Basta Masarap! » Photo

Sa Malamig!

Maria Celia — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:32:29 +0000

It has been a hot summer and when you need to cool off, Sa Malamig is the best. Nothing beats a cold fresh drink like this. You can find this drink in every corner store in the Philippines. The push cart vendors sell this too, but don’t ever tell my mom I bought some from them. Its easy and fast to make and everyone likes it.

With some Cantaloupe fresh from the farm just grate or scrape out of the Cantaloupe into a pitcher, then add shaved ice, water, and sugar to taste. If you want to do it Filipino style, take the middle of the Cantalopupe (seeds and such) put that in a strainer and run your water through it for more flavor. Do not add the middle and seeds to the drink, but just get that flavor out of it.

You can do this with Watermelon, Mango, even Avocado. This is much better than soda or packaged juices any day.

Basta Masarap!

Fresh From The Farm

Maria Celia — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:18:01 +0000

My son has been attending idTech Camp and each day either my husband or I would drive him to and from camp. It became sort of a new adventure each day as we would try new routes out to avoid traffic. One day my husband came home excited after passing what he described as a huge and beautiful farm that let you pick your own vegetables. What also made this farm different was that they posted a sign letting you know they ONLY sell what they grow. We decided that on Friday we should make an afternoon of it and off to Stults Farm we went with the two boys and my hubby.

The farm is beautiful, clean, organized, and well kept. They definitely take pride in their farm. They had tons of vegetables and fruits to pick from – sili (peppers) , talong (eggplant), watermelon, squash, corn, tomatoes, string bean, and so on. Then I saw it and I could not believe it! They grow Bittermelon! I could not imagine an American farm having Ampalaya—I was in heaven!!!! I was hesitant if they would they would let me pick the Ampalaya leaves, but my hubby said go ahead – all they can do is tell you not to do it next time. So I did and they didnt even care. I got my Ampalya and my Ampayla leaves! Masarap sa ginisang munggo, oh di ba!!!!

What a bounty from the farm! If you are in Cranbury NJ, I suggest you stop by Stults Farm. Oh, all this has me thinking about the Asian Pear farm our friends brought us to last fall. I can’t wait for that!

Basta Masarap!

Cold Rainy Monday

Maria Celia — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:17:53 +0000

It is a cold rainy Monday and I got the chills.

All of a sudden I had a craving for eating something hot. Hmm…what would that be – aha!!! Arroz caldo and tokwa!

Oh my that brings back memories. In our house in Pasig we usually eat this during this kind of weather. I can just taste it now.

We would either make champorado and tuyo , arroz caldo or goto. ( nakakaloka- lalo na akong nagugutom) for lunch and for dinner we would have daing na bangus with matching pritong talong or nilagang talbos ng kamote. Lets not forget the piece d resistance- burong isda!!! I know not a lot of people dont eat buro but for a kapangpangan like me, burong isda is the best. I can just see a lot of you saying yak, but anyhow I hope my family will like the arroz caldo that I made. It’s authentic Filipino taste as I put a lot of ginger and garlic and which is different from Americanized chicken rice soup. Since I’m craving for it, I might as well cook the right stuff!!!!

Here is what I made, Basta MASARAP!