Bicol Express for the Grateful

I am trying to condense the fact that I am super grateful these past few days and a recipe blog post, hence the title. :)

Things I am mega-super-duper grateful for:

1) We have been yaya-less (ate Conching is on 10-day annual leave) going 6 days now. Life is very busy with lots of manual labor but it just gotten extra sweet because I got to spend all these time exclusively with my son.

2) MOMS. I am super grateful for my mommy. She's lovely, sweet, funny, cooks very well, and is a lot like me! Thank you mommy for being a great example on how a great mom should be. And also to my second mom. Mommy Gay, you raised an awesome son. Thank you for loving me and Elijah dearly like your very own.

3) I can finally tick it off my bucket list: Be featured in a newspaper. Well, it was not exactly a full-on-feature. There were four of us that Marlet interviewed. The article title is "Four Young Moms Find Fulfillment at Home and at the Office." This was published in the lifestyle section during Philippine Daily Inquirer's Mother Days special last Sunday. So bonggels right?

4) I lost our iPad. And realized just how much hubby loves me (read it here). I also learned my lesson to be more mindful of the items I bring.

5) We lost our iPad and found it again. Thanks to a kind soul named: John Bill Chua. He e-mailed us the same day he found the iPad with his contact details and returned it the day after. Got so inspired by his niceness and honesty.

6) Oh, and have I told you? We are having baby number 2! Yes, Eli will be a kuya already. JP was giddy with happiness. I was, umm... speechless. Hehe.

Anyway to my second topic. I cooked Bicol Express for a good friend. Michelle is my mentor, confidante, soundboard and all around LDBFFL (long-distance-best-friend-for-life).

I love her. So when she told she wants me to cook Bicol express before she goes back to Bangalore (India) -- her flight was later that afternoon, I happily obliged. Woke up very early that day to buy the freshest ingredients from the wet market (of course, coconuts are sweeter if the milk is extracted that very same day). I have to warn you, this is so yummy. Make sure you have lots of rice.

What you need:
3 big coconuts (will produce 5 -6 glasses of coconut milk)
1 kilo pork, cut into strips (choose the kasim part so it's tender)
1 small bottle of shrimp paste
1 tbsp garlic, minced
6 pieces Thai chili pepper (siling labuyo)
3 cups long chili or jalapeno peppers (siling green)
½ cup ginger, grated
1 large onion, cubed
2 long chili pepper
2 tsp cooking oil
salt and pepper

What you need to do:
1. In a bowl of water with salt, soak chili peppers for 30 minutes then rinse and strain.
2. Sauté the garlic, onion, and ginger
3. Add the pork and continue cooking for 5 to 7 minutes
4. Place the shrimp paste in and cook for 5 minutes
5. Add the Thai and long hot pepper followed by the coconut milk
6. Mix all the ingredients well and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes
7. Add salt and pepper to taste

Pictures to show you:

Some of the ingredients:
grated ginger, onion, garlic and two kinds of peppers

Porkies simmering happily in the pan

Close shot of the finished product

What it looked like from afar

Our simple table setting.
Lots of rice is a must!

What we had for dessert.
Sinful.



Family picture



Since we live in a condo and technically we only have one floor
Eli was so excited when he saw the stairs.

So excited and happy.

He really reminds me of my husband.

 Try the recipe out.

Also, try to be a little grateful for almost everything. =)