Kapuliperson

just cook it the usual way and throw in a chunk of butter while it's cooking.

made a creamy soup last night with pasta, peas, carrots, and baby corn

I squeeze and smell fruits, check for dents/blemishes

I know crackers help/dry foods. :D

I just smile.. it's usually good enough to drive people away. :D

You could also make calzones, ravioli, quiche and or some pea/barley soups with croutons.. :/

I've just got a little time right now, but I will tell you a bit of what I've found in Manila, Cavite, Dagupan, and Baguio. Of course, Manila has almost all the types of Filipino foods you could possibly think of from the very popular "boneless bangus" or "R-Lapid's Chicharon" to very good bibinkas, majablancas, toron/banana/kamoteq, Kare Kare... to name a few. You can get all that even in the upper class restaurants- tuyo and such. I do find a lot more kinds of pancit now... there's also some "high-class" versions of sinigang, pinakbet, dinuguan, etc... which are just so cheap it's almost insane. It's great that they now have all the classic Filipino foods in "fast food" chains now... unfortunately the McDonalds/western type foods are also fast becoming the most popular food stops. In Cavite- I didn't really check out many of the Filipino restaurants because they didn't seem to be too good. Many of the Carinderias around seemed to have the better tasting food than those air-conditioned ones. What's plentiful there of course- are the fruits. Then Dagupan- a few good Filipino restaurants with almost all of the Filipino dishes you can possibly think of, but what always comes to mind when I go there is the Kalashaw puto. It's the best, best puto with the freshly grated coconut. Baguio- I find that the Filipino breads here (long jons/ pandecoco/spanish breads/pandesal,ensamada) are the best that I've tasted. I swear, when I get back there I'm going to open a Pinoy bakery. :) I'll update you guys more on this again sometime, I'm about to fall asleep already-just had this huge feast of adobo, dinuguan + puto, buttered kang kong, bean bread, and pandecoco at a picnic. Good day! :)

Pity. But yes, it does look good.

^ all over southeast asia too

aba, tama ka diyan! :) I was born in Hawaii and raised in HI to two "hapas" if I may- both of them half Pinoy. I'm in the PI right now, but still very much in touch with HI and the goings on there, and am missing HI very much although I like it here in the PI as well. And yes, I wish the same thing for the Filipino places there.

Skchai, aloha! Have you by chance had some of that macadamia nut pie by Sweet Stop Hawaii?

this is one event I am glad I missed. Just one of those people who never liked garlic.. but ginger is good. The ginger ice cream bit sounded great!

Last night I made some pasta/ravioli with a spinach curd filling and a nice sun-dried tomato and olive sauce and then we had some sweetened bananas and 7up. :D

Not absurd at all. I always send caramels and also receive caramels from friends and relatives. Just try to make sure that you pack it well like in a tupper ware or something just in case it does melt. ^ :) that's the sweetest part. As my friends and I say, everything tastes better when shared.

strawberry kiwi milk shake or that combo with yogurt - plus some honey/sugar - whichever you prefer, freeze (if you wish) or just drink. It's really refreshing. Smoothies.

I usually just go with sugar, potato, sweet potato, cauliflower, but I have tried mangoes.

I've got 4 or 5 of them.

This is really surprising to me because I've never heard of cooking with neem leaves.. I've had neem leaf tea which is the most bitter thing I've ever tasted- but it sure makes me well fast! :D.. the fruits are good too.. but cooking with it?

I don't usually cook when it's just me. I just eat fruits.. or if I do make something- it's usually pizza or just breads.

Cacao fruit I've never tried, but dragon fruit is good, and as for tamarind- it's the bomb! Especially when it's ripe and right off the tree. :)

For some reason I always find myself in the men's bathroom - don't ask! - even if I meant to .. I swear, go into the ladies' bathroom. I always end up freaking out myself and all the men in there.. it's hilarious though, just to see the faces of the men who are in there.

Wow. You should visit the Philippines/India/other Southeast Asian countries. They've got so many ways of using coconut milk. Some of which- they boil taro roots and leaves with it or they make this sweetend rice with it called "bibinka" and all these really good sweets. But of course you can also just use it with your curry. Just stick it in along with all the other ingredients (use instead of water) and cook the usual way. Good stuff.

I like the sounds of the paneer tomato one.

The color of the pods doesn't matter to me. Besides, I like using the powder better.

:) Neat. While I haven't been to the mentioned "Gold Coin/Elena's" restaurants either, I can say that it is kinda disappointing that there aren't many Filipino restaurants in Hawaii or around the US. On a side note, when I went to CA a few years ago before the PI, I was ecstatic to find a Goldilocks shop although everything was so expensive. Worth it, I'd say. Who knows, maybe when I get back to Hawaii I'll open a Filipino restaurant myself... or even just a "Pinay deli"