...sunday supper: stew

I'm almost out of my deep funk, thanks to recent family gatherings with lots of food, laughter, and the Scrabble Ipad app. Unfortunately our hosts didn't serve the Filipino food I was craving so badly, notably this...

Dinuguan, from Panlasang Pinoy

Recently I was asked when and how I learned to cook. So my answers would be -- July 12, the food network and Panlasang Pinoy. Panlasang Pinoy is a food blog written by a Filipino IT professional based in Lincolnshire, Illinois. (Coincidentally, Lincolnshire is home of the not-so-evil empire's mothership. But that's another story.) The blog has step by step recipes for just about Filipino dish I know. For the truly recipe learning challenged like myself, there are videos! I'm this close to turning into the Filipino Paula Deen, thanks to my favorite blog.

One of the things on my long bucket list is 'learn to cook dinuguan'. I won't post the recipe for my favorite dish here, because it is really not for the squeamish, and I don't want to alienate the 2 readers I may actually have. The recipe seems simple enough, but it sounds about as unachievable to me right now, as running a marathon once seemed. (Like a true goal setter, I've given myself to the end of December 2010 to cross this one off the list.)

Unlike my obvious god given talent for shopping, I'm not a natural when it comes to cooking, and I'm mostly not interested. At breakfast the other day, my dear friend Chatty Cathy tried to enlighten me (for nearly 6 minutes) on pizza dough. Ten seconds into her lecture my mind had wandered. (Hmm, french or nude?--as in a manicure.) I also believe the knack for cooking, and treasured family recipes are passed on, like DNA. Unfortunately the only things I've inherited from mom are her deep neuroses. (I would've settled for her legs...)

Anyway, I live in a suburb of Toronto where any dish that I desire... that perfect thin crust white pizza, crunchy spicy sushi, pad thai, green curry, beef pho, dim sum, chicken katsu, falafel, souvlaki, calamari, peking duck, you name it... are within a 10 minute drive. Except Filipino food!

Filipino food is unbelievably tasty, but it is also visually unappealing. Stewed, brown, oily, and greasy are words that come to mind. And Filipinos are notoriously and proudly cheap, so I'm afraid a decent Filipino resto would likely fail. That really leaves me no choice: if I'm craving Filipino, I must cook it. 

This is completely off topic, but you know that I can't help but comment on this late breaking news:

Huffington Post

Jessica, honey, no... I understand you are heartbroken over your ex's engagement to the Filipino ex beauty queen who is way hotter than you. But honey, you are a former pop and reality star turned failed country singer turned successful gazillionaire shoe designer (!) with big tits. You don't need an unemployed, recently divorced, former NHL or NFL guy to complete you.

I feel better already.