Domestic Goddess

Jane Goody and papadoms Jade Goody is a British reality television celebrity. As a participant in the 2007 series of Celebrity Big Brother, she was at the centre of bullying and racism against one of her fellow housemates, the Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. Goody also referred to Shetty as 'Shilpa Poppadom' Papadoms are a form of Indian tortillas.

In the Philippines, we have a peculiar way of eating oysters. We blanch them for 5-10 seconds of boiling water before shucking them. Then the tasty morsels are dipped in a mixture of vinegar, soysauce and chopped chilis. There are different types of oysters in the Philippines. The ones my family would always eat is the "kukong-kabayo" (horses' hooves - eeriely looks like a chopped horse's hoof) and the small, but delectable sisi (tiny thumb-sze oysters that are a murder to open but ooh so sweety and juicy). I like oysters raw, blanched, topped, plain, with lemon, baked, etc. I just love oysters.

Bruce, add me to your growing horde of fans. We really appreciate the wonderful, colorful blog that you and the missus have prepared for us. They say with accumulation of knowledge one grows richer. I definitely feel richer everyday I read your posts. Once again, maraming salamat.

Spam without the salty taste is not spam at all. A true-blue Filipino would eat spam morning, noon and night. A family favorite is to slice thinly and fry until crisp. It almost taste like bacon!

A pang of homesickness hit me tonight and I made this after-dinner snack. Camote-Cue Camote-cue comes from the word camote (or kamote) which means sweet potato in Filipino and then 'cue' from the word barbeque (the slices of caramelized sweet potato is usually stuck on bamboo skewers like the local street food, pork barbeque) I couldn't find big bamboo skewers so I used the tiny ones used in korean odeng cakes.

Here's a package of miswa. It cost about P5 or about 5 cents (US). A close-up of the noodles...

I posted the Steve Irwin and tacos game. The answer is that Steve Irwin's wife is from Eugene, Oregon where Taco Time fast food was launched. It wasn't meant to disrespect him at all.

Mee sua or miswa is very thin and fragile rice noodles. The noodles are as thin as the smallest guitar string (hmm.... may be even thinner) and they are very fragile. They are usually cooked in soups and the simplest one just contains egg like an egg drop soup. I have a package in my cupboard and Ill post the picture in here later.

Thanks Anne! I thought I would just be an observer in these games until I played one. Now I am addicted.

Janet Jackson and Potato Chips Janet Jackson was embroiled in the nipple-baring controversy during the Superbowl XXXVIII half-time show with Justin Timberlake. Justin Timberlake hails from Memphis, Tennessee. Lay's company origins trace back to Nashville, Tennessee Lay's is a popular brand of potato chips. New Game: Chewbacca and muktuk (whale blubber)

Princess Caroline and Hog Maws Princess Caroline is the sister of Prince Albert of Monaco Prince Albert has two illegitimate childen. One of them is Eric Alexandre Coste, son of Togolese flight attendant Nicole Coste. Togo is a country in West Africa. During the turn of the century, most slaves supplied in the US came from Africa. Hog maws trace their origins to the scarce food supply of African slaves in 19th century America. Whew!

My aunt has a great recipe of steamed skate with chopped tomatoes, onion and ginger and then topped with mayonaise. It sounds insane but it tastes good! Especially with beer.

Here in Korea, they have the oden and takoyaki too. Oh and I forgot roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes. I always buy roasted chest nuts and takoyaki balls. I tease my hubby and tell him I'm eating octopus balls. LOL

You are right, acorn was the word I was looking for. It was acorn jelly not mulberry. We didn't cook the kimchi on the grill because we over-stuffed ourselves with the sam gyeop sal. I think I ate about 20 ssam packages (I wrapped mine with sesame leaves). It cost about 7 dollars per person (we were a group of four) and no soju (we don't drink alcohol - only soft drinks). I think the total bill was about 34-36 dollars in the end. Hmmm what is o gyeop sal?

Here in Korea, they have pocky t-shirts, bags, umbrellas, scarves, etc.... the works. They are frigtheningly cute. My celphone accessory is a faux oversized knuckle-busting diamond solitaire ring that you can slip in your finger to let the celphone hang attractively on your hand.

Sheena Greena is right about some parts that are not eaten. I have watched them prepare this and I can see the vendor slice and scrape away gunky stuff off. Lemme see if I can find pics that I took of it last year.

Sheena, Here's how my mother taught me... Pancit Palabok recipe: Ingredients: Noodles - 1/2 kilo of white and round rice noodles. Boil 4 cups water, add a little salt. Put noodles in strainer and dip in boiling water for 5 minutes or till noodles is cooked. Drain. Transfer on plate. Sauce ingredients: 2 tbsp of annato oil or (2 tbsp veg. oil and 6 annato seeds) 1 smoked fish, deboned and flaked 2 cups chicken broth 3-4 tbsp. cornstarch dissolved in a little water 1 beaten egg SAUCE: In a small wok, add annato oil or 2 tbsp. vegetable oil and stri-fry half a dozen annato seeds. Take out the seeds when the oil changes into deep orange color. Add flaked smoked fish and stif fry for a minute and then 2 cups of chicken broth. Let boil and ground and then stir in dissolved cornstarch, stirring constantly until thickened. Pour in beaten egg. Stir quickly to mix and turn off fire after 10 seconds. Garnishings Suggested: * cooked squid, sliced into rings * cooked pork * cooked shrimps, shelled Absolutely must have these on top: * hard boiled eggs, sliced * crumbled chicharon or pork cracklings * fried minced garlic * chopped spring onions TO SERVE: In a plate, spread the drained noodles. Pour palabok sauce all over. Add your choice of garnishings. Sprinkle remaining fried garlic over noodles. Sprinkle ground pork rinds over all. Garnish with chopped green onion and sliced hard boiled eggs.

Charles Lindbergh and sushi In his six months in the Pacific in 1944, Charles Lindbergh took part in fighter bomber raids on Japanese positions, flying about 50 combat missions (again as a civilian). One of the most popular Japanese food enjoyed all over is the sushi. I owe two games so: Game 1 - Steven Spielberg and sharks fin soup Game 2 - Steve Irwin and tacos

Howard Hughes and Spam Howard Hughes was an eccentric billionaire who designed a specially-built bra for Jane Russell for one of her movies. Jane Russell was one of the favorite pin-up girls for servicemen in World War II. During WWII, Spam was served for breakfast, lunch and dinner because of the difficulty of providing fresh meat rations. Servicemen referred Spam as 'ham that didn't pass its physical' and 'meatloaf without basic training'.

I think I owe one challenge... Here it is... Harry Houdini and mayonaise

This filipino afternoon snack or merienda as we call it is homemade. Pancit Palabok Pancit Palabok is basically rice noodles with an egg/smoked fish sauce. The toppings can be cooked shrimp, squid rings, pork, boiled egg, toasted garlic, etc. I just topped mine with egg, chicharon bits and toasted garlic. I also drizzle fish sauce and a squeeze of lemon (have no calamansi) over the whole plate before I mix everything up. A spoonful of salty-savoury goodness...

I've seen it in the fresh open air markets and in some of the stews served in restaurants. I have to confess I am a bit squeamish to try it. Wait, are you talking about the little thumb-size creatures that are grey and warty or the big red-orange ones that are cut up and served raw like sashimi?

Rona - if your ground meat is beef, you can still make tasty longganisa out of it. Should you need the adobo recipe, I can PM it to you. My version is the Cavite version and takes two days to make (it is less greasier than the regular recipe).

Meatloaf and meatloaf Despite his famous moniker, the singer/actor Meatloaf doesn't like to eat meatloaf.

In the Philippines, we usually grill the jaw part of the tuna heads (called panga in tagalog). It is delicious and one Grilled Panga can feed 2-3 people. Tuna heads are also great in our sour and savoury soup called Sinigang.