A Letter for Kuya

Dear Kuya Red,

How are you? You've been living away for a long time now but I still remember the last time we had a nice chat. At dinnertime, last Sunday, March of 1992, you were very excited telling us stories about your 3-day camping trip to Mt. Makiling, about how wonderful the place is. You wished to bring home a big piece of tree trunk for your cattleya orchids, they are growing in numbers and you'll be needing an extra driftwood to hang them. And that you've met a beautiful lady with very long black hair accented with so many flowers wearing a shimmering white dress. You brought home a few souvenirs and shared with us the pasalubong you bought along the way from Laguna.

I miss those days when we were young, you've been very protective of me. I miss the days, when you will ask me to go home with you while i'm still having fun with my friends, I'd go mad but I'm afraid you'd squeal to our parents. I've been stubborn but we still get along. I miss the times when you will help me with my assignments especially my math subjects.

Since your illness stole your mind, people laugh at you, sometimes i also do, for the silly things those "spirits" asks you to do. Although in that condition, you seem happy sometimes playing and talking with them, but you get furious when you have misunderstandings.

I believe that people who knows what happened pities you, thinking that if this didn't happened, you'll be able to finish the civil engineering course you were taking. Oh, I wish that, too!

I wish I could make your mind come back to normal like nothing had happened. I wish I have a cure for your illness and let you enjoy the life we all had been enjoying. We are who we are because of you, Mom and Dad.

You had been a great sacrifice for us, your siblings, to be where we are now. I still remember what Mom and Dad said before, that they cannot sacrifice the education their six other children should have, just because of your condition. That's the reason why they couldn't spend all the money they barely have to bring you to the best psychiatrists. But you know how hard they tried, they brought you to different doctors and faith healers. In the end, they relied on their faith that God will heal you in time. They believe that God let this happen for a reason.

I thank all the people around who understands you, who cares for you and who accepted you. I specially thank God for my husband, our sisters-in-law, our brother-in-law and their families who accepted our family in spite of your condition.

I am thankful to God, for the many blessings you brought us. I learned a lot about life, most importantly about God. I saw how Mom bravely casts out those bad spirits who possessed you in the name of Jesus Christ. She was so amazing! Her faith in God, after this happened, can never be shaken. Yes, she asked God why, why He had let this happen to you, but later, she realized He had a better plan. She always ask us to be gentle with you and to understand you.

Mom and Dad love you so much, Kuya. You know, before Daddy died, he was so worried about you, of who will take care of you. He prayed for your healing and asked God to bless all of us.

I'm sorry this happened to you. I hope you'll get better soon .

I Love You!

Your Sister,

Phynkee

A letter I wrote after Kuya's story was aired on Hiwaga before Holy Week. 

Corned Beef with Potato ala Skye

One of Skye's favorites.

She cooked this corned beef with potatoes when Snowe was sick 2 weeks ago and she wouldn't let me leave her side the whole day. Skye said she'll be the one to cook dinner. She prepared everything, from chopping to cooking to setting up the table.We ate at the living room cause Snowe really won't get up :-)
Skye's worried at first because she said the garlic's a bit toasted, but Snowe said it still tastes good. And it really does.

Good job, Ate Skye!

Macaroons (chocolatey and lemoney macaroonies)

Yesterday, Skye was looking for a snack and thought of opening a can of sweetened condensed milk. She imagined eating bread dipped in condensed milk, a snack she always loves, easy to prepare and eat. Only after pouring some milk on her small saucer did she find out that there is no more mini-France bread. She said "Oh no, Mommy, I've already poured some milk on the saucer, and there's no more bread. What would I do with this milk?" I said to her, just put it in the fridge, you could still use it once we bought that bread or (thinking)...we can make macaroons. Then she said, "Oh, let's just make macaroons!" I told her to get the recipe folder and prepare the ingredients.

Skye read the instructions, and before I could tell her what to do, she was already beating the eggs when I checked.

She started measuring the sugar when I thought of taking pictures.

She added the condensed milk. I told her to mix until the sugar dissolves.

Snowe asked what she could to do help and I asked her to put the paper liner on the macaroon cups.

and after that, I told her to add the desicated coconut to the mixture while Skye mixes everything.

They helped each other grating the lemon for the flavor.

I divided the mixture into two portions. I added grated lemon for the flavor to the first half. Snowe asked if she could be the one to put the mixture in the cups, so I let her. I was surprised to see that she was able to finish filling all those cups.

Skye had her turn, too. She requested the chocolate flavored macaroons, so I added the melted Swiss dark chocolate (about 30gms) to the other portion of the coconut mixture. It was actually a leftover because Skye was not able to finish that Frey Noir 72% chocolate bar Snowe gave her (she said it's bitter for her taste).



My girls had fun baking. Snowe ate them as soon as it cooled down... and they called it the "chocolatey and lemoney macaroonies" :)

*Macaroons recipe from pinoycook.net

Mommy Lolly

October 18, 2010

Dear Mommy,

Thank you for being strong for all of us.
Thank you for your unfailing love.
Because of you we learned how to be strong,
to care and to love.
I'm sorry for the many times I gave you heartaches.
I'm sorry that I made you cry.
Thank you for being there whenever my heartbreaks, for comforting me, for assuring me
that everything will be alright.
Thank you for making your time available
whenever we need you.
May God bless us with more years with you so we can show you more how much we love you and thank you for all the things you've done for us!

We love you always!

Happy Birthday, Mommy Lolly!

France Bread Pizza a la Skye and Snowe

Skye and Snowe love to eat pizza. They would often ask me to make pizza for them and I did, but with their help. They both helped and it was our breakfast this morning.

We used France bread, it's like a bun, cut in half and laid on a baking tray. I put a teaspoon of Del Monte's Sweet Pizza Sauce on each half and Skye spread it on. Snowe then put the small cuts of Mozarella Cheese, the one we use on sandwiches.

Skye arranged the vegetables on top - tomato slices, onions and green bell peppers. Snowe laid down the bacon strips last.

Baked at 150 deg C on a pre-heated electric oven for 8 minutes and voila, we have an instant pizza.

06 Senti Compilation

Sa paglasap ng tagumpay, siguraduhing walang natatapakan.

Sa pagnamnam ng kaligayahan, siguraduhing walang nasasaktan.

Sikaping lumingon sa pinanggalingan.

Ang Pako

ano kaya ang magiging epekto kung ang lahat ng tao ay marunong tumupad sa ipinangako?

pangako hindi kita iiwan.
pangako hindi pababayaan.
pangako hindi ka na magiisa.
pangako ako ang bahala.

huwag na lang mangangako kung lagi din lang mapapako...

ibinaon na nila sa limot ang kanilang mga pangako...

Ikaw ilan na ang pangako mo o ipinangako sa iyo ang napako?

huwag mo na itong asahan...

Si Lord lang talaga ang laging tumutupad sa Kanyang pangako.

Daddy's Day Chicken

June 20, 2010

The name of our very late dinner for tonight... "Daddy's Day Chicken."

Why? Because Daddy Eio invented this dish right after his mini concert at home. I know, he should be pampered today, but let me tell you my errr... excuse. *grin*

We had our late lunch around 2:30 -3:30 p.m., after attending Sunday mass, at Paulaner inXintiandi. Wanting to have a little exercise after a heavy lunch, we walked home from Xintiandi, bought milk tea with pearls along the way and reached home at about 4:30p.m.

As we got home, we decided to sing along with our magic sing.

Snowe massaged daddy's feet while I set up the machine (she said it's her gift to dad). Skye started selecting her favorites songs. Then, the magical voices filled the airs in parkville :-) the four of us take turns with the microphone, and i noticed that the line-up of songs are all for Daddy. It's his day so let him be.

At 7 p.m. I asked him if he's hungry and if so what does he want me to prepare for dinner. He said he's still full and we should have dinner later. Okay, I said, anyway the kids are not hungry yet. I just took out the chicken middle wings from the fridge to thaw.

When Eio got tired of singing he decided to cook the chicken. I don't exactly know the amount of the ingredients he put in but he said he boiled half-a-kilo of chicken first with water, fish sauce and a few cloves of crushed garlic, when the chicken is almost done he added some light soy sauce, a teaspoon of sugar and sprinkled ground pepper. There's also his trick of alternating a little cold water while frying the chicken in the final stage. The result was very delicious, the taste is something new to us. He asked me to take photos as he put the cooked dish on the dining table and teased me to post here :D

And we had the very late dinner at 10:30 pm.