How Did Your 2016 Go?

To look back at what I personally consider an emotionally challenging year (to say the least), we asked veteran journalist/editor (and community activist) Cherie Querol-Moreno to sum up what happened to our community, our homeland and our world the past 12 months. Her report, "The Year That Shocked," is supplemented by a personal year-ender from our publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco titled "The Year of Living Anxiously." And with these two pieces, I say 'nuff said.

We also end this year with a list of 15 Filipinos we can be proud of, each of them noteworthy for their achievements, their talents and their being good human beings. 

And for those who missed it the first time, Read Again poet/essayist/martial arts expert Rene J. Navarro's interesting take on Jose Rizal as a martial arts warrior. It was more than just genius or resignation that enabled our National Hero to face the last few days and hours of his life calm, composed and productive -- he wrote farewell letters to his loved ones and an immortal poem, among others. Navarro contends that it was thanks to "feral nerve" or what the Japanese call mushin no shin -- a mastery of self that can only come from the discipline of martial arts.

And with the New Year about to descend upon us, our resident foodie Elizabeth Ann Quirino shares with us her recipe for ginataang bilo-bilo, a traditional merienda that meets the requirement of eating round things for good luck in the coming year.

For our last Video of the Week of 2016, we feature Coca Cola Philippines' latest Christmas commercial which honors the store employees who work during the holidays so that we can enjoy ours.

Food and Memes

Merry Christmas! And to our non-Christian friends, Happy Holidays.

Nothing marks the holiday season better than food, glorious food. And for Filipinos, it's always a good time to return to the flavors that we grew up with. This week, St. Louis, Missouri-based chef, food blogger and well-followed YouTube and TV culinary personality Malou Perez Nievera, as profiled by Contributing Writer and fellow foodie, Elizabeth Ann Quirino, shares with us two recipes from her childhood in Tuguegarao, Cagayan. Papa Diddi's Stuffed Chicken is Nievera's take on the popular Christmas dish chicken relleno, this one inspired by her father. The second dish is Batil Patung, a traditional Tuguegarao noodle soup dish perfect for cold Christmas days. 

For those who are craving for Filipino desserts for the holidays, Elizabeth Ann Quirino just came out with her compilation, How to Cook Philippine Desserts: Cakes and Snacks, now available in print or on Kindle at https://www.amazon.com/How-Cook-Philippine-Desserts-Filipino/dp/1541090799/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

And here's a collection of funny Pinoy memes to lighten your load.

Our Video of the Week is a very touching one about that little boy who did his homework at night outside a McDonald's in Cebu, and the young lady who helped him. This is tear-inducing, so be forewarned. 

Renewing the Spirit

What better way to celebrate Christmas than to visit the actual place where Christ was born. First-time contributor Genevieve Dee takes us vicariously on her trip to the Holy Land plus the ancient city of Petra, and shares with us the story of her spiritual renewal. 

During the same pilgrimage, Positively Filipino publisher Mona Lisa Yuchengco met quite a number of Filipinos - OFWs and fellow pilgrims -- and introduces them in Pinoyspotting this week.

Switching to the homeland, Dr. Michael Gonzalez writes about the Dutch missionary and scholar Antoon Postma who, with eminent anthropologist Harold Conklin, lived with and documented the lives of the Hanunoo Mangyan of Oriental Mindoro. Because of Postma's thorough research, the rich traditions of this pre-colonial culture are preserved, its legacy intact for future generations to take pride in.

If you're still wracking your brains for the right food to give away this holiday season, here's Elizabeth Ann Quirino's easy recipe for cassava cake, a perfect gift, she says, guaranteed to be appreciated by your Filipino and non-Filipino friends.

For Video of the Week, the American cast members of the Hey Joe Show show their love for their adopted country by singing “Silent Night” in Tagalog, Visayan and English for Filipinos around the world.