qoute of the day, 29JAN2008

Sometimes we must be Hurt in order to Grow,
Sometimes we must Fail in order to Know,
Sometimes we must Lose in order to Gain,
Because some lessons in life are best learned through PAIN...
-anonymous

qoute of the day, In life series, 22JAN2008

In life, it doesn't matter who you are
but whether someone appreciates you for what you are.

A real friend is one who walks in
when the rest of the world walks out.

-qoute from my friend Ailleen

qoute of the day, 22JAN2008

In LIFE
do not think about the PAIN
you went through,
but the lesson it taught,

not how much you have been hurt
and cried but how much
you were BLESSED and LOVED by GOD

-qoute from my friend Ailleen

Bagoongless Pinakbet

I experimented cooking Bagoongless Pinakbet today.
The title in itself might cause me to be
excommunicated of my Ilocano birthright, ahaha.

I just wanted to find a way for me to introduce
this classic Ilocano dish to my US born kids.
Who knows they could be allergic to Bagoong.


I followed PinoyCook.net's Bagoongless Pinakbet
recipe using dried herring (Tuyo) in oil as a ingredient to create
the fish base and to create that distinct pinakbet taste but without the use
of Bagoong Monamon. I also boiled Salmon heads that are easily available here in California to create the fish broth.

Otherwise, I used the usual suspect ingredients: sauteeed pork,
Pork rinds, Eggplants, okra, tomatoes, string beans, minced garlic and
chopped scallions.

Experiment result: its a good introduction to the classic Pinakbet
dish but nothing still beats the real mcoy :-).

-Julius

Sulat ni Nanay at Tatay sa Atin

Written by Rev. Fr. Ariel F. Robles
St. Augustine Parish
Baliuag, Bulacan Philippines

Sulat ni Nanay at Tatay sa Atin

Sa aking pagtanda, unawain mo sana ako
at pagpasensiyahan.

Kapag dala ng kalabuan ng mata ay nakabasag ako ng pinggan
o nakatapon ng sabaw sa hapag kainan,
huwag mo sana akong kagagalitan.
Maramdamin ang isang matanda.
Nagse-self-pity ako sa tuwing sinisigawan mo ako.

Kapag mahina na ang tenga ko at hindi ko maintindihan
ang sinasabi mo, huwag mo naman sana akong sabihan
ng 'binge!' paki-ulit nalang ang
sinabi mo o pakisulat nalang.
Pasensya ka na, anak. Matanda na talaga ako.

Kapag mahina na ang tuhod ko, pagtiyagaan mo sana akong
tulungang tumayo, katulad ng pag-aalalay ko sa iyo
noong nag-aaral ka pa lamang lumakad.

Pagpasensyahan mo sana ako kung ako man ay
nagiging makulit at paulit-ulit na parang sirang plaka.
Basta pakinggan mo nalang ako.
Huwag mo sana akong pagtatawanan o
pagsasawaang pakinggan.

Natatandaan mo anak noong bata ka pa?
kapag gusto mo ng lobo, paulit-ulit mo 'yong sasabihin,
maghapon kang mangungulit hangga't
hindi mo nakukuha ang gusto mo.
Pinagtyagaan ko ang kakulitan mo.

Pagpasensyahan mo na rin sana ang aking amoy.
Amoy matanda, amoy lupa.
Huwag mo sana akong piliting maligo.
Mahina na ang katawan ko.
Madaling magkasakit kapag nalamigan,
huwag mo sana akong pandirihan.

Natatandaan mo noong bata ka pa?
pinatyagaan kitang habulin sa ilalim ng kama
kapag ayaw mong maligo.

Pagpasensyahan mo sana kung madalas,
ako'y masungit, dala na marahil ito ng katandaan.
Pagtanda mo, maiintindihan mo rin.

Kapag may konti kang panahon,
magkwentuhan naman tayo, kahit sandali lang.
Inip na ako sa bahay, maghapong nag-iisa.
Walang kausap.

Alam kong busy ka sa trabaho,
subalit nais kong malaman mo na sabik
na sabik na akong makakwentuhan ka,
kahit alam kong hindi ka interesado sa mga kwento ko.

Natatandaan mo anak, noong bata ka pa?
Pinagtyagaan kong pakinggan at intindihin
ang pautal-utal mong kwento tungkol sa iyong teddy bear.

At kapag dumating ang sandali na ako'y magkakasakit
at maratay sa banig ng karamdaman,
huwag mo sana akong pagsawaang alagaan.

Pagpasensyahan mo na sana kung ako
man ay maihi o madumi sa higaan,
pagtyagaan mo sana akong alagaan sa mga
huling sandali ng aking buhay.
Tutal hindi na naman ako magtatagal.

Kapag dumating ang sandali ng aking pagpanaw,
hawakan mo sana ang aking kamay
at bigyan mo ako ng lakas ng loob
na harapin ang kamatayan.

At huwag kang mag-alala,
kapag kaharap ko na ang Diyos na lumikha,
ibubulong ko sa kanya na pagpalain ka sana ...
dahil naging mapagmahal ka sa iyong ama't ina...

Chicken Satay

Satay is a dish consisting of chunks or slices of dice-sized meat (chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, etc.) on bamboo skewers. These are grilled over a wood or charcoal fire, then served with various spicy seasonings. Satay is a very popular delicacy in Indonesia,Malaysia, Thailand and the Philipines.(wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satay)

I cooked Chicken Satay for dinner. I used boneless chicken thighs and some chicken breasts, placed on metal and some on bamboo skewers, and were grilled over hot charcoals. I got the boneless Chicken Thighs from Costco.

I marinated the chicken pieces for 8 hours using the Marinade mixture provided below. I made a separate batch for the dipping sauce but this time removing the Red Onions as suggested by the Recipe. I only had red onions and seem to overwhelm the taste of the marinade. Malakas ata dating nung Red Onions kaya tinangal ko na lang doon sa sawsawan (dipping sauce) batch.

For the dipping sauce, I used Connie Veneracion's Chicken Satay Sauce Recipe, and additionally used a food processor to blend the ingredients and added vegetable oil to 'dilute' and achieve the desired dipping sauce consistency.

Serving : 4 - 6

Chicken Satay

Marinade ingredients:
10 boneless chicken Thighs
1/3 cup sliced ginger
1/4 cup Onions
1 chili pepper deseeded and thinly sliced
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 head garlic cloves crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 lemon juiced


Dipping Sauce Ingredients:
->See PinoyCook.net's Chicken Satay Dipping Sauce ingredients

+ 1/3 cup salad Oil

Cooking Procedure:
To make the marinade, in a food processor, process the sliced ginger, onions, garlic, chili, while pouring in the oil slowly to create a paste consistency. Sample and taste the paste to achieve the desired taste.

Cut the Chicken thighs to bite size, about 1/2 inch size.

Put the chicken into the resealable bag, add salt, and the prepared paste into the bag. Turn the bag to evenly distribute the paste then refrigerate for several hours.


Dipping Sauce:
I followed PinoyCook.net's Chicken satay Dipping sauce ingredients and cooking procedure.Click here to view the recipe.

fabulous Natural Cocunut Dessert product

Natural Coconut Dessert

(this is not an endorsement blog entry.I just wanted to share
the pleasure experienced while eating this product)



I got this natural cocunut dessert product
as a gift from a friend.

Its a product imported from Thailand.

I didn't really think much of it,
placed it in the freezer
upon arriving home and forgot about it.

The following day, I placed it in
my lunch box along with my main lunch entree
for my typcial workday lunch.

Well, this lunchtime while eating it (and
while writing this blog entry), I find delight eating
this dessert treat.

Filled with natural coconut juice, and young natural
cococnut meat, wow, it triggers memory of my
childhood days. While as a child, I loved to drink
the juice from a young coconut
and eat its meat, usually during summer vacations at
my parent's hometown in Pangasinan.

Perhaps you can try it as well and see what you think.

-Julius

Product Name: Coco glace
description: Made from real coconut
Net wight: 7.75 ounces
Product Origin: Thailand

Big Bear Sledding

January 6, 2008

I took my three kids Justin, Trevor and Kristen to Big Bear for an afternoon of sledding. Big Bear is a mountainous area in San Bernardino County here in Southern California.

A cold front hit Southern California this past weekend, and I
seized that opportunity to bring the kids to enjoy fresh snow fall and play sledding, build a snowman, or just goof around
have a snowball fight.

The place was really a winter wonderland. Its something I don't see regularly for us tiga-California and only ponder on this image of snow wonderland in Christmas Cards. Kaya feel na feel, he, he.

Big Bear is a good 132 mile drive north of San Diego so it was
a good two hour 20 minute drive.

Along the way to the sled slopes, somewhere along Freeway 30, a flashing warning sign read "Chains required in Mountainous areas".

I drove in snowy areas before, places like Lake Tahoe and Reno,
but five years of being in Southern California made me an ignoramus.
I just kept driving ignoring the warning sign.
Well lo and behold when we got to around 6500 feet above sea level, all the cars and trucks driving along the highway were pulling on the side of the road to put on their tire chains.

Well, duh! Had I been sensitive to the road warning sign I came across earlier, I wouldn't be in this predicament of not having tire chains to use to drive further up in elevation along the road.
So, I had to drive back down from the mountains to the nearest town , find a Walmart Store and buy tire chains. Moral of the story, heed warning road signs, he, he. Even life's filled with them warning signs, but that's another matter.

The kids had a great time sledding down the slopes, I must say.
They're kids at this stage of their life, and its important they
enjoy and live their childhood to the fullest di ba? I did while growing up in Baguio. Too bad snow doesn't exist in Baguio.

But, it was really cooold!! After one hour of being out in the
slopes, I had to buy four cups of hot chocolate to warm us up.
And another four cups of chocolate on our ride back home. Ang lamig talaga. After drinking the hot chocolate, all three kids dozed-off and went to sleep. They must have been tired from all the sledding activity that afternoon.

Click on the image below to see more pictures.

Vietnamese Spring-Rolls How-To

I learned how to make Vietnamese Spring Rolls
from my sister-in-law Marivic last New Year 2008 weekend.
I think she learned how to make the roll from
Vietnamese friends in the Sacramento area here in California.

Its a good change from the usual Filipino
Lumpia , Lumpia Shanghai because it is not
deep fried, or maybe an alternative to
our Filipino fresh Lumpia because its accompanying
dipping sauce tastes different. The filling can be flexible from
grilled fish to shrimps to tofu for vegetarians.
In my case, I used marinated and grilled Sturgeon fish.

The accompanying Hoisin-Peanut dipping Sauce
brought out the marvelous flavors of the spring roll.

You will need to make a trip down to the Asian Supermarket
particularly with a section dedicated to Vietnamese food ingredients
if it is a multiple Asian Food store to
hunt down needed ingredients such as Rice Vermicelli,
Rice paper, shrimp, or fish, and an assortment of vegetables and herbs.

See images below to give you an idea
what Rice Vermicelli and Rice Paper products looks like
which I used for this dish.

Other possible ingredients could be a combination of cucumber,
cilantro leaves, Mint leaves, fresh basil, carrots, or bean sprouts.

Ingredients:

1. A pack of Rice Paper rounds (see sample product below)
2. Pack of 4 ounce Rice Vermicelli noodles (see sample product below)
3. Marinated and grilled fish (I used Sturgeon fish)
4. Bunch of Cilantro (Wansuy) leaves






Vietnamese Spring Roll cooking procedure:

1. Soak the Rice Vermicelli noodles in hot water until it is soft.

2. Locate an area in the kitchen counter area wide enough to lay and roll
the Rice paper. Position a bowl of warm water within reach.

3. Soak the rice paper until it becomes soft.


4. Lay the rice paper on the flat kitchen surface.

5. Assemble the Rice Vermicelli noodles, cilantro, and grilled fish
as shown below.





6. Take the edge of the circular wrapper nearest you and use fingers to
make a roll toward the middle. While making one complete turn, pause and
take sides and flap or fold them in then finish rolling the spring roll (See photograph).


Hoisin-Peanut Dipping Sauce preparation Procedure

Here's my sister's version of a dipping sauce
for the Vietnamese Spring rolls.


4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Hoisin Sauce
2 tbsp starch
2 tsps. Malaysian chili paste (sambal oelek)
1 cups Water

Stir-fry the minced garlic for two minute or until the garlic is softened and slightly browned. Add the hoisin sauce, and
peanut butter, stir to blend then add water, and bring to a boil.
Add the starch to thicken the dipping sauce and stir with a wire whisk to dissolve the starch completely. Add the chili paste.

Transfer the dipping sauce to a bowl.