Playing Catchup - Part 4

February 10 marked our 12th year of the GOP (Girls Only Potluck). This is an annual event hosted by our fun and funky girlfriend Monique -- yes, she of the Fashionably Late NYE Bash -- and we always enjoy delicious food and lots of laughs. I brought Caldereta Rice, a vegetarian version of the beef caldereta my grandmother used to make.
This year, we had a lot of new faces attend the party, so Monique arranged a fun "get-to-know-you" game. She gave each of us a blank recipe card, and on it, we were to write 5 things about ourselves that no one else knew about. This was tough because many in attendance were my closest girlfriends to whom I'd already divulge many of my deepest darkest secrets. Wouldn't you know it... I found 5 more I hadn't told them! Mine were...
1. 1st ever celebrity crush: Donny Osmond
2. Wanted to be a singer when I grew up
3. Favourite song to dance to: "Shake your Groove Thing"
4. Dream Vacation Destinations: Greece and Italy
5. Used to practice martial arts called Sikaran
So, Monique gathered back all the cards and split us all up into 4 teams. For each team, she would read the clues from a note card depending on the number of clues the team requests -- the less clues, the more points. And from the clue(s) read, the team was to guess who this person was. From scandalous facts (dating one man only to end up marrying his brother) to verbal misunderstanding (Nucci's sounds like "new cheese" when out of context), we definitely learned a lot about each other. Well, I was in tears from laughing so hard!
Another good year, Monique! Kudos!

Hapunan is the filipino word for "supper", and on the evening of February 16, we treated a small group of our friends to an authentic filipino dinner. This hapunan is the first of several such dinner parties we intend to have... our house is small, so small groups are the ticket.
On the menu was Beef Caldereta, which is essentially beef stewed in coconut milk, served over garlic-fried rice, and tocino (seasoned pork). Yum.
It was nice having friends over. And we plan to do it more often.