Barquillos and Ice Cream for Merienda ( Snack)

Today, Macrine and I had Barquillos( rolled milk wafers) and ice cream for merienda ( afternoon snack). This reminded me of my teenager days in Iloilo. This nostalgic memories reminded me of my Father, Dr David Jamili Javellana K(C)atague from Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippnes. In the late 1940's just after the American-Japanese War in the Philippines, the third class town of Barotac Viejo did not have an ice cream store and bakery. So every week, my Father and I would take a 2 to 3 hour ride by bus to Iloilo City to purchase our monthly supplies of groceries and bakery goods. The roads at that time from Barotac Viejo to Barotac Nuevo were not paved and the bus trip was very bumpy. During the rainy season some parts of the national road is flooded.

However, in the early 2000 when my wife and I visited Barotac Viejo, the roads were paved, so the 60KM auto trip from Iloilo City to the town took us only about 55 minutes.

http://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2014/12/where-heck-is-barotac-viejo-iloilo.html

If you are not familiar with barquillos: Barquillos are thin rolled cookies of Spanish origin. In the Philippines, Iloilo is particularly known for its barquillos. They are made by pouring a thin batter is onto a wafer iron (barquillera). Once the wafer is cooked to a light brown it is immediately rolled while still hot. It becomes a crisp rolled cookie when it cools. Barquillos are now available in local flavors like ube and pandan. Sometimes they are filled with polvoron powder to make a sweet called barqueron. Here in Nothern California, Barquillos are sold in our local Pilipino grocery store. They are imported from the Philippines. Here's a short video in how to make barquillos or rolled milk wafers.

Mango Pancake for Breakfast Today

I woke up early this morning with the sound of welcome rain in my roof. It has been raining here in Northern California since yesterday. This is a much welcome rain. The last significant rain we had was last February this year. I was wondering what I will cook for breakfast this morning when I remembered I have chunks of fresh mangoes in my refrigerator. I was not sure if I had a Pancake Mix. But luck is with me today. I have a Betty Crocker Complete Pancake Mix in my cupboard. Here's my very simple recipe:

1 cup Pancake Mix ( Betty Crocker or Equivalent)
3/4 cup Milk
2 Eggs
1/4 cup smashed fresh mangoes

Mixed all the ingredients: Cooked in Portions of the mix (amount will determine the size of the pancake) in a Skillet with trace amount of cooking oil. I used olive oil today. Serve with butter and pancake syrup. Garnished with fresh mango chunks and blueberries as shown in the photo above.

With freshly brewed coffee from the Philippines ( Baracco brand)-this recipe can qualify for a Good breakfast for all Seasons.

Enjoy!

I Ordered Ready to Eat Gourmet Meals from Freshly Today

If you have been following my blogs, you probably know that I have been ordering gourmet ready to eat meals from Munchery.com Today, I ordered six meals for $36 (a promotional price) with this food delivery company( Freshly) that I saw in Facebook. The regular price for this 6 meal plan is $59 from the company website, https://www.freshly.com Here's the six meals I ordered:

https://www.freshly.com/subscriptions/779005/weekly-orders/1268891/deliveries/700226

My first shipment will be next week and every Friday. The promotional price included free delivery to my front door. The meals are packed in dry ice. Just heat the meals for 1.5 to 2 minutes in the microwave and you have your dinner, lunch or breakfast. I am lazy to cook, so ordering good quality meals with out driving to a restaurant is a must for our lifestyle. The following videos (6) summarizes what Freshly is all about.

Ordering Meals on Line Via Munchery.com

Last month, I started ordering meals on line through Munchery.com. So far I am very satisfied with the meals that I have ordered. I particularly like their salmon dishes. The meals are delivered cool and ready to heat and so far it has always been on time.

Yesterday, I ordered the Macaroni and Cheese with Lobster a new dish. It was delicious. I have ordered shrimp dishes as well as the Spaghetti with meat balls. My wife enjoyed very much the spaghetti and meat balls dish. I love their shrimp tacos and grilled salmon dishes.

If you are lazy to cook and can not drive to a restaurant, munchery.com is an excellent alternative to enjoy quality meals for a reasonable price. The meals are price from $8 to $12. Their is a delivery charge of $2.95 and an optional tip( $1 to 4) for the driver. If you sign up for membership of $85 per year, you will save from $2 to $4 every time you order.

The following article describes munchery.com that started servicing the Sacramento area last May.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/bob-shallit/article79901842.html

Lazy to Cook? Use the Telephone!

In my previous posting, I mentioned that after Macrine ( my spouse of 59 years) was diagnosed with Parkinson Disease in 2013, I was forced by circumstance to take over as the cook in the family. At first, I did not like it, but after one week, I started enjoying it. I even become creative in my recipes. I also based our menu what is on sale, so we save a few dollars in our Food budget. The savings in our Food budget we add to our once a week Dining and Slots machine Escapade in our local Indian Casino. However there are days when I do not feel like cooking. On these days, I have several options where to buy our dinner.

Option #1: If we feel like eating Chinese food- I used the telephone and in 30 minutes, we have food delivered in our door steps. Once in a while if the restaurant is busy, the wait is about 45 minutes but had never exceeded to one hour. For free delivery, there is a minimum of $20. Our favorite dishes are Pan Fried Whole Fish, Walnut Shrimps, Won Ton soup and their Combination Chow Mein.

Option #2: If we feel like eating seafood, The Red Lobster Restaurant is only one mile from our residence. Red Lobster do not deliver so you have to pick it up. To avoid waiting order ahead. The wait is usually from 30 to 45 minutes. Our favorite dishes are The Ultimate Feast, Shrimps Scampi and Crab Cakes. For dessert we order their cheese cake.

Option #3: If we feel like eating Italian dishes, Olive Garden is also one mile from our residence. Olive Garden do not deliver. But again order ahead to avoid waiting and long lines. Our favorite dishes are their shrimp dishes and pasta dishes. Sometimes the restaurant has a buy one get one free promotion on certain dishes.

Option #4: If we feel like eating steaks, Black Angus Steak House is only about half a mile from us. Again they do not deliver, and to avoid waiting order 30 minutes ahead.

Option #5: There are several fast food restaurants within one mile from our residence. We have eaten at Fish and Chips, Panera House, Burgers Houses, Kentucky fried Chicken and for Mexican Dishes, we order at El Tapacio. My favorite Mexican dish is Chile Relleno made from fresh chiles ( not canned). El Tapacio cooked their Chile Relleno using fresh Chile peppers. Other Mexican restaurants used canned peppers.

Option #6: The deli section of Raleigh, Safeway, Trader's Joe and Sprouts Super Markets offers several dishes that we like. The Honey Baked Ham store is also near us. We order Honey bake ham on holidays ( Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Last but not least, Option #7: If we have a longing for Pinoy dishes, the nearest Pinoy Restaurant and Take Out is about 20 minutes drive from our residence in the neighborhood of McCleland Air Force Base. Our favorite dishes are Dinuguan- Barbecue pork, pancit and a tripe dish.

So, above our my seven options if I do not feel like cooking. This feeling occurs at least one or two days day in a week.

Grilled Pompano Fish

Yesterday, my sister-in-law (JM) from the East Bay visited us since it was her day off. As usual, she always bring us Pinoy delicacy and goodies that she purchased on her way to our residence. Her favorite store is the Grill City Restaurant in Seafood City in Concord. Yesterday, she brought us barbecued pork and chicken, tinola and her favorite dish grilled whole pompano fish. The fish was stuffed with onions and tomatoes and cooked to perfection. Macrine and I enjoyed the fish with my favorite vinegar sauce. Again, JM thanks a million for the food and your visit. Because of the this visit, I searched for recipes on grilled pompano. The following is a video of grilled fillet pompano for your viewing pleasure.

Simple but Delicious Breakfast All Year Round

Today, I decided to cook polish sausage ( Kielbasa) with scrambled eggs with vidalia sweet onions and home grown and ripened tomatoes from my garden. It turn out delicious and moist, because I did not overcooked the onions and eggs, and the kielbasa. Along with the dish I have steamed rice, Batangas coffee and mango slices for dessert.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb Polish sausage ( Kielbasa)
1/2 sliced sweet onion ( Vidalia)
1/2 sliced and diced Tomato( over riped)
oil and or butter
Garlic and Salt to taste

Cooked the kielbasa in one cup of water. Boil the sausage for five minutes then turn it and boil for another 5 minutes until all the water evaporates. In another pan sauteed the sweet onions with oil or butter ( do not overcooked). Add the tomato slices, cooked until tomatoes are half cooked. Add the scrambled eggs. Continue the cooking until the eggs are half cooked. Shut off the heat and wait for 5 minutes. Serve with steam rice and hot coffee. Enjoy!