THD Christmas Dinner Menu and Traditional Filipino Dishes

Our Christmas Dinner Menu Here at THD, December 23, 2023

My Capiz Parol Christmas Decor and Poinsettia here In My Apartment at THD, 2023  

Our Christmas Dinner is scheduled for Saturday, December, 23 ( 4:00- 6:30 PM) today so the Kitchen Staff can also observed Christmas with their Families. The menu is attached above. Meanwhile,  I am posting the traditional dishes in the Philippines during Christmas.   

The Philippines has the longest Christmas Season all over the World. The Christmas Season starts on September 1 and ends on the Feast of 3 Kings, the first week of January of the coming new year.  

However, formal celebrations begin on December 16. All over the country's islands, people gather for pre-dawn Christmas masses called “Misa de Gallo” or “Simbang Gabi”. These masses run for nine days and trace their roots back to Spanish missionaries who introduced the practice in the 17th century.

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2023/12/simbang-gabi-philippines-christmas.html

Food is a big part of the Christmas celebrations in the Philippines. During the 💥Noche Buena feast, you get to experience some of the rich and bold flavors of Filipino cuisine. For the Christmas feast, families bring out their best dishes, from Filipino spaghetti to Filipino roast turkey, along with some unique desserts.

💥 https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/a34628883/noche-buena/

If you’re wondering about Filipino Christmas food ideas, here are 20 Christmas foods you may find in the Philippines. 

Not in this list are Macrine's (RIP) Favorite Dishes- Chicken Relleno and Crab Omelette.  

1. Lechon

Lechon is one of the most popular dishes in the Philippines and is traditionally served for festivities and celebrations. It is a slowly roasted pig, often stuffed with other ingredients like lemongrass, garlic, spring onions, chilies, ginger, peppers, or pineapples and served with a dipping sauce.

2. Bibingka

Made from glutinous rice, coconut, sugar, and margarine, bibingka is a rice cake that’s especially popular during the Christmas season. Traditionally cooked by street vendors, bibingka is baked in a clay pot lined with leaves over hot coal for extra flavor.

3. Filipino-style spaghetti

Unlike any spaghetti you have had, the Filipino version has hotdog slices along with ground beef. And its unique sweet flavor comes from its sauce made from tomato puree, brown sugar, and banana ketchup.

4. Buko salad

This Filipino fruit salad is made from shredded young coconut and other ingredients such as fruits, jelly-like sweets, tapioca pearls, sago, sugar palm, cream, and condensed milk. It is served chilled.

5. Lumpiang ubod

This is a fresh spring roll stuffed with a julienned heart of palm and carrots along with other veggies, coconut, shrimp, and pork. It is served with a lumpia sauce made with brown sugar, soy sauce, and other ingredients.

6. Embutido

Another popular Filipino Christmas food is this meatloaf made from ground pork, veggies, cheeses, and raisins. It is stuffed with hard-boiled eggs and sliced ham or with hotdogs and other sausages.

7. Pancit Malabon

This is a Filipino noodle dish with a characteristic yellow-orange sauce that comes from annatto seeds. The recipe uses thick rice noodles and is topped with an array of seafood and sliced boiled eggs.

8. Morcon

Morcon is quite like embutido. It is a braised beef roulade where beef flank steaks are stuffed with various sausages, hard-boiled eggs, cheese, pickles, and carrots.

9. Leche flan

This delicious dessert resembles a caramel custard or a crème caramel and is the perfect way to celebrate Christmas. This classic flan recipe is made from sweetened condensed milk or evaporated milk for a richer taste.

10. Puto bumbong

This purple-hued rice cake is traditionally sold during the Christmas season. Made from steamed glutinous rice cooked in bamboo, puto bumbong is wrapped in banana leaves and served with warm butter, grated coconut, and brown sugar.

11. Lechon manok

Lechon manok, or spit-roast chicken, is another Filipino favorite for festivities. The chicken is marinated in a mixture of garlic, onions, bay leaf, black pepper, soy sauce, and fish sauce and roasted or cooked on a rotisserie.

12. Kaldereta

A Filipino beef stew, kaldereta can be cooked with chicken, pork, beef, or goat meat in a tomato-based sauce with liver spread.

13. Macaroni fruit salad

This easy and simple fruit salad dish is a Filipino classic made with macaroni and fruit cocktail, pineapple pieces, condensed milk, and mayonnaise, along with some other ingredients.

14. Arroz Valenciana

This Filipino-style paella is another favorite for Christmas celebrations made from glutinous rice, coconut milk, chicken, sausages, boiled eggs, and seafood, along with potatoes, red and green peppers, and other ingredients.

15. Rellenong bangus

A popular party food dish, Rellenong bangus is stuffed milkfish, which is filled with its own meat, potatoes, carrots, and bell peppers and fried until it is golden and crispy.

16. Buko pandan

Buko pandan is a Filipino cold dessert that immediately gets your attention with bright green jelly cubes and tropical palm fruits infused and mixed with shredded coconut and sweetened cream.

17. Beef mechado

Another tomato-based beef stew similar to kaldereta, beef mechado is also one of the many dishes served for a Christmas feast in the Philippines. Meats like pork and beef are cut into cubes and cooked with potato, bay leaves, soy sauce, and lemon rind or lemon juice.

18. Liempo

Liempo is grilled pork belly in Filipino. The pork belly is marinated in soy sauce, banana sauce, black pepper, and lemon and grilled on a barbeque.

19. Lumpia Shanghai

A delectable Filipino appetizer, Lumpia Shanghai is basically an egg roll with a filling consisting of pork, onions, carrots, and seasoning wrapped in a thin egg crepe and then deep-fried.

20. Hamon

Also known as “Hamonada”, this Filipino-style pineapple-glazed Christmas ham is one of the main meals for a Noche Buena feast.

Don’t forget Filipino Christmas drinks

Filipinos enjoy their Christmas feast with their favorite holiday drinks such as:

• Sangria made with fresh fruits
• Filipino fruit punch that’s non-alcoholic
• Herbal tea, especially ginger tea with lemon and honey
• A classic tsokolate, or hot chocolate, made from a paste of roasted cocoa beans and sugar

https://www.instacart.com/company/ideas/filipino-christmas-foods/

A Surprise Treat for My Birthday- $15 Fish Tacos

Last Wednesday, Dodie, Ruth and Dinah treated me for a most delicious Fish Taco ( $14.99) that I have not tasted for quite some time. It was no ordinary Fish Taco that you order in a Fast Food Mexican Chain Restaurant, but 2 tacos with fresh oranges and avocado slices with a jalapeño slices on the side.  Paired with garlic fries, it was a gastronomic experience perfect indeed for my 89th Birthday Meal. After our meal, we went back to my apartment for rice cake desserts and UbeYam pastries.  Thank You Dodie and Ruth for the Treat! 

So where is this Place that Served $15 Tacos in Downtown Walnut Creek?  Its Gott's Roadside!!!       

Founded by brothers Joel and Duncan Gott in St. Helena in 1999 and recognized as a James Beard America's Classic, Gott’s Roadside is known for its modern approach to creating California-inspired dishes using locally sourced ingredients.
With dishes such as the California Burger with a fried egg, Zoe's bacon, and balsamic onions, Ahi Poke Crispy Tacos with sushi grade Ahi tuna, Chicken Schnitzel Sandwich with harissa & turmeric spiced mayos, Chicken Kale Caesar, and hand-spun organic shakes, Gott’s modern roadside menu offers something for everyone.

Gott’s commitment to local sourcing extends to the glass with a California-centric list of wines and beers, hand selected by Joel Gott. Gott's has expanded to include locations in Napa’s Oxbow Public Market, San Francisco’s Ferry Building and Thrive City at Chase Center, Palo Alto, Walnut Creek, Marin, and a licensed location at San Francisco International Airport.
Click on the blue for their menu. They also have $26 Dungeness crab Sandwiches and $15 hamburgers!  

https://www.gotts.com/private-events/walnut-creek/
Very Informal, Self-Service, No Reservations, But DELICIOUS FOOD! 

The Merrie Olde Christmas Carolers Here at THD

Another holiday musical event enjoyed by THD Residents was Last Tuesday night Concert by the Merrie Olde Christmas Carolers. There were 4 members ( a Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Base). The four  have beautiful and clear voices that harmonizes with excellence and precision. They were dressed in Dickensian attire complete with bells ( see Photo Above). They sang beautifully several popular Christmas songs. However their arrangement and rendition of O Holy Night was one of the best quartet performance I have ever heard. The other song I like very much was their interpretation of White Christmas. 

Here are two photos (the flyer and full-house audience), I took at the concert.

Thank You Karen for this activity as well as the spiked eggnog served during the Quartet's performance. 

Enjoy one of my favorite piece of music !!! Secret Garden

https://youtu.be/nNL9Lole-iE?si=iJLFO18GBTKvaNMr

Meanwhile Santa *(Eric) visited THD today and have a photo opps with him.

Maligayang Pasko sa inyong Lahat!   Feliz Navidad, Buon Natale, Frohe Weihnachten and God Jul!!!  

and of course, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Simbang Gabi- Catholic Philippines Christmas Tradition

My youngest sister, Amor Katague Gregorio posted on her Face Book page, photos of her oldest daughter and grand kids and Hubby attending Simbang Gabi in the Jaro City Cathedral,💥 

I thought it would be of interest to my blog readers to write about this Filipino Catholic Traditions- a devotional nine day masses in preparation to Christmas Eve. Below is a reprint from Wikipedia for your reading pleasure and information.

💥The Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, is also known as the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Candles(Filipino: Pambansang Dambana ng Mahal na Birhen ng Candelaria; Spanish: Santuario Nacional de Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria) and colloquially as Jaro Cathedral. It is a cathedral located in the district of Jaro in Iloilo City, on the island of Panay in the Philippines. The seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Jaro, it was placed under the patronage of Saint Elizabeth of Hungary. It was established in 1575 as a visita (chapel-of-ease) of Oton by the Augustinians and as a separate parish in 1587. The present-day structure of Jaro Cathedral was built in 1874.

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines formally declared the cathedral the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Candles (Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria) in 2012. The cathedral is the fourth national shrine in the Visayas and Mindanao, after the Basilica del Santo Niño in Cebu (1965), Mandaue Church(2001), and Virgen de la Regla Church in Lapu-Lapu City (2007).  Likewise, it is also the second Marian-dedicated national shrine in Visayas and Mindanao, and the first in Western Visayas.

The image of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Candelaria) perched atop the façade of the cathedral, is the first Marian image canonically crowned personal by a Pope and Saint (John Paul II) in the Philippines and Asia. Also, through the said canonical crowning, the Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria has been declared as the official Roman Catholic patron of Western Visayas and Romblon, and made known Jaro as the 'center of Candelaria devotion in the Philippine islands'.

💥The Jaro City Cathedral in the Background- cathedral with many of my childhood memories

Sister Amor and Hubby Pol Gregorio on their E-bike on their way to Simbang Gabi to the Jaro Cathedral.💥

My Youngest Sister Family in front of the Jaro Cathedral balcony where St. John Paul II crowned the miraculous Lady of Candles statue.

Simbang Gabi (Filipino for "Night Mass") is a devotional, nine-day series of Masses attended by Filipino Catholics in anticipation of Christmas. It is similar to the nine dawn Masses leading to Christmas Eve practiced in Puerto Rico called Misa de Aguinaldo. Originally intended as a practical compromise for farmers that started working in the fields before sunrise, this cherished Christmas custom eventually became a distinct feature of Philippine culture and became a symbol of sharing.

Simbang Gabi is held daily from December 16 to 24, and occur at different times ranging from as early as 3:00 a.m. to 5:00 a.m. Anticipated celebrations, meanwhile, are held from December 15 to 23, typically at 8:00 p.m, or as late as 11:00 p.m or at midnight. On the last day of the Simbang Gabi, which is Christmas Eve, the service is instead called Misa de Gallo (Spanish for "Rooster's Mass").

Simbang Gabi originated in 1669 during the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, as a practical compromise for farmers who began working before sunrise. When the Christmas season would begin, it was customary to hold novenas in the evenings, which was more common in the rest of the Hispanic world, but the priests saw that the people would attend despite the day's fatigue. As such, with the Philippines being an agricultural country known for its rice, coconut and sugarcane plantations, the clergy began to say Masses in the early morning while it was still dark before people went out to work the land.

For more details visiit:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simbang_Gabi

A Simbang Gabi Painting by Cesar Buenaventura depicting a Provincial Scene during the Christmas Season in the Philippines.   

My 89th Birthday and Wish for Quality of Life Improvement Here at THD

Pinoy Sweet Goodies for My Birthday from Frank and Mildred Cabunoc. 

December 1 was the start of my six months of residency here at THD. Today, the 20th is my 89th Birthday. 

I wish to extend my thanks to all your Birthday Greetings. I have several greetings from friends and relatives in the Philippines and United States. Thank you Relatives and Friends for your Greetings!

One of the greetings I will always remember is from a Fellow Chemist and Friend ( Renan Del Rosario). Renan wished me-Happy Actinium Birthday.  To Non-chemist the greetings probably does not make sense. So for information of readers of my blog, Actinium atomic number is 89. 

Here's a short lesson in Chemistry from a former Instructor of Chemistry, UP Dilman-my first job after my Bachelors Degree in Chemistry in 1955. 

"Actinium is a chemical element; it has symbol Ac and atomic number 89. It was first isolated by Friedrich Oskar Giesel in 1902, who gave it the name emanium; the element got its name by being wrongly identified with a substance André-Louis Debierne found in 1899 and called actinium. Actinium gave the name to the actinide series, a set of 15 elements between actinium and lawrencium in the periodic table. Together with polonium, radium, and radon, actinium was one of the first non-primordial radioactive elements to be isolated."  

Another first of my birthday greetings was a singing telephone greetings from Dick and Linda Botton.

If you remember, Dick's is a Cantor and had a beautiful Hanukkah Celebration just recently. Thank you Dick for your birthday song via telephone. 

 https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2023/12/welcome-december-hanukkah-celebration.html 

Last but not least is a very special thank you to Frank and Mildred Cabunoc for the Pinoy birthday cake/pastries that they gave me last Saturday.  I have been enjoying the rice cakes, the ube (purple yam) and pistachio pastries for the last five days. 

Here are photos of Frank and Mildred visit last Saturday.

Dodie, Ruth and Dinah are also taking me out for Dinner on the 20th -the day of my birth, 89 years ago. 

 I am very happy here at THD, but there is always room for improvement. So far so Good!!

The above is the list of the THD Staff as 12/12/23- a Total of 44 employees ( some are part time). The employees checked are my housekeeping ladies.   Please do not forget our 8 servers this Christmas. 

But before I list some of my suggestions and wishes, here are some facts on the THD community that I know.  There are 147 apartment units, some apartments are converted to offices.  And as of last month the telephone directory listed about 100 residents. There are four buildings, the Heritage, the Plaza, Liberty and Fairmount.  THD was originally built as a condominium, but converted to an active senior living community about 13 years ago ( This is just a guess). It is privately owned.    

The two main buildings- Heritage and Plaza are about 90% occupancy(just a guess). The Fairmount (my building), 1st and 3rd floors are 90% occupied, but the second floor is only about 50% occupied  (just my guess).  I was told that the Liberty Building is only 50% occupied. The good news is that more residents are expected next year, so I heard.  

Now for my suggestions and wishes :

1. Top Priority: THD should provide Emergency Generator for the Fairmount and Liberty Buildings. During the last 6 months of my residency at the Fairmount Tower,  the two buildings have been affected by 3 electrical brownouts for more than 2 hrs. Luckily the Plaza and Heritage Buildings were not affected by these 3 outages and the residents had a place to go during these brown outs. The most irritating brown out occurred last Sunday afternoon ( 12/17) during the 49er's vs Arizona NFL Game.  Unexpected Brown Outs could be a Danger to the Lives of Residents here at both the Fairmount and Liberty Buildings.  

2. I hope the Dining Menu will include an International Dish once a month beginning next year. 

3. THD Monthly Newsletter ( The Herald) be Activated and Residents Encourage to Participate. This will improve communications between residents and THD employees,

4. Residents and Staff -Get To Know-Orientation Party for New Residents Expanded-Introduced THD management not only their names/titles but a little bit of background of their Education and their Ability for Empathy to the Needs of Senior Citizens.   

5. Short Biographies of THD management be made apparent to All Residents- This will assure that Residents will feel Management Staff have empathy for their needs and well being. 

6. As far as Activities: Currently activities Here at THD, I am rating 4.5 Star.  I hope it will continue in the next year.  

A Happy PERSONAL NOTE:  THD partnership with Hillendale Home Care is an alliance that will allow professional, compassionate, and personalized health care directly into the comfortable surroundings of this active senior living community. THD management says that its mission is to enhance the residents' quality of life while encouraging and supporting the senior residents independence. I salute THD for this partnership. 

ON a Final Note:  Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Safe and Prosperous New Year to ALL!

My Christmas Capiz Shell Parol ( Lantern) Imported from the Philippines with my Marble Table Lamp!
and my Christmas Flower Arrangement

A Sunday Afternoon of Holiday Music and Claudio

Sunday Afternon, December 17, was an afternoon, I will not forget because there was music for almost 4 hours that I really enjoyed. 

The first musical event was Dinah's(my oldest daughter) Holiday Concert as a member of the San Ramon Community Chorus.  It was held at the San Ramon Community Center at 2PM. The flyer and program are attached above. The chorus sang a variety of popular Christmas songs. In between the songs there were dances performed by students of the McBride School of Irish Dance. There was a Piano Trio presented by the San Ramon Academy of Music playing Hayden Piano Trio in D Major.  A Piano solo ( using the electric piano) by Evan O'Dorney ( the Choir Piano Accompanist) was the musical highlight of the afternoon.   

The Holiday Concert ended at about 3:15PM. Dodie and I immediately drove back to THD as I was anxious to watch a recording of the 49er' vs Arizona NFL Game. When we arrived at THD, we were informed that my Building has an Electric Power Outage.  So no TV for me!!

However the Main Lobby of THD (The Heritage Tower) was not affected by the brown out. There was an on-going Piano Music by Claudio (see flyer below),

There were only 4 residents listening to the Christmas Music Claudio was playing. After I arrived I suggested he plays some music that we can sing along. Claudio was happy to abide with my request. Later he asked the four of us what other types of music we want to hear, WE suggested Cha,Cha, Tango, and Waltzes. Claudio played Jealousy and La Cumparsita Tango tunes, then Sway in Spanish for the Cha Cha. He also played Hernando's Hideaway, Unforgettable, Moon River,  Tennessee Waltz and a Jazz piece and a Mozart Classical Piece.  Marsha and I danced to the Cha Cha tune of SWAY!

Claudio is indeed a versatile pianist. He told us he started playing Piano By EAR when he was only 4 years old. Indeed he was a Piano Child Prodigy.  He also plays at the Roosmoor Senior Community to a larger audience on a regular basis. Claudio's Piano Playing is an event that indeed improved the well-being and quality of life of the senior residents here at THD. Too bad last Sunday Afternoon event was not well-attended. 

Kudos to Our Activity Gurus, Galen and Karen for signing up Claudio to Play Piano Music Here at THD. I am looking forward to his next event.