Defrosting Beef, Grandma Carmen Style

You can't exactly tell from this angle, but this was a HUGE pot of marinating Korean BBQ.

Preparations for our weekend feast began as soon as we arrived at Grandma Carmen's house. My mom packed 20 lbs. of beef short ribs to bbq at Tita Carol and Tito Jim's house along with a couple trays of chicken drumsticks. We figured the long drive would be enough time to defrost the beef, but when we removed the butcher paper, the beef was still frozen solid. While my mom, Colleen, and Sean ventured off to the local Asian market, Andrew and I were left with the daunting task of defrosting the massive beef carcass.

I sat in the living room reading Grandma Carmen's big stack of People magazine (she's an avid reader of celebrity gossip) while the beef took a long carousel ride in the microwave. Then Andrew walked in with a look of horror on his face.

"Grandma Carmen's pouring hot water all over the frozen beef. She's cooking it, and I don't know how to stop her."

I went into the kitchen to see if I could convince her to leave the preparations to us. I told her to relax and let us do all of the work.

"Oh no, my dear. I don't like to be always sitting down. I need to work, don't you know I'm always the hard worker, not like my sister Gloria. Whenever it's her turn to cook and wash dishes she will say, 'Oh!! I cannot work, Sister, I am too sickly!' Ay apo, my God..."

(I feel that typing "Oh!!" does not do justice to that familiar Ilocano shriek that I've come to know as a Querido sister trademark)

When her hot water defrosting technique failed, she pulled out a 13-inch knife and started stabbing into the frozen block of meat with all of her 90-year old might. Scary. I was terrified that she'd stab either herself or me.

In the end the meat finally defrosted and tasted great even though a few pounds were slightly boiled in a hot water bath before marinating.

Paula's Pancake House in Solvang

Colleen's early morning face.


Dan was too full to finish the rest of his pancakes!


Saying good bye to Michelle and Dan.

It's become a family tradition to stop by Paula's Pancake House in Solvang each time we drive up north. We take the longer, scenic route on the 101 just so my dad can have his Danish pancake fix. I like watching the ostriches run along side the cars on the highway.

Michelle and Dan decided to make the drive up to the Solvang too, even though they couldn't make the whole journey up to Sacramento. At least there was some outlet shopping at Camarillo on their way back home.

High-Tech Parents

I was just chatting with Tricia about how our parents are adjusting in this new, high-tech world "on the online." So I've been taking note of some new Taglish phrases that have become commonplace in our household.

Nanay ko: Puwede bang i-text mo si Colleen?
Ako: I-tinext ko na siya.

Mom: Can you text Colleen?
Me: I already texted her.

Tatay ko: Naning, paki-gugol mo ang mga NASDAK na istoks para sa akin.
Dad: Naning, please google the NASDAQ stocks for me.

Nanay ko: Ate, bakit hindi ako makapag-email kay Tito Melvin? May bayrus ako?
Tatay ko: Anong klaseng bayrus? Kabayong Trodyan?
Ako: Hindi, walang bayrus! Nakalimutan mo ang iyong pasword!

Mom: Ate, why can't I email Tito Melvin? Do I have a virus?
Dad: What kind of virus? A Trojan Horse?
Me: No, there's no virus! You forgot your password!

Tatay ko: Puwede bang i-feysbuk ko ang CNN?
Dad: Can I facebook CNN?


My dad's "cell phone."


This is particularly impressive from my dad because he once thought my eyeglasses case was his cell phone, and he still hasn't learned how to turn on our computer. But facebook, twitter, and google, yeah, he's heard of dat...

Wilson Park Mini-Marathon

Michelle and I broke our old record by doing 8 laps at Wilson! 7.28 miles.

Long Distance Call

Grandma always told me and Julie that if we misbehaved, she would haunt us after she dies. So I was a little scared when I received a call from her, until I remembered that I had changed Tita Glory's number from "Tita Glory" to "Gloria Santos."

Woo hoo!

I just had my interview at CSULA, and they've already offered me a spot in their program! Yay!

Meringue Puppies

I saw these cute cookies in a bakery in Little Tokyo.  They remind me of the Badobado's dog, Chanel.  Actually, they look like a white Neela. 

Culture Shock

Little Spam, Big Spam

I never knew there were two sizes of Spam.  I remember cooking Spam in our rice cooker in the dorms.  We put the pot in the cooker, pressed the button, and hoped that the bottom would get hot enough to sear the delectable slices of processed meat.  It took forever.  Then I got smart and brought my mom's electric grill which went a whole lot faster!

I think college was one of the first times I realized that everyone doesn't have a rice cooker.  And everyone doesn't instinctly know how to cook rice.  Then I noticed that some people buy steamed rice when we ordered Chinese or Thai take-out.  Buy steamed rice?!  Absurd...

Which reminds me of another shocker...  You know that stool that has a spikey little tool attached to a 2x4 for grating coconut (if you don't know)?  When I was a kid, I used to think that ALL families had that thing.  I also thought that all families had giant machetes for slicing the tops off young coconuts.  For Colleen and me, coming home to see our dad in the backyard hacking away at coconuts with an 18-inch machete was all too commonplace.  And we kept it in the kitchen with all of the normal kitchen knives.

Haha, one day I want to see my dad climb up a coconut tree in the Philippines.  I hope he isn't too old by the time I can get out there...

Dinosaurs!?

Yum.  Dinosaur Egg Plums aka pluots.  A plum-apricot hybrid.  If it were up to me, I'd call them plumcots.

CSULA Interview

I was just invited for an interview at CSULA.  I'm so excited (and nervous).  Now I need to find professional clothes...