Curbside Stories

Photo from www.voxxi.com We have one happy new pope here! Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio is our new pope and he will be called Pope Francis. He is the first Latin American pope and the first from the Jesuit order to be elected on the highest seat in Catholic Church. Here are some facts about Pope Francis... 1. Rather than living in archbishop's palace, he chose to live in an apartment and ride a bus instead of a limousine to go to work. 2. He cooks his own meals. 3. He advocates social justice. He strongly opposes same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia. 4. He lives with only one lung. His other lung was removed when he was still young due to infection. 5. He doesn't have a Vatican experience. 6. He was one of the runners-up of Pope Benedict XVI during the 2005 conclave. 7. He was accused of kidnapping two priests in Argentina in the 1970s. No case was filed. 8. He speaks Italian and German aside from his native tongue Spanish. ...

Shortly after the announcement that Obama won the presidency against Romney, this photo garnered 3.5 million likes on Facebook and still counting. It now holds the record as the most liked photo. And here is President Barack Obama's speech...

My mom told me that when she was pregnant with me, she's fond of eating pineapples... we call it in the Philippines as pinaglihihan. Pineapple is not one of my favorite fruits because I don't like my food sour. I won't eat it unless somebody tells me it is of the sweet kind. So why did I cook a dish with pineapples? I don't have much ingredients in my kitchen. The things that are available are chicken, evaporated milk, bell pepper and pineapple tidbits. I was thinking of cooking adobo but it was just last night that we had soy sauce based dish for dinner. Well, it turned out delicious... my son could attest to that because he only eats chicken when it is barbecued, fried or if it is adobo. If you like to try this dish, here is the recipe:

St. Helena with Constantine. Each year, during May, in almost every town in the Philippines, there is a Santacruzan . It is a parade commemorating the pilgrimage of Reyna Elena (St. Helena) to Calvary, together with other reynas  including Mary Magdalene, in finding Jesus' cross. This Catholic tradition is usually celebrated every 3rd week of May. The Tres Marias. Reyna De Virgines. Reyna Divina Pastora. Traditionally, the Santacruzan is arranged in this order according to WikiPilipinas: Methuselah  - a bearded old man cooking grains of sand in a pan over fire. He represents the transient of life... the return of all things to ashes and sand. Reina Banderada  - a young woman wearing a red gown and carrying a triangular flag that represents the coming of Christianity. Aetas  - they represent the Filipino pagans before the coming of Christianity. Reina Mora  - represents the dominant religion before Christianity. Rein...

Visiting Paris is one of the many things that I would like to accomplish in my life. I just want to experience how it feels like to be a tourist in a different land, eat foie gras and drink champagne in some hotel overlooking the Eiffel Tower. And while going there is still too far in my to-do's, here are some info about travels and vacations. Click on the image to enlarge. This graphic was designed by Lorena O'Neal, you can check out more of her work  here . Source: Onlineclasses.net

My cousins and friends are very much into playing World of Warcraft. And I can bet my month's salary that they don't know these things about the popular MMORPG. Click on the image to enlarge. This graphic was designed by Lorena O'Neal, you can check out more of her work  here . Source: http://www.videogamedesigncolleges.org

It's a windy night (again) and what better way to warm the stomach than to have soup for dinner. You can cook it in just three easy steps. I prefer eating this dish with steamed rice and fried fish. Here are the ingredients: 1 Patola (Ridge Gourd or Loofah), peeled and cut diagonally 2 packs of miswa (wheat noodles) 3 small packs of hibi (dried shrimps) 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 medium onion, finely chopped 2 tablespoons oil 2 tablespoons fish sauce 3 to 4 cups water salt to taste Here's how to cook it: 1. Heat oil in pan or skillet and then saute garlic and onion. Add hibi (dried shrimp). 2. Add ridge gourd (loofah), water and fish sauce. Boil for 3 minutes or until the vegetable becomes slightly cooked. 3. Add the miswa. Miswa absorbs water so add more water when necessary. Simmer for 3 minutes. Adjust taste by adding salt. Trivia: Photo from here . Ridge gourd is rich in dietary fiber, vitamin C, riboflavin, zinc, thiamin and magnesium. Aside from being ed...

Another no fuzz Filipino dish--pork adobo!  While riding the jeepney on the way home, I was thinking of cooking adobong sitaw (string beans) with ground pork but when I got home, I don't have string beans in the fridge... so I ended up cooking pork adobo. It is my son's favorite dish. In fact, even in the wee hours he would ask me to cook adobo. For me, it is his way of making lambing so whenever I see or eat adobo in other places, I always associate it with my cute and lovable son. Photo from here . Here are the ingredients: 1/2 kilo of ribs or pork belly cut into 3x2 size 3 tablespoons oil 1 red onion, diced 4 cloves garlic, diced 1/2 cup soy sauce 1 cup vinegar 1/2 cup of water 3 laurel leaves (bay leaves) salt and ground pepper to taste Here's how to cook it: 1. Heat skillet and pour oil. Saute onion and garlic. 2. Add pork, water, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and allow to simmer for 30 minutes or until the pork...

How's your weekend? We stayed in our grandmother's house the whole day. While my son played with his cousins, I had a little chat with our aunts and grandmother on the porch. That is what I like about weekends... I get to catch up on my relative's lives over sumptuous meals. I was asked to cook tinolang tahong (mussel soup) . This is one of the easiest Filipino dishes to cook. Here are the ingredients: 1/2 kilo of tahong (mussel) 3 tablespoons of oil 1 red onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, diced 2 thumb size ginger, cut into strips 1 8 oz. 7-Up Salt to taste Here's how to cook it: 1. Saute onion, garlic and ginger in a deep pan. Put in cleaned and fresh mussels. It is always best to cook seafoods while they are still fresh. Mix a bit. 2. Add the 7-Up. Cover the pan. There is no need to add water since the mussels will release its juice when it  opens. You may wonder why there is 7-Up in the dish. I actually don't know. I just learned this dish from my grandma and ...

Photo from Mister Greeting Card . Happy New Year to all our Chinese brothers and sisters from all over the world. To the Chinese, the year of the rabbit officially starts when the clock hits 12:00MN. If you have missed the New Year because of whatever reason (lame), you can still celebrate the new year tonight. Did you receive any nian gao (tikoy) today? According to Wikipedia , eating nian gao has a symbolism of raising oneself higher in each coming year. If you haven't eaten a nian gao, it is a sticky rice cake. In Chinese tradition, nian gao should be given as this is also considered good luck. If you bought a nian gao for yourself, better give it away and wait for other persons to give one to you. It actually makes sense because the famous saying goes, "it is better to give than to receive."

Hi! How's your Saturday?  Nothing too magnificent or odd happened today... I just cooked my son's favorite tinola (Chicken ginger stew) for lunch only to find out that we will go to my cousin's 18th birthday party at noon. We ended up not eating the tinola like what we had planned. On the brighter side, we had a feast. When I say feast, I really meant feast. My cousin served grilled chicken, pork barbecue, kare-kare and lumpia as the main entree and slices of sweet seedless watermelon for dessert. Yummy! Oh, I almost forgot, grandma cooked again her famous yellow rice which made us full big time. The tinola ... we had it for supper. If you want to try it, here are the ingredients: 1 whole chicken cut into small parts 1 small papaya or vegetable pear (sayote) cut into small pieces 1/2 cup chili leaves 1 chicken cube (optional) 1 onion, sliced 3 cloves garlic 1 small ginger cut into strips 2 tablespoons cooking oil 3 tablespoons fish sauce or patis 1.5 liters of wa...