childhood memories...

It's All Saints Day once again. I have the fondest and yummiest memories of the season. Here in the Philippines, remembering our dead is a tradition that goes hand in hand with family reunions, homecomings, and a sumptous spread.

This year, my sisters and I took roadtrip to Daddy's hometown, Cabatuan City. This is where our biological mom and grandmother is laid to rest. Instead of going to the ancestral house (the way we always do), we decided to go directly to the cemetery to meet up with our other relatives for a "picnic". Lola Tina, who always kept track of our childhood favorites brought pandesal with giniling, freah carabao's milk, homemade chicharon, fried rice, buro, and adobo.

In Cabanatuan, no meal is complete without the cholesterol laden pork skin cracklings (chicaron). In our house, it is eaten not as an appetizer, but rqather as one of the ulam (viands). After staying a couple of hours, we knew it was time to head home. Mind you, we very much dreaded the traffic and still have to go cemetery hoping in Manila.



Of course a trip to Cabatuan is never complete without stopping by the local market and buying ourselves a few kilos of batute, a very garlicy variant of longaniza. Hmmm... childhood memories are filled of these tasty, meaty treat frying in our kitchen.