Lasang Pinoy 8 : Creative cookery with children
November 19, 2009 • Hello. I am currently out of the country and unable to respond to comments and e-mails. Rest assured, however, that future posts have been scheduled so new recipes will go live almost everyday during my absence. I'll be back soon with lots of stories and photos. Ciao for now! ~ ConnieI grew up in a family where food and cooking were significant aspects of daily life. My grandparents had a grocery store (that specialized in cured meat) in Quiapo during the post WW II years and that was how they began to make their small fortune. They were both terrific cooks and I don’t remember badly cooked food in their house which was next to ours. They weren’t believers in canned goods–everything was fresh. Marketing was done every other day and meat, seafood and vegetables were bought and cooked fresh.
I grew up in a compound in Caloocan — a large lot with four houses — ours, my grandparents’ and my grandmother’s siblings’. The lot was owned by my great-great-grandmother who divided it among her children. When the siblings eventually bought houses elsewhere, my grandparents bought their shares of the lot. Eventually, there was only my grandparents’ house and ours — my father had bought a parcel from my great-great-grandmother years before. With only two houses left, there was a lot of vacant space — land where my grandparents planted fruit trees and vegetables.
It was on those grounds where most of the old-style outdoor cooking was done. My grandmother’s siblings, and their families, would come over for Christmas and the preparations would begin days ahead. My brother and I would watch the grinding of tinapa and chicharon for the pancit luglog, see the ube halaya cooked in a large carajay over live coals… We would pick and taste and we were never told to scram and get lost, or made to feel like we were a nuisance when the adults were cooking. We were welcome to watch and learn. My brother didn’t turn out to be a foodie, but me? Oh, learn I did. And how!
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[...] Sassy Connie thought of doing her own mini round-up presenting her kids’ kitchen experiments but decided against it the last minute. What is the Pinoycook cooking up this time? Get yourself this Thursday’s issue of Manila Standard when Lasang Pinoy goes to print! [...]
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[...] know I’m done posting my entry for Lasang Pinoy 8 but my kids took turns making mocha latte and choco latte earlier tonight [...]
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Poached egg in dashi – – with ground sichuan peppercorns!
Shrimps, cabbage and bell pepper stir fry
Kalabasa (squash) soup
Halaan (clam) soup
The pasta connection
Appetizers
Asian
Birthdays & Parties
breakfast club
cakes
cheese
Chinese
chocolate
Christmas & New Year
Cooking for one
Daddy cooks!
Filipino
Italian Job
muffins & cupcakes
omelet
pasta
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School lunchbox
spring rolls
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Conversations
- sheric on 'Cheese, tomato and basil toasties': Hi Ms. Connie, like it very much…yummy, i also try...
- Camille on 'Maja Maiz': Hi Ms. Connie… I really like your website I always visit it everytime na...
- ana on 'Buttery cupcakes': thank you, miss connie… this is really a big help..
- ana on 'Buttery cupcakes': hi miss connie… i love your recipes. they are just easy to follow, esp for...
- lemon on 'Make your own fish (and chicken) nuggets': ahaha. Perfect trick for a daughter who loves...
Feast Asia
Sweet and sour chicken filletsWill you believe me if I said that the breast of a 900-gram chicken can feed three people? My 12-year-old and 11-year-old daughters... »
First of all I sympathize with your sprain. I’m glad you didn’t break your leg. I fractured my leg 8 months ago and was disabled for many months (I plan to write about it one day). I have now 8 screws in my leg and ankle. Ouch.
Secondly, It’s a mother’s pride when we impart to our children creative ways of cooking or any crafts for that matter. I am not much of a cook but the girls learned to cook by experimenting. They just ask my advise about cooking techniques. It’s a great way of bonding. The kids were most curious during their early teens. I always tell them to come up with their own recipe even if modified from somewhere. In my case, my forte is baking and crafts and inspite of the internet technology, they still dabble with these crafts and their other talents.
you were, relly? wow, you lived there long?
noemi, oohhh it feels to great to share things like these with moms. my kids love crafts too. they even had this mini pottery maker. but they especially love creating models–helicopters, cars… even a full human skeleton. and they draw. my younger girl even had some of her drawings on TV (Nickelodeon). Gee, the things I can talk about when I don’t talk about politics.
Really need to get mommytalks.com going. A day, I still need a day. 
Connie: I am looking forward to mommytalks.com. Just holler when ready.
a very enlightening article connie. your kids sound so wonderful w/ cooking… may pinagmanahan! i am glad you joined and thank you for bringing a new dimension to LP with the column as your entry…
I envy your ability to cook and the way cooking has become occasions for bonding and creativity for your family. Growing up, food has been left to the care of cooks—or to restaraurants.
Now with my own family, I hope out kitchen can eventually be a place where we can gather and be nourished together. There’s nothing like home-cooked meals, and I’m sure that quality time in the kitchen must be very rewarding.
How you must be so organzed to run a household, cook meals and work at the same time! I’m a work-at-mom too to a 5-month old baby, and I can barely find time to clean house, much less spend time over the stove. Thank goodness my husband has shown a newfound interest in cooking.
i will, noemi.
salamat iska. a toast to pinoy food blogs!
candice, i am not that organized. LOL i wish i were. apart from the hard drive of my laptop, the kitchen must be the only organized place in the house. even scheduling can go crazy. sometimes, everyone wakes up at 10 a.m. and we have breakfast at 11, lunch at 3…
I also want to have a big kitchen
You’re right, our son also express his creativity in the kitchen. He garnishes the food and arrange it beautifully in the plate before serving it.
lani, plan the kitchen heheheh ours isn’t that big but a huge improvement from the one we had before.
kudos to your son. maybe he’ll be a chef someday.
I’ve always been interested in cooking and I find my style very authentic because it seems I have the feeling to perfectly match every details of elements according to taste, smell and kind.
I also think that many of da gurlz here posted their very stoooooopid silly ideas categorized to THE MOST LOST LEVEL OF THE HUMAN SOCIETY…
Hello miss_mozaik, yeah, i read your 2 comments and I understand what you mean about stupid silly ideas. You’re living proof.
i love it when the kids help me cooking but because they are too young i just let them watch me. even my one year old shows too much interest in cooking. he wants me to hold him while cooking at nakikitikim pa lol!