The Sum Of All The Years

At one time in your life, the total number of years adds up to 18. Finally, you consider yourself as an adult and you exercise the privileges of voting, driving and signing legal documents. If it adds up to 40 years, you have entered the middle age and start wondering how fast the years went by. Perhaps you have entered married life and you have children to feed and educate, and you consider yourself lucky because some of your friends have plenty of grandchildren to feed and educate.

When the sum of the years has reached 60, you have earned a second citizenship… senior citizen na ka! You are now entitled to discounts from the pharmacy and restaurants, financial aid and birthday gifts from select cities and in some cases, free movies pa.

If you celebrate your 80th birthday in 2010, you are one lucky person to have survived World War II! You consider yourself fortunate to be blessed with a long life because you have a loving family, lack of stress, lots of friends, in good health and the finances to invite your family and close friends. This must be how Mrs. Terisita “Teri” Sevilla Sarmiento felt when she celebrated her 80th birthday (March 16) and the thanksgiving dinner was held at the Artic Ballroom of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino last March 20.

She is the mother of two of my close friends, Edgar and Tony Sarmiento and she is the mother-in-law of my sister-in-law and that’s how extensive family relationships are in the Philippines. The bottom line is that your favourite food columnist gets invited to these momentous occasions and enjoys the wonderful food that is served praying that increase in body weight will be minimal.

Since I had a nice bottle of cognac, I brought one to the banquet with permission from my good friend Waterfront Cebu City GM Marco Protacio. While some of the food was plated to select tables (at age 80, not all your friends are in perfect health), the rest of the food was served buffet style. Appetizer was Papaya & Ham Roll with a Salad of Tropical Fruit and Cucumber. Main dishes were Barbecue Pork Ribs with Onion Rings, Thai Chicken Cutlets with Garlic Chili Sauce, Sautéed Vegetables with Quail Eggs and a selection of two roast, lechon and beef.

If you have 80 of your guests line up on one side of the buffet table, medyo problem because at an average of one minute per guest to select the food, it will take an hour and a half before everybody is served. If two minutes, then very hungry na gyud your friends. I usually skip the line and this time I went direct to the roast (Beef) which was paired well with the cognac! To perform my duties in culinary accounting, back to the buffet tables I went when the lines were shorter and small serving lang of each and every food item available. The barbecue pork ribs with fried onion rings were extra special that night. 

I hope and pray that the Heavens shower all those present with good health and fortune so that we may be able to participate, excuse me, in the 90th birthday celebration of Teri Sarmiento. ?