08 Feb 2009: ...On Food Blogs...

I was gonna call it a night on the blogs and I started discussing food blogs...A couple weeks ago my friend joseph hits me up on an instant message askin' what I was doing...I said about to drop a food blog real quick. he's like,"oh like everyone else..." I'm like,"I make the food in my shit aiiight, so shuttit" he's like,"oh okay"

Like when did my friend become such a jaded bitter judgemental asshole. Oh maybe after his psycho ex left him a second time. Step back from that shit pal. Yeah I put you on deck. Climb up out that bullshit and remember I have tolerance for the struggle of others but when you drop the voice of judgement you become open game. Not that I don't love your ass I'm just not feeling your bullshit right now.

Which brings me to my current topic. All kinds of people food blog for their own reasons and for their own kinds of love of food. Some people food blog to give everyone an update and be a bit of a peacock. Some people simply love to chronicle their epicurean journeys and share the bits of yummy they've had. Some people just love food - period. Not everyone can cook but everyone can eat. That is the universal nature of food - very few people don't have some kind of food they enjoy - unless you are one of those bulimic bonkers hoes.

There is another reason I food blog. A lot of people hit me up for recipes tips and how to's. A lot of people who love Filipino food who were never taught how to make it. I am not a stingy person who refuses to share recipes or tips - you just have to remind me from time to time. But I am more than willing to part with 99.9% of my recipes. I have one exception and that's my chocolate chip cookie recipe - that only goes to direct family.

I think that too many people do not break bread together. The very act of the family meal is lost. People don't even know how to sit in a house for a regular meal making conversation and getting reacquainted with day to day life and being involved in the life of others. My other point of concern is that Filipino cooking is getting lost in the Modern American Day. I may be Philippine parts but I'm American Made. It makes me sad when people tell me that they never learned how to make lumpia, pancit, adobo, afritada, sinigang, kare kare, biko, bibingka, cassava cake, menudo, morcon, embutido, putong puti, bistek, ukoy, siopao, empanada and all the goodies that are a part of life (if you care to know I can make all of those and then some). Because if we aren't making it today - how will the Filipinos of tomorrow remember the dishes of yesterday. I tell you what, a lot of my non Filipino friends can get down and make lumpia and pancit.

It's so unusual to eat Filipino food that even common food is served at parties

Alfie thinks I should write a cookbook. I'm gonna shelf that for now (but I have a running recipe book I keep in my purse with some crazy stuff up and coming). I think I will first start with a Video Blog of how to make pancit...because a lot of people try and fail...I feel a little weird posting a food "show" but when I get multiple emails that they are trying 3,4,5 times and it's not happening I feel bad.

I'mma say this--I'm ABOUT it. I love cooking even though I don't do it full time for money anymore...and if you don't believe me....

Here's my fridge...


november 2008


november 2008 backup fridge for Turkey Day



January 2009



January 2009



February 2009



February 2009



And then there's the pantry, which isn't even really stocked...
Hey that ain't TP, it's 8 rolls of paper towels - haha.



Then you gotta have 3 kinds of soy sauce, vinegar, sri ri cha plum sauce, olive oil blend, canola and sesame oil then add 2 kinds of oyster sauce plus plum sauce and hoisin in there somewhere.



I got tired of buying small shakers of herbs - so I started buying bulk coz I rip through them quickly enough. I drop them in the little mason jars and use both printed labels and hand written ones...I only jar up the frequently used ones, I have rarely used herbs, wasabi, saffron and dried ginger stored with keep fresh packs to suck up any moisture or external odors...



But Gya says the most clownin' thing in my kitchen is the huge Patron Bottle filled with Vanilla Extract...REAL extract. Truth be told it would actually end up costing more than patron if you compare price. But when I made them cookies and I busted that out - she started lauuuuuuuughin. Hahahhahha.

I just think that things of value should be stored properly in glass jars.




or you can see it in action...my finest girls with the finest appetites for all this life has to give...food, friends and every freakin' thing...

the opposite of what mine looks like.

08 Feb 2009: Saturday Snacks...Sunday Afternoons.

On Saturdays...I make treats - just coz we like them and coz friends drop by. The last few weeks Julian (my boyfriend aka Mr. Man aka Kibby aka all around cool guy) has not been eating breakfast so I started making "krispy" treats or cereal treats. This way he gets some form of grains and it's on the go.
Last Weeks was Cheerios and Cap'n Crunch Berries:



Of course Gya and Tina were right on time for them...



Yep



Then there's always the classic joints to make for friends and family and co workers who have become your friend who are having birthdays...or just to bake coz it's chilly in the house but not cold enough for the heater:



Chocolate Chip & Oatmeal Raisin. In that order.



All lined up ready to go into the oven. As much as I love my kitchenaid I need a bigger one - so if anyone wants to trade my little one for their big one - let's talk.



Then you just gotta cool 'em and bag em up:



I love the smell of baked goods...



Friday nights after a long week we generally eat salads, sandwhiches and appetizers - I still make them coz we still don't eat much even though we could coz it's in the budget and coz we are surrounded by tons of places to eat. But we like sitting at the table or campin' in the living room. Also most times I come home on Friday Julian has a few of the boys over playin' NBA Live

Hence, I've started making him appetizer platters:



Ever since the PS3 got here for Christmas - Julian has made his OWN futon which consists of 3 blankies a denim backrest and a pillow! Hahahha. It's his 2nd most favourite spot in the house.



--- Saturday mornings we mostly sleep in. I woke up and showered and shined and then threw somethin' in the oven to be ready by lunch. Julian is growin' out a natural so it was time to part and condition his scalp because he hasn't had long hair in a long while...



Right as I finished the Chicken was done...So I turned the oven to let it rest and then chopped up some broccolli and potatoes...Voila - lunch for 2 under 5 bucks. yeah you heard me - the chicken was 2 bucks and the potatoes and brocolli were both under a buck and we still had plenty to spare for a couple more meals.



We are in love with Queso de Oaxaca



don't cook it - just tenderize it a bit by resting it in boiling water (burner off)



Roasted Chicken is the only instance where I dig the dark meat - it just has a different flavor, but I gotta be the one cooking it coz I like the skin roasted to paper...I had 2 drumsticks and 2 wings on my plate...



I almost burnt the chicken breasts I precook for our lunches (salads, wraps, burritos etcetera) that we bring to work but Julian saved it by dousing it with 2 cups of water and turning it to low which instead made smoked chicken...

---

Sundays we wake up and kinda talk about what we want to do and then attack the chores...cleaning vacuuming bathroom scrubbing and the floors...After that we take off respectively..generally he watches the games at the sports bars and I go thrifting, grocery shopping and catch up on my writing at Xtreme Bean coffee...

For some reason we both got home today at around 2pm and we were both starved...So I used yesterday's chicken in today's garden salad...I dunno if it's because we were hungry or coz the chicken was well roasted but we killed our plates without 2 words besides blessing the food.



I also made his breakfast bars for the week. Cheerios marry Apple Jacks...
A request from Mr. Man...



...take my word for it - these suckas are good.
---
On a final note: I was about halfway through this blog - and Julian came home.
me: are the games done?
him: no, it's boring
me: hardcore laughing
him: and Vic Damone left
me: Ahhhhh.
him: what's to eat up in here
me: don't tell me you are hungry after that huge salad
him: yeah
me: chicken supernachos?
him: yeah yeah yeah (already firing up the ps3)

so i threw together some nachos to the asiatic Rhythms created by Rza for Afro Samurai...we like our nachos with both melted cheese and grated cheese on top with fresh veggies...but you know, nachos and eggs are different good to each different person...I think the pictures below will show you how to do it.









And if it's nachos you're havin, might as well have guava strawberry juice!



Almost there.



Ta Da...



The end.

25 Jan 2009: PS) I was bored while bloggin

So I made some Krispy treats with Honey Nut Cheerios & Crunch Berries.



Hahahahhahhaha

25 Jan 2009: Lumpia Chronicles: Chicken & White Shanghai

Last week the topic of lumpia came up. Tina and Gya were supposed to come over on Saturday to help roll. I didn't really have that many skins so more than anything it was gonna be a lumpia rollin lesson. Well on Friday night I was just wiped out - even though I'd taken a half day from work I was just wiped. So I told the girls I needed to buy chicken but I still hadn't gone to buy any but would in the morning.

Usually on saturday mornings I wake up automatically around 7am. I didn't even wake up until like 830. I ran to buy produce and chicken and scored chicken breasts at $1.27/lb. So I bought like uhhhh - 20 lbs. hahaha. Then I stopped to get produce and 3 kinds of lettuce and some tortilla chips.

I texted the girls you don't even have to come until 1pm coz I haven't even started cooking yet...So I parboiled the chicken breasts and got to work...

chop



drain and shred



pre saute the potatoes



defrost the wrappers



saute in the usual fashion and season



add mixed and chopped veggies then cool to room under a fan



Roll with or without the Homies





I calculated I can roll 50 lumpias in the time it takes Julian to finish 3 quarters on NBA live and I think those are 3 minute quarters. hahaha. not bad right...

Just roll steadily and text friends with your pinky finger so you don't get rice flour glue on your new phone. LOL



So I had a whole bowl of boiled chicken and didn't know what to do and Benjo was enroute with extra wrappers...So I decided to create a "white shanghai"...Usually Filipinos make lumpia shanghai with half beef half pork with some garlic and some green onion which makes it cook brown or pink. I mixed fresh ground pork with boiled chicken breast, 1 cup (yeah a CUP) of minced fresh ginger, green onion and 5 cloves of garlic, garlic powder and red Korean chili powder...So when they cook it has a bright white interior. I humped out about 100 of those and just rolled my little hands off...



Fortunately for me Benjo and Bebe were here to taste test...Benjo took his cut of 25 each home sayin,"thanks now i've replenished my stock..." hahahah.

I told Kibby - call JR/Vic Damone and tell him to come get his cut.
jr: oh i'll be there at 6pm, believe it.
vic: yeah yeah yeah man - I'm there.

Someone come help us eat these MoFo's there's no room in the freezer.
Even the door is full. Ridiiiiiiiiiiiiiculous.

25 Jan 2009: Food for my Cipher...

So last night I'm in bed reading and watchin Trading Places (original with Eddie Murphy & Dan Akroyd) and Julian's playin' poker with everyone...I hear the door around 130-ish - and it's Mr. Man and he says I'm with Boris and Vic...I holla,"i'm in bed...He comes in the room gives me a hug and a kiss and I'm like,'you got beer breath hunny..." He laughs. I tell him there's potroast in the stove - just make something...there's rolls and spanish rice and stuff to make nachos. He's like okay I gottit. So I mute the TV and listen to see how he'll handle it. I hear the knife move off the counter - I hear the cutting board jiggle near the stove and then I hear the oven open and the roast get put on the counter. Then I hear silence.

Hahaha he's too faded to assemble food.

So I throw on a robe and my glasses and walk out there with my bedhead and I'm like hi guys! And they are all just standin there lookin at the meat but everyone has a fresh heinekin in their hand. I just laugh and ask,"need help?" The bebe is like YEAH. I said I gottit.

Everyone is chopping it up and I slice up a third of the beef - ask bebe to grab an onion, the lemon juice and some bellpepper. I heat up the pan, until it smokes - then hit the ricecoooker to rewarm the rice. Add oil - sizzle beef, sprinkle some red chili flakes and garlic powder...Boris is intrigued and is like what's this what's that...Kibby is like Grub Commentator..that is garlic powder, that is no msg oyster sauce, that is 2 soysauce, she uses 2 kinds)...All three of them are rubbin their hands as the meat sizzles - I fire up the little fryer and drop in half a dozen lumpia. I then add a little fresh crushed pepper, bellpeppers, onions and green onions. In about 4 more minutes it's all done. The whole thing took about 10 minutes.

Boris,"OMG you got eggroll action too?"
Julian,"My bebe makes those..."
Boris," Noooo Way..."
I open the fridge and show him the stash...he's like Wow man wow and gives Julian this look of,"you're lucky."

I say, it's ready - eat eat eat.


They are just eating and eating and sayin,"oh man that's good, this is so good" hahahaha. I told them eat it all - i'm not hungry its too late. LOL. So they ate and went to catch a quick poker game at Rudeboy's house. Mind you their Jamaican homie called like 5x and they are like HOLDUP WE EAATTTIIIIIN'

---

Last week Gya blew into town for a little respite from East Coast Winter...
Bomblettes on the fly for Gya, Tina, Element and Me and then a quick peek at Friday coz everyone loves that Movie... also included are pics from a previous bomblette where we gave Gya a hard time about her Anime I dig him face!









Logan (Element) was joking I'll have steak with mine - I laughed and said don't joke - we got steak - The girls are like don't make him no steak - I laughed and said let the man have steak - if he want steak he can have steak....

Man - why I gotta have my just rolled out of bed skirt on in both sets of pics and the first hoodie I grab out the cabinet. hahahhah.

I even had time to throw a batch of cookies coz you know we cool like that...


---
Girl bomblettes was one of the funnest...










And even before Gya left for Brooklyn...there was time for brunch



hahaha: i'm the only person who gets photo tagged for a cookie delivery.


---
And still we're packin' lunches...

Mostly sammiches and pasta dishes topped with salmon or chickennn







a couple weeks ago the girls came in from Vegas for a couple days to relax after snowboarding in Utah and Flagstaff...hahaha

They din't even wanna go out - they just wanted to chill and eat.



After one meal in particular they were like dang we're sleepy - I said oh you guys just ate too much - It's just the ITIS. They were like what's the itis?
I laughed and said we gotta watch boondocks for proper explanation. I never bother the girls when we mob out to Vegas we always stay at the hotel - but now the girls insist we gotta stay with them. LOL.

My latest favourite arrival from Tita Momma in Manila...5lbs of organic, sun dried on banana leaves then hand roasted in a clay pot over charcoal. Bwaa hahhaha. What you know about that...observe the pan roasted chicken on romaine in the background already packed for my lunch



---

So Vic said it again...He woke up late one morning and was standing in the kitchen tryin to eat before he left for work. So he was disconbobulated and makin' a decision - meanwhile his girlfriend stood in the kitchen and LOOKED at him. I told Julian this morning...if her dumb ass was already standing in there she was prolly already stuffing her face - how hard would it be to hook him up with something to eat if she was already stuffing her face?" I didn't like that cow anyways - and she really pushed me over the edge when she smacked Julian jokingly in the head with a piece of paper. But for realz.

Why you tryin' to be with someone when you have nothing...nothing brought, nothing to share, nothing to give. And then this hoe tries to act surprised that his Momma don't like her.

I'm tired of hearin' of these triflin' ass hoes. I'mma tell you hoes that I know in a 3rd party way (as in your guy hang out with my man) everytime you cut up - everytime you mess up - everytime you act up, act retarded, act dumb, act out - and I know you hoes do it daily - it's good luck to me. Coz everytime you do dumbshit your guy call my MAN and tells him the DUMB shit you did and after he's done shakin his head as he listens on the phone...he finds wherever I am in the house and gives me a hug and a kiss - and THANKS me...yeah, he thanks me for helping to make the life we have a good one and being a good woman and a great friend to him and never doin dumb shit. So you see your misfortune is my fortune.

I will tell you this - when you are selfish and dumb, you might as well have an expiration date on your forehead: best before 02.02.09...coz it's only a matter of time before he gets hip to your rotten dumbshit then you out on that ASS.

Bwaaa hhahhaa.