Pinoy Sawsawan

Sawsawan is just like the mexican salsa. It is different though since we use soy sauce and vinegar plus vegetables and fruits are added including mangoes. We don't use avocado for dipping sauce either, we only eat avocado as a fruit like fruit shakes or eating it alone with sugar. Sawsawan is always prepared when fish or meat is cooked dry. When we grill or fry fish or pork, many will volunteer to prepare the sawsawan. Normally, we help in slicing the tomatoes, onion, green onions (optional) and chili. Sometimes we add unripe mangoes that add sourness to the vinegar. We also add a bit of lemon to the soysauce and vinegar mixture. The cooked fish or pork is then dipped to it and sometimes a bit of the mixture is added to the rice for more taste.

Dried Dilis/Anchovies

Here it is Kabayan, your favorite fried dried dilis! We call it lansang/nails in Philippines. My Mom used to sell this in packs (5pesos per ice wrapper pack). This is great for snacks, appetizer, sumsuman (eat it with alcohol) or with rice. Dip it in vinegar or eat it right away, you will like it. Once you tasted it, you can' t stop eating more. It looks gross for those who haven't tried dried fish but for most of us Filipinos, especially the bisayan, we love it! I like frying it with a bit of cooking oil and sugar. Fry it for only a few minutes, just enough to make it golden brown.

Apple Cobbler

I remember my friend's Mom who loves to cook pies and other desserts. Her cooking is really good that I can eat a lot of her sweet goodies. One of my favorites is her Apple Cobbler. I didn't get her recipe but cooks.com's recipe is quite similar to hers. Just add love in your cooking to have a delicious result.


Peel and slice into a baking dish, 5 medium size apples. Combine and sprinkle over the apples: 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 2 tsp. lemon juice 1/8 tsp. salt
Bake 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. While the apples are cooking, sift: 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking powder

Cut into it: 1/4 c. skim milk

Turn onto a floured board and pat until the dough will cover baking dish. Place the dough on top of the apples and cut slits for the steam to escape. Bake 20 minutes in a 450 degree oven. Boil together: 1/4 c. water

Pour over the cobbler and bake 10 minutes more. Serve warm. Six servings.

Variation: Use 2 cups fresh or canned fruit instead of apples and bake only until tender or sugar is melted.

Fried Young Shrimp or Anchovies

I am not sure what it is really called but back in Philippines, my mother used to fry young shrimp as what she called it. In our term we call it Shagyagan, tiny pink shrimp. This tastes good with soy sauce and lemon or vinegar and rice. We always had this for breakfast before because the lady who's selling this visit our place every morning. My mom then added eggs, cornstarch, salt and pepper to it and mix it. She then fried it like pancakes. My friend did cook some and made me remember my Mom's cooking. But the one she used was anchovies or what we call dilis. It was prepared the same way the young shrimp is prepared. Perfect with rice and a mixture of soy sauce and vinegar plus the chili!

Guso/ Seaweed

Gross? You might thing it is if you haven't tried eating some seaweeds like guso or lato. These are only a few of the seaweeds that I like back in Philippines. I really miss my father's seaweed salad. My favorite is guso. That's why I was so happy when one of my friends prepared a guso salad when we had a gathering. It is easy to prepare. You just have to wash the seaweed properly to get rid of the salty taste and the rock or sand where it grew. It will be cooked later on because of the vinegar that will be added to it. A bit of salt to taste, onion, ginger root, tomatoes, a bit of lemon juice, chili and green onions are added to add taste. Mmmm, now I am drooling.

Sausage in BBQ Sauce

Recently, I like eating sausage and hotdog. My favorite is sausage in BBQ sauce. I just grill the sausage and baste it with BBQ sauce. Sometimes, I just fry it and when cooked, dip it in BBQ sauce. Also, with hotdog, I use the microwave oven to heat it and eat it with the same sauce. I am into it, maybe because I am pregnant or I am not tired of it yet. I just love the taste of the sausage. I should watch out for it may make me fat...

Plan A Trip To Branson This Summer

My husband and I just came home from a nice trip. Though we only went out of town for a few days, we enjoyed our trip and we had so much fun. We are planning to go back for us to visit the rest of the attractions. My husband and I love the pretty places and the beaches. This summer, I wish that we could go for a trip again. It would be nice if we will go out of state and stay in a nice hotel or place like the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing. He loves Hilton. When he visited me back in my country, we went to Hilton too. It was a great place and we loved the accommodation. I bet the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel is also a very nice place. I would love to have a trip this summer to Branson and stay at the hotels. Aside from having luxurious accommodations, the hotels are situated within the electrifying entertainment capital of the Midwest in Branson, Missouri. I could go shopping, eat at any good restaurants, take a walk by the river and see attractions. The new Payne Stewart Golf Club, managed by Hilton, is close by and features hole after hole of breathtaking scenery. That is really cool. Also, Branson has ongoing events for everyone’s entertainment this summer like the exciting Father’s Day Salute, National Kid’s Fest at Silver Dollar City, the 10th Annual Clown Jam, live entertainment, theaters and much more. Both hotels are within easy driving distance of Branson’s championship golf courses, lakes, museums, theme parks and 49 live entertainment theaters. Indeed, this exciting vacation community is perfect for everyone. So check their website now and learn more about the different packages they offer.

Pineapple Salad Dressing

I first tried Pine apple salad dressing at Toro's and it was good. At that night, I had a ginger dressing too for my garden salad but I finished my salad with the pineapple dressing. It was really good. I told my husband that I will make my own pineapple salad dressing.

4 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons sugar
Juice from one can sliced pineapple
1 tablespoon butter
2 eggs
1 cup cream, whipped

Mix flour and sugar, adding pineapple juice a little at a time, until the mixture will pour. Heat remaining juice and add flour mixture. Cook directly over fire, stirring until slightly thickened. Place over hot water, add butter and well-beaten eggs. Cook again until quite thick, stirring constantly. Chill. Fold in whipped cream just before serving.
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Green Beans with Shrimp and Meat

A friend prepared this green dish in a simple way. Just like how we cook string beans and other vegetables with meat or seafood. I love the string beans but the green beans taste good too. With enough soy sauce and pepper, this is perfect with hot cooked rice. The vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and garlic are sauted first on oil. Then the meat is added. When cooked, the beans are then added to the dish. Seafood such as shrimp is added last since it will cook quickly. Add soy sauce and pepper to taste. Serve with hot rice.

Ginisang Mixed Seafood

The main ingredients of this dish are seafood mix, oyster sauce, onion and tomatoes. It is one of my favorite dishes to be eaten with rice. Be sure to cook more rice for you will want more if you will have this dish. It is delicious and easy to cook. You just saute the onions and tomatoes on a heated oil (just a little bit) then add the mixed seafood (can be bought at any asian store). Add oysters sauce, just enough to to your desired taste. Cover and simmer till the seafood is cooked. The water/sauce came from the seafood mix so you don't need to add water. Serve with rice. Enjoy your seafood mix dish!