funny side up

It is rare to find a Filipino who does not like Jollibee food. The Philippines' very own homegrown fast food joint, showcasing the Filipino take on  pasta bolognese, burgers and fried chicken, it easily rivals other famous food chains around the globe. Already, this brand and its jolly bee mascot is an icon recognized by Filipinos of all ages around the world. As it has now expanded to multiple geos, I am excited that other cultures are taking a yummy taste for this happy bee. I for one love love love Jollibee. Each one in our family have our personal favorites, Jolly Spaghetti, ChickenJoy, Jolly Hotdog, and Peach Mango Pie to name a few.  The common favorite is <drumroll> Burger Steak! So, despite living elsewhere now, Jollibee remains close to our hearts. How we look forward to another vacation someday to our hometown; top on our to-do list is to feast on jolly meals with our kapamilya. Reminiscing, we make our homemade versions to satisfy our craving. So far,...

How to beat that summer heat ? If there's yogurt in the chiller, instead of ice cream, my bunch enjoys this yogurt bark . This is surely the easiest dessert to whip up. It's also fun to make as the kids can literally get their hands into this. Whatever fruit or spread is in the pantry can be used, as suits the mood of your tastebuds. As with any chilled treat, give it a wee bit of time to set. Maximize that teaching moment ✌ 🖉  of patience vs instant gratification. It will be totally worth the short wait! 🍦 Steps 2 tubs yogurt 1 tbsp honey toppings of choice, diced or mashed - fresh fruit - berries / banana / kiwi, chocolate, peanut butter, nuts, wafers, endless possibilities. (Tip: if  you are not keen to bite into a chilly fruit, you can opt to mash the fruit first, or use fresh fruit syrup, then drizzle it onto ur yogurt slabs). Mix yogurt and honey in a bowl. In a tray lined with baking paper, with a spoon  slather into slabs or tree bark shape . or feeling artsy or...

TZATIKI,  Greek: τζατζίκι).   A simple cooling Grecian dip that elevates the dish it comes with.  Perfect with grilled/fried meat of choice (poultry, fish, pork/beef).  Even works well with any veggie stick - celery, carrots, cucumber.  Hoorah for fellow snack-munch-bunch out there, this is great with chips and crackers too - more so for the hot/spicy/salty kind (snacks, I mean, yah? Well, also for the hot-headed 🌩 💢 😠 snacker . This dip can cool you down   🌨❅❆   , tellin ya'). It's very easy to prepare. One important ingredient is d ill . This is not a usual herb used in my kitchen. But, mainly for the love of tzatiki, I make sure we always have a stock in the kitchen, be it fresh or dried. 🌿 Steps 2 cups plain yogurt, cooled 1/2 tbsp lemon juice 4 pressed/crushed garlic cloves 1/3 cup chopped dill 1/2 tsp salt 1/8 tsp black pepper mix all in the dip bowl. keep in fridge until ready to serve. then, enjoy -- dip dip dip away! Here's one. 🌶 ☼...

Behold, Muchu Peachu pyramid... and behold, too,  the anciently grand Machu Picchu of the Incas.  my pyramid side by side the real thing. ( Machu Picchu  image from  pixabay ) Well, I just had to insert that pun in, muchu peachu. (cringe? 😅) Let me ask this - w hat's not to like when a fruit is part of a dish?  Especially when it ends up into the young ones tummies?  Nourish, nourish, nourish.  A great pair to sandwiches, sausages, white or red meat, or any greens is the peach salsa. Fresh would be best, but the easily available canned version works great too. 🍑 Steps 1 tbsp olive oil 5 peaches, diced  TIP a: if opting to pan-grill, do so 1 minute on each side (no 1 tbsp oil needed). TIP b: pan-grill only the non-mushy ingredients, like fresh just-enough-ripe peaches.  Canned peaches, or even onions, are on the softer side, so better not grill it at all. 1/4 red onion diced 2 limes, squeezed brown sugar cucumber, diced tomato fresh/sauce/pa...

Oh, to have studied  in a time, like my sister Ate J, when Spanish was required in Philippine colleges. Likely, the rigours of school would be compelling. Would I be fluent in this ~3rd language now? 😉   But then again, why not?  It's never too late to learn something new. Off to a good start via this simple Filipino treat - Pastillas, also known as Pastillas de Leche .  You can 'speak' your cake and eat it too!  👅 👅  Puede! In this post, the terms below are sprinkled here and there. Spot it? Sweet history:  " The concept of sweetening and transforming native ingredients like fruits or carabao milk into pill or tablet shapes, i.e. pastillas, was introduced by Spanish colonists 'perhaps, perhaps, perhaps sometime around the late 1800s'... "   Source:  Serious Eats    Pastillas can end any meal on a sweet note. After indulging, may be best to wash down the saccharine pills with cool water, IMO especially for the young uns. E...

Craving for the distinct taste of satay...  Thus far, I have learned - this dish has versions spanning across SouthEast Asia - Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam (did I miss any place?). My 1st taste of this skewered goodness was back in the late 2000's, in my 2nd home Cebu City. Those were the heydays enjoyed by Thai cuisine when Thai establishments sprouted everywhere in town.  Back then, this was my limited meat-in-sticks background: Pinoy BBQ , fanned over old-school charcoal grills, that I sooo love and grew up with,  American sweet-tangy garlic/honey-mustard and hot black-pepper grills ,  Japanese Yakiniku , oishii ne!  A lso 1 memorable foray into Brazilian meat pierced in those huge sword-like skewers , an intro from a Japs-Brazilian fellow in our Nihongo kenshusei bunch. Tender Persian kebabs , oozing the tastiest of juices. But, Korean fare has not yet reached fever-pitch that time in our region, so zero inkling nor craving for Korean grille...

Growing up in one of the 7,100 islands of the Philippines, I am very fond of fresh "pinya" or pineapples. Salt it, cake it, salad it, juice it, any which way suits really fine!  My kids, urban citizens that they are, are by no means strangers to this crowned fruit, but they are more familiar with its canned form.🥫🥫🥫  Absolutely one of our favorite things every CNY here in this little red dot is the Pineapple Tart; th is is one of the interesting ways we met this fruit, together.  Shops stock up on this treat as the holiday approaches, culminates on the week itself, and lingers a little more.    Buttery, tangy, sweet.  It's hard to keep these in the jar for long.  Arrrrgh. MUST. PORTION.  🍍 Mix DRY 220 grams  (~1stick) unsalted butter slice to cubes . Keep in fridge. Sift together: flour, baking powder, sugar. 340 grams (3 cups) all purpose flour 1 tsp baking powder 30 grams  (1/4 cup) white/icing sugar 🍍 Mix WET 1 egg slightly beate...

music is FUN. ♬♫🎝 last night, we had a spontaneous game - sing a song about fruits! i started with Mulan's 🟠" Loquat me I will never pass for a perfect bride Or a perfect daughter... Can it be..." HAHAHA. #BomJokes. M was quick to sing Ryan Cayabyab's/Smokey Mountain's "The Coconut Nut".  Very good, shobe. Z clued in with the question what's that watermelon song, M? And M started singing 🍉" Watermelon sugar high"... I asked if it's by Dua Lipa (trying to stay relevant). To which she said so matter-of-factly, "No! Harry Styles." Ah. me stuck in the 80s. papa?  "No idea," he said. "Apples, pear, peach... Hmm, peach!" Then he played Ai Otsuka's Peach from " Hanazakari no Kimitachi e " 🍑 🍑 🍑 ayieee, kilig.  T3 was hopping up and down, dancing to this tune.  Z asked if there's a song about Jesus about apple of His eyes? 🍏 Hmmm. I was sure there's quite a few, but nothing came to mind...

So, I asked,  "Hey, Google what's a pound cake?" and was illumined with: " Pound cake is like the  little black dress of dessert ... traditional pound cake recipes call for equal weights of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter..." Apparently, back in the olden days a pound of each ingredient is required.  Thus, "pound" cake.  Thankfully, it's not quite what I imagined it to be - pounding the w its out of the dough is out of the equation (exit cue:  Thor with his mighty Mjolnir 🔨💨. buhbye). Thus, continuing still with the lemon saga in our casa, we tried the lemon pound cake. 🍋 Ingredients - dry 1 + 2/3  all-purpose flour, sift 1/4 tsp salt 2 tsp baking powder 1 cup (180g) sugar 1 lemon zest 🍋  Ingredients - wet 1/2 cup melted butter (~113g) or vegetable oil) 1/2 cup (120 mL) milk 3 eggs 180 ml yogurt (or 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/3 cup lemon juice) 1/4 tsp vanilla 🍋  Steps - cake 0 - pre-heat the oven to 175C (350F) for 10 mins. 1 -  Whisk dr...

Shakshuka!!! In my kids' world, it may well be the battlecry of the squad of teeny but brave Toy Story soldiers, on the offensive! 🤯  "Oorah!" This time, Alexa tells me that it is derived from an Arabic word meaning "a mixture" or "shaken". Hmm. Fascinating. The "Shake Shack" is how I might loosely translate it 😜, mind map style. This is a dish hailing all the way from North Africa / Middle East.  Its recipe popped up in my YouTube feed months ago. And since then, I've whipped it up in our kitchen maybe 5 times already.  Consistently, it got good reviews from the hungry mouths here in our home :). Personally, I like this dish because (1) it is really easy to make, (2) poached eggs in tomato-ey sauce, hello! what's not to like there, and, (3) the flavor profile is just so interesting and so unlike the usual fare that my family has. So here you go...hope each soulful spoonful  takes you, as it has taken my precious 5, beyond the pande...