Birthday thoughts (of food – what else!)

What we’re having today, courtesy of the hubby

Well, it’s my birthday today and though I had no thoughts of cooking – preferring to have a day-long rest from the kitchen instead – I’ve got to cook because we’re having visitors over. Besides, the hubby wants to cook ginataang seafood. And. I’ve recently mastered pancit bihon. Yup, it was only after 20 years of marriage that I tried to cook pancit bihon, that perennial party favorite of Filipinos.

Ah, the joys of having many children – there are many hands to help!

Simple to make – pepperoni and cheeze pizza

The delay meant that my kids never developed a taste for it. Whereas I keep having this miss-you-like-crazy desire to taste it from time to time now that I’m in my late forties. Perhaps it’s a sign of aging – youngsters love spaghetti, oldies love pancit. I remember thinking as a young girl – why do old people prefer pancit over spaghetti?? Whatever …

My favorite comfort food: steamed dumplings aka siopao

Ahem! Despite a 20-year delay in my learning how to cook pancit bihon, I’m not that lazy in the kitchen. Who can afford to be when one has four growing kids and a hubby who cycles 30-50 km at a time ????

Vegetarian pancit bihon (vegetarian because I can’t be bothered to prepare a meat accompaniment – it takes up too much time!)

The first two weeks of August, for example, saw us baking and cooking several days in a row. After a fortnight of strenuous kitchen activity, we slackened off – I had to concentrate on completing paperwork for the children’s homeschooling.

The hubby threatened to stop making almond milk (a beauty must-have!) until I recycled our casseroles of almond meal. These are baked power balls made of almond meal, date syrup and chopped carrots.

Thankfully, the older two were still on vacation and I had no need to prepare baon and breakfast for two picky teenagers with wells in their stomachs.

A housewife’s savior: canned food. Here, our breakfast consists of luncheon meat and baked beans plus chopped tomatoes with green chilli

So. today’s my birthday and I can’t think of what food I want to order/eat. Because. After 20 years of living in the kitchen, all I can think of now is my bucket list of films to watch ….