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).

When I 'm Sour-y

You meet one occasionally and unfortunately, you and I become one from time to time.

I am referring to sour-y persons. An encounter is enough to pucker up one's heart in grimace. And that's not all. Being one attracts the worse kind of vibes.

If you try this little experiment, you will see what I mean.

Pour out a little vinegar in a saucer.

Now place this saucer outside-- maybe in your garden or out in the open air.

I’d bet that the first visitor to your sour offering would be a fly. And I’d bet that at least 1 big fly will then drop by to take a sip or two.

I try to remember this experiment every time I find myself transformed into a saucer of vinegar-- snapping at people's simple inquiries or making snide remarks at someone's inadequacies.

And what good are sour-y persons anyway? Amazingly, I was able to think of an outstanding feature. These persons enable others to highlight and appreciate even more the sweeter things in life. For with the presence of ugliness, we know beauty; with the dark, we know the light. It stands without reason that meeting up with sour-y people, we know sweetness.

===================



Going back to the topic of sourness, my kamias tree is presently heavy with fruit-- again. Usually, I use kamias when making "Paksiw na Isda".



This time, after going through some of my recipe books for inspiration, I decided to try kamias instead of sampalok (tamarind) in my sinigang (sour soup) dishes. To my surprise, I found that the use of kamias highlighted the mingling of flavours in my sinigang broth. So the next time you are thinking of serving sinigang for lunch, substitute your tamarind sauce with kamias. It's so easy:

Wash about a cupful of kamias. Drop in a small saucepan; cover with water and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the flame to create a simmer. After about 20 to 30 minutes, your kamias would be very tender. Now drain fruit of water and set the water aside. Mash each fruit through a fine sieve and add a spoonful of the water it was boiled in from time to time. You can then throw the pulp and the resulting sauce is what you can then add to your soup-- same way you process with sampalok.

You are sure to get a smile out of anyone trying your sour soup.