Still Thankful But... Can I Rant?

Thanksgiving is not normally celebrated in my country, the Philippines.  But recently, maybe because of the internet and various social networking sites, the practice of celebrating an actual day for giving thanks is kinda getting on. I mean, why the hell shouldn't it?  Certainly, we must have something to be thankful for in our lives no matter how big or small it may be.  There is also no Thanksgiving holiday in Manila but in our home, we cook something a little more special for Thanksgiving.  Last year's was Roasted Cornish Hens and Fried Mac and Cheese and my Fudge Brownies.  This year, I wasn't even home as I was with my family in Philadelphia where we feasted on an American-Vietnamese spread. The shrimp dish in this lunchbox came from a recipe from that menu which I promised to make for him.

Speaking of giving thanks, my boy and I get into this talk every time he rants or complains about mundane things such as a game not loading fast enough, the internet being too slow, some game he played not being entertaining enough, his team mates in Warcraft or whatever on earth it is called ganged up on him, etc. etc.  I'm telling you, if there's a ranting contest out there, I'm going to be first in line to register my boy because I am sure that we will win.  Times like these, I reply by listing down all the blessings he has received in the year alone and I get this look--this "you're making me feel bad about myself" look like I had to make him feel guilty because he's so blessed.  Which is so beside the point.  I don't know what to do.  Maybe being thankful for a life such as his is a view beyond the grasp of a 13 year-old boy (he's turning 14 this weekend).  I mean he is thankful on a daily basis for the food I make for him and for little things.***sighs***

I'm telling you, the most difficult thing to become is not becoming a doctor, or a lawyer, or a rocket scientist.  The most difficult thing to become is becoming a parent.  It is of course the most fulfilling too, but dang...It's tough!  Now let me rant about that...

Today's lunchbox:  Crispy Fried Shrimp with Onions and Peppers (I have no name for this, can you see?), Steamed Rice

Curries of The World-Day 1

I don't know about your kids, but my son loves Curry.  Absolutely loves them no matter which country it came from, or what color it is, or the degree of spice--he adores them all.  It was actually his idea that we do curries for the whole week which was really a nice idea though we could actually go on for 3 weeks without repeating a country and the whole year if we did the curries of India alone.  But of course we won't do that.  We will however begin the week with an Indian curry and rightfully so because it is widely accepted that India is the birthplace of Curry (from the Tamil word Kari which meant a spiced sauce).

I am serving today's curry with a Mango Chutney I made yesterday, part of a product line I'm developing called Artiste (shameless plug, I know).  The chutney was spiced with turmeric, cardamom, chilis and pink peppercorns.  I'm quite happy that they turned out quite well--sunshine in a bottle as I described them in Facebook, perfect for the Pappadums I put in the lunchbox.

His main course is a tomato based Kerala Shrimp curry which was inspired by the recipe found in this beautiful, and yummy blog-- Plateful, written by a wonderful, generous person by the name of Nashira.  You should check it out!  It wasn't so long ago when I thought all curries had coconut cream in it for it to be really good and authentic.  Boy, was I wrong. The permutations are so vast and varied ranging from spicy to curse the heavens spicey, colored form the brightest yellow to the deepest red.  It could be tomato or coconut based. There's even one that has cashew as its main curry ingredient!  Can't wait try that one out.  But for today, we're having this. :-)

Today's Lunch: Chemmeen Mulakittathu (Shrimp Curry--Tomato Based), Punjabi Masala Pappadums (bought from Taj in Makati) with Homemade Mango Chutney spiced with Turmeric, Cardamom, Chilis and Pink Peppercorns.

Namaste!