Retired, Re-used, Rekindled

People warned me of the pitfalls of early retirement: boredom, financial difficulties and the absence of purpose.

Pre-retirement days meant there were schedules to follow: the daily commute, meetings, deadlines, performance discussions and the never ending events to manage. Twenty-four hours did not seem enough.

At present, I admit that there are plenty of days with no specific agenda on my plate but there is plenty to keep me occupied: prayer and reflection, weeding my little garden, going thru my collection of recipes, calling my mother, answering the crossword puzzle (lots of time needed)… and the list goes on. Regrettably the days go by just as fast.

Pre-retirement days meant not paying attention to the cost of chicken or whatever took my fancy at the supermarket. Buying came easy with no second thought about budgets to follow. Money was not an issue.

Now-a-days, I keep to a budget, check out chicken prices and think twice before I buy a trinket. (Do I REALLY need another one?) No need to get another pair of office pumps with killer heels or “borloloys” to jazz up my look in the kitchen. Thankfully, with prudent use, I hope that money will not be an issue.

In the past, my purpose was to contribute to keeping the corporate alive. At present, I have found joy in using skills honed during corporate life as a volunteer in my parish scholarship committee. The scholarship program is open to children of a nearby squatter community.

Only recently, I got involved in a Lenten Recollection organized by said committee for these children. Just like corporate days, the group plunged into the planning and the execution of said event. It was just like the “old days”—program flow preparation, set-up of venue, logistical checklists, and even a de-briefing afterwards. There were three priests that facilitated the event where 83 kids showed up. Most of all, the assessment made by these children indicated that they had a good time and learned a lot. The little we did was greatly appreciated. I could not help compare this with the many complaints I used to hear from participants in more lavish corporate events. How ironic indeed.

Can I sustain this way of life? I’ll be sure to let you know.

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Preparing for an event, big or small, is like cooking a dish. You need to know what, how, when and even why you will cook a particular dish. You have to ensure you have all your logistical requirements: ingredients, cooking utensils, and work force. Lastly, you have to be open to feed-back in order to assess whether it is a dish worth improving or serving again.

The following recipe will give you a good appreciation for the need to be organized:

Chinese Lumpia



Ingredients:
¼ c cubed shrimps
1 c grated carrot
2 c grated coconut heart of palm (ubod)
2 c grated tokwa (firm tofu)
1 large onion, minced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 c julienned cabbage
1 egg, scrambled, cooked and chopped
Native lettuce leaves, washed and dried
Fried sotanghon
Peanuts (pounded)
Brown sugar
Celantro leaves
Lumpia Wrapper

Optional:
Chopped celery
Chopped cucumber
Bean Sprouts

Sauce:
½ t Fish sauce (patis)
2 t Soy sauce (toyo)
1 T Brown sugar
1 c water
1 t Corn starch
In a small pan, bring to simmer the water, patis, toyo, and sugar. In a cup, mix together the corn starch with 1 tablespoon of water. Add this to the simmering mixture. Stir until mixture has thicken. Adjust seasoning to your liking. Pour into a small bowl.

Bottle of hot sauce

Procedure:
1) First Saute
a) Divide the onions and garlic into three portions.
b) Saute 1 portion of the onion and garlic with:
i) Carrot
ii) Ubod
iii) Cabbage
c) Set Aside.



2) Second Saute
a) Saute 1 portion of the onion and garlic with the tokwa.
b) Set aside.



3) Third Saute
a) Saute 1 portion of the onion and garlic with the shrimp.
b) Set aside.



4) Mix all of the sauted ingredients and the chopped scrambled egg in a big pot.
a) Season with salt, pepper, fish sauce, and soy sauce.
b) Set Aside.



5) Set-up
a) Place a lumpia wrapper on a plate
b) Put a lettuce leaf in the center
c) Pile two to three tablespoon of your filling on top of the leaf
d) Garnish with pounded peanuts, sugar, cilantro leaves and crispy
fried noodle and other optional garnishings.
e) Roll up the lumpia, make sure you tack in the corners to seal.
f) You might want to use two wrappers to ensure that the lumpia does
not burst.



6) Condiments
a) Prepared lumpia sauce
b) Hot sauce



So go ahead, organize a lumpia party and have your guests involved in the preparation. Not only will it be fun but the final assessment will surely be: Delicious!!

Note: proportion of ingredients may be adjusted to fit your preference. If you like togue more than the other veggies, go ahead and make yourself happy.

Write-on Baby!

While cleaning out my closet one warm evening, I came across a box containing old letters dating back to my elementary school days; home-made greeting cards-- some with lopsided flowers and crayola hearts and some liberally sprinkled with silver dust; and, written bits and pieces of lives lived. There were letters from friends with stories of travel and announcements of milestones in their lives. Friends who vowed to always stay in touch. I pause and wondered where they are now.



There were three diaries of different years-- all started at different months of each year; all ending abruptly; all written in my small, tight and heavy penmanship. I read once more my impressions of the people and events that passed thru my young life then. The more I read, the more I remembered.

And there were letters I wrote but never sent. Letters filled with intense youthful angst -- hate, anger, disappointments. Reading them now, I am glad I never sent them out. Time does heal all wounds (or in some cases, dulls the pain) and what seemed to be so important then becomes so petty in the present light.



Amusingly there were also little scraps of paper with scribbled to-dos; a list of items to take on a trip; and even a crumpled note that definitely was passed around during a boring class. There was a famous quote on torn rule pad and a short poem I wrote about a cat (!).
•
With modern technology, writing or chronicling has evolved. But whatever the chosen mode, the value of putting thought to paper or ,now-a-days,to blog stays the same.

It is proof of ones existence.

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One notable find from that box is the following recipe given to me by a former office mate, C. C used to share her homemade lunch at the office. At one time, she brought bangus sardines. It was so good that I asked her repeatedly for the recipe. She finally gave it to me before migrating to Canada. I have not heard from her since. I tried the recipe out last weekend and it was as delicious as I remembered it to be. (Thanks C!)

Bangus Spanish-Style Sardines

1 k bangus
1/2 c olive oil or corn oil
1 c water
4 T sugar
1 t peppercorn
2 t salt
1 small crushed garlic clove
3 bay leaves
5 sili labuyo
5 small tomatoes (seeded and sliced)
3 slices of ginger (as big as 1-peso coins)
1 green or red bell pepper (sliced into thick strips)
1 small carrot (sliced into rounds)
pickles for garnish



If you are lucky, have the fish vendor clean and scale your bangus. It would be ideal if the fish is about 6 -8 inches long.



At home, wash your fish, cut off their heads and set aside to drain if they are small in size or if large,cut into 3-4 pieces.



Measure out all the ingredients.



Place the bangus pieces into a pressure cooker. Arrange the tomatoes, bay leaves, ginger slices, sili labuyo and sliced bell pepper in the pot.



Add the oil, water and seasoning (salt, sugar, peppercorn).

Seal and pressure cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, cool the cooker down based on pressure cooking instructions. Open and turn each bangus slice over. This will enable the flavors better penetration. At this point, I suggest that you taste the resulting broth and adjust seasoning accordingly. Seal the cooker and resume cooking for about 25-30 minutes. Cook 45 minutes longer if bangus are large.

Once done, cool the cooker and carefully open the lid. Let the sardines cool down. Since they are very hot, they will tend to crumble if transferred out of the pot. When the fish slices have been removed to a container, add the carrots into the pot with the remaining sauce and quickly bring to a boil. Do not over-cook as the purpose is to retain the crispiness of the carrot. Pour the sauce and carrots onto the sardines and garnish with some sliced pickles.



Note:
• You must have a pressure cooker to try out this recipe. This type of cooking quickly softens the bones of the fish.
• You must know how to use a pressure cooker. Explosions or accidents occur from opening the cooker without properly releasing all of the pressure.
• Add or decrease your sili labuyo depending on how hot you want your dish to be. As the sili I added were not crushed, the resulting dish was not at all hot.
• Best to double the recipe and use 2 kilos of bangus to make all that effort worthwhile.

Trust me, it will be worthwhile. I served the sardines to a Spanish priest and he thought it was good. That’s enough reason for me to do this again.

Staying in Touch

“Daddy, can we visit your father’s house?”, I asked my dad when I was about 10 years old.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. There are a lot of snakes there.”, was the response of my Dad.

My father has long passed away and I never got to visit his hometown. Until this year. Somehow everything clicked: a recent invite from his relatives to visit; cheap airfare; and, the travel itch to be somewhere new. I had brought along my mother who was eager to rekindle ties and introduce me to my father’s relatives.

Although declared recently a city, the birthplace of my father is 20 times less than that if compared with the urban jungle I came from. Rice fields and coconut groves; banana plantations and fish ponds; cattle ranches and chicken farms surround the town center--- and not one movie house in sight!



The house where my father grew up in is no longer there. But the river that run beside the house continues silently to empty itself to the nearby sea.



Did you ever get the feeling of looking at something or someone and realize that it’s both familiar and unfamiliar? Maybe it’s from all the black and white pictures of said place and people that I used to look at as a kid. Or is it possible that my father’s childhood memories reside in the deepest part of my brain?

While there, my mother and I were graciously received at the ancestral house—my great-grandfather’s house. What made the visit more interesting was learning about my father’s family tree as patiently explained by my father’s cousins. And it took me sometime to grasp the connections considering that my great-grandfather had so many relationships!



Best of all were the stories about the magical powers my great-grandfather possessed; the illicit affairs; the ghosts that continue to walk the halls of the ancestral house; and, the struggle to keep the land in the family name. Many enjoyable hours were spent at the dining table with the retelling of these stories.



The sincere and warm invitation to come back for another visit will surely be taken up again. I see it as another way of keeping and staying in touch with my father.

During the visit, we were constantly warned to watch out for snakes. And indeed, as if to prove my father correct, a cobra had come out of the tall grass and was quickly killed by a farm hand. It’s a good thing I don’t scare easily.




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The ancestral home is kept humming with a retinue of loyal staff. Memorable were the delicious meals lovingly prepared. One such dish served was Humba—braised pork belly in a soy sauce and black bean sauce. This was paired with Young Fern Salad and Sauted Ampalaya with Egg. Such a winning combination! The recipes that follow were generously shared by an Aunt charged with the supervision of the kitchen staff.

HUMBA



Ingredients:
1 kilo pork belly, sliced into 1-inch pieces
1 small can of pineapple juice
2-3 tablespoon of vinegar
3-4 tablespoon of soy sauce
3-4 tablespoon of brown sugar or moscovado sugar
10 peppercorns
1-2 bay leaves
a handful of dried banana blossoms
3- 4 tablespoons preserved salted black beans with canned liquid
Salt and pepper

Procedure:
Fry the sliced pork until golden brown. Place in a pot and add the rest of the ingredients. Pour water enough to cover the pork. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and allow to simmer until the pork is fork-tender.

Ampalaya with Egg



2 medium size ampalaya or bitter gourd
Minced garlic
Sliced onion
A handful of diced pork
2 eggs

Procedure:
Cut the ampalaya diagonally and remove the seeds. Cut into very thin slices and place in salted water for about 15 minutes. Once done, drain and set aside.
Break the eggs into a bowl and scramble them slightly. Set aside.
Saute the garlic, onion and follow this with the diced pork. Once cooked, add the ampalaya and stir until tender. Pour in the scrambled eggs and continue to stir until just done and not dried out. Season with salt and pepper. Serve piping hot.

Fern Salad



1 bunch fern (Pako variety)
Diced tomatoes and onions and some ginger
Vinegarette (vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar, a little water)

Blanch the ferns—be careful to quickly drain as the ferns can get soft very quickly and loss its crunch.
Place in a bowl and add the tomatoes and onion. Stir in the vinegarette. Enjoy!

To Listen to the Quiet

When a neighbor brought up the idea of attending a retreat in a monastery in Digos, Davao. I immediately told her to count me in. I figured it would be hitting two birds with one stone:
• I was itching to visit Mindanao so Digos would be a good start
• it was high time to join a live-in retreat as the last one I attended was in high school.

On a cloudy Tuesday, we landed in Davao and motored to Digos. The Monastery was everything I expected it to be--- very quiet.



We were going to be a group of 16 women. And being the advance party of 3, we had the retreat house and grounds to ourselves from late afternoon until bedtime (at 8PM!). We were each given our own room-- very basic with a washbasin. Toilets and showers were outside-- just like a dormitory. The rest of the party arrived shortly after we had gone to bed but I was out like a light. Surprisingly for someone who usually takes at least two nights in a strange bed to fall asleep easily.

At 4:30AM, there was a sudden buzz of activity outside my door. The monks had morning prayers at 5AM and followed by mass at 6AM. I peeked out my door and saw some of these ladies rushing back and forth in the corridors. I quickly got dressed and quietly left the dormitory and headed for the church.



My two friends were not up so since there was no time for introductions, I kept to myself as I stole glances at the women who would be my retreat companions for the next three full days.

By breakfast time the necessary introductions were made. It will take another day to get the names and the faces in sync. Meanwhile, to help me remember, I jotted down things that struck me for each of their names I wrote down in my notebook. So-and-so was the one with the tight curls; this other one was the spunky leader of the group, and so on and so forth. By the end of the morning, we were friends. Maybe not close, but the smiles were given out more freely.

The retreat in itself was far from what I had expected. For the next three days, our retreat master, Fr Pat, would meet with us promptly at 9AM. He would speak to us for about an hour. After which, he would advise us to go and find a cozy nook and reflect on what he had said. Guide questions were also given out to help in the reflection. He would meet with us at 3PM for the next session and after a short time, send us off for solitary reflections.

At first, in all the silence, I probably thought about what Fr Pat said for about 30 minutes and then do other things to occupy the rest of the time. I got a chance to steal some time to talk to the staff and the sisters that ran the house. I took solitary walks around the retreat grounds--



checking out the cows



and the chickens



and took pictures of the gardens.



I also took morning naps, afternoon naps, prayed the rosary with my two other friends, and most of the time sang myself silly in one of the garden huts. That was how I was reflecting.

So one afternoon, after singing a medley of Carpenters songs, I happened to look up to see what I thought at first were two golden brown butterflies twirling up in the air. I never took my eyes off them and watch as these "butterflies" finally came to the hard ground. On closer examination, the twirling butterflies turned out to be seed pods of the mahogany tree. I picked them up and then it hit me. The sessions of Fr Pat could be likening to the seeds in the parable of the sowing of the seeds. These "seeds" will not grow without the benefit of a fertile soil or a reflective spirit.



I had come to the retreat hoping to be spoon-fed the answers I was seeking the way it was done during my high school days. Fortunately for me, there was that tiny bit of quiet time when a message got through. Thankful, I stopped singing to listen to the quiet.

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Delicious meals and snacks at the retreat house were available at the dining house. Meals were made out of the fresh produce from the market. And since Davao is the fruit bowl of the Philippines, there were a variety of fruits served during our stay: tangy pomelos, sugary sweet chicos, mangoes and pineapples, slices of red watermelon, caimito (sugar apple), the (in)famous durian, creamy papayas and golden bananas. Definitely my stomach was always quiet with contentment.

Many of the vegetable stews were familiar to me as Davao share similar Visayan fare—like utan (veggie stew). And utan will not be complete without the tanglad or lemon grass fashioned into a distinctive knot. Follow the steps below and add the knotted tanglad to your meat dishes or veggie soups for a new taste dimension.
Step 1


Step 2


Step 3


Step 4


Step 5

Appetite for Life

Eagerly she waits for her son-in-law to get ready to drive her to church service. She's all dressed up in a Chanel inspired dark blue dress that has white trims on the edge of the collar and sleeves. She carries a dainty black bag and her cane.

She is 98 years old. But her stooped posture, silky white hair and wrinkle lined face cannot hide the youthful exuberance beaming through her lively eyes.

When asked, she says that she does not know for sure the reason why she has lived so long. She does know that when she wakes up each morning, she gives thanks for the chance to witness all that the day has to offer. And if she should wake up in the middle of the night, she takes it as a cue to recite well-loved poems and sing her favorite songs. She does not let worries or fears take hold of her for long. A nice happy tune usually does the trick.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Want to live a long and happy life? The secret is eating everything and anything in moderation. The following recipe is sure to heighten your appetite... but do remember to eat this in moderation or else you will be very happy but I can't promise you for how long.

Ginisang Bagoong sa Kamias(Sauted Shrimp Paste with Bilimbi-- I kid you not)

about 1/2 c sliced kamias
1 c diced tomatoes
1/2 c dliced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tablespoons of bagoong (colored pink)
1/2 c pork crackling (kinapusan in bisaya)== optional but a great pity if you miss out on this



Saute the garlic, onions, tomatoes and kamias. Once tender, add the bagoong-- quantity is a very personal thing.



When the bagoong is nicely incorporated, set aside to cool down.



Kinapusan
2-3 cupts of cubed pork rind ( you can use trimmings from porkchops and the like)
water and salt

After washing your pork fat cubes, place in a kawali (wok), add some salt and water enough to cover the pork. Bring to a boil then lower the heat to a simmer. Stir from time to time. After awhile, the water will evaporate and the pork will start to give off fat/oil. Make sure that you protect yourself with long cooking mittens, a long ladle and a cover for your wok. This is dangerous operation as the pork could send up a hot splash of oil.

Stir the pork now and then. Remove from the pan when golden brown.



Once it cools down, you can incorporate this cripy nuggets into your sauted bagoong.



Serve with lots of rice!

What to do with the oil/lard?
-- live dangerously and use when cooking fried rice or add the tablespoon to your paksiw. Or if you can get the recipe, make torta de Cebu-- you need pork lard (not butter or margarine as you probably were thinking).

How was your Day?

I met my tired daughter at the door as she came home from work and with a smile asked how her day was. She said she would tell me all about it at dinner time as she was worn out from the day's experiences and just wanted to lie down for awhile.

Re-energized by just being home, she comes down to dinner and one by one recounts one mishap after another. But we both noticed that her stories were more funny than mirable.

We can wallow in the low points or choose to remember the highlights.

So how was YOUR day?


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When I first tasted Osso Bucco (fancy name for stewed shank), I thought that such a delicious dish would be hard to duplicate at home. But I came across a recipe in one of my old cookbooks and the procedure seemed easy enough. A few trials, a few changes and I had a winner. Not only is it delicious but oh so easy to make. This dish will surely make your day.

1/4 c flour
1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper
2.5 kilos of shank (used for bulalo)
oil for frying
1 onion (peeled and minced--1/2 c)
1 carrot (peeled and minced-- 1/2 c)
1 stalk celery, minced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 c white wine or grape juice-- (sometimes, when am out of wine, I just increase the amount of beef stock)
1 c beef stock (you may use beef bouillon cube & 1 c water)
1 can whole tomatoes, drained and chopped (you may use chopped red, ripe tomatoes)
1/2 t each of basil and rosemary (may be omitted)

To cook:



Mix the flour, salt and pepper in a large bowl and toss the shanks in the mixture until well coated. In a large pressure cooker, heat the oil over medium-hight heat. A few pieces at a time, brown the shank on all sides until deeply colored and crusty looking.



In another skillet, over medium heat, saute the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in some oil.

Turn the vegetables into the pressure cooker.



Arrange the meat on the top; stand it so that the marrow will stay inside the bone when it begins to tenderize. Pour the wine into the skillet used to saute the vegetables and scrape up the pan juices. Pour the stock and heat through. Pour this liquid into the peassure cooker together with the tomatoes and herbs. Cover and seal tight your pressure cooker and set your timer for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Follow your manufacturer's instructions on how to use and open your pressure cooker when time is up. If meat is not fork tender, re-seal the cooker and cook for another 15-20 minutes.



The following is a sauce that is suppose to go with the dish. As the family is satisfied with the dish as is, I have decided not to prepare the sauce.

Gremolata Sauce
6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
2 T grated lemon peel
1/2 c chopped fresh parsley

Combine all the ingredients, and mix well. Serve on the side with the Osso Bucco.

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.