Twelve Days of Christmas Revisited

Here's an old journal entry from two years ago which I keep coming back to just because... No mention of food here. Just a mommy note that gives me that warm fuzzy feeling. Merry Christmas everybody!!!

My son has been singing The Twelve Days of Christmas in the bathroom since he learned the words to the song last year. I consider it a treat to hear him happily scrubbing off a day's worth of grime and muck to the tune of "five go-hol-den riiiiiings."

I remember that day when he was so kulet to show me the newest song he had just learned in school. He tugged me away from slicing and dicing vegetables for dinner to show me how he painstakingly wrote the lyrics on his notebook. I knew it was something important to him because he was able to copy the entire song , days one through 12, and he is not the most excited student to copy just anything from the chalkboard in school. He begged me to sing the song with him right there and then, so I did.

Now, I knew why that song was written. Never mind if what a partridge is or why it was on a pear tree and not some other tree. All I knew was that while singing it with my son, it was just so much fun. It was one of those opportunities that, as a parent, I know I shouldn't pass. I'm happy he still allows me to kiss or hug him in front of his friends, although I catch him wiping off the kisses every once in a while when he goes off to join them play or runs to his service ride to school. In a few years, I know I would not be able to just ask him to join me grocery shopping, enjoy a late breakfast with pancakes, or play an afternoon game of Snakes and Ladders as he would might prefer to hang with his friends in his tween or teen years. So while he's this young, I would absolutely drop my paring knife to sing The Twelve Days of Christmas with him. Thanks to Frederic Austin or whoever it was who wrote this carol supposedly about gifts given by somebody's true love and hence appropriate to be sung with the ones who are dear to you. Now, If I can only figure out how to play that Yu-Gi-Oh card game...

Our Own

I used to know this painting major from UP Fine Arts who had a mini thesis by "deconstructing" letters of the alphabet. The pieces of his exhibit still had recognizable parts of letters while the other students executed all-out abstractions. I asked him why he had taken this route and he replied that there is something to appreciate in the form of each letter. Hmmm... Well, yes. I could certainly appreciate that there's something inspiring about how curvy a serif can be. There is beauty in form and that is its own meaning. I had a similar realization two weeks ago.

I was standing in a funeral home with my siblings picking out an urn in a show cabinet filled with these vases of different shapes and sizes. No matter how carefully each one was crafted, I was at a loss at the meaning of it all and unable to comprehend the moment. I was unable to appreciate the beauty in the form, out of touch and in denial. Up to this point, I have not cried a good cry for my father's death although I have been having random moments when I'd feel like choking as if I had swallowed my own heart. It happens rather impetuously. I could be riding a bus on my way somewhere or loading a tubful of laundry in the wash. So looking back to that "Six Feet Under" moment at Funeraria Paz two weeks ago, I realized that an urn is an urn. By all means, there is beauty in an urn firmly perched on the shelf serving the function for which it was crafted. Undeniably, however, the ashes it holds overshadows its beauty for it holds the remains of one of our own.

Rest in peace, Tatay. We miss you.

OMG (Oh, my gulay!)

Skyrocket! I nearly dropped the head of cabbage I held at the market yesterday. It was almost as big as my fist and used to cost about 10 pesos. Now, it's 60 pesos! A piece of ampalaya (bitter gourd) now checks out at Php 30 to Php 40. My favorite bag of spinach now goes for Php 90 from Php 45. Even okra wasn't spared. A small 5-peso bundle now goes for Php 20. The prices of vegetables have either doubled or tripled. Only the sturdier vegetables were mildly affected like squash and chayote.

It has been about 3 days since typhoon Pepeng (Parma) left the country, and Metro Manila has been experiencing the effects of the devastation of farms and infrastructure to Northern and Central Luzon. Pampanga, Nueva Ecija, Baguio and Benguet suffered the same fate as Manila, Cavite, Bulacan and Laguna during the height of typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana). These natural calamities have damaged the supply of produce including rice and fish plus fresh flowers from Baguio. Homemakers in Metro Manila will think twice about making chopsuey for their families. Some even say that it is more economical to serve meat than vegetables, and there's truth to that.

Classes had been suspended for a week and my son has been trying to catch up with missed lessons. Some projects had to be done at home like the one he's made for art class. The kids had made seed collage, and we chose local lentils in different colors that are cheap and the extra I cooked for dinner. I'm going to have a lot of beans or lentils for quite a long time then.

my son's collage project for art class

monggo at talbos ng sili or green lentils with chili leaves

regrouping

nice sun shiny day view through the cafe window

Going out and having a gastronomic treat at a new place is one the many ways I employ to lift my spirits. So while on a personal setback of sorts, I recently took my son for a nice treat to Cafe Mary Grace. Usually after we're done grocery shopping it would always be lunch at his favorite fast food for chicken and rice. But, since he behaved so much at the dentist's office, having received sealants for his permanent molars, I thought it was a nice idea to bring him to some place "fancy" than the usual. He did beg for us to get something from Starbucks, but I told him that since he was such a trooper at trying out new things, he should go all the way with this frame of mind the entire day including lunchtime.

cappucino, grilled vegetables on foccacia and spaghetti with meatballs

My boy agreed to step into the quaint cafe and was looking so much forward to get the peach iced tea after going through the menu. It was the only item there that he got clearly interested in. But, he got irritated when the service staff later told us they ran out of the peachy item. By that time he was rather cross... until the food came. After putting up with the taste of fluoride, his taste buds welcomed the spaghetti with meatballs which our waitress said was a good choice for kids. I was just so delighted to find him enjoying his noodles since he'd usually shy away from anything with greens scattered around the plate. I could tell he was loving the spaghetti while he was fishing the basil leaves out of the way. I, on the other hand, was finding my sandwich awesome and substantial since the oyster mushroom did taste great except that the olive oil was quite runny as it dripped onto the plate at my every bite. Needless to say, we stepped out the cafe with our bellies satisfied with my boy recharged with energy and I ready to deal head on with the blues.

twist (and) again

laing style pasta twist

Before my husband left for another 9-month contract for a cargo vessel, we were talking about the foods he missed. One of them was laing which is gabi or taro leaves cooked in coconut milk and usually spicy hot. He was planning on bringing some dried taro leaves so he can make laing overseas, but he abandoned the thought since the package of dried leaves might make so much of a fuss in customs. I've seen how the package of taro leaves looked like and one might mistake it for a bag of illegal weeds. I was craving for some laing but did not have taro leaves and was too much suspicious of the dried alternative in the market, but I had some spinach and thought it would be nice to cook it in coconut milk laing style and toss in some pasta twists. And, I did. It turned out quite nice. That was yesterday though.

my attempt at "Oriental" style pasta

I was still left with some pasta twists and thought of having them for lunch but making a totally different sauce. I took the soy route and added fresh shiitake, snow peas, and leeks. It was great. I'm thinking I could serve this during special occasions. It's very simple but with wonderful flavors and textures thanks to the crunchiness of the snow peas and the "limpness" of the shiitake.

Anyone for seconds?

Speaking of twists, it's just amazing how things take a twist without one ever expecting it. I was praying for a new beginning, a breathe of fresh air in my sort of stale unhealthy routine since my place of work went north (or should I say gone south?!). I had planned to leave work, do something else... I don't know. Maybe just get farther away from Makati as possible? Anyway, due to something that was not planned and certainly not desired, I think I may have to leave work sooner than I thought... Oh, the twists one cannot avoid and probably should just accept and embrace. Who knows? Maybe something better is out there for me.

Tofu and Talong Times Two

bistek style tofu and eggplant

Cooking with tofu for a lone vegetarian at home would be easier if this soy product was packaged in one serving containers. I get to cook tofu twice a week since this product is usually packaged in large portion sizes that's not for one-meal preparation. Otherwise, if I fail to use the tofu or forget that I still have some in the ref, I end up with tofu that's gone bad. I've been reading some bad press about tofu lately and don't know if I should be seriously concerned. Anyway, eggplants are good with tofu and for one package which I usually turn into two dishes back-to-back this weekend, I did one dish that's bistek (Filipinized beef steak) style and another one that's spicy style.

sesame sprinkled spicy tofu and eggplant

snackies

10-peso binatog

I had binatog for merienda today. I thought nobody sells them anymore but apparently, the binatog vendors are still around and are encouraged by the better weather we're having today. It's been two weeks of rain and today's the only day I've seen and felt real sunshine. I went outside and hailed manong binatog and got one serving for 10 pesos. Binatog is corn, the white variety, that's been boiled to almost popping, always served hot and topped with kinudkod na niyog or grated mature coconut then sprinkled with either salt or sugar. I'm happy binatog still exists. I thought it's been phased out because the yellow Japanese corn has been the more popular choice especially with kids nowadays.

vegetarian junk food ready for marathon DVD viewing

Nico didn't want any of the binatog and so he just had the usual junk food, Marty's which we both enjoyed by the way. Marty's is made from dehydrated peas and processed to taste like chicharon or pork cracklings. Don't ask me about nutritional value, it's junk food.

red rice congee with shiitake dumplings

If it was raining I would've again made champorado or even congee which I made last summer... I'm feeling lazy and out of shiitake, hence binatog.