My Hometown

I could not leave. Is
it the memories that have
my soul I cling to?

Vegan Linguine Insalata

What can be more satisfying than a pasta and a salad in the same meal. Well, you get both in this dish. The combination of the various vegetables give this Italian inspired dish its flavor. The balsamic vinegar sweetened with sugar rounds up the tastiness of the dish.

Vegan Linguine Insalata

• 1/4 cup vegetable broth 
• 1/2 cup sliced red onions
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 large pieces of roasted red pepper from a jar, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1 green pepper, sliced into pieces
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 eggplant, (microwaved for 5 minutes on high and then cut into 1/2 inch squares)
• 1/2 cup canned black olives
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1/2 tsp dry red chili peppers
• 8 oz cooked linguine
• 1 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast 
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tbsp sugar

Heat the broth in the skillet. Add to the skillet the onions, garlic, tomatoes, roasted red pepper, green pepper and eggplant till vegetables are cooked. Add the olives, baby spinach, dry red chili peppers, linguine, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, salt and pepper and heat the mixture. Mix the vinegar with sugar and pour over the mixture and toss. 

Balsamic Garlic Chili Chicken

I wanted an easy recipe for a tantalizing chicken dish with a short list of ingredients that I could just dump in the slow cooker and forget it. This fits the bill. My picky taster, my husband, gave it two thumbs up.

Balsamic Garlic Chili Chicken

• 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 tbsp garlic chili paste
• 2 tbsp water
• 3 lbs chicken thighs or legs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp thyme or other herb (optional)

Place all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Cook for 3 hours at high setting or 6 hours at low. I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

Serve over rice with a green salad.

The Sounds of Early Morning in My Hometown

The painting depicts the scene from the third floor window of my brother Benjie's house, in Letre, Tonsuya, Malabon, Philippines. It was lovingly painted for me by my sister-in-law, Aurora "Pinky" Singson Lucas.

I know I am back in my hometown, Malabon, Philippines when I wake up to the neighbors' roosters', fighting cocks, loud piercing crowing during the wee hours in the morning. It is definitely not the same as the sweet chirping sound of the birds outside my house in Pittsburgh, PA.

My brother Benjie and my sister-in-law Pinky.

As I sometimes do,  I walk to the San Antonio Church, a few minutes stroll from my brother's house where I stay when I visit the Philippines, for the early 6:30 morning Mass.  As I step out of the gate of the house, I am greeted with the whirring sound of the engines of passing tricycles and honking of the horns of the jeepneys making their way through the narrow busy streets.

A typical tricycle , my husband, Bob, got a ride in during his last visit this February.  

The church bells ringing in the background call me to walk faster as I hear the splash my flip flops make as I accidentally step into a puddle as I hurry to get to church on time. I usually am distracted, soaking in the scenes I pass by, like the sari sari or variety stores with the candies and toys hanging over their small windows, and never notice the occasional holes and puddles on the sidewalk.

The sound of the opening prayers in Tagalog greets me as I enter the church. Later I am in awe of the harmonies made by the choir as they sing hymns, so impressed I wish my husband, a choir member back in Pittsburgh could hear them sing. At the end of the mass, the joyful clapping by the worshipers which is not customarily done back in the States, both surprises and touches me. They sound eager and grateful to go out to begin their day with the Lord’s blessings.

The newly renovated San Antonio Church, Tonsuya,  Malabon.

As I go out of the church door, I hear a vendor calling me, Ate or Ma'am, and feverishly convincing me to buy a lei of the sweetly scented white buds of sampaguita with an intoxicating fragrant ylang ylang dangling from it. I usually succumb to the vendor's tempting offer and buy two leis and place them over my head.

I stop by one of the bakeries selling pan de sal enticed by its freshly baked aroma. As I fish out coins from my little wallet to pay for this bread that I miss so much, I hear the rustle of the thin brown paper bag or supot in the background as the tindero or salesman creases it shut after he finishes placing the piping hot pan de sal in it.

I get home to my brother's house and press the timbre or doorbell to make that deafening sound to call the maid to open the door of the gate. Then I hear the big clang that the heavy metal gate door closing makes as I enter the house.

I set the pan de sal in the kitchen table and nab a couple of the pan de sal and decide to set aside the rest for my brother's family to eat when they wake up. I  go to the bathroom, get the tabo or large cup, dip it into the vat of water and relish the sound of water washing my dirty feet and flip flops. I change into my duster, go back to bed and sleep. My morning is half done and I feel I deserve the sound of silence now. And more sleep.

Stopping and Self Emptying

To be filled with the
vision you have within you
revealing itself.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

I was in the middle of my Tai Chi class when this craving for Indian food hit me. I had an hour or so to kill before a talk I wanted to attend at our library so I went to India Garden to satisfy my yearning with their buffet offerings. 

The next day I decided to make my own Tikka Masala. I have a recipe in this blog that I used. It did not disappoint. I did have another recipe in a past blog I could have also used but it called for garam masala which I did not have.

The dish was creamy and with just the right amount of heat. It has all the flavor I expected from a good Tikka Masala. All the spices blended and cooking it in the slow cooker made it an easy fare to prepare. Have plenty of rice and do not miss the cilantro on top. So, so addictive.

Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala

Inspired by this recipe

• 1 large onion, sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin

• 1/4 tsp ground cardamon

• 1/4 tsp ground coriander

• 1/4 tsp cinnamon powder

• 1/8 tsp turmeric 

• 1 tbsp curry powder

• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

• 1 tbsp sugar

• juice and zest of 1 lime
• 1/4 cup coconut milk from a can

• 1 tbsp cornstarch 

• 1-12 oz can diced tomatoes

• 1/2 tbsp Sriracha

• 1 chicken bouillon cube
• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• black pepper to taste
• 3 lb chicken thighs
• 1 bunch of cilantro

Mix all the ingredients except the chicken and cilantro in the crock pot. Place the chicken on top of sauce and mix.

Cook for 3 hours on high setting or 6 hours on low. I cooked in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

Serve over rice topped with cilantro.

Ah Aging

Wrinkles, aching joints.
Losses yes. Stop to relish.
What we wanted do!

Maxim 81 Notes Monroeville Prayer April 16, 2018 Meeting

For a start, below is the way a group of students from St. Joseph's College interpret Maxim 81. I photographed the two photos below from the card shared by Mary Cay during our meeting.  Note how close the simplified versions are to the original and oh so refreshing and easier to understand.

 
And here is Maxim 81 simplified printed at the back of the card.

Below are the notes thoroughly and thoughtfully prepared by Natalie from the Monroeville Prayer Group that met at the St Bernadette Convent April 16 to further deepen our understanding and use of the maxim in our daily lives. Have nice day in our never ending winter on this spring day.

Sounds Are Eternal

They hound you with the
memories they evoke, the
feelings brought to life.

Thai Ginger Peanut Veggie Wrap

I got a pleasant surprise when I boarded my American Airline flight from Phoenix, Arizona back to Pittsburgh. I had one of their meal offerings, Thai Ginger Chicken Wrap,  for ten bucks and it was delicious. It came with an equally yummy sauce. I did not expect airplane food to be that affordable and of gourmet quality in the economy section of the plane.

I was the first to be offered the meal options and when I wanted to wait until I was hungry during the four hour flight to order this wrap, I was warned by the attendant that they usually run out of it. I had no regrets buying it. By the way before the flight I had just eaten a disappointing chicken salad sandwich I bought from a store in the airport that failed to satisfy me in taste and this wrap made up for it. It was that good.

When I got home, I had that strong urge to duplicate this wrap. I found a recipe in a wonderful online source, Creative Bites which had ingredients that looked close to what I envisioned what the wrap was made of.

I then tweaked the recipe to make it vegan by making the chicken optional and substituting vegetable broth for the milk in the peanut sauce. I also lessened the amount of the broth since the sauce made the wrap mixture runny after it has set for awhile. I intend this wrap to be a to go lunch for me and I did not want this to happen.

The author of the recipe I adapted this from suggested to eat the wrap immediately after its preparation because it gets soggy. The alternative is to just add a bit of the sauce to the vegetable mixture and use it as a dip while eating the wrap. Again that is not so convenient when you are eating the wrap in the car while driving between errands. Using the broth sparingly is a recourse.

Thai Ginger Peanut Veggie Wrap

Adapted from Creative Bites

• 4 c. coleslaw mix
• 2 c. carrots, shredded 
• 1 c. green onions, chopped (about 2 bunches)
• 1/2 c. cilantro, chopped 
• 1 English cucumber, chopped 
• 2 c. Thai Peanut Sauce (recipe below)
• 1/2 c. peanuts or other nuts, chopped 
• small flour tortillas

Mix all the vegetables in a bowl and then add the sauce (note 1) and peanuts and toss.

Add the vegetable mixture along the middle of the tortilla leaving one inch space at the bottom and two sides. Fold the sides over and then top side and roll over to make a cylinder.

Thai Peanut Sauce

• 1/4 c. or less vegetable broth (note 2)
• 1/2 c. peanut butter 
• 2 tbsp sesame oil
• Juice of 1 lime
• 3 tbsp soy sauce 
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder 
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder 
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes 
• 1 tbsp maple syrup 
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar 

Place all the ingredients in a blender and mix till creamy.

Notes:

1. You can add only 1/4 of the sauce and use it as a dip if you are not eating immediately.

2. Use as little as possible.

Slow Cooker Pork Chop Agrodolce

This recipe has been adapted from the Food Network show Giada in Italy. Giada's version was pan fried while this was prepared using a slow cooker. I  have had success in the past converting pork dishes done in a conventional manner into slow cooker ones. I knew this would work.

My picky taster, my husband, gave this two thumbs up. I for one could not stop eating it with rice. The tanginess from the balsamic vinegar combined with the sweetness from the honey plus the subtle flavor of the thyme make this simple dish enticing to the taste buds.

Serve this with rice or mashed potatoes with a side of any steamed vegetables or salad and you have an easy no fuss Sunday dinner. We did yesterday. Bravo for this dish.

Slow Cooker Pork Chop Agrodulce

Adapted from Giada in Italy. 

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar 
• 6 tbsp honey
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp dry thyme powder 
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste 
• Black pepper to taste 
• 1 tbsp cornstarch 
• 3 lb pork chops, any cut (I used thinly sliced ones but thick ones would be prettier)

Mix all the ingredients except the pork chops in the crock pot. Add the pork chops on top and coat with the sauce.

Cook for 3 hours at high setting or 6 hours at low. I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

Serve with rice or mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables or salad greens.

Love and Hope

If you have love, there
will hope be. Fear and anger
cease with God's presence.

How close are you to the mirror?

Are you taking it
personally, what's said? Stay
away from mirror.

Paula’s Prayer Meeting April 12, 2018

It was a perfect spring day when we met with Paula today. The handout she gave us shown above just fitted such a day. Click on the YouTube video for background music as you reflect on the message conveyed in the beautiful handout.

Sr. Paula told us the story of a sister praying on the porch who heard in the silence a sound and when she opened her eyes she saw that it was coming from a lily opening up.

Sr. Paula also suggested a book to someone struggling with humility. It is called The Humility of God by Ilia Delio OSF.

One commented that sometimes in our sadness or when we struggle with our limitations as our lack of humility we forget that God is within our midst.

Let us embrace our humanness and God’s presence amidst the magnificent beauty and splendor of spring.  Alleluia!

Easy Three Ingredient Pan Fried Salmon Dish

This is my go to meal when I want something hearty, delicious, fast and easy. Three ingredients and one pan.

The secret ingredient is the Ponzu sauce that maybe available at the Asian aisle of a grocery store or at most any Asian store. It is a citrus seasoned soy sauce with vinegar, sugar and bonito (fish) extract.

Easy Three Ingredient Pan Fried Salmon

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1.25 lb Salmon cut into 2 or 4 slices
• Salt and pepper 
• 1/4 cup or more Ponzu Sauce (Kikkoman brand)

Add the olive oil onto a skillet. Place the salmon with skin down on the skillet. Add salt and pepper on top of the salmon. Drizzle salmon with Ponzu sauce. Cook the salmon at medium heat. Cook till bottom portion of flesh is cooked then flip and continue cooking till the edges of the salmon are no longer raw. Do not overcook. 

Did You Ever Have a Third Symphony?

I recently attended the Annual PAASE Meeting and Symposium (APAMS) hosted by the Philippine American Academy of Science and Engineering (PAASE) president, Dr. Joel Cuello. It was held at the magnificently designed eco friendly ENR 2 Building of the University of Arizona this past weekend, April 6-7, 2018. Below are pictures of some of the highlights of the meeting.

The scientific lectures on Day 2 were pretty heady and not in my field. What I was able to remember were some quotes that the speakers deftly inserted in their slides for us to chuckle on or just plainly enjoy their witticism. My favorites are:

"Shapes have meanings and meanings have shapes", given by a statistician, Paul Ignacio.

"Statisticians, like artists, have the bad habit of falling in love with their models. Bengaluru.". This was quoted by another statistician, Dr. Edsel Pena.

During this meeting, the one that I found thought provoking was not a quote but a metaphor used by longtime PAASE member, physicist, Dr. Amador Muriel. He gave a lecture on something hard to understand but still enjoyable to listen to due to his sense of humor and wit and his flair for the dramatics.

In one of the slides of his presentation at the meeting, he had in parenthesis "Brahms third symphony" as a reminder. He then elaborated on its use as a metaphor for the work he was lecturing on as his Third Symphony.

Brahms wrote his First and Second Symphonies in rapid succession with the third being finished six years later. During the gap, he composed other compositions. Some have considered the Third as the "most perfect" of the three symphonies.

The published paper Dr. Muriel presented was written by him much later after several years working on other theories to prove. It is the third of a series of papers on related topics with the first two papers being published in quick succession.

According to Dr. Muriel, going back to writing this third paper of the series came rather easily for him. It felt like he had all the information and ideas  somewhere within his brain during the interim. One of his colleagues even said it was the best of the three papers and compared the situation to Brahm's writing of his Third Symphony.

I started wracking my brains of a Third Symphony in my life. The closest application of the metaphor that I could think of is a bit of a stretch. It is my having two daughters four years apart as my first two symphonies and then thirty or so years later, not what you are thinking, I indirectly created my third symphony. Not another daughter but a granddaughter through my daughter.  I think this application should count.

Come to think of it. I could not think of a more direct metaphor since my third symphony is still yet to come. Perhaps when it does come what the first two are in the first place will surface in my mind. I find it exciting to think that just like in Brahms and Dr. Muriel's cases something that could be considered the best is yet to come.

Did you ever have a third symphony in your life? What was it? What were the first two?

Stories

Stories are like glue
that bind the hearts of persons.
Glimpse into their souls.

Have the Courage

Why despair when you
can hope. Why be sad when you
can be happy. Live.

With Eyes of Gratitude

Sometimes the more is
already here. With gratitude
we find here’s enough.

Seize the Moment

They’re like snowflakes.
Here now in all its glory.
Blink and they are gone.

Slow Cooker Cranberry Chicken with Homemade Catalina Dressing

I needed an easy dish for Easter Sunday yesterday other than ham. For one thing, my daughter and her family were going to another Easter dinner later that day which surely would feature ham as the main entree.  I resorted to using chicken and my trusty slow cooker so I could just dump the ingredients and forget it. I still had shrimp scampi over linguini and ham broccoli quiche to prepare so this approach was a lifesaver.

This dish turned out to be not only convenient to prepare but a crowd pleaser. It uses only four ingredients and if you do not have the Catalina dressing, I am providing a homemade version using stuff you have in your pantry. I got the recipe in the web and tweaked it by skipping the oil listed but you can add it if you want.

Cranberry Chicken with Homemade Catalina Dressing

Adapted from this source

• 3 lb chicken  thighs or breasts
• 1-16 oz can whole cranberry sauce
• 1 cup Catalina dressing (store bought Kraft brand or homemade see recipe below)
• 1 envelope dry onion soup mix

Place all the ingredients in the crock pot and cook for 3 hours on high setting or 6 hours on low. I cooked mine in an Aroma brand rice cooker/slow cooker for 2 hours at slow cooker setting.

Homemade Catalina Dressing

Adapted from this recipe

• 1/4 cup catsup
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped finely
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup oil (optional)

Place all the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk till blended or you can use your blender.

To Them He Appeared

His wounds He did show.
Suffering's part of His and
our Resurrection.






Note: A full reflection on the significance of the cross and resurrection, I quote the following from the Daily Meditation by Richard Rohr for today, April 1, 2018.

That Jesus’ physical wounds do not disappear is telling. The mystical, counterintuitive message of death and resurrection is powerfully communicated through symbol. The major point is that Jesus has not left the human sphere; he is revealing the goal, the fullness, and the purpose of humanity itself, which is “that we are able to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), even in this wounded and wounding world. Yes, resurrection is saying something about Jesus, but it is also saying a lot about us, which is even harder to believe. It is saying that we also are larger than life, Being Itself, and therefore made for something good, united, and beautiful. Our code word for that is heaven.

Many do believe in the bodily resurrection, as do I. But, in a way, that asks little except a mere intellectual assertion of a religious doctrine. We can go much further than that. I choose to believe in some kind of bodily resurrection because it localizes the Christ mystery in this material and earthly world and in our own bodies, the only world we know and the world that God created and loves.  Richard Rohr Meditation: Jesus' Bodily Resurrection

Center for Action and Contemplation to you

2:09AMSh

No Images? Click here Richard Rohr's Daily Meditation From the Center for Action and Contemplation Week Fourteen Human Bodies Jesus' Bodily Resurrection Sunday, April 1, 2018 Feast of Easter The risen Christ is the standing icon of humanity in its full and final destiny. He is the pledge and guarantee of what God will do with all our crucifixions. At last we can meaningfully live with hope. It is no longer an absurd or tragic universe. Our hurts now become the home for our greatest hopes. Without such implanted hope, it is very hard not to be cynical, bitter, and tired by the second half of our lives. It is no accident that Luke’s Resurrection account in the Gospel has Jesus saying, “I am not a ghost! I have flesh and bones, as you can see” (see Luke 24:39-43). To Thomas he says, “Put your finger in the wounds!” (John 20:27). In other words, “I am human!”—which means to be wounded and resurrected at the same time. Christ returns to his physical body, and yet he is now unlimited by space or time and is without any regret or recrimination while still, ironically, carrying his wounds. “Before God, our wounds are our glory,” as Lady Julian of Norwich reflected. [1] That Jesus’ physical wounds do not disappear is telling. The mystical, counterintuitive message of death and resurrection is powerfully communicated through symbol. The major point is that Jesus has not left the human sphere; he is revealing the goal, the fullness, and the purpose of humanity itself, which is “that we are able to share in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4), even in this wounded and wounding world. Yes, resurrection is saying something about Jesus, but it is also saying a lot about us, which is even harder to believe. It is saying that we also are larger than life, Being Itself, and therefore made for something good, united, and beautiful. Our code word for that is heaven. Many do believe in the bodily resurrection, as do I. But, in a way, that asks little except a mere intellectual assertion of a religious doctrine. We can go much further than that. I choose to believe in some kind of bodily resurrection because it localizes the Christ mystery in this material and earthly world and in our own bodies, the only world we know and the world that God created and loves