Last Sunday, my father and I prepared the perfect merienda for the family — Banana Turon. Actually, it was my mother who asked us to cook Turon to be sold outside our house as an afternoon street snack alongside my sister’s Halo-halo. But I discovered some vanilla and ube ice creams in the freezer, so I think the family practically ate half of the Turons that we made.

Turon is a sweet roll of saba banana and jackfruit (langka) coated with caramelized sugar and enclosed in lumpia wrapper. In my native town Malabon, it is locally known as Valencia, and the Turon the we have always known has a munggo filling instead of banana. It is usually served as an afternoon snack, although some posh Filipino restaurants serve it as a dessert “a la mode” which sometimes comes with an unreasonable price tag.

Most of the ingredients of Turon are actually inexpensive. Saba bananas are cheap and nutritious. You can buy jackfruit flesh in tingi (small portions). In fact, we sell one piece of Turon for only P15. However, preparation can be hard labor, especially if you’re not used to rolling and wrapping and keeping everything neat and tidy.

Before you start cooking, here’s a few notes in buying the fruit ingredients: make sure the saba bananas are ripe, possibly with black spots on the skin, soft to the touch, but not mushy; jackfruit flesh must be golden yellow and sweet smelling. Using unripe fruits may result to a gummy bite which is not very appetizing.

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I love Globe’s SuperSurf!

In case you’re wondering why I mentioned Globe Telecom’s SuperSurf promo, I’m posting this article using my laptop while it’s connected to my Samsung Galazy SII on tether…and it’s fast! I simply subscribe to Globe SuperSurf Plan 999 and I can now stay online all day, anywhere I am, anywhere I go for 30 glorious days. Do you want to know how? Just dial *143# on your phone, press 5 for Surf promos, and choose the promo that you want. It’s as easy as that!

Now, that’s beyond amazing!

-oO0-

On today’s recipe, we have Minatamis na Saging or Kusilbang Saging. If the word kusilba is alien to you, it’s the Tagalog word for preserves, as in fruit preserves, such as jams and marmalades.

Minatamis na Saging is mouth-watering and very easy to prepare. This is your basic recipe for Saging con Yelo and also one of the ingredients of our favorite Halo-halo. Personally, I like Minatamis na Saging served as it is.

So, to make this sweet, simple, and short, check out the recipe below for Minatamis na Saging.

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The scorching summer heat in the Philippines is something that you either love or hate. You love it because a fine weather complements our picture-perfect beaches. You hate it because you don’t like the feeling of heat as you drip with sweat while commuting or walking along the streets of Metro Manila. The oppressively hot and humid weather in the past weeks has been getting worse — no thanks to climate change – and there are no signs of it alleviating anytime soon.

But, hey! We’re Pinoys! We can always find solutions in every problem. We are very adaptable to changes. Ika nga, if you can’t beat them, join them! And the summer heat, despite the temperature rising every year, is no exemption.

So, in order to cool us down, we have concocted different ice-cold sweets that are perfect in our tropical climate. One of which is the Ice Candy. Doesn’t it instantly remind you of your childhood? Don’t we all remember knocking on Aling Nena’s gate every afternoon to buy a stick of this amazing cold and refreshing treat? I’m sure you do!

Ice Candy comes in a variety of flavors, and I know everyone has his or her own personal choice. There’s red mung beans, mango, pinipig, chocolate,  and my favorite — avocado. In fact, even your preferred juice flavors can be turned into Ice Candy.

On this blog post, I am sharing my mother’s Avocado Ice Candy recipe which she made yesterday. Everyone in the family loves this flavor, and I’m pretty sure many of you would love it too. If you don’t like avocado, you can replace it with mango or any fruit that you like. Just make sure that your fruit of choice is in season. If you want to use red mung beans, click here to learn how to make the paste. Ice Candy is very easy and fun to make; you can actually involve the kids in making them. Not to mention, it’s easy on the budget.

Ready? Click below to grab the recipe:

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Bistek Tagalog is one of my all-time favorite Filipino dishes. Bistek is a local version of the very western beef steak, hence the name. What makes it distinct from the western version  is its mild, citrus-y flavor, which is produced by combining the essence of calamansi and the tang of soy sauce. Also, our Bistek is usually thin in slices, compared to the thick chunk of meat and large serving of beef steak.

Beef is the typical meat ingredient, that ‘s why it’s called Bistek. However, you can also use slices of pork, such as pork chops and liempo. I choose pork over beef anytime because I like the taste better, and I try to avoid red meat as much as possible. My favorite cut is liempo, because it’s easier to cook and the meat is more tender and tastier.

When you prepare Bistek, make sure not to overcook the onions to keep them crunchy. The potatoes are optional, but please, include them to your list of ingredients. Who doesn’t like potatoes, anyway? If beef steaks are great with mashed potato, consider this as our alternative.

Continue reading below to get the recipe:

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What is so exciting about waking up each day?

Aside from being a blogger, I also work as a writer for an American company. Not only that, I’m a full-time student at the UP Open University. I work and study at home, which means that my room (and the Internet) is pretty much the only world I see the entire week.

Click photo to go to Flickr.

You can just imagine how crazy it is to carefully juggle my schedule in order to accomplish various tasks in the confines of my small space. That’s why it’s important for me to feel inspired and excited to get out of bed and face my laptop each day.

Coffee helps me to jumpstart my morning. But to keep me up and rolling all throughout the day, I concocted this refreshing fruit iced tea made special by Lipton Yellow Label Tea. I named it Tea-ropical Holiday Punch. Its natural minty flavor makes it also a great alternative drink for the holiday season.

Click photo to go to Flickr.

Click photo to go to Flickr.

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