Squash

Some thoughts on Squash:

1. Pinakbet DOES NOT have squash. If it does, it’s called diningding/diningdeng. I am really in no position to prove the veracity of that, but my lolo will argue to his wits’ end: Pinakbet SHOULD NOT have squash.

2. Squash vs. Pumpkin: Quelle est la difference?

3. My taste buds have perfect timing. Halloween = carved pumpkins = more pumpkin meat to eat. Except no one really carves pumpkins/squash here.

Friday special at Piquant, beef with Mashed Squash:

I’m unsure if my little french question is gramatically correct and if that picture is really beef or lamb. But I’m sure–although it shocks me–Pinakbet  does not have squash. Because my lolo is always right.

I am now ready to hear your thoughts/violent reactions/comments on Squash.

 

Snail Mail Birthday

On my birthday, I found a box (which, I would later on find out, was a keyboard box) sitting and waiting for me at the living room table. After sniffing, scrutinizing and investigating the source of the package, I opened it to find this:

Shotgun Chef: Sophia Sabrina F. Elane

(I’m not posting the letter! Because there is such a thing as too much cheese)

More bubble wrap and more suspicious contents.

Ten minutes and a heap of bubble wrap and newspaper later…

…my dreams in a box: writing, New York, Audrey Hepburn and FOOD.

To the giver: needless to say, I love/adore it.

 

Julie and Julia

Before Nigella was the kitchen goddess and Ina, the Barefoot Contessa; before Emeril went Live! and before Hell became the Kitchen, there was Julia Child.

Food + Nora Ephron + Meryl Streep = can’t wait to catch this.

“Maybe I should go to cooking school?”

 

Friday Roundup: Fro-Yo-Ga

FRO-YO: Post yoga snacks, pre-grocery bites. Isn’t she lovely?

Available at Hobbes and Landes. PhP 80 for the regular size. Plus 40 for the toppings. I got me mangoes, strawberries (hiding in all that saint-ful yogurt) and kiwi! Good Friday morning to me!

To cap off the Friday, I had another Fro-yo treat. Had Blueberry Morning, Strawberries and Almond Nuts for toppings. But that Fro-yo was gone before I could reach for the phone to take a shot. ;p

 

Money for Food: A Playlist

I just realized how much we sing about food, and the so many things food means to us politically, emotionally, socially, economically, shallow-ly, intellectually, philosophically………. etc.

My fave five:

1. Money for Food, Barbie Almalbis

“And you can’t sing all you like sing all you like ’cause people still need money for food”

I was a certified Barbie Almalbis fan, but decreasingly so, the longer she stayed in the music business. I’m not sure if this song was a foreshadowing of her music career’s unfortunate demise, but judging from what she said–that you can’t sing all you like ’cause people still need money for food–maybe even her Nescafe gig couldn’t give her ’nuff money for food. How I wish you never changed, Barbie. Then maybe you can still sing all you like.

2. Blame It, Jamie Foxx and T-Pain

Yes, alcohol can be categorized as “food” where I come from. And yes, where I come from, a lot of things can be blamed on the a-a-a-a-a-alcohol: leaving your keys outside still stuck to the keyhole, reminiscing times that shouldn’t be reminisced and subsequently crying about them with longing, remorse, and anger all at once, drunk texting, drunk calling, allergic reactions, unsolicited confessions, and winning a round of card games.

3. Choux Pastry Heart, Corinne Bailey Rae

Broke my choux pastry heart, Guess life’s, no picture post card

I researched this one, because I like the song a lot. For a very yummy-sounding dessert. I haven’t had a choux pastry myself, but from what I’ve read–Choux pastry is the lightest, crispiest, airiest pastry, which can be used to make profiteroles, éclairs or savoury gougères–it sounds mouthwatering enough. And for such a sweet dessert, this is such a sad song about how vulnerable our hearts are, and perhaps, how reckless we are with others’ hearts, too. I’ve a feeling imma choke on my first choux pastry.

4. Funny the Way It Is, Dave Matthews Band

Funny the way it is, if you think about it. Somebody’s going hungry while someone else is eating out

It is funny the way it is. Heartbreaking too. Mom was telling me a couple of days ago that she insisted on bringing out our helpers for dinner with the family. It brought our new helper to tears of joy and a string of thank yous, because she had never, or at least couldn’t recall,  ever eating out. And I think about the last time I ate out. That was the other night and the night before that, and possibly the one before that too… and I realize I have taken that for granted. Judging too by the number of entries I have posted about eating out, which is really not too much for this blogosphere, but certainly a lot more than some people could ever imagine. When was the last time you went out? Or, when was the last time you went hungry?

5. Banana Pancakes, Jack Johnson

It’s just so easy when the whole world fits inside of your arms, no really need to pay attention to the alarm, wake up slow

Wake up slow. Reminds me of sunny weekend mornings in Salcedo Market, the smell of grilled fish, roasted calf, dumplings, the noise of happy kids running away from their parents to the slides, the smell of the midday, still-fresh sun. I think we’re meant to have only spare servings of slow mornings because they’re just best appreciated that way.

 

All Things Orange

I’m sick yet again. I’ve tried poker and chicken soup, no effect whatsoever. So I’m turning to all things orange.

1. Fresh, fresh, fresh Del Monte Orange Juice!

I love, love, love, love orange juice! I was so delighted to see this in the grocery:

A little pricey at PhP84 for the smallest bottle. But that’s just about the price I’d pay for 100% fresh. And I want to play with ‘em juicers.

2. Melons!

I love these too, freshly peeled, with milk, as a shake, dessert, breakfast, midday snacks or whatever. Going right into my grocery cart:

Along with monthly supply of Appetite, champ-o-rado, leafy greens, pasta, gatorade, bananas and my favorite bread, Gardenia California Raisin Yumyum.

3. Berocca

My least favorite but prolly the most effective. All the Vitamin Orange you need in an effervescent pill (seriously, it’s yuck):

(Who the heck said that health was pink?)

In the orange of health,

Shotgun Chef

 

The Healing Powers of Chicken Soup and Poker

I had a seriously bad headache going yesterday, possibly because of the sudden downpour, which literally drenched me on my way home last Sunday.

Good news, though, it was my first poker night with the Red Mango boys and girl. It was generally a good couple of hours of poker, except I lost my Starbucks money to Lawrence. The first-timer luck wasn’t on my side. But after about an hour of that, my headache had *pooofed* itself into thin air. It’s so much better than Advil, no kidding.

Headed over to Kenny’s Roast and Grill for dinner with myself. Had that Soup and Salad bar, which comes free with an order of entree, otherwise PhP250/head. I couldn’t finish an order of entree by myself, and the salad bar looked hefty anyway so I ordered ala carte. Potato salad, greens, with several toppings, a cold pasta salad and good ol’ warm chicken soup for the sick soul. I went home well, warm and fuzzy all over.

Poker and chicken soup make a good aspirin combo.

 

All Things Green

I’m back from my hiatus and yes,the first thing I’m gonna talk about is green.

Went on a trip to the grocery with Jack at Unimart, Greenhills. Two remarkable food finds:

1)   Tipco Broccoli Juice with Green Tea.

Not bad. Nothing like the taste of the regular broccoli. It’s like green tea with a secret lush ingredient. So it’s ok, just a little scary green. It looks like something Popeye would have straight off the retail packaging.

2)   A LOT of veggies, most of them I’ve never even seen, let alone tried. I have a veggie fetish, if it’s pretty I’ll probably eat it.

It was there I was introduced to the kutchai, long slender flowering stalks otherwise known as garlic chives, commonly used in dumplings.

To the lot of you who have long been acquainted with the vegetable, forgive my ignorant awe.

I found a blog detailing how the writer used the kutchai to make a simple stir-fried meal. I was excited; I didn’t wait to get home to try it. I took some of Jacky’s pots and pans and stir-fried away:

How to (at least how I did it):

1. Drizzle the pan with oil enough to coat the surface with a thin film. I used sesame oil at this point to up the Asian factor.
2. Chopped garlic goes into the pan.
3. Add the Kutchai, chopped into 2-3 inch sticks
4. After a couple of minutes, when the stalks turned dark green, I added chicken stock. No time to make the real deal, so I just gave Knorr cubes some business.
5. I added this to the pan.
6. When the sauce began to thicken, I added salt and pepper to taste.
7. On the serving plate, I drizzled the veggies with more sesame oil, just because I felt like it.

Result:

Served at the dinner with Boogie, Jacky, Krys and Mike. Mike thought it was North Park-delivered. (Blush) For a shotgun chef, hey, that’s not a bad comment at all.

 

Assuming Victory with Heaps of Spaghetti

This is why I had herbs in my baggage.

—

More than just a vacation, the Tacloban trip was really to show moral support for these lovely girls of the NCR Elementary Girls’ Volleyball team. Congratulations, NCR, for bagging 3rd place, and giving the defending champion a nasty run for their title. You scared them witless. Next year, you girls with get them.

Three days and four suspenseful games prior to victory, my brother Jet (now known to the team as Kuya) decided to treat the team to a hearty dinner. What better way to their hearts than a bowlful of spaghetti?

With 3 kilos of spaghetti and a huge kaldero-full of tomato sauce, it was a pre-victory party, indeed.

Because the kids’ quarters’ kitchen isn’t exactly world class, our chef-to-be’s creative skills were put to the test. Imagine straining 3 kilos of spaghetti without a strainer. Thank god, Jet works out. We need those muscles for some real flexing, sometimes.

This winner spaghetti is made with our not so secret herbs: oregano, marjoram and basil.

Good job, Jet. You heard the kids’ rave reviews.

 

Handle my Herbs with Care

I laughed silently to my self when I saw that this is what my bag looked like as it made its way to me on the baggage belt at the Tacloban airport:

This is what’s soooo fragile inside:

Three tiny bottles of Marjoram, Oregano and Basil.

Well, they asked me if anything in my enormous bag could possibly break.

More on why I have herbs in my bag soon