After reading bedtime stories (yes stories...one book of Zach's choice, three stories from the Bible and  a page from his devotional book, and sometimes a bonus story from the Bible that he must read aloud himself) and a prayer, Steve called me to take my turn shift putting Zachary to sleep. Steve mentioned that he will wait for me at the back. When I finally heard heavy breathing, I snuck out of the room, not necessarily quietly and went out back. (Zach sleeps like a log)

Steve out back is happily esconced with the capiz lights on low contemplating the night, and I guess the occasional stupid  roar of the behemoth AC on top of the neighboring restaurant. Here he is in his solitude waiting for me.

I promptly joined him but not without stopping by the kitchen and getting myself a half slice of a papaya. Hmmm...really sweet and juicy.

---in the Philippines, papayas are a regular part of the priests and soon to be priests' diet in seminaries because it is said to help control the libido.  I wonder how effective it is.

Sunday morning..a beautiful day after yesterday's wind and rain...

We walk to the beach before we prepare to go to church.

We gathered our leftover bread to feed the birds.

We can't bring enough for these birds.

 We chase them away after all the bread is eaten.

But they stay awhile just in case there is more.

Two to five-thirty this afternoon was all mine. The boys had a play date at Atlantic Beach. Zach gets to play with son and Steve  plays (guitar) with the father. Two birds with one stone. So I swept, and laundered and straightened up the place. Picked some basil and tomatoes for tonight's pasta. Sat down with my Bible and devotional book and  had some quiet time with God. After that I sat, and sat in different spots in the house, always looking out the window. Today's weather is windy and (patchy) rainy. (This afternoon, a tornado actually touched down on Breezy Point. Really? Here in New York?)  I love looking at rain through the window. I love looking at trees and their leaves dancing with the wind, through the window. I love looking through windows. Period.

I watched the shadows of leaves dancing with the wind in the afternoon sun

I sat at the kitchen and looked through the French door. I listened to the windchimes play.

tomatoes come in trickles now

I love   to watch the grapevine climb up the fence by my bedroom window. When the soft afternoon sun hits the vine, the leaves turn chartreuse and the leaves' stems get redder.

sitting across the  living room window lets me see my potted fig trees, my neighbor's terrace across the street, and people passing by

The plan was to grill these, but laziness got the better of us, we agreed to fry them instead. Steve's not crazy about the squid so I made for him fried tandoori chicken which he loves. The squid is best eaten with a dip made of lemon, soy sauce and chili and plain rice. Funny how  upon coming to America I find out people love fried calamari but not squid. They only know that calamari are circles of fried crispy food. When  they see how calamari really look like, tentacles and all before they are sliced, they freak out.

I love squid...I love every part of it.

tandoori chicken

Do you ever get a monster craving for food you haven't eaten for some while now? I know you do, and what do you do about it? Run to the nearest restaurant that cooks it?  Or do you cook them yourself?

This morning, my friend Onds called to ask if she could  come with two other friends to hang out, do some karaoke (she will bring her own), and cook some Filipino food she craves (particularly tortang talong and  bulad---that's roasted eggplant fried with eggs and fried dried fish). I acquiesced of course and then she called again to say  that our friends have a previous commitment and therefore the impromptu plan is called off. So I went about doing what I was doing before she called...laundry. No worries. Life moves on. Zach was waiting for me to bring him to the beach, so we agreed to go after the laundry. While the machine was spinning, facebook content was boring and quite stale so I logged out and  started cooking to satisfy THE CravingS of my taste buds. Not long after, I got carried away and made a feast for myself.

Yes, making a feast for one's self is quite fun, and actually most satisfying. You know exactly what you want and how you want it cooked.  There's no one to please but yourself.

So here's a record of the momentary insanity that happened in my kitchen this morning.

escargot to whet the appetite
(when I was a little girl, golden escargots, we call gold kuhol were in season when the rice stalks were green and kneehigh. My Dad would cook them in ginger and coconut milk. The shells were individually cracked  where the point is and you either sucked the  flesh out or pry it with a pin)

anchovies

squash (tops) leaves ala pinakbet
(My mom loves to eat these  squash tops and squash flowers cooked in either ginger and anchovy paste or ginger and coconut milk.  This is a rare commodity here so every time I see this in the Chinese market (which is very rarely), I pounce!

(leftover crabs from last night)

bitter gourd (ampalaya) salad
bitter, but delicious

smoked boneless milkfish (tinapang bangus) which must be eaten with tomato and shrimp paste 

the MEAL