Junblog

April 30, 2014

How to Make Strawberry Shortcake

Dear Carol, You would’ve loved the weather here yesterday. Sunny with only wisps of white clouds in the sky. Ninety on the patio. It was so hot we decided it was hot enough for the pool. I know you think we’re nuts to swim this time of the year. Almost seventy isn’t really too chilly.…

April 23, 2014

How to Make Good Shepherd-Style Strawberry Jam

A spoonful of strawberry jam is all I want. But not just any kind of strawberry jam, mind you. Not one of those that taste more sugar than fruit. Nor one of those with balsamic vinegar, lavender, or what have you. This time of the year — when it’s spring here in California and it’s…

March 5, 2014

Meet Our Flower Girls

Poppy and Pansy. Lily and Daisy. Tulip and Lotus. I am so excited for you to meet the new addition to our heritage flock. They are settling in nicely in their brooder box, in their new home, pecking and peeping charmingly in between naps. A baby chick literally falling asleep on her feet is the most adorable thing to watch. We got them the same way we got our Golden Girls two years ago. The little fuzzballs came huddled together, all twenty five of them, in a cardboard box, the size of a shoe box. They travelled to California all the way from Iowa, from Murray McMurray Hatchery. We picked…

February 26, 2014

Z is for Zamboanga and How to Make Bagon de Gata

How did I not know about bagon de gata? How did I miss out on this Zamboangueño sawsawan? Bagon is Chavacano for bagoong. Chavacano is the creole language spoken in Zamboanga, based heavily on Spanish. Bagon de gata is bagoong alamang, or salt-cured shrimp, simmered in gata, or coconut milk. Bagoong alamang is cooked slowly…

February 19, 2014

How to Make Goldilocks Taisan (Filipino Sponge Loaf Cake)

It’s one of those rare days when there’s absolutely nothing on my plate. It feels odd actually. I am not fumbling around like a mad man like most days. The day feels unhurried. For once I feel am ahead. I am on top of everything. There’s time to sit in the sun with a book.…

February 12, 2014

How to Make Fish Sarciado

I propped my camera up against a nest of beach towels I crafted on the picnic table. It was a silver point-and-shoot, a present he gave me for Christmas. I framed the photograph with him standing on the beach, blocking the sun that was about to set behind the peaks, casting a long shadow on…

February 5, 2014

How to Make Calamansi and Lemongrass Roasted Chicken

Every day before the sun sets a kerfuffle ensues in our hen house. Rose, our Buff Orpington, dazed and confused as always, runs around in circles. Surly Sofia, our Rhode Island Red, squawks her heart out. The wild rumpus rolls while feathers fly until the two eventually acquiesce to bedtime. Sofia settles on the highest…

January 29, 2014

How to Make Sinigang na Hipon sa Sampalok (Shrimp Tamarind Soup)

Something was weighing me down. I felt so unenthused, so out of it. The lack of rain was partly to blame. We haven’t had a good soaking in so long and we need rain so pressingly. Everything is parched, my sad self included. Parched and uninspired. And so I turned to sinigang to lift my…

January 1, 2014

Happy 2014 from Jun-blog!

I trust you had a wonderful holiday. Spent with family and friends, with loved ones. Around the dinner table, in the kitchen. On the road, perhaps. Across time zones, with a little help from the internet, of course. With time-honored traditions. With good food. Always with good food. Many thanks to you, my dear friends,…

December 18, 2013

How to Make Kutsinta

Pancit bihon and kutsinta [kooch-in-tà]. I can still taste the rice noodles and the coconut crumbs on the soft, round rice cakes. They were makunat [mah-koo-nat], the way I like them, the reason I fancy them. I don’t think there’s a word elsewhere that comes close to describing the cake’s one of a kind texture.…

December 11, 2013

How to Make Ginataang Kalabasa at Sitaw (Butternut Squash and Yard Long Beans in Coconut Milk)

“Aren’t you cold?” I hollered out to my mom across the yard. “I’m fine,” she cried back. “Don’t you worry about me.” She clutched her trusted walis tingting, bent forward, and proceeded with her chore, clearing out the fallen leaves under the mulberry tree. “Be careful with your back,” I said. “And with your knees,…

December 4, 2013

How to Make Pinipig Polvoron

It feels like only yesterday when I was standing on the tips of my toes on a rocking kitchen stool, holding on to my mom’s shoulders while craning my neck until I get a glimpse of the flour she’s toasting in her deep kawali. The warmth of the flame. The clang of the spatula. The…

November 27, 2013

How to Make Apple Dumplings

It was a crisp fall day. The sky was blue with wisps of white clouds. The golden mulberry glowed in the warm fall light. Mitzi was chasing Stanford while Stanford was chasing his ball. Mom was sweeping leaves and Dennis was herding chickens in the kitchen garden. I was standing under the tree, next to…

November 13, 2013

How to Help Typhoon Haiyan Victims

There’s one image from the news feed back home that’s been etched in my mind from the moment I saw it. It’s a harrowing image of a young mother holding her two children in her arms. All three lying lifeless on the ground blanketed in mud and dirt. My heart aches for my country. Her misfortunes are too much to bear. They come one after the other. There was the magnitude-7.1 earthquake last month, there there’s this deadly typhoon, the strongest on record, right after. The news and images of the ravaged countryside are too heartbreaking. Please be generous and give as much as you can. This is the least…

November 6, 2013

How to Make Goldilocks Mamon (Filipino Sponge Cake)

Pull a chair and come sit with me. There’s cake and there’s coffee. I made mamon [mah-mon], the dearly loved sponge cake from Goldilocks, the dearly loved bakery back home. So stay. It’s been a while since my last post, I know. The demands of the days have been a bit overwhelming. If only the…

October 9, 2013

Pasalubong

It always feels like Christmas when my mom visits from Manila. I’m like a wide-eyed little boy eager to know what she has brought from home. My eyes light up as she reveals her pasalubong [pah-sah-loo-bong], pulling them out from her suitcase one by one. Salubong [sah-loo-bong] is to meet, to greet. It means to…