Good food, great writing, decent photos. Yes, that's about right.
When we were living in the city next to my grandmother’s house, Sam and Alex spent a lot of time in my grandmother’s garden. Alex was very young then, just learning to talk. Sam was already the most talkative toddler ever and she liked to christen the plants and flowers. Because it was the Disney ... (more)
While waiting for our food at The Vegetarian Kitchen two days ago, a woman carrying a huge bag came in. I thought she was also a customer but she was looking for someone and the son of the owner The Vegetarian Kitchen entertained her. I was busy taking photos of the place and I wasn’t ... (more)
Having a large tree in the garden means we get a fair amount of fallen leaves everyday. Usually, it’s no more than a few dozen at a time. Easy enough to rake to keep the grass free from clutter. Over the past week or so, however, Speedy had been wondering about the tremendous amount of ... (more)
Over the past weeks, Speedy and I, together with my brother and his wife, have been spending time in my mother’s house going through… well, everything. The work is so overwhelming, just looking at the amount of stuff in the house makes me feel like collapsing in the heat and dust but, heck, it has ... (more)
Once upon a time, I was watching Oprah! and her guest was Kirstie Alley. My “acquaintance” with Kirstie Alley is a long one having first seen her in the 1980s mini-series North and South, and its sequel North and South II. I watched the shows with my father who fancied himself a connoisseur of beautiful ... (more)
That’s my grandmother’s teacup and saucer in the photo. I love the design and the colors; it’s too bad that it’s almost impossible to find chinaware with such wonderful old-fashioned design these days.
The photo is, hopefully, marks the permanent return of the “daily photo” section.
Whether you wake up with a sunny disposition or a head-splitting hangover, there’s a mug for you. Bought at Shopwise Libis. Something like PhP69.00 per piece, if I remember correctly.
On Saturday, after lunch, we were watching TV and Sam had her guinea pig on her lap. Pepper, our cat, came in, sprawled on the floor, Sam picked her up and decided it was bonding time for guinea pig and cat. She called me over to show how the two were getting along. I got ... (more)
Sam was born on August 20, 1992, exactly two months before my 29th birthday. And for my birthday that year, Speedy gave me a rocking chair. He had this idea that if I held Sam in my arms, sat on the chair and rocked gently, she would soon be asleep. Well, it worked when Sam ... (more)
With the never ending fuel price hikes and the concomitant rise in the price of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), we’ve been trying to find ways to cut down on our consumption. While I still love to bake, when there’s just Speedy and myself at home and baking a whole bunch of cupcakes is simply too ... (more)
For the first time in a long time, I remembered not to cook on a Sunday. … »»
What are huevos rancheros? The English translation is eggs ranch-style. The … »»
With the scorching heat of summer, I often feel that life sucks in a huge … »»
And so we take a break from the sweets and the meats and all those rich … »»
So, I mentioned the other day that I made a huge pot of broth by simmering … »»
I've been dreaming of making this for weeks. But since we started making … »»
If I had access to kale, I'd have used a bunch in lieu of white cabbage. If … »»
In a post I published four and a half years ago, I mentioned that everyone … »»
There are two earlier version of this recipe for steamed fish with tausi … »»
Casa is Spanish for house. CASA is also an acronym for Connie, Antonio, Sam and Alex. We are all surnamed Veneracion. We all love to take photos -- of anything that catches our fancy. It's a family obsession.
This is a journal of how we live, eat, learn, play and have fun. Work? Work is part of playing and having fun. Seriously.
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 … (click here to read all »)
Okra has a bad reputation in our house. So bad a reputation that I'm the … (more...)
When I first came across this spinach recipe in The New York Times health … (more...)
This is an updated version of a recipe originally published on September … (more...)
In the Philippines, melon usually refers to the cantaloupe or rockmelon. … (more...)
A one-pot dish that's a breeze to prepare. The sausage meat makes the broth … (more...)
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