Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Good Night depending on where in the world you are!
How is everyone doing? I have some catching up to do and some photos to post. Suffice to say, I have been very busy but I want to share a few pics of some Filipino food that we had on Wed night that was really good. Will get back to that later.
I find that with so many types of prepared food venues available, I still like the small places that have not succumbed to commercialism and are still doing someones version of home cooking. These are the markets, shops, cafe's, diners, small restaurants, food trucks...that really color the American food scene for me. I have such an aversion to chain restaurants that it is unbelievable. Give me a small market with someone cooking in the back in a small kitchen and I am sure to get a better meal than any chain establishment.
So it is with this small Filipino place that we love. The owners run a small market and cafe. They cook, they do the buying, they make foods that were cooking in their Grandmothers kitchen back home in Manila. When my sweetheart eats this food she is transported back to her childhood. The journey is one that I can relate to, and the layers of emotions that are invoked with every bite, bring up stories of happy childhood memories. Then, simply dining out becomes much more of an adventure and a time for family history.
Mini diva loves these outings and loves to learn about her ancestry/ I recall one Saturday in the summer when mini diva was invited to a big teenager part and told us that she would rather go out with us than be with her friends. Her Mom questioned her to make sure that she was feeling ok because we had never heard such a thing from a teen, but she was speaking from her heart, she loves to spend time with us, as we do with her. Our food outings are so much more than just eating food, we discuss history, geography, climate change, politics, farming, food production, cooking techniques, and more. I realize that so many kids would rather do anything than spend time with their parents on a Saturday night in the summer when they are 15, so I feel really blessed that we get to have her with us and have this time.
Ok time for more coffee and figuring out how to calm a very hyper 6 month old kitten.