New Year 2010 Greetings

Thanks Mayie for the New Year greetings.

How thoughtful of you.

-Julius

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Merry Christmas to all from Julius and kids Justin, Trevor and KristenChristmas 2009

Rejoice, our Savior is born unto us.

Merry Christmas

to all our loved ones.

Super Citizen Award for Trevor and KC

Trevor and Kristen received each a Super Citizen Award for December 2009 at their school Olympic View Elementary School, Chula Vista California. Congratulations Trevor and Kristen, Mom and Dad are proud of your achievements.

Click here on the image below to see more pictures.

Our 2009 Thanksgiving Experience

Myself, along with my kids Justin, Trevor and Kristen
spent our 2009 Thanksgiving Holiday at my
brother Fidel's home along with his family in Sacramento.

It was three days of relaxed atmosphere,
fellowship, an opportunity to catch up
with what's going on in our lives,
and most importatnly a time to ponder, realize,
reflect on the graces that God has bestowed upon us.

For me, it was also a culinary experience as a cook to whip
up a traditional Thanksgiving dinner to feed everyone such
as Roast Turkey, Mashed Potato with Turkey drippings gravy,
Roast Beef, baked Ham.

Thank you Manong Fidel, Ate Marivic, Francis and Martin,
Carl, Caroline, and Calvin for the wonderful time
spent with each other. May God's blessing be with us all.

I hope we have another family get-together
again sometime next year 2010.

Peace.

Click here or the image below to see more
of our Thanksgiving get-together.



Julius

Our Thanksgiving Dinner, 2009

This year, I helped cooked our family's Thanksgiving Dinner.

Here's the Thanksgiving Dinner entrees that we came up with, all cooked from scratch:
- Roast Turkey with accompanying Gravy

- Shrimp Dinengdeng

- Mashed Potatoes

- Glazed Ham

- Roast Beef

- dessert: Buko Pandan Salad

Preparation Time: 4 hrs.

Cooking time: 6 hrs.

Fish Sarciado (Fish with Tomato Sauce)

Fish Sarciado the way it was cooked while I was a kid
seems to be different from the way other regions
of the Philippines cook it. Filled with red broth and egg drop,
this version is the way it is cooked in the Northern region.

Here's my take on the Fish Sarciado:

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

1 pound fish fillets or fish steaks(Tilapia, Sea Bass fish is fine)
Salt to taste
Juice of two lemons
Juice of Orange
1/2 cup vegetable or corn oil
2 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 medium onion chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 tbsp ginger cut into matchstick length
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp tomato sauce
Patis (Fish Sauce) to taste
Light Soy Sauce (2 tbsp)
2 eggs beaten

Procedure

1. In a deep bowl marinate the fish fillets or
steak in lemon juice, orange juice and salt for 20 minutes.



2. In a deep skillet heat oil and fry the fish just barely enough for it to turn brown.
Carefully turn the fish over once.

3. Put the fish on paper towel to drain the grease.

4. Wipe the skillet clean and return to heat, put two tablespoon of oil.

5. Saute garlic. Followed by onion, ginger then tomatoes until they turn soft.




6. Add the water, soy sauce and just a little bit of tomato sauce to achieve a red tinged broth. Season the broth with Patis to taste.

7. Add the fish to the sauce being careful not to break it.

8. Cover and simmer for about 2 minutes.

9. In a small bowl, beat two eggs with a fork.

10. Slowly drop the egg to the broth while beating the broth with fork to make the broth-egg mixture silky.

11. Serve hot, with hot rice.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie home made

My kids love Strawberry Banana Smoothie.

Its their favorite drink or dessert during Summer.
I stock up on frozen Strawberries during Autumn and
Winter when Strawberries are not in season
so they can continue to enjoy this smoothie.
Bananas, well they're pretty
much in season all year round in some part of the tropics.

Its a good way for me to introduce fruits
in my kids' diet. I also read in a Web article that
ripe bananas are excellent source for
TNF (Tumor Necrosis Factor), which has the
ability to combat abnormal cells. I have yet to read the
Scientific Journal article that supports that claim though.

Here's my version of Strawberry Banana Smoothie
that I make at home. Try making your own Strawberry Banana Smoothie
if haven't yet.

*****
Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Servings : 4

Tools needed:
Blender

Ingredients:

1 cup Milk 2% lowfat
1.5 cups Nonfat Yogurt (plain)
2 cups Strawberries, capped
3 large Bananas, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
1 cup ice cubes
1/4 cup white sugar

Procedure

1. Place the strawberries, yogurt, bananas, ice cubes
and milk in a blender. Place Blender cover.

2. Process the ingredients on high speed setting for about 20 to 30 seconds until smooth.

3. Serve Smoothie in tall clear glass.