Engagement Party of the decade!

Gwen and Billy's Engagement Party!

Ok, so today Jeremy and I trekked from Washington, DC to Southampton, NJ for Gwen and Billy's engagement party! Billy is Jeremy's first cousin, and Gwen is his amazing fiancee! They are getting married in late October, and it is so good to see them before the wedding.

Awesome event for any foodie. I mean, the people are always why I show up but hello, the FOOD is where the party's AT!

And the food was, in a word, incredible. I can honestly say that I have never seen so much food in my life. A bit of a dramatic statement yet true nonetheless. Billy's mom, Marie, put on the most mouth-watering spread I have ever seen. And I've been to a lot of parties.

There were two separate rooms filled to the brim with food. Not counter tops or tables, ROOMS. Every time someone walked into the house and entered the food galleries, all people could say was "I don't even know where to start, there's SO much food!" and "This is incredible!" and I even heard a few times "Is Marie a caterer or something?" Then there was Gwen's mom, who brought LUMPIA! I was beside myself. Literally ate about 30 of them, dipped into a spring roll sauce that you can find at any Asian grocery store.

As I write this, I cannot breathe and my stomach is aching. That's how much I ate. How much we all ate. I have never been such a glutton.

There were sandwiches. To be specific, roast beef sandwiches and turkey sandwiches, Italian sandwiches with salami and ham peeking out the sides.


Bowls of black and green olives. Bowls of pickles for the sandwiches. Salad of lettuces, salad of mango, salad of fruit. Macaroni salad. Macaroni and cheese. Sausage and peppers. Meatballs. Enchiladas. Chicken falling off the bone with seasoned, melt-in-your-mouth rice. Grilled vegetables like onion, eggplant, mushroom, squash, zucchini and roasted red pepper.

TONS of my favorite dish in the entire world, lumpia (Filipino egg rolls).

Lots of egg rolls which turned out to be loaded with plantain. Pork satay! Loads and loads of food and, wait for it....

A SUCKLING PIG! A whole, smiling, head-still-on suckling pig in the middle of the kitchen, daring all to come, to partake. That my boyfriend had the honors of carving. It was so cute watching him. I mean he's a cook and all, and has seen it done at his restaurant, but when Marie handed him the carving knives commanding him to get to it, I saw his face freeze, then immediately he dove in. I was so proud of him! First he severed the head, cutting it in half. Then he cut the pig lengthwise, and...oh shucks I might as well just show you...









All in all, it was a good day for a foodie. And I WILL be asking Marie to throw me my engagement party one day :)

Until next time, BE MERRY!

Julie & Julia

So did I ever tell you how much I ADORE Nora Ephron and her films?? I mean, the woman is my director soulmate. I just love all of them...starting of course, with When Harry Met Sally (which she wrote, but Rob Reiner directed). Then there's Sleepless in Seattle, my all-time favorite movie You've Got Mail, and her latest, Julie & Julia. The woman is brilliant. The songs she chooses always get me, and make me all warm and fuzzy. Her actors are hand-picked, and perfect for their roles. I mean come on, Meryl as Julia? Who better?!

I liked Julie Powell's book back in 2005. I rushed off to the library when it finally came in because I was broke and couldn't afford to buy it (ha, not much has changed there)...and literally read it in about 15 minutes. Ok, not really, but it's the only book I read in one day. ONE DAY. Do you know me? I am extremely, and I mean OVER-THE-TOP ADD. It is really, really hard for me to get through a whole book lately. I used to love reading. But it was always very hard for me to stay focused. The words danced around the page, doing backflips and somersaults, and my mind would easily wander to wonderland just by reading the word "rabbit". It was that bad. Thankfully, at 25, I finally took myself to a psychiatrist and was like "what's up with me??" After a couple tests, she said I was textbook ADD. No wonder! Sadly, I still find I will buy a bunch of books (from used bookstores of course) based on what I read on the back cover, which can be quite a convincing little paragraph, only to let them morbidly collect dust. Well not with Julie and Julia. I was enthralled.

The movie was even better. Obvi, it was Nora, so I knew it would be great. Add in Meryl and Stanley and hello, Oscar. (It's a shame they didn't win anything, it really is a shame.)

You have two very different settings in New York City in the 2000s and Paris in I think the 1960s? Talk about opposite worlds. It would be hard for me to portray that. Not for Nora. She segues from Paris to NYC and back again, over and over so perfectly, interspersing pearls and letters, and lots of Boeuf Bourguignon, so that Julie (Amy Adams) can adequately imitate Julia in her mastering of French cooking pursuit.

Julie's idea for the blog was inspired by Julia Child. And her task, if you haven't heard, was to make her way through Julia's cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. "365 days, 524 recipes". Well, she did it, lobster-killing and all. My favorite scene is when Chris Messina, who plays Eric Powell, Julie's hubby, keeps whispering "lobster killer...lobster killer" while the Talking Heads' "Psycho killer" plays in the not-so-distant background. I mean, inspired.

In case we were wondering, Nora's done it again. The woman's still got it.

But I was feeling rather un-inspired last night. With my boss, with my job (we won't go there), with the fact that I have a very difficultly-earned college degree in English, and I'm not using it. I feel like I've wasted my twenties (I'm still in the middle of them, but they feel OVER) and I'm so not ready for thirty. There were so many goals I wanted to accomplish by age thirty. It's less than 4 years away, and the days go by so fast. And I haven't really anything to show for it..well, this is the way I was feeling last night. Gloomy and downtrodden and a real head case to be around. So I crawled into bed and logged into Netflix, clicked on Watch Instant, clicked on Starz Play, and literally tossed my popcorn up in the air when I realized Julie & Julia was featured. Feeling a little less depressed, because Nora always has the right words to say, I watched it.

And today, after work, I baked a beautiful apple pie. My first apple pie. Homemade. And it was wonderful.

Be merry,
Shannon

Teriyaki Chicken Recipe

I found this recipe for Teriyaki Chicken here but I did tweak it majorly last night when my sinus headache was pretty extreme and my boyfriend the chef was at the restaurant and couldn't take care of me. I know, I give myself sick pity parties. I hate being sick!! (Do check out the actual recipe from the website though, bc there is a killer recipe for homemade teriyaki sauce I can't wait to try out...when I'm not sick, of course.)

Teriyaki Chicken:

Ingredients:
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 bottle Teriyaki Sauce (I use World Harbors Teriyaki Marinade)
...and that's pretty much it...

Pre-heat oven to 200. Line a tray with foil (I use 100% recycled aluminum foil from Reynolds, and I think you should too!). Line chicken on tray, keeping about an inch apart. Baste chicken with 1/2 of Teriyaki sauce. Bake for 25 minutes. Turn chicken and coat with remaining sauce. Bake 10-15 more minutes. At this point I hike the temp to 350. Slice with knife to make sure chicken is cooked through. Unlike steak, chicken cannot be consumed at medium-rare. ;)

Serve over Basmati rice, with a salad.

Happy eating...
Shannon

Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs with Pineapple

Aloha! This recipe is tropical and great for Summer~

Teriyaki Chicken:

Ingredients:

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 10-20 chicken tenders
1 bottle Teriyaki sauce (I use World Harbors Hawaiian Style Maui Mountain Teriyaki Sauce & Marinade)
1 large pineapple, cut into bite-sized chunks
Bamboo skewers
Crushed black pepper, to taste
Yellow, Orange and Green Bell Peppers

Instructions:

Cut chicken lengthwise into thin strips. Pour 3/4 of a bottle of Teriyaki sauce into a bowl. Marinate chicken strips in Teriyaki sauce for 1-2 hours.

Take 2 fresh pineapple chunks and skewer onto bamboo skewer. Take 1 chicken strip and zig-zag onto bamboo skewer. It kind of looks like a kinky shape...alternate between pineapple and chicken strips, until each bamboo skewer is full. Pack the skewers tightly (soak the skewers in water before filling and grilling to prevent the bamboo from burning). Crush black pepper over each skewer for a spicy kick. The contrast between the sweet pineapple and tangy Teriyaki sauce goes well with the crushed black pepper.

Grill. I like using a charcoal grill, for that smoky flavor that charcoal gives that's so tasty. I grill them for 15-20 minutes on a hot grill. You just want to keep checking, so the chicken doesn't dry out. Take the 1/4 Teriyaki sauce left in the bottle (not the bowl, it will taste chicken-y and isn't good for you --salmonella) and baste the chicken on the grill with the remainder of Teriyaki sauce.

Serve the Teriyaki Chicken Kabobs with a bowl of tropical fresh fruit like kiwi, mango, pineapple and papaya. I serve the kabobs with antipasto salad or potato salad. You could do a greens salad with one of the others. It's healthy and fresh and great for summer.

If you want to bring in more veggies, cut yellow, orange and green bell peppers into bite-size chunks and throw them on the skewer too. It's colorful and tasty. Your guests will think they are in Hawaii, at a luau. You could even pass out leis! That's what I always did at my Florida youth group parties...

Enjoy!

Sinus issues, go away! And 2 Chicken Teriyaki recipes...

Well, the sinus infection is back, with a vengeance. Actually, I'm not certain it every went away. But the coughing, itchy sore throat, and post-nasal drip has graduated into a 2-day and counting sinus headache with slight fever.

Needless to say, I'm not eager to race to the stove. But one must eat (and on a tight budget, must cook for oneself!), so last night I cooked my second meal in our new digs: Chicken Teriyaki.

A friend of mine, Laura, Facebook-messaged me a few weeks ago, asking for tips and advice on cooking. She is a first-time mom with a less than 1 year old, and wants to learn new meals so that she is in the kitchen cooking every night. I mulled over some recipes, then sent her my favorite summer recipe, Chicken Teriyaki Kabobs with Pineapple and Green Pepper. In the process of typing her the recipe I couldn't help but to reminisce of summers past in Jupiter, FL when I was in high school and would have major youth group parties (our family had a pool) and I would prepare then grill this amazing summer dish. Let the salivating begin!

Chicken Fajitas and Guacamole

Happy Cinco de Mayo (2 days late)! I was VERY sick with a sinus infection on the holiday, so I made this favorite dish last night with my fave topping, dip, appetizer, you name it, guacamole! Recipes below, enjoy!

Chicken Fajitas

I found this recipe on the Southern Food section of About.com. I am obsessed! I've since made it over 5 times, tweaking it each time. Even though it calls for zucchini, I haven't used zucchini yet, but that's just because I haven't found any fresh zucchini lately. Here it is:

Chicken fajitas with onions, sweet peppers, green onions, and other ingredients.

Ingredients:

* 2 tablespoons canola oil
* 3 boneless chicken breast halves, cut in thin strips
* 1 medium onion, cut in wedges
* 2 cloves garlic
* 4 mild green or red chile peppers, seeded and sliced
* 1 sweet red bell pepper, seeded and cut in strips
* 1 green bell pepper, seeded/cut in strips
* 1 zucchini, trimmed, cut in strips
* 8 flour tortillas, warmed
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* guacamole
* 1 bunch green onions, trimmed, sliced

Preparation:
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet; cook the chicken strips over high heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes, or until cooked. Drain and serve.

Add the onion, garlic and chile peppers to the oil in the pan and sauté over high heat for 2 minutes. Add the bell peppers and zucchini; cook over high heat for 4 minutes, or until the vegetables have begun to have a blackened look around the edges.

Return the chicken to the pan and heat until sizzling hot. Serve right away, with warm tortillas, sour cream, guacamole, sliced green onions, and chopped tomatoes. Serve with hot cooked rice and refried beans, if desired.
Serves 4.

Shannon's notes: Ok, so I don't eat sour cream in general, but a dollop on this fajita is UH-MAZE-ING. Combined with homemade guacamole and a dash of hot sauce makes for a perfect chicken fajita. And you don't even have to go to Chipotle for it. You can make it in your very own home. (Even though I am a major fan of Chipotle, thanks to my best friend, Megan, who introduced me to this maker of HUGE fajita burritos!) :-)

I have my own recipe for guacamole I have been using for years, posted below. I think I make Mexican meals JUST for the guac. When you can get really good ripe avocados, it's too yummy. Really, it is. I made it last night, to go with my belated Cinco de Mayo extravaganza (and to celebrate my sense of taste returning from hiatus due to sinus issues...)

Note: I always use cast iron for chicken fajitas (and most other foods; cast iron is simply the best). Once the chicken is sizzled up,

I transfer it to another hot cast iron pan and toss the chicken with green chili powder Jeremy's friend Sam brought back from New Mexico (thanks, Sam!),

and Rose's lime juice. The chicken soaks up the lime juice, and flavors it nicely. Yum!


Shannon's Homemade Guacamole:

This is basically a standard recipe for guacamole that I have been putting my own twist on for the past few years:

Ingredients:

2 large avocados
1 tomato
1 large onion
2 T fresh cilantro
1 clove garlic
1 lime
1 T green chili powder
Cracked black pepper
Coarse sea salt

Preparation:

Halve avocados, remove pits and set aside (You will use 1 pit later).

Scoop out avocado flesh, transfer to medium size bowl (but if you have a mortar and pestle, transfer to the mortar). Mash away! You don't want any chunks of avocado sticking out, you want it evenly mashed.

This is my new mortar and pestle, by the way. Isn't she gorgeous?! I am so excited to finally have my first mortar and pestle, a kitchen tool I've been lusting after for years now. And a MARBLE mortar and pestle at that! (I got it from a thrift store for 4 bucks, which makes it even better.)



After adequately mashing up avocados, add in juice of 1/2 lime. Mash some more. Crush 1 garlic clove right into the mortar, mashing as you crush. Sprinkle in cracked pepper, and coarse sea salt to taste. Taste, taste! You will want to test out this recipe while making, not only because of the amazing flavors all melding together perfectly, but because you don't want your guac too spicy or garlicky or what have you.
Add in diced cilantro and 1/2 of onion, finely chopped. Once the onion is added, mash no more. The guac is becoming a fine consistency of wonderfulness, and you don't need to mash and crush any longer. Now, mix in the onion, making sure to scoop in the avocado and garlic, etc until it is nicely mixed together. Taste, of course, and if needed, add the other half of the lime (I always use the juice of one whole lime, because I am a lime fanatic. But you may not be).
Work in more of the onion, continuously mixing with large spoon. Hmm what else, ah yes, a dash of green chili powder. I use a generous portion because Jeremy likes his guac spicy. I keep the bag of chili powder handy because when Jeremy's around, he's always adding more to whatever spicy meal I've made. He likes to kick it up several notches, whereas I like my guacamole with a slight kick, but I mostly go crazy over the lime and avocado and sea salt combo, oh my!

At this point I transfer my gorgeous guac to a festive bowl, throw in that pit that you sat aside, right into the center (this prevents guac from browning), cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour before devouring with chips. I love really cold guacamole on a warm tostada chip. Mmmmm.

So now, take the tomato, cut it in half, and seed it. This means remove all the seeds because those seeds can be pesky in a dip, but you definitely DON'T want to remove the tomato skin. This is where all the nutrients live, so keep the skin on. I always remove the seeds then sprinkle a little salt and eat them right up. Very refreshing, and cuts back on food waste. Finely dice the tomato, then store in a sealed bowl and refrigerate. I use these little Pampered Chef ramekins that my mom got me for Christmas.

DEFINITELY one of my favorite Pampered Chef items, and so useful for storing foods for Mexican night. Thanks, Mom!

After guac is nicely chilled, add in tomato. Serve right away. You won't be able to hold back! Make sure to scoop a nice spoonful of guac right onto your fajita with all the other toppings. De--lish!


Happy Cinco de Mayo!

keeping it simple

The day I moved to Capitol Hill, I had a work meeting over at Kramerbooks at Dupont Circle. I've browsed this Washington establishment a few times, but never made a purchase. I figured I could treat myself with a "welcome to DC" book, so I grabbed a stack of books and a cup of coffee, and began perusing...nothing caught my eye though until I was making my way out the door and stumbled upon The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging. So I bought it, and have gleaned so much since! One suggestion the guide makes is to keep blog posts short and to the point. No one likes to stumble upon a super long entry; it makes one's eye wander to something else. We live in in ADD world! So I am going to be keeping this blog's entries shorter, and to the point. And about food.

I do have another blog, She Dreams (which I started a few years ago for a creative outlet), newly inspired by my favorite fashion blog, Sea of Shoes. She Dreams is all about people and things and photos that inspire me. This blog though, is a food blog. So here are some things I have been whipping up in the kitchen lately...

We moved!

Jeremy and I have moved, with my puppy George, to Capitol Hill! I cannot believe it myself. Every day, driving past the White House, the Capitol, the Monument, on my way home from work I just have to pinch myself. I love it here already, and am excited to start eating.

Easter in Belgium

Well, not really Belgium, but it sure did feel like it! After church on Sunday, Jeremy and I headed over to the Belga Café, located on Capitol Hill. Since it wasn't too far from the church that we've been visiting-- which holds its services in the downstairs of Ebenezer's Coffeehouse by the way, how cool is that--I thought it would be the perfect place for an Easter Brunch. I have always thought of the idea of Easter brunch as very quaint, if very American, so the night before when I was looking up restaurants on Open Table (my new fave website), I decided, "Easter in Belgium! It'll be perfect! Belgian waffles, mimosas, how very European!"

Belga Café is nicely perched at 541 8th St. SE. Cafés and cute shops line the surrounding streets, including a quaint-looking café with a piano bar we'll have to check out next time...Banana Café and Piano Bar.

When looking up directions to the restaurant, I was kind of thrown off by "Coming from Belgium, take United Airlines flight #951 from Brussels to Washington Dulles". I wasn't sure if this was legit, but if not, what wit!

I was very excited to find an authentic Belgian restaurant in Washington, DC. If I can't find authentic Filipino lumpia, then give me an authentic Belgian waffle at least! The website I'd perused the night before boasted of being "the original Belgian restaurant in Washington DC and a great place for authentic Belgian food and Belgian beers...a little bit of Brussels on the Hill, with an open kitchen and sidewalk café". Ok, so if I wasn't sold on traditional Belgian waffles and the best beer this side of Brussels, the sidewalk café totally was a bonus. I could write a whole separate post on sidewalk cafés. I love them. I couldn't wait to sit down, sip a mimosa and people watch the heck out of Capitol Hill.

So you can imagine my disappointment when we arrive to find this tiny café cluttered with droves of people in their summer clothes, inching every which way into the street and down the sidewalk. Oh no! It's a tourist trap! How could I have possibly? All for discovering a new gem and keeping it under wraps, I was slightly worried that this small taste of western Europe would be nothing but a quick bite for the cherry blossom festival crowd. But then I snapped out of it, reminding myself I have only lived in the DC metro area for 5 months; who am I to become all haughty at the thought of anybody but the locals eating here? How food snob of me. (Plus, I did find the restaurant on Open Table after all). So I swallowed my pride and stepped right up.

Thankfully I had even bothered to make reservations! The poor hostess, who couldn't have been more than 5 feet tall, was clutching her clipboard to her chest, addressing customers standing in lines everywhere, obviously upset that they had to wait so long. Thinking Jeremy and I could simply waltz right up and be ushered over to our specially reserved table, I put on my best sympathetic smile, gave her my name, and waited to be escorted. Think again. The restaurant had obviously been overbooked, and there were people in line that had been promised tables 30-45 minutes prior to when we arrived. So already, I was perturbed. Why even make reservations? The couple in front of us were livid. Apparently, they had booked reservations on Open Table the night before and had received a phone call confirmation, yet their name was nowhere to be found. I felt pity on them, as I dreamed of that big, fluffy, syrup-drenched stack of goodness. The poor dears.

You know it's bad when the chef himself shouts over the crowd to the hostess "How many, next?" (in his thick Belgian accent by the way, a nice little touch, despite the wait), then whips a table out of thin air, plops it down onto the brick sidewalk, and whisks us over to be seated in a flash.

I started out with a mimosa and Jeremy ordered a light Belgian beer. The server was having a grand ole time recommending beers to Jeremy, especially since they each had different tastes in beer. It was comical to see the server suggest one, then Jeremy would say "Uhh, sure, that sounds good..." then oop, the server suggests something else. This went on for a good 5 minutes.


For the appetizer Jeremy ordered for us the Tomaat Met Grijze Garnalen. In English, this is a tomato stuffed with Belgian baby gray shrimp on a bed of spicy salad. I liked the salad, drizzled with a yogurt dressing, but wasn't a fan of the baby shrimp stuffed into the tomato. (Jeremy called the dish "an explosion of baby shrimp", which I like...he should be the writer!) The focus of the dish was definitely the succulent baby shrimp, doused in dressing and housed in a hollowed-out large tomato. After enjoying the frisée salad, Jeremy pulled the top of the tomato off like a pumpkin and took a great big bite out of the tomato base. The combination of tomato, shrimp and frisée salad infused with the balsamic vinaigrette and olive oil concoction on the plate was delicious for him. The shrimp tasted soft and tender, and was a nice complement to the meaty flesh of the tomato. Maybe I didn't like it so much because when I think of shrimp, I imagine colossal shrimp dipped in cocktail sauce. However, this dish is a Belgian classic, so we were happy to try something not commonly eaten, or even heard of, in the U.S.

For the main course Jeremy had the Waterzooi Van Vis, a waterzooi of fish with winter vegetables in a light anise sauce. A waterzooi is a classic stew of Flanders, typically made with fish or chicken and leek, potato and carrot. "Zooien" is Dutch, meaning "to boil". As Jeremy said about the stew, "oh man, there is so much fish on this plate". There were at least four kinds of seafood: scallops, mussels, a white fish, and salmon, kind of piled up into a mountain shape, accompanied by a thin broth. I've never seen Jeremy so full at the end of a meal! Usually he will nibble at my leftovers, but this time I had to get a doggie bag (eco-friendly, recyclable takeout container) for my remaining portion.


I ordered 2 baguette sandwiches filled with piccolo prosciutto, arugula, and fresh parmesan. The sandwich was flavorful and satisfying, perfect for a light Spring day. The baguettes were fresh, the prosciutto sliced thin and tender. The arugula provided a spicy touch. Just the zest needed for an otherwise pretty tame sandwich. And that mimosa, made with fresh-squeezed orange juice and Champagne, was the perfect Spring cocktail.

We had no room for dessert, though next time we may just split the banana-chocolate dish. Or finally try one of those Belgian waffles!

Be Merry,
Shannon

for the love of lumpia

Lumpia is my favorite food in the universe, hands down. I first had it in 3rd grade, at Slater Elementary School in Mountain View, California. We were having a World Day, where we brought in different foods from countries all over the world. My mom made flan. (Not that we're Spanish or Mexican or Latino in any way but I think it was assigned. But she loves flan, so maybe it was her choice.) We went to the Philippines (not really, just the little stand) and an amazing individual had brought in lumpia (pronounced loom-pee-ah). Now I don't know who that amazing individual was, but she/he changed my life that day. No longer could I be satisfied with Chinese take-out, or even our favorite Mountain View restaurant, Tien Fu (so much more on this place in another entry). Because that first experience with lumpia has been my best food experience yet. "What IS this thing that looks like a spring roll but tastes like the spice islands?" I have yet to taste lumpia as crunchy and full of such flavor. My life got better just in one bite.

2 years later we moved to Okinawa, Japan. And Jason Pepperoni's mom brought in LUMPIA for his birthday, instead of cupcakes (his name wasn't really pepperoni but it sounded a lot like that...). I thought I died and went to heaven, for lack of a better expression. Nobody in the class wanted to try it because they were in 5th grade and were, well, stupid. Didn't want to try something new, that wasn't pizza or subs or Lunchables--ewww remember those? So Jason and I ate them. ALL. Dipping away into his mom's special sauce, the wrapper crunching off and sticking to our lips. Lunch time came, and I couldn't even eat my packed lunch.

Ok, so in case you're wondering and if you haven't Googled it yet, lumpia is the Filipino version of the Chinese spring roll. It's also popular in Indonesia- especially in Java, where I hear they have lumpia STANDS. Like hot dog stands here. Imagine that! They have a very thin wrapper, so they're not bulky and full of cellophane noodles and they don't collapse when you dip them into sauce. And you DON'T dip them into soy sauce. You see, lumpia has its own special sauce. You can find recipes for it online, but it's not the same as my first time (nothing really is, right?) tasting it. Ok, so it's a very thin, very crispy fried spring roll, tightly rolled with a stir fry of pork, asian spices, and select veggies, finely diced. They are rolled together tightly and placed in very hot oil, where they fry up and become nicely brown in color. Oh my mouth is watering!

I hadn't had lumpia in a very long time. Then about 3 weeks ago I told Jeremy that it was my favorite food, but it's so uncommon to find lumpia here in the U.S. that I guess I had just given up. I hadn't even tasted it in so long, when a few years ago my dad J came home from work with 2 Ziploc bags, and I'm talkin' FREEZER size Ziplocs, where dozens of lumpia were neatly arranged in rows, layer upon layer. Turns out he had befriended a couple cleaning ladies at his office, great friendly man that he is, and they were Filipino!!! They took such a liking to him that before their vacation they made sure to make him an extra batch of lumpia, since he had raved about it to them before, saying it was his daughter's favorite! So he brought them home and we fried them up, and they were wonderful. But that was like 2005...far too long ago. So I told Jeremy about lumpia, and I walked all over DC trying to find a place that sells it. I got nothin'. And was pretty disappointed. I talk a lot about food, and that's pretty much our whole relationship, since we both love great food. But he works with food for a living, and for me it's my biggest passion, but I don't work at it 12-14 hours a day like him. So I wasn't even sure if my lumpia talk was really sinking in.

But it was. Because when I went up to Pennsylvania to his parents' house for a visit 3 weeks ago, his mom surprised me with the idea of us making lumpia together! I was so excited I almost cried. Nobody in my life has offered to make lumpia with me, ever. And a lot of people know how much I love it. But I never thought to make it myself. It's so...ethnic. Exotic. Exciting. Not your average appetizer. But Jeremy's mom is the perfect person to make it with, I happily thought. Because she's always open to a new food experience. She's not one to shy away from something exotic. She was the one who introduced me to jicama! And the first radish I've ever had was at her house! In one of her salads! So I knew it was going to be a GREAT night. And it was. I don't have the recipe we used, but I did copy down a sauce recipe from a Filipino cookbook at Barnes and Noble. Sadly, they only had one Filipino cookbook. How are people going to find out about it? Not everyone can travel to the Philippines. And once they do, McDonald's would probably be one restaurant they hit up, sad to say..

There's always such a bonding experience that takes place when two women get together , up into their elbows in the kitchen and cook. The look on my face when Jeremy's mom whipped out spring roll wrappers and a lumpia recipe and said "Let's make lumpia!" must have been pretty darn excited. We prepared the lumpia filling together, chopping veggies and stir frying them with pork, then rolling the mixture into the wrappers like a mini burrito and frying them up. I glanced up while right in the midst of wrapping and she had a look of sheer glee on her face. It was a perfect snapshot in my mind that I will never forget. 3 sons, one husband, and now she is finally getting some girl time.She was meant for daughters! It was great to do something with her that we'll remember for years to come. And the lumpia was excellent!!! Crisp and crunchy, filled with pork, mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, spring onion, freshly grated ginger, carrots, even purple cabbage! What gorgeous colors, too. And a kitchen full of Pampered Chef gadgets! She is a woman after my mom's own heart. It was a treasure to see her enjoying herself, and I thought back to all the thousands of memories I have with my mom, and how special the bond is between mothers and daughters. For a moment, I think Jeremy's mom might have felt that specialness. :)


Pictures are coming--just when I figure out how to upload them to a post...
Shannon