Sometimes I get the itch to cook. Well, often I really have to cook, esp. when in our other house where it’s just P and I and well, it’s more economical to cook at home than eat out. But, other times I get really “inspired” to cook a good meal for my hardworking (and good-looking, naks) husband, para paguwi naman n’ya ay mapawi ang kanyang pagod (charing) at pasalamatan n’ya ko in “creative” ways as well (to copy Jun’s parlance, sa pamamagitan ng “bastusan sa kutson.”) Well, ito, nilitratuhan ko ang ilan sa aking mga niluto. Baka sabihin n’yo ay “hoity-toity” dahil may pa arugula, arugula, wine, wine, at saffron, saffron pa, sa totoo lang di ako masyado hardcore, mostly I like to cook the usual Filipino fare. May pagkapurist rin ako in the sense na ayokong nilalandi ang ulam. Kapag sinigang yan ay dapat magmukha at lasang sinigang yan kungdi ay itatapon ko yan sa bintana at magbabasag ako ng plato.

Naalala ko tuloy nung minsan akong dalhin ni P sa isang fusion “daw” na restaurant kung saan ang kare-kare ay tinarantado: instead of mani or peanut butter, chocnut was used to thicken and flavor the sauce. I almost sent the platter spinning in the direction of the chef in the hopes of decapitating him or her. Buti sana kung magaling ang execution, e buo buo pa ang chocnut. Ang ibang tao talaga so . . . so . . . kaka! I passionately hate pretentious food. At wag mo ako pagantayin ng matagal kapag gutom na ako kung hindi ako dadalhin sa ulap ng pagkain mo dahil baka mabigwasan lang kita. Anyway, back to my cooking style, actually practical lang ako. Kung may magbigay kay P ng wine, pasta, at kung anik anik, I make them tabi (gosh) and they go into my pot kung feel ko sila. Well, cooking requires common sense. Sabi nga ni Julia Child, everyone can cook. Totoo nga naman, basta kaya mong magbasa ng recipe at sundin ito everyone can cook nga, but to me, not everyone can cook well. Para sa akin kelangan ang isang cook ay may imagination and instinct. Isa lang ito sa aking kayabangan dahil wala talagang nagturo ng pagluluto sa akin, nanunuod lang ako sa aking lola at tito nuon. Mahilig din ako kumain, kaya tikim pa lang ay medyo alam ko na ang ingredients ng isang putahe. In 1st-year high, my hotdog, ham, and vegetable paella was adjudged best in our class and in 2nd-year high,  I, together with my bestfriend Erwin, won 1st place in a school-wide sandwich-making contest. Our trophy was placed on top of the class blackboard (it was our section’s one claim to fame) and as a fresh college grad. I even included the fact that I won a culinary award in my CV and some of my interviewers mocked me, “You won in a sandwich-making contest? Fancy that.” I remember thinking to myself, you wouldn’t be making fun of me once you’ve had a taste of my ham-and-mayo pinwheel sandwich, biatch. 

Dito sa aming munting love nest, di ako madalas makapagstock ng gulay dahil mabilis ito malanta, so madalas I just “wing it.” If I’m out of one of the basic panggisa, I do without that one ing. ke garlic, tomato, or onion. Pwede naman e. Kung medyo lanta na ang carrot o potato, I try to revive them by submerging into a bowl of cold water. Most of the carrots in the pics. below, mukhang tinamaan na ng radiation, pero with a bit of improv. nagmukhang carrot na ulit. O di vah? I’m not called the female McGyver by my husband for nothing.

Luckily, P can also cook well and he’s more imaginative. S’ya yung tipong gumagawa ng bagong dish. People are often surprised when they learn that we both cook, usually kasi isa lang–yung babae lang o yung lalaki lang. Ang trip naman ni P ay gumawa ng kick-ass breakfast. Every weekend ay gumigising na lang ako sa halimuyak ng pritong itlog (done according to request), tapa, longganisa, tocino, sardines, o bacon.

Local seabass or "apahap."

Baked @ 200 deg. C for 20-30 mins. Garnished with arugula.

Ingredients for a pasta dish I semi-copied from Jamie Oliver's show. A cup of wine with saffron (kasubha).

Finished product: it could use a bit more sauce. I hope to perfect it next time.

One of my comfort foods, "ginisang giniling na baboy."

Chicken-pork "asado." My father's version is better (he uses big chunks of pork made tender by hours of cooking and then sliced thinly when served ala "hamonado").

Ing. for Pasta in White Sauce. My sister's constant request for her birthday.

Viola! Used linguine pasta, instead of the usual farfalle or bow tie.

Well, yun lang. Sana nagutom ka kahit papaano. 

Going through albums to look for a nice foto of my mom’s (for transferring to canvas for her birthday in April), I come across old fotos of me when I was still active in college theater. 

As Scarlet in "Takipsilim."

As Myla in "Kabilang sa mga Nawawala."

Good God, I have such an abundance of head hair, don’t I? While most babies come out into the world bald and bare assed, I came out with arms already swinging at imaginary adversaries and a head full of hair that would put Trump’s combover to shame.

Hairdressers (and their assistants) would often complain that I have hair good for two people. This is made worse by the fact that I have natural curls–for instance, I would come out of the salon with impeccably blow-dried, straight hair one minute and the next day humidity will do its thing and poof! Hello Big Hair! My mom said that I was ipinaglihi sa balut, a claim suspicious at best because I’m not really balbon, even, er, down “there,” but how else to explain all this head hair nonsense? Sigh, well better than kalbo, right? At least, if I have hair plenty enough for two people, I have something of a spare.

   

Ma in her late teens.

 

Ma (2009).

My mom is not the perfect mom (she once left giblets [still wrapped in plastic] inside the cavity of the chicken she had roasted and given away), but neither am I the perfect daughter and in both our imperfections I would like to believe that my mother and I have grown to love and respect each other.

I was not my mom’s first child. I actually followed a child (they said it was a boy) that my mother was not able to carry full term. So this makes me a Ghost Child or a “child born after the death of the first child.” I am both firstborn and middle born and true enough I exhibit the characteristics of both.

The older I get, the more I get to know my mother, the better I appreciate her. My mother was not a very strong presence when I was young. In fact, it was my grandmother who dominated my life. In my mom’s evenness of character, gentle smiles, and self-effacing ways, she somehow managed to semi-fade away. But, I knew she was there–a very hardworking woman and tough, in her own unique way.

Of course there were times when I hated and resented my mother for sundry reasons, especially when I was a teenager and she would say no when I wanted her to say yes. I was not an easy child to raise–I was willful, opinionated, an almost tomboy (I climbed trees, jumped walls, would go galivanting around Mandaluyong with my bestfriend Paul, played in the dirt, smelled of the sun, skateboarded, got into fistfights, etc.) and for this I have to give my mother props because, after all, I seem to have turned out okay. My sister did, as well. 

So, Mom, thank you for all that you are: absentminded, quirky, independent, funny, strong, accepting, never nagging, never manipulative, never bitchy, never made sumbat, super understanding, someone who taught my sister and I to love and not compete with each other, often corny, most of the times hilarious with a brand of comedy that is all your own, super bait according to everyone who knows you, sometimes makulit, sometimes pa-cute, pero pretty pa rin kahit 61 na. Not bad, di ba? 

You’re not the perfect mom, we’re not perfect daughters, either (di ba dream child mo nga si Sharon Cuneta?), but you love us and we love you and love is the only thing that matters anyway.

Sis. and Ma (in Sentro to celebrate her b'day in Apr.)