The Sassy Lawyer & Pinoy Cook on food, family and home.
A couple of years ago, Speedy’s brother, Sonny, and his family were in the country for a vacation. Since we were already living in the suburb by that time, we didn’t get to see them until a few days after their arrival. And when we did see them, well, to say that I was surprised ... (more)
One thing about sharing cooking adventures with an artistic daughter is that the outcome is not always what you expect. Sam wanted to make French macarons earlier today and I said, “Sure!” I did the prepping — from beating the egg whites to grinding the almonds to lining the baking trays — then she took ... (more)
Last night, Speedy and I watched Bullitt, a 1968 film starring Steve McQueen. It is famous for a car chase scene, the stunt then rumored to have been performed by McQueen himself, but which later turned out to be untrue. Jacqueline Bisset was third in the billing but her role as McQueen’s girlfriend was limited ... (more)
When the girls arrive for the weekend, everything begins with unloading bags of dirty clothes from the pick-up which get dumped in the living room until they can go into the washing machine the next day. Along with the bags of clothes are camera bags, laptop bags, folders, papers and every imaginable thing that college ... (more)
The thing about having friends over is that there is no pressure to try to impress. You’re more concerned about good conversation, hanging out comfortably and, although great food and fantastic drinks always help, it’s really the company that matters. My brother-in-law, Buddy, and Laura, the woman that I fervently hope will still someday become ... (more)
One of the most quoted saying I heard in my childhood is that “the best way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Isn’t that so darn medieval? The message is that a woman can beguile a man by pleasing him through womanly ways — like being an efficient housekeeper and a good cook. ... (more)
To understand this post, you have to read its predecessor, Tie-dye: how Sam spruced up old t-shirts, which happened on September 19 and was posted as a blog entry on September 20. The following photos were taken a week later. We had run out of old t-shirts for Sam to work on so I bought ... (more)
There were recent films that I wouldn’t have watched even if I had been given free premiere tickets and even if the tickets came with a free dinner. Transformers 3 was one of them. Total waste of time as far as I’m concerned. Truth be told, these days, and especially after Captain America which was ... (more)
Warning: Some graphic descriptions that can make your stomach turn. You’ve been warned. I had given up on this neighborhood. Seriously. I don’t make any more attempt to be neighborly or friendly or nice. A month ago, neighbors invaded the clubhouse after midnight, hollering and all. I looked out wondering what the commotion was about ... (more)
When I was a little girl, a time when I never heard of “bonding time” (or, even if I had, I doubt if I would have understood it anyway), I spent a lot of Saturday mornings at my father’s office. That was our special time. Just him and me. We didn’t really do anything special. ... (more)
This is an updated version of a recipe originally published in March 1, … »»
Tortang talong or eggplant omelet (or frittata, if you prefer to cook it a … »»
Adobong pusit is a familiar dish, popular and rather common Filipino dish. … »»
Since I first sampled this salmon belly sinigang at Gerry's Grill, I've … »»
After a quick trip to the market, Speedy checked his Facebook account, … »»
Still experimenting with alternative methods of cooking, after using the … »»
If you're looking for the easiest cocktail drink recipe ever, you just … »»
A simple, easy and very tasty pasta dish that you can cook in one pan. … »»
I can't resist a good recipe when I come across one. I was browsing food … »»
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 »)
It has a graham cracker crust and it is baked but at a lower temperature … (more...)
If you Google "melon cocktail", you'll find that there are two categories. … (more...)
According to Tastefully Done, age means deep fried and dashi, of course, is … (more...)
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...)
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