Luau Time

For Bambi's graduation party it will be a luau. What is a Luau? For many of us, we see a roasted pig (but the hawaiianos roast it underground), lots of pineapple and spam. Hahaha. So we will have lechon, the ubiquitous Filipino fiesta feasting food, macaroni salad with pineapple (chicken or tuna? with pickled relish and a bit of this and that, spicy chicken wings (from a Korean grocery)two kids of fruit salad courtesy of Kylie, pineapple upside down cake, mango and strawberry trifle cake, lots of fruit and veggies. Wanted to do a spam sushi but don't have time. Wanted to do this and that but ultimately, we'll just go with the flow, including a chinese pancit. remember, hawaii is a melting pot of Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and so many other little ethnicities. we'll see how it goes.

Another Jeff Foxworthy adventure

So I went to this out in the wilderness flatlands area where there were three gigantic bleacher buildings called the Joliet Speedway, three tracks for different races. Underneath were food stalls of americana foodstuff catered by Levy brothers. Funnel cakes, lemonade, corn dogs, Beer, twisted fries, beer, popcorn, beer, burger, dogs, beer. Young and old were there.
Looking down into a muddy track with four giant giant tires as markers, drove in 2 sets of 4 cars, each garishly decorated each team with a single standout color.
Object of the game and bloodlust of the crowd which included boys and girls as young as ...wha???year olds? strollers of infants? fat little 7 year old girls, skinny 4 year old boys, was to see whose lead car could go around the track at least 5 times and survive the onslaught of being mangled, battered and beaten by the other cars. Like quidditch. Protecting the seeker with chasers and beaters. Only the cheers for each banged up and demolished car was like being in a Roman arena.
Interestingly enough, I picked each winning team including the final ones. Cheez, there were no betting booths because, mind you, this was a Family Event!!!

And the kids behind me were yelling loudly, Hey Mr. Popcorn Man, thinking we were all deaf..I whispered an aside, ermmm, they surely teach them young, don't they? And the chubby, red faced little girl (who probably will grow up to be a butangera na taga bayan ng pulang leeg) muttered a "I'll get you for that" when my thrilled companion blurted out that he almost touched the danged beach ball that was making the rounds up and down the stands. She and her little sibling were the loudest in yelling FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT when a scuffled ensued down the pit place. Bloodlust at this early age!

So Foxworthy, I'm earning brownie points for adventuring into the land of your brilliant spiels, and I'm not even a red neck! Still, this is part of americana I never knew existed beyond listening to someone else's stories. Chuck it down to being a tourist in my own back yard. And on to the next red neck adventure.

Thursday Night Dinners

Last Thursday, on a whim I made paella, then I had a pork roast and some other stuff. I was rushing as usual, and as I was boiling pasta, watching the paella simmer, and doing multiple tasks, i asked myself why i was doing this. And I realized that it's because I want to push myself to see if I can do it! Get a meal for 17 persons done every Thursday, within a certain amount of time (one hour to 2 tops) as I get home late, and still serve hot meals to my kids and their families. And to test recipes and flavors. I saw Bobby Flay do a paella throwdown, and that's what made me decide on paella for dinner. Came out pretty good even if I only had chicken, chorizo de bilbao and shrimps. Now on to the next Thursday....sotanghon anyone?