Family picnic - June 19, 2010

(thanks to Camille for the cake)

June 19, 2010 - We had a family picnic with my mom's side of the family to celebrate my maternal grandfather's centennial. He died in 1986 at the age of 76 but had he lived, he would've been 100 last month. To honor him, we gathered together. My mom's family turned out several good cooks and when we get together to eat, we eat. And it's all good. I didn't cook except for a few desserts but here's the pictorial of some of the dishes just to give you an idea. There were 24 of us and we made a good dent in the food.

My cousin Christine brought appetizers - these were filled with cream cheese and artichokes.

My mom made ribs

And pancit palabok

In addition to the centennial cake, Camille & family brought fried chicken

And chow mein

My cousin Ellen brought chicken satay that we grilled

And Korean barbecue beef that she grilled

Ellen's dad, Tito Mimil, grilled an 8-lb trout he had caught in the lake of the same park we were picnicking at - marinated in lime, cilantro and other good things

And there was more but I didn't get a picture of it all: Tita Helen made a peanut-sauce noodle dish, Tito Lito brought Goldilocks mamon and cupcakes, someone brought bibingka, Tita Girlie and Ken brought pecan pie tarts, and I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, Best Big Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies, and the aforementioned pecan tassies. Which, according to everyone else, I was wrong about those being just "okay". Everyone who tried them liked them and the only complaint I got was there either wasn't any left to parcel out after the picnic or they went home with someone and the others didn't get a taste. My parents liked them better than my butter pecan tarts (huh) and I had to make another batch this morning to bring for them since demand exceeded supply. Fortunately I still had the leftover filling so it was just a matter of making more tart dough and toasting more pecans.

All in all, a good day and lots of good eats.