Happy Canada Day! Its a long weekend. For us there's no better way to start the long weekend than with being with our long time friends Erich and Luzette - Tito Erich and Tita Luzette to our children and Ninong Erich to our youngest child. Erich was godfather to our son's Confirmation.
Erich was from Sta. Rita, Pampanga and Luzette was from Bataan. They met in Manila when they taught at one of the Jesuit high schools. At that time my wife and I were also teaching at that school. And this was almost over twenty years ago. They moved to Canada in 2008. Martin, our youngest, wasn't even born yet! So when we arrived in Canada in 2011, Martin was only three years old, Erich and Luzette saw Martin for the first time.
They were one the first families to welcome us to Canada and to their home 11 years ago. When we got together during those early years, the staple of our get-togethers was pizza and Canada Dry! (In Canada, softdrinks is called pop, and Canada Dry is a pop.)
We landed in June of 2011. I would always remember Erich telling me sometime early July that he had won two tickets to a concert but he can't go because their family had already made plans to go on a trip. He asked me if I wanted to go to the concert. I said, "Sure." He gave me the tickets, and lo and behold I was was holding two tickets to U2 360! U2 360! What a welcome treat to newly landed migrants!
Erich and Luzette are adventurers! Travellers! Erich was a member of the Outdoors Club back home. When they were still in the Philippines, they would go to beautiful places like the Chocolate Hills in Bohol. They brought this adventurous spirit with them when they moved to Canada. This spirit of adventure is so infectious that they would invite us to daytrips. When time allows, we would go with them to their adventures, and explore our new home. The most memorable ones are the times we went to Niagara Falls, Niagara-on-the-Lake, and Port Cobourg.
At the heart of our family get-togethers, aside from the funny stories, is the food! In the 11 years my family had been here, and 14 years for theirs, we have graduated from pizza. Erich told us that there are Asian markets that we could go to to shop for Asian, including Filipino, ingredients. He brought us to B Trust. It was just a few minutes from where they lived then. We were amazed. There is tilapia, Mang Tomas lechon sauce, chicharon, Granny Goose Tortillos, and even bagoong! Knowing that we can buy Filipino ingredients in Toronto lessened how much we miss the home we left behind. Somehow the flavors, and aroma, of home are here in our new home. The only challenge for us was that it took us one hour by bus to get there. So when our families get-together, we would prepare food we grew up back home; inihaw na liempo, pampano, tilapia, talong, okra. On the side we have salted egg with kamatis and bagoong. We also have for dipping (sawsawan) vinegar, soy sauce and fish sauce. And of course steamed white rice and pansit! For dessert we would have fruits mango, watermelon (pakwan), cantaloupe (melon) or ice cream.
For this year's Canada Day get-together, Tita Luzette made Mango Ice Cream, which Tito Erich is proudly holding. I was suprised that Tita Luzette made the mango ice cream with only three ingredients: mango, condensed milk, and whipped or whipping cream.
It is simple process. 1. Scoop out the meat from 2 mangoes. The goal is to get 2 cups of mango meat. 2. Puree the mango. 3. Heat the mango to reduce to almost 1 cup. Allow to cool. 4. Using a mixer, blend all the ingredients together until stiff peaks form. 5. Transfer into a pan and place in freezer for at least 6 hours or over night.
Serve frozen.
It has been two years since we last went to your beautiful home. It is great to see you and your wonderful family. Thank you for having us. Thank you for feeding us. Thank you for the decades of friendship!
