American Filipina

One must always have a fruit tray at a Filipino Party  The word Merienda means "afternoon snack."  I should have known better that my family is incapable of bringing together anything small much less a light snack.  The mere size of my family does not lend to little afternoon parties with nibbles.  When my mother  and aunties arrived to my "Merienda" they quickly corrected my marketing of the event and what the word Merienda was meant to mean.  The party was immediately renamed "The Little Big Party". Everyone proudly displayed their dishes as they walked in and posed in a photographs with their dishes.  This was an exhilarating feeling to see and hear their own stories and journeys of trying to cook their own recipes.  Some instructed their children to make the dish, some made what they wanted to eat.  Now, the point was to share the recipes, but nobody brought a copy on paper, they were all chattering away in the kitchen on their approaches and tech