A Gem of a Valentine

I gave in on Valentine's day.  Yes, I accepted the suggestions of my hubby to once more get outside help. 

For a little over a year now, my hubby and I have managed to take care of house chores by ourselves.  When my last helper bid good-bye, we felt that we had had enough.  Although we were grateful for their assistance in running our household, we wanted to experience what it would be like to manage our house by ourselves. 
Besides we were exhausted from a recent string of sad experiences with the helps whom we have hired.   Petty quarrels; mental instabilities; and, the need to take on their personal problems as our own had taken its toll on us.  

My hubby and I came up with household chore schedules and divided the tasks between us. You could say we were adapting to the average American lifestyle.  Then again, I could not imagine our taking on these responsibilities if we had jobs and young kids to consider.

At first, it was tiring and the housework got in the way of personal activities— blogging, reading, watching teevee, going through facebook, shopping, napping and chitchatting with friends.  Important stuff.  But after getting our act together, we worked out a routine and managed to do our personal stuff  while maintaining greater privacy.

But there were certain tasks that still needed outside assistance.  So we eventually sent off our laundry to a laundry mat just outside our subdivision.  And I found a gardener to come in twice a month to put order in my hodge-podge garden.  And there were the occasional visits from pest control guys.  

Until one day, a good friend told us that she had been on a search for a new helper and as is usually the case, more than one comes along.  Would we be interested to take on the extra helper?  After a short discussion, my hubby and I agreed that it might be a good idea. Maybe this time we would be lucky.  The reasons for not having one seemed to fade away.  The thought of being able to spend more time attending to personal interests was a big lure. So I told my friend “Yes, we were interested.”

Funny that after only a few hours from giving our go-signal, my hubby and I got cold feet.  It was as if all the reasons for not having a stay-in help came flooding in. But we took the middle ground and decided we were ready for the occasional visit of a “stay-out” helper.   I immediately called my friend and told her of the change of heart. 

News travelled fast in our little subdivision and while on my walks, I would get stopped by neighbors’ helpers  inquiring if we were indeed looking for a “stay-out” helper.  And so on Valentine’s day, our doorbell rang and there stood E.  That morning was to be the start of E’s twice a week visit to our home.  And after only a very short period, my hubby and I agreed that E is truly heaven sent.  A quick learner, hardworking and with such a cheerful attitude, E has taken over the house chores, and has earned my trust and respect.

  -----xoxoxoxox-----

During E’s breaktime, I would engage her in conversation and asked her about her family.  Easy to talk to and eager to share, I found out that E was born on Valentine's day and had started working at 15; since then,she had done an assortment of  jobs ranging from gathering sugarcane in her province to cleaning, cooking, selling her kakanins and care-giving both the young and the old. She has had a wide assortment of “amos” (employers)—some kind, some harsh, some down right cruel.  She credits her ability to survive the hardships  that life has thrown her way to her faith.  If not for her strong belief that she can always trust in the Lord’s goodness, she would have long ago given up. It is this same faith that moves her and her husband to persevere with their hard work so as to provide a better future for their 4 kids.

-----xoxoxoxox-----

E is not only a cheerful person, E is also very generous with her talents in the kitchen.  One day, as we talked about favorite dishes, I asked her if she knew how to cook puso ng saging in coconut milk (ginataan).  She said yes.  As a matter of fact, it's a favorite of her husband and kids.  She offered to buy the ingredients and cook it up the next time she came to work.  And cook she did.  The result was a no-frills, straight to the point, lip-smacking Visayan dish.  Admittedly, it’s not a very healthy dish. But once in a while, it’s nice to have someone cook for you and indulge in a dish that brings back childhood memories of grandma’s cooking and loyal help.

E’s Linubihan (Ginataang) na Puso ng Saging

1 large banana heart (see below on how to make ready)
1 T salt
1 big coconut, grated; first add 1 c of warm water to make the 1st extract (cream), strain and set aside;  and then add 2 c of warm water to the grated coconut to make a 2nd extract (milk), strain and set aside.
1/2 c chopped lean pork
1/2 c chopped pork fat
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 thumb-size ginger, peeled and sliced into strips
6 small shirmps, chopped coursely
1 sili espada
about 1/2 c dried fish (labahita)-- wash the fish before frying to remove excess salt and shred
1/2 of a  beef buillione cube
some malunggay leaves
pepper for seasoning (no need for salt as the dried fish is quite salty)

Heat up a pan and add the pork fat.  Stir to extract the oil.  Add the lean pork.  Next add the onion, garlic and ginger.  Sautge until onions are translucent.  Add the shrimps and the sili espada.  Stir to cook.  Add the coconut milk and beef cube.  Simmer for about 5 minutes. Add the prepared chopped banana heart.  After about 10 minutes, add the fried and shredded dried fish.  Season with pepper. Continue to simmer until the banana heart is tender.  Right before serving, add the coconut cream and the malunggay leaves.  Turn off the heat and cover the pan for about 5 minutes

Serve with lots of steamed rice.  

 Preparing the Banana Heart:
Cut off about an inch from the tip and remove all the tough dark cover until the heart shows cream-colored interior. 

Don't be sad to realize that you have removed a lot of the outer dark covering.  Those are too tough to eat.

Make deep slashes on the top.  

Place the heart on a chopping board and chop away at the slashed area.  Slash the heart again and chop until you have gone through 2/3 of the heart.  

The remaining 1/3 is tough and can be thrown away. Place the chopped heart in a bowl.  

Get a barbeque stick or a wooden chop stick and twirl the stick in the chopped heart.  

When you left the stick, you will notice a sticky substance which should be removed.  Continue to twirl the stick in the heart several times to extract this sticky substance. 

Add the salt into the chopped heart and squeeze the mixture.  Throw away the resulting "Juice".

The banana heart is now ready to use.  You have to work fast as discoloration takes place very quickly the longer the heart is set aside.