Sunday afternoons are my favorite. It's when the three of us do things together. We go to church in the mornings, eat out for lunch, go home and take a family nap, eat after-nap snack, hang-out or go for a stroll on the beach and catch the sunset or drive to Barnes and Noble. This afternoon, I excused myself from the walk and decided to make my childhood merienda with Zachary. Palitaw is made with sticky rice cooked in boiling coconut milk and brown sugar. When the bedimpled pieces float, they're cooked. Palitaw basically means to float.

making (mochiko) rice balls

the fun part--- poking a dimple on the rice ball

drop the be-dimpled balls in boiling sugar-coconut sauce

stir (without the britches)

when the palitaws float up to the surface, they're cooked

plate the palitaw

and eat

I don't like big chickens. I am suspicious of big chickens. With all the talks about anti-biotics and growth boosters,  my  usual gusto for eating them is just not the same when I  have them looking so plump and juicy, like this one---no matter how USDA says it is organic. Anyway, this baked chicken (the legs) will first be eaten as is...then the leftovers (one chicken breast) will morph into  chicken panini sandwiches slathered with habanero-cilantro sauce. Meanwhile, the carcass, bones and the other breast will make some pearl-barley-lentil chicken soup.  Goes a long way, doesn't it?

 This is pinatisang manok---chicken slathered with olive oil, drizzled with fish sauce, slathered with strips of ginger and mesquite and slow-baked  for two and a half hours.  (I swear I cut off the rear end of this big bad boy ...BEYOND  its heart-shaped perimeters, but I don't know why in this picture it looks like it's still there...ugh!)

Zachary snacking on PB & J and  choco-soy milk while I baked the chicken and puttered around the kitchen

Still in pre-school, but already reading independently.

The fruits that keep the "achoos!!!"  away. In this picture, the papaya and pineapples aren't ripe yet.

Both pineapple and papaya are so sweet and juicy

 

Imam Bayildi with Leek Foccacia

Italian eggplants make  delicious  Imam Bayildi

Imam Bayaldi
(The Priest Fainted)
Story goes---the Imam fainted because the dish is sooo delicious.
Another story goes--the Imam fainted because  his  wife used too much of the expensive olive oil they can hardly afford.



leek foccacia




Hot pink  radishes make a good  salad



radish, tomatoes and granny smith apple

Butterflied Biya

I bless the hands that butterflied, cleaned up and dried these teeny-weeny fishlings as I eat them one bite at a time. I truly appreciate all the effort put in the  preparation especially that the bag  was only a dollar and fifty cents each.

fried dried biya

                     

butterflied biya



butterflied biya flipside



watercress and radish salad goes well with the dried fish and rice

Pocono Mountains

passing by a frozen lake 

it snowed



and snowed some more




we finally  experienced some winter
scene from our window



gotta bring in some red sunshine to counter this cold predicament

tuna and tomatoes got involved

Mussels for free or so I thought

We use to do this easily when he was a toddler, but he is growing too heavy and too tall,  too fast.

While strolling and playing  down the shore with my little one, I stumbled upon a bunch of mussels rolling to and fro the beach with the waves. I inspected it and soon realized, the mussels were very much alive. I was so sure the shells will steam up nicely with my leftover white wine, ginger, garlic and onion. I picked the bunch up and headed towards the lifeguard chair where my son decided to climb on to. I stared at the bunch and contemplated the possibility of a free lunch care of Mother nature. I washed the bunch and fed them some cornmeal, thinking they'd spit out the sand they've acquired from all the rolling they've done on the beach. I thought they're smaller than the usual mussels you can get at market. Smaller means sweeter. I decided we'll have them for dinner instead so I could give them more time to relax in their spa of a cornmeal bath. Finally cooked them, and ooh....the aroma of ginger sweating in the white wine almost made me cry. If this dish were a success, I would be so proud of myself for foraging a meal. The moment of truth came. I tasted one mussel and yes, it was plump, sweet, and OHHH so delicious. The broth spiked with white was equally sumptuous. Unfortunately, I guess, these mussels have rolled too long from the ocean floor to the shore that it is impossible to  totally get rid of the fine sand from it's folds, nooks and crannies.


 



The cluster of mussels that did a lot of rolling on the sand



                                        



Washed and cleaned



Corn grits spa



Cooked in  white wine, fish sauce,  ginger, garlic and onion





So I picked some herbs and chili leaves and...

...made chicken tinola  for dinner instead



Mussels were a disappointment, but we had fun!

Granitas

Ahhh...granitas. Eating this in winter gets me excited for the coming spring, and then summer. I relish every crystal bite and let it melt in my mouth. How wonderful to eat a simple form of "icecream" and not feel guilty about gaining pounds. Any fruit that graces our fruit basket gets a chance to become a granita.

                                                               Avocado granita

                               Blueberry  granita

                              Peach-pear granita

               Blueberry granita

A Rainy Day Special

Today was a rainy-drizzly day and although most would say it's a monster nasty day, I beg to differ. I love rain. I love the way it makes the environment look fresh. I love the pitter-patter sound it makes. The gloomy but peaceful quiet soothes my spirit. The clouds rolling with the wind give me a feeling of anticipation of what might happen next. The barren trees swayed with the wind and I watched solemnly thanking God in my heart for the work of His hands. 

So as usual . around mid-day, I'd think of what I might cook for my small family. I thought, "Isn't soup in order for a rainy day like this? A rustic crusty bread will go well with it..."

Soup du jour

Lentil, pearl barely and split-pea danced in my blue pot with the onions, garlic, carrots and  bay leaves. Delish!!!

                    This rustic 5-inch tall boule rose up quite high, I though it'd never stop growing!

                    Crackly outside, holey and soft inside.

                          A perfect meal to end the day!

Rosehips

 

Every Fall I promise myself that I will make rosehip jelly since there's a ton of rosehips I can pick by the beach. I live a block away from the beach and where the dune starts there are bushes and bushes of wild pink single-layered rose petals that crown wide red-orange rosehips. One Fall, I did pick up two hands full of them, but I never got around to making them into jelly. I was so mesmerized by their shiny and fiery sunset color I just stared and feasted my eyes on them. I dusted my drawing notebook and started sketching them. Something as humble as rosehips growing in the sand dunes is a delightful treat to my senses. So much for jelly rosehips--uh-huh---maybe next fall...

Rosehips down the shore

One rosehip, seven perspectives