Rolling With Pork & Beans Spring Rolls

I always like to munch on spring rolls or lumpia. May it be Chinese, Shanghai, Ubod, Ngohiong, Rollos Primavera, anything that is rolled and fried is a winner to my palate.

Recently, my fancy in this dish was caught again by a unique recipe from a food magazine called Pork & Beans Spring Rolls, sponsored by of course, a manufacturer of pork and beans. The goal of this recipe is to make a tasty spring roll at a much lesser time as well as budget friendly.

Pork & Beans Spring Rolls

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon cooking oil

2 tablespoons onion, chopped

6 pieces longganisa, chopped

1 cup cabbage, shredded

1 can Pork & Beans (230 grams)

1/3 cup cheddar cheese

8 pieces lumpia wrapper, cut into halves

Procedure:

1. Heat pan with oil, then add onion and longganisa. Fry longganisa until well cooked. Add in cabbage and cook until wilted.

2. Add Pork & Beans and mix well. Simmer until almost dry and pasty.

3. Spread a tablespoon (about 40 grams) of mixture over spring roll wrapper, add cheese then roll.

4. Deep fry until crispy. Serve with ketchup if preferred. Recipe costs only P110.00 and makes 16 rolls.

With Pork & Beans, spring rolls get a tasty twist.

Allow me to add some tips on this one.

1. Instead of just cabbage, you may add shredded carrots as well. This is the best chance that your kids can get their molars on veggies.

2. Other than longganisa, you may want to use chorizo recado if you want a more complex taste other than just sweet meat.

3. Make sure to appropriately chop the longganisa. If you notice, mine are bigger coz I didn't chop them well. (I just didn't have enough time to cook the longganisa and chop them.) It easily tore my lumpia wrapper, so for a hassle-free rolling, make sure the meat is chopped well.

4. My life was easier because I got my veggies at the mall and requested the very accommodating merchandisers to shred the cabbage and carrots finely for me. (God bless their hearts.)

Happy Tummy Thoughts everyone!

The Living Remembers

I was growing up looking forward to every November 1^st. I can’t wait to get my taste buds on my mom’s delightful valenciana, a dish made of glutinous rice, chicken meat, liver, gizzard and of course the raisins. And also, talk about the holiday, no school, get the chance to wake up late and just taking it easy. It’s also thedate when we would parade to different cemeteries to visit our dead. It didn’t occur to me though the essence of the whole thing.

Eventually as I grew older, I realized that it’s not all suman that matters, but the thought of remembering our loved ones that have passed away . Remembering them while they were still alive, the happy moments that were shared, the priceless knowledge that entailed every unique experience we had with them and even just the appreciation of life.

Now that I have children, I try my best to teach them the true value of All Saint’s/Soul’s Day. It’s not just the fancy-shmancy  face makeup, Halloween costumes, food trips at the cemetery and perhaps another day to lay back. It is a privileged date for us to reminisce the wonderful times that we shared with our loved ones who are no longer with us.

Don’t get me wrong. I still tag along with their caprice to fun things but I make sure that by the time that we get back home, they are reminded of how they became who they are, living well because of the care and love of family, both the living and the dead.

Ten days more to go and once again it will be Nov. 1. For sure my mom will cook her famous treat, prepare flowers and visit Lola Meding and Daddy. Cassie may give her best shot to charm me into getting another face paint, Nadine would probably munch on every food stall we pass by. Owen may focus on taking photos of the celebration.  I have work on that day but I surely won’t miss the get-together with my family and enjoy the memories that will be forever in our hearts by the end of the day. 

Photos courtesy of Owen Segovia Bayog 

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.171277196221874.48932.165973370085590&type=1

My Masskara Day Off

Oct.14, 2011 - It was a hot midday when Cathy and I decided to taste the Masskara Fever. Since we like to do a lot of malling, we thought of starting at the plaza and occupied ourselves with the different merchandise offered on the sidewalk. We had good food, new discoveries, new experiences and most of all FUN FUN FUN! 

Let me tell my story with photographs courtesy of my friend Cathy's point and shoot camera, my Nokia C3 and of course my hubby's keen eye and dslr. 

The first stall that I spent at was selling shades and different kinds of key chains. I never expected to find one of a pig from the popular game "Angry Birds" and guess what? It was only P20 and with a personalized lettering too. I know I got more than a good deal.  

SM was our sanctuary amidst the scorching heat and Kaisei Restaurant save us from hunger after an hour of strolling. A bowl of Gyu Yakiniku Don for me and some California Maki did the trick.

This foil-pressed souvenir shirt is worth every penny for P300 pesos. I tried to haggle but since this was sold only at the mall, it was next to impossible to get a discount. This is manufactured by entrepreneurs from Iloilo City.

  This stall at the plaza sold their souvenir shirts at P150 for the regular sizes and P180 for the bigger ones. As early as 1pm, people swarmed the stall to get their hands on the shirts. Although, the material of the shirts are not so special yet it was definitely pocket-friendly.

I had a feeling that I won't be at the Masskara Dance Parade so I decided to get at least a glimpse of the festive costumes at the mall

Next stop was the all-time favorite "Karnabal". It was a bit early when we checked it out so it wasn't jum-packed yet. Except for one or two who rode the Octopus Ride, young and old fascinated themselves betting on the color game, I hope they were winning. :D

At around 5:30pm we decided to invade Lacson Strip. After picking up Joanne, we strolled the 19th St. and back to LFisher and ended in front of L Sea. Check out the juicy inasal of Chicken Deli (photo by  Cathy A.)

For more photos of the Electric Masskara just check Owen's blog: 

http://myshutterlife.wordpress.com/2011/10/15/an-electric-masskara-experience/

Puppet Masskara: A New Window For Bacolod's Creative Youth

My festival experience became much more colorful after I witnessed the newly conceptualized Puppet Masskara. 

City Officials are flocked by photographers and spectators

As Cathy and I roamed around the tattoo stalls, we met some co-workers that told us about a show going on at the heart of the Public Plaza, sort of like a "Moriones show." 

Of course, after spending like 4 hours at the mall, we felt that at least we'll have an authentic Masskara activity and not just posing with the costume displays. 

It came to a surprise to me that a lot of people were there to witness the event together with the city officials and lots and lots of photographers. I think I was one of those who never really digested the posted schedule of the festival. Nevertheless, thanks to Cathy's P&S, I was able to capture some photos of the Puppet Masskara.

The Corpse Bride (My Personal Fave!)

ARFIEN students eagerly await for their turn to perform

This student gives life and grace to the puppet

Puppets' own rendition of the Masskara Dance

Big thanks to the ARFIEN students of La Consolacion College-Bacolod for sharing their creative juices (and also their resources) in order to contribute to the success of the festival. I just hope that in the years to come, these gifted students won't have to shell out from their own allowance just to give the festival more variety.

Happy Thoughts, Happy Masks

What would become of the Masskara Festival without the smiling masks? The vibrant colors that seem to uplift even the heaviest spirits, the wide smiles that can erase ones worries and the ingenuity of the designs that further boost the Bacolodnon talent are truly worth celebrating.

As much as I would like to show all of you my concept of what a happy Masskara Festival should be, through the help of my C3 phone, the displayed masks for this year's festival will definitely be understated if I take the photographs .

Once again, I am privileged to showcase my husband's gift in photography as he presents the different masks that are commonly seen on the streets of Bacolod.

More photos on Owen's very own photo blog:
http://myshutterlife.wordpress.com/2011/10/12/masskara-festival-street-scenes-002/

Happy Tummy at “Little Corner”

Open Tacos At Its Best

Tintin works magic on the Corn Shake!

For those who don’t know my nickname since birth is Little (please avoid relating it to my size…hehehe) and when I first noticed an eatery in 888 China Town Square called “Little Corner” I had an instant hunch that I will have good experience with this establishment.

It’s a simple stall that offers common treats but with a different twist.

I have two favorites that I could never resist of not having everytime I am on a window-shopping spree. The open tacos, for only P45 offers tasty home-made shells with onions, tomatoes  and their unique sauce which is a mixture of mayo and pineapple juice that gives such a tangy taste to the palate.

Thirst-quenching Halo-Halo

The other one is the powerful corn shake. Ordinarily, it’s just crushed ice and evaporated milk and like two spoons of canned cream of corn. Theirs is jump-packed with corn kernels, cereals making it “yummier’, only for P25.

They also serve the all-time favorite Halo-halo @ P25, abundant in “dulce nga saging” and ube, of course not to mention the cereals on top.

Fried noodles, becoming a potential superstar in the “world of snacking” comes with 2 siomai as toppings at P30 only! The best part, it’s cooked in front of you and served hot! It is such a divine feeling for a hungry lad to feast on at a very reasonable price.

Joy Serves the Fried Noodles With a Smile!

All in all? Thumbs up to Little Corner as it caters to the budget-conscious Negrense with its friendly staff, ready to serve you with a smile.

The Intrigue Behind No Other Woman

I am not fond of watching Tagalog movies but one actually caught my attention because my daughter invited me to watch a movie of Derek Ramsey and Anne Curtis entitled "No Other Woman". Of course I didn't go because  I felt that I really didn't want to see a movie with that kind of that plot.

I was however amazed by the audience' response to the movie because it hit 100M in just five days. I began to wonder, despite the common face-slapping confrontations smothered with a lot of melodrama that filipino movies usually cater, what else would be the crowd-drawer of this film?

For one, my daughter wanted to watch the movie because of peer pressure and besides, let's face it, it's the most recent  "IN" movie to hit the cinemas.

For those men (ages 12 to 70), for sure they want to see the sensual Christine Reyes and the alluring Anne Curtis.

For women, although Derek Ramsey is a cool sight for sore eyes, I think it's the intrigue  of either being a martyr wife or a free-spirited mistress.

Despite of these factors that the movie could offer, it all boils down to one thing. The culture's love for sentimentality. Domestic problems like extra-marital relationships would always be elevated to the next level because emotions are of course involved. Sometimes, though, because of too much emotional hype, our sensibility is over-shadowed. The simplest things become unnecessary complexities.

Here I go again, attempting to shed some light to make things as uncomplicated as possible especially to those who just enjoy the overkill of what if's.

First for husbands:

     * Bored with the same old face that you see every morning? Be honest with your wives and if they value your marriage, they will definitely go for a makeover. Lost the excitement? Work on it with your wife. You married her in the first place so for sure there would be at least an inch of respect that could lead to loving her (especially for victims of "shotgun weddings").

     * Surrounded by temptation and you are supposed to be very vulnerable to it? Look the other way if your marriage is still of value to you. If you really can't stop appreciating beauty (which is by the way the universal excuse of men) please make sure to exert a bit more effort not to be caught. As the popular cliche goes, "If you can't be good, be careful."

     * Don't love you wife anymore but can't leave because of the kids (This goes to the wives too...)? Remember, your kids do grow up and by the time that they will leaving home one by one, you're going to be stuck with the same partner that you despise. The key would be to be honest with your kids about the whole scenario and eventually they would understand the essence of choice.

     * If all else fails, please don't take advantage of your wife's trust. Remember, "You can't always have your cake and eat it too."

For the wives:

     * Don't allow suspicion to escalate. Sometimes, we trust our hunches more than our husbands. If you want to be treated fairly, do the same thing to your partner. It will save time and wrinkles, 100% guaranteed.

     * I came across an anecdote quite some time ago that as a wife, play all parts. A mother, sister, bestfriend,  and most of all a mistress. Don't be complacent that because you are the legal partner and that all income goes to you, everything should be running smooth. It is our job to keep the mystery alive to keep our partners wanting for more.

     * If you have confirmed that your husband is on an ongoing affair, talk to him about it. Lay your rules as is. If he does not give in and still stays with the other woman, that's your cue to leave the relationship. It is useless to waste your time with someone who does not deserve your nurturing nature. Give value to yourself. Don't be afraid to face life alone.  I promise you, it's better to be single than betrayed.

    * Let's not be tied on the fear of being criticized if the marriage failed. You are not answerable to anyone except yourself. Besides, that is so 60's and we are now in the new millenium. Walk with pride because you know for one that you gave it your best shot.

Punchline!

If all efforts were exhausted and it still boils down to a failed marriage, just leave quietly. If you can't be a good spouse at least give your partner some dignity and for sure everything will be well as time would pass by.



Photo Credit:

http://showbiznest.blogspot.com