Christmas In June

I so love the fact that I have good friends around me.

Most of all, I super love the fact that I have good friends around me who cook and bake.

My intercom rang and roused me at around 7a.m. shortly before a building guard rang the doorbell handed me two red paper bags. I peered inside and saw a package of Chocolate-Chip Cookies, groggily ate one as I padded back to bed.

At 9a.m. I was already wide awake and went back to the kitchen because I thought I dreamt I ate a cookie.

Luckily, I wasn't dreaming because I saw two red bags on my kitchen counter. I touched it for extra measure.

Yes, the loot was real, indeed.


It's great to hear people pursuing their creative endeavors. Shortly after her uber-early morning wedding months back, my friend Regina Rodriguez-Cruz finally put up Belly Treats --- her own line of delightful pastries for those who want to give their summer's toned abs a break, even for just one bite, making that bite worth every calorie gained.

It was on that same day that I reluctantly left the pastries on the counter and rushed out to watch Kung Fu Panda with my mom, the boyfriend's mom and his adorable little sister with the missing front teeth. I poked her from the car seat behind her as I jumped into the van and whispered, "Guess what, I have something for you!"


Her eyes widened when she got a small container of chocolate pastries but remained typically behaved throughout the ride to the cinema. A few minutes later I heard her ask, "Mommy, can I have a cookie?". When her mom gave the go-signal, she did a dance in her seat and waved her arms in the air as the mom wrapped one cookie and one brownie in a tissue so she could snack on it during the movie. As soon as we sat in our theater, I looked from the corner of my eye and saw a profile of a grinning girl carefully munching on her cookie in the dark as a panda did his kung fu tricks on screen.

When I got home, I excitedly grabbed the box. There were two --- one contained a very moist Lemon Cake, and one which contained... a droolicious Carrot Cake.


How absolutely dreamy... just look at that icing. What a thing of beauty!


Instantly, I was whisked to a good time. I felt as if it were Christmas time.

And it is Christmas in June as I write while eating a slice of Carrot Cake, and await one of my life's greatest blessings to walk through my door in a few hours time...

Smile, Mr. Onigiri

I fell asleep and woke up feeling so darned jittery. My boyfriend hit the driving range with my friends in Connecticut just as the typhoon hit Manila at around 3a.m. when the winds began raging through the gaps of my windows. I could also hear all sorts of things around the place falling down --- perhaps sign posts on the street below, metal sheets from construction sites, and all sorts of stray objects plonking on our rooftop.

I've been living in between floors in a building for more than half my life. Now that I've moved to the top floor and living without a house mate, I can hear the storm directly pelt on top of our building. It is a noise that keeps me up during intense storms, especially when winds are blasting at 120-150 kph and making all sorts of howling sounds. I used to have a groovy housemate I shared a small house with back in Baguio. We would have funky conversations at all times of the day and it felt great to have cool company around. Today, I woke up in less than 6 hours, lit a lavender incense first time in years, took a long, warm shower as I sang "Favorite Things" from "The Sound Of Music".

Instantly, I felt much better.

When the rains were reduced to a nice, gentle and relaxing pattering on the roof, I fell asleep to Family Guy playing on my laptop as I left some Japanese grains soaking in a pot of water. When I woke up 2 hours later, I turned the stove on and brought it to a boil, the beginning of another batch of Onigiri.

This time around, my rice was perfect --- soft, fluffy and very, very sticky.

Also, I remembered to dip my hands in water and rub some salt before rolling my first ball of rice.

And finally, I made simple faces on my onigiri that truly brightened a day that looks like it's been one, long evening from the very start.

With a smiling and tasty Sanma-filled Onigiri, the day is finally well.

Cheering Myself Up With An Onigiri Adventure

Today was a good morning gone awry made better by a fantastic working Saturday and a trip to my "secret" Japanese grocery during one of its delivery days. The modest space was littered with boxes filled with inoki mushrooms, huge shiitake mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, packs of miso paste, instant ramen, fresh radish, milk cartons and other fresh ingredients shipped from Japan. Foreign housewives created a very long queue, something I didn't expect as I usually see a handful of customers at a time. Today, it was bedlam.



To cheer myself up, I decided to hit the kitchen during this stormy evening and finally make that Onigiri I've been wanting to experiment with. My first encounter with onigiri was observing some students in Tokyo subways eating nori-wrapped rice triangles. I eventually tried a salmon-filled one while I was manning my booth in Design Festa in Tokyo Big Sight during the art fair.

HOW TO MAKE ONIGIRI

1. Soak 1 cup of rinsed Japanese rice in 1-1.5 cup of water for 15mins before cooking. The package says you make it better by leaving it for 2 hours. I was too hungry to wait so I settled for quarter of an hour.

2. In a bowl, combine some rice wine, brown sugar and some rock salt and mix with your cooked rice.

3. When rice is done, air it with a paper fan or a regular electric fan to make it sticky. Let cool or your hands will be in for some burns if you get too excited to work on it.

4. Set a small bowl of water. Dip your hands and gather a small ball of rice in your palms. The tricky part here is forming it into a perfect triangle with your hands without a mold and keeping the grains from falling off.



5. Make a small hole in the center and put a bit of filling. I chose sanma. I sealed the hole with a bit more rice and molded it back into the best triangle I could make.

6. Get a piece of nori and wrap your little rice sculpture. When you've mastered your onigiri, you can later on create little rabbits, pandas and other funky-looking creatures made of rice and have one very nice-looking meal.



Things I learned today:

1. When one thing goes wrong, don't go with it and dampen what could otherwise be a fantastic day. My clients were a great source of laughs. I'm glad laughter is potently contagious.

2. When making onigiri, make sure your hands are wet before you grab your first mound of rice. I was too eager and ended up having my palms caked with rice grains the whole time.

3. Keep your hands dry when handling nori and put it only when your rice is already dry so it doesn't get soggy.

4. Perfect your timing with Japanese short-grains. Different kinds of rice grains have different water proportions and cooking time to make it nice and sticky.

5. Breathe, let it go and be grateful for all good things you have, all that come your way and all the goodness you can create around you --- even if it's just in a little kitchen.

Ittedakemasu!

A Cinnamon Indulgence

After a tiring afternoon of errands, I thought I would treat myself to some gustatory consolation. My recent indulgence has been Starbucks' Cinnamon Swirl.


Splattered with creamy-butter goodness, a generous sprinkle of cinnamon powder and nice, fluffy dough --- it was something I got hooked on right after my first bite.

Some time back, I tried the Cinnamon Roll --- a decision that didn't repeat itself. It seemed to have a tough, bready texture that hardened like a rock after being heated in the microwave oven.

The Cinnamon Swirl, however, still maintains its spongy texture even if some of its creaminess evaporates a bit in the oven.

I love my neighborhood baristas. First, they put up with my quirks, like me asking them randomly to wipe their boards clean so I could draw on them. Second, now that I haven't been drawing, they all ask, "Ma'am, when are you going to draw for us again?"


As I walked home with a warm and very fragrant paperbag over some puddles from a heavy downpour (I live right beside Starbucks, fyi), I noticed the cafe has given its paper pastry-sleeves a refreshing touch.



Note to self: Must commend the woman behind this, a friend who's been around since second grade (our classic introduction for each other) and someone I weathered Madonna-outfits with back in the day --- she's been a pioneer of the Starbucks team from the very beginning.

I Wish My Oranges Can Belt Out "Carmen"

I dedicate this blog to my daily consumption of fresh ponkans, and my intake of alkaline Vitamin C.

From a vintage Sesame Street episode, watch a simple kitchen counter-top orange sing "Carmen", complete with old-keyboard sound effects.

Bravo!

Three Things To Be Grateful For Today --- 061508

1. While having lunch with mom in Cafe Med, a friend of hers passed by and I was introduced to her for the first time.

The question that made my week was:

"So, have you graduated or are you still in school?"

My response:

"Is that a trick question?"

2. I just had dinner at Seryna and had fun with my boyfriend's little sister over sashimi and steak.

(Yes, I eat real good yakiniku once in awhile!)

Dinner conversation consisted mostly of film appreciation with his two brothers, from "2001:Space Odyssey" to "Kurosawa's Dreams" and his youngest brother's film-making aspirations.

The little sister confided to me:

"I like the way your mom laughs."

3. Finally, I got to poke the nose of my friend's dog, Cupcake. Keeping my promise, I strolled over to my neighbor and friend's building and delivered a bottle of my Egg-Free Caesar's Dressing. I've been promising to make this for her this entire month.

Just my luck, I entered the lobby at the same time their car arrived unexpectedly from the beach, a trip cut one-day short due to urgent reasons. I saw Cupcake miserably stashed inside a "doggy-bag" --- a dog carrier, actually. Since she can't sprint around as she normally does, I got to rub her nose through the mesh. She looked rather appeased.

One canine comforted whose life was momentarily made better by me.

I shan't live in vain.

Learning About The Cycle of Life in "My Pet" --- The Movie

It is a tale that will tug at the heart of anyone who has had a pet. But beyond its imagery, Cinemalaya's "My Pet" echoes a depth with its message on loving, building ties and the pain of loss.

Without words, the 7-minute film speaks volumes with its ethereal sounds woven into dark colors, graceful motions, sharp textures and tranquil mood. It reaches out, moves the viewer and touches one at the very core.

Film-maker Anna Bigornia told me about the day she brought home some chicks from school and discovered that the only pet chick she nursed into a chicken was transformed into a tinola (ginger-based chicken broth) dinner. It is, perhaps, this childhood memory of loving and losing that subconsciouly drives this film.

In one scene, the full-grown rooster crowed in the middle of the night to ward off would-be burglars, wake its owner thereby protecting the home that cares for it.

I was reminded of all the days my well-mannered dog, Quita, would stay by my bed and watch me whenever I was ill. On ordinary days, even when the whole house was bustling with activity, she would rise in the mornings only when I woke up. My mom would call her my "shadow". After she became too weak to stand up, she stopped breathing by my bedside around this time two years ago. I woke up and reached out only to touch cold fur. After 13 years, she simply had to leave, but to this day she continues to make a cameo in my dreams.

Anna's movie goes beyond the man-and-canine-friend bond. It has the same touch of "The Little Prince", when he was talking about his rose which he left behind in his planet. It meant all the world to him because he nurtured and watered it everyday. There was also the dialogue about "making ties" between the fox and The Little Prince, where the fox explains that everyday they were to meet and stay at a distance. Yet, the fox explains, one day The Little Prince's footsteps will be unique to him and the sound of him arriving will send the fox running out to greet him.

“My Pet” --- a simple but sensory tale about loving, being loved...and moving on.
***
"My Pet" is a 7-minute short animation in 2008's Cinemalaya roster of winners to be shown on July 11-14 at the Cultural Center Of The Philippines. It is a film created by Anna Bigornia with music arranged by Wacky Acosta and sounds by Raffy Magsaysay.

Living Creatively One Day At A Time

Living creatively doesn't require much, except a mere tweak in your sense of innovation right in your very home. I realized today that doing things creatively goes beyond the easel and the confines of a sketchbook.

It's really the art of thinking, living and doing things out-of-the-box and making new things with what you already have.

1. Try it.

The past few days I've had a very itchy kind of sniffles, the kind that makes you scratch your nose and do hacking sounds in your throat. I dealt with it by putting some of those funky foot-detox patches I kept seeing on the cashier's counter which I purchased on a random day. I showed my boyfriend the patch before and after use. He said "Yuck, it looks gross! I want one!". This comment will explain why I'm not posting an actual photo.

It starts off like a dry tea bag which you seal onto your foot with some sort of bandage tape. Sleep and keep it on for 8 hours then when you wake up, peel it off and you will find a soaking wet patch that turned black. He asked me, "How did you know about the foot patch?" I told him, "I kept seeing it perched on the counter of the drug store until one day I decided to try it out of the blue." Why wait for magazine recommendations when you can be the one to recommend it yourself?

2. Go natural.

I woke up and went on-line and my boyfriend said I sounded horrible. Not exactly a compliment but it was true. I was nasal and my voice was so deep and hoarse, not to mention my throat felt so bleh. I'm not one of those antibiotic-guzzling characters, and as much as possible I will try home remedies as preventive maintenance. To go about the cold aside from just relying on cold meds, I did two things.



First, I did the traditional Salt Gargle. I learned this when I would adjust to the weather up the chilly mountains in the north.

Procedure:

1. Pour some warm water in a cup.
2. Blend around 1 tbsp of rock salt.
3. Stir throughly until salt crystals dissolve and gargle like a mouthwash.

Weirdly enough, I could feel the salt pulling out whatever gunk was causing the scratchy throat and flushing it down the sink. Gargle the entire cup, and trust me, you will see and feel the difference.


Second, I went through the fridge's crisper and found a bulky root of fresh ginger. When I used to sing with a chorale, my choirmaster banned me from eating chocolates, cheeses and dairy stuff before a performance. Moreover, she taught me how to make traditional Salabat, or fresh ginger tea.

Procedure:

1. Slice ginger into several pieces. The more slices, the browner and spicier your tea.
2. Dunk in a pot and bring to a boil.
3. Drizzle with just a tad bit of honey to give it a sweeter blend and drink throughout the day.

I put in a lot of ginger slices because I prefer my tea strong. And the longer you steep it in the pot, the stronger it gets. I advice that you don't go right to the spice or else your throat will get a shock. It is a therapeutic drink that simply relieves. He was surprised to see and hear me sounding normal today, sans the sniffling, sneezing and the unglamorous girl with a constant kleenex wiping her nose.

3. Recycle.

At 12:45nn, my stomach started to rumble. I told the boyfriend on the other end of Skype to give me a few minutes. In less than 10 minutes, I was back online with a steaming bowl of Tomato-Basil Pasta. In my fridge, I found remnants of cooked angel hair pasta, sliced green bellpeppers and an almost empty box of cream. In my cupboard, I found a small can of crushed tomatoes and an almost empty bottle of dried basil. Too hungry, I decided to whisk something quick.


Procedure:

1. Heat pan and thrown in some butter and wait 'til it sizzles a bit.
2. Toss in sliced bellpeppers and mix with the butter.
3. Add extra virgin olive oil.
4. Stir in several spoonsful of crushed tomatoes.
5. Add some cream until the mixture turns a nice, deep salmon shade.
6. Sprinkle with basil leaves, cracked peppercorn, salt and stir.
7. Blend with cooked angel hair noodles.

Try it and you've just made a nice bisque-type of sauce with your al dente noodles.
With the global issue of sky-rocketing food prices, I believe I just did a very wise thing.
Three simple solutions for an effective existence and a succulent day.
I am off to meet with a film-maker to review her short animation which made won a slot in an indie-film festival.

The day is definitely getting better by the moment.

The Unexpected Food Blog

For starters, I had absolutely no idea at the start of blogging that I would eventually end up being perceived as a food blog. This site merely started out as a gratitude journal of my musings on life and relationships, my daily whereabouts and my little quirky habits.

I guess when one looks at what dominates my days, it will easily be perceived as someone into gastronomic adventures, which of course is true.

I got an email today that said I made the criteria and am now officially part of Google's customized Food Blog Search .

Perhaps this is but an affirmation that, indeed, "I Super Love Life" has evolved into such.

To commemorate the day, I am posting a very old, unfinished food painting. My only large-scale food painting called, "Aling Nena".

This painting was left for two years leaning on a door and has been stained by seeping water from a raging storm pelting against the glass and later on accidentally smudged by a marker of my friend's 5 year-old niece Nana. When I brought it out, instead of feeling forlorn, I decided to keep it currently unfinished and marked because it gives it a bit of that imperfect charm.

My blog, my life, my self.

Like the painting.

Always that work-in-progress.

Three Old Friends And Delicious Ramen

When I say old, I mean we go all the way back to first grade, and even prep level.
It's amazing how far my friends have gone in life.
These were thoughts I reminisced about as I waited for two of them to arrive as I looked around the new Japanese ramen house.



The one I shared my ramen with was someone I played some geeky instrument with in the school's "Rhythm Band" in first grade. She has since been a dedicated musician and now plays the piano and the harp with some of the country's leading orchestras and musicians.





The one who suggested we try Ukokkei Ramen Ron, is a broadcaster turned chocolate entrepreneur, food writer and an almost-politician.



As we curiously eyed the sauce-infused and mouth-watering Aji Tamago dish we ordered as an appetizer, we realized that we all haven't been together since we jammed shortly before the last Tokyo trip.



We were blending wonderfully until 4 a.m. as we made our resident musician play the piano 'til her fingers were sore.


Funnily so, they are also good friends of my boyfriend who lives one time zone away. Both of whom he met in high school around the same time he met me.

There were many things to talk about and catch up on --- from one's recent spring visit to Shibuya's Sanrio Town and the other's political endeavors with a former leader of our land, which she talked about amidst a mouthful of a typical Japanese snack of Onigiri .




She fussed over it as she figured out the right technique to hold and eat it without making quite the mess while I talked about my career and love life as I wolfed down my shared miso-based and spicy Nira Niniku Ramen quickly to make it on time for a birthday dinner-party with my boyfriend's family at a nearby pub an hour later.




Albeit brief, I was glad we all found the time to be together.

Light conversations of our current lives, reminiscing the past and contemplating the future over authentic Japanese noodles .

It was one flavorful and hearty evening to be grateful for.

Remembering Lola Na And Her Avocado Con Leche

As usual, I was so famished I forgot to take photos of my Via Mare lunch with my mom, which consisted of Sinigang Sa Miso Bangus Belly (Milkfish in Tamarind Broth With Miso), Fried Lumpiang Ubod (Fried Rolls With Shredded Banana Blossoms) and Bibingka (Buttery Yellow Rice Cake Cooked in Clay Pot).

It was a very late lunch, at 3pm. By 10:30pm, after arriving home from a delicious hour at a Thai Massage place, my stomach started to rumble. I swiftly made a mouth-watering Peking-Style Chicken Wrap (which has surprisingly become a favorite among my colleagues who threaten me to finish my meal quickly lest they grab it half-eaten from my hands).

For dessert, I thought I would celebrate summer by sneaking into my mom's kitchen to snatch two avocados, the fruit of the season. She said I could have them anyway so I dashed back to my apartment. Moreover, I thought of dedicating the avocado dessert to my grand-aunt, Lola Na.

*Side note: "Lola" is the Filipino vernacular for "grandmother". Na is the name my cousin wittily shortened from the name Nena. Nena is my grandmother's sister. Our grandmother was named Lola Ma, because she was our folks' mom, and the eldest sister of our grandma was Lola Da, short for Adelaida. We would joke secretly that Lola Da, Lola Na and Lola Ma were Las Tres Marias --- The Three Marias, our grandmother being the only married one while the two remained classic spinsters. Most importantly, Lola Na was the cook among them. I spent a good amount of time being a nuisance in her kitchen, puttering around her and opening pots on the stove as she whined that I should leave and not get in the way.

Tonight's dessert was something I learned to do as a child as I watched my mom prepare it, who learned it from Lola Na. As a tribute to my grand aunt, I shall call tonight's cooler "Lola Na's Avocado Con Leche".

Procedure:

1. Slice open one ripe avocado length-wise. Remove seed.

2. Scrape the flesh of the avocado with a spoon but keep the shredded avocado in the "skin".

3. Pour some milk in the avocado. Sprinkle with brown sugar and adjust to preferred sweetness.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

I truly believe all my lolas would have been proud of me tonight.

A Brief But Instant Reply From Meiji Chocolates

I talked about my recent discovery in my Meiji Yan Yan Sticks in an earlier post. See, I never really ate these things until I discovered the vanilla flavored ones. I wrote Meiji office last Friday and I was pleasantly surprised to hear from them around an hour later.


That's 5 stars for customer service!


I was told by the Sales and Marketing person that they have noticed the error and stuck to it anyway just to see if people even pay attention to what's written while they eat.


His email ended with: Anata no nihongo wa jouzu desune!


Domo arigatou gozai masu, Oh-san.

Spellings On Food Packages

Two years ago, a friend and I were having early dinner at the American chain Friday's. I obseved something written on their promo table standie that pitched their new dish called "Half-Baked Chicken".

I made a comment about this to the manager and explained that it can be very misleading because I would definitely appreciate my chicken cooked well.

My suggestions were to write it as:

1. 1/2 Piece Baked Chicken, or
2. Half-Piece Baked Chicken.

Also last night, I opened a package of Meiji's Vanilla Yan-Yan sticks which were absolutely yummy. I was amused at finding things written on the bread sticks. However, I noted that there were two things that were spelled a bit off:

1. Whale --- Biggesy Mammal
2. Cow --- Muuuuuu

I sent Meiji a brief email with my thoughts on this. I said maybe it was only that particular stick that had a misspelled word (I will buy another pack this weekend just to see consistency). I also commented that perhaps other countries might spell cow sounds as "muuu" instead of "mooo". Phonetically, though, it is probable that many might interpret the sound of "muuu" as "uh", as in "uh-huh", instead of "oo" as in "who". Then again, "moo" to others might be interpreted "moh".

Friday's was rather appreciative of my observation and told me to keep them posted if I see anything else on their menu for them to take notice of.

It would be cool to get feedback from the chocolate company.

A Few Of The Many Reasons Why I Love Life

I was greeted at the company's reception desk with a jar of caramelized peanuts and a nice, fresh and moist loaf of banana bread from Baguio Country Club.



My student sent me an SMS that she just came from up north and was sweet enough to pass the calories around and send me a thoughtful token even if our classes are done.


A month ago, another student told me she'll make me try her family's bread from Cavite.


She proudly said that this bread spawned many branches of KC Farmers Bakery across the nearby province and that they make the old-fashioned style of pan de sal bread. More than just making me merely taste it, I was heaved at least 5 dozens of bread to consume (with good ol' pinoy Lili's Peanut Butter).


Luckily, it was on one of those days my boyfriend was here in Manila so I was able to spread the delicious baked goodies to his folks and my mom.


Even if I had sushi dinner and evening tea at Nanohana with a good friend last Sunday, I still pitched the place for this evening's venue with former students. Because we were a bigger group, we were a bit more varied in our choice dishes.



From Saba...

to Spicy Sashimi Rolls...

to Asohos Tempura...

to Salmon Cheese Roll...

and Chicken Yakitori.

We enjoyed catching up on each others' stories --- from one married couple's wakeboarding adventures, to a separated woman completing the last of her emotionally taxing annulment hearing and another friend's herbal tea business waiting to take-off.

When I look at the people around me, and the kind of joy they radiate into my life, it makes me grateful for being surrounded by such individuals who truly know how to love life.