You will always be my favorite fisherman. I love you. Happy birthday.

* I think I’m probably eight or nine in this photo. My dad is an avid fisherman and took us with him out to sea all the time. This was in a hut on one of the islands we docked at, maybe for lunch (explains what appears to be the food coma that my dad’s in!). I used to complain about being on the boat all the time, because I was a vain little girl and hated the heat and humidity and the sticky saltwater that made my hair gross. But now, I realize my childhood was actually quite adventurous because of those trips on the water, and that one of my favorite memories of my dad is him squinting in the sun, with a beer in his hand, celebrating a catch. Now, I won’t trade those memories for anything in the world.

How are you coming along with Christmas gifts this year? I’ve decided I’m going to MAKE most of mine, which means these past days I’ve been sewing like mad. Tote bags, drawstring pouches, lavender sachets, scarves! I won’t be able to show you exactly what I’ve been making because a lot of the recipients read this blog, but I CAN say it’s been a lot of hectic, crafty fun. I’m desperately trying to squeeze in time to make all of these by Christmas, so please cross your fingers for me!

On the non-handmade front, I’ve been spending lots of time on The Open Sky Project recently. It’s a fairly new website that has experts (and usually bloggers) from many varied fields (crafting, food & beverage, baby and gardening, among others) recommending products they actually use, which you can then buy right on the shop. Through it, I’ve discovered many nifty new things—and lots of other awesome blogs, too!

My favorite things from The Open Sky Project:

The Knit Kit recommended by Vickie of Vickie Howell (knitting)

Tulumba Dolma Roller recommended by Dede of Dedemed (Mediterranean cooking)

Clover Pom-Pom Makers recommended by Amy Powers of Inspire Company (crafting)

Sylvie Bird Pillows recommended by Jay Johnson and Irwin Weiner of Design2share (interior design)

Chronicle Books Confection-ery Box Of Labels recommended by Kelly Lyden of The Party Dress (entertaining)

OXO Convertible Colander recommended by Kath Younger of Kath Eats (healthy eating)

Space Invaders Cutting Board recommended by Lisa Rogak of Behind The Knife (kitchen toolery)

Great website, and something you might want to check out as you’re deciding on Christmas gifts yourself.

P.S. If you know me and you love me but don’t know what to get me for Christmas, those Clover Pom-Pom Makers would make me all sorts of happy!

UPDATE: Vickie Howell has some $15 off coupons to give away on The Open Sky Project! More details HERE.

Here’s what came of my first improv-pieced quilt block, from that class taught by Alissa over at The Urban Craft Center in Santa Monica.

My very first improv half apron! Made with scraps from my stash and muslin. Inspired by Denyse Schmidt’s Shimmy, Shake and Bake Apron.

Ever since that class, I’ve been quietly rooting through my fabric stash and building a new one—for my new fascination with modern quilting. It’s this pseudo-serious project for me, because now I’m starting to recognize fabric I can just live with, and fabric I NEED! I’ve also joined the LA Modern Quilt Guild, read Denyse Schmidt’s book as much as I can, read up on color, even art (which is a stretch for me!).

It’s opened a lot of doors in crafting for me. I’m falling deeper and deeper in love with this craft, and can’t wait to keep trying my hand at it until I get better.

THIS is kind of that moment in my crafting life I’ve waited for. I don’t know if you’re a crafter, or if this has ever happened to you, but I’ve collected fabric for along time, with pieces I knew I could NEVER cut into because they were too special. With improv piecing, no block you ever make can be wrong. With the freedom modern quilting allows, NOW I know I can, have, need to use this fabric!

L-R: Japanese cottons from a recent trip to Manila; Italian Cottons from a trip to Bassetti Tessuti in Rome

All this makes me really miss my grandmother. Lola Acay was the big quilter in my life, and though she made very traditional pieces, she had an artistic eye for fabric and color, and would LOVE all the things I’m discovering as I learn more about modern quilting.

L-R: My first improv-pieced block, my grandma’s rail-fence throw-pillow case

I think, one of these days I’ll visit her old house in Dumaguete, just to piece a couple of improv blocks on her manual sewing machine, the one she used to make all those quilts up until her 90’s. That would be awesome: me with my FreeSpirits, Heather Rosses and Alexander Henrys, sitting at Lola’s decades-old sewing machine.

Thank you for being the always-willing (albeit mysterious) second set of crafty hands in my blog photos. And for being the Best Turkey Spaghetti Maker in the world. You are awesome.

DairyMENS?  I WAS going to pour some on my cereal, but when I saw what its name was, I lost my appetite! Taken on a flight from Raleigh to Los Angeles. Food is funny, sometimes!

I am often asked, “Why is handcraft so popular?” I think that handcraft is popular right now as a reaction against a whole slew of things, including our hyper-fast culture, increasing reliance on digital technology, the proliferation of consumer culture, and even war. …

For some people, sustainability is a part of their handcraft practice. Other people want to see a project through from beginning to end, something they don’t get to do in their daily lives. In their jobs, they do one part of producing something and they don’t do the other parts. In producing a handcraft project, people can see something from start to finish and then have a material product that they can use themselves or give away. Even though we all have frequent access to the internet and are able to communicate with people through digital media, we are still sensual beings. We need to maintain a tactile relationship to the world.

Sabrina Gschwandtner in Handmade Nation: The Rise of DIY, Art, Craft, and Design, Levine/Heimerl

Hello.

I’m writing this after a good weekend. I say it’s good because it was the first one in a while (as you may have noticed in the scarcity of posts these past few weeks) that I had the time to slow down and breathe. And when I say breathe, I mean really take lungsfull of air—the kind that not only sustain, but nourish and revive—where I do breathing best: in the kitchen. I finally had time to cook again, and the clanging of pots, the sizzle of butter in a hot pan, the woodsy smell of thyme as onions caramelize over the stovetop, all the sights and sounds and smells of my cooking…they reminded me of who I am.

And I had needed the reminder for a while. I kind of broke up with my blog a bit these past few months. In Tagalog, “Cool off kami,” an expression that means the amorous fires of affection have been doused with the rains that come with weathering daily life: familiarity, complacency, the humdrumness of it all. As I managed a day job, went home for a quick trip the Philippines, attended three weddings in a span of a month and a half (I was in two of them), worried about Typhoon Ondoy, celebrated anniversaries and birthdays, screamed on roller coaster rides, visited with Wild Things and honed my Cranium skills for game night, I just got SO LOST in the shuffle of my everydays.

It’s not that I had nothing to write about, I had just lost the words. They were hanging out somewhere in a cupboard in my mind, and I didn’t know how to reach them. For a while, I didn’t even really want to. I would read all your blogs, and all the wonderful things you were being and doing in your lives, and I’d grope for the words to describe mine. Who did it matter to, really, all my words? Because somewhere out there, someone else is tackling a Pavlova, or stenciling fabric to sew into a skirt. Someone somewhere always had an idea—often a better idea—and she was writing about it. With beautiful photography to boot.

Two weekends ago, right in the dregs of my Blog Loathingness, I was at my Manang Linda’s house in Las Vegas. Manang Linda is the sort of classic cook who tackles roasts and racks of lamb and steak with a single-minded fearlessness that I’ve always admired. I’m always picking through her cookbooks and, that weekend, realized that she had both volumes of Julia Child’s Mastering The Art Of French Cooking.

I wrinkled my nose, remembering the poetry with which Julie Powell described Child’s signature dish, Boeuf Bourguignon. Don’t get me wrong. I love the book and shamelessly teared up during the movie, but somehow, I didn’t like how EVERYONE was on a Julia Child kick. I didn’t want to BE like everyone else. I read through the recipe, thinking, WHAT was the big deal about this dish, really? PLEASE, it’s a simple BEEF STEW, I scoffed.

I thought about that recipe for two weeks. Encouraged by the imagined simplicity of it, I’d look at it with one eyebrow raised, imagining all the steps in my mind. I would read it before going to sleep, my culinary vocabulary hiccupping over the French terms.

I plotted my conquest of it during my lunch hour at work, carefully listing the ingredients to buy, outlining my strategies in the kitchen. I finally decided I would make it, more to prove my point that it was a simple dish of beef stewed in wine–nothing more–and please can people just please pipe down about it already!

What I didn’t know was that cooking the dish would not only humble me, but would drag me by the apron strings out of the kitchen and out of my writing slump.

I’m not going to explain the steps in how the dish is made. There are countless other blogs who have done me the favor, describing their experience in great detail. I realize this is because the recipe is actually quite involved, and has several laborious steps. An exploration of it warrants a detailed description that hopefully breaks it down into more manageable cooking procedures for the next home cook to tackle.

But I won’t bore you with the details, because in the end, just as in life, the details didn’t matter. In the end, what happened to me while cooking it is the real story.

I started out that morning at Santa Monica’s Farmer’s Market on Cloverfield.

I wanted to get as many fresh, local ingredients for the dish as I could. There were many stalls of fresh produce, their bright colors filling my eyes.

Back in the kitchen, I took stock my ingredients, stepped back to gather my wits about me and plunged in.

Staying as faithful to Julia Child’s directions as possible, I sliced, seared, sauteed and  seasoned for the next four hours.

And the thing is, these methods aren’t new to me. But I started to realize I’d never really made anything French before (fries, maybe, but that doesn’t count).

And it occurred to me that I’d never really made anything by Julia Child, and had never cooked with the combination of stuff like chianti and bay leaves and garlic and thyme.

So the smells and colors and flavors that bloomed from the stove into a warm cloud of Juliachildfrenchness in the kitchen was something I had never smelled, or seen, or tasted. At least, nothing I’d ever made myself before. And tasting something for the very first time–that’s one of the purest experiences someone who loves food can ever have.

It was also the first time I’d taken a shot at making a bouquet garni–a bundle of aromatic herbs wrapped in cheesecloth–that seasoned the onions as they braised in stock. That tiny thing fascinated me, only because I’d never made it before.

Somewhere between searing batches of meat in bacon fat (doesn’t that just sound dangerously yummy?) and talking to the mushrooms as they turned golden in butter (“Please be perfect, little shrooms!”), I found my cooking groove again. You know, the kind that makes me know when to check on something just from the smells of it, or tunes my pulse to the rhythm of rattling pan lids as their contents bubble away. I was cooking again, cooking for myself, and just like that, the words came hurtling out of the cupboard of my mind. I was already beginning to write this blog post as I finished the dish, exclaiming after the first tasting, “This is perhaps the best thing I have ever made. Ever.”

The flavors were robust, complicated and comforting at the same time. I couldn’t wait to sit down and write about it.

And just as I cooked for myself, I realized that all that really matters is that I write for myself. Because when I do, I get to celebrate my favorite domestic pursuits, the way only I can.

So, this is the long story of how Julia Child and Boeuf Bourguignon were the aphrodisiac that made me fall back in love with my blog (“Kami na ulit!”). I didn’t want to channel Julie Powell, but sometimes, the dishes choose us as much as we choose them. Julia Child spent all that loving time on that phenomenal dish, and probably didn’t know how some day, the experience of making Boeuf would wake someone like me up from a slumber I didn’t quite know how to get out of.

I was wrong. It ISN’T just beef stew. It’s braised bliss and stewed serendipity, all in one glorious, happy, delicious pot.

Welcome back to me. And how have YOU been?

—

Thank you, E., for hunting down pearl onions with me, leaving me alone in the kitchen when I needed to be and reassuring me that it was only a matter of time before I found my words again. And also for introducing me to Cactus Cooler, which I will now always remember as the perfectly odd beverage pairing for Boeuf! Haha.

We’re switching gears for awhile in light of the devastation caused by Typhoon Ondoy to the city of Manila.

HERE’s a slideshow of images from the worst flooding in the city since 1967 from The New York Times.

Reposting the blog entry below from Wifely Steps.

There’s a lot of info below for helping if you’re in Manila, but this is where I think I’m donating:

* myAyala.com account for Philippine Jesuits – you can use your CREDIT CARD and donate ONLINE. Go to www.myayala.com/sjph/. On the line “I would like to donate to:”, write “xs4ondoy“.

The Jesuits run the university I went to (Ateneo de Manila) and this would help all the relief efforts currently underway at the school.

Hoping you’re safe, dry and willing to help

Typhoon Ondoy entered the country with such force last Saturday it took a lot of people by surprise. The rains were extremely strong. One report said that the rainfall we experienced in 6 hours was equivalent to a month’s worth of rain. Ondoy’s wrath has caused major floods, turning streets into raging rivers. It has damaged a lot of property, invading and knocking down homes. Electricity and water have been knocked out in several areas. The storm has left a lot of people stranded and missing, and the death toll continues to rise. Sources of livelihood have been washed out. It is depressing watching the news, but it is also comforting to see how many people have been willing to help via volunteering, donating and praying.

There are two more tropical depressions expected to hit the country this week. I’m praying that you and your loved ones are safe, warm and dry. Let’s pray for our country. Everyone, be safe and vigilant.

*****

For a list of disaster emergency relief numbers and information on how to help (in kind or monetary via banks, credit card, Paypal, SMS), click on this link or go to http://www.google.com/ondoy.

Here is also another list of how we can help in our own little and big ways: (source)

Rescue Operations

1. National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) (+632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9115061, +632-9122665) Help hotlines: (+65 734-2118, 734-2120) ndcchelpdesk@gmail.com
2. Philippine Coast Guard (+632-5276136)
3. Air Force (+63908-1126976, +632-8535023)
4. Metro Manila Development Authority (136)
5. Marikina City Rescue (+632-6462436, +632-6462423, +632920-9072902)
6. Pasig Rescue Emergency Number (+632-6310099)
7. Quezon City Rescue (161)
8. San Juan City Hall Command Post (+632-4681697)
9. Bureau of Fire Protection Region III (Central Luzon) Hotline: (+63245-9634376)
10. Senator Dick Gordon (+639178997898, +63938-444BOYS, +632-9342118, +632-4338528)
11. Senator Manny Villar (+639174226800. +639172414864, +639276751981)

Civil Society/ Media

1. Philippine National Red Cross (143, +632-5270000)
2. Philippine National Red Cross Rizal Chapter operations center hotline: (+632-6350922, +632-6347824)
3. Go to GMA Facebook page & post complete addresses and names of people in need of immediate help.
4. ABS-CBN Typhoon Ondoy Hotline: (+632-4163641)
5. Jam 88.3: (+632- 6318803) or SMS at JAM (space) 883 (space) your message to 2968
6. GMA Kapuso Helpline: (+632-9811950-59)

All calls for help, please help by filling out information here at the Rescue InfoHub Center.

Sahana Disaster Management System needs IT volunteers. http://sahana.kahelos.org. Email sahana@kahelos.org.

Rubber Boat, 4×4 Trucks, Chopper Requests

1. NCRPO (+632-8383203, +632-8383354)
2. Private citizens who would like to lend their motor boats for rescue please call emergency nos: +632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9122665, +632-9115061)
3. You can also text (+632917-4226800 or +632927-6751981) for rescue dump trucks.
4. For those who are able to lend 4×4 trucks for rescue: Please send truck to Greenhills Shoppng Center Unimart Grocery to await deployment, Tel No. (+632920-9072902).
5. Petron & San Miguel Corporation are lending choppers for rescue operations, call/text: (+632917-8140655) ask for Lydia Ragasa

Power Supply

* Meralco (+63917-5592824, 16211, +63920-9292824) If you want service cut off to your area to prevent fires and electrocution.

Relief Aid and Donations

URGENT:

Donations of heavy duty flashlights needed for rescue operations in Cainta area. Contact Cielo at (+632918-8824356)

Businesses/ Commercial Establishments

1. 7-11 Stores – drop off points
2. Alabang Town Center – drop off goods at the concierge. For inquiries, please call 842-2782 or 772-1860.
3. Aranaz Stores in Rockwell & Greenbelt is accepting donations of any kind for Payatas communities affected by Ondoy
4. Aunt Genie’s Breadhouse in Cebu – 1279 Talamban, Cebu City In front of the Talamban Sports Complex – drop off point
5. Binalot at Greenbelt 1, call Tetchie Bundalian at (+632922-8573277)
6. Bizroute Solutions – (Mon – Sat 11PM to 4PM) Unit 302 Keppel Bldg. Ayala, Cebu call at 416-0495 if you need directions to the drop-off area. Also Lahug Office (Mon – Sat 11PM to 2PM) Unit 201 MIT Bldg. Gorordo Ave., Lahug (near JY Square) Accepting: Canned Goods, Old Clothes, Blankets, Diapers for babies, Noodles, Rice, Medicine, Soap, Toothpaste, Water Container, Iodized Salt
7. Brainbeam Events, Inc. 2/F MB Aguirre Cornerhs Bldg,15 Pres Ave cor Elizalde Sts, BF Homes Pque across the old Caltex in BF. Will accept relief goods.
8. Cebu Musicians & Outpost Restobar – drop off of goods. 09082368999 or 09322117111.
9. Cue Cafe Crossroads CEBU – accepting donations in cash or kind as part of JCI Zugbuana relief ops. Accepting clothes, blankets, towels, underwear, footwear, food and water
10. Citigym of CEBU – accepting donations in cash or kind as part of JCI Zugbuana relief ops. Accepting clothes, blankets, towels, underwear, footwear, food and water
11. The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be accepting canned goods, water, clothes, blankets, towels, medicine, and emergency supplies (no cash) in all branches on behalf of the victims of Typhoon Ondoy starting today until Friday. Your generosity will be much appreciated during this difficult time for our brothers and sisters in need.
12. Every Nation, FORT will accept donations for Red Cross esp. purified water, canned goods, and infant formula. Location @ 32nd St cor University Pkwy across Market Market.
13. Fantastik Manila – send donations to 5729 Calasanz St. Barangay Olympia Makati City Telephone Numbers 729-0530 or 501-7405
14. Holiday Gym & Spa Banilad Cebu – Drop-Off center beginning Sunday, September 27. Bring blankets, clothes and canned goods to the front desk/ reception area.
15. Jollibee branches in Metro Manila – drop off point
16. Junior Chamber International Manila Baypark Tent, Roxas Blvd. will accept goods starting Monday.
17. Luca stores (Rockwell, Shang-rila, Eastwood, or GA towers): Send your old clothes & donations (no cash pls).
18. Manor Superclub, Eastwood City will accept goods and other emergency items starting Sunday at 10 am.
19. McDonald’s branches in Metro Manila – drop off point
20. Ministop IBARRA (Espana cor. Blumentritt, Sampaloc Manila) is also accepting relief goods, Food (non-perishable goods only) Clothing, Medicines, Beds, Pillows, Blankets, Emergency Supplies to help Typhoon Ondoy victims.
21. Moonshine boutique in Rockwell also accepting relief good to help Ondoy victims in Marikina and Cainta.
22. Myron’s Greenbelt will accept relief goods
23. Papemelroti stores in 91 Roces Ave. / Ali Mall Cubao / SM City North EDSA / SM Fairview / SM Megamall / Glorietta 3 in Makati / SM Centerpoint / SM Southmall are accepting relief goods (canned goods / milk / bottled water / clothes ? NO CASH pls.)
24. Philippine Daily Inquirer – 1098 Chino Roces Ave. corner Mascardo and Yague Streets, Makati City and to any of its classified ads branches, and to any McDonald’s branch within Metro Manila. Donations in kind, such as instant noodles, canned goods, formula milk, blankets and clothes, are urgently needed. Call 8978808 loc. 260 and look for Megi Garcia
25. Petron stations – DSWD drop off points
26. PowerPlant Mall accepting donations for ABS-CBN foundation. Dropoff at admin office, P1 level.
27. Red Kimono restaurants – has branches in Pasig, Pampanga, Quezon City and Taguig City. Will accept canned goods, bottled water, clothing for all ages, basic household items.
28. R.O.X. Recreational Outdoor eXchange is accepting donation for relief good for Typhoon Ondoy victims. You can bring it in the store located in B1 building Bonifacio High St., Tel. No. (+632-8564638/39)
29. Shell gas stations – drop off point
30. Smart Wireless Centers – SM Fairview, SM North EDSA, Gateway Mall Cubao, AliMall Cubao, SM Megamall, SM Muntinlupa, SM Bicutan, SM Sucat, Festival Mall Alabang, Alabang Town Center and SM Southmall. Will accept cash or goods.
31. Sunburst Fried Chicken, Cebu – Tabunok branch will accept donations from 10am to 9:30pm
32. Total gas stations- drop off point
33. Team Manila stores in Trinoma, Mall of Asia, Jupiter Bel-Air and Rockwell shall be accepting relief goods (Canned Goods, Ready-to-drink Milk,Bottled Water and Clothes) for distribution by Veritas.
34. Unimart – will receive all cash and in-kind donations to be transferred to LSGH Gate 2.
35. Vivere Suites – 5102 Ridgeway Avenue, Fil-Invest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City. Contact 771-7777 for inquiries or drop off at concierge area. Will accept relief goods.
36. Whitespace 2314 Chino Roces Ave Ext as a Makati drop-off for relief goods.
37. Y101 station, CEBU – accepting donations in cash or kind as part of JCI Zugbuana relief ops. Accepting clothes, blankets, towels, underwear, footwear, food and water

Government/ Civil Society/ Movements

1. Victory Fort is opening its doors to those affected by the typhoon. Call 813-FORT.
2. ABS-CBN through Banco de Oro account number 56300-20111 account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Incorporation
3. Akbayan’s taking donations, call 433-69-33/433-68-31 to donate or volunteer.
4. Brgy. San Antonio – Bgy Hall near Paranaque City Hall (Sta. Lucia St. corner San Pablo St., San Antonio Valley 1, Paranaque. Drop off point.
5. Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC): Relief goods for typhoon victims being accepted at 72-A Times St., West Triangle, QC. Tel (+632-9299820/22)
6. Corporate Network for Disaster Response bank account no. 0031 0654 02 BPI Ayala Paseo Branch for cash donations
7. Department of Social Welfare and Development - donation drop off points: National Resource Operations Center, Chapel Road, Pasay City (Contact: Mrs. Francon Favian) / Quezon City Area Disaster Resource Operations Monitoring and Info Center (DROMIC) (Contact Rey Martija or Imee Rose Castillo, Tel Nos. 951-7119, 951-2435 or Assistant Secretary Vilma Cabrera Tel No. 0918-934-5625) / San Rafael corner Legarda Streets, Quiapo, Manila (Contact: Dir. Thelsa P. Biolna, Dir. Delia Bauan Tel Nos. 734-8622, 734-8642)
8. Sen. Kiko Pangilinan is accepting donations @ AGS Bldg Annex, 446 EDSA Guadalupe Viejo. Contact Vina Vargas at (+632917-8081247)
9. Kabataan Partylist – Drop off donations or volunteer at 118-B Sct. Rallos QC.
09266677163 or kabataanpartylist@gmail.com
10. Luzon Relief: Donations can be brought to RENAISSANCE FITNESS CENTER, 2nd Floor, Bramante Building, Renaissance Towers Ortigas, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City starting MONDAY (Sept.28) / 9am ? 7pm Contact Person: Warren Habaluyas (+632929-8713488) or email at luzonrelief@gmail.com
11. Marika Bouncers Coop – 95 Malaya St., Malanday, Marikina : will accept donations starting Sept. 28 at 10 AM
12. Move for Chiz is asking for volunteers and donations at Bay Park Tent, along Roxas Blvd., beside Max Restaurant and Diamond Hotel in Manila, or at Gilas Minipark at Unang Hakbang St., Gilas Q.C.
13. NoyMar Relief Operations: Clare Amador (+639285205508) or Jana Vicente at +639285205499). Drop off for relief donations is at Balay Expo Center across Farmers Market Cubao.
14. Operation Rainbow (Zac Faelnar Camara) at Ayala Alabang Village needs Canned Goods, Ready-To-Eat Food, Bottled Water, Ready-To-Drink Milk/ Juice, Clothing, Blankets, contact (+632-4687991)
15. Philippine Army Gym inside Fort Bonifacio or GHQ Gym in Camp Aguinaldo are now distributing donations for Ondoy Victims.
16. Philippine National Red Cross different ways to Donate.
17. Red Cross Load Donations: Right now the easiest way to make donations from the seat of your chair is via mobile phone load. The Red Cross Rescue and Relief Operations. Text: RED AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart)
18. Relief Efforts for Pasig at Valle Verde 1 Village Park, contact (+632916-4945000, +632917-5273616)
19. Relief Operations Center at AGS Annex, #446 EDSA Guadalupe Viejo after PET Tower contact Ares at 0917.855.4935 or Rachel at 0918.924.1636
20. Sagip Kapamilya hotlines (+632-4132667, +632-4160387) #13 Examiner St. West Triangle, QC. and Scout Mayoran, cor. Morato, near Alex III.
21. Tulong Bayan hotlines for donations and volunteers are (+632908-6579998) Marilyn, (+632939-3633436) Jenn (+632-9137122, +632-9136254 & +632-9133306).
22. TXTPower now accepts donations via SmartMoney 5577514418667103, GCash 09179751092 and Paypal http://is.gd/3GvuN
23. World Vision partners with Phil Coast Guard and kind individuals for relief distribution to 3k families. Call (+632-3747618 local 242) or text (+632917-8623209) to help.
24. Worldvision Foundation is also accepting donations/volunteers to pack relief goods in QC. For $-donations, BPI:USDacct #4254-0050-08

Religious/ Schools & Universities

1. Assumption College San Lorenzo is now accepting donations. Please drop them off at the AC guardhouse.
2. Ateneo de Manila University is now accepting donations for the victims of Ondoy. Donations can be dropped at MVP Lobby. For those stranded/those who need help:  To all students who need help or know of people who need help. Please text the name, location, and contact number to (+6329088877166). ATENEO, which is now an open shelter, accepts refugees. Call (+632917-8952792)
3. Ateneo Law School – Rockwell. Looking for donations and volunteers. 20 Rockwell Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati City. Call 899-7691 to 96.
4. Banilad Church of Christ, Cebu – bldg in front of Bright Academy near Sto. Nino Village), Mon-Fri 9am-5pm. Donations drop off.
5. Caritas Manila Office at Jesus St., Pandacan Manila near Nagtahan Bridge (+632-5639298, +632-5639308)
6. CCF St Francis Mall, Ortigas is now accepting goods for donation.
7. CFC Center Ortigas is now open for donations in cash or kind. Call (+632-7270682 to 87) or text (+632922-2542819)
8. De La Salle University-Manila – The Sagip Metro relief operation will start to accept donation for Ondoy victims starting Monday @ 8:30 am. Please bring goods to the South Gate of DLSU-Manila.
9. De La Salle Zobel will be accepting donations tomorrow at Gym 5 (Near Gate 7 in Molave St.)
10. DLSU Medical Center will accept canned goods, blankets, clothes, water. Location is at Congressional Avenue, Dasmarinas, Cavite. Telephone lines are at(02) 844-7832 and (046) 416-4531
11. Hillsborough Village Chapel - Water, blankets, shoes, and clothes may be sent to Hillsborough Village Chapel in Muntinlupa City. These will go to families whose houses were washed out in the nearby sitios.
12. La Salle Greenhills for Greenhills/Mandaluyong/San Juan Area, if you want to help out with the rescue and relief operations, you can drop off your donations (clothes, food, etc..) at LSGH Gate 2 or volunteer from 9am to receive, sort, repack the donations.
13. Our Lady of Pentecost Parish (+632-4342397, +632-9290665) per Gabe Mercado, donations are very much welcome. The Parish is located at 12 F. Dela Rosa corner C. Salvador Sts., Loyola Heights, Quezon City.
14. Peace Retreat Movement – leave all donations at the Peace Retreat Movement (PRM) office, 2F, Rm. 72L, Christ the King (HS) Bldg. on Wednesday, Sept 30, 12noon
15. Playschool International in Better Living is open to receive relief goods. Feel free to drop it there for your convenience. No Cash Pls.
16. Radio Veritas at Veritas Tower West Ave. Cor EDSA (+632-9257931-40)
17. San Beda College of Arts and Sciences Student Council – accepting clothes, meds, water, canned goods, soap, money, etc.
18. Santuario de San Antonio Parish – McKinley Road, Forbes Park. Accepting all kinds of relief goods. Contact JJ Yulo or Mike Yuson
19. Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Task Force Noah, a disaster response arm of the Jesuits, is accepting donations. Please drop it off at the Ateneo Cervini Dorm.
20. Southville International School and Colleges – will only accept goods. 09155385113 / 09154151319
21. St. James Church Multi-Purpose Hall – Drop off point
22. St. Pedro Poveda College is now accepting relief goods. call the Social Action Center 6318756 loc. 121
23. UA&P Please contact Dae Lee [SEB EVP] @ 09178323533 needs donations and volunteers.
24. UP Sigma Alpha Nu Sorority MANILA – collecting food, water and toiletries. You may drop them off at unit 12-O One Adriatico Place, Ermita Manila or contact 0917 -8857188 or 0917-6659948.
25. UP College of Arts and Letters (CAL) is accepting goods and cash. Donation center at CAL/text 0929-6454102.
26. UP Diliman USC is collecting food, clothing and/or cash. Contact TITUS 09178001909, JOSE 09273056607 and TIN 09154906106
27. Katipunan Avenue. Contact Erica Paredes at (+632917-4741930) – they need bread, packed juice, sandwich filling (tuna, chicken, anything) You can help her make them, deliver the sandwiches to her house, or help her distribute! Call for more details.
28. Valle Verde Mansions – 135 CAPT. HENRY JAVIER ST. BRGY. ORANBO, PASIG. This is near ULTRA for relief drop-off.
29. Xavier School in San Juan is now accepting donations, please bring to Multipurpose Center (MPC).

Private Citizens

1. MAKATI: 5729 Calasanz St., Olympia Makati City or call for pick up at (+632-5017405 or +632-7290530) c/o Omel Santos
2. SOUTH: Accepting relief goods in SOUTH AREA. Please contact Anne at (+632915-2854240)
3. Karen Ang of Pasig
3 Kagandahan corner Kabutihan Streets, Kawilihan Village, Pasig
0920-9520900
Will forward donated relief goods to Red Cross
4. Miriam Quiambao drop off point: One Orchard Road Building in Eastwood, or message http://www.twitter.com/miriamq for more details.
5. Colleen Manabat (Heartrio Prints) of Angeles City- will accept bottled water, canned goods, blankets, clothes, medicines from 9 AM to 6PM. Address is Stall 2 MGY Building, 2444 Sto. Entierro St, Sto. Cristo, Angeles City. She will forward the donations to Sagip Kapamilya – ABS-CBN Foundation.
6. Joseph Castillo of Cebu – will send a 20 ft. container to Manila and is looking for donations from Cebuanos. Get in touch with him through 09082368999 or 09322117111
7. Bianca – will pick up donations from Greenhills/San Juan area. Donate food, medicine, or clothing. Call 4123861/ 09278436002
8. Kelly & Jodge – Colonade Residences, Legaspi St. corner C. Palanca, Makati City. Will accept relief goods.
9. Omel Santos – 5729 Calasanz St., Olympia Makati City. Call (+632-5017405 or +632-7290530). Drop off point for donations. Also willing to pick up.
10. RJ Ledesma and friends – call at 09178131601 for pick of donations. Only relief goods.

People Tracker (using your phones, get your friends and family to turn on their finderservice for you)

* FINDERSERVICE. For Smart, text wis to 386.
* FINDERSERVICE. For Globe, text find to 7000.

E-Donations

1. SMS: text RED to 2899 (Globe) and 4483 (Smart)
2. G-Cash: text DONATEAMOUNT4-digit M-PINREDCROSS to 2882
3. TXTPOWER.org: Paypal, Smart Money (5577-5144-1866-7103), G-Cash (0917-9751092)

Philippine National Red Cross

1. Please send cash or check donations to the PNRC National Headquarters in Manila. Checks should be made payable to The Philippine National Red Cross. They can arrange for donation pick-up.
2. METROBANK Port Area Branch
Peso Acct.: 151-3-041-63122-8
Dollar Acct.: 151-2-151-00218-2
Type of Acct. : SAVINGS
Swift Code: MBTC PH MM
3. BANK OF THE PHIL. ISLANDS Port Area Branch
Peso Acct.: 4991-0010-99
Type of Account: CURRENT
4. BANK OF THE PHIL. ISLANDS UN Branch
Dollar Acct.: 8114-0030-94
Type of Account: SAVINGS
Swift Code: BOPI PH MM

Note: For your donations to be properly acknowledged, please fax the bank transaction slip at nos. +63.2.527.0575 or +63.2.404.0979 with your name, address and contact number.

For Credit Cards: Please fax the following info to +632.404.09.79 and +632.527.0575: Name of card member, billing address, contact nos. (phone & mobile), credit card no., expiration date, CCV2/ CVC2 (last three digits at the back of the credit card), billing address, amount to be donated. For online donations you may also visit our website at www.redcross.org.ph .

Most urgent needs

* Food items: Rice, noodles, canned goods, sugar, iodized salt, cooking oil, monggo beans and potable water
* Medicines: Paracetamol, antibiotics, analgesic, oral rehydration salts, multivitamins and medications to treat diarrheal diseases
* Non-food items: Bath soaps, face towels, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste, plastic mats, blankets, mosquito nets, jerry cans, water containers, water purification tablets, plastic sheetings, and Laundry soap

FOR THOSE OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY WHO WANT TO DONATE:

* TXTPower.org has set up a paypal account for donations. Your money will be forwarded to Red Cross.
* Kapuso Foundation is also accepting credit card donations.
2/F GMA Kapuso Center
Samar St. cor. 11th Jamboree St. Diliman, Quezon City
Call 9827777 loc. 9901/9904/9905.
accepts relief goods and cash
* myAyala.com account for Philippine Jesuits – you can use your CREDIT CARD and donate ONLINE. Go to www.myayala.com/sjph/. On the line “I would like to donate to:”, write “xs4ondoy“.

In Kind donations

* LOCAL: Please send in-kind local donations to The Philippine National Red Cross ? National Headquarters in Manila. They could also arrange for donation pick-up.
* INTERNATIONAL:
1. Send a letter of intent to donate to the PNRC
2. A letter of acceptance from PNRC shall be sent back to the donor
3. Immediately after shipping the goods, please send the (a) original Deed of Donation, (b) copy of packing list and (c) original Airway Bill for air shipments or Bill of Lading for sea shipments to The Philippine National Red Cross National Headquarters c/o Secretary General Corazon Alma de Leon, Bonifacio Drive, Port Area, Manila 2803, Philippines.

Please look at this list and this page too.

Back from my trip, with images from home.

These are quilt patterns made of colored tile that my dad had in-laid into brick on our driveway when our house in Dumaguete was built over 10 years ago.

These two specifically are Dresden plates, my grandma’s signature patterns.

I’m still a bit sentimental looking at these, being over 7,000 miles away. Every time I visit home, these are the first images that greet me. They always remind me of where I come from, and the fabric in history that I continue to stitch my days in.

Just getting back to blogging today, but hope to get back into the swing of things pretty soon. I may have been away, but I’ve been busy with stuff to blog about! How have all of you been?

Waiters wait for their cue to serve breakfast for a meeting between President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at Putin’s dacha outside Moscow, Russia, July 7, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

For months now, I’ve been trying to write a blog post about my fascination with presidential china. It would have been perfect as a fourth of July post, but that holiday found me up to my curls in cupcakes and picnic baskets, so it flew by in a blur of fireworks without me getting the time to cobble anything together.

The idea for this post came from discovering these beautiful images from the White House’s official Flickr photostream. Politcal beliefs aside, anyone can appreciate the elegance of these place settings. (Well, that is if you’re as strange as I am.)

Photo credits: Left column—Samantha Appleton; Right column—Pete Souza

Plates intrigue me. For someone who cooks, they’re like the canvas to the “painting” of a good meal. At a restaurant, I take note of the plate my food comes on—any plate, even the ones at Maxwell’s, a tiny café in Culver City we like to brunch in on Sundays, where plain white diner ceramic plates are used.

So as I was going through the stream of photos, my foodie’s sense tingled every time I spied a place setting. The photos made me curious: If the president asked you for a snack of his favorite cheese and crackers, what plate would you serve it on?

Photo credit: Pete Souza

Maybe you political junkies already knew this, but I only recently found out that it’s a time-honored tradition for First Ladies to commission the design and production of china for their respective husbands’ terms. Not all administrations have done so and sometimes use those of the previous one’s, but whenever the new sets come in, they’re used for state dinners and the like. A sample of the set is also showcased in the White House’s China Room. (I’ve never had the desire to see The White House before, but now that I know there’s a room full of PLATES in it, I really want to go! Haha.)

Early White House china that was chipped or broken used to be given away, or auctioned off to raise money for the creation of the next set. Congress later passed a law requiring for all presidential china to be kept or destroyed. In fact, when designs for new dessert plates for the Johnson administration didn’t turn out as well as planned, the White House staff dealt with the situation by smashing the plates against a basement wall painted with caricatures of the president’s assistants!

Michelle Obama has yet to move forward with the present administration’s china patterns. She has many beautiful sets to pick from in the meantime, especially because Laura Bush commissioned both informal and formal china sets during her husband’s terms.

Formal Set—”George W. Bush State China”

Photo credit: Ron Edmonds, Associated Press

Informal set—”Magnolia Residence China,” inspired by a magnolia tree on the White House grounds believed to be the oldest botanical resident on the White House grounds

Photo credit: Ron Edmonds, Associated Press

And these are my favorite plates from previous administrations. (Photos courtesy of Whitehousemuseum.org.)

Clockwise, these plates were from the administrations of: Franklin Pierce, John Quincy Adams, Ronald Reagan and Thomas Jefferson

And so, after going through tons of online resources and researching White House history, I’ve finally written my presidential plates post (alliterate much?)! Did I bore you? Are you snoozing? Haha. I feel that this obsession of mine is highly specialized (read: odd), but I’ve always been fascinated with how much food is a part of a country’s history, and that naturally extends to the story behind the vessels the food was served in. Who knows what kinds of conversations these plates have heard and seen?

I hope your own plates, even if they don’t have the presidential seal emblazoned on them, are filled with good food that inspire great memories every day.