How I started My Recipe Collection

September 9, 2008

I started collecting recipes way back in the 70's when I developed a passion for cooking. My sisters and I enjoyed cooking and experimenting on these RECIPES, and we still do. The only thing that I regret is that we didn't set our hands on our own Filipino cooking which we left to our dear Nanay because that was her expertise. So I guess we didn't want to compete with her. Everybody enjoys her cooking even up to the present time.

When I arrived here in the US, I missed her cooking...her dinengdeng, tinola, egado, adobo, atbp. Mga kakanin like biko, suman with katiba, etc. How I missed those goodies! I always yelled out for help! I'm so lucky to have friends and family around who are always willing to share their recipes with me. My sisters (Melita and Melinda in NZ and Mila in Pinas) always get so excited to share with me their new discoveries. Then I have my mother...I often called her up ( I still do sometimes ) just to ask her how to cook "this" and "that"...dishes that I took for granted when I was home. She didn't only give me her recipes but also her secrets and techniques and her wisdom. She gave me in-depth explanations on how to prepare her dishes. It was like a "tutorial cooking" over the phone. Talk is "cheap" now but not then and we love to talk about food as well as eating! The same is true with my sisters and friends. After the initial "kumusta?", blah-blah-blah, "anong ulam?", we always end up talking about food until dinner the next day! Of course that's an exaggeration! but it always seems that way if you enjoy what you're talking about.

These recipes I'm posting on this blog reflect my friends' and family's LOVE for food. Who doesn't, anyway?!!

Just as it states on the header, my purpose in creating this blog is to share these RECIPES to our kababayans out there who are away from "home" and missed their mom's home-cooking as I did. I have plenty of recipes collected over the years, but I will post only the ones that have been tested and tried either by me, my friends or my family. Most of these recipes are simple to follow. Some have been modified due to unavailability of ingredients in the area yet remain FAMILY FAVORITES for years.

I'd like to thank my friends, family, my dear husband Gregg, children and grandchildren who always make me feel like I'm a great cook. I'm not really, but I appreciate all of them. They make me feel good.

Hope you enjoyed your visit to my kitchen. Please come back anytime. Remember, when you're here, you're a FAMILY!

Maraming salamat po sa inyong lahat!

MaMely

P.S.
One of our sons-in-law, Brian, always call me "MaMely". I like that because its very endearing to me.