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Showing posts from January 19, 2020

When the longing for authentic Pinoy dishes strikes in the U.S., Isla Grand stands ready to transport your taste buds back to the Philippines.

Carmina is traveling to the United States to spend time with her family. My dad planned a family gathering for Mother's Day at their favorite Pinoy restaurant . Since reservations aren’t possible, we arrived an hour early to ensure we could get a table for twelve before everyone else showed up. As my dad approached Isla Grand , the branch we visited in Pleasant Hills, California , the host at the door said they could prepare a table for twelve at five o'clock. Later, the server called my dad's name and guided us to our table. The place was bustling with people enjoying meals and celebrating Mother's Day. On our first visit to Isla Grand, I was captivated by the décor, noticing many native items that gave the place a fancy yet authentic Filipino feel. They usually have a live band, but unfortunately, there was no entertainment the night we went. My family had spoken highly of Isla Grand and encouraged us to try the Filipino dishes we’ve been missing from back home. Lech...

Pambahay and Pantulog Clothes

When we come home from work, school from the outside we always change into our pambahay clothes. Pambahay means clothes to be worn inside the house if you have visited the Philippines you will notice most female are wearing duster that look like this: Men are wearing muscle shirt or sando with shorts since the weather is hot they tend to wear these type of clothing. The most common is white sando worn most of the time. They also wear this type of clothing when they go to sleep. They call it pantulog (sleep). Most female don’t wear duster when they sleep sometime you will see them wearing pajama if they have air conditioner in their room. Some wear long t-shirt type of duster when they sleep.

Filipino Chicken Curry Recipe

Once every two weeks we eat Filipino chicken curry cooked at home by our cook. Tonight was the night we had eaten this dish and I was able to ask our cook for the recipe: Filipino Chicken Curry Recipe : Ingredients : 3/4 Kg - Chicken (any part) 1/2 - Onion (chopped) 1 - Tsp Garlic (mined) 2 Cups - Pure Gata (coconut milk) 1 - Small Bell Pepper (diced) 1 - Carrot - (cubed) 1 - Large Potato (cubed) Curry Note : Curry powder is salty just use little amount of the following : Patis - Depend on your taste Chicken broth cube - Depend on your taste Step 1 : Saute onion and garlic in a little amount of cooking oil Tip : Too much cooking oil adds fats when you add the gata (coconut milk) Add chicken and gata Simmer and wait till the gata has thicken Add potato, carrot, bell pepper Add patis and chicken broth cube to your taste Cook for 10 to 15 minutes NOT SPONSORED. Subscribe @ Carmina Lifestyle YouTube Channel  a place to look, discover and...

Coupon

Coupon on the Sunday newspaper was so popular when I was growing up in California. We would run out in the driveway to get our newspaper and check out all the coupons we can use on an upcoming sale. We would cut up the ones we needed and discard the ones in the recycling bin. After many years has passed cutting coupons in the Sunday paper was no longer the trend people would receive coupon through email from promotion in certain stores we had subscribed from. Years later everything became paperless and when you enter a grocery store they would give you a print out on a coupon of certain product you have recently purchased. You would become a member of the Entertainment Coupon Book that comes with lots of coupons in restaurant, hotel, car service and etc. Now our coupons comes from our phone that you can just get by giving out your phone number and register it at the store. Sometimes the store requires a card to become a member to get a discount from the store...