The Joy of Padala: Care Package #1

At our home in the Philippines, the language of love is food. My brother's food experiments, my cousin Brad's sweet creations, and my mother's kare-kare; cooking is how we show our affection.

We are adventurous when it comes to food. I have a brother who cooks like a god and experiments like a madman. There's Brad, who seldom bakes but who, when the spirit moves him, creates really moist butter and chocolate cakes with pretty icing. Eating, whether at home or out in restaurants, is our favorite bonding event.

Because I am based abroad, my little contribution, my show of affection is preparing small care packages for the fambam. It's one of the things I look forward to doing whenever I have a box to the Philippines. I enjoy the hunt for ingredients and food items. To my mind, it is my way of sharing my life abroad with them. Sending goodies that are representative of the place I am in.

This week, I am shipping my very first package from Spain. Most items are goodies for TLC but I have allotted some space for the fambam's care package. None of the item in the care package, save for the saffron, is exorbitantly priced. I usually set a budget for the care package (say 50€ max) and from there, I hunt out for nice buys.

CARE PACKAGE #1 FROM SPAIN


I deliberately chose items that are more or less representative of Spain or are somewhat hard to find in the Philippines.

Deli Goodies: AlioOlio spread ( I love this garlic-based, light as cotton spread that is similar to mayonnaise except it's uber light and has no artificial eggy flavor), vacuum packed Jamon Serrano, Paella Rice, Paella mixes, Saffron and Pate.

Canned goodies: Sweet pepper rellenos, pate in can.

Chocolates: Not too many as and they still have chocs from the 2012 christmas stash.

Cookies: Mostly sugarfree goodies plus a couple of Filipinos(the biscuits!).

Drinks: Spanish Wines and Horchata. Horchata is a sweet, delicious beverage made from tiger nuts and sugar. I really enjoy this drink so I bought one bottle for the fambam to try. I hope they'll enjoy Horchata's creamy, sort of milky taste as much as I do.

So this is my care package #1. I honestly enjoyed hunting down these goodies, checking shops and brands for the best value and best prices. I hope the fambam enjoys them! How about you, do you love receiving or preparing care packages too?