100 Days Before Christmas

Midnight of September 1 I promptly greeted my online friends through Twitter and Plurk a Merry Christmas. My friends from other countries find it hard to believe that we have the longest Christmas celebration. It is not unusual for radio stations to play Christmas jingles as soon as the ber months set in. Some malls and shops also start decorating for Christmas. Halloween and Thanksgiving is usually just another day locally and not many celebrate it.

At home we usually put up our Christmas tree on Bonifacio Day (November 30) since it's usually a holiday, but there were times when we set things up as early as All Souls Day. Our street was usually the most lighted and decorated in our village - well until cost of electricity went up. Now that I have my own little family and home I have started to think about Christmas and I think I'd like to enjoy it this year (last year was a mad dash to finish everything for the wedding!).

Christmas Dishes. What got me started thinking about Christmas was the event hosted by Kraft Foods I attended two weeks ago. I have only been cooking for 9 months now and Eden's 100 Days, 100 Towns, 100 Unique Cheese Dishes is overwhelming. That's 100 towns vying for the 2 million pesos support fund through votes for the best dish (more info at http://www.sarapngpasko.com). Whew! My personal goal would be to learn to make at least 2 of our family Christmas recipes (my Mom's Chicken Galantina and special ham).

Christmas Decors. Whatever Christmas decor I had before is all gone because of Typhoon Ondoy so I'm starting from scratch. I'm planning to get a small tree and make my own decor! I'll probably leave the outside decorating to Sweetie and Miguel.

Christmas Gifts. I always end up cramming for gifts! Things to do within the week: update my Christmas list and check my inventory of gifts (yes, I do keep a stash for emergencies). I used to make gifts when I had the time. Hopefully I'll find some time and make some stuff!

And to kick-off a 100-day countdown to Christmas, here's the Las Pinas Boys Choir singing their Filipino Christmas songs repertoire:

Cafe 5845, First Ever Cheese Cafe

I love cheese, so fresh from Legaspi City I went straight to the opening of Cafe 5845 at the Mall of Asia (it's just beside Cabalen/IMAX). Cafe 5845 is a project of Kraft Eden Cheese and Magasaysay Center for Hospitality and Culinary Arts (MIHCA). It is the result of the Guiness World Record event where Kraft and MIHCA made 5, 845 unique-cheese based dishes last December 2009. 

Ï love the "Cheese Dynamite" dish. I am not a fan of eating sili (chili) but this one was stuffed with cheese and coated with breading (not sure about the right term, but like tempura). I was apprehensive that it would be spicy, but was assured by the food server that it wasn't. I loved it from the first bite (I wish Kraft would come out with the recipe!). (Sorry forgot to take a photo of the dish).

The cafe will have a different menu everyday and will be open only until end of August. Price is also very affordable so your one hundred pesos will get you a snack and a drink already. Tip: bring a fan since the venue is open-air.

Here's a couple of the dishes that were served during the opening:

Cafe 5845 is located at the SM Mall of Asia North Living Seaside Boulevard area (facing Manila Bay/SM Hypermarket side). It's in between Cabalen/IMAX/Friday's and Don Henrico's.