It's been so long since I've written something here on Hive, it was the typical life got on the way excuse in being consistent in writing creative content on this platform. I have no regrets. I loved that I was able to be present for my family, friends, and myself for the past months. It was a busy January and February for me and I had tons of good memories to keep. There were a lot of good times I'll remember, most were spent over food, of course!
Last Christmas, almost every Filipino families celebrated the holidays by curating their own charcuterie, a French way of preparing meat products in a plate. I have seen a lot of creative and delicious plates all over my social media feed. That trend was extended and became our theme in throwing our friend a bridal shower party to celebrate her getting married. She's one of my high school friends and I have known her since the first grade. It was really amazing to see that little girl grow into a wonderful person that she is right now.
Our group of friends decided to surprise her with this party we all organized, something simple yet with food overflowing the table, a major upgrade of the old times. Back when we were still high school students, we would always eat foods that are not really healthy, foods that are flavorful and cheap. But, here's to celebrating not just her getting married but how far we've all come to, hoping that our friendship will last a few more decades of celebrating each other's milestones.
the set up
We prepared everything from scratch aside from the wings, cupcakes, and cake. Online shopping has really made a huge impact on making DIY (do-it-yourself) things materialize. The wine glasses, disposable utensils, placemats, garlands, lights, wall designs, balloons, and souvenirs were all purchased online! All we have to do is do grocery shopping and cook the food we'll share together. Just like the good old times, we bonded not just over food but while preparing and cooking the pasta, garlic bread, and charcuterie plates.
the table
We set it up in such a way that we can just sit on the floor. We were able to save on renting chairs for our simple party. Also, this makes conversations just flow since everyone is relaxed and enjoying the charcuterie plates.
the charcuterie plates
We prepared four plates, filling each with sausages, nuts, pretzels, chocolates, mallows, pepperoni, cheese, biscuits, grapes, and salami.
This last one might be unfamiliar to you, back when we were in high school, our allowances only afforded street foods for our after class snacks. We used to stuff ourselves with processed foods like fish ball, kikiam, and squid ball. So we made sure that we have prepared this platter of the food we loved eating from 10 years ago.
Everything was perfect that day. It made my heart so happy to see my high school friends once again with so many great stories to tell from the paths they have took and currently taking. We may not see each other so often now, and we're now only celebrating the big moments of our lives, but one thing is for sure, good food will always be on the table!