Score (another) one for the cooking club!

I have been feeling really domestic lately. My friends in the States wouldn't recognize me, the girl who used to dine out almost 3 times a week!

I scored points with Ángel and surprisingly with AR when I gave Dad's pancit recipe a test run. Not bad first time out of the box. In fact, Ángel liked it so much that he asked me to make a second batch of it. I willingly complied, happy that I found an appreciative audience. Pancit. The Filipino national dish. Yum!

Next came Dad's recipe for beef with broccoli. The trick of this recipe is to add just the right amount of fresh ginger and to not overcook the broccoli. After making a trip to a local Chinese food supermarket to get the ginger (something so "exotic" is nearly impossible to find in the neighborhood supermarket and when I asked at the hypermarket they didn't even know what jengibre was!) I once again donned my apron and Asian cooking cap (well, not really) and whipped up a batch of this yummy dish that Dad makes so well. Scored points (AGAIN) with the hubby and my little pumpkin delighted in sucking on a garlic and ginger laced broccoli stalk. No wonder his breath is a bit powerful at times!

However, the icing on the cake (pun completely intended) was when my suegra gave me the most flattering of piropos. The other day I had made a batch of simple butter cookies and then went off to work. Later that night my suegra and cuñada Cristina came over for a visit. Ángel took out the cookies and served them up with a nice cup of café con leche. My suegra was convinced that he had purchased them at the local pastelería. She said that while I made a great banana bread there was no way I made these cookies so light and flaky. :) Didn't that make my day! Now, she doesn't ask me to make her banana bread anymore because I gave her the recipe. However, she has already put her order in for another batch of butter cookies. I think this recipe will be kept a secret. You never know when a little soborno will come in handy!