Mama's House

The 2008 Princeton Review released its annual list of the top party schools in the nation and FanNation rightfully ponders,

We’re trying to figure out how any college party could top UCLA’s annual undie run, especially after seeing these pics, but the Bruins didn’t even make the Top 20, so what do we know?

In case you're not keeping close tabs on comments to previous posts, here's what you may have missed:

Re: Cousin Cruise 2008, Melanie comments about the cost,

If we go in the beginning of May it will be about $300-$400 per person. If we go anytime after that then it will be about $400-$500 per person.

Re: Fonacier Family Reunion T-Shirts, Anonymous asks for help in designing the t-shirt. So whomever wants to do that better get started on thinking up some ideas, which you can try out here.

Re: Family Bar Night, Faye and Annette ask what time we're all getting together. Austin says he'll be there 6:30ish and really people if you want to know if something is still on and what time it's on just look over to the right of this site and you should notice a calendar.

Re: Family Softball Team, this is sad but probably true.

Hope you tried the last family recipe. Lindsey told me she was going to give it a try but I don't think she got around to it. Anyway, this recipe is just as easy as the last - it's basically only adding layers of ingredients on top of a fillet of fish - but it can definitely look like you put a lot of effort into it.

Ingredients:

Salmon fillet(s)
Roasted unsalted Macadamia nuts
Panko bread crumbs
Parsley (optional)
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper. Also, chop up parsley and spread over salmon fillets.
   
2. Lay a layer of panko bread crumbs over the salmon fillets.
   
3. Crush macadamia nuts in a Ziploc bag with the side of a large knife, mallet, or the back of a spoon. Then spread a layer of crushed nuts over the fillets. Also, season again, this time you're seasoning the panko bread crumbs and the nuts, with a little salt and pepper.
   
4. Grease the baking dish, pan, aluminum foil, or whatever you use to put the fish into the oven with a little oil or butter so that the fish won't stick and leave in the oven for about 10 mins. for every inch of thickness at the thickest part of the fish or until desired doneness.
   
5. To brown the nuts, pop under the broiler for just a few seconds - keep the broiler oven door open and eye out on them while browning because they will burn quick.
   
6. Enjoy best salmon EVER.

Notes:

So you might be asking yourself wtf are Panko bread crumbs (especially if you didn't bother to click on the helpful link I gave you). Simply put, they're just Japanese bread crumbs that can be easily found in the Asian aisle of almost any supermarket, though I prefer to get mine at Trader Joe's. Do NOT substitute any other kind of bread crumbs.

Wild, fresh caught salmon is obviously the best kind to get and it does make a huge difference in taste but can be expensive so feel free to use salmon that is farm raised. However, please try to stay away from the fish that says "color added."

Try not to go overboard with the use of bread crumbs and nuts. You want to cover the top of the fish with the panko and the nuts but you don't want too thick of a layer. Just try to make sure there's more fish than crumbs and nuts.

As always, feel free to tweak in whatever way. As for me, I like to squirt a little lemon juice onto the fillets before seasoning and I use dill instead of parsley. I also like to mix in a little melted butter with the Panko bread crumbs and the macadamia nuts in the Ziploc bag before laying it on the salmon.

I will see y'all tomorrow for bar night. Are the kids coming shall we get a table or are we simpy going to sit at the bar? Anyone know when happy hour starts / stops. I shall see everyone there.

So I've got EJ and Austin interested in starting a softball team come April 2008. A long ways away I know but I figured I'd gauge the interest and see if I should push to put a team together. We would need at least 5 women and 5 men to field a co-recreation team. We would probably play our games at Mason Park, during the evening, one day a week, and for about 14 weeks.

Now if you've seen me play, you know you don't have to be good at all to play on this team. I just thought it would be nice if we could all do something together every once in a while that was fun and this would only be for fun as we would probably get our asses handed to us every single game.

So what do you guys say?

Ah yes, it is Oliver's birthday today. And it's not some insignificant birthday like his 8th, but rather it is his 21st birthday. So what are we to do on this on this special occasion? Should we take him out on a trip? Perhaps we could spend a day at the beach with him, where he could enjoy the Pacific sunshine;or make it a night in Old Mandalay, where he could party after dark; or we could take him to Manhattan, where he could party until he dies? Those last two places are probably out of our budget.

What about gifts? What gift would bring a smile to Oliver on his 21st? Maybe we could get him a piece of ass. Of course, we should make sure that piece of ass doesn't come with an Adam's Apple. After all it would only be prudent of us to make sure he gets what he deserves rather than something he doesn't before he pulls down his zipper. Maybe a nice girl from Alaska is what we should get him, though I don't know how the family would take to having a baby Eskimo. Maybe the whole idea of getting him a girl is wrong though, after all, from what I hear, Oliver is quite the player.

Austin? EJ? Any ideas? All kidding aside, I'm sure the three of us, or is it the three of us, could think of something peachie to get Oliver that would make his birthday absolute heaven or at least almost heaven. So any ideas as to what to do or get for Oliver's 21st? Anyone?

Fuck it, let's just get him a few drinks.

Now everybody be good and wish Oliver a happy 21st in the comments.

Who is up for a bar Friday the 24th? Something simply and user-friendly like Fridays or of some equivalent of that.

What's with the people at the gym who bench press like 295 pounds and then after finishing their set, with much attention seeking grunting, remove the 10 pound weights and maybe the 25s but leave the 45s on? Seriously, who are these people and what's going on in their heads? Why not just leave all the weights on there? I mean laziness and rudeness I can understand and hell I can also understand leaving them on in case any chocolate covered hotties happen to pass by, they can notice how much weight I'm lifting - not that I do that. But seriously, what the fuck compels people to remove the lightest weights and leave the heaviest on? The only things that get me more pissed off at the gym are insufficient gym hotties, too old to be ashamed men in the locker room, and lack of gym cheerleaders.

WFS - Bumped up because of the new poll and to highlight for further discussion.

So does everyone really wanna do this cousin cruise thingy next year? If so I want to start looking at prices because during those times it could very well be high peak season. First off i need to know who's in? How long? ( 3 or 5 days; during the week or on a weekend) and where to? Just give me a heads up on what you opinion is on this?

Faye: Yeah, I heard you hated him from the beginning.
Me: It wasn't just me. We all hated him.
Faye: Really?
Me: Yeah, he was just really annoying. And we'll say the same thing about Jason if you should break-up with him.
Jason: I KNEW IT!

This is the first of what I hope to be many recipes shared not just by me but by all of you.

So with arroz caldo winning the recent poll I thought I would share with all of you how I make arroz caldo. Now you can find many recipes for it online - some of which are probably tastier than mine - or I guess you could just ask Tita Malou how to cook it - definitely better tasting than mine - but I think my way is the easiest and still produces an an arroz caldo that any arroz caldo lover would enjoy eating.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of Cooked Chicken (whatever part of the chicken you like most)
1 cup Calrose Rice (or any medium grain rice)
10 cups of Chicken Broth (I just use canned chicken broth - unsalted)
2 tbsp. of Butter
2 teaspoons of Salt
Pepper for taste

That's right, only 6 ingredients and if you're any sort of asian, the only thing you probably have to go out and buy are the chicken and the chicken broth.

Directions:

1. Wash the rice and then soak it in water for about 30 mins.
   
2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a pan, wok, or pot on HIGH heat. Drain, rinse, and drain the rice one last time. Add rice to the melted butter and cook, stirring, until rice is well coated with the butter and smells toasty, about 5 mins.
   
3. Add chicken broth to a slow cooker dump in the toasted rice, salt, and pepper. Stir well, cover, turn the cooker to LOW, and cook for 8 hours, or overnight.
   
4. After 8 hours, stir well. If you want it thicker, turn cooker to HIGH and cook for 1 hour more, stirring now and then. The soup will become thick and white.
   
5. Stir in cooked chicken and serve with soy sauce or hot sauce.

It's that simple. You can't go wrong with this recipe. It's damn near impossible to overcook. I usually cook it overnight or start it early in the day to have for dinner. Give it a try, don't be afraid to add your own touches to it, and let me know how it goes.

Need further convincing that this recipe is good? Feel free to ask Annette, Joni, Darryll what they think about my arroz caldo.

Notes: Most chicken broths at my score come in 6 cup cans so I just end up using 12 cups of broth and add an extra 1/5 cup of rice to compensate.

Now you can buy the chicken cooked or you can cook the chicken yourself. I usually just boil the chicken or pan fry some strips of chicken breast.

The toasting of the rice gives it a nice nutty flavor. You can skip this step but I wouldn't.

Traditionally, the chicken is cooked with the rice, but I choose to cook them separately, so all of the flavor is basically coming from the chicken broth.

I love it with hot sauce.

Arroz Caldo wins as your favorite filipino food. I know it's mine. There's nothing more satisfying in my mind than a meal consisting of chicken and rice. To be able to have it in a hot porridge form makes it all the more satisfying.

Arroz Caldo: 4
Lechon: 2
Kare-kare: 1
Leche flan: 1
Sinigang: 1
Afritada: 1

It is official, we finally picked a place to hold this thing. It's going to be at Ralph B. Clark Regional Park in Buena Park. A few of the amenities include baseball fields, volleyball courts, tennis courts, fishing, hiking trails, and barbeque/fire rings but sadly no basketball courts.

Well if you haven't heard yet there's going to be a Fonacier family reunion come this September 22, which is what the above countdown timer is all about. Outside of the date the particulars are still being decided. However, there is strong speculation that it will be held at Craig Park in Fullerton. The odds of it having it there are about the same as Austin having the next kid in the family. By the way, is this blog too young to be self-referential? It's also rumored that a shelter is to be had and that it will be a catered event. And if that's not enough to bring you out to get to know long lost family from Papa's side, then maybe talks of a family reunion t-shirt might persuade you otherwise.






So who's up for some softball that day?

What are we doing for this momentous occasion? Anyone have any ideas other than the obligatory acts of getting him drunk and getting him a $50 - is that enough to say we like you and yet not too excessive that it might offend? - hooker?

Me: I heard you got a job as an event planner.
Sara: Event Coordinator, not event planner.
Me: Sorry, I didn't mean to be offensive or anything.
Sara: I'm not offensive.
EJ: Uh, no, you're not. And that's a good thing.

Granted, this was towards the end of a night of drinking and Sara had just shared a few shots of Malibu Mango with EJ and an unidentifiable minor.

If Faye landed safely after doing like Wesley Snipes?

Long lost family perhaps? I have no idea. Probably not. And that only adds to my irritation because their page is ranked #2 by Google in a search for "Fonacier," right ahead of Uncle Wilson's site, while this site is nowhere to be found on the first two pages of Google. What do I have to do to get some Google love?

Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier, Fonacier.

Well where to begin? First, Jade lived up to his reputation as a lightweight. I will give him credit for holding his liquor but the guy does turn into a talkative drunk relatively quick. How quick? Well far be it for this lightweight to say how much of a lightweight someone else is. Also, so impaired was Jade that he actually argued that Jello shots were for girls while expressing his affinity for daiquiris in the same breath.

Speaking of drinking, chocolate cake shots, while looking nothing like chocolate, are surprisingly tasty.

This is not to say that the whole night was about drinking. There was plenty of food ranging from bbq chicken to balut and an ice cream cake to boot. Activities ranged from playing the Wii, EJ has a heavier brain than Sara; finding out that EJ and Sara only read books with Harry Potter as the main character; taking a tour of Roland's new toy, it has Vortec if you haven't heard; debating which sports were worthy of disapproval, soccer won; and wondering why Meka was crying when he wasn't even bleeding, several times.

Roland got himself a 2005 Denali the other day with navigation, 6 screens (one in the passenger side visor), satellite radio, and a Vortec engine.

Yes Roll, it's "gangsta" and yes Roll, you're like Turtle.