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Friday, March 29, 2024

Holiday feast for the no-cook, non-alcoholic reveler

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Christmas is literally around the corner now—eight days away, to be exact. 

You know the holiday season has reached its penultimate level as Grab fares go crazily high and Edsa traffic becomes crazily slow, all amid a backdrop of non-stop partying and get-togethers and mad, mad last-minute shopping.

As for me, I can’t cook and neither can I really do alcohol, but I don’t allow these handicaps to limit my revelry.

There is always the trusty soda or iced tea, but for a truly festive Yuletide drink, I turn to Welch’s line of sparkling juices in red and white grape flavors. Fizzy but guilt-free, bubbly sans the alcohol, it is a drink that adults, kids, and kids-at-heart will surely enjoy. 

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I am partial to the white grape flavor, served chilled. You can almost fool yourself that you are drinking something harder than sparkling juice.

Chef Laudico Guevarra’s Roast Chicken Sinampalukan

As for cooking, there was never an incentive for me to learn how to cook. My mom is a whiz in the kitchen. And I mean sinigang na baboy and prawns in butter and garlic for breakfast, beef tapa with kalamansi and paksiw na salmon head for lunch, and so on and so forth—every single day.

It’s not that I never tried. From time to time, I’d attempt at cooking pasta. I’d psych myself up—how can you go wrong with this dish? You just boil the pasta, drain the pasta, and toss the pasta with your sauce of choice. I even try to be meticulous in my ingredients: sun-dried tomatoes, anchovies, olive oil, parmesan, you get the drift. I serve the pasta and it tastes nothing like how pasta should taste. I cry like a certified loser on the inside, and flash my winning smile.

And mom? She’d look at the refrigerator, pick this and that ingredients, and serve a delicious puttanesca.

It must have been for people like me that chefs Rolando “Lau” Laudico and Jac Laudico of Chef Laudico Guevarra thought of coming up with Handaan Kahit Saan party trays that are available in two sizes, with servings good for six to eight persons or 12 to 15.

Chef Laudico Guevarra’s Beef Kare-Kare

“I still remember our family Sunday brunches. We didn’t rely on convenience products or instant stuff, and part of the enjoyment was in the preparation. It took a lot of time and effort but it was worth it since the food was absolutely delicious,” related Chef Lau. 

He continued, “That’s the same dedication that I instill in my kitchen staff, to do everything the long and traditional way, the way how our lolas and lolos cooked but with my own signature style.”

Reasonably priced, the party trays are excellent alternatives to doing the cooking yourself. If you are organizing a gathering, you can order several items and put together your own Guevarra’s buffet wherever and whenever you want to. And imagine being spared from getting a headache for those potluck reunions with Guevarra’s having your back.

The Handaan Kahit Saan includes the mainstays of the restaurant buffet such as lechon, pugon-roasted US Angus beef shortplate, kare-kare, kaldereta, and tamarind and lemongrass-spiced roast chicken, among others.

Welch’s Sparkling Grape Juice

“These are the items that are most requested—we get complaints when they’re not available,” said Chef Jac.

Best of all, these life-saver party trays are available all year round. The dishes can be picked up from Chef Laudico Guevarra’s at 387 P. Guevarra corner Argonne Streets, Addition Hills, San Juan or sent through the various delivery services available such as Grab and Lalamove.

Now, open that Welch’s sparkling juice and we’re all set to toast to a truly joyous Christmas.

I’m at joyce.panares@gmail.com. 

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