Great Holiday Ideas

When I was younger, I was on a very limited budget. So, I had to be creative when it came to gift-giving. I have 6 siblings who had at least 2 kids each if not more, I have 4 cousins I grew up with and they each had at least one offspring each.

Being creative has its benefits. Your gift comes from the heart, it is unique, one of a kind, and will definitely be remembered.

One year I measured my sister’s dining chairs, then I made seat cushions and matching back cover. After all those years, those seat cushions and back covers are still on her dining chairs. The material cost me about $10.00, and I spent about 4 hours on the sewing machine while watching my favorite show on tv.

For a baby niece, I made a blanket – it was a quick and very inexpensive project. To this day, she still has it on her bed, 14 years later!

Christmas for many unfortunately is synonymous to shopping, and many in the US start their shopping on black Friday, the day after thanksgiving. A lot of Americans go into debt just to be able to buy the perfect gifts for their loved ones.

The holiday was not supposed to be focused on shopping, going from store to store to look for bargains. It was not meant to be that one should go out, be frustrated looking for a parking spot, and then find oneself in a long line for check-out.

Christmas is supposed to be a time to reflect on , to relish and remember the joy of the season in the company of friends, and of loved ones.

Growing up in the Philippines, my sisters and friends in our neighborhood got together in late November and start practicing our Christmas carols. We practiced every night after dinner until December 1st when we started going around our neighborhood to sing our carols. Most homeowners gave us money, some gave candies. At the end of the night, we split whatever we got among our group. Those were fond memories I will never forget. We didn’t make much, but the fun, and the camaraderie was priceless. I don’t remember what little we had for christmas presents, I just remember the joy of enjoying the season with friends and family. On Christmas eve, the whole family had to go to the midnight mass where, it seemed all our friends, neighbors and relatives were also,oh how the church was packed to the brim just for that one midnight of each and every year. After that one hour of mass, we all go home – Mom would heat up the special soup that she cooked before we left for church. We ate and went to bed exhausted from our caroling and then visiting and hanging out with friends waiting around for midnight to go to mass. We opened our presents on Christmas morning.

This is the soup that my mother served for our Christmas Eve meal – it’s called Arroz Caldo (Chicken and Rice Soup)

About 1 lb. chicken, 3 cloves garlic, minced, 1 onion chopped, 2 tbs. fish sauce (patis), 1 1/2 cup rice, 2 cups chicken broth, 3 tbs. cooking oil, 2 stalks spring onion, lemon juice, Pepper to taste.

Clean chicken well and boil in water until tender. Cut chicken into serving pieces. Saute garlic in cooking oil until golden brown, then set aside, saute onion, then add fish sauce, rice, pour the chicken broth and boil. Stir occasionally until it looks like porridge. Add the cut-up chicken. Serve immediately in bowls top with fried garlic, sping onions and pepper. Season with lemon juice and fish sauce.