka and P20 for a steaming cup of coffee, 
I’m ready for Christmas! Haha!
A native cake made from rice flour and water or coconut milk and eggs, bibingka (along with puto bumbong, another native snack or kakanin) is traditionally eaten by Filipinos after attending Simbang Gabi (dawn masses) from December 16-24. It’s interesting to watch this delicious snack being cooked. The mixture of rice flour and water/coconut milk is poured over a terra cotta pan lined with a piece of banana leaf and cooked over live coals. Coals are also placed on top of this pan. Once done, margarine with some sugar is spread over the bibingka, after which it is topped with shredded coconut meat or niyog. Sliced salted eggs may also be put on top for added flavor. For ultimate bliss, pair your bibingka with either a cup of coffee, hot chocolate or salabat (ginger ale).

Ferino's bibingka

Earlier this December when we had lunch at Aristocrat on Roxas Blvd., I saw that they had an in-house bibingka station and I took some photos:

Live coals where bibingka would be cooked.

Cooked bibingka still without margarine and coconut meat

 If you're a part of the younger generation and haven’t eaten bibingka, I suggest you ditch pizza   or cake for merienda this Yuletide Season, and feel the Pinoy spirit of Christmas. Of course,  you may enjoy it all-year-round but it's best to warm tummies during the cold days of  December. And yes, it's so much a part of our holiday traditions. Merry Christmas!