*This article was last updated on October 2, 2011.
In 2003, a time when I hadn’t heard of the term “blog”, I started a recipe website at cooking.houseonahill.net using a now defunct content management system that ran on ASP. Ok, never mind the geek talk, I’m sure you’re not interested in that. The contents easily multiplied and, in 2004, I moved the food site to pinoycook.net. Always unhappy with the fact that the dot com versions of houseonahill and pinoycook weren’t mine, I moved the food site to homecookingrocks.com and the rest of my blogs to casaveneracion.com (making sure, this time, that the dot net versions of both domains were also mine).
That was last year. Maintaining six blogs had become too much work. Besides, I figured that readers would benefit from, and appreciate, variety — related but still varied subjects. Most of everything I’ve written had always been related to my home and family — from parenting experiences to the meals we eat to our occasional travels to our hobbies and passions. And I just integrated everything together in one blog here at CASAVeneracion.com.
This page is about the food section.
I used to do all the cooking and photography around here but, recently, there has been a lot of contributions from my husband, Speedy, and our firstborn, Sam, who is taking up Photography in college. Speedy does the risotto, the cocktail drinks and very meaty dishes, I do the rest, although I dream of the day when he will cook just as often as I do. I commissioned Sam to take photos of the ingredients for the cocktail drinks. With pay, of course.
No, I am not a chef. I’m a mommy, wife, lawyer (retired) and writer (retired newspaper columnist; still active as a magazine writer) although the order varies depending on the occasion.
Speedy is an engineer by profession. We have two girls, Sam and Alex, who are both in college and who are the our most brutal critics when it comes to the dishes that we cook. Speedy did not start cooking seriously until recently; I’ve been cooking most of my life.
I learned to cook by hanging out in the kitchen with my grandfather, grandmother and father. The Chinese influence is from my grandfather (no, he was not Chinese but he was really good with Chinese cooking). The Filipino influence I got from my grandmother. The adventurous spirit with the use of new combinations and techniques I got from my father. Growing up, I developed my own style and techniques with a lot of help from cookbooks and the television. Then, I started creating my own recipes.
Long before I was born, so I’ve been told, my grandfather and grandmother owned a grocery store along Echague Street in Quiapo, Manila. It was called Consuelo’s Grocery, named after my grandmother. Those were the postwar years and with that grocery store, they made good money. The grocery’s specialties were cold meat. They cured their own ham, made their own tocino, tapa and longganisa. My father, a young boy at the time, learned his first lessons on how to choose “good meat” at that grocery store.
All throughout my childhood, my grandparents’ house, which was next to ours, was the scene of countless family reunions. Both my grandparents came from large families. During preparations for Christmas and birthday parties (which were always major events), my younger brother and I would run all over the grounds watching everyone cook, picking and tasting meat and sweets even before the dishes were completed. I distinctly remember how they made Pancit Luglog during those days. No ready made sauces. The shrimp heads were pounded and squeezed. My grandfather had a heavy-duty meat grinder (from the grocery days) and they ground fresh tinapa (smoked fish) and chicharon (pork cracklings) for the pancit. Ox tail and tripe for Kare-kare were simmered overnight at the backyard over burning wood. Paella was cooked in a large carajay. Siomai (steamed Chinese dumplings) were cooked in large bamboo steamers, the size you find in restaurants these days.
It was also during those early years when I listened to my father explain which kind of meat went well with each dish, the correct way of cutting meat, why sauces as accompaniments made certain dishes special… When the mood hit him (which was often), we would go driving through provinces north or south of Manila in search of special ingredients, cooking supplies, fruits or delicacies. We would go to Laguna for lanzones, wooden chopping boards, fresh coconuts and buko (coconut) pie; to Bulacan for pastillas and puto (rice cakes); to Cavite for señorita (small bananas that are very sweet), watermelons and chayote; to Batangas for freshly-dug ube (purple yam) with the soil still clinging to the skin, and barako (native coffee beans); or to good old Chinatown in Binondo for freshly-slaughtered duck, herbal tea and those premature chicken eggs that had yet to form shells and which tasted so good with his arroz caldo. He was a real land rover, and the vehicle he drove suited him to a T. And he was especially fond of stalls along barrio roads, far from the towns and highways where prices were always higher. It was also from my father that I learned to roast duck and quail, and how to cook eel.
I cooked my first complete dish when I was in the 4th grade. It was spaghetti. I brought it to the class field trip.
As a young adult, there were two major influences in my cooking: cookbooks and television. I bought whatever cookbooks and cooking magazines I could afford with my allowance, along with the inevitable James Clavell and James Michener paperbacks. The television influence came in three stages: Stephen Yan, Nora Daza and Biba (Biba’s Italian Kitchen on Discovery Channel), in that order.
Many other lessons and influences came after all that and I have reached a point when I can confidently whip up a good meal with whatever is available in the kitchen. I am now mom to two girls, aged 15 and 13 16 and 15 18 and 16, both in college but who still prefer to bring home-cooked meals to the rented condo near the university where they stay during weekdays. See, I am not the kind of cook who will refuse to do a dish because I lack one ingredient or another specified in the cookbook. I love substituting and I love even more to discover how dishes can be improved, or variations of it created, simply by substituting, omitting or adding one or more ingredients. My family loves that because, except for real favorites, I don’t often cook the same dishes over and over.
Cooking is an adventure, it’s been a wild ride so far and I know I’m still learning. This blog has been online since 2003, a spin-off newspaper column called Feast Asia has come and gone, and the blog is still here, stronger and better (I hope!) than ever.
hi ms connie,
i was able to access the archive once again!!! =)I missed those pages!
…thought you ought to know that it was indeed a browser problem..
Thanks again for sparing time in answering my queries.
More power!
Be well.
Lara
hello ms. connie! i just wanted to say thank you so much again for sharing your recipes.. learning to cook has been made much easier since i have your site to turn to =) thanks again and more power! =) God bless to you and your family.
hi connie!
i live in the u.s. right now and i have a culture day in school this wed. i’m assigned to make some sapin-sapin and it’s kind of hard to fing purple yam here…do you know any substitute for that? please let me know…
Jessica, naku sorry, kakanin and kalamay are not among my strong points.
Hi Connie!
I tried making your Nasi Goreng and it was hit with my friends!.. I’m cooking it again now as we speak1 =) Thanks and more power.. more delicious recipes..
Hi Connie,
Greetings!
I would like to know the cooking procedures of “Binatog”.
I would be very grateful to know. Please send the reply to my email address.
Thank you and GOD bless you always.
Best regards,
Daisy
Hi! Im chad from cebu (http://celestial-prince.co.nr/) but celestial-prince in the blogosphere. The dishes that you were and will be cooking looks really delicious and I even copied one (it’s our secret) in my HRM 4 subject – experimental cooking exam (Yes, I’ am an HRM student). Now, here’s the best part..Hmmm…Can you be my second mother???? hahahahaha… your children are so lucky coz they got to taste your cooking every now and then…Merry Christmas BTW!
p.s. I visit here again coz I was looking for recipes fitted for this season and I want it to be healthy, tasty and cheap but I couldnt decide which one. any suggestions….Mom??? hahahahahaha
LOL Chad. If you go to the Christmas & New Year section, most of the dishes there are special, dressy but inexpensive.
Sorry to hear that Connie, but i have to be honest with you. Due to family dispute, Dolor’s Kakanin is manufactured by two of Aling Dolor’s relatives.
The products that are sold in the original factory, beside Concepcion Church in Malabon, maintains the same, quality as the original.
The branch in Gov. Pascual is owned by both relatives that’s why there are two different boxes, the white and red (now green for the holidays) and the red box.
Mommy’s Malabon Pride, the store in front of the Dolor’s Kakanin Extension Outlet, sells the original red boxed kakanin.
You can enjoy the original recipe kakanin at these branches – Congressional Ave. near Mindanao Ave., QC, Km. 18 West Service Road, Sucat, Landmark Food Center Makati & Trinoma, SM Supermarket Weekend Bazaar – Makati, Megamall, Fairview, Sta. Mesa, Southmall and Manila.
The red box is the original high quality version of kakanin. The label is “The Original Dolor’s Kakanin by Mommy’s Malabon Pride.” And we can proudly live up to our name, the Pride of Malabon!
I’m a Creative Writing undergrad from UP Diliman and I’m currently working on a thesis on food writing. I was wondering if I could have an email interview about what is written online about food in general, and how you write for this site in particular, e.g. why you decided to work on it, what the readers of this site ask for most of the time, etc.
I hope you can grant this request. It would be a really, really big help to my thesis.
-Queenie Santos
Send the email, Queenie.
I am very thankful that I found your site. I am so excited and had been telling everyone I know about it. I have been out of the Philippines for a long time and have lost most of the recipes that my lola used to cook for all of her apo’s. My children are so used to eating Canadian food, and it annoys me that I have to cook different kinds of ULAM for everyone. At times I feel like a short order cook. But because I have been cooking your recipes my picky eaters are not so picky anymore. In fact my eldest are interested to bake and cook. She’s always browsing for recipes on your site. Thanks Connie! Oh btw, my mother in law will be joining us here very soon and I had asked her to buy me a copy of your book, where can she buy it?
Connie,
Do you know the difference between the chestnuts that we used to eat in the Philippines and the chestnuts that we are eating here in the U.S.? I remembered it very well that on the sidewalks of Quiapo or Santa Cruz, vendors were cooking it in an old “kawale” with sand or peebles. And why they don’t cut the skin of chestnuts. I dont see why we cannot cook it here the same way they do it in the Philippines.
Thank you very much for your help.
Osmond De Leon
Caldwell, New Jersey
Dear Connie,
Thank you for the easy Maha Blanca recipe.
April, it can be ordered online. The link is on the sidebar.
Osmond, I’ve never been to the US so it’s hard to compare.
Yuri, you’re very much welcome.
Hi Ms Connie,
Your recipe’s made me capable to incorporate herbs in the dishes that I cook. I used to ignore these aromatic plants in the groceries before until I found out that they make a lot of difference in creating a tinge of interesting taste on the usual plain menu. Pardon me for the ignorance”¦=)
Having stated such, is there a possibility that you may squeeze in- maybe in your next succeeding entries the different types of herbs best used for cooking, their partnered dishes or some nutritional values, if they have? I hope it”?s not too much. I just got engrossed with the herbs and I felt proud to myself that I was able to infuse it in some of our everyday dishes (thanks to your site) with matching “wows and hmmmms!” from my family. I would want to personally see it po sana kasi on this site kasi its unbiased—not commercially-directed or influenced.
Thank you in advance!
Best Regards,
LarA
Lara, oh, you read my mind. I’d been planning on taking photos of the herbs I grow in my garden and write about them.
That’s great news! I’ll look forward to it. I’m super excited!
Thanks again.
Hi Ms. Connie
I was just surfing the net looking for recipes on balut shake, if ever there’s something like that. But then I found none. Fortunately, I happen to come by your article on adobong balut. I thought it was amazingly exotic. I’m a high school campus journalist and I’m writing an article about balut. This year we decided on making a magazine instead. I’m a page editor on a section about lifestyle. The shift from newspaper to magazine has some private reasons though. I was just hoping I could insert your Adobong Balut recipe on my article, if you would allow me. I won’t be forgetting your copyright on the recipe. But, if you won’t agree to this, it’s okay, i won’t bother to put up your recipe.
I hope you would be very kind to consider this request.
-Margie Arda
Iligan City, Lanao del Norte
Margie, what school? If you can give me the contact info of the school so I can double check, I’ll e-mail you afterward and let you know whether I agree to the inclusion or not.
Hello Ms Connie.
I have been visiting your website for a little while now and I just want to say that I think you are doing a grand job sharing your recipes to anyone who’s interested in cooking (and eating too!). Maraming salamat po and looking forward to trying out more of your recipes.
Godspeed,
Ima
Hi Connie, i am your regular reader here in your blog, but since i transferred office location, i missed some of your articles. Recently, i tried surfing again and I am surprised to see your photo. Now I know how you looked like. You are a cutie! I love your website, I learned a lot just by reading your articles. Just like you, i love foods. My mom was a Home Economics teacher way back 1980′s. She is my inspiration when it comes to cooking. the most i remember was the Chiffon cake that she used to bake during those days. I learned from her the very basics (during my early years -12yrs old)i.e., polvoron, yema,doughnot,cookies,maruya,ginatan, goto,sponge cake,almost allkakanins, etc. Watching her do all the cooking really made me happy during those years.
Sige Connie, till here na lang muna.
lisa
Hi Lisa. Oh, the photo’s been in the “about pinoy cook” page for years! In fact, I should change it soon because it’s about two years old already.
And I wish my mother could have inspired me to cook but she couldn’t cook LOL so the inspiration came from my father and his parents.
hi miss connie! i really adore your blog!!! very very very informative and really inspire me, as a stay at home mom…
hope to meet you soon!
thanks thanks for your very adorable yummy blog!
hi miss connie! i am an avid fan of your blog and i agree with your cooking philosophy. lack of a certain ingredient should spark some sort of innovation on our part. i’m a novice blogger and since i’m constantly following your blog, i hope it’s okay if i’ve included it in my blog list. thanks for being a constant cooking inspiration.
You’re welcome, Isi.
Rhea, of course you can add my blog to your list. Thanks!
Hi….I love your blog and tried some of your recipe and which becomes our favorite. Since i love to cook but cooking doesn’t love me back, but with your easy to follow recipes and foods….everything just fall into places…
I decided to asked for a recipe that maybe you can help me with…
1). Gindara Steak or any fish steak… My daughter loves the gindara steak when we dined at Tanabe….But its such a expensive restaurant. i wanted to be able to cook it for her since she loves fish and veggie…And i also promised myself that I will try me best to good and healthy food for my family….
And that’s why i love your blog thing..
More power…
Hi Clark and Connie!
Clark, java mint is available at the edsa garden house (mla seedling bank) and they will provide some leaflets about the herb as well. Good Day to you and Connie!
Caren
hello ms. connie,
i’ve surfed your site in the past (with the old template)…now i see that it has transformed so much. Glad to see a photo of you too.
Just got curious why you “retired” from being a lawyer. I can see that you really love being a foodie. I’m a foodie too(my niche is Ilonggo cooking)and how I wish I could give it my all.
More power.
Hello Connie,
I am from Ottawa, Canada and I was looking for an info about nilagang baka on Goggle and got your website. For that, I am so grateful. I was hailed from Manila and migrated to Canada in 1993 and it does throw you off, so to speak, in terms of using only available ingredients at hand. Bongga ka day for coming up with this excellent website. Consider this website bookmarked. GOD bless you and the people you hold dear in your heart. BTW, I have a cousin named Connie too…nee Reyes =)
Lawyering is a dirty business. It’s not for me.
Hi Connie!
Love your website. Great layouts, and the pictures always draw me in. I especially enjoy the diversity of the dishes you feature.
Thanks for having this website!
Lisa
Hi Connie,
I’m from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and while searching for some Pinoy foods, I came across this site. I’m very much interested in cooking and do a lot of experimenting at home. This is a nice site since it can connect so many Pinoy all over the world. Thanks.
….i happen to stumble on your website while i was looking for the tagalog word for shallots…and wow, what a nice surprise, the filipino recipes that i love were right here, presented so appetizingly, i can feel myself getting hungry.
….from now on i’ll bookmark your website.
….keep it up. more power!
Hi Connie,
I stumbled upon your site one day while looking for some Filipino food recipes. Today I’m surfing the net again and stumbled upon “Frozen Brazo de Mercedes” It sounds really yummy and I wish I could eat some. I would buy it right away if I could but I’m here in Vancouver, Canada and I don’t think it’s available here. I was wondering if you know how to make that. I was looking at some pics of this dessert from various blogs and it looks really good. Anyway, that’s all for now and have a great day.
Hi Jenny. Brazo de mercedes is my husband’s second favorite cake (the first being sans rival) and he has been waiting forever for me to bake one. So, you see, it’s on the agenda.
hi.. good day! i really like ur website. everything that i tried cooking here, it turns out to be a hit… thanks for this site. just wanna ask where do you think i can buy the anise wine or anisado wine? thanks.
hi ms connie
do u have a recipe for chocolate crinckles and tarts (cashew)?? i hope u could help.. its my husbands fav. and i wanted to surprise him.
thank you in advance…
chocolate crinkles, yes, in the archive — you may use the drop down menu or the search box
Hi Ms. Connie.
Love it that you maintain this blog for us out there. Thanks… Would you know where one can buy pure vanilla extract here in Manila? and the price? Thanks again.
In baking supply stores. Cook’s Exchange, Living Well, Gourdo’s… prices vary.
a simple thank you for creating this site
it is really very helpful for working moms
like me! my kids are always delightful
everytime I cook something special from
your recipe.. you are such a Blessing !
keep it up po ^^
Connie,
Thank you for creating this website. It’s one of my favorite food blogs for authentic, delicious and creative recipes.
Jen
(Pinay living in Boston)
Hi,Connie! Great website! I’m looking for info on the Filipino rice wine made at home. A co-worker got me started, but can’t answer more technical questions. This is the primitive-type wine made with cooked rice and a rice yeast disc. I’ve made 4 batches and they all came out different. Yummy and powerful, though. I finally found the discs at the impulse area (cash register) at my local asian store, but they look different from the ones she gave me. Help! Of all the things you can learn online, I haven’t found anything on this. Thanks! Cindy
hi connie, just to let you know i am enjoying your recipes. see ya. hope all is well. gao
Gao! You read food blogs now ha! or mine only?
Hope to see you next time you’re in the country.
hi. nice and helpful website … i wonder if you can help me with the fishball sauce recipe. my kids love to eat fishballs and i want them just to eat it at home where its is more hygienic, however i would love to copy the taste of the sauce in the streetS because my version is towards the sweet and sour side and not the DELICIOUS brownish one in the street carts. THANKS AND MORE POWER !
Nice blog and website. Are you a chinese? Just wondering.
I just read your article about President’s restaurant.
gud day!
sis can you help me in doing chocolate moulding and pastillas…i’m a full time housewife and as of now i have no extra income.can you teach me the step by step procedure in chocolate moulding, the tolls and ingredients that i’ll be using and also in pastillas
I think you need to enroll in a cooking school for something highly specialized like that.
Connie, do you have a cookbook?
I like your insite cause you’re like me that has experienced and have tasted the authentic filipino cooking…. like for example, the recipe you have for Sinigang sa Miso. I can not find a recipe for that anywhere else but from your site.
I am now 49 yrs old and at times i have craving for filipino food that i had when i was young that I remember enjoyed but now having a hardtime finding the recipes from the cookbooks as well as my memory.
I had this gelatin dessert that I had when I was a young girl in the Phils. It has fruits in it and I can not remember its name.
It’s really just gelatin with drained fruit cocktail mixed in. I don’t think it has a name but my mother used to prepare it for Christmas.
A print on demand kind with Tastebook.com. But I’m coming up with a new one.
Hi ms. connie!
Thank you so much for coming up with this website! I came across to your website few months ago and told my mom about your unique filipino cuisines.. My mom’s cooking improved drastically. THANKS TO YOU! She’s coming up with different foods in every occasions and gatherings.. Dati laging Kare-Kare, BBQ, Spagghetti, pansit, and fruit salad lang po ang dishes na alam nyang ihanda. we use to order foods for birthday parties if we want to have something different.. Salamat po talaga! *.* She have your website bookmarked and saved in her desktop. That’s how much she loves your recipes. . She wants to know if you have a recipe book po? Kasi gustong-gusto niya po bumili. Ako kinukulit nya na tanungin po kayo. Thank you for this wonderful website po talaga! sana wag po kayo magsawa mang-share ng a lot of new recipes and ideas. thank you po!
Zai, San Diego CA.
Hello Ms. Connie,
Knowing that you are from Antipolo and that the Rizal province has been one of the hardest hit provinces of ONDOY, I pray that you and your family remain safe and out of harms way.
My prayers for all those affected by this unfortunate tradgedy!
Hello po! Gusto ko po sana humingi ng payo kung alin po magandang oven para sa gaya naming magsisimula ng maliit na bakery? Dati po kasi un tito ko Gas Convection Oven gamit nya eh luma na po un. Sa school po kasi gamit namin infrared eh halatang sooobrang mahal. Ano po kaya hindi masyadong mahal pero kaya makagawa ng cake? Sakto kasi magpapasko para makapagpractice ako dito sa bahay.
Gean, for a bakery you need an commercial scale oven and I don’t know anything about them. Sorry. Home cook ako. Never ventured on a commercial scale.
Hi! Just want to let you know that i love your site! The first recipe i tried was your Callos and it was a big hit! Since then i’ve been getting all my food recipes here. Thank you for sharing your talent
hello connie,
i was browsing the net and i was looking for a recipe on pininyahang manok, because i want another way of cooking it, you are right fresh fruit is really better…. and i was directed to your site, hmmm its a nice site…
i was hoping if i can also share some simple home cooking recipes ….
thanks and regards.
joyce
Ms. Connie thank you so much for posting such sumptuous recipes! I am a college student who’s totally novice to cooking and being away from home makes me miss my mom’s home-cooked meals. I eventually got tired of to-go meals and decided to finally learn how to cook. And this website of yours is really a great find! I especially loved your chicken, peas and mushrooms in sour cream recipe. =)
More power to you and your website! Cheers!
Hi Connie,
Thanks for having this site for free, I love this , im an architect who loves to cook. As i surf the internet looking for buffalo wings recipe to serve to my family and barkada’s on my coming b’day this all saints day. I just luckily landeed on this amazing site and enjoy reading and looking for more sumptious meal. im craving hard to taste it all when the time i will be cooking all of these items. I also came to be a fan of you on facebook. Do you have a Special authentic java rice recipe to match the roast duck and Spicy buffalo wings..Thanks and God bless,
More power to your chosen hobby and transformed career….
Hope in the future , I can see your own resto..
and be a part of the team who delegate my design ideas..
Nice regards,
Arch daniel baluyut
from Makati City
Hi Daniel. PIA or UAP?
Hi Connie,
UAP Maharlika chapter manila
Hi connie!
howdy? I would just want to know who manufactures omor pimiento. Most restaurants in the province is using it. And they say, its tasty and affordable.
thanks
I have no idea. I’m not even familiar with the brand.
Hi Connie,
Have you published your cookbook yet? I hope it has lots of pix:). I tried looking it up on Amazon.com today but didn’t find it.
I don’t cook often but when I do I follow your recipes, hubby approves.
Thanks for sharing your talent with the world!
Tess
On tastebook.com.
But I recommend you wait for the next one. 
Hi Connie,
When are you publishing it? I hope I can order it from the states.
Again, thank you for being so kind in sharing your talent worldwide.
No date yet.
Hello Connie,
I just want to say how important this website is to me. I was sent to the US for college, and homesickness was mostly about food my mother or maids would make. And I can only go home during the holidays due to school. I now can re-create my favorite dishes with your help.
Thank you very very much!
hi connie,
i hope to hear from you soon. have a good day …thanks
i just want to say that your blog/website is awesome and i hope that you will continue posting amazing recipes here,and pictures as well. it feels like im home (im from vancouver canada) just by reading your recipes and stories about the dish. i was wondering if you have a recipe for dinakdakan, i love that dish and i would love to try to make it, only if i’ll get the recipe from you !
I’m not familiar with dinakdakan. I searched Google, found some photos, and dinakdakan appears to be similar to sisig except for the mayo part. Interesting. I might try it one of these days.
Dear Connie, I will be visiting soon and would enjoy meeting you for a special tasting event.
Please email me so that we might have a chance to discuss such a thing.
I will be bringing lots of gourmet goodies and am seeking to arrange a cheese tasting of specialty California products at the Dinelli Gourmet main office.
Again, if this is of interest to you, please email me right away.
(We exchanged a few emails some years ago but did not have a chance to meet during my trip to visit your wonderful country last year.)
Finally, congratulations upon helping to advance Philippine cuisine.
Best Wishes,
Chris
hi!i was looking for a recipe of baked mac and came across your website..based on the comments of people who already tried your recipe, i think it will be great!hoping to try out the dish soon..thanks for these infos you’re giving people..it is really helpful!keep it up po!i’m a fan already..everything looks good..wanna try all of them especially the pastries,i love sweets!:)
Hi Connie! I have been a reader of your wonderful site and I have to say thanks for all the wonderful recipes you selflessly share with us. First time I read this page though, and I just had to put in a comment. I love Wok with Yan, Cooking it up with Nora (Daza) and Biba’s Kitchen. Those three, along with my late Mama’s cooking inspired me to explore the kitchen– I now have the waistline to show for it too! hehe.
I wish you the very best. Thanks again and God bless.
hi ms connie.. such a wonderful site! have easy and great ideas posted. its my 2nd testimonial and i wanted to ask you if you have a recipe of the pinoy cashey tarts?
Hello, Ms. Connie,
My son, who works in Dubai, first discovered your blogsite and since we both shared a love for cooking, sent me this link. I had to ask myself why it took me so long to discover you and the wonders you are doing in your kitchen.
Anyway, i’ll be trying one of your recipes ( bread with sausage and cheese) for the new year. My son sent me three kinds of cheeses from Dubai, so i guess i’ll be having a grand time in my kitchen. will let you know how my family will rate it.
With my best wishes for the new year!
Mrs. RF Inocencio
hi there, happy new year by the way. the first time i went in this site i was so surprise cause most of the recipe were really easy to follow. and sometimes there were picture of the intructions. and i recommend this site to my sister, i love to cook and i like going to the grocery with my dad. good thing theres a site like this.
Hi,
Im Jane currently base in Sri Lanka. Im a mother of 3. Thank you so much for having a site like this very helpful sa akin. Kahit malayo kami sa pinas i was able to learn to cook pinoy dishes with the help of your site. Kasi gusto ko kahit nandito kami gsuto ko lutuin pinoy food. Para alam pa rin ng mga bagets ko.I was able to learn aso the diffrerent usage of spices kasi ang dami dito. Hindi ko naman alam noon para saan yung iba.
April this year uwi na kami ng pinas for good. After 8 years in SL. Gusto ko kayong dalhan ng iba’t ibang spices as my way of saying thank you sa mga recipes mo. Ano po ba yung home address nyo. At mga spices na gusto nyo. At least alam ko na yung madadala ko magagamit nyo.
Gusto ko lang mag tanong kong may cook book po kayo. Ano po ang name?
Best Regards,
Jane Vargas
Hi Connie,
Greetings from Canada!
I just wanted to thank you for sharing your recipes. Ever since I got married last year, I’ve been trying your recipes every week (sometimes tweaking it esp. if I don’t have the ingredients). I’m glad to say that my husband loves the variety of meals that I’ve prepared for him. And I’m proud to tell my friends that I now know how to cook!
I like that you update your website with a new write-up everyday as I check it everyday too!
All the best and keep those great tasty recipes, tips, and reviews coming!
Good day, ma’am! I just want to ask, being a lawyer, how do you balance family, work, friends and alone time/hobbies? Thank you!
Is that a survey?
No, just an honest question. I know someone who is having problems with this. haha
Ahhh ok. Balance, balance. I don’t know, really. I don’t think there’s a formula. Priorities change by day depending on which needs more attention.
Hi Connie,
Your blog is incredibly motivating. I’ve been referring to it when I need to get ideas for our family meals. However, tell us why you decided you needed to set up a blog?
Connie I really really like your site… I really love to cook also….
Hi Ms. Connie,
I love your site that I have to visit it everyday for no reason. It completes my day. I love to cook but I actually would rather love to eat more. I am planning to start a blog and record our family’s food trips. I even plan to invest on a high-end camera so the pictures will be awesome. My husband was telling me that I also can make $$$ on the side. Is that true? That will be awesome as I would be able to do what I love and get paid as a perk. I would like to know more on this. Would you be able to provide more info on how you started up to how your blog is extremely so successful presently. Thanks so much in advance!
Yes, it’s true.
hi connie! i was pleasantly surprised to find out that you’re a lawyer. i’m also a lawyer and i hope to retire (by choice also, like you!) soon! maybe i’ll do that when i have a family of my own. hehe like you, i love the kitchen, i love to cook. i even considered taking up culinary to professionalize my skills but for practical reasons, i have to postpone that and just stick to my lawyering in the meantime.
i found your putanesca recipe and i’m so excited to try it out this friday. i’ve been cooking different pasta recipes for my boyfriend for 2 fridays now (1st is carbonara, last week pesto) and he loved them. putanesca is his favorite and i hope to give justice to this pasta when i cook it. your recipe will be my bestfriend this friday. hehehhe
by the way, the capers i found in groceries are only those soaked in vinegar. where can i get those in salt?
thanks and my warmest regards!
Retiring isn’t that far off when you really put your mind to it. I retired when I was 29. LOL I did go back to work some 8 years later but only for about a year and a half. After that, it’s work from home just writing.
Re capers: I don’t know, really. I always use the sour kind of capers.
oh. i was afraid the capers in vinegar will make the putanesca sour. but i guess they won’t. i’ll use the sour ones then. thanks!
Just drain them well. Just like olives (which are sour), capers improve flavor rather than ruin it.
great! thanks!
hi ms. connie!
it’s me again.
just wanted you to know that my friend loved the putanesca i cooked! it’s perfect daw and it tasted exactly like his mom’s. i’m just so happy because i was able to cook perfectly his favorite pasta.
thank you very much for sharing the putanesca recipe.
i’m so excited to try the other recipes posted on your website.
thanks again and my warmest regards!
kristine
Great!
Hi Connie,
Just a while ago, I am thinking what to cook for tonight and I have this chopped beef in the fridge. While searching the net, I stumble upon your site about Pinoy Bistek and so I tried it and it was great! Thanks a lot! God bless!
Hi Ms. Connie,
Good Day! Thanks for sharing your most-sought-after recipes online. I’m just wondering ma’am if you happen to have the recipe for asian noodles (world chicken) style or similar to it. I have been looking for it all over the net but could not find it. Thank you in advance and Godbless.
I don’t know what you mean by “asian noodles (world chicken) style.”
oh, there is a world chicken restaurant in Glorietta 4 and as side dish , they have this asian noodles, as they call it. My husband likes it so much but since we’re based abroad, i’m hoping that i can have a recipe for that and make it here. thanks ms. connie
I’ve never been to world chicken restaurant. In fact, I haven’t heard of it until now.
it’s ok ms.connie. in case u have the chance to pass by and try, let me know your version of it..
thanks a ton again.. God bless 
hi connie, am new in your site. good thing for food lovers like you. now i can enjoy food reading. love your blog.
Hello po Ms.Connie!
Good day to you and to your family as well.I really love your site i also follow your updates fb.I lived here in Iceland with my husband and my only daughter.In every day i always browse the net kung anong masarap na iluto.Icelandic po kc ang asawa ko ky i don´t know kung anong food ang i se served ko.First i try our Filipino dishes and he likes it,and then i found your site in fb honesly,i try to cook some of your recipe and my family loves it and even my inlaws.Kaya po kapag may handaan nag hahanap nalng po ako sa site nyo.Thank you so much Ms.Connie for sharing! God Bless!!
Hi Ladychelle, we have a community now where members can swap recipes and cooking tips. Join us? http://homecookingrocks.com/community/
wow! thank you Ms.Connie!!
I will..
God Bless…
Hi Connie,
I am so loving your site. Since I moved to Canada in 2001, I have never visited the Philippines. Your site has given me so much wonderful memories of Filipino food and new information. Keep up your great work.
I really appreciate your site! You have such passion with what you do. I love how I can just visit this site whenever I’m craving filipino food. I used to live in California where you can get filipino food around the corner but I’ve been stationed in Missouri, where just to get ingredients I’d have to drive an hour away. I just wanted to say thank you, I’ve learned a lot.
hello connie,
just read your article regarding japanese sweet corn (way back 2006). Let me share some information regarding that delicious corn. They were planted by URBAN FOOD FOUNDATION inside the Ateneo compound as a project in Urban Farming. It was first known as Ateneo Corn. After some time a new company, Pentagon Agribusiness Company , planted the same corn and called it Japanese Sweet Corn, for the reason that the supplier is Japan based. But the seeds are planted here in the Philippines. The name caught fire and eventually everyone planting supersweet corn is calling it Japanese Sweet Corn. The genuine one, are relatively smaller in length and diameter with softer and sweeter kernels. And you can use the corn not only in nilagang baka, but also in nilagang baboy and manok. The corn will give the broth a different flavor. Sabaw pa lang, ulam na.
Wow, thanks for all that info. I should post a new entry about it (we use the sweet corn so often and in so many ways!) and top calling it “Japanese.”
Super, superlove your site! My brother introduced it to me last year. Cooking (and you site,too) helped me get through tough times last year (well, until now.) Ginawa kong therapy. Hehe.
Well, I searched your site and found a recipe for rambutan, do you have other recipes for fresh (as in straight from the tree and not the canned type) rambutan? Rambutan season is coming and from the looks of the trees in our yard, there would be a lot for this year. I hate to see them not maximized at all.
Anyway, keep up the good work! Love you and your site! Im also following you in facebook but have not tried the community yet since I don’t have anything to share yet. Echoz.
I was looking for ‘sinigang sa miso’ recipe and found it in your website. I have just finished cooking it. I know I’ll be coming back often to check out your other recipes. I’ll be interested in Pinoy desserts which I would like to introduce to my 5- and 10-year old kids (we live in NYC). Thank you very much for such a very informative site.
Oh I hope you start with buko pandan dessert. Kids love it.
wow ang sarap lahat…hmmm what can i say..you really catched my attention sa sobrang sarap ng recipe nato..naghahanap ako talaga ng cook on line..sana makahanap ako katulad mo..pinoy and korean type of cooking.. have a nice day
dear connie,
i frequently browse on your site and get ideas. i learned to cook since i migrated to us, i miss eating our dishes. thank you for sharing your ideas and comments. when i go home to visit, i try to eat on those places you recommend.
keep going……is your cookbook out already ?
yours anna v.
I’m doing another. It’s slooooow going.
hi conie, i love cooking and discovering your site is like a dream come true. i tried your shawarma recipe hey it was awesome.thanks a great deal for sharing your awesome recipes with the world
Hi Connie,
I was surfing and making a reseach about cakes and I came upon your website. I find it interestting not only for my hobby baking but also cooking, although my husband does the cooking ;-P. He is very fond of Filipino foods and just like you, he also like to visit all kinds of restaurant in the Philippines to do some tasting and then when we go back to the Netherlands he tries it and invites friends and family for dinner. As i do the dessert(im good at it ;-P).
Thanks for sharing and keep up. hope you can visit Netherland in the future and try the typical food here.
groetjes uit Netherland
Hi Connie,
Now I understand where you get your food experience or shall I say expertise? Ang galing, I enjoy reading about you. Sorry, I will be one of your stalker now on food and follow all your blogs and experiences about it… Hope it’s ok!
God bless and more power.
LOL Don’t be a stalker. Be an active foodie. We have a community, you know.
HI! CONNIE, DO YOU HAVE BOOK RECIPE ALSO THAT CAN BUY ON TO THE STORE.BECAUSE MY FRIEND LOVES TO COOK BUT HE NEEDS A RECIPE BOOK AND HE WAS TRYING TO SEARCH IN NATIONAL BOOKSTORE BUT HE DIDN’T FOUND A FILIPINO RECIPE…PLS.. HELP ME..THANKS
Nothing of mine in National Book store, sorry. Soon, perhaps, if I ever finish it.
Hi Connie! I just love your site! Im a graduate of HRIM at Saint Benilde for 10 years now but landed a job as a secretary in an accounting firm. Really, cooking is not my forte! But after seeing your site and tried some of your recipes, I think this is the only time that I learned how to cook, hehe. Oh, and this is the only time that I can say that I have great taste and great style in cooking, wooohooo! Thanks so much for being an inspiration. Keep up the good work! Again, thanks!
Pauline
Hi Pauline. My daughters go to Benilde. In SDA though. Small world.
hi ms. Connie! I am also a mom who loves to cook and bake and i also did not attend cooking schools because its pricey,so my knowledge in cooking is based on reading and watching cooking shows and well recently through internet.I have seen so many sites looking for recipes and just picked 1 or 2 recipes on those sites but your site is so amazing so many recipes i’d like to try, and it’s really a big help for us moms who have no formal training in cooking..thanks and pls continue searching,testing and posting recipes,,YOU are a really big help….
Not all skills require schooling, right?
hi,ms connie. I just wanna know if you have a chocolate cake recipe ideal for kids birthday party. I would love to try your recipe.thanks.
Not yet. But watch out for one.
Ok thank you. I have been using cake mixes with all the cakes i’ve made. Im just sick of it and would love to try filipino chocolate cake recipes since my husband’s celebrating his birthday next week…i would wait for your recipe soon..thank you, Ms connie!
My daughters are waiting too hehehe
Hi Ms. Connie,
Two dairy questions for you:
a) For desserts like fresh pastillas de leche, I’ve read that carabao milk makes the creamiest treats. However, carabao milk is hard to come by in NC. What are good substitutes?
b) When making bibinka, recipes often call for kesong puti. What would be good examples of white cheeses I can use in such a dessert?
Please advise.
Much thanks, in advance,
KathyO
a) Any full cream milk is okay. But the higher the fat content, the creamier.
b) Cream cheese, goat cheese…
Terrific – thank you!
hello!
I adore this site, simply because of the wonderful dishes posted here. Thanks for sharing your great recipes and hopefully you’ll add some more! cheers!
Thanks for sharing the info about yourself. You are a big help to me who is recently married and who is not used to cooking. I also moved from the Philippines to California and miss the Filipino food. Even though there are a number of Filipino restaurants nearby, home cooked food is still appreciated. As the saying goes – the way through some people’s heart is through the stomach. I also think you are living the principle that cooking skills are to be shared – not supposed to be kept a secret; otherwise, the secrets die with you. By sharing your cooking skills, you bring joy in people’s lives, kinda spreading love. Your life is probably so blessed and fulfilled because you give so much.
Happy blogging!
Hi Ms. Connie. I enjoy visiting your site once in a while to get some recipes and learn from your kitchen tips. I noticed you made some changes on your menu bar. I’ve been looking for your kitchen tips portion (i forgot the exact title on the menu bar) as I used to read. Are you not going to keep them in your menu options? they are so useful. Hope to hear from you soon. tnx!
Whoa! I forgot to include it. Let me fix that…
Thanks for sharing your recipes and the nostagia that goes with it. So heartwarming. God Bless.
I just came across your website… and I’m so excited to try some of the recipes. But I have to wait til tom coz its after 12mid here in NJ. lol. I never learned to cook til I lived with my inlaws. From then on, its a whole new world of cooking for me. I too love to make the dishes my own. But I still have so much to learn. I want you to know that your recipes has inspired me so much, that in my mind, I’m saying” why didn’t I think of that before” lol Anyway, thank you for bringing me closer to home.
Hi Ms. Connie,
Thanks for this wonderful site.
I’m 25, full time employee, soon to give birth, have hyperthyroidism. I didn’t grow in the kitchen and now that I’m starting to build my family, i have a hard time in cooking. I’ve tried simple dishes like tinola, sinigang, fried rice, but still i have this feeling of doubt. I don’t know if mt husband really likes it or pretend to be like it. Please teach me how to start loving the kitchen and learning to accept whatever the result of my food… Thanks and more power…
PS: I’m excited to be see every dishes you have… I found some species you are using here and take time to browse them and look for more… But still part of me is still afraid to cook and the outcome…
Ditch the fear — the kitchen is your playground.
Thank you thank you for this site. I have been looking through your recipes for guidance on home cooked Pinoy food since I left the Philippines in 2005 to go to the US. I have a toddler girl who I want to grow up in the food culture of our country. She goes to day care and I make her rice meals that she eats with her classmates who bring boring deli sandwiches day in and day out. She will learn what it is to be Filipino first through her stomach, and thanks to you, I have some guidance. Thanks and please, please, don’t stop blogging!
Hello I just thought you would like to know that someone is ripping your cooking images and claiming them as their own work.
Thank you for the info. I deleted the URL you provided as I’d rather not send traffic to that ugly site.
hi ms. connie
you have a very nice blog in here
you’re kids are soooooo lucky they get to eat your creations.
more power to you
Thank you, Mai.
Hi Connie! I love your website!
I have been an active lurker since last year and I would like to thank you — for your recipes and practical advise in the kitchen. My husband also extends his thanks. It would seem that he noticed the “improvement” and variety in my cooking since I discovered your website. 
More power to you!
Hi Connie,
A friend of mine discovered your food blog last night and emailed the link to me. As we were talking on the phone while browsing your site and suggesting one recipe after another to each other, I declared I’m gonna your recipes everyday, one at a time.
For lunch today, I made your version of beef curry on a budget and boy, was my husband glad for my friend’s discovery of your blog :0 I posted a photo of it on my facebook page and tagged your website’s link as my source.
Tomorrow, I’m going to make camaron rebosado and lemony spinach and mushrooms with garlic bits for dinner.
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas with your readers.
Stay well,
Terri
Camaron and mushrooms for dinner sound great!
Hi Connie,
They came out great!!! I love your site. I’m looking forward to choosing the next dish for tomorrow..I’m still looking and trying to make up my mind. :=0
Til then.
Great!
I was looking for some vegetarian recipes when I stumbled in to your website. I’m a pesco-vegetarian (i still eat fish). I like your website for variety of recipes and step-by-step photos of how to make them. I love seeing what the dish looks like when it’s done. I’m going to do my version of the tofu, mushroom and spinach dish one of these nights–
I can’t wait! Thanks and I appreciate what you do!
Not many people like tofu. Great to connect with a tofu lover.
Hi Connie,
This is the first time I visited your site. Your blog site looks great and I’m amazed with your collection recipes and food photography. I am a Filipino food caterer here in Los Angeles and always looking for good recipes to add to my menu. Hmm, I love what I am seeing Connie. Thank you and more success to you. God bless…
Thank you and good luck with your catering business too.
Hmmnn, this made me think.. Ms. Connie, a caterer thinks that your recipes are good. Bakit ayaw nyo pumasok sa food industry? Set-up your own business?
Knowing how took and write is one thing; business is a different world. Sabi nga ni Bourdain sa Kitchen Confidential — just because you can cook doesn’t mean you can run a restaurant.
Hi Connie,
What they say is true – “great minds think alike” hahaha. I agree with you Connie and you totally hit that nail on the head front and center. One can be a total genius in cooking but a big failure when it comes to running the front end of a restaurant including marketing, PR, and Accounting. It takes dedication and personal sacrifices to run a restaurant. It is a 12 to 14 hour on-your-feet operation. That is why my hat’s off to those running a restaurant successfully. I know I can’t run one that is why I chose catering instead; I don’t fire up my stove unless I get an order.
BTW Connie, I truly admire your recipes and the way you write your blogs. I wish I could write as good as you but that’s ok, I will just enjoy reading your blogs and trying out your recipes.
Yep. I’m bad in math so I don’t do accounting. I’m not very patient so I don’t do PR. hehehe
Hi Ms.Connie,
I’m a 54 yr.old nurse.Like you I have to retire from my profession (company nurse) to raise my 3 girls,now ages 28,24 and 21 all graduated from college. Most PTA people I meet then would ask why I didn’t practice my profession abroad where I can earn well. I always tell them that I want to raise the girls myself even if that means living on a budget.It was the best decision I’ve ever made.
After my 30-yr.old collection of cookbooks and recipe compilations were destroyed by Ondoy,I lost interest in cooking and baking. Then my hubby and the girls started requesting our old favorites, so I turned to the internet to rebuild my collection of recipes. I’m so happy to stumble upon your blog site..and doubly happy to know that you are also into herb gardening.
Now, I frequent your site…so I hope you don’t mind if I write you a thing or two once in a while.
Good bless you and please continue sharing us your beautiful mind.
I’d love to hear from you!
Hi Connie, thanks for all your post and inspiring me to have my own cooking blog -> http://angsarap.wordpress.com. I love your food and tried a lot of it, was following you since 2005 if I remember correctly. Again thank you!
Your chicken enchiladas look delectable!
Your recipes are simply wonderful. I have your website on my favorites and I think this is one of the sites I will frequently visit.
Thank you, Raine.
love your blog!
Thanks.
Hi Ms. Connie,
I usually visit your sites (pinoycook and House on a Hill) from time to time, noticed and admired the changes you always make in your lay out. Pero ngayon, I cant resist posting a comment of your new profile pic. You and Sir Speedy look so nice and happy together. And your kids are both talented. An ideal family for me.
I’m sad to hear that Feast Asia did not stay long, I used to visit that site also, but its pinoycook I usually go when I needed a recipe.
Goodluck and wishing for more years of pinoycook!!
Thanks.
Don’t give up on Feast Asia yet. Maybe, when there’s more time…
nice photo ms connie!
Hay naku, naghahanap pa si Speedy ng mas maganda raw.
Hi Connie,
I love the recipes on your website and that your grown kids help you in the kitchen. When did they start cooking with you? I have been cooking in the kitchen since i was 3 and have the cutest pictures!
I work for the Monday Campaigns, a non profit in association with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, which leads health initiatives. My favorite campaign is The Kids Cook Monday which encourage kids to cook and eat with their families. I am sure you realize the importance of family dinners while the kids grow up.
We would love if you would write a weekly blog every Monday about kid friendly recipes. Please visit our website http://www.mondaycampaigns.org/the-kids-cook-monday/ and email me if you are interested!
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Abby
thekidscookmonday@gmail.com
Hi Connie!!!
Being raised in the mountains (Baguio City, Benguet), I am only familiar with our native (Igorot) simple dishes which is simply boiling and broiling. Being married to a unico hijo of chefs (who eats dishes with lots of spices), I am on my way of learning the real art of cooking. I have been scanning the net for recipes and have downloaded lots of recipe books.
We usually stay outside Philippines so asking help from my in-laws doesn’t come handy.
Coming across your site is a real blessing. Mostly Filipino dish with international touch and vice versa, yet totally Pinoy taste. Simple to follow and the ingredients are just around the corner whichever part of the world I am.
Thanks a lot for being a part of my cooking journey.
May you continue being a blessing to others…
love your site!
Thank you.
Ms. Connie, are you Kapampangan?
Nope.
Hi Ma’am,
Just want to thank you for putting up home cooking rocks. Amazingly, at my age, ngayon lang po ako natuto mag bake. When i came across of your banana cake, for 4 straight days, we always have banana cake in the table, after that, i tried your butterscotch brownie, was so surprised how easy to bake the butterscotch. 2 days na po na luto ako ng luto ng butterscotch,
Thanks again ma’am
Merry Christmas! God Bless you
So happy to find this site. Very helpful and informative. Keep it up ms. Connie. More power to you!
hello Connie,
Wishing your good health in your family,
Salamat,i found the exactly that im looking for long time,13yrs in korea searching filipino food that simple instruction and Very happy that i found the honestly your site Very helpful and all the ingredient here easy to find everywhere in korea,i hope i will meet you here in korea,Korean people mahilig sila sa ibat-ibang pagkain.Since 2002 until now still working pa rin sa restaurant,and at last inside US base serving w/military/family/civilian at the restaurant.Thank you so much,And pls…how to make shomai.GOD BLESS…..
Thank you,
isha
Hi there! So pleased to have arrived at your blog. I’ve bookmarked it, hoping that your kitchen creations may inspire me to try more Filipino dishes at home. Thank you!
Hi Connie,
i too love cooking so much.. aside from the kitchen, my fave place is the grocery or supermarket.
loving your site ever! thanks for sharing your passion for food.. helped me a lot! God Bless you and your family! 
Hi Connie, I’ve been reading following your blog and cooking your recipes for a while now. I really appreciate it. As a second generation Filipino-American (and college student) I don’t have a lot of opportunities to eat Filipino and Asian food over here unless I make it myself, and that’s why I’m grateful for your writing. I wouldn’t know what I would do if you stop, unless I religiously download everything in your site, which would be quite an undertaking, haha.
The short version of this is: love your site! Hope you keep writing and good luck to you and your family!
haha Don’t worry. I’ve no plans of giving up the blog anytime soon.
Hello again Connie!
I am now going to try your tuna lumpia. I haven’t done groceries for the coming week’s dining fare – busy with the kids’ extra-curriculars from swimming to ice skating to the hockey play-offs and the list only goes on. Anyway, needless to say, I’m short on ideas, short on time and short on groceries. i found 2 cans of chunk light tuna in my pantry, half a cabbage head, a few baby carrots, a couple stalks of scallions and broccoli in my fridge. then there’s eggs, milk, butter, juice, strawberries and blueberries. Then I was stumped, so here I am once again looking through your recipe collection and what a treasure box you have! I have all the ingrdients for tuna lumpia including the wrapper. What a coinkidink! Just so you know, I didn’t waste time googling recipes, I went straight to your blogsight. You don’t know how thankful I am that you’re not one of those selfish Filipinos who only keep their recipes to themselves. (trust me, I know of a few who don’t want to share – it’s not like I’m in it to make a money out of it – I yet have to understand that mentality). You’re heaven sent! Maraming salamat!;D
Some Filipinos keep recipes within the family as a kind of source of pride. You know, like an exclusivity. Like being able to serve a good dish while others can’t. Sounds silly but that’s how it goes.
Thanks for clarifying that for me. You’re right, it’s silly but be it as it may, I respect that. After all, there are a lot of silly things we Filipinos believe in and may even abide by them. Guess it’s a Filipino thing. Anyway, the tuna lumpia was, like the longganisa, anther palate tickler. Once again, thank you! Here’s another big hug ;> ! Keep rockin’!!!
“there are a lot of silly things we Filipinos believe in and may even abide by them”
Oh, I know! Culture thing maybe?
Hello Connie, been coming back to your site very often and I figured it wasn’t right to enjoy and be grateful for someone elses’s hardwork and not make that known. I not only enjoy your recipes but immensely enjoy your writing as well. I am now most definitely a fan. Btw, today we are trying out your eggplant bok choy and mushroom in oyster sauce.
Thanks for the feedback, Tina.
hi connie!
you totally rock! your recipes are easy to follow and yummy when cooked. ever since i discovered your website, i’ve been coming back whenever i’ve run out of ideas what to cook for lunch or dinner. my favorite is java rice. living abroad, i do not think asian restaurants “get” what our (Filipinos, that is) java rice is all about.
keep on posting, and keep up the good work!
(p.s. i always credit your blog whenever i post something that i cooked from your recipes)
gladys
Thanks, Gladys.
I havent yet tried your recipes, but it seems like mouth watering..
I was just looking for a particular Filipino dish once and 5 years later, here I am always trying out something new. Your passion for cooking always inspires me.
That is so good to know.
hi ms. connie,
I visit your blog on a daily basis for recipes (and more).
Since you changed houseonahill to casaveneracion, every time i access your homecookingrocks blog i get the savory confetti cupcakes post as default page and not your latest entry. For a while i thought you took a break from posting but i then i always get updates naman on facebook. Would you have any idea why this happens?
Love your posts! Thank you so much for sharing
LeiCerv
What URL does your browser point to?
ms. connie,
it is homecookingrocks.com
There’s really no connection between the change of domain names — casaveneracion.com has a totally different database.
whether i directly type http://www.homecookingrocks.com ,or access it from casaveneracion, the same thing happens, the page date is april 6 and your latest post is still the savory confetti muffins for april 5.
oh well, whatever the error is i still am updated ..i just skip pages until i get to the latest date or access the latest entry from facebook
Can you try deleting your browser’s cache / settings?
thanks a bunch!
I thought so.
Hi Connie! I’m a writer for a local food magazine. I’m doing an article on food blogs and one of the websites we’re featuring is yours.
I’d like to do a short Q&A with you for the feature, but I’m not quite sure how to get in touch with you. Hoping you could e-mail me so I can send you the questions. Thanks! Looking forward to hearing from you!
I’ve been following your blog for about a year now, and I love how you fuse your own cultural influences with those foreign to you. Your recipes are a great inspiration to an American born Mestiza who is married to a Korean Irish and can only cook Filipino food. Ha! Thank you for sharing your beautiful art with all of us.
“an American born Mestiza who is married to a Korean Irish and can only cook Filipino food.”
That’s a mouthful. I had to read it twice to get it right.
Hi Ms. Connie! I am accessing your site from my office. I was shocked when it displayed “Forbidden site” yesterday! thank God na-access ko na ulit today, I thought na-block na just like IT did with social networking sites, FB, twitter, etc.
But I thought, this could not be possible!? wala naman foul sa food blog ah! and the thought of not seeing your recipes again after I receive the mail alert, oh my golly goose! haha..
Good thing I was able to view your site again… what a relief talaga!
Thank you for all the recipes! and for sharing them to avid readers and followers like myself!
Happy eating!
More power and God bless! 
It was a server problem. Overload. Traffic has tripled, so I need more resources for the blog.
It’s a good thing that traffic tripled right?
Glad that everything’s fixed now.
P.S. I think not REALLY fixed pala.. hehe.. posting of comments is taking forever..
baka magflood na ako ng comments kaka-click and I would not even know. sorry naman po.. 
hi ms connie,
im a subscriber for over a year now and yes, i can also say (if i may), Family meals have never been this tasty
a great teacher, an inspiration…
you’re Heaven sent ms connie v.
im only 29, mother of 4(yeah, i know) and a wife to an engr who loves to eat.
it feels like you’re a mother to me
every recipe is from your heart and we love them all.
Thanks for all the tips and tricks and most of all, thank you for the recipes..
I would love to meet you one day ms connie
m/
Wish I could meet all of you readers. Wouldn’t that be quite a party.
Hi Ms. Connie!!!
ngaun lang ulit ako nakalog in dito, at mejo naconfuse ako at first akala ko ibang site un napasukan ko (un mga tipong kinukuha un content ng site mo tapos ipopost sa ibang site, ano nga ba tawag dun?)
un pala bago na hehehhe anyway, narereceive ko naman po lagi un mga newsletters ng site mo.
Thanks very much po for giving us inspiration to cook at home
=)
Hi Ms, Connie. Just like you, I’m a mom of 2…My youngest son is in gr.6 and my eldest is freshman in college..I accidentally saw your site one time when looking for a recipe and since then bookmarked this site. I find it very informative and easy to follow..Thanks
thanks for sharing a lot of recipes here. i learn a lot from you.
may i ask your opinion on something. my mother bought and cooked crabs on the same day. when i opened one crab to eat, i was surprised to see it’s greenish inside (well, some parts of it.) Was it just overcooked? or was it because the crabs were no longer fresh?
thanks.
hi ms. connie! i have been an avid follower of your blogsite. i actually came to discover ur site thru a friend and in search of some recipes, since then i would always check if you posted a new recipe, i then discover ur wonderful and interesting stories. i really admire you and your family, having the same passion for food, coffee and photography. like you i also enjoyed cooking and baking, but since we dont have oven at home i was unable to do baking. i am working here in dubai and our accomodation was fully furnished including a gas range and since last year i have been doing a lot of cooking and baking, i am also taking pictures of the dishes and desserts that i make and post them on my facebook account. i love reading all ur stories, and have tried some of ur recipe and it was truly a hit among my friends. more power to and i will be looking forward to more of ur stories and recipes….
The stories and recipes will keep on coming.
Dear Connie,
I have been a fan of yours for 2 years now. I saw your siopao recipe. I would like to make it, but can you tell me where I can buy yeast? I went to SM hypermart, and I only found this hard pack of yeast, I dont know if its the right one. Please help.
Jelle
I don’t know what you mean by “hard pack of yeast.” The yeast might be compressed in its packaging but it will still look like sand when opened.
Hello Connie!
I came across this when I was looking for a recipe for arroz ala cubana. I’m usually a weekend cook and I refer to the internet looking for recipe’s. I have to say this is an excellent website. The cream cheese with milk and parsley topping is inspired! Can’t wait to try it out myself.
Keep it up!
cheers!
Bless
Been wondering for the longesttime ba’t nag reredirect sa casa ang homecookingrocks… finally found the answer
the chicken relleno looks really good i will be sure to include it in our christmas menu.
thanks for inspiring the cook in me
natakot ako nung di ko na makita yung homecookingrocks! gosh! wala na akong tulong sa pagluluto…whew! found out everything’s on this blog…
thanks for all the help!! if i’m trying to cook something, i go to your site first! I’m a newbie and your detailed instructions help me a lot. You inspire me to experiment with cooking too!
ooo, I got a little confused. I thought I posted a comment about herb infused oil. I don’t know where it went. And now I’m here. haha. Anyway, I was asking about using dried minced garlic and dried herbs to eliminate the danger of botulism, increase the shelf life of the oil and storing it unrefrigerated. I had no idea there would be a problem. I was just going to make some for Christmas gifts. Thank you (and others I’ve read the last 2 days) for the warning and some great information.