Christmas with the E's

Since my family moved back to the California in 1991 we have always spent Christmas with my mom's side of the family. Everyone would head to my parents' home in the IE. Initially it started with my family, my aunt and her family, and my grandparents. As more of our family moved to California our celebrations got bigger and bigger. As our celebrations got bigger our Christmas celebration moved from So. Cal to Nor Cal. Since most of the family lived up there it just made more sense. I've never missed out on this gathering, except for last year. I was super excited to be able to see my family this Christmas. I took the day off from work on the 24th and we made our trek to San Francisco.

With Filipinos, Christmas is usually celebrated on the Eve. We call it Noche Buena. My mom and aunt cook up a storm, we basically eat all night, hang out, and then open all our presents at midnight. When we were younger we all took turns playing Santa handing out all the presents but as we all got older the task usually went to the younger cousins. This year my Aunt Melba played Santa.


It's not a Filipino celebration without rice!





My Lola (grandmother).







My cousin's kids James and Jeremy are the cutest!



With so many people and so many presents to hang out, my aunt started flinging presents across the room.

Imagine this multiplied by 10 and this is how full of presents my aunt's living room was.




Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones!

Holiday Baking

Every year around Christmas-time I bake/make treats to give away to family, friends, and co-workers. With the husband around I try to delay when I start my preparations because if I start too early the hubs will end up eating everything and I'd have to start all over again. Usually I get around to making 3-4 different treats but I got ambitious this year and ended up with 10 holiday treats. Some usuals that I make and I started perusing through my cookbooks and on-line for some new recipes to try. Here's what I ended up with:

GINGERSNAPS - A definite must for Christmas. Nice and chewy and full of ginger/molasses flavor.

RASPBERRY THUMBPRINT COOKIES - Got this recipe from the Betty Crocker website. Uses the cookie sugar mix as a base with raspberry jam in the middle.

CARAMEL MACCHIATO THUMBPRINTS - Another recipe from the Betty Crocker website. A coffee flavored cookie with gooey caramel in the middle with chocolate drizzzled on top. One of my favorites.



PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES - A peanut butter cookie with a mini Reese's peanut butter cup in the middle.




COCONUT MACAROONS - A super easy recipe. Condensed milk, egg white, almond and vanilla extract, and flaked coconut.



CHOCOLATE CANDY COOKIES - M&M's mixed in with the dough. Mmmmmm.




GLAZED WALNUTS - I got this recipe from a co-worker years ago and I make it every Christmas and it's always a hit. Super easy to make - walnuts, salt, maple syrup. Yes, that's it.




WHITE CHOCOLATE BARS - These remind of blondie brownies but with more of a cakey texture.



PEANUT BUTTER FUDGE - I got this recipe from the Food Network. And it's all made in the microwave! And it's delicious!




MOCHA MADDIES - Nice spongy texture like a madeleine but with mocha flavor. Love this one too!

My Birthday Revisited

This past December 9th was my birthday. I'll be discreet with my age but I'm definitely in my dirty thirties. I took the day off from work and the hubby took me to Disneyland! And with free admission for me I couldn't pass it up. I love Disneyland at Christmas time! It was a chilly day down in Anaheim but we enjoyed it nonetheless.











We had lunch at the Blue Bayou. We had never eaten there before and the food was delicious!
My birthday mousse! But unfortunately it wasn't very good.

One of my favorite parts of Disneyland at Christmas time is seeing the It's a Small World ride decorated for Christmas.




'Twas a fun day!

She's having a baby

So this post is really late but several weeks ago I trekked down to OC for a baby shower for my dear friend Marysa. Marysa and I have been friends since graduate school, i was a bridesmaid in her wedding, she was a bridesmaid in mine, and she's one of my closest friends. Marysa is expecting a girl so we celebrated with some girlie time and tea at The Tea House on Los Rios in San Juan Capistrano.

I was excited to go to see my friend and celebrate with her but also to have tea. I've never been to a tea house and it was a fun experience. Here are some photos from our afternoon celebration:

(i apologize for my crappy photos. i got too lazy to fix them.)


the expectant mama



our cute favors

those sandwiches and scone were delicious!

grandma and grandma

what's a baby shower without presents?!




at the end of our celebration daddy and tyler came over to say hi. i love how tyler is winking for the camera.

Marysa is ready to pop at any moment as I write this post. Can't wait to meet her baby girl!