Lumpia...Pancit...Caldereta...Adobo

We, senior sister missionaries, had a cooking activity!  We had so much fun learning how to cook some of our favorite foods from our new life in the Philippines.  We have an expert amongst us, Sister Mila Wright.  She brought us into her kitchen where she had everything prepped and ready to go.

Mila is a fabulous cook and had our attention!  She is always cooking in large quantities for one thing or another...today it was for us.

Donna can do it and I can do it...take a large tablespoon of filling and roll it up in the paper thin wrapper.  We seal the edge with egg white and we have Lumpia ready to be fried!  Yum!  It was a very similar process to making burritos.

Lumpia has been one of our favorite things to eat.  It is like a little egg roll.  Mila's recipe has mostly meat in it, but others we've eaten have more vegetables.  Both are yummy.  We took some uncooked Lumpia home to eat later.  When 'later' came, I wanted to try to 'fry' the lumpia without oil!  It worked good enough for me.  The wrapper got brown and crispy and the inside got hot...perfect.  I know it isn't the way to properly prepare lumpia, but it was fast, easy, and fewer calories.

My other favorite dish is Pancit.  Our first time to taste pancit was at a baptism.  I was told that pancit is eaten at any special event like birthday parties, etc.  There are different kinds of pancit, too.  The biggest difference is with the noodle that is used.  I've discovered my favorite to be the Canton noodle.  Mila showed us how to make two different types of pancit...one with Canton noodles and the other with a thin rice noodle.

This is the Pancit Canton.  It is meat, vegetables, and noodles.  The process is similar to making fried rice or at least that is what it reminds me of.  I tried to make Pancit after I had it at the baptism.  I failed!  My second attempt was much better, and now that I've had a lesson it will be perfect. :)

Caldereta is called a stew (with a special seasoning).  Mila's recipe is meat, potatoes, and carrots.  It is thick and yummy.  Adobo is the favorite of our office elders.  It seemed to basically be meat in a special broth.  It is usually served over rice...like everything here.  Still my favorites are the lumpia and pancit.  

We are loving our time in the Philippines.  The people are the best.  The young missionaries are stellar, the absolute best!  And the senior missionaries are fun to be with.

We are starting our new year with a bang.  Our new mission president has been announced and will arrive July 1.  Transfer week begins tomorrow again.  Like Donna said, the activities are the same, but oh sooooo different!  And there is always something new to make life interesting!  Actually, life is ALWAYS interesting!!

From our home to yours...with love!