Junblog

February 29, 2012

How to Make Green Mango Salad

Why am I enamored of this green mango salad? Is it the medley of colors that makes me swoon? A motley mix of yellow and red. White tinged with deep purple and specks of lush green strewn here and there. Or is it the tartness that makes me pucker with incomparable delight? Sour mangoes purposely…

February 24, 2012

How to Regrow Green Onions

I am Mr. Frugal in the kitchen. I got my frugality from my mom who taught me, at a very young age, never to leave even the tiniest morsel of food on my plate unconsumed. My family wasn’t well-off and my parents pinched pennies while they raised me and my five sisters. I think frugality is an admirable trait as long as it doesn’t get ridiculously over the top. I try not to be wasteful and use everything in our fridge and pantry before they spoil like the very last rib of celery or carrot for stir-fries and shrimp heads and shells for stock. I try to always rinse the…

February 22, 2012

P is for Pancit Palabok

I nervously merged onto the freeway from the quiet roundabout then craned my neck toward my blind spot to switch lanes. I had never driven in California before and the freeway felt so dauntingly wide. I was used to driving at a snail’s pace on perennially over-packed highways back home. As we sped past sixty-five,…

February 14, 2012

How to Make Arroz a la Cubana

I loathe Valentine’s day. Cupid cutouts make me cringe. So do heart-shaped chocolate bonbons and red silk roses. Cakes and cookies frosted with pink dyed sugar remind me of antacids. I simply don’t see the point of this holiday. Aren’t we supposed to show our affection to our loved ones everyday? I sound too jaded…

February 7, 2012

Meet Our Golden Girls

I am so excited to tell you that our girls have arrived. Four fluffy baby chicks, the new addition to our family. I may have already told some of you about them but for those who haven’t heard we’re taking a crack at raising chickens. We are thrilled that they’re finally here. The day-old chicks…

February 1, 2012

O is for Omelet and How to Make Tortang Talong (Eggplant Omelet)

I can’t help but think of my dad whenever I cook with eggplants. They weren’t his favorite as far as I remember. I don’t think he had any. He loved to eat, that’s for sure. He loved everything my mom made. Everything from her simple one-pot stews to her more pompous dinners. He didn’t know…

January 25, 2012

How to Make Spanish Bread

The bread turned out the way I remembered it. Soft. Luxuriously soft bread sticks coiled like croissants. Beautifully browned. Buttery and sweet. The delicate grit of sugar crumbled between my teeth as I took a bite. A ridiculously huge bite, I am embarrassed to admit. I brushed the sugar off my cheeks and took another…

January 18, 2012

How to Make Pancit Molo (Pork Dumplings Soup)

I’m in a funk and I just can’t snap out of it. I’ve been feeling so crestfallen lately and I don’t know why. Like last weekend, it was a perfect day for a walk or a drive somewhere but I was completely content in staying at home. Content in rolling dumplings for supper’s soup. Stuffing…

January 4, 2012

How to Make Menudo

Schloomp went my knife as I cut through the potatoes — first, into flat planks, then into strips as long as my stubby fingers, and then into nearly perfect cubes. I stacked them up high next to my plump red bell pepper and my pile of diced carrots. It felt great to be back in…

December 31, 2011

Twelve Round Fruits and a New Year’s Tradition

People say gathering twelve round fruits on the eve of a new year ushers in prosperity and good fortune. One round fruit for each month of the new year, they say. My mom faithfully follows this tradition, which I have adopted as my own. It has been a remarkable year for Jun-blog — a year…

December 20, 2011

N is for Noche Buena

The plane touched down and the entire cabin broke into thunderous applause. The group of balikbayan nurses in the last row cheered “Merry Christmas!” while the lady seated next to me teared up and gestured the Sign of the Cross. As we taxied to the gate, I gazed at the dawn sky breaking outside. Festive…

December 13, 2011

How to Make a Paról (Filipino Christmas Lantern)

“It’s time to wake up, Jun,” my mom whispered. I felt a tap on my shoulder but I barely moved. I remained still and tucked in under my blanket on an unusually cold December morning. “You have to see the paról,” she prodded. I quickly jumped out of my bed as soon as she reminded…

November 30, 2011

M is for Mani and How to Make Pritong Mani (Fried Peanuts)

I skimmed through the wall of nuts in front of me. The selection was staggering. Pecans and pistachios. Macadamia nuts. Whole walnuts and halved walnuts. Cashews of every size. Large, extra-large, and large ones crushed into tiny million pieces. Almonds of every kind. Sliced and slivered. Salted and unsalted. Raw and roasted. Dry roasted and…

November 23, 2011

My First Thanksgiving and How to Make Sweet Potato Casserole

My eyes were too heavy but I couldn’t drift off to sleep. In a few hours, the bus would reach Coalinga and the half-hour stop in the middle of nowhere would surely ruin it. I was on a Greyhound back to San Francisco after spending my first Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with my uncle from Los…

November 16, 2011

L is for Longganisa (Filipino-Style Sausage)

Jimmy Dean hissed furiously in the kitchen. I had been living off two-for-one Jimmy Deans ever since I emptied my pantry of corned beef and Spam. Those twofers were lifesavers back in the day when I was a cash-strapped student. They were deals too hard to pass like those sugar-laden cereals that were perpetually half-price.…

November 9, 2011

How to Make Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

It looked as if it rained candy sprinkles in my kitchen. The rainbow-colored specks of sugar were everywhere. On the counter. On the floor. In the sink. On Stanford’s wet, cold nose. On my finger smeared with thick chocolate buttercream frosting. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting kind of day. In our…