pitter-patter, drip, drip, splash!

WHILE MANILA BASKS in the sweltering heat of the sun, Baguio shows no sign of heat with the cold, rainy afternoons and evenings to stay. Almost all members of my family are coming down with the flu and our help had been kind enough to prepare different kinds of soups for lunch and dinner meals. Of course the occassional iced fruits for desserts (I couldn't get enough of the buttery sweetness of avocados!). The roads and pavements have been slippery for days now and the fog gets thick as days progress. I live 5 minutes away from the city where our home is tucked cozily among pinetrees. Years ago, we lived near the University belt where jeepneys honk loud and we get robbed a lot. Now, my parents appreciate the quiteness of home and the sleepy lullaby that the night wind brings to their bedroom window.. We couldn't really feel the heat of summer since Baguio rains pretty much all year round.
I can't for Sher to visit! Everyday, she always asks how I am and she makes sure to call everyday to know if I'm okay. She's such a wonderful friend to have, I only met her last year and she's very caring and thoughtful when it comes to her friends. I'm glad I'm one of them. We're still planning on when's the best month for her to visit since both our social calendar is full for April and May.
My brother, Woodee went to Clark to train employees at his company and went to Manila to join my sister Car and brother Sid for dinner at the Shang, and they really had a great time. The next day, Woodee came home with a box of my Dad's favorite roasted chicken from Savory and it made my mom and dad's breakfast more enjoyable that day. I had my own cravings to deal on this particular rainy day which were my Twilight series books (nesting comfortably in my bookshelf in Manila), a John Lloyd-Sarah movie rerun, playing with my neffy Theo, watching Jon and Kate plus eight, Gossip Girl reruns, listening to the Circus album of Eraserheads and chocolate cinnamon with cream cheese frosting from Cinnabon.
Oh by the way, there was this one disturbing site that I came across and it showed how the most delicious food can be at its monter-sized, sinful and nightmarish look. I go to the site and food doesn't make me hungry anymore. It's appropriately called, "This is why you're fat". Gosh, at times, there are just some sites that I regret going across to. It's one of the many reasons I'd rather deal with the good old hardbounds, paperbacks, and TV. But it looks like the rainy days will be here for awhile and you do all you can so you won't get bored...

over Iced Peaches and Mangoes...

WEEKENDS MEANT FAMILY bonding. I have been busy the whole week running errands, tests and coming home every night at 9pm to reheated dinners while my parents announce they would call it a night. I spent the early afternoon watching Animal Planet with my mom and the rest of my day checking old videos from family European travels and Theo's very own video movie. My parents will be visiting my sister Christine in San Diego then cruise with my aunts and uncles in Vancouver so it was important that I archive everything and have it burned on DVD copies for their alis-bayan box.
It will be a really big weekend on July 18th as we celebrate Theo's, Carmela's and Daddy's birthdays, since my parents will be leaving on the 20th of that month for their annual out-of-the-country trip. The problem is, I have a surprise party for someone on the 18th and organized a reunion of friends on July 19th in Manila! I guess I have to think about my plans thoroughly.
I opened a Twitter account and I'm still deciding if I like it or not. Facebook's been going downhill for me after the interface early this year and I stopped threading my blogs from blogspot to my Multiply account for my semi-public audience plus I've been a nine-hour computer user since February, it would really do me good if I talk to people personally instead, so I'm cutting back on my hours and doing at least 30 minutes of online checking on an everyday basis or just stay away from it for a day or two.
I watched my mom as she spooned syrup on her bowl of peaches and mangoes, she talked in a low,soft tone as she cleared her throat, she shivered slightly when she informed me that she was coming down with a fever. I listened to her stories as she dozed off to sleep. I made sure the househelp prepared her late lunch of sinigang na salmon when she woke up. The weather was unforgiving since Friday, it rained hard and the cold was like sharp needles piercing through our skins, I heard Manila was a scorcher and I wish I could share the weather down there. I cuddled beside mama, and hugged her close to me. Hmmm.. this is so comforting than a cup of hot cocoa...

A CAN OF PORK and BEANS is staring straight at me from the panrty as I began uploading a few of my files online. I was curious what pork and beans taste like when canned. I have eaten it ONCE when I was a kid, but it never appealed to me at all when I was growing up. Instead, Fabada (a Spanish dish of slow-cooked white beans flavored with pork knuckles and Spanish sausages like morcillas) and purple cabbage salad is preferred at mealtimes dipped with brioche or baguette.
My parents didn’t really care for de-lata as they are leaning towards organic food when it comes to our daily diet. My mom is a nutritionist-dietitian, and anything that’s considered junk food is only welcome in the household for a few times. If it becomes a habit, she takes out the rulebook of the house. Canned goods to them are emergency food, and something you eat when you need to rush for a night time trip, or something convenient to pack.
When we were kids, there was a steady supply of meat, both fresh and frozen at the kitchen pantry because we needed all the building nutrients. When the six of us hit our teen years, fish, chicken and hefty servings of vegetables was a sight to see in the kitchen. Mama was always conscious of what we eat since diabetes and high blood run in our family history. All of us know how to cook and every small ingredient from sage, rosemary, dill, lentils, capers, celery salt, garlic salt, cloves, tumeric and cumin were all too familiar in our household. We were taught that a good meal comes in very unique flavors. Sure there were hits and misses in the dishes that we so lovingly prepared, but the essence of it, was preparing it fresh and delicious. If we had to use anything canned, this would only be something to support our cooking such as crème fresh. Our staff had been trained by us through the years, and such conversations would flow in our home..
“I like tomatoes”
HH: Fresh, stewed, or canned?
“What kind of roasted chicken shall we do today?”
HH: Maybe Rosemary Lemon, or we could do hainanese or ginger-garlic soy chicken
“What about adobo?”
HH: The one with giblets and liver is pretty good, but I cooked a three-day adobo in a claypot with coconut slivers and melt-in-your-mouth liempo
“Maybe a salad today?”
HH: Will we have Waldorf with walnuts or pili brittle or do you prefer a Russian potato salad with a choice of beetroot or rhubarb and smoked Norweigan salmon in place of bacon bits?
We tweak, improvise and add certain things that will adjust to our liking. We make traditions of good food that will someday be passed to our children and their children. Personally, to be able to appreciate the food served by others, I think learning it firsthand should come as priority. My mother taught me these things that's why my love affair for food never lost its fluorish...
Oh well, maybe I should open a can of pork and beans just for today to give my palate a break :)

a sun-kissed weekend

MY SUNBURN hurts really bad for the 2-day family outing. Last weekend, we planned on taking my nephew Theo on his first fun-in-the-sun experience. So last Sarturday, I packed my essentials and we drove an hour to a private resort in Bauang, La Union. It felt good to kick off our shoes and step into the white sand. Some caretakers were there to take our stuff and loaded it to a large blue-striped gazebo which was near a boat. Nobody within a mile radius was there, the beach was ours even if we ran naked along the shore line. We had our house help buy fresh tilapia down the market while Yaya Remy started on heating up the grill. The liempo was soaked in reddish brown liquid which might be a mix of ketchup and soy sauce and some secret ingredients Yaya doesn’t want to reveal. My sister made sure the bottled drinks were cold as she reached for the ice chest. I was in-charge of the easiest task that day – to babysit Theo. I love how babies smell! Like baby powder and milk, he keeps tugging my hair endlessly and jumps like a frog in my lap. It was a sweet excuse not to unload anything, or prepare the table for lunch. The wind blew softly and the waves curled and crashed leaving a foamy white surface against the shore. Theo’s eyes marveled in excitement as he jumped and screamed, his eyes drooped constantly because the sound of the waves was an inviting lullaby. We took him to the shore and let him play, but as the minutes pass, the waves were getting a bit violent and the wind blew painfully. It scared him so much he cried on the second attempt as his father dipped him at waist-level. So they packed the blanket at the umbrella and headed to the gazebo while the grown-ups were left to swim while waiting for lunch to be announced. It felt a bit lonely not having a few people around to share the beach with us. I swam with my sister and a few friends til our throats hurt with all the salt taken in from the seawater and our eyes were a painful red from diving ridiculously to the ocean bed. My arms and legs were golden and my cheeks were brick red from all the heat. I forgot to re-apply my sunblock so I looked like a tomato and when a cold towel started to hit my face, I think I heard something sizzle due to the heat of my skin.
When we got to Baguio in the late afternoon, I was so tired I slept as soon as I hit the sack. When I woke up, everybody was packing for the early morning at Asin Hot springs in Riverview. We took a 10 am breakfast at my sister’s house in Camp Allen and headed to a thirty-minute drive to Asin Hot Springs. It was a crowded Sunday so I got bummed out because the all the pools seem congested but they cleared when it rained hard, haha, what a funny way to give me room to swim. The pools were really big and it overlooked mountains of wild forests, it was so amazing to just look at it. I didn’t dare to swim in the hot springs. It was freaking hot and steamy! The Lunch table was filled with liempo, tinola, adobo, inihaw na bangus, and ensalada while Theo was busy sucking on a big ripe mango and picked up a meaty liempo bone with his small hands when we weren’t looking.
After a few laps in the pool, we decided to head home early to hear Mass. We had dinner at Don Henrico’s right after and shared a big fudge brownie ala mode to cap our evenings.
This was starting to turn to a wonderful summer spending it with family. It was definitely my Christmas in April. Hope you had yours in grandiose style, too!