love the here and now

I took a trip to Hawaii years ago with a friend of mine.  Being the true New Yorker that he is i.e., he didn't have a driver's license, I was behind the wheel throughout our vacation, and me being me, we often got lost. I remember taking a wrong turn and finding my way to a beach I had never explored before.  It was beautiful, and the first thing I said was "I can't wait to come back here again", to which my friend replied, "You're here right now".

In that spirit, I made these...
                 

And, in the same spirit, I made these...

Clockwise from top: couscous with pesto and tomatoes (using mom's basil); bibinka and binbinkitas (a Pilipino spongy cake), buko pie (more on that later), and peach cake (using peaches from my Uncle Vic's tree).

The occasion:  To celebrate my dad's birthday a bit early while both me and my brother are in town, and to have a send-off dinner for my brother who is heading back to Hawaii.  I'll be heading back to NYC next week, so times like this when we're all back home are rare.  It was a blessing to sit together for dinner as a family.

I decided to bake a buko pie specifically for the celebrants, my dad and brother.  My dad is from Batangas in the Philippines.  Each time we go to his hometown, we take a narrow road where, without fail,  my dad points out a lake, a volcano, a lake in a volcano, and fruit stands selling buko, or young coconut.  We make the traditional stop for fresh buko juice and during our last trip in February we ate fresh buko pie.  My dad loved it, and my brother LOVED it!  So, I looked up some recipes, and me being me, didn't follow them and came up with a recipe of my own.  Dad polished off his plate, and bro went back for seconds.



To family and to loving the here and now.  Cheers!

Supplies for card: 
Stamps: My Favorite Things Chalkboard Greetings
Inks: Stampin' Up (calypso coral, island indigo, peach parfait, pool party); Memento (tuxedo black)