what’s cooking

Snow Day again today, as well as tomorrow. We dismissed two hours early last Friday, got dumped six to eight inches of snow all of Saturday,  even church services were cancelled on Sunday.

Temperatures have still been fairly low, dipping as low as -11 degrees Celcius (12 degrees Farenheit).  Although we were out and about today, we had to battle miserable freezing rain all miserable freezing day.   And still, more snow or frozen mix is expected on the weekend!

We are seriously starting to get cabin fever.

I usually welcome Snow Days.  It usually means I do not have to rush to school first thing in the morning.  And sure enough, in the first couple of days, not  a smidgen of guilt surfaced for temporarily forgetting I was a teacher and had lesson plans to be written.  Day Three, however and I am feeling fidgety.  Even though I have pursued other interests on my forced free time, I could not help feeling the need to WORK.  Wrapped and rolled up in the need to be productive and in the expectation to achieve.

It is hard.  Many people, especially here in America, have lost jobs and are suffering.  People are experiencing financial and lifestyle setbacks.  As a believer, I do not lose hope in difficult circumstances, but when I don’t have the opportunity to work, I strangely feel that my hands have effectively been cut off.

[Okay, now you wonder why on earth do I have pictures of food when I am talking about weather and work etc.  I never mean to be Kylie Kwong orDonna Hay, but I do love finding what's in our fridge and turning them to gourmet meals.  Gourmet in presentation, at least!

For tea last night, we had baked sweet potatoes, with a slab of smoked mozzarella cheese and butter sprinkled with cinnamon, and curried couscous salad (leftovers from the other night).  We also mixed mache salad with pork gyoza (pot stickers) and caramelised onions.

Tonight, I adapted the Filipino chicken soup (sopas) by mixing chicken with broken linguine (we don't usually stock elbow macaroni or pasta shells).  We didn't have most of the usual fare of vegetables mixed into chicken sopas either, so we chopped up capsicums, carrots and shallots instead.  What makes it Filipino? I hear you ask.  Well, you add fish sauce (patis) and stir in egg and milk.  Oh, Filipinos and our crazy mix of flavours.

So back to my point, it's coming....

Life is like a recipe.  You can stick to it and make sure you have all the exact ingredients and follow the procedures to the letter.  And still, your soufflé can so-fail and collapse.  Sometimes, you just have to work with what you have got and turn them into culinary art.

So thanks Ed, for reminding us to be thankful for what we have, not what we  haven't got.  February 2010]

filipino fiesta

A recent dinner with friends in Charlotte gave us cravings for sumptuous Filipino dishes we enjoyed at my grandparents home.  Proof that you do not know what you have been blessed with until you no longer have it.  It was somewhat a wake up call for me.  How will I teach my children to savour Filipino food if I don’t know how to cook them myself? 

One website asserted Filipino dishes were simple and easy to cook.  Certainly not in my humble opinion!   I recall toiling under Mum’s supervision, chopping vegetables and meat on end and keeping the pot under strict surveillance lest we overcook or forget to include that key ingredient.  It is a challenge sourcing all the vegetables from the legendary bahay kubo, and equally exhausting trying to remember exactly how Mum or Mama prepared the dish to get the flavours just right!  

 

And in a blend of cultures, “What’s for tea*?” takes an interesting twist.  These last few weeks has seen a reneissance of delightful Filipino dishes on our table (as authentic as being cooked by a Philippine-born Australian living in the United States).  Pasta, potatoes and bread will just have to take a back seat for now. 

  

[*To our Southern friends, tea translates to supper or dinner!* Sigh and simmering shoulda-coulda-beans (should-have and could-have-beens).  Should have paid more attention as an apprentice in Mum's kitchen.  Could have mastered classic Filipino dishes such as kare-kare, mungo, and pansit minus the stress. Paumanhin.  None of the recipes were actually followed to the tee, but Market Manila was one website I enjoyed reading while searching for recipes to build our cooking repertoire.   North Carolina, March 2009]