N Is for New Year's Abundance

I greeted 2011 surrounded by a riot of color, taste, and sound. From the rainbow-hued wet market, the tartness of green mangoes, to the fiery scent of exploding firecrackers, the new year began with an overwhelming sense of abundance.

So much beauty surrounds us. With that, three glimpses of New Year's from the Philippines:

Mahogany Market, Tagaytay City. An edible forest of bananas tower in green, gold, and orange-yellow.

 

My spirit is fed in returning to roots. In Pangasinan, my mother's home province, the land shimmers with emerald rice fields, fish ponds jumping with bangus, salt fields, and a hundred family stories.

Nasugbu, Batangas. I love the quiet invitation of the table - a place to gather, share food, and build rhythm at the beginning and end of the day.

There's More:

Generations of Filipino Vendors at Mahogany Market

Undermining Abundance - the Big Business of Creating Scarcity

Manila Man and Bananas

Comments

[Susan]

I love the table with the flowers - so simple, beautiful.

I can't believe you've already made it to N! Enjoying your posts!

[KitchenKwento]

Thanks, Susan! It was a lovely table to be at. Its funny - I originally planned on one letter a day (and would've finished that project in a month!). But this ended up taking on a life of its own. I'm glad, because now it's spanned more seasons and places than I would've imagined.

[Seattle General Contractor]

Oh, I love Tagaytay too. Lovely place indeed.