Bon appetit!

I'm making bangus bistek right now while waiting for my husband to come home from work. The delicious aroma of fish, calamansi and soy sauce fills the kitchen, and I am brought back to my childhood years. The smell of bangus bistek always takes me back to when I was still a kid. I learned how to cook at a very early age. Twelve years old, to be exact. In fact, when I was seven, my mom would make a list and ask me to go to the palengke, all by myself. I remember walking to the market in my pambahay, buying onions, tomatoes, some veggies and a kilo of meat. Or bigas.

Before I hit 10, I've become friends with the frying pan. And at 12, my Mom already taught me how to make famous pinoy dishes like adobo, bistek, tinola and sinigang. I was trained in the kitchen early, and I am thankful for it. I didn't grow up to be a chef, but I have never fallen out of love with cooking. Through the years, I taught myself how to make different dishes, scouting for recipes on the internet. Oh and how I love to experiment! I'd scan the pantry or the fridge's contents and create something from whatever I find in them. When I was still single and living with my folks, I was the official cook. My specialty? Gourmet pasta. That earned me the title "Pasta Princess," awarded to me by my solid, faithful fans - my family. Now that I'm married, I have one happy and satisfied diner in my kitchen - the husband! And my future kids will be getting the same early training from me, just the way my Mom taught me, with apron, pot holder and all.

Cooking is la-la-love! And the learning never stops! I still have many, many dishes to make. Next on my learning list: Baking! Will enroll at Heny Sison very soon!

:)