insta-recap, february 2016

I spent my February taking medication, KonMari-ng (if that's even considered a verb), celebrating and a little reading, here's a recap:

It's crab season here so I cooked "Crab Curry" using the recipe from 50 Great Curries of India. 

 

Its been a while since I made some cupcakes, so I made a batch of Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream:

 Celebrated Chinese New Year with Dumplings:

I treated myself with Matcha (Green Tea) Cake for Valentines' Day. In Chinese Tradition, you gift plum blossoms or sakura flowers to someone unmarried to wish him/her love for the New Year:

I did some sewing but to be honest to this day it's still a working in progress:

Spaghetti with Meatballs:

A got a set of cloth labels for this year:

I got a copy of "Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up"  More tidying up for me in the coming weeks and more trips to the donation shop

Another new in my library: "Sew Many Dress, Sew Little Time: The Ultimate Dressmaking Guide". I do understand the concept of mix and match bodice and skirt pattern. I do this all the time like: strapless bodice with circular skirt, with long bias skirt, with long straight skirt and peplum, or a sweetheart bodice with drape details and long pleated skirt or trims yet, I still bought a copy of this book, solely due to the pattern featured on the cover. What's more exciting, at least for me, the dress  looks like the Christian Siriano gown seen recently on the red carpet.  

Lastly, my family celebrated my dad's birthday. You may have notice that I cook this quite often for one obvious reason: it's my family's favorite!

Till next time!

rumors

Another Filipino fast-food chain has been rumored to be opening its branch in Muscat. I hope its true I've been missing their Burger Steak - so bad that I tried to replicate it last weekend.

Honestly, my version didn't taste like anything like it however, my family did liked it specially my dad. My brother said it was like a "healthier" version since its not processed food, no MSG and probably less salt.

Although, when it tingles my taste buds it didn't transfer me back to those good old days, but I'm making new memories instead.

Not bad, not bad at all.  

Florencia's Arroz Caldo

I named this Arroz Caldo after my paternal grandmother, Florencia. Although, its no different from other Arroz Caldo recipes, I like a little back story of it.

One weekend morning, my dad came back from the market with a smile on his face. He bought a beef tripe. I was disgusted simply because of the smell - the tripe wasn't dressed as I was told. Honestly, I never knew about tripe until that morning. My dad spent the rest of the morning dressing the tripe. Afternoon came, he asked me to help him cook Arroz Caldo using the tripe.

That's when he told me a story of of grandmother. I never met her or seen any pictures of her as she was long gone even before I was born but, she was often described to me as a statuesque mestiza. Dad told me when he was a child, Florencia often prepared big batches of this and take it  to the nearby cockpit, along with a table, some chairs, bowls, some cutlery and him. With a makeshift restaurant, she sold bowls of porridge to the hungry bystanders and it was his job to keep a flow of clean bowls.

Over the years, I made Arroz Caldo so many times. Every time I do, I made it with a lot of care and patience - seriously, lots of care that it would take me at least an hour an half to cook it (not including the prep time). Each time I cook this, I try to replicate the porridge I had that afternoon.

For me, its not just a bowl of Arroz Caldo, its my dad's memory and mine in a bowl.

44

Mr. F had been complaining: I talk food, I think food, I buy stuff to make more food, I watch food channel, I take pictures of food, I blogged food and I find reasons to celebrate to make more food.

Last weekend was my parents' 44th wedding anniversary; of course, I didn't let it passed without celebrating and cooking, how could I?

Few weeks ago, I asked my parents if they remember the menu they had on their wedding day or at least a dish that they remember they had. My plan was to recreate their wedding somehow.   Mom said their it was blur and couldn't remember that much details. I turned to dad - since grandma was one of the known cooks in my hometown - he just turned to mom.

Great. Plan B.

I remembered my mom's repeated stories that involved food: her grandmother's relative from out of town were coming for a visit with baskets full of freshly harvested fruits as a gift. To welcome them, my great-grandmother, would prepare the best dishes she could possibly make: Paella and Lengua Estofado.  I made estofado before but paella not yet. So paella it is.

Paella

Mom told the story, again, as we eat; it wasnt their wedding day, nor the night of their engagement.

My parents' wedding may not be a fairy tale or something close to what I've fancied for myself. They have each other, and they have me along with my siblings between them. Marriage, obviously, is more important to them, not a fanciful wedding and they are 44 years strong.

More years to you, Mom and Dad!

family tradition and superstition

This post may come a little late; I welcomed the New Year cleaning my oven and subsequently caught a fever :'(

My dad worked here in Oman since sometime in the 1970's till his retirement in 2002. So till my mid-teens, I saw my dad 3-4 times a year and he'd made it to the point that he was around during Christmas, New Year or his birthday. And whenever he is around, he often cooks for the family and even packed my lunch for school.

And when there's a celebration while he is around, he cooks what he cook best: barbecue. And when he was not, we had barbecue and eventually, it became my family's tradition.

So we had barbecue for New Year's eve but, I went rogue this time: I concoct my own recipe. Though my dad passed to me the recipe he was very proud of, yet I'm still hunted by my mom's roasted chicken. Mom barbecued (or rather cooked some meat on an open fire) only once in my life, but I remember it very fondly: whole chicken stuffed with lemongrass. It was the smell of the lemongrass that I can not forget. So this time I took the opportunity to replicate that, much to my dad's dismay.

The Menu: Barbecue Chicken, Rice, "Veggie Meat," Pansit Molo (Filipino-style Wanton Soup)

So I cut up 2 chickens - each was cut into 4- saving the backbone to make stock for the soup. It sat in a brine consisted of lemongrass, onion, garlic, a bit of rice vinegar and sugar, and seasoned with salt and pepper for 48 hours. My brother again served as my sous chef for the night - he was the one played with fire, as I cook the side dish and the soup.

I met one nana (grandmother) this year; it was from her that I learnt the name of this side dish but, her version is with chopped mushrooms and young corns and a tin of condensed mushroom soup. My version however, is with corn kernels, cream-style corn and cream replicating the one I had in this restaurant back in a day. While the soup is something I learnt to make early this last year from the closest friend of mine. Our dinning room was filled with the aroma of the lemongrass which brought back my childhood memories. I let my family take the first few bite of their meal before I had mine (whilst taking pictures), as they are my biggest critics, and it was a big relief for me that my dad liked the chicken.

Chicken Barbecue with "Veggie Meat"

There is many superstitions in what to or what not to serve for the New Year's Eve which is greatly influenced by the Chinese culture. Each food or dish somehow represents: good fortune, blooming careers/relationship, more success in career, more opportunities to come so on and so forth. But for my family, fruits is a must for New Year's eve.

Crema de Fruta

I made Crema de Fruta for dessert, but we were so stuffed we forgotten to leave some room for it so, we had for the breakfast  - first meal of the year!


I really enjoyed celebrating my New Year's eve; I hope you enjoyed yours too...!

I wish you a fruitful and colorful 2015...!