Dried Fish with Squash and String beans in Coconut Milk

This is one of my favorite comfort foods. I even had to call up my mom for the recipe. Its fairly easy to do.  You would just have to have the muscle power to get the coconut milk and cream out of the grated coconut.  For an easier way, you can use canned coconut milk and cream however, nothing beats freshly squeezed coconut cream.

I did not have the exact measurements for the ingredients.  Just add more or less depending on your taste.

Squash
String beans
Onions
Garlic
Coconut cream
Coconut milk
Dried Fish
Salt
Pepper

Cube the squash into bite size pieces.  Set aside
Cut the string beans into manageable lengths.
Slice the onions and mince the garlic. Set aside
Wash the dried fish and slice it into two or three if you have a fairly large one.
Place into a pot the Squash, Onions, Garlic and dried fish then pour in the coconut milk about three fourths full.  Don't submerge everything in the milk unless you would want a soupy dish.
Season with a bit of salt and pepper.
Simmer until the squash is soft. 
Add the coconut cream and make sure that it does not boil so the mixture won't curdle. 
Add the string beans.
Simmer over very low heat.
Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. 
Serve while hot with a bowl of steaming hot rice.

Enjoy!

Summer Heat

Just heard from the news that temperature here will range from 25C-35C. Gosh!  I believe it is even higher than that. You just can't go out of the house without cringing from the heat. I can't leave the house now without my sunglasses but I can't still can get myself to use the umbrella.

The kids' rashes have gone back. =( We have not even been here for a week and their backs are now riddled with red spots.  Aside from the heat, I suspect that the culprit is the water here.  There's nothing like the refreshing tap water in Davao.

I'm excited for this coming weekend.  It's going to be a mini-reunion of the mansioneers! I just hope that we won't be bothered by brownouts or the lack of water. 

Speaking of brownouts, rotating brownouts are back. So much for me bragging to my friends about not having brownouts here unlike in Davao.  Yesterday, we had two instances. The first lasted for about an hour and happened around 10 am.  The second about lasted for only about 30 minutes during the late afternoon.  However, the water situation is what I'm afraid of. Yesterday, we did not have water for about 2 hours in the morning and another 3 hours in the afternoon.  Today, water supply went kaput around 10 am and has yet to return.  This is not looking good at all. A lot of people are saying that this is going to happen more often because the election period is over.  They did some hocus-pocus so that it wouldn't be like that before the elections and the officials seeking reelection are putting their best foot forward to woo the voting public. But now that it's over, they're shedding of their masks and showing their true colors.  I just hope that they do something about the situation. 

I have not been cooking or baking as much as I used to.  Work has been occupying most of my time lately.  I just can't finish my assignments as fast as I want to with 2 little kids wreaking havoc around the house. Plus, these brownouts are a nuisance.  My laptop's battery is not up to par anymore so it only lasts about 30 minutes when it's running on it. Hopefully, I'll be able to find a battery replacement or better, a new laptop! Wishful thinking...

So much for my rambling here.  I gotta go back to work now.