Month: November 2020

Halloween season is here. For the most part, we Filipinos aren’t really enthusiastic about this particular seasonal event, due to the fact that it isn’t engraved in our culture. Sure, we are all in a festive mood by now, but a lot of that enthusiasm is focused towards our love for Christmas. Being a dominantly Catholic/Christian nation, it is only understandable that we are more inclined towards this particular celebration, rather than one which incites superstition and the supernatural. As such, it can’t be helped that Halloween itself is seen as a trivial, often overlooked form of event, rather than a month-long tradition that can ever be taken seriously by Filipinos. Of course, that wouldn’t stop some of us from discovering new ways to distract ourselves from the current pandemic, as the past few months really took its toll on everyone. Perhaps, even for a week or two, some of us may “escape” reality and bond with our family over a plastic pumpkin-shaped trinket of sweets.

With that in mind, you might be one of those who are looking for ways to have fun with your family during the pandemic, without even breaking the bank. Everything seems to be costly nowadays, so every expense should be taken with utter caution, and overspending may put the family budget at risk. But fear not, for we have prepared a few spooktacular tips for you to celebrate Halloween with your family without sacrificing much of your budget.

Watching Horror Movies at Home

You do not have to go outdoors to enjoy the Halloween season. As a matter of fact, you can enjoy Halloween just by staying at home. Especially during the pandemic, you should round up all your family members and let them know that you have something in store for them during the night of terror (October 30, as usually plotted out on most horror movies). Feel free to pop in an old horror movie in your DVD player, prepare a bowl of snacks, and pour in a couple of sodas, while you comfortably sit with your family, enjoying the screams of the protagonist trying to escape the scary madman of the movie. If DVDs are too old for your taste, you can simply log-in your streaming subscription and choose to stream newer titles that your kids and teens may be more familiar with (zombies, zombies, and more zombies). Nonetheless, enjoying Halloween night at home is a lot less scary because you have each other to embrace during the sudden scares and thrilling moments. It’s also a way of avoiding the real horror outdoors, which is the current pandemic that’s been haunting our fellow Filipinos for quite a while now.

Making Sweet Halloween Treats in the Kitchen

Your Halloween family bonding isn’t just limited to watching horror flicks in the living room. To say the least, there are other fun ways to enjoy the spooky season while having quality time with the family. If you happen to have a certain skill in cooking or baking, then this one may fit your timetable. Being a good cook or baker isn’t just about impressing other people with your delicious treats, it’s also about creating something “golden” without having to spend much of your tight budget. The test of being a skilled in the kitchen would all come down to whether or not you are wise enough to use the ingredients that are readily within reach, without having to go out to buy more. Show this unrelenting skill and impress your family by organizing a bake off during Halloween night. Come up with creative Halloween-themed cookies, cupcakes, or brownies and add a little flair to your spooktacular creations. Your kids and teens would love it too, because for the first time since the start of the pandemic, they would be able to do something that they haven’t done before, and that is to learn how to cook/bake. Yes, they may have tasted your sweet home-made treats before, but in terms of making those treats, they may have been on the sidelines, merely waiting for the finished product to reach their plates. This is the perfect opportunity to train them in the art of cooking.

Creating Goofy Halloween Masks and Other Spooky Crafts

This activity is targeted to the younger members of your family. Kids love to get messy with their art materials, and this Halloween season, there are no limits. Let them have their fun with crayons, watercolor, and paper mache (with parental supervision, of course). Bring out their creative side and nurture that moving forward, who knows, your toddlers may turn out to be future graphic artists and painters. The thing about this activity is that it doesn’t require a whole lot of materials. You may recycle old newspapers at home, then buy a couple of crayons at your nearest grocery store (they aren’t even expensive, just choose the non-toxic ones). If your kids are too young to handle glue and paste, then be sure to help them out. If you’re going to use felt and colored paper, the paste may cause these colors to stick on their clothes (paper residues), so utmost care is a must.

Storytelling in the Dark with Nothing but a Flashlight

The most valuable thing you can share your loved ones during Halloween night would be fun and scary memories. Get creative and walk down memory lane. Tell your kids about your past experiences which may or may have not been affected by supernatural beings (we’re exaggerating on this, but you get the idea). Add a bit of truth to your stories, incorporating valuable/moral lessons which they may add to their character while growing up. Of course, you may need to clarify on the details someday, so they wouldn’t grow up to be very suspicious people, but think of this as a way to teach them the dos and don’ts of life, without leaning too much on the supernatural aspect and the best thing about this activity? You don’t have to spend money at all. Of course, you may need batteries (for your flashlight) and a couple of snacks, but other than that, you’re going to save more on the electricity charges with the lights off.

These are just some of the ways to have fun during Halloween night without “breaking the bank,” so to speak, but if you’re looking for a well-trusted name that would safely value the security of your hard-earned money and savings during these hard times. Well, look no further than Cebuana Lhuillier’s Micro Savings services. At its core, it aims to provide easier banking access to all Filipinos. The product is almost the same with any regular savings account in the Philippines, but doesn’t require a maintaining balance. It is also streamlined across all Cebuana Lhuillier branches, so you’d be able to experience the same wonderful Micro Savings service without missing a beat. For more information, feel free to visit the nearest Cebuana Lhuillier now!

Halloween night isn’t usually a festivity celebrated by Filipinos. We are familiar with fiestas, Christmas, holy gatherings, and New Year’s Eve, but “the night of terror” is often an overlooked celebration all in all. Of course, there are references to it within the Philippine pop culture, often being plotted as the release date of local horror movies and scary documentaries after the evening news. You might have a relative who grew up in the province, claiming spooky stories of apparitions and mysterious happenings at sundown. You might have even seen a couple of Halloween-themed costumes and treats within your nearest grocery stores and malls, signifying that the local businesses are aware of it, capitalizing on its fame (or infamy) in order to boost sales. But compared to our international counterparts, we do not really celebrate it with enthusiasm or enough effort the way that we do with other holidays. There are countless explanations to this, but we can usually attribute that to our longstanding culture and religion.

Now, this doesn’t mean that we can’t have fun during Halloween season, of course. The thing about this particular festivity is that it is often seen as a waste of time and money, with many critics pointing their fingers towards impractical costumes and sweets. Especially with the country’s current situation, every Centavo counts, and if we were to waste money on such a trivial occasion, we may feel the long-term effects within the coming months. Luckily, there are always affordable alternatives when it comes to celebrating every event or happening, and Halloween night is definitely one of them. Workarounds are always in place to ensure that we’ll be able to have fun, without sacrificing much of our budget, and that is most evident with Halloween treats. As they say, nothing brings a family closer than with a fun, productive activity that can teach each and every member something new, and cooking or baking is a surefire way of doing just that. You may ask though, “What Halloween treats or delicacies should I make with my family? What affordable ingredients do I have to buy to make these kitchen creations? Are they even easy to prepare?” No need to worry, as we have prepared a couple of easy-to-follow recipes in making sweet and delectable (no trick) treats for a spooktacular night.

 

Blood-Red Bingsu

Bingsu or Patbingsu is a well-known Korean dessert, usually made up of shaved ice and condensed milk, topped off with sweet syrup and fruits. You may have tasted one already through your Korean-themed local fastfood, but did you know that it is also fairly easy to make?

Ingredients:

For the Red Syrup Topping

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 2 tbsps of sugar
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose cream
• 1 cup of water
• 1 and 1/2 tsps of soy lecithin

For the Milky Ice

• 2 cups of water
• 1 can of evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup of all-purpose cream
• 1/2 cup of condensed milk

For the Fruit Topping

• 1 cup of strawberries
• 1/2 cup of sugar

Instructions:

• Let’s start with the milky ice. You need to blend all of the milky ice ingredients together, after which, you’d need to pour the mixture into an ice cube tray. Leave it overnight in the freezer.
• To prepare the fruit topping, you need to cook the strawberries in a saucepan with sugar. Set the stove to medium heat and cook until the mix is thickened. Make sure to crush the strawberry pieces while you stir.
• Let us move on to the red syrup topping. First, you need to blend the first four ingredients together (strawberries, sugar, all-purpose cream, and water) until it is processed into a smooth mixture, after which, you need to transfer it to a deep glass bowl. Add in the soy lecithin and mix with an immersion blender until the whole mixture begins to foam.
• The milky ice cubes should then be shaved (using a scraper) into a large bowl, followed by the fruit topping and red, foamy syrup.

Keep in mind that you may need to prepare the ingredients the day before (if you’re even planning to serve this on Halloween night itself), as you need to freeze the milky ice overnight.

 

Creamy Pumpkin Soup

Nothing screams Halloween louder than a good old pumpkin. It has since been recognized as a Halloween symbol (along with bat and ghost shapes), mostly adorning the outdoor windows, often having carved faces and spooky imagery. But this recipe isn’t all about the decorations, but rather the home-made, creamy goodness to warm up the chilling Halloween night.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp of butter
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped onions
• 500 grams of cut up pumpkin (also known as squash here in the Philippines)
• 3 cups of water
• 1 piece of bay leaf
• A few bits of salt and ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup of evaporated milk
• 1 pack of all-purpose cream

Instructions:

• First, you need to melt the butter in a saucepan. Set the stove to medium heat and add in the onions. Sauté until they are all softened.
• Add in the cut up pumpkin/squash and sauté it for about 5 minutes. You’d then need to pour in the water. Add in the bay leaf and season to taste with the salt and ground black pepper.
• Bring it to a boil, then let it simmer until the pumpkin/squash is cooked. Remove the bay leaf then add in both the evaporated milk and all-purpose cream.
• Mix it well. You may even use a hand blender to make the soup as smooth and creamy as possible. You may add more water, salt, and pepper, depending on the taste and texture of the overall mixture.

You may consider this as part of your dinner during Halloween night, accompanied by freshly-cooked rice.

 

Strawberry Ghost

Here’s something cute and boo-tiful to lighten up the mood during Halloween night. Basically, these are strawberries dipped in melted white chocolate, shaped and left to cool in order to create a ghastly aesthetic. Not only is it fun to make, it’s also healthy for the kids.

Ingredients:

2 cups of strawberries

1 and 1/2 cups of melted white chocolate

1 tsp coconut oil

1/4 cup of mini chocolate chips

1 cup of melted chocolate chips

Instructions:

• First, you need to prepare a baking sheet. Line it with parchment paper.
• Next, you need to combine the melted white chocolate and coconut oil in a large bowl. Stir the mixture thoroughly.
• Here’s the fun part. Dip the strawberries into the white chocolate mixture, then place two mini chocolate chips on the top half of the strawberries for the eyes.
• Place the dipped strawberries on the baking sheet you had prepared earlier and place it in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, or until the white dip hardens.
• Pour the melted chocolate chips in an icing bag (a Ziploc with one corner cut by a scissor would suffice as well) and form the mouths on the dipped strawberries. Place it in the refrigerator once more to allow the melted chocolate to cool. 5 minutes may be enough, but again, feel free to leave it in there longer if the melted chocolate hasn’t hardened yet.

All of these treats should be shared, hence, why none of your loved ones would be left out during snack time.

Well, this is just one way of saving money while having fun with your family during Halloween night, but you may be looking for a well-trusted name that would safely value the security of your hard-earned money and savings during these hard times. Well, look no further than Cebuana Lhuillier’s Micro Savings services. At its core, it aims to provide easier banking access to all Filipinos. The product is almost the same with any regular savings account in the Philippines, but doesn’t require a maintaining balance. It is also streamlined across all Cebuana Lhuillier branches, so you’d be able to experience the same wonderful Micro Savings service without missing a beat. For more information, feel free to visit the nearest Cebuana Lhuillier now!