Mama asks what we want for lunch. (Mama is visiting from St. Louis and helping out in the cooking department because I still can’t cook much.) She asks Tops (my brother who’s also visiting from Philly for the weekend). Tops wants corned beef.
We look for the tomato. Mama is convinced we had one more. Turns out Aisa chopped both tomatoes that Daddy bought, so we had already used them up. I said no worries. I have tomatoes somewhere, I know. But I can’t find the canned tomatoes that I transferred to the Prego jar…. hey wait, what about the freezer? Jar not here, but oh, here you go, Mama, here’s some red stuff.
Mama proceeds with the cooking. I’m in the next room, the study, trying to find our long lost lessons in two months’ worth of MESS.
Mama: Ikaw ba ang nag-puree nito? (Did you puree this yourself?)
Me: Hindi ko na maalala. (I can’t remember.)
Mama: Iba. (It’s different.)
Me: thinking… what would be different about it? Siguro nga po. (Maybe.)
5 minutes later.
Mama: May kulay. (There’s color.)
Me: thinking… why would there be color? I only buy natural stuff. Po? (Polite way of saying “really???”)
5 minutes later.
Mama: May, sigurado kang kamatis ito? (Are you sure these are tomatoes?)
Me: Bakit po? (Why?, politely)
Mama: Matamis! (It’s sweet!)
Me, finally going into the kitchen: Po??? (What?)
Finally seeing the way-different redness of the “frozen tomatoes” — Oh no!!!
It’s raspberry!! More accurately, raspberry sauce, for chocolate cake!
Me: Inilagay n’yo na po? (Have you used it yet?)
Mama: Kanina pa! (A while back!)
Me, looking at the purply corned beef in the skillet. thinking YUCCCCHHHHH….. : Baka po puedeng i-drain tapos lagyan na lang ng patis. (Maybe we could just drain it and add fish sauce.)
Mama: Nilagyan ko na ng asin. (I already put salt.) ‘Wag na lang nating sabihin. (Let’s just not tell them.)
Too late. Paco heard us talking and announced to everyone before lunch: Raspberry corned beef!!!
Needless to say, we were all laughing and joking all throughout lunch. Numerous references to the Friends episode where Rachel puts beef and peas in the trifle (warning: some material not suitable for kids). Mama says something about not trusting first-trimester pregnant women in the kitchen.
Good thing I have my own personal Joey (Dad).
What’s not to like? Potatoes? Good. Raspberry? Good. Corned beef? Goooooood!!!
Okay, he didn’t really say that, but he and Tops ate a lot. I love men with strong stomachs. Tops predicts we’ll be talking about this 5 years from now.
2 Comments »
