Law of Relativity

Did I shrink or not?
What is the reality?
It's all relative.

English Tea Cucumber Sandwiches

I brought these tea sandwiches to our Life Writers Group Wednesday meeting at the Monroeville PA library.  It was in celebration of Ellen's belated birthday and Keith Neill's new book Growing up in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, A Slice of Americana which is available in Amazon.  We had fun eating the wonderful fare consisting of turkey pepperoni, hummus, crackers, chips, Indian style tuna salad, this cucumber tea sandwiches plus caramel chocolate pretzels, lemon squares and cupcakes for dessert.  

Keith Neill's new book Growing up in Eighty Four, Pennsylvania, A Slice of Americana which is available in Amazon. 

After we all had a filling late lunch munching on the goodies, we then read what we wrote for that day.  What were shared was a mix of lighthearted and serious pieces all written with a lot of heart and soul. Beautiful time with wonderful friends. As Win said, we have a good group.  Amen.  

Keith and Ellen

Vandana and Margaret

Roz

Win in foreground with Roz at back.

English Tea Cucumber Sandwiches

Adapted from this source

• 1-8 oz package cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or more to taste)
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 English Cucumber, peeled and thinly sliced (Note 1)
• 1-1 pound loaf sliced bread, crusts cut off (Note 2)
• dry lemon dill seasoning for garnish or fresh dill

1. Mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

2.  Spread the cream cheese mixture on one side of each slice of bread.

3.  Distribute the cucumber randomly if not cutting in shapes.  If you are cutting in two later, place the cucumber in two rows over half of the bread slices so cutting in half will be easier. Sprinkle dry lemon dill on top of the cucumber.

4.  Place the other half of the bread slices with spread sides down over the cucumber slices to make a sandwich.

5.  You can cut each sandwich in half between the two rows of cucumber.  

6.  If transporting, place the sandwiches in a tray.  Cover with one or two layers of paper towel wet just enough but not soaking wet to prevent the bread from drying out.  I stored the sandwiches this way and then placed the sandwiches in the tray with wet towel in a large plastic bag and placed them in a cooler with two ice packs. I had to do this since I had several errands starting at nine in the morning till we met at 1 pm for the meeting and did not have time to go home.  The sandwiches remained moist and cold.

Notes

1. If you use English cucumber which does not have seeds you do not have to drain the moisture from the cucumber. If you are using regular cucumber follow the instruction from the source of this recipe.

2.  I used Pepperidge Farm white bread and also plain Italian bread.  I found them both equally good with the latter to be cheaper.

My Cousin Rosa

I, Ondes, on the left of the table, holding on to my cousin Rosa.  Other children in the picture, clockwise, are Rosa's sister, Nida, Bebeng, my older sister, Boyet and Mita, my Kaka Viring's children, Lorie, my Kakang David's only child and Anton, my late brother.  The priest on the left is Monsignor Agcaira.  Behind Rosa is Ely, a family friend, the adult with glasses at the table is my Kaka Edong and the guy at the back is Rosa's father, Kaka Ruben. The title Kaka is uncle or aunt in Tagalog. This was taken during the annual fiesta held on the feast of the Immaculate Concepcion in Malabon.

My cousin Rosa is one of the many children of my prolific Kaka, uncle in Tagalog, Ruben and his wife Kaka or aunt Iska. Rosa just died of a heart attack this past Sunday in Malabon Philippines at the age of seventy.

Rosa's family lived just a block from my grandmother's house where my own family stayed till I was 10 years old. She and her siblings were my playmates till I was ten.  One fond memory I had playing with her was pretending we were pregnant by stuffing our dress with newspaper.  At this time, both our mothers were getting pregnant almost every year in her mother's case and every two years in mine. This past Monday morning when I was in the bathroom my grandchild came in with her tummy stuffed with a blanket. It made me think was this a sign from Rosa? My sister and I were just talking on the phone just a few minutes before about her passing.

When I was seven and she nine years old, the company my grandmother owned had a huge party to celebrate the mechanisation of the bottling step in the making of the fish sauce or patis.  It was a big event since it was the first time that this condiment was being bottled untouched by human hands.  A photographer was hired to take pictures of the guests including government officials and also the American manufacturers of the bottling machine.  I convinced Rosa that we photobomb every picture that was taken and we indeed did. You could see us squeezing ourselves into every picture.

Rosa is on the extreme right in this picture.  The children featured in this picture are from the left, Connie, Rosa's sister, me, Edna, another of Rosa's sister.  Behind are my Kaka Uring, my grandmother, Nanang Pina, Kaka Viring and then Governor Rodriguez.  This was taken during the inauguration of the newly installed bottling facility at compound number 1 of Rufina Patis in Malabon.

Every year the Catholic school we attended had a Christmas pageant which included coming in different costumes and offering a gift to the Child Jesus at the stage. I still could picture in my mind the year Rosa came in an all white Indian sari with a diamond pasted in the middle of  her forehead like the princess in the Aladdin movie.  She was gloriously beautiful and regal.

Time flew and we got married, got pregnant, this time for real, and had children who eventually grew up.  A few years ago, we were together celebrating my late brother's birthday at a casino buffet in California.  We even shared a room after the buffet at my sister's house in Los Angeles.  My sister is a very clean person and when I visit her she always offers to launder my clothes.  One day as I was putting away my newly laundered clothes, Rosa saw me folding my underwear in a haphazard manner.  I remember her showing me how to fold with the crouch part over first and then the two sides folded over the middle to form a square.  I was really impressed.

This was taken during the joint celebration of my brother Anton, Vicky, Mama Sol and Bubut's birthdays.  From left seated are Mama Sol, Chet, Anton's wife, Anton, Chet's aunt, and Vicky, Rosa's sister.  Standing from left are Rosa and my sister Bebeng.

Rosa arriving at my sister's condo in Los Angeles.

Rosa was famous for her Pancit Malabon, a noodle dish named after the town we grew up in. This dish is characterised by its sauce but most importantly by the trimmings one puts on top including crushed pork rind, shrimp, boiled pork belly, smoked fish chopped and sometimes boiled oysters plus green onions and boiled eggs.  Rosa masterfully concocted this pancit in such a way it was rich but not overbearing.

She lived her life just as admirably.  I seldom heard her say a bad thing about anybody.  Neither did she complain about the trials and tribulations she had to go through in life.  She was a wonderful example on how to carry them with dignity. This was what she and her life taught me.  Thank you Rosa for all the things I have learned from you and for the warm memories. Rest in peace.

Good morning

Another day I'm
blessed with. Whatever is in
store, I am grateful.

It'll Be OK

It'll be an OK
day. You're OK. You're held in
the palm of His hands.

No Churn Vegan Rum Raisin Ice Cream

This was inspired by an ice cream I had during our Celebrity Cruise to Alaska.  

No Churn Vegan Rum Raisin Ice Cream

• 2 ripe bananas, sliced and frozen
• 1/4 cup coconut cream
• 2 tbsp rum
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp raisins

Place all the ingredients except the raisins in a blender till well mixed.  Add the raisins and mix.  Place in the freezer for 5 hours or overnight.  If it is too hard to scoop, place in the microwave for a few seconds.

CSJA Maxim 77 St. Bernadette Convent Prayer Group 9/18/17

The two page handout above was prepared by Natalie for our prayer meeting at the St. Bernadette Convent this past Monday on September 18, 2017.  Maxim 77 was discussed which was on Love. The scriptural passages suggested in the flip up book on the Maxims were also provided in the handout for our convenience and so was the suggested application. To complete the discussion we covered what Marcia Allen, CSJ says in her pink book on the Maxims.

At the end, one would note that Natalie pointed out that we have come full circle starting with love in Maxim 1. She also referred to other maxims which touches on this subject.

Thanks Natalie for this wonderful handout.  We share this with all of you as we are in union in spirit as you read this post.  Have a nice day.  God is good.

PS Thanks also to Dottie for the awesome coffee chocolate bars she brought for the meeting and the hospitality of Sr. Bernadette.

Paula's Prayer Group Meeting September 14, 2017

It was the national day of prayer when we met and Sr. Paula gave a handout featuring a prayer by St. Augustine above.  During our meditation period, Paula played the song, "You Are the River, I Am the Flow" by Jan Phillips, which you can play by clicking the arrow in the image of the Youtube video below.

Paula shared after the reflection period, that as one of the lyrics say, her wish is to be the breath to refresh the world.  As I was opening my refrigerator after the meeting, I saw on my refrigerator door, the card that was given out during the last annual retreat to identify and remember our prayer partner that year. I was struck by the phrase in it that carries the same message."Let your life speak".

I hope the prayer in the handout and the words and music in the video give you comfort during these times of uncertainties and chaos. Someone up there is in charge. We should not fear but feel His unconditional love and mercy.  See you at the recollection this Sunday.

Separation and violence

Lose oneness with God,
and love, ego kicks in, non
violence ceases.


Note: Inspired by my reflection on today's Daily Meditation by Richard Rohr.

Happiness

Happiness is to
be shared not kept to oneself
fearing losing it.


Note: Gleaned from the reflection given by seminarian, Jordan Sonnett during a Saturday Mass.  Jordan is spending his pastoral year at St. John the Baptist, Plum PA.

Slow Cooker Pepper Tomato Marinara Sauce for Vegan Meatballs

Last Saturday I was at the McGinnis Specialty Store in Monroeville PA for their Authors Event featuring 17 authors who showcased their books to the public.  A couple of my own friends who have published books were there namely, Sally Lipsky and Margaret Soboslay.  Sally has just recently published her book       while Margaret featured two of her published books.  See photos below. Sally's kindle version of her book is free till this Thursday, September 21, 2017 at Amazon.com.  Hurry and order! Click on the book below to order.

Margaret with two of her published books.  They are also available at Amazon.com.  

This event was organized by the indefatigable McGinnis Monroeville events coordinator, Karen Novak. She also has been the organizer for many years of the McGinnis Book Club which I belong to.  In fact several authors who have been guests at our book club monthly event were at this Authors Event.  Here are the pictures I took of some of the authors as well as vendors who shared tasting samples of their goodies.

I had to hurry home since my husband was singing at the Filipino dance recital of the Philippine American of Performing Arts of Greater Pittsburgh (PAPAGP) Association  that same afternoon. I had the option at McGinnis to eat one of their fabulous lunch menus or take home some awesome to go items but instead I could hardly wait to go home to eat the Vegan Spinach Sweet Potato Meatballs in the easy amazing Pepper Tomato Marinara Sauce.  It is that haunting and delicious. Even my picky taster my husband gave it a thumbs up.

I have featured this meatball recipe in the past where I have suggested to use store bought marinara sauce from a jar.  In this blog post, I am highlighting an easy but amazing sauce made from just four ingredients to use with these meatballs. Here is the simple easy peasy recipe.

Slow Cooker Pepper Tomato Marinara Sauce for Vegan Meatballs

This was inspired by the ingredients I saw in the Mancini Brand Marinara Sauce

• 2-14 oz can stewed tomatoes (Note 1,2)
• 1 bottle grilled piquillo peppers in water (Note 1,3)
• 2 tbsp dry onion flakes
• 1 tbsp dry garlic flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1\4 cup parmesan cheese (see this vegan parmesan recipe)
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• vegan meatballs or other type of meatballs (see this recipe)

Combine all the ingredients except the meatballs in a slow cooker and mix well.  Place the baked vegan meatballs (see this vegan recipe) on top of the sauce. Cook for 3 hours at high or 6 hours at low.  I did mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for two hours at slow cooker setting.

You can also do this in a skillet. If you do, allow the sauce mixture with the baked meatballs on top to first boil and then simmer.

Notes

1. I prefer to add the tomatoes and peppers whole but you can chop them or even blend them after cooking for a more homogeneous mixture.  I like putting the sauce in my hoagies even without any meatball so I prefer them both whole for texture (see photo below).

2.  Stewed tomatoes are sweeter than the other types.  I highly recommend them. But you can use other types of canned tomatoes.

3.  Piquillo peppers are one type of peppers which are milder.  I again highly recommend them. But again you can use other types of bottled peppers.

Vegan Longganisa Filipino Sausage

The Filipino breakfast is usually graced by the presence of a cylindrical shaped sausage made of usually ground pork, pork fat, sugar, garlic and other spices.  It is called longganisa.  This vegan version of this popular breakfast Filipino sausage was adapted from the awesome blog Astig Vegan written by the brilliant and creative RG Enriquez. I tweaked Ms. Enriquez's recipe by substituting some of the ingredients with what I have or preferred to use.  I substituted the tofu called for in the recipe with a combination of walnuts with cauliflower which I have used previously in the past in this blog as a meat substitute, see here. For extra oomph, I substituted the chili oil or sesame oil in the list in the Astig Vegan recipe with chili garlic sauce from a bottle. I also dropped the porcini mushroom but kept the shiitake mushroom in my tweaked recipe.  I did not add the pine nuts since it is taken cared of by the cauliflower and walnut meat mixture.  Since I did not have liquid smoke I used instead smoked paprika.

The sausage is easy to prepare and involves only the mixing of all the ingredients in a food processor or blender.  The original pork longganisa are traditionally encased in a casing which is not done with this vegan version.  To keep the cylindrical shape of the vegan sausage, bread crumbs in my case panko crumbs are used.

I experimented with three methods of cooking the longganisa, namely pan frying with coconut oil, baking and microwaving. Every single method is comparable to each other in giving you the satisfaction of eating the original longganisa usually made from pork or chicken. Each approach has its advantages and disadvantages. If you are in a hurry you can use the microwave method.  If you do not mind the oil added, you can pan fry.  If you have time and want to skip the oil you can bake.  The most moist sausage results from the pan fry method. If you use coconut oil you have that added flavor.  The sausage had a hard time keeping its shape when pan fried.  It might be because I used less oil, one tbsp, rather than three that must have been needed.  The best shaped sausage comes from the baking method which also gives a crispy coating.  One has to be careful not to over bake or the longganisa will get dry and taste burnt. The microwave method cooks the sausage best with its shape intact. It does not have the crispy coating though.  One can combine the microwave and pan frying methods by initially microwaving the sausage and then pan fry it in coconut oil to crisp the outside.

pan frying in coconut oil

baking in a toaster oven

microwaving

When I was tasting the mixture I could not help eating the uncooked sausage since it was that good.  I would suggest microwaving a bit of the prepared sausage and then adjust the sweetness or spiciness or saltiness of the sausage. Cooking sometimes tend to lessen the sweetness or spiciness of the sausage. I decided not to go overboard with any spices in preparing the sausage in order to please most of my family and vegan friends. Next time, however I would add more than 3 cloves of garlic.  I want mine more garlicky.

This is a flexible recipe that you can make your own.  You can go with tofu like Astig Vegan or with the cauliflower walnut meat.  One thing sure, as a vegan or even non vegan, Filipino or non Filipino you will fall in love with the well loved longganisa. Now you have a healthier version to top it all.

I dedicate this recipe to my new found friend Ivy (Vivian) the daughter of my former office mate in the Philippines, the late beloved Mrs K. Ivy requested that I develop this recipe since she plans to go vegan.

Vegan Longganisa Filipino Sausage

Inspired by the recipe in Astig Vegan

• 1/2 cup walnut
• 1/4 of one cauliflower head, cut roughly
• 1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in a warm water for around 20 minutes, then drained
• 1/4 cup coconut brown sugar or brown sugar
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp balsamic or coconut vinegar
• 1 tbsp chili garlic sauce from a bottle
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• maple syrup to taste
• 1 cup Panko crumbs or vegan bread crumbs
• 3 tbsp coconut oil if frying

Mix all the ingredients except the last two in a food processor or blender until they are well mixed.

Transfer the mixture in a bowl and add the breadcrumbs and mix.

Score the mixture into 8 or more sections and shape each section into a cylinder or pattie.

If frying, heat the coconut oil in a cast iron skillet and fry the sausage till heated through and browned on the outside.

If microwaving, shape the cylinder into smaller sizes and microwave a few at a time for one minute depending on the wattage of your microwave.  This is a good method if you have frozen your shaped uncooked sausage.

If baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees centigrade and bake for 15 minutes, flipping halfway through. Check for doneness half way through.  

The original pork longganisa is usually eaten with eggs and fried garlicky rice.  This combination is called for short Longsilog in the Philippines.  I ate mine with fresh cucumber and tomatoes and fresh leaf spinach. Later I ate it with plain cooked white rice with pickled cucumber and grape tomatoes.  

A Turtle Tale

This was no ordinary turtle that I found two years ago by the road with the rest of somebody's trash.  It was a large dark green creature with a removable shell that serves to cover the sand housed in the lower half of its body when not in use. I envisioned it would be my granddaughter Maddie's sandbox. I did not hesitate to park at the shoulder near the house and hauled the large two part plastic turtle to my car.

It took a couple of years before it was filled with sand. It just leaned unused on the wall of our house in the back yard underneath the deck. I knew it would be utilized eventually. I realized in life things do happen except not in ones time. I just had to be patient and wait for that proper time which was not easy for me.

Last year I had wanted to place it on our deck and fill it with sand. This would have been more convenient for me since I never liked sitting outside in the yard to watch Maddie play. Everybody in my family nixed the idea since it just would not fit in the narrow deck we had then so they claimed. Our deck was not also safe for her to be in. It had rotting wood that had splinters from years of neglect. Maddie at three years old also was not into playing with sand then but it would be just a matter of time.

This is the second year we got a family membership to the delightful Pittsburgh Zoo. Last year they opened the so called Island which features animals from tropical places around the world including crocodiles and pigs from the Philippines. It also has a large sandbox which was inviting to a lot of kids but not to the then three year old Maddie. This year, however, things have changed for Maddie who just turned four this July. Playing in the sandbox is now the highlight of her trips to the zoo.

This summer we decided to finally build a new and larger deck. One of the reasons I opted for a bigger one was to have space to house the plastic inflatable pool Maddie loves to play in. I was also looking forward for Maddie to play in the green turtle sandbox that had been sitting idle underneath the old deck on this expanded one.

When the new deck was finally finished, the builder warned us to not put heavy objects like hot tubs or heavy fire pits or that inflatable pool he heard me say I was planning to use the deck for. Their weight can cause the floor to sag. The first two were not in my agenda so I did not care but the last one was a let down.

I just set aside my disappointment and focused on shopping for a dining table, chairs, umbrella, namely, stuff for what decks are made for, namely, dining. Last Sunday, when we finally got to eat outside in our deck with Maddie's family I decided it was time to use the deck for what I always dreamed, a place for my two grand kids to play. I asked my husband to bring up the turtle sandbox to the deck and fill it with what sand we have. Seeing Maddie and her younger brother play with so much fun in it gave us all great joy.



Through this all I was wondering why I was obsessed in using this sandbox. The answer came to me when I was watching the TV sitcom Mike and Molly named after the lovable, adorable main characters who were married to each other. In this sitcom's particular episode Mike was totally devastated when Molly's Dad decided to sell the boat Mike had helped him rebuild. He was promised by Molly's Dad that they would go fishing when it was done which now would not happen.

Mike's mom explained his son's extreme disappointment and meltdown with the story that involved Mike's Dad. Young Mike one day saw his dad packing his clothes. When Mike asked his dad why, he said he was taking a trip but would come back the next morning and they would go fishing. Mike waited early the next day sitting on the porch for his dad but sadly he never came back.  His dad left the family for good and Mike's wish to go fishing with him was not fulfilled.

This sitcom's episode is sort of a metaphor for an incident, albeit less dramatic and traumatic, that happened to my daughter Wendy, Maddie's mom. When Wendy, was the same age as Maddie she had a sandbox made of bricks which I and her grandma built for her. Wendy spent countless hours playing in it. Unfortunately it did not have a cover and the neighbor's cats pooped in it. We decided for health reasons to dismantle the sand box. Later on when Wendy was an adult, she mentioned she was devastated when we decided to do so. My heart sank when I heard this since I did not know the extent of her disappointment until then.

When I saw the TV sitcom yesterday, I finally realized why I badly wanted a place for the green turtle sandbox and for it to be used. I just wanted to make it up to Wendy through her daughter.

All is well with the sand box. Except for one thing. Maddie's baby brother who is one and half decided to eat the sand while in it. It is not the proper time yet for him. But as I have learned from my experience with the green turtle sandbox, there's always a time and place for everything and a reason.