Daddy
Ramon Johnson Siytangco Jr. November 24, 2005; 11:45pm Having just arrived some time ago from our Paco house, I am tired but my adrenalin is up. I hadn’t been home in two days and so I asked daddy if he wanted me to stay one more night or go home. He said ” go home to your family, my apo needs you”. I looked at him as he managed a wan smile from his hospital bed in the living room…the ski

Of Anniversaries and Microplanes…
My husband and I just celebrated our 15th anniversary a few weeks ago amidst some turmoil at home. Most of it brought about by the upcoming elections. We normally don’t pay much attention or make much ado about political things but as we sat in the family room one evening, with our daughter giving us a rundown of her activities on the computer, we got around to talking about the current crop of presidentiables and what was in store for the country. We rarely get personal and fired up about personalities…but this time it was unavoidable. We found ourselves on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Each of us weighing in on what

Can’t Do Without
I am staring at my grocery bills mid - month. I used to get scared when I’d do this…but now am used to it. So the sight of the totals at the bottom of the receipts don’t surprise me anymore. Now..now…lest anyone think that I blow an inordinate amount on our monthly food bill…I don’t. Really. There are just some things my kitchen can’t do without.

Berrrr…breakfast
I miss Canada! I miss my Vancouver breakfast. Breakfast is one of my favorite meals of the day ( the others being lunch, dinner plus a little snack thrown in here and there…).   The morning meal is supposed to break the overnight fast ( hence the term breakfast), but it is preferred that it be lighter than lunch or dinner.  Apart from it being vital to a healthy lifestyle, or so most doctors say, I find it to be the most challenging. Thus , breakfast has to be substantial but not heavy, filling but healthy. Our modern-day breakfast choices run the gamut from fruit topped cereal, omelletes , sweet buns ( cinnamon rolls, danish, etc.) to Pinoy favorites - gar

Julia , Julie & Julia
   I never knew much about Julia Child except for the few snippets of  TV history from the Food Network. The clips usually showed ( at      least what I perceived to be) a frumpy, high-pitched , towering    woman with strawberry blond hair and a string of pearls fussing  about in the kitchen. Not a very sexy image…nothing like the well  crafted , sleek Food Network shows. She is touted as