Saturday Delight

On my way home from SM Megamall where I bought a bottle of Vitamin D, I chanced upon this freshly harvested cassava and bought more than a kilo. I’ve always craved for this when it is in season. Cooked simply boiled in coconut cream, it is so yummy.

Are some of you familiar with this? I wonder if it is also grown in other Asian countries like ours. Some also make cassava cake out of this. But that is more difficult to do than simply boiling it.

Oh my, I just finished my 106th book for this year’s Goodreads challenge. Only 14 more books to go then I am done. It’s been a while since I read a biography. Most that I encountered were memoirs, written by the authors themselves. This one is about the life of an unknown Kennedy and her struggles.

Knowing more about the Kennedys. This time a daughter who was hidden from the world because of mental illness. When I read the book Johnny We hardly Knew Ye a long, long time ago, I was fascinated by JFK’s political career and it was a good read. Rosemary was loved by her family, she was given all those choiced schools and caregivers so she could live a life close to normal. She reached a ripe old age of 86. It was nice reading about how the Kennedys survived the ordeal of having a mentally challenged daughter compared to her gifted and intelligent siblings.

Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

She was the oldest daughter born to Joseph Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, sister to Pres. John F. Kennedy and to the senators Robert and Ted Kennedy. She was intellectually disabled and had a separate schooling from other students.

I’ve always been an admirer of the Kennedy clan and  I enjoyed looking at all the pictures included in the biography.

One good read for this year’s challenge.

 

 

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Life With Mom (Part 4)

Mom is still with us and she can’t wait to go home to the province to tend her garden.  She spends most of her time here watching her favorite soap programs and playing solitaire. She’s not much into cooking, she said I cook better than she does. Well, one thing I love about her is, she is so appreciative of what I prepare  in the kitchen, whether it is a simple meal or an elaborate dish for special occasions. This afternoon, she watched me prepare puto,  a steamed rice cake similar to English muffins. I did a little variation though, instead of just plain puto mix, sugar, eggs and oil, I added a cup of evaporated milk for that rich and creamy texture and Mom loved it. She said, it is better than those she has tasted before. I just smiled when she uttered “mananam”. In our dialect, that means yummy. It’s nice paired with a hot cup of decaf coffee.

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Yummy Puto Pao

Puto is simply steamed  rice cake which is prepared using a round mold  or muffin cups or several small plastic molds, whichever suits you is okay. There are varied ways to make puto one of which is puto pao –  it’s a puto recipe with filling. I used a puto mix here so it is pretty easy to prepare it.

Ingredients:

200 g White King Puto Mix

1 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

5 tsp. cooking oil

1 can corned beef (I used the Delimondo brand)

Cook corned beef until it is dry. Set aside.

Boil water in a steamer and grease puto molder. Since I used the smallest puto molds, there was no need to grease them since the mixture comes off easily once it’s done.

Combine puto mix and water until well blended. Add sugar gradually and mix. Gradually add cooking oil and continue mixing until smooth.

Pour batter up to 1/4 of the puto molder, add a half teaspoon of corned beef then continue pouring the batter until the molder is 3/4 full. You can put cheese strips before steaming but this is optional and since you are preparing bite-size puto pao, it becomes salty if you put too much cheese so a thin strip will do. Put a clean cloth between the steamer and the cover so water won’t mix with the puto while cooking.

Arrange puto molders inside steamer and steam for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the surface is shiny and bounces back when pressed.

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