Simply Belle

Jessica Sanchez is from Southern California, and was born to a filipino mother and mexican father. She started singing at the age of 2. Her influences include Celine Dion, Christina Aguillera, Beyonce, Whitney Houston, and Mariah Carey.

During the first season of America Got Talent, she earned the wild spot impressing all three judges. Brandy, the international pop star and one of the judges raved about her and made a remark, “You’re going to be huge, I promise!” She was 9 years old in this video.  She may be 13 years old now and sounding even better. You can check out her myspace site here

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I just recently received a present from my daughter S for her Mother’s Day gift to me. She was trying to save some money so she sent it third class. Third class parcel usually arrives within a week or so. I was so excited when I opened the package, wondering what she got me this time. In the past, she usually gave me good quality cosmetics- things I don’t normally buy because they are expensive. One good thing about this daughter, she is very good at budgeting her money and she saves up for those special occasions.

Inside the package, there was a card she made herself that says:

“Happy Mother’s Day. This present is something you can wear in the Philippines. The dress can be worn multiple ways. I have included a small card that contains directions. I hope you like it. Love, S.”

And you know what she gave me? A sexy black dress which can be worn several ways. Ha ha…I didn’t think my daughter would approve of me wearing this dress but apparently I was wrong.

I modeled the dress at night so the pictures weren’t as good even with flash.

my favorite variation

least favorite.

second favorite

third favorite

So it appears that I have four new black dresses. How cool is that? Too bad the dress doesn’t have a magical power to change into different color for every style because I would love to have it in green, red, and white.

Now, I am thinking where in the province I could appropriately wear this outfit. To Virac Palengke? Nah! To nang Hilda’s sari sari store? Nay! To the beach? I don’t think so! To the church? Certainly not, priest would shoo me away. To the vesper ball? Hmmm, that’s an idea.

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Lately, I have been craving for this dish that my niece fixes for me whenever I go home to the province. I never asked for the recipe because I didn’t think that I would one day prepare it myself here. I was wrong.

Last Sunday, we (8 of us) went to Phoenix to do some oriental shopping. I was surprised to see good quality taro roots just like in the picture below. I immediately grabbed a plastic and picked about 6 medium roots and thought of making kalo-ko to satisfy my craving.

Here it is:

In between Kaloko is filled with the flesh that I pryed out of the taro roots (split lengthwise) using a small spoon. I made sure I carved it out carefully so as not to puncture the shell to put the filling in. I flavored the filling with 1/2 can of coconut cream, 2 cups of sugar (or more depending on your taste), and anise for flavoring. Pandan leaves work just as good for flavoring. My niece suggested that I add salt. No salt for me, thank you.

Then I filled in the shell with the filling about 3/4 full. I poured 1/4 can of coconut milk into the bottom of the pan and placed each kaloko in. I poured the remaining 3/4 can of coconut cream over the kaloko and another cup of sugar or more depending on your taste. Cook slow for 45 minutes or until the juice becomes sticky. Cool and enjoy. (For this recipe, I opened 2 cans of coconut cream but only used 1 1/2.) I ended up throwing the other half. I know I am wasteful but I don’t foresee myself using the leftover milk in my cooking in a week or two.

It was sooooo good!

Below is the picture of the taro roots that I lifted from this site

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Me: Lexi, how do I look in this dress?

Lexi: You look good mommy, you look like a teacher.

Hmmm, whatever she meant by it, I will take it as a compliment. The skirt I am wearing is a wrap-around skirt that I bought 10 years ago in Oahu. I thought I would wear it today for this mother’s day ocassion to look more motherly (not teacherly, Lexi). One time, we went to church, and I was wearing a formal long black skirt, a white blouse, and a black blazer. Stephanie thought I looked like a mormon mother. Ha! ha! Whatever.

Today, we had a mother’s day celebration at my friend’s salon in town. Her salon is closed on a Sunday so we kept the place to ourselves. She brought a long table and placed it in the middle of the room. Everyone brought a dish or two. I brought several dishes plus a box of ziploc bags for leftover to take home. Ha ha, I came prepared, you know. Sure enough, none of them thought of bringing the bags.

After eating, Merlinda, (far left) the owner of the salon, thought about giving each girl a makeover. The girls were so thrilled about the idea and so were the mothers. I actually didn’t mind driving back home to get the make up for their glamour look. I guess I was just as excited as the girls.

Here they are in no particular order who are likewise called Merlinda’s Angels.

I tried applying her make-up but she opted to do it herself because she was afraid that she might end up looking like a clown. She thinks that when it concerns about make up and hair, mommy doesn’t know anything.

GG is showcasing her long layers. Her mother (next to Merlinda in the group photo above) applied her make-up including the girl below.

The youngest one, D, has beautiful thick black straight hair. All she needed was a light make up.

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This concerns to the US residents only:

You might have been already notified in the mail regarding the NALC’s (National Association of Letter Carriers) Stamp Out Hunger annual food drive this Saturday, May 10, 2008. I would like to make an appeal to all of you to please go through your pantry and pick out the ones that you don’t need and donate them to help family in need in your community. We want to collect as much food as possible because this is the year that many families are struggling with the recession that our country is facing.

Please set the goods next to your mailbox and your carrier will pick them up when delivering mail. It has to be non-perishable items like canned goods, noodles, cereals, etc. Money is also appreciated but has to be handed out to the carrier personally or you can deliver it to the post office yourself. Someone will be there to assist you.

Your community needs you….please help this Saturday, May 10, 2008. I will be one of the carriers who will be picking up the food.

Oh, my contribution is already in the paper bag for my husband to set out on Saturday.

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