Far from the Maddening Crowd...: A Wedding, A "Berfday", & Dia de Las Madres...

A Wedding, A "Berfday", & Dia de Las Madres...
Current mood: chipper

Ahhhhhh, well, it's the end of an eventful work week & now I have to shift gears mentally, for an equally eventful weekend...

The Cinco de Mayo event that I helped with today was great, it was mainly for the ninos, ninas, abuelitas y abuelitos. There were groups of children in their finest Mexican folk attire & they were absolutely adorable. The best part was when they had authentic Aztec ritual dancing to "bless" & kickstart Cinco de Mayo. They danced right in front of our booth! My co-worker knows the organizer who coorindates Cinco every year, so he gave us a good prime location...also, my work has this Winnebego that they use for these types of events every year b/c it has a bano, you can rest up & it became the pitstop place for all the volunteers for the event...so, they'd stop in...grab a pastry & coffee in the morning; then by the time lunchtime rolled around, we had really good chicken mole, mexican rice, green peppers, some spicy red/ green peppers with skirt steak & then for dessert some good plantanos & some good fruit...it was really slammin, "delicisioso" food. Later on in the day, I mosey'ed to check out the other booths there & they had a Filipino food booth, so I had to try a sample plate of bibinka, for those who have never tried this, it's the sweet coconut milk rice cakes that are so dolce y bueno...here's a recipe that I pulled up from an online recipe site & it's close to what I've learned to make from my familia. So depending on how sweet you like it, I like to add a lil' more sugah' to it...you decide what's best for you =)

Bibinka (philippine dessert)
Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

* 4 c Fresh coconut milk; devided
* 1 1/2 c Brown sugar; devided
* 1 1/3 c Mochi rice Wilted banana leaves Reserve 1/2 cup coconut milk & 1/2 cup brown sugar for topping. Wash rice & let stand in cold water (while cooking coconut milk). Cook
* 3-1/2 cups coconut milk in top of double boiler for 30 minutes

Instructions:

stirring constantly. Note: Keep water in lower portion at constant boil. Add 1 cup brown sugar. Drain mochi rice in strainer and stir into milk mixture. Cook in double boiler for 30 minutes or until thick. Stirring constantly. Line baking pan with banana leaves and pour in pudding. Sprinkle top with mixture of 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup coconut milk. Bake in oven set at 350F for 5 minutes then lower temperature to 300F and continue baking for 30 minutes. Cool in pan & cut in 3 inches squares

Anyway...it was a beautiful, nice community event today & I loved talking to all the kids, just seeing them in their costumes ...I love the little girls with the ribbons flowing with their braids, you could tell they were so proud of their gear. They also had a dance & song contest for them...it was like watching a school paegant like half a dozen times during the morning & of course, it's so funny when the parents, family or friends whip out the cam-corders or digi-cams...proud parents abound & kids looking a bit intimidated. My co-worker Sam put it best when he said the kids looked like, "You didn't tell me that there would be this MANY people here"...totally, well put...they had like that shy, not-so-sure-what-I'm doing-here" looks on their poor little faces...but they were so into it once they would get warmed up...love it...

I now have to gear up for wedding again tomorrow & that will be just a fun, good time with all the ol' skool high school friends...wow...another one, love is in da' air, I tell you...it's going to be funny, my girlfriend who's getting married was my homeroom buddy in high school & now, she's getting hitched! I'm so happy for her; so much history between us, so ummmm, you know, I'll be a lil' emotional at this one...she sent us an e-mail asking for high school song reqeusts for the dinner reception party & my response was, "Anything by TROOP!"...hahahaha...I know there will probably be a lota' Madonna b/c I went with a bunch of these gals last year to the Madonna concert, that was just an absolute blast b/c we were singing at the top of our lungs at the HP Pavilion the whole time that night...we were like giddy, outta' our minds singing, "HOLIDAY" at the end of that show watching Madonna sportin' that "Kabbahlists Do It Better" shirt on...baha! I swear I had laryngitis the next day. Anyway, it'll be a good celebration after the really manic, hectic week I've had of just work, work, work & then more trabajo...which I'm trying not to make so all consuming, so this celebration will be the remedy for all that work...it will be officially, play time tomorrow night ...I can't wait.

So, there's also this b-day party for another friend of mine this coming Saturday night that I got "evited" too... I met him through a mutual friend; he's a professional party person. I say that b/c he used to do publicity & parties for a very well known vodka company but I'm not sure if he still does that now; he had left last year to live in LA but then quickly came back to da' Bay b/c he missed all his friends so much. Also, he wasn't really feeling the L.A. vibe down there. Anyway, he works also for a local AIDS education organization & he does a lot of peer education to young guys in the Castro which is so great about him...he has his party, fun side with also, this very serious, intent aspect of his character that wants to help others...he's a great person that I've gotten to know....at first impression, he is a energizer bunny & talks a mile a minute but that's what ropes you in about him...he has a good heart which is what I love most about most of my friends...so, I hope I can just make it to the party...I may just come early, though b/c his parties can get outta' hand & most people become, ummmm, "unhinged" is the best way I can describe it...heh heh heh... I went to one party at Asia SF with him & it was WILD! That's all I have to say...you can fill in the blanks or I have to tell you offline later...

Ummmmmm, so, I've narrowed down the Momma's Day Brunch place for this year's celebration for my mother & Lola at Speisekammer in Alameda. I made reservations tonight with the chef/ owner & he was like, the nicest man I've ever talked to over the phone...he started to describe the menu for Sunday & he was making me hungry right there & then when I was on the line with him! My mouth was watering, really... baha! He had a great German accent, too, so this must be authentic German food. I must say, about almost 8 years back on my European adventure after college graduation, I had this stomach-filling breakfast in the Rhine Valley, which was like the absolute best & you know that region is known for incredible wine & beer. So, we had like all this great saurkraut & sausages plus those potato cakes they cook-up so well...all that along with good liquor - my oh my, I remember that everyone in the dining hall hardly spoke while they were just in food nirvana. In anycase, I know it's not Germany here but I'm going to see how that eating fest memory will stack up to this Sunday's brunch. I was telling him I read online that he used to cook at Suppenkuche at Hayes Valley & that I used to eat there when I used lived near my old Ashbury St. apartment. He said yes, that he was there for almost 8 years but wanted a place more homey & inviting...he said Suppenkuche is more austere in a good way, like that the simple lines of the space emphasizes the minimalist thing which suits the city's hip feel but that this restaurant in Alameda is more of big open, airy kitchen; a more "make-yourself-at-home" kinda' place, instead. So, less pretentious, right? Which is perfect for Mom's Day for my family, right? Anyway, again, nicest man in the world & because he was so kind & accomodating to me over the phone, I'm passing on his website address to anyone interested in samplin' some German food. Their site is very clever & cute because each link marks itself with German translations if you, like say, look up "directions", the german word or phrase will be at the end of the url link. I'll update you all next week how all the food is for sure, you know I can talk about food for eternity.
http://speisekammer.com/

So, wish me luck on my busy days ahead.... ahhhh, it's going to be a fun weekend, I can already feel it...I'm welcoming it , in fact...shoring up with all the friendly faces I'll spend time with & good times we're going to share...again, I'm looking forward to all of it.

Lluego, lluego, hasta, hasta y Feliz Cinco!