where Bert and I were for a recent birthday party...
for the son of my cousin and his wife. They are a few years younger than us and have a daughter in college and a son in high school. Last year, they had a "surprise" and now he is one year old. I had to represent the family since my parents were out of town as well as my siblings. Bert and I were happy to attend because we knew there would be good food there.
There were two kinds of lumpia, pancit, lechon kawali (with crispy skin, omg), beef afritada, and pancit bihon...
There was also a tray of Vietnamese fried spring rolls. I really liked these but it was missing sauce and the lettuce and herbs.
My aunt also had some sisig and a dish that makes a rare appearance at their parties every so often, Rellenong Manok (deboned and stuffed chicken).
Here is a view of one of the slices of the rellenong manok. I've only had this less than a handful of times. It tastes so good but is so time consuming to make. The chicken is stuffed with a pork and vegetable mixture. It's just like having embutido (pork meatloaf) but stuffed in a chicken!
Sweet and sour chicken with pinakbet, one of my favorite Filipino dishes. It's something I hardly ever make for us since both Bert and TC don't like the vegetables used in the dish - bittermelon, eggplant, and okra. They also don't like bagoong either, so I sadly don't make this dish at all. I love how my aunt uses lechon kawali pieces in here as well as pork rinds, which soaks up the delicious sauce and makes the fried skin soft.
Next to the fried rice (cut off) was a pancit palabok station. The noodles are separate and you serve yourself by placing a dollop of sauce, then customize it with crushed pork rinds, sliced green onions, shrimp, chopped boiled eggs (the bowl is hidden), and a squeeze of calamansi (Philippine citrus fruit).
The sauce my aunt used was different than the one she normally makes. This seemed to be the "cheater's" sauce which I don't like. It uses cream of mushroom soup as a baseand is a bit too goopy for my liking. The flavor didn't seem quite right because I'm used to the shrimp based sauce with the reddish food coloring (from annatto seeds).
Bert and I recognized a few people we knew at the party. It's such a small world but then, with Filipino parties, everyone is bound to know at least one or two people there by a few degrees. Bert saw his former neighbor. My best friend from kindergarten was there with her family (they live across from my aunt). A mutual high school friend and his family were there as well (they are related to my aunt). His son is actually a good friend of TC who was MIA since she was at a friend's birthday party.
Bert's party mish mash:
and my plate:
I went back for seconds to have some more of the lechon kawali. Just look at the puffed and bubbled crunchy top layer, then the fat and then the meat....
It had such a satisfying crunch. This was enjoyed with a bit of eggplant from the pinakbet.
The dessert table was quite popular...laden with goodies like a box of butter mamon from Red Ribbon Bakery, homemade flan, my dad's homemade hopia (filled with yellow mung bean), homemade cassava tarts and pecan tarts wrapped in colorful cellophane as well as storebought cookies and cupcakes (which I passed on).
My aunt also made espasol (seen below), a type of rice cake cooked with coconut milk and rolled in toasted rice flour. I grew up eating this and like it a lot but Bert isnt' too fond of it. Says it's too dry.
Besides my own mother, my aunt's cooking ranks second.
Below, an assortment of the desserts - boiled peanuts, a corner of cassava cake, a wrapped pecan tart, my dad's hopia, a flan square and a piece of espasol.
We love her homemade tarts and look forward to them at every party...
Before we left, my aunt practically shoved a couple of handfuls of her tarts into my purse, exclaiming, "Here's more! Take them!"!
I wold be a fool to refuse, right?
Another food gift later that day was a box of these cream cheese rolls from Valerio's Bakery (the one in National City). TC brought them home as a gift from her friend's party. Nice!
A few weeks ago, Mr. TJ and I used the burrito coupon...
and went to the Los Primos at the San Miguel Shops center. This is the same complex that has the now out of business Albertson's and Mea Kwan Thai restaurant.
We haven't been to this location in awhile...
Carne asada burrito for Mr. TJ (not shown) and fish burrito for me.
A filling lunch it was. We got to enjoy the balmy day with our friend La Ley.
A co-worker's aunt had just returned from Jalisco, Mexico and brought home box of Mexican candies.
These were wrapped balls of guava candy. My friend thought it was some sort of cajeta candy, but this definitely tasted like guava.
A few days ago, my mom wanted to drop off some food for us - she made chicken tinola with kale, kale salad, ad vermicelli noodles with chicken sausage and opo squash. The kale came from their garden while the opo squash came from their neighbor's (my Ninong's garden).
The spinach, cheese and bacon empanadas were from my aunt in Utah. My parents had returned from their trip to attend, unfortunately the funeral of my cousin, who died of heart failure. My dad's brother (my uncle) and his family live in Utah. My cousin lived in Las Vegas but the funeral was in his hometown in Utah.
My aunt made enough for me and my siblings.
Yesterday, La Ley and I shelled out $5 for a homemade chile relleno, bought from one of the cafeteria workers, a very nice Mexican man.
The combo came with two corn tortillas, beans, rice, and a salsa topped chile relleno.
Underneath the delicious sauce was a cheese stuffed roasted poblano pepper. According to La Ley, this was very authentic. Some places skimp on their peppers and use a different pepper, the Anaheim, but she prefers this darker green pepper. You can see a toothpick (below) which is used to hold the pepper together.
I asked her to bring me her mom's version next time she makes it. I hope the man makes this again really soon because I will be first in line!
The storm is still happening right now. If you're in San Diego, hope you stay dry and off the roads!
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