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By Sunny Buenaventura

I love to cook. I always helped my grandmother (she’s a great cook) every time she was in the kitchen and I was only 7 years old at that time. As a mom, I always make sure that my husband and my kids will appreciate what I cook for them. In order to do that, I know I should try different recipes. And that’s when I started to bake.

I’m not an expert baker and my first attempt was a disaster. I put 1/2 cup of baking soda in my chocolate cookies, instead of 1/2 teaspoon and when my daughter Summer tasted it, she said “ewww!” and threw [the cookie] directly in our garbage bin (ouch!). But that didn’t stop me from trying and baking cookies and cupcakes for them until I found the perfect recipe that suits me. Now, I’m proud to say that my goodies are yummier and tastier.

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Kitchen Fun with my Daughters
By Joanne Naputo

I practically grew up seeing my grandmother cook for me and my cousins when we stayed with them in Sta. Rosa, Laguna for vacation. She would always prepare sumptuous meals for everybody. That started my love and passion to cook and bake.

Being a young single mom to two wonderful daughters, Lana (5) and Gabby (2), I personally attend to all their needs—from the clothes they wear, to the shows they watch, down to the food they eat. These reasons brought a light bulb moment to me last August 2008 to come up with a business showcasing products I love to cook and bake and that my children love to eat. I used this as bonding time with my children as well. Lana helps me in decorating cakes and making toppers, while Gabby helps in mixing the batter and making a mess of the kitchen (wink!).

I initially thought that my girls were just bugging me in the kitchen to have fun and to simply enjoy the moment of being with me at home. They shouted “Mommy!” and continued to make a mess, laughed, and hugged me with floured or sugared hands. Then one day, Lana and I joined an event in Fully Booked at Serendra. She amazed me when she joined one of the activities, which was making pastillas.

After the activity, she chewed on the pastillas she made and told the guest chef “Me and my mommy also do this at home. Yummy!” then she ran to me and hugged me. Mixed emotions welled-up on me as I embraced Lana and whispered in her ear “Mommy is very proud of you! I love you so much, anak!” Suddenly, she gave me a big smile and a tight hug. No words were needed as the smile that lighted up her face and the tight hug explained it all.


Congratulations, Joanne! You win a YUMMY bag and the 2010 YUMMY Planner.

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My Son Jericho aka My Little Chef
By Edward Capacillo

Oscar Wilde once said, “What seems to us bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” My younger son Jericho Andrew or Coycoy for short is proof of that, by God's grace. Thanks largely to his overwhelming passion for the culinary arts (apparently “inherited” from yours truly who is partly a professional chef and an avowed foodie for life).

Sometime mid-2003, the then three-year-old Coycoy was diagnosed by a developmental psychologist as having a moderate case of speech delay, which explains his marked difficulty in expressing himself and having a short attention span, among others. This was followed by a slew of requisite occupational and speech therapy sessions, as well as a wee bit of extra understanding and support from us, his loving family (though not excessively to avoid alienating him in order to abate the situation). My wife Joyce and I tried our best to take things in stride, but a somewhat palpable pain and anxiety were there in our hearts for our then seemingly challenged son who we dearly love.

Fast forward to January 8, 2010. Coycoy at nine years of age, just finished doing an instructional video of him confidently preparing (complete with an occasional mock Italian accent) the recipe for Ham And Veggie Brunch Strata Casserole for his home-school science portfolio project. Now how cool of a turnaround is that? That in a nutshell sums up my son's transition from zero to hero, sort of. (And I am certainly not saying that in a condescending way whatsoever.)

Coycoy exhibited the tell-tale signs of a predilection for cooking as early as the age of five when he preferred watching the shows on The Food Network over those on Nickelodeon. It was undeniable that the likes of Bobby Flay, Mario Batali, Tyler Florence, Emeril Lagasse, and most notably Iron Chef America have an irrepressible appeal to him. And he hasn't fully overcome his speech delay yet at that. We would let him loose at Fully Booked and later find him slumped in a corner, focused over volumes of celebrity chef cookbooks along with the token kiddie picture books. Heck, he is even more familiar with the schedule and titles of the majority of shows on the Asian Food Channel than I am! 

Strangely though, I never really pushed him nor my older son Jeremiah to take a liking to the goings-on in the kitchen. I prefer that they take to it naturally as I did at age ten (sans the initial support of my family who even subjected me to erstwhile undermining and ridicule for years (that is until the varied amateur cooking contest accolades and prizes started coming in).

 

He was insistent on attending the kiddie cooking workshops of The Maya Kitchen and Del Monte, among others. He even adopted for himself the monicker “little chef” courtesy of Remy the culinary genius rat in the movie "Ratatouille." Now at nine, he can already be safely left in charge of our backyard barbecue fare, sizzling on the grill with no under cooking or burnt mishaps whatsoever. That is on top of his uncanny affinity for preparing baked casseroles like the Brunch Strata dish as well as kneading and shaping bread dough for Whole Wheat Monkey Bread, cinnamon rolls and the like. Presently in grade three, he is already constantly spouting off his desire to study at the likes of Enderun Colleges and even the Culinary Institute of America, which God-willing I will wholeheartedly support.

To say that his profound interest in the culinary arts warms my heart is an understatement. I'm floored both as a parent and a food professional to see how my son practically embraces it with even more passion than I did at the same age. And that it effortlessly pushed him to hurdle the inhibiting borders of his now vanquished speech delay so he can willfully come to shine on his own. At present he is doing well with his academics and deportment--and it is a no brainer to pinpoint which came first, his love for cooking or his capacity to now focus, absorb and retain knowledge just like the typical child achiever.

On a special note, it is with utmost gratitude to God that I say that it is nothing short of a blessing to see and feel that indisputable bond between Coycoy and I in the form of a common  passion for making really good eats, plus all the joy that can be spawned by and from it.

Congratulations, Ted! For sharing your very inspiring story to us, you win a YUMMY bag, the 2010 YUMMY Planner, and a special gift from chef Jackie Ang-Po which you can claim at her café, Fleur de Lys.


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