Gateau

 gâteau by lesbrewskis

It's been years since Brian and I have written a song. Let's just say it's been as long as before Elliott was born, and we still lived in beautiful Monterey. I picked up the bass in 2006 but I've written poems and essays a lot years ago and have been forced to take piano lessons like any Filipino child. I tried the whole guitar thing, but my fingers, as my friend Lisa has described are "swan fingers" so it's only capable of bass playing.

A few weeks ago, we decided to go do some book hunting and maybe finally unpacking some boxes we've ignored to open and I found my said poems. Tons of them, and after reading them, I was in a writing mood again. Brian also has this ukulele he bought way back in 2004 on his trip to Kaui. He's hasn't really dabbled with it too much yet, but he came up with this amazing riff and we just went to town in writing. It feels good to be back on the music writing world. My friend Lizzie has also been an inspiration since she has been doing outstanding work in the music writing/playing scene.

Life has just been needing a lot more sass, and digging through that old box of stuff was like digging back into old hobbies. I even went back to reading. Reading nothing but facebook lately has been making me feel dumber and the need to go back to school or pick-up an old hobby seemed to be what I needed. I picked the latter because that school thing is pricey. I needed inspiration, and a change of pace. There was a deep craving for even more creativity. Maybe I'll even make another short movie, and there is a project I'm working on that I'm hoping to do before this year is done.

Thank you to my wonderful husband for the great ukulele riff and to my dear friend Lizzie for inspiring me to get back on the music train. <3

I hope you all enjoy the demo. I sure did as it made me want Hawaiian food today and caused me to make some.

When Saturday hits you like it's just another weekday

Well this post is probably going to be all over the place just like my day. I have been everywhere and back today and it's not even over yet. The only reason I'm able to blog right now is because both the boys are pre-occupied with their chosen mode of entertainment both courtesy of Sony. 

I tackled an obstacle today I always find very intimidating. I don't make much Filipino desserts mostly because they seem so daunting and overly in need of manual labor. I remember when my mother would have to squeeze the living daylights out of grated coconut meat just to get coconut cream and it's because almost every dessert requires coconut cream. Coconut cream is the first squeeze of matured coconut. It takes muscle and patience to get it out of the meat. You're also a sucker if you get meat dropped in the cream. Make sure you have cheese cloth and a strainer handy. Coconut milk is the second squeeze where water is included, the squeezing and attempt to suffocate the coconut like it's a person isn't as hard to do as with the first squeeze.

I made biko, my dad's favorite dessert. It was a payment for my dad for fixing my car (some critters decided to chew on my left turn signal wires) and also as a dessert to bring to my friend's super bowl party tomorrow. I've never made it but my cousin always does. They are to DIE for. I think I'm invincible so I tackled it. I also have leftover banana leaves I was giddy in need to use it like a girl getting her first designer jeans. All I can say is I can't post the recipe yet because it has some tweaking to be done, but I'm giving myself a pat on the shoulder here. It's freakin' sticky finger delicious.

See, I even included jack fruit. Well, also sweetened coconut meat but I didn't take a picture of it since it came out of a jar. I wasn't that patient to tackle everything coconut today. Squeezing one cup worth of coconut cream was enough.

On another note, my little boy is growing up. We realized today this is the first year we're spending a whole February in our house. Today was beautiful; 70 degrees in California. I was also reminded by one of my good friends about my blog I had when I was pregnant and the challenges I had giving birth. So worth it though, and I know I'm not the first mother to say it but darn kids have to slow down. Like HAVE TO, or HAFTA. Hafto? That last one just doesn't sound right.

Also, 2 years ago, my son didn't ignore me like this. I was the object of his affection. Oh those days when he had no clue who in the world Buzz Lightyear, Woody or Darth Vader were.