how the dough’s not as tough as before

 My grandmother is a baker by profession. She’s tried to teach me to bake cakes since I was in grade school. But I cursed baking ever since my first (flop) pineapple upside down cake, and the rest of the flop cakes and flop cookies that followed.

For reasons I could not explain, Turo and I find ourselves with much more free time now than when we’d lived in the city. We’ve started to enjoy lazy weekends even when we have more housework now than when we lived in my parent’s house. Before we had a laundrywoman and an ironing lady, now I am both. It used to be my parents who took over house repairs and garden work, but in our tiny apartment, this was Turo’s domain. In addition to the usual cooking and cleaning and looking after the kids, now we also take turns fetching Ari to and from school.

Running a household on our own certainly means a lot of work. But it’s the kind of work we lovingly attend to however physically exhausting it gets. Still, at the end of the day we get to sit down with a cup of coffee or a couple bottles of beer before getting some real rest. And in the morning we are woken by our hungry little monsters clamoring for breakfast that we all enjoy without the rush.

I also found myself accessing the internet less, reading more, bonding with my kids more, even cooking more. Proof of this is my recent reunion with la germania. After years of enjoying my lola’s perfect pastries without ever having to learn to make them myself, I realized I still wanted to learn how to bake—bread in particular. I love bread, I love herbs in my bread, but gourmet bread is not as easy to find here. No Rustan’s, no delicatessen anywhere close. If you can’t buy them, why not bake them yourself.

After some serious consideration and more second thoughts, I signed up for Italian Bread, Pizza and Pasta lessons in Sylvia Reynoso-Gala’s Culinary Studio. Up until the first day of my cooking classes I felt reluctant to go. What if I start baking perfect flops again?

But my hands found themselves kneading dough for the first time that day. I felt liberated and satisfied.

blueberry breakfast

I finally woke up early. I didn’t get to jog. But I finally got to make those blueberry pancakes I’ve long planned to make.

Yes, some wild variety of blueberries grow in this country. I bought a few grams of fresh blueberries when we were in Baguio last Feb. I love blueberries because they’re among the superfoods. Together with avocados, apples and pomegranates, they’ve got tons of antioxidants and lots of anti-aging properties, including fighting memory loss. These little berries have also earned the distinction as the fruit with the greatest anti-cancer properties, compared to other fruits.

filling sesame rolls

I was planning on burgers for breakfast so I dropped by a bakeshop on the way home. Between Goldilocks and French Baker, I chose the latter. I’m not buying cake, just bread.

The cheapest bread available was pan de sal. But burger and pan de sal didn’t quite match. So I bought the next cheapest bread on display. I’m not sure if they were really called sesame rolls but that’s what I’m calling them.

little shopping pleasures

When almost everything comes with a price tag, and when almost everything that comes with a price tag is getting less affordable, it’s a pleasant surprise to find stuff that are worth more than what they cost.