Santol Juice

Towards the end of July the boys started to get cough and colds because of the onset of rains. When I was a kid my Dad told me that fruits change depending on the season. During dry months (summer) you'd usually find more fruits that help hydrate your body, i.e. watermelon and singkamas. And during the wet months you'd find more citrus fruits like santol and dalandan. Banana though is available all-year round because it keeps pimples away (my Dad's explanation, "Have you seen a monkey with pimples?" - he's funny that way).

We used to have a santol tree in front of our house. It bore a lot of fruit! Aside from munching on the fruit my Dad would usually prepare santol juice. Unfortunately though the santol tree died a few years ago. Pinaglihian raw like our old guava tree.

Here's how you can make santol juice:

Ingredients:
4-5 pcs. santol
2 liters water
brown sugar (to taste)

1. Peel the santol. Scoop out the seeds and put in water.
2. Chop the soft inner flesh into tiny cubes, add in the water.
3. Add sugar to taste. Mix.
4. Allow the santol to soak for a few hours (or overnight) in the ref.

*You can add water about 2 more times or until it just tastes like santol-flavored water.

Another Insecticide Fiasco

After the washing machine, smokin' sink and septic tank fiasco I thought we got things down pat already. I've been focusing on learning more new dishes to cook and have become an expert in doing the laundry. Some chores have been delegated to a cleaning lady who comes in once a week.

The other day I asked our cleaning lady to open the sink cabinets and sweep it. We rarely open those cabinets since I decided not to place anything there. I noticed that there was quite a lot of "powdered wood" when she opened it and I immediately called my Mom to see if we can have it checked by Manong Jose (our trusty carpenter/electrician/all-around guy).

Manong Jose swung by late yesterday afternoon and checked the sink. He said he didn't see any termites and said that he didn't see any, but would place a little termite insecticide anyway. I was working in the dining area when he was doing this. After placing some insecticide he left and I continued to work on the dining table.

A few minutes later I felt my eyes getting teary eyed and I started to smell the insecticide fumes. I then packed up and went upstairs to continue working. I still managed to do some work but started to feel dizzy. I then SMSd Jay and told him that I wasn't feeling well. He told me to get some rest. I moved to our room and kept my laptop open and did a Google search on poisoning. I wanted to stay awake until one of the boys arrived, but after a few minutes I just blacked out.

Miguel arrived an hour later and found me asleep. I managed to tell him what happened and told him to stay with me first. Jay arrived soon after and took care of dinner. It took about 16 hours before I felt fine.

So cooking has been suspended until the kitchen is pesticide fume-free. Another hard lesson learned. I'm just glad they didn't have to rush me to the hospital.

Cheesy Adobo

I've taken a liking to cooking adobo. Cheesy adobo is now my third adobo recipe. My first attempt came out too cheesy because I ended up placing three times more cheese than I should. My second attempt today went quite well and Miguel said that he liked it better.

I discovered the recipe for "Cheesy Chicken and Pork Adobo" during the Google Technology Users Group meet-up last month at Kraft's Cafe 5845 at the SM Mall of Asia.

The Ingredients


1/2 kg. chicken, cut into parts
1/2 kg. pork cubes
1/2 c soy sauce
3/4 c vinegar
2 pcs. laurel leaf
1/4 tsp. peppercorn
5 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c water
salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add anymore)
sugar to taste (I usually place 2 Tbsp for every half kilo of meat)
2 packs Eden Cheese Sulit Pack 35g, cubed (roughly about half an inch per 35g if you're slicing it from a regular box)

How to Cook
1. Mix all ingredients except the cheese, sugar and water. Marinate at least an hour (I usually marinate it overnight).
2. After marinating, let it boil for 30 minutes. Add sugar to taste. Add water.
3. Add Eden cheese and let simmer for 10 to 15 more minutes.