Filipina Pride!

Birthdays, Birthday and MORE Birthdays! Today my Mom threw a Cook-Out for my sister and brother’s birthdays in which both lie in June. Having a Mom who loves to cook and with Filipino roots leads to a rack full of GREAT tasting foods! And because she is such a loving and supportive mom, that also means lots of yummos for me too! On the Omni menu was Pansit, a noodle dish consisting of sautéed veggies, meat and rice noodles; lumpia or skinny egg rolls as I call them; crabs (eww); rice; Asian BBQ ribs; Menudo; and Sushi. For me, tofu pansit, veggie sushi, pickles and olives….as for dessert, Ginitaang, a sweet rice cake made from coconut milk (Vegan), Cassava Cakes rolled in coconut flakes (Vegan), fried bananas, plantains rolled in sugar then wrapped in rice wrapper (vegan); cherries; and cake. Of course, I enjoyed dessert the most. Can you tell?

Fried Bananas....

Ginitaang...

Cassava Cakes Rolled in Coconut....


One Filipino delicacy that my Tita also brought along was Balut; a 17-21 day fertilized duck egg, boiled til fully cooked. It is then cracked open on the top in which the juices are first sipped through, then the rest of the egg, yolk and duck are eaten, sometimes with spices and vinegar. It is a very common street food in the Philippines, but as a Vegan..HECK NO! It was detrimental to watch, but that’s their culture and it’s more fun and interesting to see Americans gawk at the site of someone enjoying such a shocking snack. It’s even more fun to convince someone to try one….=-) I’m bad, I know.

And along with Filipino cook outs comes lots of leftovers to take home, an over stuffed belly that can barely breath causing the body to want to go into a deep sleep and a great time to remember. I love being Filipina!! Enjoy my desserts!