New Year, Old Chores

As we welcome the New Year , we homemakers, continue to do our old, routine chores–planning meals for the family, sourcing food stuff, managing helpers and, most of all (at this time of tight budgets), keeping expenses at the minimum. Let us then go through the chain stores, markets and brands which, by being tried and tested through the years, have given us the best value for our money. The following will also guide you as you plan your New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day menus, in case you have not organized them yet.

Meat, chicken and turkey. Check out the supply at Makati Supermarket’s Tenderbites. A bit more pricey than others but you get quality. Rustan’s has the buy-one-take-one offer, even for lamb chops and ground beef. Reserve some of their bigger chickens, those that weigh 1.5 kilos. Magnolia is the best brand. ShopWise normally has very good bulalo and beef knee caps, which are ideal for Cocido. Both have Butterball brand turkey as well as local and imported ox tongue. Settle for the latter. The SM Hypermart has their house brand Bonus, priced a few pesos less. Roasting beef and steaks are also available in these outlets.

Specialty ingredients. Your best bets for these are La Tienda and Santis. The former has saffron, Spanish chorizo, canned roasted tomatoes and pimentos. The latter carries fresh greens like the hard-to-find arugula (rockets), sun-dried tomatoes and pastry puffs from Australia, a convenient top for pastels plus a wide range of cheeses including raclette. They might have goose liver for your patés.

Sauces and seasonings. You have a choice–Lee Kum Kee, Kikkoman or Maggi. You might also want to stock up on Worcestershire sauce, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, which you would need for making marinades.

Ham. It is wise to have this in stock, even after the holidays as this can be a flavoring agent for some special dishes like embutido and even nilaga. So look up Jamon de Cagayan, Majestic Ham and Purefoods Fiesta Ham. Speaking of the latter, habitués of Figaro coffee houses might want to know that it has teamed up with Purefoods for its new offerings–sandwiches, breakfast fare and pasta dishes. Now you can pair your favorite coffee blend with any of these.

Fish and other seafood. Ideally, you should get these from your wet market sukis and buy them when you need them. However, you can freeze shrimps and prawns by immersing them in water prior to freezing. The BF market (Vilma and Julie), Farmers and Dampa (Teddy) normally have fresh catch everyday.

Vegetables and fruits. Imported from Rustan’s Fresh and Santis; local can be had at much lower cost from the wet markets. There is this lady called Beth in the Muntinlupa wet market who sells with a genuine smile. You can get fruits like cantaloupes from her, as well as the rare young garlic sprouts. And of course there are the Dizon Farms stores for quality fruits of the season. The Tesda weekend market is also a good source.

Baking needs. Buy your glazed fruits and nuts from Killion Merchandizing on Orozco Street in Quiapo. Local or imported, you can get them at comparatively lower prizes.

Sweets and cakes. To serve or to give as presents (in case you have not completed your gift list last week), Rosario’s in Quezon City (tel. no. 731-8910) has the smoothest leche flan in town. It is made purely from eggs, milk and sugar. For variety of kakanins there is Aling Juling in the BF market with an array of native rice cakes, leche flan, ube and the newly-introduced bibingka muffins. In Antipolo, the rich rhum cake comes from Anevarcs Bakeshop.

Catch the Mandarin Gingerbread house (before it packs up after the holidays) at Ayala Alabang Town Center for their delicious chockies and sweets. They also offer a new coffee line, the attractively packaged (100 gms each) Mountain Collection from Batangas, the Cordilleras and Bukidnon. From the cup we had during the launch, we assure coffee fanciers, this is a blend that satisfies.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!