Haberday!

Three of my dearest relatives (Uncle Clyde, Tita Lorna and Menchu) are celebrating their natal day this month. Being Filipinos but having been here more than 20 years, I am wondering if they still stick to the tradition of making noodles as part of their birthday meals. This tradition was taken from the Chinese to indicate long life!

During my elementary years in St.Theresa‘s Cebu, when a classmate had a birthday, she would distribute lolly pops, chocolates or candies . Everyone had to be good to the birthday girl,even for just a day. You’d never know she might include you for that intimate “blow-out” of preferred friends.

When my kids had their birthdays, I had to prepare their “birthday” basics, which was always a combination of barbercue, spaghetti, ice cream and cake. Often, I would ask my children to invite only their favorite friends over for merienda. But then, I would prepare much more than the number of servings requested. It’s because in the Philippines, when you invite one child, you’d expect the whole entourage of mothers, yayas, other family members including the extended ones would come. After all, it is our custom to be polite and welcome the uninvited, and expect they don’t each as much.

As my children grew older, they were given the choice of a party or some equivalent preferred gift . If we were in no position to afford a birthday, the family would just have an intimate dinner at a restaurant.


One time, my son Isaiah was going to have his 7th birthday and he had wanted to have a party in school. I can still remember ourconversation.


“mommy, I like you’re spaghetti with the fresh vegetables in the sauce but can I have the real spaghetti, please?" he inquired.


"Sai,what do you mean by real spaghetti?" I asked


" you know, the one with the red sauce and only hotdog and it’s sweet.”


His concept of the real spaghetti was the McDonald or Jollibee type, but mine was the gourmet of roasted veggies with home made tomato sauce, and he called his kind “the real spaghetti”. If my friend Iliana the Italian heard of this, she would be flabbergasted and insulted.

Nowadays, I have replaced the noodles for pasta as a birthday dish. Sometimes the thin spaghetti, linguini or fetucini replaces the pansits. Or if I will be too busy to cook, I make a quick lasagna dish. With the availability of ingredients at the grocery, I can make lassagna in less than half the time I normally make with my usual recipe. All I need are 4 ingredients.


½ lb. Ground beef
1 bottle spaghetti sauce (Cecco brand is good. Check what kind you like. Some are spicier than the others)
2 packs of shredded mozarella (see! They come in already shredded. the 227 g per pack)
1 pack oven-ready lasagna noodles (there is such a thing..you don’t have to soak them in water)



Directions:

1. Brown beef. (no oil, it will just sweat itself)

2. Discard the juice.( I always thought that the juice gives it flavor, but found out the juice causes the dish to water and besides, I don’t like the rancid smell that it creates)

3. Pour the spaghetti sauce into meat. Mix well. Cook for 15 minutes then turn off heat.

4. Assembling: pour little sauce on bottom of glass dish.
Place lasagna noodles over sauce. Make sure that noodles don’t touch the sides of the glass dish. Then pour in 1/3 of sauce. Sprinkle generously the mozarella cheese on top of sauce. Then repeat the process until the final step is having the cheese on top. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then take off the foil. bake for another 15 to have that golden look.

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My daughter is going to culinary school next year. What I have failed to continue doing, she will now accomplish. I am proud of her and will support her in her endeavor.


My cousin Fran is a very talented and good pastry chef. It is because of her that I attend the fancy food shows in San Francisco, Chicago and New York. She has been doing designer cakes for several years and used to sell gourmet chocolates. When I asked her what is the number one tool that a cook should have in the kitchen, she said, "A fire extinguisher?"


"Fran," I said, "It's a good set of knives!!" And with that, we both laughed.