baby rambutan

i have resolved (and i must stress i’m not one to make, much less proclaim out loud, publicly, New Year’s Resolutions)…to stop buying cookbooks and food magazines.
so it was excruciating to accompany the kids to the Big Bookstore to cash in their gift cards. i had to really restrain myself. sigh. you know what i did? i lingered at the magazine aisle and committed to my failing memory the dishes that i would google at home. success! nyahaha-haha. here’s The One That I Remembered.

it took me an awfully long time to make this. at first i couldn’t understand why i seemed to be so hesitant to get going, then i figured it out…this is so hard to translate! i had to convert the measurements first…if you have a food scale at home i recommend you use it, but if not, i’ve noted the volume measures as best as i can. NO guarantee though, sorry!


it was a very lovely end to our “Peking Duck” dinner, and i would definitely make it again especially since clementines are busting out all over. i’m thinking of exchanging the fresh chopped ginger for candied ones though, just to mute the flavor a tiny bit.

…and your problem is ??? me, get off the placemat? moi?
the recipe? (more…)

May and June are typically very busy months for my family, with end of school activities, birthdays, our anniversary, and a graduation here and there.
in the midst of all our celebrating,
we suddenly had a reason to mourn.

yesterday our beloved kitty cat Murphy died in her sleep early in the morning and was buried at dusk.
it was very difficult for us to say goodbye to such a beautiful green eyed and mellow cat, whom i shanghaied from her mommycat, as a tiny little feral kitten in the backyard of our old apartment, sixteen years ago.

she had been in a slow decline over the past six months or so and no matter how much i prepared my family for what could not be avoided,
it is still very sad. my little boy summed it up, today after he visited her grave and threw old rose petals all over the top: “at least she died peacefully.” i thought i had my emotions all under control but i can’t think of her without crying, and we all cry together when one of us starts.

she’s so noticeably, irrevocably, sadly, gone.

i do think that i have a kind of sixth sense, third eye, “cat whisker-radar”… at least when it comes to my children.

today, my Neighbor picked me up for a little shopping expedition and i was glad of the company and of the chance to go out and have some fresh air. i’ve been doing so much of Cinderella chores, it’s not funny. so off we went to run the errand, and all i could think of was i had to get back home. i navigated the way back, waved goodbye and just as i walked in the front door, feeling very unsettled but determined to get busy, i heard the phone ringing. sure enough, the caller id indicated my #2son’s school. it was the school nurse asking me to pick him up as he wasn’t feeling well at all.
aaaahhh, i had so many feelings whirling all over me at the same time as i ran to get my keys and shoes and fly out to the car: panic, anxiety, sadness (he’s missing the class field trip to the bowling lane, poor little one!) and strangely enough, relief, that i was home to receive the call.

whew.

sorry, please forgive me, for not being able to do the rounds and return the visits, but i really do appreciate all the support for my silly little entries to Litratong Pinoy. i know it takes so much time but you all made such a great effort while i just could not manage to return the favor. thank you thank you.

ipagpaumanhin po! patawad po! hindi ako nakapag ikot ikot o sagot man lamang sa mga dumalaw dito nitong mga nakaraang Litratong Pinoy. maraming salamat sa pag-ukol nyo ng panahon dito sa bugnuting kusinerang t.h..

heto na lang, ang hirap mag isip,
sana nga eh isang buong pirasong HILAW na liempo
pero baka may magkasakit

pangpatawa, heto ang buntot ng aming kuting na pagkalikot likot at napakaharot.

caught at a private (grooming) moment. he thinks he owns my bed.