I Am What I Eat

Jojo left for work while Les and Joce are spending the day at Universal Studios with Gus and Mark (friends from Manila). Since I am scheduled to do volunteer work this afternoon, I opted to stay home this morning and get stuff organized here at home. There are a lot of things to do at home – we have not done any cleaning in the last two weeks, there is a bunch of mail that needs to be sorted, there is laundry to be done, I have errands to run, and there are things that need to be packed in the balikbayan box. But instead of all that, I have decided to spend my morning browsing through several of my favorite food blogs!

I thought I would amuse myself (and waste more time) answering a food questionnaire I came across in one of the blogs I frequent. Since many say, you are what you eat, this questionnaire (which is all about food preferences) will give you a lot of insight about who I am! For those with blogs out there – feel free to answer the same questionnaire – and if you don’t have a blog, you can email me your answers or post them on my comments list (if you like)!

1. Favorite Comfort Food: (My all-time favorite!) Garlic rice, fried eggs, crispy tuyo, chopped tomatoes and salted eggs!
2. Favorite Junkfood: Jack n Jill barbecue flavored Chippy and V-cut (I would take these local favorites over Ruffles and Lays any time.)
3. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: Anything with dark chocolate
4. Favorite Canned Good: Purefoods corned beef (American brands don’t even come close!)
5. Favorite Dessert: Cheesecake, lemon squares, gelato and red velvet cake (who said I had to pick just one?!)
6. Food that you just can’t get enough of: Chicken Inasal - it’s frustrating because there is none available here (even in predominantly Pinoy cities like Carson, Covina, Daly and Cerritos!).
7. Favorite Ethnic Cuisine: Indian food
8. Favorite thing to cook: I like making sinigang because it’s Jojo’s favorite. And if I were having guests over (depending on who's coming to dinner) I would probably make pasta - either shrimp scampi or chicken pesto. I also like making roast pork loin with red potatoes for more special occasions.
9. Favorite Meal of the day: Dinner (it’s when everyone can sit down and enjoy the meal and the company).
10. Favorite Cocktail: I don't really drink alcohol so I'm going to have to say ... Diet coke (Honestly, can you think of any food that does not go well with coke??? My friends and I were just talking about this the other night).
11. Food that you enjoy in private: I’m pretty open about what I eat ... but if I had to pick, it would probably be the spareribs rice meal from Le Ching (in Shoppesville) – we usually have food from there "to go" and eat them at home. Anyone who has been there will know why! =)
12. Favorite dish your mom/lola makes: My mom’s fresh Chinese lumpia with the works!
13. Restaurant dish you have actually made at home: I can come up with a pretty close version of The Cheesecake Factory's Chicken and Shrimp Jambalaya.
14. Most memorable meal: There are several and it’s probably not so much the food but the meal itself. Here are a couple off the top of my head:
a. Our wedding reception: We had a winter wedding so our menu consisted of a warm spinach salad with candied walnuts, cranberries and a light raspberry vinaigrette, followed by a tureen of French onion soup topped with melted Gruyere cheese, this was followed by a light citrus sorbet, next was steamed lobster with pureed butter, and a thick cut of prime rib with au jus and creamy horseradish with a side of baby potatoes and buttered vegetables, lastly a decadent chocolate mousse with dark chocolate sauce and fresh berries. I super loved that meal!
b. Also, Xmas dinner 2008 with dad. Mom made everyone's favorite chili crabs, extra garlicky tenderloin tips, (her super yummy!) Caesar salad, spicy gambas, stir-fried asparagus, and garlic rice. We could not stop eating that night!
c. First meal I ever made myself. I served it to my Berkeley friends (Ilkben, Marco and Giacommo) who were over for a study group. It was my mom's recipe for Chinese-style adobo made with rice wine and honey. My friends gave me such awesome compliments that I was inspired to continue cooking!
d. Crystal Jade Peking Duck Lunch with Les, Jogs and Chow. We were in high school and for some reason we wanted to live it up – we over-ordered some pretty expensive stuff and didn’t have enough money to pay for the meal. Everyone had to cough up whatever cash they had. All I had was money my mom gave me to buy a pair of black school shoes and I had to give that up! I was worried about my mom finding out so I ended up using my old pair of shoes for the first few weeks of school. (Mom, if you are reading this just remember this was a LOOONG time ago!). Looking back, it was a delicious meal and even if it did cost me shoes, I still don’t regret it =)
15. Do you “eat to live” or “live to eat”: In case it is not blatantly obvious … I am definitely a LIVE TO EAT person. All my best memories and happiest times revolve around a good meal! And that is something I hope never changes =)

Okay, enough talk about food … I am seriously hungry and have to go get ready for work.