Cassava Cake

I was given quite a few cassavas for free the other day. The lady who often comes to the house and sell me veggies offered it to me for free. Of course I love freebies but I don't want to take advantage of her generosity because I know she needs to make some money for her family. I was still getting some money from my wallet when she started to walk away and told me that she's giving the cassava to me for free and that I don't have to pay her. She said that I gave her some stuffs in the past like sandals and shirts and it's time for her to return the favor. Oh my, I gave those stuffs without expecting anything in return. She's a lady with a very good heart.

Anyways, it's been three days since I was given those cassavas so I thought of cooking a cassava cake. I know it's a lot of hassle to do it because I have to peel those cassavas and then grate it. I did that last night and I was grating it while I was watching my favorite soap opera. After I grated all the cassavas, I put it in the fridge and it's only this afternoon that I baked the cassava cake. It's only my second time to bake one. The last time was when I was in Texas a few years ago. I was so excited to see the outcome this time. After I baked it, I took it out from the oven and let it cool down. Then I was so ecstatic to eat a slice and it turn out so good. My hubby love it of course. Here's the recipe which I got from the internet.

          CASSAVA CAKE

INGREDIENTS:
• 3 cups grated cassava
• 1 can ( 14oz) condensed milk
• 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk


 FOR TOPPING:
• 1/2 can condensed milk
• 1/2 can evaporated milk or 1/2 can coconut milk
• 1 egg yolk


PROCEDURE:
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Prepare a baking pan and grease with butter. Set aside.
• Combine all ingredients in a deep bowl. Make sure every ingredients are well combined.
• Transfer to the greased baking tray.
• Bake for 40-45 minutes.
• Combine the topping ingredients.
• Pour-in over to the top of the baked cassava.
• Bake for another 15-25 minutes.
• Remove from oven.
  Serve warm. Enjoy!

Frogs With Coconut Milk (Ginataang Palaka)

It's been ages since the last time I ate frogs. What I'm saying is the edible and native frogs that my late grandma used to cook for us. I remember when we were kids, during rainy season, some vendors use to come to our house and sell live frogs to my grandma. She would then buy it and clean the frogs by herself. She was very good in removing the skin, the feet and the head. After cleaning it, she would then cook the frogs with coconut cream. It was so yummy I tell you.

The other day, a lady came to our house in the afternoon and sell live native frogs. She wanted Php300 for all of it My brother Celso and I decided to buy it all as long as she will clean it. She agreed so my brother and I split the cost and it turned out that there were 86 pieces all in all. I got 46 pieces of frogs and my brother got 40 because he chose the bigger ones. The reason I dislike buying frogs is because I don't know how to clean it. I think it's a lot of work doing it but the lady did a good job in dressing the frogs. She made it really clean. I told hubby that I bought frogs and I asked him if he likes it. To my surprise he said he do like it and he told me that he was just a small kid the last time he ate frogs.

So I cooked the frogs for supper the other day. There are quite a few frog recipes like fried frog legs, frog adobo, frog tinola and frog with coconut milk (ginataan). Of course I chose the latter because of the fond memories I had with my grandma. Ginataang palaka was her specialty and it's one of the famous Ilocano recipes. I really don't remember how my grandma cooked it before so I asked my brother how to cook it and he told me. It was just easy and I got all the ingredients needed. After I cooked it, hubby and I ate it with rice. It was so delicious and nutritious. The sauce was really good but the major setback are the bones. Hubby said I should have deboned the frogs first before cooking, lol! We never did that here in the Philippines. We eat frogs with bones and just debone it when we eat it. Anyways, it was really delicious and nutritious. I still have some uncooked frogs in the freezer. Maybe I will just fry it next time. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs of dressed frogs
1 head garlic, crushed and chopped
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
4 to 5 pcs medium size tomatoes, chopped
1 small size ginger, sliced thinly
1 can coconut cream
1 tsp salt or fish sauce  to taste
ground black pepper
2 tbsp cooking oil

Directions:

1. In a pan or casserole, heat the cooking oil and add  in garlic and continue frying until slightly brown.
2. Add in onion and continue sautéing until translucent.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes with some salt and let it cooked partially.
4. Add the thinly sliced ginger and let it simmer. 5. Add the dressed frogs and fish sauce and continue cooking with occasional stirring until the frog renders its own liquid.
6. Continue simmering until the meat is partially cooked through. Add in freshly ground pepper and continue cooking.
6.  Lower the heat and add the coconut milk and continue simmering with the lid off.
7. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Continue cooking until they are cooked through and sauce is reduced and has thickened to a gravy-like consistency.
8.  Transfer the dish in serving plates. Serve with rice. Enjoy!

Gift Ideas For Father's Day

Father's Day is fast approaching and we are back in a dilemma what gifts we gonna buy for the fathers in our church. Last year we gave each of the fathers a hanky and they really love it. It’s usually a chore to buy gifts for adults in our church. Since I am the one in charge in choosing gifts for them, I spend hours and hours thinking what to buy and wandering around retail stores. I just want the task to be completed and voila, I get Corked! This is one great game ideal for fathers who like to play games and enjoy life.

Corked is a hilarious game for 4-12 players. It is intended for a group of outgoing, fun people, and it’s sold in a reusable wine tote bag. Simply put, it’s a party in a bag. The bag contains the game itself plus an open sleeve to hold your bottle. Every player plays on every turn and no one ever performs alone. Unique scoring provides continuous excitement. Hilarious action and interaction. It only takes a minute to learn. The game involves partners acting out crazy items while the entire crowd shouts guesses. Unique scoring rules make for a one-of-a-kind, competitive experience, unlike any other party game. No teams. Every player tries to win individually.

Corked comes in a box with 100 game cards, each containing a set of compound words. To play the game, participants need to pick 2 people to perform, so you’d better choose your smartest, wittiest, coolest friend. The pair would act out the words written on the card, with each one acting out a different word but both will be doing it simultaneously and silently. They have to try their best to portray the words the best way they can. They are of course not allowed to say the words out loud.

Squash With String Beans, Bitter Gourd and Ground Beef

It's still squash season and my relatives with squash plantation gave me quite a few. I save a few pesos and I was so eager to cook my favorite squash with string beans, bitter gourd and ground beef. My hubby has learned how to eat veggies cooked the Pinoy way. I'm so proud of him because he likes our foods and he has adapted himself to Filipino life. I am very fond of eating veggies and I love it more than meat. I love it more if the veggies are organic. I used to have a veggie garden at the back of our house in Texas. I wish we have one here but then again, our land here has a very limited space. Anyways, here's how I cook this recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 whole squash, peeled and cut into medium cubes
1 bundle of string beans, sliced into 1-2 inches
2 medium size bitter gourd, sliced
1 med. onion ( sliced)
3 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 tbsp. fish sauce
1/2 cup ground beef
1 cup water
salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a pan put olive oil.
2. Saute garlic and onion.
3. Add ground beef and continue cooking until golden brown or fully cooked.
4. Add fish sauce, squash, string beans, bitter gourd and water.
5. Adjust the taste by adding some salt and water.
5. Simmer for a few minutes or until vegetables are tender.
6. Serve hot with rice.

Baking Time

One of my favorite cakes is German Chocolate Cake topped with coconut pecan frosting. My hubby love this cake too. I'm not good in making this from scratch so the easiest way for me is to buy the ready mixed cake from the box. Hubby and I bought this from Wal Mart before we came back here in my homeland. We bought quite a few different ready mixed cakes in the box but this one is really my favorite. I love the chocolate flavor and the nutty frosting. It was really so yummy.

Foods For Lunch

I've been wanting to lose weight but I think it's not possible if I keep cooking my favorite Filipino foods. Today I cooked hubby's favorite adobong pusit and my fave pinakbet for our lunch. I started cooking early because I'm a slow cook. I prepared all the ingredients for pinakbet and I cooked it first. When I was done, I cooked the adobong pusit. I followed the recipe that I watched from Kris TV. When everything were ready, I called hubby to eat lunch with me. The foods were yummy and I overate again. My bad! How can I lose weight if I eat a lot.

Purple Yam Jam (Halayang Ube)

My youngest brother gave me quite a few purple yam (ube) from his yard. He knows that I love making  purple yam jam (halayang ube) and he had tasted what I cooked last time. Compared to what he made, mine tasted better. The reason is, I put more ingredients in my jam while he put only condensed milk, sugar and evaporated milk. I think the coconut milk and butter added more flavor.

I made this recipe many times already because I really love the taste. My hubby love to have it for dessert. I also share it to my siblings and nephews. Last night, I stayed until past midnight cooking this recipe. 

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 kilogram uncooked purple yam, (boiled then grated, shredded, or mashed)
1 cup coconut milk
1 can condensed milk (300ml) 200 grams butter
1 can evaporated milk (400ml)
1 cup brown sugar

COOKING PROCEDURES:

Boil the the ube (yam) until tender then grate or mash. In a cooking pot, put in the coconut milk and let it boil. Add the, evaporated milk, condensed milk, butter and sugar then stir well. Put in the purple yam then stir occasionally until the texture of the mixture becomes really thick (about 15 to 20 minutes under low fire) Transfer the mixture to a mold or any container and let the temperature cool down. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours then serve.