Ma L's Arroz Caldo

Rice 

Family recipes keep us connected to our memories.

Thus, on this Mother's Month, I thought it fitting to include in this series an heirloom recipe that has been passed down from Hubby's Ma L to Hubby's Only Sister to me.

*****

Recipes are like poems, they keep what kept us. - Henri Coulett

Being the challenged-cook that I am, I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. When I get to the end, I think to myself, Well, that's never gonna happen.

For the most part, I'd thought this way, until I was given Ma L's arroz caldo recipe.

Arroz Caldo: a hearty and flavorful Filipino-style rice porridge with chicken, ginger, and various toppings

Step 1: Over low heat, saute annato (atsuete seeds) in vegetable oil in small saucepan. Strain.

Step 2: To annato oil, add chicken pieces (preferably bony pieces for added flavor), garlic, onion, ginger, and salt.

Step 3: Add Cal Rose rice and water, using a 1:5 proportion. Boil until rice is tender.

Step 4: Season with black pepper; add salt to taste.

To serve, garnish with toasted garlic, green onion, and hard-boiled egg.

Add  slivers of calamansi (lemon) and patis (fish sauce) as condiment.

My first attempt at the recipe was a success. 

Internet pic only

The caldo was comforting and had the taste of homemade-with-love. In other words, I licked the spoon and kept using it.

Thanks, Ma L. 

You and your caldo

are treasured memories

that I hold in my heart.

Quirino Elementary School, Project 2, Quirino District, Quezon City: 1957  

Sinaing: Cooked To Perfection

 Rice 

Life is short. Cook rice. - Anonymous

You may have noticed by now that most of my Mother's Day stories are all about food. That's because Mums are the best cooks. The first three blogs in this series bear witness to that fact.

*****

Rice is good if you're really hungry and want to eat two thousand of something.

It is doubly good when Mum cooked it. Her sinaing was always perfect. Never mushy, gummy, or burnt.

Tried and tested, this was how we cooked it on a kerosene stove.

Step 1. Measure and clean the grain.

Chon, she'd say. Luto na tayo ng kanin. (Let's cook rice).

Mie, ilang gatang? (How many measures should I do)? 

She'd think, then decide. Her voice was soft, but very sure. Three measures, but add a half to be sure there would be enough for Voltaire.

I nodded in agreement. It always seemed that when it came to food, our littlest but most ferocious dog, also the most favored by my Dad, always figured in the equation. I'd say he was spoiled.

Pilian mo na yung bigas. (Choose and take out chaff from the rice). Rice back then which was bought from the wet market or sari-sari was usually fresh-milled leaving in that process some husks and chaff.

Step 2. Rinse to separate the grains so they won't get clumpy, then drain.

Step 3. Add water. This step was crucial because the perfect rice texture relied on accurate measurement.

I recall how always there had been something mesmerizing about the way Mum would accomplish just this.

In the dim light spilling through the kitchen window, I could see her eyes were keen, her brows furrowed, as she leveled the rice out. I nodded knowingly as she placed her index finger so that it was just touching the surface of the rice.

Her mouth compressed in concentration, she would then add enough water so that it came up to her first line or knuckle. 

Ayan! she'd exclaim. 

That wasn't rocket science.

Step 4. Add a pandan leaf for flavor. Cover and wait for the rice to boil.

Step 5. When it starts sputtering, incline the cover aside and lower the heat. I could already smell the mystical aroma of newly-cooked rice beckoning me to the dining table. Surely, you would never have thought rice could be so delectably tasty. 

Step 6. Cover once the water had dissipated. Leave pot on stove to cook for about ten minutes more. Turn off stove.

All done!

Happiness was cooking Mum's way. It was a time when we found joy in the simple.

Lei Ana Hawai'i

  April Celebrations 

A lei a day keeps the boredom away... or something like that. - Anonymous

Lei Day is a vibrant Hawaiian holiday observed annually on May 1st.

Okay. So you're observant. The series is April Celebrations, why this? 

Because I'm feeling so lei-d back today? (LOL). Or maybe, I've run out of rogue April celebrations to write about?

Nah, I just thought, Why not? After all, Fav Granddaughter just celebrated the day by moving to dance music with precision and fluidity at Punahou School's annual Holoku pageant - and that's worth a blog.

Lei Ana ó Maui: Musical Celebration Of The Dark Pink Lokelani (rose of Castille). Photo: V.E.V., Punahou School: April 24, 2025

As you may have guessed, the day is dedicated to the cultural significance and beauty of the lei, a flower garland traditionally worn as a symbol of love, respect, and aloha (meaning love, affection, compassion, goodwill).

More than this conventional imagery, it has been said that whatever falls from the neck over your heart is a lei. An embrace from a friend is a lei.

That lei really brings out the aloha in your smile. Photo, Hughes Ohana Calendar: Compiled by P.D.H, Honolulu: 2025 

The sea that surrounds the islands of Hawaii is a lei.

When you look into the sky and see a rainbow, that is a lei. 

The birds that encircle above are making a lei and from their precious feathers we can fashion a special lei.

A young lady with arms around her grandparents, that is a lei. Photo: A.V.H, Punahou School: April 24, 2025

You don't have to be famous. You just have to make your Mama and your Dad proud of you.

A lei, any lei, is made with love.

All of Hawaii wears love as her lei. To give love is to give a lei.

To bring this series to an end, here's 

sending you a virtual lei, that you may

 adorn yourself with its fragrance, share its

beauty with others, and embrace the essence

of aloha!

Hauóli Lei Day! (Happy Lei Day!)

 

Couple Appreciation Month

  April Celebrations 

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. - Orison Marden

Did you know February isn’t the only month to love and appreciate your partner? April is Couple’s Appreciation Month. 

This observance was founded in 2010 by Blissful Escapes Company to encourage couples to do something special to re-enforce and celebrate relationships. Since then, the idea has caught on among both couples and singles who want to show their spouse or couple friends how much they enjoy their company.

So, what are some of the ways to intentionally connect?

Consider a floral bouquet, planning an at-home movie night, writing your partner a heartfelt letter, or arranging a picnic in the park.

Flowers Of April: 54th Wedding Anniversary. Waikiki: April 17, 2025 

Or shape your day by walking, even in the rain...

Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.

... And doing random lunch at an oceanfront restaurant.

Fresh caught fish with furikake steam rice; flakey white fish and chips. Barefoot Beach Cafe, Waikiki

Or how about a night out at for gourmet French cuisine?

As Virginia Woolf says, One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.

A gourmet meal without a glass of wine just seems tragic somehow.

à votre santé! Cheers! Anniversary Dinner. Ka Ikena Culinary School, Honolulu

It's remarkable how long we've tolerated each other.

It is said that all you need is love, but a pistachio raspberry mousse cake and a slice of chocolate dulce now and then won't hurt.

No matter how big or small the gesture, love is best felt in action.

There’s no time like the present to show your partner how much they mean to you. Regardless of whether your relationship may be like a walk in the park... Jurassic Park included.

The journey may not be perfect. Definitely will never be, but it's yours.

Stick with it till the end. 

No Housework Day

 April Celebrations 

Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance? - Anonymous

April 7 is National No Housework Day.

As the name suggests, this is a day to drop the vacuum, the laundry detergent, the dish soap. Just relax! 

Housework is evil. It.Must.Be.Stopped.

As tempting as it may be to sweep the floor or make the bed, the point of this observance is to give yourself a break from housework and do something else you enjoy instead. The cleaning can wait for a day. After all, after the first four years, the dirt doesn't get any worse.

Okay, so now you have a whole day free of housework. Here are a few suggestions to fill that time.

Binge-watch your favorite TV show. Don't forget the blanket and a few snacks.

Have a long and relaxing bath. A way to feel luxurious and spa-like in your own home.

Order some takeout. Cooking dinner can be considered a chore, so take the night off from that, too. As a bonus point, you won't have any dishes to wash.

No more blogging, too.

Warning pop-up:

Windows is shutting do...w..n!!!

Find A Rainbow Day

 April Celebrations 

Some days don't ya just wanna hop on your unicorn and fly somewhere over the friggin rainbow? - Anonymous

I've decided to go rogue this month.

In lieu of well-known and traditional full-bloom-of-spring celebrations, this series will feature lesser known holidays and observances in April.

Starting with National Find A Rainbow Day.

Each year on April 3rd, this observance challenges us to stop looking for a pot of gold and simply appreciate this colorful ray of hope cast across the sky.

Rainbow Over Waikiki Beach. Photo: V.E.V., Honolulu: December 2016

To celebrate the day, find yourself a rainbow. (Spoiler alert: you'll never find one if you're looking down). Or use the garden hose or a prism to make one yourself.

If you're feeling crafty, how about cutting out paper hearts? Tint them with every color of the rainbow, then string into an arc across a glass window. You just may be that bright beam in someone else's cloud.

What are you waiting for?

Go find your rainbow.

May your day be more beautiful than a unicorn farting rainbows!

80 Different Things: Big Finish

 Celebrating Me 

One of you didn't know many of the Different Things listing and have never seen my childhood photos with my brothers. Another knew only a few bits.

That's good. At least, I'm not repeating stuff. Continuing on.

71. Hmm... Maybe, I don't have to go through all these because...

YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY!

Halloween In Phoenix, Arizona

Wrinkled was not one of the things I wanted to be when I grew up. - Anonymous

When I was young, I couldn't wait to grow up. Now, I'm just waiting for my next nap. Life has been a series of, I can't believe this is my life now moments.

But I've been content thinking that nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember because that's how we fill our minds with memories, like thousands of stars in the sky.

Memories, such as those of my 80th birthday which has been comprised of several perfect days.

First, a day filled with

precious and most-thoughtful gifts.

Far left: A wrist watch and monstera-design gown through Second Daughter's Walmart gift card 

Above right: Grilled stufft burrito lunch after shopping with First Daughter and the cutest six-pack mini Coke topped with a mini red bow from Favorite Son-In-Law

An adorable umbrella from Kyoto with a pixie-face Japanese doll handle and a Ross gift card (not in pic) from First Daughter

No gift is too small to give, nor too simple to receive, which is wrapped in thoughtfulness and tied with love.

Left: Japanese parasol unfurled. Note new wrist watch in full view

Leftmost: Telefora red roses and chocolates from Youngest Bro (who now resides in New Zealand)

Left: Yellow and lavender tulips from Jach (including a rogue African iris picked on the wayside)

Secondly, a time for cuteness overload at Don Don Donki, a Japanese-style discount store.

As First Granddaughter comments, Woah woah woah.

And Second Granddaughter: OMG AHHGGGG SOO CUTE!!

Thirdly, a super sarap birthday lunch of fried pampano fish, kare-kare, monggo guisado and halo-halo at Seafood City.

Then, capping it all, a Thai dinner treat at The Sister by First Daughter and family.

I may not have it all together, but together with family here and abroad, I have it all. TOGETHER is my most-perfect day, and for this I'm grateful. 

Ho'onani i ka Makua mau,

Ke Keiki me ka 'Úhane no.

(Praise God, From Whom all blessing flow.)

THE END?

Nope.

Here's to MORE DIFFERENT THINGS

and BEYOND!

By The Light Of Tiki Torches. Photo: V.E.V., Outrigger Canoe Club, Waikiki: March 2025