Health is Wealth

When I was a teenager, I felt invincible and had no thoughts of doctors (except in a romantic sense, I guess). Laboratory tests, let alone pricking needles, were not my idea of fun. Besides, my parents had to pin me down before any vaccination could be administered. I was a regular scare-di-cat!

I was 21 years old when I had my first taste of the horror/relief/joy of a medical examination. I had just been hired. Horrors because an elderly male doctor did my very first breast examination while his nurse/receptionist stood as "sponsor". Relief, because in those golden days, a Pap smear was not part of the package. Joy, as the remark "fit for employment" signaled my entry into the working class.

I did not have to face the same mix of emotions until I transferred to another job. But as the doctor was a lady, the examination was not traumatic. There was no need for doctor visitations until I got married and got pregnant. By then, I could consider myself a veteran of the touch and feel and poke and prick -- marriage opens you up for all kinds of examination (so to speak).

The years went by and as God willed it, I stayed relatively healthy. Frequent visits to doctors were mainly for my growing kids. When I visited my doctor, this was not top in my to-do list, and I went only when I thought it was convenient.

In my blooming 30's, I got my taste of what an executive check-up was all about. At the prodding of a friend, both of us took advantage of the company's benefit. Besides, being a first timer, I looked at it as an adventure as well as a cheap chance to have a legitimate reason to be away from work for 2 whole days. After a whirlwind of examination and poking in "new places where the sun don't shine", I was declared healthy beyond reasonable doubt!!!

Regular check-ups every two years became a habit with me. Being and staying healthy moved up in my to-do priority list. I guess when you hit that certain age, you start to feel subtle changes in your appearance-- a more toothy smile brought about by receding gum lines, a fuller hip, strained eyes after a long day's work. Getting a passing mark after a medical exam became the goal.

Thankfully, 50 is the new 30— and I merrily deny the inevitable and still think of myself as sparkling wine! For did not someone say that aging is all in the mind. But there is no denying what I see piling up on my hips, sprouting in my hair, blurring my eyes and causing the aches in my joints. Yes, all these have made me realize even more the importance of good health. For in order to stay a spring chicken (at least in my mind) and continue to enjoy what life has to offer, I have to toe the health line-- diet, exercise, positive attitude and regular check-ups.

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In my recent visit to my doctor, she exclaimed that my cholesterol level was quite impressive. I explained that it must be the oatmeal I have everyday for breakfast. She remarked in return, “I should go back to eating oatmeal again.”

With so many oatmeal preparations in the supermarket these days, it should be easy to find one that suits ones taste. There's traditional rolled oats, said to be even more healthier but needs some time to cook, or the just-add-water variety. I prefer the middle-of-the-road oatmeal variety: Quick Cooking. To make breakfast interesting, I add powdered milk, a sliced banana and a tablespoon of chopped walnuts. And like the life we choose to live, oatmeal options can be limitless.

Home Chefs

My mother (MM) and my mother-in-law (MIL) are different in so many aspects. MM was a stay-at-home mom while MMIL reported to a desk job until 60. MM is a provincial lady and was relatively a babe in the woods when my father married her.



MMIL is a city girl, the only girl with 6 brothers and naturally the apple of her father’s eyes. MM is spirited and when properly encouraged, would oblige with a song or two. MMIL, although not shy, would rather stay in the background. MM subscribe to the art of “tough love” while MMIL is all tender and solicitous.



But despite their differences, they have two things in common: their love for mahjong games with close friends; and, their wide knowledge and cooking experience of tried and tested recipes.

I remember when I was newly married, how I would call long distance to either one of them when I needed to ask pointers in preparing a particular dish that my husband or children liked. Many times, the dish did not turn out exactly as expected and a scoop of ice cream would be the best consolation. Through all that cooking experiences, I have learned that to be good at cooking, like anything in life, one has to practice, practice, practice. Usually the first tries are so-so but in time, I received the words I long to hear: “This taste just like Mom’s/Lola’s”.

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Much of what I know about cooking comes from MM and MMIL. I continue to draw much from their teachings to come up with daily meals served at home. And the great thing is, there will sometimes be two delicious ways to cook up a dish. What follows is such an example. Both delicious, both easy to prepare.

MM’s Roast Beef

2 Kilos round roast or chuck roast (Kasing in bisaya or Kalitiran in Tagalog)*
1 T calamansi/lemon juice
2 T Perrins
A dusting of grounded pepper
2 cubes of Beef Bouillion



Marinate the beef preferrably overnight in the fridge.



Drain the beef of the marinate juices and dry with papper towels. Then roll in some flour. Fry quickly in about 4 T of olive oil. Once brown, put in a baking dish. Set aside.

Add about 1 cup of water to the marinate juices. Include 1 chopped medium onion, two stalks of celery, and powdered garlic.



Pour over beef and bake in a 300 degree oven for about 3 hours. Baste the roast to prevent it from drying out. (If using pressure cooker, increase water to 2 cups)

Once done, reserve the drippings for gravy. Cut the roast to desired thickness. Serve with gravy, mashed potatoes, and buttered steam veggies.

Gravy

Add about 2 teaspoon of corn starch to 1 T of water. Set aside. Strain the drippings into a sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir until sauce thickens and clears up. Again— you will need to feel your way through. (that’s why you need to practice, practice, practice)



Note:
Beef cuts in my part of the world are not the most tender and can be expensive. If this is the case with your beef, opt to use the pressure cooker instead of the oven. It worked for me. Instead of the 3-hr cooking time, I only needed 1 hour with the pressure cooker. For my 6 quart pressure cooker, I made sure I had at least 2 ½ cups of liquid. So adjust as needed.


MMIL’s Mechado

1.5 kilos of round beef or chuck/ “kalitiran”
Have the butcher insert a strip of pork fat in the middle of your beef



1/2 c cubed pork fat
1 1/2 c chopped tomatoes
1 c chopped onions
1 Bay leaf
2 sliced cloves of garlic
6-10 whole pepper corns
1 pack of tomato sauce (250 g)
1 beef bouillion
Salt and pepper to taste
Water



Place all the ingredients into a pot with a tight lid. Add water to just barely cover the meat—about 2-3 cups.



Bring to a boil then lower heat to a simmer. Simmer until beef becomes melt-in-your-mouth fork tender. This could be anywhere from 2 hours to 3 hours of very slow cooking. Once tasted, you will think you died and went to heaven. Just don’t make this too often or else you will indeed be heaven bound.



Note:
You may also use the pressure cooker for about 30 minutes to soften the meat. Then continue slow cooking for a shorter period of time.

The Easy Life

Where is the easy life?

Manila or California? Helpers or gadgets? Freshly made dishes or ready-to-eat packages?

On one hand, dishwashers, washing machines and vacumn cleaners are efficient. And I like the fact that living without helpers afford one privacy and the bonus of not attending to a helper’s personal concerns.

“My husband has no work and my children need money for their schooling.”
“My mother is sick and needs medication.”
"I have a headache."
“My cousin is pregnant and needs to be admitted to a hospital”

But then on the other, I like it that I can leave the house knowing that supper will be ready when I get home and I can watch teevee without a second thought about washing the dishes.

I have become spoiled and have someone to prep my ingredients should I wish to make something from scratch. Then again, I like the convenience that a can opener offers.

I like that at home, I do not have to put a ton of moisturizing cream to avoid drying up. On the other hand, I love that I don’t perspire in the dry California weather. Snuggling in bed is a delight at 68 degrees.

But truth be told, there is no place like home with helpers who need help, tropical hot flashes, the absence of a logical system for doing things, the dust and the occasional stray dog.

Living in Manila affords me the chance to tell stories that captivate and pique the curiosity of friends at gatherings in California.

How easy is that?

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Seeing how easy it was to prepare the following appetizers had me wishing to stay longer in America. After you’ve tasted it, you will thank your lucky stars for your green card or your multiple entry visa. (Thanks F & M for sharing)

F’s 7 Layer Dip

An 18-inch flat serving dish/plate
2 cans refried beans (about 2 ½ cups)
1 container of guacamole ( about 2 ½ cups)
1 container sour cream ( about 1 1/2 cup)
1 packet taco mix powder (about 2 tablespoons)
2 cups chopped ripe tomatoes
1 packet shredded cheddar cheese (about 2 cups)
1 large spring/green onion or leeks, washed and sliced thinly
1 small can of chopped black olives ( about 3/4 cup)



Spread the refried beans on the dish.



Top with the guacamole and spread carefully. Set aside.



Mix the sour cream with the taco powder and spread mixture next on the dish.



Next spread evenly the shredded cheese around.



Cover the dish with the chopped tomatoes, chopped green onions and black olives.



Serve with corn chips and be blown away at how something so easy could taste so awesome.


Guacamole by M

3 ripe avocadoes, chopped & mashed
1 c chopped tomatoes
1/2 c chopped green onions
salt and pepper
juice of 1 lime

Mix all ingredients and serve with favorite chips.



Rumor has it that throwing in the avocado seed into the mixture keeps the guacamole from discolouring.




M’s Brochetta (Caprese style)

1 c chopped tomatoes (cherry tomatoes, if you can get them)
splash of olive oil and balsamic vinegar
5-10 basil leaves, chopped
baby mozzarella cheese ( sliced up)
salt and pepper
French bread, sliced

Mix all ingredients and top on slices of French bread. May be toasted for add ump : )

Moving On

Mama Mary and baby Jesus found new homes. Winter coats and flannel robes will keep someone else warm this year. Fancy jewelries and sequined dresses must go as well. All the other stuff went into 7 boxes.

My mother had finally closed up her home in America. 25 years stuffed into 7 boxes.
Comfort wear: Cotton blouses, denim pants, bedroom slippers and walking shoes.
Serving platters, measuring spoons, mixer and blender plus 4 kitchen knives. They will continue to see more parties and feed more guests. Dated pictures, greeting cards, letters from far away places and tiny notes to self will soon find warmer storage space.



Watching her tenderly wrap a fragile vase or pause to take in again the words from a thank you note was cause for joy but at the same time made her shed a tear at the remembrance. I kept my distance as my mother meticulously went through each and every personal article. Only she could decide what to pass on or put in the boxes. I could not and would not deny her that.



In between the sorting and the packing, there were phone calls made to relatives and friends. And those who lived near-by happily dropped in for a chat and to accept gratefully some personal items.

“Yes, I am leaving,” my mother tells them all, “ but if God is merciful, I will be back soon. This time more of a visitor than a resident.”

It is heartening to hear friends and family vie to host her stay when she does visit.

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Moving on brings mixed feelings. Sadness at putting closure to a life that had many memories and happiness at the thought of starting fresh. But such is life--- a continuing process of moving on.
One lesson learned from being with my mother those two weeks: travel light. A second lesson learned from my mother, is the following recipe:

USA Styled Sotanghon Pancit

250 grams of sotanghon noodle, soaked in water
1 c cubed cooked ham
1 c sliced breast of left-over rotisserie chicken
½ c sliced boiled pork (optional)
1 small onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ c chicaro (peas)
1 sliced small carrot
1 1/2 c sliced chinese cabbage (pechay) or cabbage
1-2 green jalapeno (sili espada or sili mahaba)—maybe omitted
Soy Sauce, salt and pepper—to taste
4-5 c Chicken stock (may come from or a mixture of boiling the left over bones of the rotisserie chicken; canned stock; or made from 2 knorr chicken cubes dissolved in 4 cups of water)—my mother prefers the canned chicken stock

Saute the garlic and onion in a deep pot. Drop in the cubed ham and the sliced chicken and pork if using. After a quick stir, add the stock. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Add the carrots and the peas and simmer for 1-2 minutes—do not overcook. Add the jalapeno pepper/s. Season with soyu sauce, salt and pepper. Please note to add more of the seasoning as adding the noodles tend to make the dish bland. Add the drained noodles and mix. If the mixture looks dry, add more stock. Lastly, add the Chinese cabbage and close the lid of the pot to wilt the leaves. Season to taste with more soy sauce. Before serving, remove the jalapeno. Serve with more soy sauce and lemon on the side.

Note:
Pancit is a very personal dish —so you can add other ingredients of choice: shelled shrimps, sliced mushrooms, kinchay and the like.
If you want more noodles than meat, you can go ahead and increase amount of noodles.
To facilitate easy serving, you might want to cut the noodles as they soaked to reasonable length.
You could also boil some fresh chicken breast instead of using left over chicken.
Noodles will mop up the liquid, so be sure to have lots of chicken stock to add as you cook this dish.



That’s it, Pancit : )

Cedes, Berning and Gemma

I cried as I watched the movie “The Help”. I cried because of the poignant storyline—how black household help were treated in the turbulent years of the ‘60s. Yes, they were free but they were not equal. But storyline aside, deep inside, I cried because of some similarities in the movie with that of the many helpers that served my family. Growing up, I remember that our house had two rooms and one bathroom. My parents had one room and my then 2 sisters and I had the other room. The 2 helpers slept in the pantry that had a double-decker bed located behind the kitchen. The helpers took their baths in a tiny hut at the edge of our property and it was made of galvanize iron sheets. It also doubled as the laundry area. Their toilet consisted of an outhouse behind the poultry we had at that time. But as soon as the financial standing of my family improved, so did the conditions of the accommodations accorded our helpers.

Like the movie, my family has its share of loyal helpers. There was Manang Cedes, our laundry woman and charged with the care of the animals— dogs, chickens, pigs, and the occasional goat. Oh, the amusing stories about her many escapades after returning from her late afternoon “cocktails” at the corner store. She cried the hardest at the wake of my father. There is Berning who continues to serve my mother for the last 44 years. The offer of retirement last year only made her cry. So that offer was shelved and she now spends her days taking care of the plants at my mother’s house. Then there is Gemma. She came to work for my family when she was just 12 years old. Just a few years older than my youngest sister, she was also a playmate and confidant. Like one of the movie’s character, Gemma obediently moved from my mother’s employment to my household when I moved to Manila; to my sister when she needed a nanny; and, yet to another sister when she, too, needed a nanny. While still watching over my niece, Gemma married, got pregnant but continued to watch over her ward until it was time for her to give birth. Her son is about 5 years old now and she is back at my mother’s house. This time, she cheerfully returns to take care of my mother.

Admittedly, my family had its share of troublesome helpers but I would rather remember the helpers that were exceptional in their care for my family.

With the remembrance, I also cried as I recalled how my father scolded me for shouting at a helper for a task that was not done well.

“Do not ever shout at the helper,” was my father’s reproach. “They are human beings just like you.”

I also cried because I was grateful. And I thank all the helpers that passed through my door and the ones presently working for me. To a great extent, they were and continue to be a blessing to me and my family.

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In “The Help”, there is a scene when the help brings a chocolate pie to her employer. The employer gushes about how delicious the pie was and wondered what the secret ingredient could be. I will leave it at that so as not to spoil the surprise as this scene is crucial in the telling of the story. Instead, I share with you my mother’s recipe for such a pie. No secrets here.

Mommy’s Chocolate Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 Baked Pie Crust

Tricky Crust-- it's a touch and go on this one-- check out other recipes and work out on one that would give a thick and crunchy crust. I found the following video very helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQ0GSSVymU

My mom’s pie crust:
Mix the dry ingredients ( ½ t sugar and 3 c AP flour) together in a bowl.

Add ¾ c chilled butter (cut to cubes) or margarine and cut it into the dry mixture with a fork or two knives to ensure that you make a flaky pie crust. (Cut the butter or margarine into the flour until the texture of the mixture is like corn meal.)

4. Gather the pie crust mixture into the center of your preparation surface and create a well in the center of the mixture.

5. Gradually add 3 tablespoon of ice cold water approximately 1 tablespoon at a time, to the center of the mixture. Work the dough with a fork or hands until it starts to pull away from the preparation surface to create one lump. The goal is to use the least amount of water possible.

Scrape and clean your work surface, then cut a sheet of wax paper— a little larger than your pie pan. Sprinkle a little flour in the center of one wax paper and place your dough ball over the flour.



With a rolling pin roll out the dough to a size larger than your pie plate—about 2 inches larger than the diameter of your pie plate.



Carefully turn over the resulting pie crust over a pie plate. Remove the wax paper as you fit the crust into the pan.



Using a scissor or knife, trim the dough evenly so that it is two inches larger than the diameter of your pie plate.



Fold over the extra two inches and crimp this extra dough all the way around the pie plate.



Brush the edge of the pie with 1 egg yolk and prick your crust with holes using a fork in order that the crust will not expand and balloon when baked.



Put the pie crust in the refrigerator and let it chill for at least 10 minutes.
Pop into a 350 oven and bake until edges are golden brown.

Chocolate Cream:

3 large egg yolks ( 4 if small), slightly beaten
4 T heaping tablespoon of cocoa powder
1 can (396 g) condensed milk
1 can hot water (using the can from which the condensed milk came from)
1/3 c cornstarch plus 1/3 c water
1/2 t cinammon, 1 t vanilla
2 T butter

In a double boiler over medium heat, stir together the cocoa and the condensed milk. Add the hot water and stir. Take about half a cup of the mixture and stir slowly into the egg yolks. Then add this yolk mixture to the cocoa-milk mixture and stir. Add the cornstarch-water mixture to t double boiler and continue to stir. To avoid a lumpy consistency, always stir the mixture. Once the mixture thickens, add the cinammon and vanilla. Next, blend in the butter.



Pour the chocolate cream into your baked pie crust. You may use the egg whites to come up with a meringue topping or add whipped cream-- depending on your preference.



Option 1: Top pie with meringue and pop in a hot oven until tips of meringue turn golden.

Option 2. Cool pie and refrigerate. Before serving, top with whipped cream.

Enjoy and let’s all remember the number one rule when treating another human being — R-E-S-P-E-C-T.