Bliss

Last week, I was very privileged to witness what heaven might feel like-- twice! Two celebrations of love— one happening a day after the other.

Two for the Road

A few weeks back, my husband surprised me with an invitation to spend a weekend at Tagaytay. This, I considered, was a major road trip.

Now if you know my hubby, you will just be as surprised.  For the longest time now, he would rather stay at home than go out and smell the gas fumes.   Traffic, weather conditions, house security— there was always a reason not to go out.

Come Saturday

Come Saturday morning
I'm goin' away with my friend
We'll Saturday-spend till the end of the day-ay
Just I and my friend
We'll travel for miles in our Saturday smiles
And then we'll move on
But we will remember long after Saturday's gone

Come Saturday morning
I'm goin' away with my friend
We'll Saturday-laugh more than half of the day
Just I and my friend
Dressed up in our rings and our Saturday things
And then we'll move on
But we will remember long after Saturday's gone
The Sandpipers
Words by Dory Previn and Music by Fred Carlin


30 years. And I continue to look forward to all the Saturdays with my husband, my friend.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

At least one Saturday in a month, I make sure to have the following recipe in my menu. It’s my husband’s favorite—specially when paired with Ginataang Mongo with Dried Fish. This is a dish I learned from my mother-in-law and you’ll surely be taken away on a Saturday smile after you tried this out.

Adobong Uga (dry adobo)

1 kilo pork belly, cut up to about 1 ½ cubes
1 kilo chicken (preferably wings, drumsticks, thighs)
Or you can have 2 kilos of pork or 2 kilos of chicken.

Marinade:
1/4 c Native vinegar
1/3 c Soy Sauce
1 ½ head of garlic, crushed
3 bay leaves
10 whole pepper corn
2 tablespoon salt
Dash of pepper
Oil for frying

Marinate the meat overnight in the fridge or at least 4 hours. The next day, place the meat and marinade in a pot. After bringing to a quick boil, reduce the heat to maintain a gentle simmer. Cook until meat becomes tender. As chicken becomes tender faster than pork, remove the chicken when you note that it’s tender already. Drain meat of liquid by placing in a colander. Separate the chicken from the pork

Heat up a 2nd pot with cooking oil—about 1/3 of the pot. Be sure that the pot has a good fitting cover to protect you from the resulting splatter. Once oil is hot, drop about half of the pork. Cover the pot quickly to avoid getting splattered by hot oil. About 5 minutes, turn off the heat and wait a short while before lifting the cover. Stir the pork slices around. Cover and turn on the heat once more. Cook for another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and wait for a short while again before lifting the cover. By the 2nd time, the pork should have a nice toasty brown color. Strain pork out of the oil and into a serving dish.

Do the same procedure with the chicken. The resulting meat will shrink from the frying. But a little of this goes a long way with lots of rice.



The frying procedure is not for the faint-hearted. As hot oil will surely splatter, be prepared by wearing long oven mitts and no peeking while the heat is on.

If one is not ready, preparing this dish, could be painful. And if done right, this dish, like love could stay on your menu for a long, long time.