Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine :: Food PhotoBlog and Events |

It isn’t a Pinoy Christmas without holiday ham taking centerstage during Noche Buena. If you haven’t gotten around to buying your Christmas ham just yet, check if the nearest supermarket still has CDO hams in stock. CDO has had over thirty years of experience in providing Filipino families with the most tender hams – the CDO Pista Cooked Ham and the CDO Holiday Whole Meat Ham. Processed and molded to have the perfect ham shape, the CDO Pista Cooked Ham is the one perfect for Noche Buena. Cooked fully and slowly on the other hand, the CDO Whole-Meat Ham is the ideal gift for loved ones, but is just as perfect for our own consumption on Noche Buena.

To make the CDO Christmas hams, prime cuts of young pork are cured to perfection using only the finest spices and ingredients. The ham-making process is very intricate and slow to maintain its moisture while infusing it with the delicious taste everyone loves. Best of all, CDO hams are incredibly affordable as they are high quality.

The CDO Pista Cooked Ham costs P360 a kilo while the CDO Holiday Whole-Meat Ham costs P410 a kilo. You can also try their other ham products – Hamon de Bola (PhP 295 a kilo), Pear-shaped Ham (PhP 220 a kilo), and American Ham (PhP 148 a kilo). Until December 31, 2009, CDO is giving away limited edition Christmas plates, one for every PhP 300 worth of purchase. So hurry and get your CDO ham today while supplies last.

There’s nothing like a great cooking show to inspire you to learn how to whip up a new dish or two, but Q Channel 11 has a fresh new take on cooking show. Sarap at Home stars Sam Oh and Chef Nino Logarta, and plays out like a sitcom. Yes, it’s a cooking show with a storyline! Sam plays a funny, single career woman living in a condo. Despite having a fully-stocked pantry, she can’t seem to make good use of her supplies. Her next-door neighbor is Chef Nino, who finds it convenient to raid her kitchen because not only can he find everything he needs; he gets instant great company through Sam! Every episode also involves a certain dilemma that ends with a flavorful, easy-to-prepare dish that complements the situation. Various guest stars will also be appearing, including some of the hottest celebrities today.

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We all have a social cause that we believe in – animal welfare, the environment, women’s rights, the list goes on. This Christmas, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf allows you to celebrate while giving back to the community with the launch of their holiday program. Called 24 Cups with The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, the coffee shop allotted a percentage of their beverage sales for 24 community advocacies. Each one has their own unique approach to making life better for those who have been afflicted by this year’s calamities or the marginalized sectors of society. Kicking off the holiday program was an advocacy fair to provide the public with more information about the beneficiaries and their cause. More information about 24 Cups can be found at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Philippines Facebook fan page.

Fast-food chain Jollibee is such an iconic part of Filipino culture, and it’s good to know that they take steps to make life a little brighter for the people who patronize them. Jollibee’s fifteen-year old toy and book donation drive is bringing the joy of Christmas to over 35 schools in typhoon-affected areas in Benguet, Laguna, Zambales, Pangasinan, and Metro Manila. Called MaAga ang Pasko, the campaign has been spearheaded by local celebrity Aga Mulach for the past several years. So far, nearly 40,000 toys and books have been collected since the 2009 drive started. Jollibee even committed to add one toy for every donation made, which means that this number expected to grow over the next several weeks.
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I don’t know my way around the kitchen at all, but every now and then I feel inspired to learn how to cook certain dishes that strike my fancy. A couple of weeks ago I was able to replicate the pajeon at Kaya through a recipe I found on the Internet, but my early attempts at cooking involved following recipes from Yummy Magazine. This inexpensive, idiot-proof guide to kitchen noobs and not-quite noobs made cooking a lot less intimidating and complicated with its easy to follow recipes, mouthwatering food photos, and informative articles. Last night, I got the chance to dine with editors from Yummy Magazine at Tosca in Dusit Thani Hotel while they showed us the magazine’s new and exciting offerings.

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