The_Grimwitch_Chronicles

The day before the Philippines celebrates its Independence day, will be my Lola Dominga's birthday.

She is born in her native Aklan, a province in the island of Panay. Although it was the time of peace after the Great War, she lived a hand to mouth existence. She was working as the freelance laundrywoman of the neighbrhood when she met my lolo, who works as a community carpenter. She married my Lolo Armando in a simple ceremony before the World War II erupted. She gave birth to her eldest child during the war and had to hide the subsequent children from the Japanese in the mountains of Panay.

When the war ended, my granparents lived on a small makeshift hut near the shorelines. Lola had children to take care of so she did not continue her free lancing. She did sell rice cakes in mid-afternoons and mid-mornings to augment my Lolo's meager income. They have 10 children after all: 7 sons and 3 daughters.

When her children grew up and lived in Manila, Lola would often visit their families, particularly her eldest son. When she has made her rounds and ready to return home, she would visit us.

When she's with us, Lola would often do housework, despite our housemaid's vehemence. She loves folding clothes, clear the table after eating and clean the altars. When she's not busy doing that, she would often ask me or my other siblings for clothes that needed mending. She was a whiz in making a ragged but comfortable trousers and torn dresses wearable again.

Her industry is evident with her hands that even before she sleeps, she loves combing my tresses and telling me lots of stories about my father's childhood till I fall sleep. She comforted me whenever I cry after being scolded. She scolds me when I waste family resources (like electricity, food or water). She influenced me and my siblings to become devout in the religion we are baptised in. She explained the dogma behind every religious tradition she upholds. She tells no jokes but has a ready smile for anything humorous.

On her last visit to us, we were celebrating my younger brother's birthday. We were having dinner then. We had sauteed mung beans, my other brother's favorite. It was seeped with coconut milk and garnished with salty smoked mackerel. As usual, we would talk about what we did in school and the latest family news. Lola would look on intently, reading our lips as she has a slight hearing difficulty. My sister was telling a funny story about her classmate but before she could even get to the punch line, the birthday boy's chair had collapsed - preempting it. Oh how Lola laughed! She was still laughing heartily as she helped my teary-eyed brother sit on a new chair. She said she will never eat mung beans again without remembering my brother. That made my brother smile and join in the laughter.

That night, as Lola was lulling the birthday casualty to sleep, she remembered her birthday. She said their parents never celebrated their birthdays. It was enough to have food on the table - something special like canned sardines or if possible, canned meat. They would have steamed rice, with no corn mixed with it. There would be something sweet for dessert - like sugared coconut or hardened brown sugar. Although food would be rationed by their mother, it was nice to have a little of everything than none at all. We are fortunate, she said, that we have a feast on our birthdays. A cake, she said, is for the birthday parties of the rich in her time. She had imagined eating one herself, but she had never celebrated her birthday.

Her return home was postponed for some reason and she had to celebrate her birthday in Manila. Our cousins knew our time with Lola will not be long so they organized a surprise potluck party. She was surprised when she woke up with all her Manila-based apo by her bed. She almost cried. She burst into tears when she got up and saw the whole house transformed into a barrio fiesta theme and relatives she rarely saw arrived to celebrate her birthday on the exact date. She was still crying when she saw her very first birthday cake...it was a chocolate Goldilocks birthday cake. My older cousins have mischievously bought one that was I assume was designed for children. It had lots of icing flowers on top with chocolate garnishing on the side. It also had many small pink cake candles around it. "Happy Birthday Lola from All Your Apo" it said. Lola tried hard not to cry as we all sang "Happy Birthday" in English, Tagalog and Akeanon. She was about to slice her cake when a much younger cousin shouted, "Happy Birthday!" kissed my Lola while wiping a big chocolate smudge on her cheek. Mayhem ensued. We started wiping icing on each other's faces. No visitor was exempt.

Somebody had managed to salvage Lola a piece of her cake and all the icing flowers. She was laughing again and was contented sucking the sweet icing flowers as we were scolded by our respective parents after the pandemonium.

You're the 1 Goldilocks because every time I taste slice of celestial goodness of your cake, I always remember my Lola's first birthday party and THE cake that made her the happiest birthday celebrant that day. The one thing nearest to heaven that made my Lola's days on earth the happiest.

This is my husband and I's first Halloween away from our families. It's just the two of us in our current residence - a bungalow amidst fruit trees and colorful blooms. We planned our date: Early morning, we will eat heavy breakfast consisting of rice, sausages and eggs (as scheduled). Then, after we've done our morning rituals, we'll go to a certain salon in the city where we could have our hair cut. Before lunch, we'll meet up with a friend whom my brother-in-law owes a cash gift.In the afternoon, when the malls start opening, we'll go to a competing mall (the West Wing is soooo boring!)to window shop what we'll buy when we receive our 13th month pay this December. We'll definitely buy ingredients for our nightcap, food for the dead (consists of rice cakes and other native delicacies) and loads of candles. We'll definitely go home early because Succubus the Vile and Succubus of the Steely Moon will wreak havoc in the garage when they don't receive their dinner at 7PM.

Now, let's get on with the night cap we're planning. We're actually thinking of having a private cocktail party. I am something of a bartender since my mum made me drink my first punch before I ever had my first menstruation. You might say that I learned through experience.

Cocktails, as the Wikipedia defines it, is any alcoholic mixture that is kinda sweet and kinda bitter (traditionally!). The sweet part is attributed to sugar, fruit syrups or favored soda. Bitters are from spices (the traditional cocktails have them) or citrus rinds dissolved in glycerine or syrup. Recently, I have tasted cocktails that are more on the creamy side (attributed to milk, coconut cream or honey). Before, gin, whiskey and rum are commonly used for traditional street smart Filipino cocktails. Older people still prefer them. Younger generations, however, prefer vodka (odorless!), tequila (kicks in when least expected!) or brandy (health benefits?).

Although I would like to lecture you on how to create your own cocktail, it would take up too much virtual space. Let me share with you instead how a particular traditional cocktail evolves through time and you might just get what I mean.

Basic street smart Pinoy cocktail is RUM COLA. You just need to mix 250 mL of Rum with 750 mL of Cola. Any brand will do as long as you have abundance of ice. But then, the taste gets a little too familiar. So you now add 4 pcs of squeezed calamansi or Philippine lime. It's now called CUBA LIBRE. After a while, you get tired of the tangy taste of lime so you add something a little sweet but tangy fruit. You add 212 mL of Mango Concentrate and it now becomes MANGO SLING. More fruits means more fiber. More fiber means better digestion: so you now add 500 mL of Pineapple Juice concentrate and 250 mL Orange juice (still mixed with lime!). It now evolves as ZOMBIE. It will take a while for you to realize that this concoction might cause a little stomach cramps when there is scarcity of hoers d' oeuvres (namely: pulutan). You need an ingredient that will lessen the acidity in your stomach while the errand boy buys a new set of "pulutan." You remove the calamansi and the orange in the mixture since they lower the pH of the drink. Instead, you add 168 mL of condensed milk (sweetened concentrated milk). Your masterpiece is now the PINYA COLADA. By this time, you might get tired of the expensive pineapple juice. Remove it from the mix, add 500 mL of water and 2 grams of coffee powder and voila! You have the ISLAND CAFE LATTE!

See? It's just a matter of innovation and budget. What you prepare for your crowd depends on those factors and lots and lots of tube ice. Good luck!