Blowing Bubbles

For sometime now, I noticed that many stalls in fairs, bazaars and department stores are selling plastic bottles containing soapy liquid. The bottles came in all kinds of shapes and colors-- sometimes the shape taking cue from the latest cartoon or movie craze. And for convenience sake, the bottle hangs from a colored cord long enough to hang around your neck-- just like a necklace. You'll never be hard press to locate your "bubble bottle" when it's just hanging from your neck. For P30 or less, the magic of bubbles is yours. Not only for a few minutes but for possibly a week (!). Bubble blowing has come a long way from the gumamela + detergent formula of my youth.

So what's magical about blowing bubbles?



Well, won't you think it's magic after watching how children's eyes grow big with delight when bubbles emerge once air is blown into the hoop?



Won't you consider it magic the way bubbles reflect the prism of colors while floating in mid-air?



Wouldn't you consider it magic when for a few moments you are able to forget your cares and worries, imagining them as bubbles floating away and bursting into nothingness?

That's magic!

Remember then that when you feel out of sorts, consider the magic of blowing bubbles. Consider giving in to being a child again and let the bubbles carry you away.


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And for those who think bubbles are silly, here's a dish that is seriously delicious and easy to make. I tried it last Saturday and was pleasantly surprised to see how quickly they disappeared. Now that's magic!

Binyolos
From the cookbook: "Saru-saro Kita! 100 nga mga kaluto ha Leyte"

10 pcs sweet potato (camote)
1/4 k flour
1/4 k sugar
cooking oil

Boil the camote. Peel and mash them using a bottle or rolling pin.

Add sugar and flour. Mix well with your hands until the mixture no longer sticks to your fingers.




Heat the cooking oil in a pan while making 3-inch long rolls from the mixture.



Fry the rolls and once it turns golden, drain on paper towels.



Sprinkle with refined sugar.
Serve hot.



My version:
3 cups mashed camote
1/4-1/2 cup flour or just enough for the camote to no longer stick to your fingers
1/4-1/2 cup sugar (less if you don't want it sweet) and some for sprinkling.

Let There Be Joy

Two days ago, I prepared chicken curry for lunch. And by some strange reason, the aroma of the curry made me remember a conversation I had with my daughter when she was still in high school...... (flashback...with the hands of time doing a backward spin and the tingling of tiny bells)

"Mom," my daughter started, "what's that chicken recipe that has a sauce?"

After some probing, I gathered that she wanted to have the recipe for Chicken Curry. She was charged by her cooking group at school with coming up with the appropriate chicken recipe that would be easy to execute, tasty and best of all must impress the teacher. The cooking was to be done the next day at school.

I initially gave her a list of ingredients needed and instructions for her yaya to get them quickly at the supermarket. I assured her that we would discuss the procedure thoroughly when I get home from work.

Over dinner, my daughter took notes of the "what and the how much" of the recipe. To be sure that she would recall what I said, each note she took was followed by a crude, funny drawing. Imagine minute drawings of chicken pieces in coconut milk! Then there were the "what ifs.." that needed to be addressed as well.

In the end, I put an arm around her and said, "Cooking should not be a chore but should be a joy."

Back to present time..

I realize that it is not only in cooking that should be done with joy. Any gesture, big or small; any task, easy or complicated magically comes together when done with a joyful attitude. For does not joy ease up the pressure? Does not joy make it all worth while? And if for some reason we are confronted with failure, does not joy make starting over less frightening or tiresome?

So you ask, what about the Chicken Curry Recipe? Don't fret coz that's what follows:

My Chicken Curry (an adaptation from a N Daza recipe)



1 kilo chicken pieces (my preference: legs & thighs; less fattening: breast with skin removed)
3-4 tables of cooking oil
2 cloves sliced garlic
1 large sliced onion
1/2 c thick coconut milk*
1 1/2 c thin coconut milk*
2 small peeled potatoes, quartered
1-3 tsp curry powder
salt, pepper to taste
Optional:
1 chicken buillion cube
chili powder
sili espada
1/2-1 tablespoon crushed crackers or bread crumbs
apple wedges
diced green bell pepper
raisins
peanuts/casuy
mango chutney or papaya atchara

My picture shows carrots added. It's not really called for but I just added them coz I like carrots.

In a kawali or casserole, heat up the oil and suate the garlic; then the onion. Optional: Add the chicken buillion and break it up. Add the chicken pieces and move them around in the pot until lightly brown on each side. When you think the chicken pieces has had enough stirring around, pour in the thin coconut milk. When the mixture simmers, add the potatoes and the curry powder (Optional: add the chili powder) and again give the stew a stir. Bring up the fire.
Once the mixture hits the boiling point, lower the flame. After judging that the chicken and potatoes are cooked and tender enough, correct the seasoning-- salt, pepper, more curry powder maybe. If you want to have a thick sauce, add the crushed crackers or bread crumbs a little at a time-- just don't dump everything in at once so that you don't end up with no sauce at all. Then when you have attained perfection, kill the fire and add the 1/2 c thick coconut milk. Do not re-boil if you do not want the coconut oil to separate and give your masterpiece a very distinct coconut oil smell.

To Impress:
Transfer your masterpiece to a lovely dish ( the one you reserve for when a grand occasion should happen).

Arrange thin apple slices at the sides of the dish.

In small bowls surrounding your creation, put in the raisin, peanuts/casuy, mango chutney or atchara, diced green pepper, even some diced fried bananas.


*Milking a coconut
Thick
Put the shredded coconut in a bowl and add about 1/2 c warm matter and squeeze 1/2 c coconut milk out of it. Use a strainer to ensure you don't have coconut bits in the milk.

Thin
Add 1 1/2 c warm water and squeeze 1 1/2 c of thin coconut milk. Again use that strainer.

If you can't find fresh coconut milk, you could experiment with canned coconut milk/cream. Then again, quality is a hit and miss until you find the canned coconut milk/cream of your dream.

It's Going to be Alright

Is it just me or are people today indifferent to law and order? And where has good manners gone?

Is it just me or are people today callous to the feelings and sufferings around them? Why is there so much pain?

Is it just me or has the world turn a shade less bright in its urgency to spin around faster and faster?

I ask because I noticed that men do not think twice about shoving women to get inside jampacked MRT trains-- no mercy even for pregnant women. Buses stop in the middle of the highway to drop off or pick up passengers. Men and women shove and push to get closer to designated lines-- be they fastfood counter lines or communion lines at mass. Used to be when children where thrown into the air and safely caught in loving arms so as to fill the air with their gleeful laughter. Now I hear that children are being thrown directly into a busy street so that the pockets can be filled with much needed cash as settlement.

The headlines of the newspapers are no help either. Depression starts to set in and I wonder if the world is better off ending in one sudden giant explosion.

And just when I am about ready to believe that the end is near, some sense is knocked into my blue brain. The world is not ending-- yet. The sky is not falling and it really is all right. And why is this so? Because...

• I took a walk and noticed the blue-ness of the sky. Turning a corner, I came across a boganvilla bush in glorious bloom. Along the way, a neighbor smiled and waved across her fence. My heart was beating so and my breath was coming in strong with every stride I made.



• I helped cover up a young mother as she tenderly breast-feed her tiny baby in a ride home on the MRT.

• I watched a group of street kids enjoy a game of tag. I heard their laughter and saw the sweaty grins.

• The scholarship program initiated by women of my parish for a depressed area beside our subdivision is doing so well. The contributions have been bountiful and generous.




It's these big heart-warming little occurences that happen everyday that prove the world will continue to spin on course. As long as there is still beauty around us; as long as there is still laughter and some generous hearts-- it will be alright. All is not lost yet as long as there is a little love in this world.

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But is there hope or any good that can come out of stale bread? The answer is also-- YES! So don't be too quick to throw it to the dogs or garbage bin. For like everything else, it's a matter of seeking out the good. And for old bread, the good comes in the form of (or transformation to) delicious french toast. Try this very simple recipe. My family's: they're better than alright-- they're fantalicious!

Fantalicious French Toast
• 4 pcs sliced bread
• 1 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar or less
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (may be omitted)
• 1/4 tsp salt (may be omitted)
• 1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine

Garnish with:
• raisins or choco chips or nuts or slices of fruit(depends on how much you love them)

Beat the egg slightly and add the rest of the ingredients except for the garnishments. Soak the 4 pieces of bread in the milk-egg mixture. Press down with a spoon to make sure milk has soaked through.

Heat up a lightly coat a non-stick pan with butter or cooking oil. When ready, slip in your sliced bread-- one at a time or as many as your pan can accommodate without over crowding. In two to three minutes, flip the sliced bread over as it would have turned a nice shade of brown. Brown the other side before transferring to a plate.

Once you have all the slices cooked or toasted, arrange lovingly these slices on two plates. Sprinkle with your garnishments and maybe dust lightly with powdered sugar. May be served with maple syrup, some sausage links and or bacon.



After one bite, you will definitely declare that life is alright!

Start with a Bam-i

Time does fly when one is having fun and the two years as a retiree has been all that I wanted and more. I have to say that life after 30-years of corporate work continues to get better. In the short time, I have gained more friends than wrinkles; and you my friends are more than enough reason for me to continue with my musings.

So what do I have "cooking" for such wonderful people at the start of a brand new year?!?! Why only the best that Cebuano cuisine can offer: I give you Bam-i. (Nope, this is not the Cebuano version of W. Disney's "Bambi".) Bam-i is a soupy noodle dish bursting with flavor that can only be described as "Lami kaayo!" (delicious) .

My first encounter with "Bam-i" was at my first Noche Buena (Christmas dinner) as a new member in my husband's family. There was the usual fare of ham and cheese and tsokolate. But in their home, Bam-i was the most welcomed treat. It's aroma and warmth was enough to drive the chills out of one's bones.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxoxoxoxox

The following recipe was taught to me by my mother-in-law. This recipe has been passed on from mother to daughter from one generation to the next. If you have done some cooking or messing around in the kitchen, you will know that a good cook does not relay on exact measurements. She (or he) uses her senses-- smell, taste, touch, sight and even hearing. Measurements are at best estimates or guide-- so trust your senses and let's begin.

Bam-i ni Mommy Janet

Ingredients:

1/2 k kasim
1 chicken breast
1 small onion, quartered
1 c shelled small shrimps
1c shredded dried squid-- the rounded one, not the elongated one
1/2 c tengga sa daga (mushroom)
1 small pack of miki (egg noodle)-- about 1/2 k
300 grams of sotanghon (glass noodle)
1 Knorr chicken cube
1 med. onion, sliced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
some cooking oil
soy sauce and/or patis (fish sauce)
salt, pepper
green onions, sliced



Preparation:
First, you got to have a lot of soup stock. So boil the chicken and the pork in 5-6 cups of water with a small onion and a pinch of salt. Once the meat is tender; remove from stock and set aside to cool. Once cooled, shred the chicken meat and cut the pork into thin strips.



Soak the mushroom in some water and when soften cut into strips as well.

Shell and de-vein the shrimps.

Ready the onion and the garlic by slicing them thinly.

Soak the sotanghon.

Cooking:
Saute the garlic, then the onion in a little oil. Follow this with the knorr cube, shrimps, the chicken and the pork. Add the squid and the mushroom. Then add enough stock to cover. Simmer over low flame until flavours have blended.



When serving time is almost near, add the miki and the sotanghon (drained of it's water) to the soup. Check that your soup does not dry out. If it does, add the reserve stock. Stir and season with the soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Serving:
Put this noodle soup in a pretty bowl and sprinkle sliced green onions on top. Serve with pride.

Tips:
• Knorr cubes may be omitted. Although these magic cubes does add the necessary kick (maybe because of the MSG).
• To have more stock on hand, you could boil some chicken back and neck pieces and reserve the resulting stock.
• To devein shrimp, after shelling slit the back and remove the black vein. This is the shrimp's intestine (yuk!)
• As you will realize at the end of the cooking experience, noodles tend to soak up the broth in which it has been placed in. So it is important to have on hand extra soup stock. To guarantee that this is a soupy dish and not some ordinary pancit guisado creation, do not add the noodles until close to serving time so that the noodles will not have time to soak up the stock.
• Use a scissors to cut the squid into match stick strips.
• You may increase, decrease or omit the amount of meat (pork, chicken, shrimps, squid) depending on your preference.



Here's hoping this soup warms up your spirit and jump starts your year in the right direction.