Soon it will be Christmas

September is at its end. October starts in a few days. This signals that Christmas will soon be upon us. “Jingle Bells,” “Oh Holy Night” will fill the air. Colorful lanterns, big and small, will be sold along the the sidewalks. Malls will be dressed up in red and green, supermarkets will display mounds of Yuletide decor, from little bells to table linens, food racks will be full of queso de bola, frozen turkey and chestnuts roasting at store entrances. Multitudes will soon make their way to traditional selling areas and yes, to the many tiangges in many places, in cities and towns.

The wise homemaker/shopper will always look for the best bargains, the most value for money, so to speak. Look out for discounts and sales. We actually often wait for the annual sale conducted by Oriental Merchants, but this happens normally in November. They carry an extensive line of food stuff – olive oil, sundried tomatoes in big jars, seasonings, premium meats, Spanish chorizo, paella packets and many more, plus non-food products – body oils and creams, cologne, etc. They don’t advertise but send out notices. Look out for someone lucky enough to receive such notice and tag along.

Marca Pina queso de bola has been available in some supermarkets like South and Landmark almost all year-round. The Magnolia product is not so far away in quality. It costs much less. What we do when we need a lot of the queso in our cooking is we make a 1-to-1 proportion of both cheeses. Although our own is lightly softer, there is not much difference in texture and flavor.

Also, buy local if quality is at par to save a few pesos. Look for bargains. Do this for your gifts as well. It is good to plan ahead, maybe buy two gifts a week. You will be more relaxed when December comes.

Here’s to planning ahead!

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