HAPPY EASTER!

My food loving family did not have the traditional egg hunt. No pastel colored shells for this bunch! The kids hunted for itlog na maalat, balut and Mary Grace cheese rolls!

HAPPY EASTER!

We heard the Easter Vigil Mass this evening. So Lent is officially over. Time for dessert!

SUNDAY BARBECUE

New friends, good food, the setting an oasis hidden in the middle of the city. Great way to start the summer!

JAPANESE TUESDAY

Before I slurp my vegetable miso ramen, I lift my eyes and thank God for this hearty, soul-satisfying bowl of goodness. It's a rich, spicy broth with chewy noodles, vegetables, large cloves of burnt garlic, topped with a smidgen of bright red chili paste, all cooked by an incredibly cranky chef/owner. He sometimes run out of soup and has to close early- it's that good.
S and I crave this soup every two weeks or so. All other bowls pale in comparison. So we had our fix today over a quick lunch, and I scarfed down my bowl, despite a rather heavy mid-morning snack!

We had some unexpected good news later in the day, and treated ourselves to dinner at an old Japanese favorite. Prices had gone up (!) but the food was as good as ever. It's always nice to come back to a place where they greet you and they know how you like your extra condiments!

INASAL

Cousins intrigued us with their description of this total dump. But they were right. This place does serve the best chicken inasal! The chicken was juicy and flavorful, without being too vinegary or leathery, and cooked from raw over a charcoal grill! The rice was not too oily and had the right amount of the prerequisite garlic bits. Complete condiments to mix your own dipping sauce: vinegar, soy sauce, calamansi, sili. But the chicken itself was so good, I almost didn't need the sauce. Almost, but not quite, because what is inasal without that sauce?

MY DAY OFF

Someone took over my weekly Saturday commitment just for this week, so I was hoping for a longer lie-in. But Sunshine awoke at the crack of dawn, and foreseeing a morning of excess energy, S announced that we would go for dumplings in Chinatown.
From left: Sunbeam dressed to the hilt for her Chinatown jaunt; in shoes way too large and way too gaudy (she insisted on them!); stacks of dimsum steamers waiting to be ordered.
An easy drive, since it's a Saturday, and half an hour later we were choosing from a selection of dimsum carts: shrimp, seafood, siopao, veggie, and others I don't know the name of. Sunshine walloped the siopao and Sunbeam ate all the shrimp, handing me the empty dumpling wrappers.

After that heavy breakfast, we meandered down the relatively empty streets, popping in and out of various establishments. An egg tart and chocolate gold coins were some of the treats along the way.

GROCERIES

Here is our grocery list. As we put each item into the cart, I point to the corresponding words and Sunshine ticks off the box.
There was a time when groceries were a luxury. We were scrimping and pinching pesos, finding ways to fill the tummy with enough nutrition without emptying the wallet. Sunshine, then about 2 years old, offered daily prayers asking Papá Dios for rice.
This is only a partial list, but whether partial or complete, rice is NEVER on the list. Because S's office gives us 50 kilos of rice a month. Way more than we can handle. Enough to share with another family.
How's that for answered prayers?

COMFORT FOOD

Not too far away from our home is a branch of Pan de Amerikana 1950s Pan de Sal. Wood-fired ovens, wheat flour, brown sugar... the best pan de sal in town. Sunshine often wakes up at the crack of dawn and yells, "Dada! Let's buy pan de sal!"
Then they come home with a yellow plastic bag inside which is a paper bag filled with fresh, hot bread. And that fills us for breakfast and snacks.

SUBURBAN SUNDAY

My kids are city kids. Great as our home is, it is still rather cramped and quite polluted, not to mention bereft of greenery and nature.
Having in-laws living in the suburbs is heaven sent when you've got a 4-year old and a 2-year old. The weather was great: breezy and sunny. We spent Sunday afternoon kicking around a mini soccer ball, climbing monkey bars, and watching some kids playing basketball. In between all that were lots of tickles, exploring among trees and dry leaves, and ogling a beautiful house by the park. Sunshine and Sunbeam had a great time. And since they were exhausted from all the running, they fell asleep during the long ride home, and S and I were able to enjoy a quiet, early dinner of steak, tomato pasta, and green beans. Then we had a home showing of Meryl Streep's It's Complicated. Nice way to end a busy weekend.

PASALUBONG

Pasalubong is a Tagalog word referring to a present given by someone who arrives from a trip. I received a call this evening from our neighbor, Sunny. He and his mom had just arrived from a trip to Taiwan, and lo and behold, he brought me back a bottle of sesame paste.
A few years ago, Sunny and I searched Manila for this ingredient but never found it. We both waxed nostalgic over the Dandan Noodle dish in Cathay Pacific's Hong Kong Airport Lounge. I've surfed, researched, and even asked a flight attendant for the recipe, to no avail. Thick, soupy, spicy and soul-satisfying, the closest recipes I've found require a sesame paste.
I know what the next kitchen experiment is going to be! Whether or not it lives up to our CX Lounge expectations remains to be seen. Whatever the result, the thoughtfulness of friends is definitely something to be thankful for.
A side note: Isn't the logo just a reversed fat version of Safeway's? http://www.safeway.com/IFL/Grocery/Home