Christmas Party with Friends 2018

We recently hosted a party at our pad...

This is a piece I bought from Project Reo Collective's past Loteria art exhibit this past spring. It's called "Ang Estrelya", a Filipino take on the Mexican loteria card for "La Estrella" (the "star"; the artist is Nina Cristobal of Nina Cee Studio)...

It is perfect for Christmas time since the star lantern, called the parol, is used to symbolize the star that led the three Kings to Jesus.  This is what I always grew up thinking, but recently, learned of another meaning...There is also a Mexican connection with the parol. According to Filipino American artist/muralist Eliseo Art Silva, its origin is "similar to the clay-pot lantern or "luminaria" which is placed on window panes (used in the El Posada) to send a message to the Holy Family and the unborn Jesus Christ that they are welcome in their homes". He asserts that "the audience for the parol is not the Three Kings, as it is commonly believed to be a "Star of Bethlehem".

History lesson is now done.

Let's look at the dessert table and this plate here. I bought this plate (Rosina Yuletide pattern), along with the set of six teacups, saucers, one creamer and one sugar bowl for the whopping price of $20 at  garage sale a few years ago. I swore I would use these plates this season and shit, even AFTER Christmas. The plate is just so pretty with the holly pattern and gold rim!

The Desserts table for this evening's shindig...It was an excuse to display and also USE the various mini plates I've collected, both modern and vintage.  Plus, no paper or styrofoam plates so it's better for the environment. Well, at least that's how I like to justify it, ha ha.

Desserts include my lemon cream cheese bars, Trader Joe's almond Kringle, an ube cheesecake (made by a former dancetroupe member and now trained chef/baker), assorted cookies, candies, and mini snacks (Japanese rice cakes, Korean Choco Pies, Filipino polvoron (milk powder candy).


The polvoron favors included ube, cookies and cream and pinipig (crisped young pounded rice):

I like the spiky top of that green dish! Goodwill, thank you! Plus 10% extra for being an educator, which is a nice perk.

The Belgian cookies tin was from Trader Joe's. That cheesecake ended up pretty damn good. Not too sweet. It was the plain version, no marble swirl or any frou frou frosting tipped decorations. Bert wanted it plain and simple so we could enjoy it without any extra crap.

A skewed photo of the actual savory food spread:

We ordered lumpia from JNC Pinoy Foodmart near us while Screg (a unicorn sighting in itself) brought salt & pepper wings from his 'hood (it happened to be from Mandarin Beijing over near Winding Walk), Mr. Saliva brought broccoli beef as well as crispy Mongolian beef and extra rice. I had Trader Joe's party meatballs in the crockpot (sauce was just ketchup and brown sugar; it may sound gross, but trust me, it's always a favorite)....and the meat in that foil lined dish? Smoked pork butt made Mr. Taquito (Bert's best friend since kindergarten). He smoked that bad boy himself for ten hours. He even had these Wolverine looking claw shredders to separate the meat.

The run down:
Mrs. Taquito's salad - spinach, mandarin oranges, candied almonds, cranberries and a light dressing made with red wine vinegar, olive oil and sugar.  We all admired that huge wooden bowl, which she said was a wedding gift from Crate & Barrel. They were married four months after us. At the time, Crate & Barrel was still fairly new in San Diego, and she and myself and some other friends were excited to be registered there for our weddings.

That bowl was pretty sturdy!

My chicken macaroni soup - seasoned with roasted chicken base and a splash of patis and this...added at the very end. Give it a rich creaminess...


The drinks table...with a brand new bottle of Maker's Mark, which was a gift from Tatonka.


Shred this man.



This may not have had a pretty top, but this was one of the best desserts I've tried this year.

Lastly, I made two batches of my lemon cream cheese bars. One whole pan was specifically for Tatonka and his dad. I even gave them corners from the other batch.

It was really nice seeing our friends again - The Taquitos, Mr. Saliva, Mr. One, Scregman, Tatonka and even Thane of the Universe.  Thane, sadly, was in San Diego because his father passed away a few weeks early. We attended his services (both viewings plus the funeral) as Thane's father was always so friendly to us ever since junior high. He always made a point to know Thane's friends, remembered who we were, and enjoyed talking with us.

It was great spending quality time with our friends and hope to see more of them in the coming year and not just during the holidays.