Recommended Reading

LOVE WALKED IN, a book I read over 4 months ago, written by Marisa de los Santos, a half Filipino poet who decided to write a novel in addition to her poetry collections. I read somewhere that it will be made into a movie with Sarah Jessica Parker of Sex and the City playing the main character, 30 something Cornelia.

The book is not great but a good love story, not just between a girl and the Cary Grant of her dreams, it is also finding love in other way and other people, one of which is the 11 year old daughter of the aforementioned "Cary Grant". He walked in the coffee shop Cornelia was managing just when she was daydreaming of the perfect man who will come in the shop and sweep her off her feet. She realized later he is not "the perfect guy" after all, he is divorced and estranged from his child because he chose to, one of his flaws. The book also touches on her relationship with her parents and siblings, and her neighbors' mother who loved her enough to leave her her home when she died, instead of to her own children. The several story lines are touching, sometimes heartbreaking. Her true love, a half Pinoy doctor (of course, doctor, Pinoy eh), married to her sister also walked in the coffee shop on Christmas Eve(?) and later he cooked pancit for her and the daughter of "Cary".
Some readers blasted her writing style, complained about how ALL the characters are beautiful, begrudged the author for making Cornelia thin, beautiful and oh so saintly, that the ex wife is a blonde beauty living in a high end condo, that the daughter is very smart for her age, in other words, that the book is not credible because they do not know anybody like these people in real life. People can be so petty and stupid, really. This is a work of fiction, duh, dreaming about a Cary Grant to appear and fall in love with you IS fantasy! Maybe they prefer a "believable" story line that features an obese, ugly, pimply intelligence challenged alcoholic to be able to relate to the character properly. Geez. Anyway, those things they were complaining about did not bother me and I enjoyed reading this book regardless of a few cliched and contrived situations because there are many other good things about this book. Highly recommended.

Spaghetti Squash for Dinner

The Washington Post food section today features spaghetti squash which I never tried before maybe because I never liked squash. The writer says it stays crunchy so I went out and bought one, cooked it exactly as she said, boil whole for 40 minutes. It really is crunchy and sweetish and I like the texture. This vegetable does not need elaborate sauces, just add less than half a teaspoon of sea salt, half a tablespoon of unsalted butter, and dried sage (the store did not have fresh) and you have an uncomplicated side dish. For the main dish I fried store bought frozen falafel patties. This is surprisingly good specially with buttered steamed milagrosa rice flavored with lemon and herb, sea salt, and sprinkled with sumac powder. Tzatziki is a must for this Lebanese(?) style dinner.

a vegetarian meal of meatless falafel, spaghetti squash, and seasoned rice

dessert: fresh white peaches in syrup with a splash of peach schnapps

In the article the writer mentioned that she would probably eat vegemeat (seitan, tvp, tofu) more often if they were not impersonating animals as in tofurkey, soyburger, or soyhotdogs. I completely agree with her. If you try to make veggies other than what they really are you will just get disappointed because it will NEVER taste like meat or fish. In my opinion the best way to enjoy it is to cook them as they are, without disguising its natural form. Add lots of seasoning and vary the preparations and I think more people will enjoy eating meatless meals regularly. This may also stop them from making fun of tofu.

Pancit Lomi

I found these lomi noodles last week in the Korean grocery (where else?). Never tried cooking these before but eaten them more than 20 years ago in Manila maybe once or twice. I looked online for the Pinoy recipe, substituted soy puffs (fried tofu) for the shredded chicken. I did not add sesame seed oil because the lomi I remember did not have it. The beaten eggs added right after the heat was turned off give the noodle dish an interesting texture and of course added protein. The ingredients I used are pictured above (I forgot to include the carrots in the photo). With plenty of seasonings you won't really miss the chicken. This is a very substantial and satisfying Filipino meal.

For dessert: homemade strawberry ice cream and jacobina

I'm sure most Filipinos know Jacobina: crunchy, flaky, milky(?) snacks with just a hint of sweetness, perfect with halo halo or ice cream. These are tiny, about 1 x 1 inch, the jacobinas I used to snack on were bigger than these. Everything seems to be getting smaller in the Philippines, perfect example: ChocNuts, they are now 1/3 their original size.

Book reviews:

POPPY SHAKESPEARE by Clare Allan ***
The book is good, sometimes funny, but I think the only way to appreciate it is to read it with a working class British accent, preferrably aloud, which is not so easy. Not bad, not great either. 3 stars.

ALENTEJO BLUE by Monica Ali *
A complete waste of my time, very disappointing. This author is overrated, so much glowing reviews by several "official" book reviewers. I thought this one would be better than her first, Brick Lane, which was not bad, I rated it 3 stars, but I was wrong. I guess this will be the last Monica Ali book for me.