Friday, my beloved day never fails to excite me. I actually look forward to getting to work (esp. on Fridays) raring it to end  and start my journey for home where I will see my littlle tiger who gives me such joy just watching him  go about his life in play. My husband who is also "so nice to come home to" [Kenny Rankine's song] usually likes to  end the week  with a goblet or two of wine, so I thought I should get him  a bottle of red we can share  tonight. I know of an Italian deli in the neighborhood of one of the schools I work in which  holds good Italian wine. While I was thinking about it I decided to get the bottle, lest the day ends without me getting it. I went in the deli and was greeted by an Italian guy inhis 50's (I guess). He looked quite serious and business-like so I thought I'd  shake him up a bit with my order. I asked for a toasted bagel with creamcheese. He asked if I needed anything else (I could almost  read his mind, expecting me to order coffee) so I said, "Oh, for my drink, I'll have that bottle of red wine (standing on the  shelf)." I watched his face closely and saw that he was  shocked but he restrained himself graciously giving me now  a curious look as he tried to figure out my person. So I added, "Yup this wine looks good---this must go good with my bagel, don't you think?"  The man said, "Oh yah, oh yah!" He was perplexed, curious, and amused all rolled into one as-if-not-affected expression. I burst out laughing telling him I was just teasing, and that I was  going to give the  bottle to my husband.  He smiled with a "Phew!" face. I hope that  brought a little sunshine to his day.
Coming home, I whipped a simple but tasty dinner called  Bistek  [in Spanish, it is Bistec Encebollado, in  English, Beef Steak with Caramelized Onions]

After dinner, I played with  SpideyBat-MAN. (He did not last long with the mask I made. The rubber bands were torturing his ears...)

Once I had a craving for a snack I used to have in childhood. It wasn't often my family made it but I remembered it's very simple but oh-to-die-for taste and marshmallowy beDimpled  look. It made an indelible imprint in my child mind so that decades after, I only need close my eyes and I see them and could almost taste them. I certainly enjoyed helping make it as a child as it needed a lot of tactile affection to reach its voluptuous form. One had to take a pinch of the doughy wet batter----ball it wih the palms and poke it with a finger to make a cute Dimple in the middle. NOw that I am older I realize the dimple was not only artful,  but also functional as it holds some sweet sauce as it travels on a spoon to meet and reward the anticipating tastebuds. So when the craving hit I did not have a choice but consult THe google, and here's what I ended with after making some adjustments to suit my taste: TADAAAA...

PALITAW sa LATIK---made with sticky rice flour, with coconut and melted brown sugar sauce and a sprinkling of reduced coconut bits. Ohhh yumm! 
Palitaw basically means to float which is exactly what these bedimpled rice dumplings do---they float to signal they are cooked and ready to eat.
It was pure bliss to eat this food again. Eating it lead me down to Nostalgia Lane where I remembered home-made Leche Flan out of duck's eggs brought by the farmhand  and  dark sweet guava jelly harvested from three gigantic guava trees my father planted beside our house and macapuno (sweetened Sport coconut strips) which came in batches after the coconut harvest....the list went on and on....while I savored this missed long lost but found fare.

 Makin' balls and pokin' a dimple on each is the funnest part

     Cooking in coconut sauce----when they're afloat, they are ready!

     Reducing coconut milk to brown bits for garnish (the most tedious part..)

                                            VOILA!  Palitaw sa Latik

                     
                                             What blissful reunion!!!