Pandan Plant

Lots of Pandan plants in our backyard.

New sprouts of baby Pandan plants showing its roots.

My Pandan-flavored steamed rice.

Pandan or Screwpine is well-known in Southeast Asian Cuisine. It is commonly used to add aroma to rice and curry dishes. Personally, every time, I cook steamed rice. I made sure to put some leaves tied in a knot just after boiling. It renders a sweet-herby smell that lingers all through-out the house which is a very nice and comforting fragrance for me. Pandan is also a medicinal plant. You can use its leaves for healing wounds, headache, athiritis and stomach spasms. As for its roots, it is believed to have aphrodisiac properties. An herbal alternative for viagra. Just boil its roots with some water and drink like a tea. That's what my Uncle said... LOL! I also read that Pandan leaves are also used to make baskets and bags. I have several Pandan plants in my backyard that was planted by my Mom. But I'm the one now caring for them because my mother is living with my bro in Davao. Shown above are some of the photos of my Pandan plants.

Kaffir Lime Tree

I bought this Kaffir Lime tree several months ago at Manila Seedling Bank in Quezon Avenue. It has tripled its size now. When I got it, it was just about 5 inches tall. I'm so amazed by its appearance. It has double petal and very thorny. The husband said that all citrus plants are like that. I think so, because the Philippine Lemon plant we have is also like that. I've read so many Asian recipes, particularly Thai and Malaysian that include Kaffir Lime in their ingredients. One of these days, I'm going to try it. I just wanted my Kaffir Lime to get a little bigger before I start using their leaves for my cooking delight.

Click here to see what Wikipedia says about Kaffir Lime.

PH: What Is That?

The baby you see in the photo above is my son's god daughter, her name is Hannah. Also, they our cousins from hubby's side. She's with Tita Andeng. Everytime Tita Andeng asks, "What is that?". She'll automatically points her right index finger. Cute baby... isn't she? (",)

La.Pi.S #3 - Grilled

I've been invited by Spices to join this meme. Thanks girl! I'm sure, I'll have fun doing this and have the chance to show my food photos. Here's my share for this week's theme: Grilled. Taken about year ago in our backyard. The husband was grilling pork barbeque for our lunch. Hhmmm... just got me thinking, I'l marinate pork later today and let the husband do the grilling again tomorrow. Suddenly, I miss grilled foods. hehehe! (",)

Stella, My Peach Rose

This was the first thing that greeted me this morning as I was about to sweep our backyard. Nice, right? Such a lovely flower!

Wordless Wednesday #9

Wordless Wednesday

My Homemade Chili Garlic Sauce

My chili plants are very abundant nowadays. Everyday, as I water my plants in our backyard, the chili plants would greet me with several red ripe fruits which I will pick happily. It is a nice and warm feeling to harvest fruits from your plants. As the chili fruits get accumulated and dries, I decided to make them into a chili-garlic sauce. So, here it is... It is made of oil, garlic, chilis and soy sauce.

Weekend Snapshot - Indian Mango Flowers & Fruits

Weekend Snapshot

We just stayed home last Saturday and Sunday. We were supposed to go to SM-Mall Of Asia, to unwind. At the back of the mall, they have this great view of Manila Bay, as it turned out nobody felt like going out. Maybe next week....

Yesterday, as I was watering my plants, I saw these beautiful flowers of our Indian mango tree, it only indicates that summer is here already because it is brimming again with flowers, as you see in the pictures. I'm sure mid week of May, we'll be able to savor the sweet fruits of our tree, their fruits are best dipped in Sauteed Shrimp Paste a.k.a. "ginisang bagoong". For those who are not Filipinos, click here to see the matured fruit, best eaten semi-ripe and the very addictive ginisang bagoong!

Spring Onion

two weeks ago H planted some onions, now, look at the spring onions, they are in bloom!

What Wikipedia says about spring onion....

A scallion, also commonly known as spring onion or green onion, is associated with various members of the genus Allium that lack a fully-developed bulb. They tend to be milder tasting than other onions and are typically steamed and set in salads in western cookery and cooked in many Asian recipes. Diced scallions are often used in soup, noodle, seafood, and sauce in eastern dishes, after removing the bottom quarter-inch or so of the root end.

Photo Hunters - Theme: "Delicious"

photo hunt

These photos are my entry for the photo hunt this week, with the theme, "delicious". For the first photo, you can see the banana blossom or banana heart beautifully hanging from the banana plant in our backyard. I harvested it and cook it in thick coconut milk, that's the second photo, which by the way, is one of my family's favorite, it's creamy and yummy! Here's the recipe. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! c",)

Photo Hunters - Theme: "Light"

photo hunt

The stray cat, we named "Miming", sun bathing in our backyard.

Poor Izzie!

It hasn't been raining for over a week now. The weather is great, no rain but it's cold. The "lungaw" in our backyard has almost no water in it. My hubby transfered Izzie for the meantime in the fish bowl we bought for her. Izzie is a gold fish, who lives in my Mom's famous "lungaw" in our backyard. The fish bowl would be her temporary habitat while we are waiting to rain again. Also, Izzie needed protection from the stray cats that visits our backyard. The cats were trying to scoop her out of the water, when it's too shallow. Poor Izzie! For now, she is safe in her fish bowl, inside our home. Maybe some of you are wondering why not keep her in the fish bowl? We love Izzie, though an ornamental fish, we wouldn't deprive her of huge space to swim around plus all the tadpoles and algae she can eat. Still, natural habitat is the best for any kind of animals.

Siling Labuyo (Hot Chili Pepper)

The usual Friday morning, as I have cleaned the living & dining area of our home. I went out to the backyard to do some sweeping too. I noticed my chili plants are proud to greet me with their bountiful fruits, nice to look at, isn't it? I have two varieties, the "Siling Labuyo and "Siling Pang-sinigang".

I'm featuring now the hot chili pepper. I'm quite a fan of these cuties, not so much into super spicy foods but I do appreciate it (ika nga, medyo maanghang lang, hehe!). I usually use this with fish sauce (patis), for my dip. I just cut it into two, not mash it, just to render some spicyness to the dip but not so much. I'm thinking, I'll cook "Paksiw Na Bangus" later, so I can use these freshly picked chilis from our backyard for my dip. Also, I'm craving for garlic fried rice... yum! yum! (",)

Lola Lita's Homemade Bagoong & Indian Mangoes From Our Backyard

Our merienda. The mangoes are harvested from our own tree, in our backyard. It's brimming once again with fruits. Eating mangoes wouldn't be complete without "Bagoong" (Fermented Shrimp Paste). It is made by Lola Lita, whom I considered my second mom, specially for us. It's the only bagoong that my husband would eat beside my homemade bagoong.

Here's the recipe...

It is made from fresh tiny shrimps, wash and drained well.You should remove also the shells and tiny fishes in it. This is important, if you skip this step, your tiny shrimps would render a foul smell after sometime. Mix with a generous amount of salt. Leave it for 4-5 days in a container, should be properly covered to avoid the pesty flies diving into the mixture. Then, cooked in vinegar until all liquid has evaporated. Now, you should saute it, in tons of garlic and onion. Also with finger chilis and some brown sugar, for that extra sweet flavor and aroma.

Izzda, the Goldfish

It's been months since the aquarium was broken and we dumped the fish in our lungaw (a wide shallow hole filled with rain water). Its purpose is, according to my Mom, to contain the water when the rain pours... duh?!!!!

For years now, I've been arguing with her about it because of the threat of Dengue fever. Now, she's not here to stop me, I can dump soil in it... hehehe! I'm just waiting for the delivery this week.

Back to Izzy, short for Izzda, glad to say, it is still alive. I'm still looking for a fish bowl to transfer it. Hopefully this week I will not forget to buy one.

Ang Puno ng Atis (The Sugar-apple Tree)

This is my second post about Sugar-apple. It's been over a year now and its breaming again with fruits. This morning as my hubby was cleaning our backyard. He picked and ate some while I took pictures. There's really a satisfying and good feeling when you harvest and eat the fruits in your own backyard. Also, another good thing about it, you're sure it has no pesticides or chemicals!

Chili Flowers and Fruits

A few weeks ago, I posted some pictures of chili plants in our backyard. And still, they're brimming with flowers and fruits. They're very nice to look. I just want to share them with you c",)

Siling Haba a.k.a. "Finger Chilis"

Yesterday morning, while watering plants in our backyard. I saw these beautiful finger chilis (siling haba) hanging gracefully, as you can see in the first photo. At long last, my mother's effort paid off. Unlike her other plants, she had a hard time making Chili plants live longer, it always dries up and dies.

"Siling-Haba" or Capsicum annuum var. longum, its scientific name. It is a light to greenish fruit, sometimes yellow or red in color. It is oblong lanceolate, narrowing to a tapering tip, 6 cm long and 1.5 across. A little spicy, sometimes not at all, but have a very enticing aroma when added to dishes. Also, the leaves of this fruit, 2nd photo, are commonly used in Philippine cuisine.

Paniki (Bats)

Yesterday my mother's been talking about bats (paniki or kabog) in our backyard. She saw them flying around our Sugar-apple tree (puno ng atis). Out of curiosity, I waited for it and took pictures. It was around six in the evening (habang nag-aagaw ang dilim at liwanag!). I got a little scared not because of myths and stories about them but the fact that they may actually bite me! I've read somewhere that they do bite. I was in the dark in the middle of our backyard while I took pictures of them. They were only a few meters away and circling almost at the top of my head (",)

Different Animals & Plants in our Backyard

Manila was hit by typhoon Milenyo last Sept 28. For this reason, we haven't had electricity for 7 straight days! It was a week of discomfort. Well, nothing much to do ... no surfing the net and blogging for me! I just played with my camera and took pictures of anything in our backyard (",)