Our Ancestral House

This is our ancestral house built in the early 1940's in Cantilan, Surigao del Sur. The 2-storey wooden house occupies a 500 sqm lot in Cantilan situated along the main street. The house is made of narra, mahogany, and other hardwood materials. It is a typical Spanish-Filipino design.

The house has old tables, chairs, four-poster beds, windows, ceilings, large mirrors etc. The living room is spacious, the flooring is made of hardwood called "mulawin" natural shiny and the colors are black & yellow. The Aparadors belonged to my lola and another one owned by my Mother with her name crafted on it. The windows are made of capiz shells, the ceilings or kisame were imported from China.

My great grandpa was one of the original Chinese merchants from Amoy, China. This is the home to 3 generations of the clan. We traced its history back to Don Miguel Yu. There are 3 double doors in the front of the house. Entrance is at the middle and side front doors. The wide wooden staircase are with balusters at both sides of the stairs and decorated with shells called Tambuli.

The balcony, devoid of paint, was originally painted green & white. The window panels are made of Capiz shells. There is a wide wooden staircase with balusters at both sides of the stairs and decorated with shells called Tambuli. Two large heavy doorways to the left goes to living room and to the right goes to the dining room, then to the kitchen. The bedrooms are curtained. The living room is full of antiques. Antique marble round table is at the center of the room. Living quarters are on the 2nd floor. The ground floor was a bodega where palay and corn were stored. The other part was used as a dress shop.

Some of my friends have stayed in Cantilan and others left this town and lived abroad, and has married and raised their families somewhere, some have continued visiting their hometown during fiestas, christmas, family & school reunions, summer vacation etc.

There are few old ancestral houses that were restored here and we have plans of restoring this beautiful house and retire here one day soon.

Marble Pound Cake

Tube Pan

MARBLE POUND CAKE
I made a Marble Pound Cake today using a 10-inch tube pan instead of a loaf pan and it turned out well.
Here's the recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 ounces chocolate bittersweet, melted & cooled

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 deg. Butter a 9 x 5 loaf pan. Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Mix and beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, add vanilla and mix gently.

Transfer half of the mixture in another bowl and add the melted chocolate. Blend well.

Alternate large spoonful of dark and light batters in the pan. To marble: Run a knife through the batters. Bake for about 45-50 minutes. Remove cake from oven and let cool and rest for about 30 minutes. Run a knife both sides of the pan and turn the cake out to cool.

Tortang Talong ( Eggplant Omelette)

Serve with rice

Eggplants tops among my favorite veggies. This recipe is quite easy. The messy part is when you grill and peel the skin off the eggplant.

Recipe:
3 eggplants (long variety)
1 large egg
dash of salt & pepper
oil for frying

Procedure

Pierce the eggplant with a fork (3 on each sides). Cook the eggplants, broil on a grill or open flame or by boiling until eggplant is soft. Turn eggplants on every side to char the skin until wilted. Cool the eggplants before you peel off the skin, retain the stem for easy handling during frying.

Flatten the eggplant by fork, set aside. Beat egg and season with salt & pepper. Heat oil in a medium pan. Dip each eggplant one at a time in the egg mixture and slowly slide it into the pan. Fry until golden brown on both sides.

Mallungay-Miracle Vegetable

Mallungay Stalks(Horse Raddish Tree)

Mallungay Clam Soup




Recipe:

Clam Soup with Mallungay Leaves

1/2 kg. clams (cleaned)

1 thumb-size ginger, peeled and sliced

8 stalks mallungay leaves

1 tbsp. oil
1 clove garlic, chopped

1 med. onion, peeled and sliced

dash of salt

5 cups water

Remove the leaves from the stalks. Wash leaves and strain leaves. Set aside.

Heat oil in a pot. Saute garlic, ginger and onion. Pour the water, bring to a boil. Add clams, salt , cover and boil, once the clam shells open, add the mallungay leaves cover and simmer for a minute.

Facts about Mallungay:

Mallungay(Moringa oelifera -scientific name) is known as miracle vegetable because of its many benificial uses. The leaves are rich in Vit. A, B, E and minerals such as calcium (four times the calcium in milk) , three times the potassium in bananas, and four times the Vitamin A in carrots, Vit. C content in seven oranges.

Mallungay has been promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) for the past 20 years as a low-cost health enhancer in poor countries around the globe

Because of its nutritional content, malunggay strengthens the immune system, restores skin condition, controls blood pressure, relieves headaches and migraines, manages the sugar level thereby preventing diabetes, reduces inflammations and arthritis pains, restricts the growth of tumors, and heals ulcers. This information comes from Dr. Kumar Pati, an Indian doctor who is an expert in natural medicine.

Mallungay seeds can also purify water. Boiled leaves used to help increase lactation. Seeds for hypertension, gout, asthma, hiccups, and as a diuretic.

Leaves must be used immediately after picking, if not, store inside the plastic bag and refrigerate for at least one day.

Other recipes for Mallungay are: Chicken Ginger Stew, Ginisang Mungo w/ Mallungay, Papaya-Mallungay Fish Dinengdeng, Gulay Dinengdeng and many more.

Guinisang Munggo Beans

1 cup munggo, washed
1/4 kilo pork belly, cut into small pieces
5 cups water
1 head garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
4 pieces tomatoes, sliced
1 cup malunggay leaves
1 Knorr pork cube
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon cooking oil

PROCEDURE :

1. In a casserole, put water, munggo, and Knorr pork cube.2. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes or until the munggo is cooked.3. In a skillet, heat the oil and saute the garlic, onion, and tomatoes.4. Add the pork and saute until lightly browned.5. Add in the munggo and stock.6. Season with pepper and add the malunggay leaves.

Stir Fried Manila Clams

Clams in different shades
Stir Fried Clams

The clams that I bought in the market were already cleaned but I still rinse them for three times and submerge clams in cold water for about an hour until they are free of sand. Adding 1/2 tsp of rock salt to the water will remove the sand from the clams, however, I prefer not to do it. Drain clams before cooking.

Here's the recipe:

1 kg. clams
2 tbsp. oil
slices of ginger
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup water
green onions/scallions, sliced
dash of pepper

Procedure:
Heat oil in a big pan or wok, saute onion, ginger, garlic until soft. Add clams, stir well before covering the pan for about 30 seconds. Open the lid and stir clams for a minute or so until clam shells have opened up. Add ground pepper, chilli powder and green onions.

Jo & Kids

Jo & Baby Girl posed in black & white portrait.

Sam - blowing his b-day cake

Baby Girl - tinkering & dismantling the tupperwares while I was busy baking in the kitchen. She loves to sit in the drawer. (Click photos to enlarge)

Mother Old Photos

My mother's old photographs