Eating with my Sister-In-Law

Before moving in with her, I never really knew much about my brother's wife. I knew she was super sweet, pretty, and loved my brother, but not much more than that.

Well. Boy! do I know her now. And boy, do I love her and we laugh all the time!

Come to find out she's part Filipino (part a few other things), doesn't like germs much and loves her two tiny dogs. She's a lot more than just these three traits, but these are the three that specifically make me laugh - constantly.

The other day, the part Filipino really came out. She came tearing out of her room late in the evening "oh!! I forgot! I have to make my friend lunch for tomorrow!" I looked at the clock, saw the late hour, and thought she was crazy. What could she possibly cook in a few minutes that would be worth all this hoopla.... oh... oh what a silly question. She opened the cupboard and took out this:

Yes. Spam.... Apparently its a somewhat common Filipino ingredient.
This is what proceeded to come out of that can...

I was fascinated, obviously. And laughing hysterically.
She then cut it up thin, and fried it. See, her friend had never tried it either.

I wouldn't say it looked appetizing (it did smell pretty good) - and I'm not sure what her friend thought the next day, but apparently Chad thought it looked delicious. There was a bit of uncooked Spam leftover - and Chad decided he wanted it for breakfast the next morning.

So being the the dutiful wife that I am - I made him a dish I remembered seeing on our last trip to Hawaii:

Spam and eggs over rice. There wasn't enough for me, but I had a bite. Its not bad by any means, but nothing I am going to go out of my way (or even on my way for that matter) to buy it.

Fun though, and damn funny. You gotta love my family. Cause I certainly do.

Smile! Local Drink

Only in southern California would there be a market for Rice Dream to make a Horchata drink - I just about fell over laughing in the store when I saw it.

Its actually pretty good.

Smile! Mountain Lilac

One of my fondest memories growing up was of my step-mom proclaiming that the Mountain Lilac was in bloom. She did it every year - when this hills of Valley Center turned a grey-ish, purple color. I had never seen one up close until my brother came home for a visit and on his way there, he had stopped on the side of the road to pick a branch off for her.

I was the first one to notice they were blooming this year. And I was able to find one close enough to a road for me to snap this picture. Spring is almost here :)