Day 91: Weekend Market

The weekend market along the corner of Ramos Extension and Escario Streets.
It begins every Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon.

Barely on my second day after our move from BXU, I started to miss home terribly...the familiar places, the traffic-free roads, the corner stores and outlets where I buy our needs, and all the other stuff I'm used to there.  Well, my spirits got an uplift when I was told of this weekend market nearby (across the road from where we live actually) that's teeming with fresh produce - fruits, vegetables, live chicken, farm fresh eggs. 

After learning about it, I couldn't contain my excitement and actually rushed to the location with my two girls in tow. It was indeed a sight to behold! Just looking at the cornucopia of goodies made my fingers itch to once again experiment in the kitchen. 

The only downside to this neighborly trip is the price...I was taken aback at how expensive it is here. Well, if I got the stuff in the supermarket, surely it'll be more pricey so this was the best alternative. Gosh!!! I so miss the "bagsak-presyo" produce of Butuan!!! Imagine, here, the bananas are priced per piece and not per kilo. There goes my kids' favorite fruit...we'd probably consume dramatically less here than we did back home...

With my small eco bag filled with as much as my budget would allow, I set for home, quickly planning in my head the cooking trip I'll have this weekend...dum dee dum...

Day 5: I Love Papaya!!!

Due to the incessant rains today, afternoon classes were suspended so I had to fetch Jarred from school at midday.

Upon arriving home, he checked out the fridge for something he could snack on and he discovered the papaya slices that were chilling inside. He quickly took a spoon and started to munch on this pretty healthy snack.

I told him that papaya is a rich source of Vitamin A which is good for the eyes and that made him even more excited to finish the plateful of fruit in front of him.

Day 244: Lanzones Season

You will know once the "-ber" months have arrived when you suddenly see a proliferation of fruit vendors selling lanzones (lansium domesticum). These fruits are ovoid orbs covered in light yellow leathery skin and the sweet flesh are divided into 5-6 segments or wedges. 

I remember childhood days in San Jose, Batangas enjoying these fleshy goodies as Lola Rosing would usually harvest them from her own trees during season. 


It's funny that my own kids enjoy eating lanzones and would usually ask to stop by the sidewalk fruit vendor to buy some. Even the littlest one, CeeJae loves the succulent and sweet flesh of lanzones.

Day 231: Ang Langka (Jackfruit)

I wasn't too fond of jackfruit as a child. I thought it smelled funny. When Jollibee came out with their Banana Langka pie, I thought it tasted weird. And langka in my turon didn't thrill me either. 

Well, maybe there's something about promdi living that actually changed my taste buds. You see, langka is now one of my favorite fruits and I love to munch on it when it's sweet and ripe and I adore it as a vegetable dish - Guinataang Langka. Even with turon, I've come to prefer the ones with a sliver of jackfruit inside. 

Hubby and all three of my kids also love eating ripe jackfruit - we usually munch on the succulent yellow flesh as dessert. It's a good thing there's a regular langka vendor near my son's school so I don't really have to look around for some whenever we get the jackfruit craving. 

Day 202: Soursop

A gift from our generous neighbors, we enjoyed refreshing mounds of fleshy guyabano (soursop) for dessert tonight. Soursop is a fruit that looks and smells like an oversized atis (custard apple). More sour than atis, I must say that liking guyabano is an acquired taste. As a child, I enjoyed it in a tall glass, blended with crushed ice and a little sugar. My paternal grandfather loves this fruit so much and I remember how his ancestral home in Frisco, QC always smelled like guyabano whenever I went there to visit him and Lola. As I enjoyed each morsel of soursop tonight, I went back memory lane and relived my wonderful childhood days.

Day 141: My Favorite Yellow

With the fever of the elections behind me, I can now feature something in the color yellow which has nothing to do with politics. Banana is my all-time favorite fruit - latundan, lakatan, saba - you name it, I love it! I like to eat it ripe, boiled, fried, in turon, or as maruya. I don't remember exactly how it ended up to my favorite but I guess it's because it's the easiest fruit to eat and I always found it around the house while I was growing up. My kids have taken after me - all three of them love bananas too!