Home is where the heart and stomach is

So I shortened that shawarma video, but it's still not uploading onto my posts! I don't understand. Maybe it really is the internet connection.

My family and I dined in a very chic Mediterranean/Chinese infused restaurant yesterday evening; relatively new, and very, very good. And then I figured out that I left my camera at home. Cringe. Never again. I will re-visit that restaurant before I leave and show you how a childhood snack bar transformed into a dimly lit, sultry ambienced tandoori restaurant. Promise.


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It's so nice to be at home and be able to get Filipino food made from scratch. None of that microwaved stuff in restaurants or gluten-gluten-gluten, soy-soy-soy! from the cafeteria at PUC. Over the weekend my parents made sinigang, a sour and sometimes spicy based dish that has tomatoes, onions, radishes, your choice of meat, and of course tamarind flavoring. Its consistency is that of a soup, yes, but Filipinos usually eat it as a type of ulam, something that goes along with their rice. Our sinigang also had kang kong - a type of leafy vegetable grown in the tropics - and my dad decided it was going to be made with fish. For the life of me I am forgetting what type of fish we used. Anyway, it was really good. Just the right amount of sour to make your lips almost pucker, and then a slight aftertaste of its spices. Always best when piping hot.

Sinigang!

Mom serving me some in a bowl

That day, my parents also boiled some crabs, along with some tomatoes and onions. Very fresh and sweet they were, and I devoured them with some vinegar and garlic, a really good condiment to fresh boiled crabs.

Crab, rice, and a little bit of kang kong


You're mine.

I was so full.







My new love is brie cheese. I can love that even more when it is paired with crunchy green apples and mountain honey. Breakfast of champions. I discovered it when I used to volunteer at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, CA, and a very generous doctor decided to donate a bunch of snacks to the downstairs cafeteria to all the hospital workers. They were always healthy, but he knew how to pick delicious food. So I decided to try it, and as I've told you, I've fallen in love.

Melted brie, honey, and apples.
How can you go wrong?
You can't.

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And for dessert?
Take a peach,




Broil it with a smidgen of brown sugar,




Top with vanilla ice cream.

Devour.




And start again.









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ulam - A term used for a main dish usually eaten with rice. Usually a type of meat, e.g. Fried chicken was my ulam for lunch.