Thanksgiving 2015 in Bacolod City

From my family and I to your family and you, Happy Thanksgiving from the City of Smiles! Prayerfully, you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, as we did.

Thanksgiving is not a holiday in the Philippines and our son had a full day of class today. We celebrated our Thanksgiving meal this evening. There were only the 3 of us but a few guests will drop by a little later. It is still early. No NFL football here but our son is now watching a live basketball game.

Virginia Ham

It’s back! For the 3rd year running, SM Supermarket had Virginia Hams in stock in time for Thanksgiving. The price is P580 per kilo and the ham I bought is more than 2 kilos, which is almost 5 pounds. That’s a lot of ham for us!

I bought a can of Dole sliced pineapple because we wanted to use the pineapple juice when preparing the ham, to make the basting sauce. It is fabulous! Wish you were here!

Sweet Potato

Thanksgiving would not be complete without sweet potatoes! Years ago, some Filipinos were surprised that Americans enjoy sweet potatoes. Here, they are known as camote or kamote and they are among the most inexpensive foods available in the islands. Most Filipinos do not add brown sugar or butter to their sweet potatoes but I add both!

Corn

Get the butter, Devon! There are many varieties of corn available in our area of the Philippines and we always go with one of the sweet corn varieties. Once again, corn is one of the less expensive foods in the Philippines.

Deviled Eggs

Nothing fancy, classic deviled eggs. EZ to make! Mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, pepper and paprika. There you have it.

Those were on our evening Thanksgiving meal menu. We greatly enjoyed every bite.

We are thankful to the Lord everyday but this was one day we set aside every year to enjoy a great meal and be thankful together.

Prayerfully, your Thanksgiving will be as safe and wonderful as our Thanksgiving in the City of Smiles.

I hope to see you one day, somewhere…all around Bacolod.

Your Amigo,

~ Gary ~

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Needful Things

Some days, I just want to bang on the drum all day! It is so great being retired to the Philippines and I can’t think of a better place than the Bacolod area.

I know several places to find the Cheeseburger in Paradise. I recently posted about Gunny’s All American Burger in Bacolod. Well, Buckaroos, you can add one more excellent burger to your list. Das Burgery. You can check their Facebook to get their schedule, as they are not a restaurant in a building. They are traveling burgers. Das Burgery is at Ayala District Mall one or two weekends each month.

Hey! That’s me with a 101 Das Burger and an ice cold SMB.

It is impossible to be bored in the Bacolod area. There is something to do for most everyone. Unless you are a hunter. Wildlife is protected in the Philippines and foreigners cannot own firearms.

It’s time to bang on the drums again. I am excited to play Conga! I have my own Latin Percussion Timbales drums at home. Remember Tito Puente?

Please check out my latest article about Thanksgiving in Bacolod on Retiring to the Philippines.

http://retiringtothephilippines.com/living-in-the-philippines/thanksgiving-bacolod/

Take care! I hope to see you one day, somewhere…all around Bacolod.

Thanksgiving In Bacolod 2013

There is the prize! A 10 pound Butterball turkey and I was lucky in that I bought the last one in stock at SM Supermarket about 9 days before Thanksgiving. Super Metro received a last minute shipment of Butterball Turkeys 5 days before Thanksgiving but the cost was P280 per kilo. I had already bought our Thanksgiving turkey and the cost was P247 per kilo.

Lechon Turkey

This was our 5th Thanksgiving in the Bacolod Area and in 2009, I hit on the idea of preparing our turkey lechon style, the famous Philippines style of cooking pork and chicken. It was a big hit with everyone, so this has become our tradition when having a turkey for Thanksgiving. The turkey is stuffed with lemongrass and garlic, a spice and herb rub is applied to the skin, a basting sauce of brown sugar, lime juice and soy sauce is made, the turkey is put on a bamboo pole and roasted over hot coals. Fabulous!

Annual Fiesta

While Thanksgiving is not an official holiday in the Philippines, it has become an annual fiesta at our home in Bacolod! Friends and family are already looking forward to Thanksgiving 2014. Yes, Thanksgiving is alive and kicking in the Bacolod Area!

One of our good friends is carving the turkey!

A crispy turkey leg quarter. The skin of lechon turkey is very crispy, while the inside is tender and juicy. Fantastic!

Thanksgiving Fiesta! Our friend is really into that turkey leg. What’s left of  it, anyway. Actually, he was clowning around for the camera. Nice pose, don’t ya think?

Thanksgiving is never complete without fresh corn.

Don’t forget the pie! Rather than pumpkin pie or apple pie, we had pineapple pie and it was awesome.

Once you are in the Philippines, you can celebrate Thanksgiving or any holiday you wish, as the ingredients are available to prepare almost anything you enjoy.

Please do not forget to check out Retiring to the Philippines. There are several new articles waiting for you to read and enjoy. If you have questions about the Philippines, you can ask on our forum, and receive the most up to date information about the Philippines. The links for quick access are listed below.

I hope to see you soon..somewhere All Around Bacolod!

~ Gary ~

http://retiringtothephilippines.com/

http://forums.retiringtothephilippines.com/

 

Thanksgiving in Bacolod City

Thanksgiving is not a holiday or a festival that is widely celebrated in our area of the Philippines. However, Filipinos with Americans in their family and Filipino-Americans, who spent years in the States, celebrate Thanksgiving.

The first three Thanksgivings we have lived in the Bacolod Area, we always bought a Butterball Turkey or a Norbest Turkey and had it prepared in the Filipino style, lechon turkey. The turkey was stuffed with lemongrass, other herbs and spices, placed on a bamboo pole and roasted over hot coals. Wow! Crispy skin, while tender and juicy on the inside.

This year, we decided to go with something a little different. Recently, I saw four imported hams from America for sale at SM Supermarket. Virginia American Tenderized Ham. It has been more than 12 years since I had an American ham, still intact on the bone. We bought the ham to have for our Thanksgiving Celebration on November 22, 2012.

Virginia Ham

This Virginia Ham was 2.4 kilos, which is a 5 pound ham.

Cooked Virginia Ham

The ham was precooked and we baked it about 90 minutes in the oven. The pineapple rings were added about half way through the baking process. My wife made a ham sauce to my taste, which is pineapple juice, brown sugar and Heinz yellow mustard.

Ham Sauce

Sweet Corn

Sweet Potatoes, aka Camote

Sweet corn on the cob and camote, sweet potatoes, are common Filipino snack foods everyday, so I raised a few eyebrows having them both for the Thanksgiving meal but these are two foods which were always staples at our home for Thanksgiving, when I was growing up. Sweet potatoes and corn are Thanksgiving foods!

We did have Bird, too, for Thanksgiving.

Baked Chicken Leg Quarters

We had a few Filipino friends over to share our Thanksgiving Celebration for a wonderful evening meal. Everyone enjoyed the Virginia Ham!

This was our 4th Thanksgiving Celebration in the Bacolod Area and every year, we have more and more to be thankful for. We are all healthy and blessed. My family and I are enjoying our lives everyday in Bacolod.