Holiday Cooking: 6 Baked Dishes for a Festive Noche Buena

It’s hard for me to say that Christmas is in the air because the heat of Metro Manila is nowhere close to the chilly, cool winds that we used to have when the “ber” months start showing in the calendar. However, I’ve already started seeing premature Christmas decorations in malls, and holiday songs have started playing too, so it’s no denying that Christmas is already looming in the Philippines. This just got me more excited to fly back to Bukidnon to spend the holidays with the fam. I can’t wait!

Ever since I can remember, we’ve always been happy with a simple Noche Buena. My mom would make dinner, my ate would prepare dessert, and the kuyas would be outside grilling pork belly between glasses of beer. That was how it always used to be. But then, with our growing number of nephews and nieces I realized that I’m actually one of the kuyas now, and I should already start contributing in the kitchen as well!

Thing is, I’m a whole lot better at eating than cooking which is why I’ve recently started joining cooking classes, with the most recent one being the Hands-On Holiday Cooking Workshop by KitchenAid at Living Well Homestore. The class worked on 6 exciting dishes that you can bake for the holidays.

Thankfully, I had a lovely partner who was just as eager to learn to cook as I am. Ana and I prepared the Cheesy Baked Onion Dip, which was one of the simplest yet one of the tastiest recipes lined up for the class that day.

Presenting to you our finished product. Looks so much prettier in the KitchenAid Ceramic Bakeware doesn't it? 

Our “classmates” had their own dishes to prepare too! Since our team finished earlier than the others, I took the time to observe how they prepare the dishes assigned to them, which was definitely more complex than the dip Ana and I worked on. It’s amazing how they all make it look so easy!

Zucchini Parmesan Bake

Roasted Lemon Rosemary Chicken

Pizza Pasta Bake

Apple Walnut Cobbler

While waiting for our dishes to get baked in the oven, everybody prepared their own Rosemary Parmesan Focaccia using the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. This should go well with the onion dip we prepared.

Our fingers were crossed when it was time to taste our finished products. Thankfully, our onion dip turned out well – all thanks to the guidance of Chef Marian and the enthusiasm of my partner. The other dishes were also equally satisfying that I ended up bringing some of them home!

Now these should be something interesting that I can offer for our Noche Buena and Media Noche. I’m particularly excited to make the Apple Walnut Cobbler since my love for dessert runs in the family.  Looks like our oven’s gonna be busy for the holidays!

PS. Lemme know if you want to know the recipes ;)