Mi Despedida

It's customary in my family to celebrate memorable occasions other than birthdays and holidays with a bang. On the day of my departure, I spent most of the day with my eldest sister. We went to a nearby grocery store and bought a few items for my last Filipino feast with the family. People in my family are carnivores so my three years of being a vegetarian was short lived because my mom and siblings are excellent cooks. On regular days, the maids prepare our food in which we mostly eat potatoes, pasta and sandwiches. Since we don't normally eat traditional Filipino food, my sister was fixed on having a "tapsi" theme for my despedida.

Food we had that day:

Sinigang soup (tamarind based stew)

Beef tapa

Pork tocino

Longganisa

Sinangag (garlic fried rice)

Fried eggs

Red Eggs

Ripe Mangoes with bagoong (shrimp paste)

Kakanin (Sapin-sapin and Bibingka Malagkit)

Pandan cake

I was tinkering with my laptop when I discovered some photos taken during the despedida so I thought of sharing them with my readers. My sister, Twinkle made all of this possible. With good food comes a suitable table setting so my brother piled banana leaves on the table as if it was his job. Everything turned out quite well.

Pandan cake

Dinner with my family and the awesome yayas

Our head yaya, Vangie and the family

La Familia

sinigang, sapin-sapin, pandan cake, yellow mangoes

bottom to top: red eggs, fried eggs, bagoong, vinegar, diced onions tomatoes and parsley, the meat platter (longganisa, tapa and tocino), yellow mangoes, sinigang, sapin-sapin

I had a splendid time with my family that day. I think my smile says it all. I can't wait until I get to see them again! We have our differences but I love my dysfunctional family from the bottom of my hypothalamus.

On a side note, you might want to take a gander at her dessert business online.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dessert-Barn/111681688860039?ref=ts#!/profile.php?id=100000961826404&ref=ts