Hello Again

Over the years since I retired, I have made it a habit to start my day by attending the 6:30AM mass at my nearby parish church.  Doing so puts me in a positive spirit that would serve me well throughout the rest of the day.  These daily ritual has also afforded me the chance to make the acquaintance of several parishioners.  Mostly senior citizens, a sprinkling of empty-nesters and working folks who have time to spare before rushing off to work.

Reversal of Roles

My mother was opening cabinets in the kitchen.  It was still early in the morning and she was looking forward to her morning cup of coffee. But she needed to find the kettle to boil water in. There is a microwave oven that could easily heat up some water but my mother was afraid she might set my sister’s house on fire. Lately, it takes so little to make her anxious. And being in a kitchen that is not hers made her uneasy.

If not for the need to seek a second medical opinion in the States, my mother would be puttering around her kitchen in Cebu. She would have easily prepared her coffee by then.

For the duration of the visit, I was her companion. While my sister, M, and her husband, J, went off to work each day, having someone to spend the days with in a house not her own made the visit bearable for my mother.

Luckily, another sister, V, was available to drive for my mother during the days of her medical appointments.

Going to the Doctor

It also was a relief for her that she had someone to fill out the forms required before a medical examination can be conducted to validate results on tests she had done in Cebu. Lately, questionnaires, forms, and interviews intimidate my mother.

As we sat at the waiting room of the laboratory and at the doctor’s office, I could not help remembering the many times my mother accompanied me to the doctor’s office. I was and still am such a scaredy cat. There were countless times she held my hand when I had to be given a vaccine shot. There was also the time she flew in from Cebu to arrive at my bedside a few minutes before they wheeled me into the operating room. And how could I ever forget the scandalous time I screamed for her as I was in labor with my first child. Demanding “I want my mommy”.

Calmly my mother waited and when her name was called, she confidently walked into the doctor’s office knowing that she had two daughters who would be with her when the doctor explained her condition to her.

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The visit to the doctor happened almost a month ago. The doctor is optimistic that all will be well but there is need to monitor my mother’s health. Meanwhile, my mother is happily back in Cebu in familiar surroundings doing the things she loves.

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My mother may be getting more forgetful as the years go by. But there are some things she will never forget: the names of the people who owe her money; and, her skill at whipping up delicious dishes with the simplest of ingredients.

While in the States, I was her kitchen assistant. My task was to put out the chopping board, the knife, the ingredients and the pans. Once these were ready, she would begin and would rather I stayed a short distance away so as not to crowd her. I would only be called in when she needed for me to increase or decrease the heat of my sister’s range.

My mother allowing a sister to help her

Of the many dishes she prepared while we visited, the following soup is one that my siblings and I enjoy for the comfort and satisfaction it brought us --- not to mention the large amount of rice we end up consuming. Best paired with crispy fried budburon (Visayan) or galonggong (Tagalog) or scad (English).

Mother’s Pork Sinigang

1 kilo pork (preferably with bone—ribs would do fine) or 1 kilo chicken ( i prefer drumsticks and thighs)
1 lemon grass bulb
2 thumb-size ginger, sliced
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, sliced
2 jalapeno or sili pahaba or espada
2 bunches of spinach, washed
1-2 t Knorr sinigang mix (amount will depend on how sour you want your soup to be)
Salt and pepper

Place the meat, the lemon grass and ginger in a pot and add water to cover. After bringing to a quick boil, lower the fire to allow the water to simmer. Continue to cook until meat is tender. Remove and place in a bowl.

In the same pot, add a tablespoon of cooking oil and sauté the onion and garlic. Once done, return back the meat and the resulting broth. Add the jalapeno, some knorr sinigang mix and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add the spinach and cover the pot to allow the steam to wilt the spinach for another 5-10 minutes. Adjust the seasoning and once to your liking, transfer to a soup bowl.

Serve piping hot.

Pork Sinigang

Chicken Sinigang

Plenty of Nothing

The time on my celphone read 5AM. It is still dark and I hear water gush out of the faucet in the bathroom next to my room. Doors are opened and muffled sounds come from the kitchen downstairs. I hear the whirling sound of the garage door opening and after a few seconds the house is quite again.

I snuggled deeper into the thick comforter and went back to sleep.

“It’s 7 o’clock. Time to get up,” the alarm on my celphone announces just when my dream was getting complicated.

A little bit disoriented, I slowly remember that I was still in the States and in the house of my sister and her husband. My mother, whom I had accompanied on the trip over, had gone off for the week to visit with relatives. My sister, her husband and 2 nephews had left early as was their habit during the work week.

I was alone in a big and very quiet house.

I begin the day with setting T and M, the Maltese dogs of my sister, free from the garage. They will be my companions for the rest of the day. They will follow me as I get a glass of water, as I go out to the patio to read and reflect on the gospel for the day, as I eat my breakfast of yoghurt and fruits,

and as I fill my morning with light house work. They will sit very close to me—on my lap or at my feet or sometimes on top of the sofa where I sit to watch teevee

or read the many enticing magazines on home and food.

Occasionally T and M would start rushing to the door when they sense that a vehicle had stopped by the driveway. It’s just the mailman.

Some days on that week alone, I go out for a walk around the neighborhood. Unlike in my neighborhood back home, I hardly see or hear anyone moving about. There seems to be no activity going on inside each of the houses. The gardens are immaculate. Nothing out of place. So perfect, not a leaf or flower out of place.

The automatic water sprinklers are sometimes all the sound I hear. I feel like I am the only one around in some “Twilight Zone” teevee episode. Where is everyone?

Back at home after a quick lunch of left-overs, I settle in with a double scoop of ice cream

 before I spend some quality time with Don Drapper…. the main character of “Mad Men”—a series I have developed an addiction to.

Will his wife leave him? How will the company keep that big advertising account from going to the competitor? What exactly is brewing between a voluptuous secretary and one of the company directors? All these questions are soon answered one by one as I go from one episode to the next for most of the afternoon. T and M caring less what happens to Don, stay dozing close by.

As I go to the kitchen for some juice and a snack, the clock on the microwave oven show that it is 3 in the afternoon. It is time to get busy with dinner.  Don will have to wait.

One by one they arrive. A nephew back from school; my sister closely followed by her husband arrive from work; and, an hour later, another nephew come through the kitchen from the garage to mark the end of another day. And as luck would have it, another sister comes in later to join us for dinner.

The table is set and soon we all sit down to an early dinner. I am eager to hear about how their day went.

As we each retire to our bedrooms, my last thoughts before I fell asleep were the words stitched on a sampler displayed on a kitchen side table.  

It was indeed a beautiful week.
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My week alone was like a retreat.  It gave me the silence I needed to hear myself think and time to reflect on life in general.  I found that I am good company. Time alone also intensified my appreciation of the people that come back into my life at the end of each day.

Here is one of the dish I prepared that week. It got the most positive raves. This dish can be prepared well ahead of time. It actually taste better with a little time in the fridge. Not only will you have more time for yourself but after your family or friends have a taste of this dish,  they will reward you with these three words: "That was delicious."


Afritada of Mine

2 1/4 pounds or 1 kilo meat (may be all pork or all chicken or a combination of pork and chicken), cut into serving pieces

2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 lemon, juiced ( or about 2 T of calamansi juice)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 big potato, quartered
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large tomatoes, diced
½ c tomato sauce
½ can of liver spread/pate
1 chicken buillion dissolved in 1 cup of hot water
Additional water (optional)
1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
½ green peas (frozen or canned)
salt and ground black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS:

1. Place the meat in a large pot; pour enough water into the pot to cover the meat. Stir the soy sauce and lemon juice into the water. Bring the mixture to a boil for 5 minutes. Remove the meat and set aside. Discard the liquid.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; fry the potatoes in the hot oil until golden brown, 7 to 10 minutes. Add 2 more tablespoons olive oil to the skillet and allow to get hot. Cook and stir the onion and garlic in the hot oil until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the meat to the skillet; cover and cook for 5 minutes. Stir the tomatoes, liver spread/pate and the tomato sauce into the mixture. Stir to dissolve 1 chicken buillion cube in 1 cup of hot water. Add this to the skillet. Simmer the mixture over very low fire until the meat is tender.

Add more water so as the dish will be saucy. Return the potatoes to the skillet and continue to simmer. When the potatoes are tender, add the green bell pepper and the peas. Season with salt and pepper. Cook and stir another 5 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and serve with lots of steaming white rice.