Only few hours left for a wonderful year of 2011 and hungrynez is getting to start a new beginning of the year 2012. We will surely welcome the year with loud booms and bangs of firecrackers, lighten the midnight sky with beautiful firework displays, feast with delightful dishes and our borrowed tradition from our Chinese brothers and sisters, putting a basket of 13 different round and sweet fruits on our dining table. If you are running out of variants of fruits to buy this day, here are my suggested fruits to buy this day:

1. Apples
2. Oranges
3. Grapes
4. Melon
5. Watermelon
6. Lychees
7. Kiwi Fruit
8. Chico
9. Pears
10. Guava
11. Rambutan
12. Lanzones
13. Santol

Other round and sweet fruits for this New year are Durian, Pineapple, Langka or Jackfruit, Calamansi, Atis, Pomelo or Suha and Duhat. I guess that is a good list to spread the holiday cheer.

To all of my readers, thank you and hope to see you more often this 2012!

Happy New Year!

Yesterday afternoon, while doing some errands I received a text from an unregistered contact which reads:

Good Afternoon. This is Goya from Virtusio PR. We would like to invite HungryNez to a
Thanksgiving Dinner. May we have your email add so we can send you the invitation. Thank You.

It was a nice and neat text invitation. Since I was not at home, very eager I was, I asked my friend to check if the company is legit, and he said yes, it is legit. Unless the text is not. Whew!

This is my very first to receive an invitation through my blog and I do not know much about media and public relation companies so I immediately went back home to check my email. Yup, I have a very pretty and elegant invitation attached to a letter from virtusio.com, a public relations and marketing company.

Deliciously tempting! But I haven’t decided yet if I am to attend to a once in a lifetime dinner experience or drop the invitation knowing not much of the event to be held. I don’t know. I will keep you posted.

Today is my last day at work. My heart is filled with emotions. Of course, I feel terribly sad for I will miss my job, my boss and my co-workers. I will miss waking up early in the morning, preparing myself from a traditional mother get-up to transform to a pleasing and corporate look, traveling from home to work which is usually my day dreaming moment, spending 9 hours of whirl-winding, exhausting yet comfy environment, stressful yet fulfilling work as a secretary to the president of a college (very soon to be a university). I will be missing the people I got to be with for many years, the security guards who are the first ones to greet me with a good morning, the maintenance men who do the errands, the canteen personnel who gives me extras during my breaks, the other office staff who I usually get the latest chikkas but seriously, I will miss the moments of building friendship with them, the 4 guys in our office who had shared a load of memories, and specially my boss who gives the pressure and drive for pushing me to be at my best, though tough and nerve-racking, it was one great ride.

I am not offered to a higher paying job nor moving to a greener pasture. But I will be doing my primary responsibility of nurturing and taking care of my kids. I wanted to spend more time molding the character and future of my two little men. I wanted to be part of wonderful memories with my kids for these moments will just be for a moment and I don’t want to miss a thing. But this doesn’t mean I will stop working. Nothing will stop me from work. I got to earn money when I was 7. And I could still remember the happiness and fulfillment when I earned money from selling stationeries to my classmates. I want to feel that satisfaction again and again. Since I won’t be spending 9 hours locked in my office, I have more time for my family and find opportunities to do things – cook, bake, share, write and discover the other things I wanted to learn. I will have more time to share my skills and knowledge in my husband’s small business. And I will have more time do extra little things that will make me happy.

I am praying Colegio de Dagupan all the best, and I am very proud that I spent 4 years studying and 6 years of working here. And I hope somehow, you will be proud of me too.

Today we are observing the NATIONAL FAMILY DAY as declared on the 30th day of September 2010, or otherwise known as Presidential Proclamation 1895.The declaration states that the Filipino Family Day is commemorated every 4th Monday of September.

For many generations, the family meal has been an important family ritual. During this time, members of the family sit together around the dining table, eat shared food and listen and converse with one another. Now, because of many kinds of economic and technological factors, families are taking these important mealtimes for granted.
Studies show that children who dine with their parents grow up to be more healthy, happy, and productive individuals. This mealtime also strengthens the relationship between parents and their children.

I saw a couple of commercials off youtube about Filipino Family Day that tell of facts most likely to happen when parents take family meals for granted.

The National Family Day was made not to give opportunity for families to sit together on mealtime during this day, but I guess, so that families can remember the importance of having family meals at home. I believe that there will be a great impact on the positive upbringing of kids if parents commit to observe the family mealtime every day. Besides that, I think family meals keep members of the family connected and give opportunities to engage in fun conversation and worthwhile family time.

WORLD FOOD EXPO 2010 started yesterday and will occur until August 7, 2010 at the World Trade Center, Manila. The event would simultaneously bring together the many different types and kinds of food, beverages, baked products, canned goods, cheeses, chocolates, confectioneries, dairy products, spices, fruits, vegetables, juices, liquors, glasswares, baking equipments, kitchenwares, and many more.

Professional Chefs here and abroad will be coming also to do conduct seminars as food and beverage industry is on its unparalleled rise. All together, buyers and sellers will be in one roof.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend any of the seminars. I am braced in my office, and I can’t leave Colby and Caleb since we haven’t found a new househelp yet. Sigh…

For schedule of events and seminars, check this site

Our son, Zachary Caleb, turns one month today! I know that to some it is not considered a major highlight, but for me, being his mother, today is a cherished and thanksgiving day. I am grateful for the happiness and joy he is giving to me each day despite of the sleepless nights and scaring me of his fragility. I know it will be a wonderful countdown to his 1st birthday as we will watch him grow and learn things with us. As a mom, it is one of the greatest blessings I have and I will not trade my sons for anything in this world.

Along with Caleb’s small celebration, www.hungrynez.com is also celebrating its first anniversary! Yeah, my food blog turns one-year old this month, which made me realize that time really flies so fast. I have learned so many things, from cooking, baking, shopping and blogging. I enjoy every time I post a recipe as much as I enjoy and have fun cooking and learning things from other food bloggers. I am grateful for my friends, Mark, Kris, Chrissy and Chit for sharing their knowledge on blogging and inspiring me to do better with my blog. I know, I still owe you guys pizza. And before I forget, I thank my readers who regular visit my blog.

So to celebrate a little, I cooked Pancit or Pansit Bihon Guisado (Rice Sticks Noodles with Vegetables) this morning for our merienda and some I sent to my officemates. As a Filipino tradition, a grand feast or a simple celebration will never be complete without a Pansit on the table. Pansit is commonly prepared during birthdays, as it symbolizes long life and good health. As a trace of Chinese influence in our country, Pansit can be claimed as a Pinoy food as Filipinos created different variation of Pansit like Pansit Luglog, Pansit Malabon, Pansit con Sabaw, and many more.

Pansit or Pancit Bihon Guisado (Rice Sticks Noodles with Vegetables)

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 kilo chicken breast
1/2 kilo porkloin
3 heads garlic, peeled and minced
3 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 liters of water
1 kilo pansit bihon
2 tbsp. black pepper
1 medium cabbage, thinly sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
salt

Boil chicken breast and porkloin in a 500 ml of water. Season with salt. Cook until tender.

Separate chicken breast and porkloin and stock. Save stock.

Slice chicken breast and porkloin to about 1 inch size. Set aside.

On a large wok or skillet, heat cooking oil. Saute garlic and onion.

Add sliced chicken and porkloin.

Add sliced cabbage and carrots.

Add soy sauce until it covers the meat and veggies.

Add water and meat stock.

Bring to boil.

When veggies and meat are already cooked, separate them from the boiling water.

Add rice stick noodles or pansit bihon.

Cook, tossing constantly until noodles absorb the water.

Place cooked Pansit Bihon on a big platter and top it with the veggies and meat you set aside earlier.

Serve with ice cold softdrink.

Dagupan City, Philippines – a city where you can find plentiful of tastiest Bangus or milkfish in the world. The city owns the best bangus which is most loved not only by Dagupeños but by Filipinos worldwide. Thus, Former Mayor Benjie S. Lim has conceptualized the Bangus Festival last 2002 as to promote the province as the Bangus Capital of the World and to cause the city as one of the major tourist spot of the country. Successfully his idea was, Bangus Festival has been one of the grandest festivals not only in the north but in the entire country and even earned its fame globally.

Few more weeks to go and it will be Bangus Festival again and it will be highlighted with the Bangusan Street Party on April 30, 2010 at the De Venecia Hi-way Extension . Country’s famous rock bands, artist and performers are to come to party with estimated 700,000 visitors. It will be tons of grilled bangus and tons of fun! See you then!

Dagupan City Bangus Festival 2010 is available at dphilippines.com.