The church bells ring arouses my soul and force me to get up and take a shower. The “Simbang Gabi” exactly starts at 4:00 in the morning and we better get hurry before we get late.It begins on December 16 and ends on the midnight of 24^th of December. It’s a Filipino Christmas Tradition that we practiced for almost a century and it was been practicing up to this time. After the mass more festives ensued with traditional food and drink, like bibingka ,”puto “(rice cakes), “puto bungbong” (steamed, purple sticky rice), suman sa ibos, hot freshly oven bread, hot ginger tea, hot chocolate and coffee were set out for all to enjoy the solemnity of the morning. But there is one sweet delicacy that I’d really love to buy before we went home. There is actually a lot of version of puto the Japanese rice cakes, Korean rice cakes,chocolate rice cakes but there can only be one special version that I’d really love to eat it’s the original homemade rice cakes which my grandmother usually made every Christmas.

You may want to try one, so here is the recipe.

 Ingredients:

2 cups of ordinary rice flour
1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 cup evaporated milk
1 tbsp baking powder

Procedure:

Beat the eggs until it becomes foamy. Add  the sugar and butter.. Mix  flour, baking powder, and milk. Add to the egg mixture. Brush a round baking dish with butter. Pour the batter into the baking dish. Bake at 180° for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center. Remove from the oven. Then let it cool. Slice and it’s now ready to eat!.

            My Grandfather, Father and Uncle were really alcoholic even some of my friends were really in to that kind of vices too. I remember the first day that they ask me to drink beer and at first I’d really refuse them because of my asthma condition but to be fair with them and as part of the team I’d drink one bottle of beer and got me a little bit intoxicated for almost a couple of hour.

            Most experts agree that alcoholism is a kind of disease just like blood pressure, diabetes and arthritis. It’s a chronic disease which means that it last for a long time and the best way and the only main treatment for alcoholism are to quit drinking. This can be very difficult because most people feel a strong desire for alcohol after they quit drinking.

Risk of Drinking Alcohol

  Too much alcohol contributes to accidents, injuries it may also lead and can affect the risk of developing certain health conditions like:

·         Cardiovascular disease

·         High blood pressure 

·         Peripheral vascular disease 

·         Stroke

·         Breast Cancer of the head, neck and digestive tract 

·         Cirrhosis 

·         Gallstones 

·         Pancreatitis

·         Osteoporosis 

·         Pregnancy 

          We have used alcohol for thousands of years and it has been place an important role in some of religious activity and social celebrations. But still it really makes me wonder why do a lot of people hate the taste of Bitter melon  when it is also just the same with the bitter taste of Alcohol?..

            I can still remember when I was still in grade school before I leave the house my aunt never forgets to give me two big sandwiches and one bottle of water. Here in the Philippines we have a lot of different sandwiches like meatloaf sandwich, ham salad sandwich, egg salad sandwich, sausage sandwich, tuna sandwich and sardine sandwich. All of those sandwiches were my favorite especially the egg salad sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonaise with extra cheese. How my mouth waters seeing those sandwiches in my plate.

         But when I try to research about sandwiches I can’t even imagine how a sandwich could possibly put into a can but not just that it can also last up to a couple of months. It really amazed me, intrigue me, and it makes me wonder how could possibly it could be? I used to think and I get used to prepare my own sandwich right before I eat it. Like toast first the bread, sliced the ham or egg  and fry it, wash the lettuce and tomatoes, prepare the cheese and so forth. It’s really weird and different.

         According to the inventor, Mark Kirkland, when we combined with techniques similar to those used to preserve Meals Ready-to-Eat for soldiers, an aluminum can keeps food fresh for a full year or even longer. In short a fresh, year-old sandwich. Furthermore, they can perfectly fit inside all the soda vending machine. That means it could be sold in both stores and vending machines.

         Well, I guess I’d still rather choose the manual thing than the”candwich”  that he is promoting which is easy to eat, no more hassle but rich in preservatives.

         Avocado is one of the most recommended fruits as well as a food for bodybuilding and medicine for cholesterol-related heart diseases. . It is sometimes called “avocado pear” or “alligator pear”, and “Aguacate Palta” in Spanish. It is getting very popular anywhere in the world. Throughout the year, you can find avocado in your nearby supermarkets. In fact it is one of my favorite fruits and drinks or milk shakes especially when my Grandmother is the one making it. Well, I guess she have some special ingredients that she’s adding to her Avocado Milk Shake? Anyways, here are some of the special tips on how my Grandmother serves it to us, you just need to get the ingredients and follow the directions indicated below.

Ingredients:

1 avocado-peeled and sliced in small pieces            

5 or more cubes ice

1 1/3 cups milk of Alaska Evaporada

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

½ cup sweetened condensed milk or 3 tablespoons sugar

1 banana-peeled and cut into bits

Directions:

Put the avocado in the blender; add the 5 ice cubes, ½ cup sweetened condensed milk or your 3 tablespoons sugar, Puree until smooth. Finally, add the banana tidbits.

Now, it is ready to serve to your friends and family, but don’t forget the straw!

Special Tips

Avocados are not just rich, creamy, refreshing but also good and nutritious fruit. It is what a traditional Filipino avocado milkshake with banana tidbits is all about.

You can also add chocolate, coffee instead of milk, and honey. For the toppings you can just put marshmallows, chocolate tidbits etc. It will actually depend on your taste and savor.

Furthermore, there are actually no special ingredients that my Grandmother added to it, she said you just simply have to think it special to make it special.

           I am not a professional chef nor a really great cook and yet don’t have any extensive training in the kitchen who can make good food and recipes to served but I’m  a food lover and I’m much really hunger, craving for food and good recipes for me to search and look for. When it comes to cooking Filipino’s are the best. And as a Food Fanatic I’d research some recipe which can help me prepare and serve it to my friends and family.

           So, I decided to look for a great dish which my Grandmother really loves and that would be “Pork Sinigang”. I can still remember how she prepares the ingredients and the things needed to serve a great dish like “Pork Sinigang”. She usually use fresh squeezed tamarind or lemon to make it more tastier and sometimes she will just use a 1 sachet of Knorr Sinigang Mix if ever she forgot to buy some lemon in  the market.

          So, for my own version of “Pork Sinigang” I’m going to go for much an easy way of serving and preparing this great dish. So, here it is! Let’s started cooking but first I’m going to need my apron.

Ingredients:

2 Lbs of Pork Belly cut in 2 in. cubes

1 Small radish cut in 2 in. small pieces

1 Medium Onion sliced thinly

1 Small tomato diced

1 Cup of String Beans cut in 2 in. length

3 Cups of Water Spinach

2  pcs. Of Finger Peppers

1½ Packet of Knorr Sinigang Mix

1 Tsp. MSG (Vetsin)

Salt to taste

1 Quarts of water

Directions:

In a large pot add 1 quarts of water and bring to a boil. Next add pork, cover, and let it simmer for 3 minutes. Remove scum from the broth and then add onions, tomatoes, finger peppers, vetsin and the sinigang mix and let it cook for 10 minutes. Then add the radish. Cover, and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Finally add the water spinach and add salt if needed and to make it tastier. Let it cook for three more minutes and its ready to serve to your friends and family.

Recipe Source: http://www.filipino-food-lovers.com/pork-sinigang

              I’m a Computer Programming graduate but doing programs and analyzing data is really stressful and sometimes make me feel nausea. So, now I engage myself in an environment or career where there could be a chance for me to excel and improve my technical writing skills aside from poetry.

             Since, when I was in High School I really love doing essays and poetries because that was our lessons in English and Filipino, unfortunately I’m a very shy person and I don’t even have any courage to join the contest in our school, so instead of doing composition, essays and poetries I’d just simply divert my attention to other thing which is studying computer and solving analytical problems. And, now that there’s an opportunity for me to be a content writer I did not hesitate to be assessed and fortunately I am one of the blessed who have passed the assessment for S.E.O. I am now training in Sl BPO Incubation in Embarcadero de Legazpi but still I’m a bit ignorant in navigation and it was really a big hindrance for me to fully achieve my goals. Also, because of that hindrance I’m always been left behind by my co-trainees. Still, I’d never give up and never crossed my mind about quitting. Because it’s just like when someone puts a mountain in our path usually the first thing that were going to do is just sit, cry and feel miserable of  what had happened instead why  don’t we make an effort, set forth and climb it.

           When I was young, the silliest notions seem to be the greatest achievements for me but when I grow older all that thoughts changed. Achievements cannot be measured by wealth or on how famous or how rich you are, but just being an ordinary person, who can make things extraordinarily. Great achievements require time. It comes only to those who were unafraid, to those who have courage to exert their strength against countless obstacles and have the perseverance and determination to accomplish their goals and finished what they have started to do.

            I wholeheartedly believe it was all the small little things that I did the first couple of years in college that have built me up to where I am now. I’m a fresh graduate with a course of Computer Programming. Finishing my course would be a vital stepping stone in order for me to make my goals and dreams in life fully realized. There would always be the time that I feel weak, feels like I want to quit and give up everything that I worked hard for so long but still there are those people who make me feel stronger and never cease believing in my strengths and capabilities. So, in time of difficulties, we must not lose sight of our achievements.

           And if I’d ever listen to those people who never believes in me, criticize me and who never understand my principles in life, I wouldn’t be able to go this far and never met my greatest achievement in life.