Merry Christmas, everyone! How's the family reunion, spaghetti, and grahams? Lol. I hope your tummies were filled with delicious foods and didn't become the target by your insensitive titas and titos giving unsolicited advices.
My celebration this year was rather simple and earlier. Most would wait around midnight (Christmas Eve) to feast on their foods which I would usually do as well. But this time, I cooked early and started eating early evening so I could rest and only eat a snack at midnight.
My Christmas menu was simple. Christmas ham (hamon), queso de bola, spinach and chicken lasagna, roll cake, and a slice of mango. I forgot to prepare for my drink so I just grabbed the last piece of chocolate drink and chilled it for an hour.
This spinach and chicken lasagna looks simple but oh man...it takes a lot of effort to make. Thank goodness I decided to make the spinach filling a night before. It's a lot of work but I like how this experimental recipe of mine turned out delicious. It was worth it.
Next, the hamon and queso de bola. I opted to purchase the Christmas ham on grocery. What I like about it is that it's pre-sliced and it's half the price cheaper than the Christmas ham I usually purchase from a restaurant.
Cons: The meat shrinks when fried and doesn't come with a pineapple sauce. I made my own instead. Now I have lots of pineapple sauce and it's surprisingly very easy to make. :)
For the queso de bola, I also got a smaller and cheaper variant because the usual cheese I purchase wasn't available. Anyway, they seem to taste just the same.
And for the cake, I had an ube roll cake. I was supposed to buy a half roll of brazo de mercedes but only a whole roll was available when I arrived at the bakeshop. I think the staff also didn't understand when I said I'll just get an ube roll. What I meant was half roll of an ube roll but she gave me a whole roll instead. Lol. Anyway, it's just a hundred peso difference though I struggled fitting the box inside the fridge.
Okay, ube roll review! It's good but a bit dry compared to the other ube rolls I've eaten in the past. The layer of icing is thin and the filling wasn't ube icing but a small amount of strawberry-flavored gel icing. I'm not sure if that's what it's called but I think it's the same as the gel used on cake lettering. Anyway, it's cheap so I understand why the icing and filling isn't generous enough.
I bought this ube roll from one of the oldest bakeries in Dagupan City. They sell cheaper pastries compared to the other old bakeries and it's good to see it still thriving since 1980s. I think making their social media presence recently helped them get more sales.
I also bought five pieces of their hopia. I love the flaky texture!
Then few minutes before midnight, I watched an online mass and began greeting family and friends. And after that, I took my second serving of my Christmas foods.
That's how I celebrated my Christmas this year. Foods, online mass, and praying for my family.
Merry Christmas! 🎄🎅✨️
