Potluck.  Now more than any time of the year, I and I'm pretty sure you guys too, will be attending party after party.  And because CHRISTmas is a family affair and we have to bring the whole fam bam it's usually done at a friend's house, Lola's house, uncle's house and even at our very own house.  I love it that CHRISTmas has that way of opening homes to friends and family, iba ang mood if it's at home, more relaxed.  Plus the kids get to see their friends and can roam around the whole house without bugging us to head for home (hehe always happens in a resto) para tuloy ang chika ever!

And since it's at a house,  eh di ano pa ang kasunod, kung hindi potluck:-)  Nowadays,  people just don't expect the host to prepare the whole meal.  Everybody brings their own specialty.  Ilabas si Rachel Ray!  Actually, I think this is the time of the year that the most recipes are exchanged too;-)  If it's potluck I always try to bring something prepared from home.  Feeling ko mas special.  I'll cook my favorite shrimp pasta or lasagna for the kids and since my daughter is into baking, sometimes I'll ask her to whip up some dessert.  Sometimes,  I would like to bring my newest recipe find!

I got new food ideas at the MerryCrema 2014 Food Festival event at the Eastwood Open Mall.  Alaska Crema put together Metro's hottest and up-and-coming food merchants to sample and sell their food using Alaska Crema.  Super like! because second to spices like salt and pepper,  I think milk is one of the heavily used ingredients in our household. Macaroni de Sopas, lasagna, chicken pastel, pumpkin soup, chicken curry, mashed potato, cupcakes, all of it needs milk!

I'll take you through the food event and share with you my recipe steal of the day.Bloggers were asked to go through the booths, sample the food and grade the recipes according to their taste, creative use of Alaska Crema and food presentation.  Ang hirap pala maging judge! Lahat masarap!  But my favorites are the Panna Cotta from Blue Toque, the cake pop with Cheese Cake inside,  the balot with cream sauce and the meat loaf from The Serving Spoon.

After all the food has been consumed, graded and we can barely move from fullness, we were serenaded by the "Hail Mary The Queen" Choir.  Reminds me of my UP days when I was active in ICTUS and we would carol from house to house.

My favorite hosts in the world, Chico and Delamar, were there to host the event.  Recipes were shared by Alaska House Chef and the best food that featured Alaska Crema were awarded.

And for my recipe steal of the day, Meat Loaf ala Mary, from "The Serving Spoon," one of the food merchants at the Food Festival.

I didn't see the full meat loaf because it was in sampling sizes but I figured it would have looked this way. Photo from TheCookingMom

Meat loafs would serve well as a potluck dish because it looks festive, can be eaten slowly aka papak espesyal for those long lunch potlucks, easy to prepare, can be prepared in advance plus it doesn't spoil easily.

For more recipe ideas using Alaska Crema, download their Alaska Cremamoments Everyday App .  It is available to all Android users. Please also like the Alaska Crema Moments Facebook page and follow them on Instagram @Alaska Crema for more food ideas and inspiration.

Smiles were big and tummies were full at the Merry Crema 2014 Food Festival of Alaska Crema.  Everyone got to try a little bit of food from all the food merchants.  Moms got to bring home an Alaska gift pack.  The photo booth was heavily used.  Children got to do some arts and crafts and shoot some hoops.  The usual no fail wise cracks of Chico and Delamar.  Recipes were shared and we were serenaded by the carolers.  It was a nice afternoon well spent.

Wishing you all a Merry Crema 2014!

P.S.  Thank you very much to Alaska Crema for inviting TheGoMom to the event and for sponsoring this post.