In the kitchen

Regis left about 6:30 to be driven somewhere a couple of hours north of Manila for a meeting. Kathryn still in Thailand.

Jane arrives and starts tackling housework as she is the only yaya today.

The girls emerge.

I go for a walk and am lucky as the sun has disappeared temporarily and there is a breeze so it is quite pleasant. Most of the streets are no-through as they are blocked, there being just 3 exits. There are some very expensive-looking homes and expensive cars. There are also some very rundown and abandoned places that look like they have been quite splendid in the past. 

Someone has decorated the sidewalk outside their home with an impressive set of bonsai.

I notice as I walk the neighbourhood that the yayas even walk the owners’ pets!

So my plan for today is to get the girls to do a shopping list in order to prepare something in the kitchen. Sophie decides on icecream which necessitates berries - and white sugar which is not in the pantry. I decide that as we need only 2 tablespoons that when we go to the mall we will have a coffee and purloin some sugar sachets (as I’m guessing Kathryn doesn’t want white sugar in the house? The girls are always looking at sugar content in recipes …).

Sophie also decides on a chicken / roll type recipe for lunch snd fortunately I had noted there was roasted chicken where we bought the hot dish for lunch yesterday.

The girls had the yummiest mango and strawberry shakes at the mall while nona and poppa have coffee (and secrete sugar sachets into my bag …).

Then the roast chicken. Then the berries.

Now, a punnet of strawberries was 833 pesos. Yes 833! Which is over $A22. And that was for 500g and we needed 2 punnets so frozen berries were the order of the day at 250 pesos a packet (=$A6 +). So, a ‘no-brainer’ really. 

A detour via the park on the way home with nonna the designated ‘monster’ chasing down the girls. Oh to be a Younger Nonna!

We follow the recipe in Sophie’s book for the chicken rolls and make a sauce with garlic, curry, cilantro, onion, yoghurt, etc. - making substitutions from the larder when we can’t find things. The chicken came with a gravy in containers and is disgusting compared to the home-made sauce.

After lunch we launch into icecream-making.

We have not long finished when the piano teacher arrives - one and half hours early!!!! Just as well we are home …

The rest of the day passes; I encourage Jane to participate more as she has had a peripheral relationship with the girls today.

Dinner - and ice-cream, which is really gelato. Yum.