Yikes, it’s been weeks since Louie at LouieNep.Com tagged me with this meme, I’m so embarrassed… but I’m hoping y’all will just say “better late than never”….

1. Family Reunions in San Pablo City, Laguna — My mom was the oldest of 10 and at the time was the only one in Manila, so most of my cousins lived about an hour and a half away. The almost-monthly family reunions were held there with all 10 siblings bringing food. The round dining-room table was set-up buffet style and all the chairs in the house were placed strategically — in the veranda, lined up by the wall, around the living room, etc. Of course, with Lolo and Lola (grandpa and grandma), 10 children and their spouses, and 36 grandkids, plus the occasional drop-bys and other guests, it was always a full house. We grandkids made a tradition of eating on the stairsteps, all of us racing to get food first and hence the top step. I probably have a pic somewhere but I’ll have to find it (or ask one of the 35 others if they have a pic they could share)!

There isn’t one particular dish that I remember from these gatherings, as the food was always plentiful and very good. Of course we had the traditional lechon (roast suckling pig) from time to time. This was also where I had my first taste of bopis/kandinga/pulutuk. Most awaited was the moment my Papa would return from the corner store, arms loaded with a few gallons of Magnolia ice cream. We would all crowd around the table waiting for the adults to serve us our ice cream cones. Aas we grew older and bigger we commandeered the use of the ice cream scoops ourselves, which often led to grabbing, tickling, complaining, and even a couple of fist-fights. With fascination and regret I look back at those days, every now and then wishing I could have the same for my kids. We do have our family reunions (and often) here in the US now that a lot of us are here, but I still miss the reunions of my childhood.

2. “Babysitting” Food — I’m lumping all of these together because this is the food I remember from the times someone would be assigned to take care of me — an uncle, older cousin, or driver/chauffeur — usually while Mommy was grocery shopping or at the palengke (market): the boiled peanuts Kuya Manuel peeled for me and which I kept in my pocket, waiting until I had a handful before taking the first bite…. this little milk-powder-in-a-canister that you sip with a straw (and choke on because of the dryness)… butong-pakwan (watermelon seeds), Goya chocolate (the size of a Lego piece).

3. Jack and Jill Chocolate Pretzels (this link, oddly enough, found in Universal Robina’s BLOG?) and Mentos which my Tita Julie, who was/is single, would buy for me on Sundays when she’d whisk me away to catch the latest Disney movie at the Rizal Theatre.

4. Foods I associate with my parents: Ginisang “string beans/Baguio beans” (sauteed green beans) – Sauteed green beans were the only vegetables I ate and liked as a child. I could eat a whole serving-bowl-ful of this. These days I enjoy almost every vegetable there is, but when I prepare my mom’s green beans I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic about my younger days. Dikiam – preserved plums, not unlike prunes but with a licorice flavor; my parents didn’t enjoy this as much as I did but they still bought it for me whenever I asked, usually at Chinatown where they weigh it for you and package in little wax-paper bags. Quekiam/Kikiam – a pork mixture wrapped in beancurd skins/sheets/tau-pe/tawpe/yuba, which we usually got at Rustan’s. Crab lomi, an egg-noodle dish made with a crab and beaten-egg sauce, from a restaurant in Manila (Marquina, I think?). Pansit palabok – another noodle dish made with shrimp sauce and a variety of toppings, which Mom ordered for both of us whenever she went for doctor’s appointments at Lourdes Hospital in Sta. Mesa. Suha/Lukban/Pomelo (Citrus maxima) we sat on our porch eating. Campers chocolate bars from my Papa as pasalubong from work. Sumang saging from Papa’s sisters in Quezon, made from saba bananas. Duhat from Baguio, shaken with salt until oozing with purple goodness.

5. Fruit trees in the yard — Indian mango, bayabas/guava(Psidium guajava), and kamias (Averrhoa bilimbi). We also had chico, papaya, and bananas, though I didn’t climb those. On days when we were tired of our own trees we’d climb the neighbor’s aratilis/aratiles (muntingia calabura?).

The indian mango tree I climbed with friends, armed with a small bowl (filled with whatever “dip” I felt like having — could be just salt, or on crazy days a mixture of soy sauce-ketchup-salt) AND A KNIFE (for peeling the mangoes!). The kamias and guava I’d climb with just a fistful of rock salt — I preferred both REALLY sour and pucker-inducing — I’d get up on the roof and sit there, helping myself to the fruits on the branches overhanging, and watching the world from my perch. I regretted it as a teen when my friends and classmates had enviable scar-free legs, though that didn’t stop me even then…. lucky for me I eventually met the hubby, who didn’t/doesn’t care about those things, plus the scars are almost completely gone now….

I wish I had pics to post — but our albums are in boxes right now — waiting to be de-boxed since April ’04, and now will have to wait longer since we’re moving again in April and I don’t want to “upset the balance” in the meantime….

To proceed with the meme, remove the blog at #1 from the following list and bump every one up one place; add your blog’s name in the #5 spot; link to each of the other blogs for the desired cross-pollination effect.

From Joey’s tree
1. Paz of The Cooking Adventures of Chef Paz
2. Joey who’s trying to blog about her 80 Breakfasts
3. Karen of The Pilgrim’s Pots and Pans
4. Louie of Louienep/food
5. Stef of Stefoodie.net

Now to tag!

1. Stel of Baby Rambutan
2. Kalyn of Kalyn’s Kitchen
3. Nini at Pan de Panda
4. Mila at MilaTan
5. Becky at Two Foot Kitchen