With this issue, we mark Positively Filipino's 7th year of publication, a milestone that we celebrate with gratitude and affection to all of you who have supported and appreciated this online magazine all these years. Contrary to what most believe, PF doesn't have a big staff; in fact, there are only four of us doing the grunt work in putting out this publication. [See http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/editorial/ to know who we are.]

What we lack in staff, we make up for in correspondents and contributors: freelance journalists, writers, academics, artists, friends who have not written for publication before but who have surprised us with their writing abilities, and strangers who have offered to write about things dear to the Filipino diaspora. Then there are those who point us to something or someone worth featuring in our pages. To all of you, THANK YOU. Positively Filipino exists because we have come together to celebrate in various unique ways our being Filipino in this globalized world where we have to assert our presence.

We hope to have your continued and unwavering support as we go on gathering our collective stories and sharing them with kababayans and kindred spirits.

In this our first issue for the year and the decade, here are some good reads to complete your celebrations:

Award-winning writer Jennifer Fergesen shares another story from the Filipino culinary diaspora, this time the restaurant in Vienna's notable Hotel am Brillantengrund which serves innovative Filipino dishes because, well, it's run by a Filipino-Austrian.

To recap the year that was, here are Our Most-read Stories for the Year.

And if you want to know what's in store for your zodiac sign in 2020, here's "How To Read Your Stars in 2020," by astrology advocate Walter Ang, whose passion for the signs is matched by his passion for FilAm theater [hint: read his book].

Our first Happy Home Cook recipe for the year is for Seitan Bistek from Chef Frezida Mangalino of Hotel am Brillantengrund.

In case you missed them, some notable stories from other publications:

Philippine Peasants Were Promised Land. Staking a Claim Can Be Deadly.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/27/business/philippines-duterte-poverty-farmers.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&fbclid=IwAR3V7tPg3UWK3esvQLi89x27YdPqUhKAXXut9vrcBKpNA4GaEZ_Q5Wfk0_0

The Most Famous Photograph of Poets Ever Taken
https://slate.com/culture/2019/12/photo-elizabeth-bishop-marianne-moore-auden-tennessee-williams.html

In the Filipinx Diaspora, We Are Remaking Tradition, the Recipe Edition
http://www.barbarajanereyes.com/2019/12/26/in-the-filipinx-diaspora-we-are-remaking-tradition-the-recipe-edition/?fbclid=IwAR3J7qW9IsTwdgaBbt4qC729vRW0EPrMCZBZGnDOdlUpc1NO1Y33pF4CKTo

This Lechon de Leche by a Filipino home cook captured the world
https://www.philstar.com/lifestyle/food-and-leisure/2019/12/24/1979372/lechon-de-leche-filipino-home-cook-captured-world?fbclid=IwAR2HRCh4Mu5xh0zOUl3ebexiQ3LLUGW9HrwXsGvMkxpEs5uRZaCjJYSyQdA

For Video of the Week, stand-up comedian Jo Koy presents a toast to his mother.