Coconuts and Guavas

Hey all. I musta been in a "relish your Filipino foods" mood the other day... Saturday? I went to the supermarket and while there I noticed that in the "asian" section there were cans of coconut milk and I thought to myself, "boy I sure liked that dish mom used to make when I was a kid, with coconut milk." So I decided I would make it and bought two cans of c. milk and went on shopping. Later, when I returned, I called mom up for the recipe since I couldn't find it online (a good one) and she told me the list of ingredients and typical mom she said "so you mix things up and there you go." Uhh? Mom, what stuff and in what order? Heh. After getting the right order I chatted to her some more as she told me that having an empty house and living with dad was just like "starting over again". hmm newlyweds? ew. heh. I realized that I was missing two main ingredients and went to the supermarket again (a different one). At the produce aisle I saw these star fruits and I'm always tempted to buy them because they taste good and because they look nice as a garnish, but then another thing caught my eye. It looked awfully familiar and after picking it up and inspecting it I read what it was and it turned out to be a guava! This teeny tiny green thing is a guava? I know they were bigger in the Phils. and weren't they more yellow than green? and shiny and smooth not kinda wrinkled and old? To hell with it! I bought it and the other two things I needed and headed home.

At home I sliced up the guava and ate it and it brought on a surge of memories. So strange. The last time I ate one was when I was 8, on a visit back to the Phils. I had forgotten about the crunchy seeds. This one was gross though, you could tell it was old because it was a bit pasty tasting. I remember my mom buying guava jelly at the market and I remember on my grandma's property (the house I lived in) was a big ole guava tree and we would harvest it and eat our fill. So good ripe or still green.

I made my ginataan (gi-na-ta-an) manok. (My translation: coconut chicken) I sat there with my bowl of white rice and pot of ginataan chicken eating in a nearly empty house watching The Shining as little Danny rode his trike around and around the hotel corridors. I spooked myself out and had to get up and relieve the strain by talking to Rich every few minutes. By the way, the ginataan was delicious. Thanks mom. Rich tasted it and said there was too much ginger for his taste but other than that it tasted like an island version of chowder. Next time I'll put shrimp in it. heh. Okay I gotta run all. Have a wonderful day!! yay!!! "This is the day, this is the day that the lord has made, that the lord has made. Let us rejoice, let us rejoice and be glad in it and be glad in it!" Do you guys remember that? It was one of those songs they made you sing in school church? ahaha.

Me.