We had a “Santo” in our house that was part of the Good Friday procession in our city. It’s an open house in our house on this day – neighbors, “devotees” (is that what you call the people who make a panata/vow to a particular santo/image?), friends, relatives, etc. – come and go while helping with Good Friday preparations (dressing the Santo, leading the novena, blah blah blah). Good Friday is a busy day as we toil days before and on the day itself to feed everyone who comes through our door. There’s quite a lot of creativity too since “meat” is limited to “fish/seafoods.” Eight years away from PH and I’ve never missed all the fish relleno, sweet and sour fish, escabeche, fish with mayonnaise. Why do food have to be fiesta-looking and covered with a variety of dressing? I’d take on plain grilled fish anytime.

My menu for special occasions is very basic – grilled or roasted fish or meat. I especially like inihaw na pusit with a spicy soy sauce/vinegar/onion/etc. dip. That takes care of the protein part; I then match that with a roasted vegies medley, some thick soup (like crab and corn soup), green salad, and Tiramisu for dessert. No keso de bola. Except for buying it because it’s round, I never appreciated keso de bola.

I’d go for dinuguan over hamon as main dish for a Noche Buena!

About the menu suggestions, that’s a really great idea

In our home, the christmas menu is based on what us kids liked to eat. Mom just asks us what we wanted and the menu is based around that. So siyempre as kids dati, there has to be spaghetti, tapos christms ham. One time, all we wanted was macaroni soup She rarely cooks that kasi and we love it. The christmas eve meal is just for us since we go home to my mom’s side on Christmas day.

My kids loved your 20-minute egg noodle recipe which I cooked last Sunday. I will have a remake of it, but I will add chicharo to add more color to the dish. I will also cook your chicken and potatoes with with creamy cheese sauce, which they call “white chicken”, and of course, the most conveniently cooked braised porkloin. For dessert, I will prepare husband’s favorite fruit salad using mangoes, grapes, apples, and bananas, since I am trying to get away from the canned fruit cocktail. I know I can prepare the fruit salad and cook the braised porkloin a day before the Noche Buena. Of course, a cake with “Happy birthday Jesus” should not miss the table to teach teh kids and remind the adults the true meaning of the season.

Thanks to your blog and recipes!