Burnt Lumpia: Filipino Food | Filipino Recipes | Culinary Hijinks

Two Words: Done Deal

It's funny.

I've been daydreaming about writing this particular blog post and making this particular announcement since perhaps day one of this blog. Every now and then, for the past four years, I'd catch myself staring off into space, quietly wondering and hoping:

Wouldn't it be cool if I were to write a...

One of these days I'm going to write a...

Man, I really think I could write a...

And then before finishing my thought, I'd shake my head and continue banging on my keyboard, posting Filipino recipes and just sharing a part of my life and culture with anyone who happened across this blog.

Eventually though, after a couple years of wondering and hoping, I sat down and got to doing and writing. A proposal was written, and re-written, and massaged, and fine tuned, and...

And now, now that I actually am writing this blog post and actually do have something to announce, I'm at a loss for words.

Or maybe I'm just nervous.

Here goes:

I've got a cookbook deal!!! A cookbook deal!!! A mother-effing cookbook deal!!!

Wow, it felt insanely gratifying typing those words just now (especially the mother-effing part).

Yes friends, I am so very happy to share with you that over the next year or so I'll be busy writing a Filipino cookbook. I've signed a contract with Tuttle Publishing, and my manuscript is due in January 2012. My cookbook is tentatively titled The New Filipino-American Cookbook (ooh-lar-lar) and is scheduled to land in bookstores, Amazon, and my car trunk by Fall 2012.

I can already see some people out there who may be decrying the title and asking "Filipino-American? Does that mean this cookbook is geared toward Westerners?"

The answer, NO. The cookbook is intended for ANYONE interested in Filipino cuisine and culture. I'm envisioning this cookbook to be an extension of this blog in the sense that I'll continue exploring what Filipino food is, as well as what Filipino food can be. There will be new recipes featuring some traditional dishes, as well as some recipes with my own wacky take on things--you know, business as usual here at the Burnt Lumpia Worldwide Headquarters.

I would also like to take this time to thank Jaden Hair, Andrea Nguyen, and Pat Tanumihardja--three brilliant cookbook authors and all-around wonderful women who have each provided guidance and advice to me for the past couple of years. Thank you all for being mentors to me. And thank you for being inspiring cookbook authors. Thank You!

And lastly, thank you friends and readers. This is really, truly a wonderful/scary/exciting time in my life. I couldn't have gotten to this point without making the connections I've made with all of you. I've got a long road ahead of me still, and I hope you'll continue on this journey with me, as many of you have from the beginning.

I can only promise you that over the next year I will pour everything I've got into writing this cookbook, this FILIPINO COOKBOOK!!!, and hopefully you'll find the time to flip it open.

Cookbook Rules Everything Around Me

Banana 2 Conference

This Saturday February 26th, I'll be participating in the Banana 2 Conference at CBS Studios in Los Angeles.

The Banana 2 Conference will be an event spotlighting the efforts of Asian American and Pacific Islander bloggers. According to the Banana 2 website:

"BANANA 2 is a follow-up to the inaugural convening in Nov. 2009 co-hosted by Lac Su, author of I Love Yous Are For White People (HarperCollins, 2009) and Steve Nguyen, a television/film producer and head of the ChannelAPA.com's Los Angeles division, who enlisted the help of a small group of bloggers and community activists to produce an event highlighting and amplifying the online voices of Asian Americans.

The conference will provide an opportunity for bloggers and their readers to build a stronger community by beginning conversations and building relationships beyond the conference. Conference panels will include topics on using blogs and social media to create meaningful social change, working with businesses and corporations and defining the role of Asian American bloggers."

I'm definitely flattered to have been asked to participate in this great event. I'll actually be taking part in a panel that day specifically devoted to Asian American bloggers who blog about a specific topic--my blog topic being, of course, Filipino food. I'm definitely looking very forward to sharing my thoughts about my blog and about Filipino food.

Again, Banana 2 will be taking place this Saturday February 26th, from 8am to 6pm at CBS Studios in Los Angeles. Conference admission is $20 per person, and you can register online at http://www.banana-2.com/register/.

For more information on Banana 2, visit their website here.

 

Four

Four Valentine's Days ago, I started writing Burnt Lumpia. Yup. This here Filipino food blog is now four years old.

Four years is a long time to be writing anything, let alone to be writing a blog solely about Filipino cuisine. At the time, on that first fateful Valentine's Day when I wrote some lil' test post and hit the "Publish" button, I wasn't sure anyone knew what Filipino food was exactly.

And now? Four years later?

I'm still not sure.

But despite my own uncertainty, there have been signs of increasing interest and appreciation of Filipino cuisine as of late. Adobo in the New York Times? The "next Asian cuisine to hit prime time"? "Filipino cuisine is finally entering the mainstream"? Who would'a thunk it?

Four years.

Four years of testing and developing recipes. Four years of note taking. Four years of calling my grandmother and aunties with questions about ingredients, measurements, and family stories. Four years of posting random movie clips for my own amusement. Four years of making fun of my mom's indifference and my dad's drunkeness, puppy punching prowess, and overall awesomeness(?). Four years of working towards...

Has it all been worth it?

Well. Yes.

Believe me, it's been gratifying enough taking what I've learned from this blog and executing that in real time. And at the very least, I now know a hell of a lot more about my culture than I did four years ago. And thankfully, this didn't happen in a vacuum. I've gleaned a lot from the readers of this blog, and from the people I've connected with all around the world because of this blog. And for that I am very, very thankful.

And even with all the recipes I've managed to post, there's still more to come from me and this blog. Much more--on a grander scale. I promise hope...

But until then, I just want to thank everyone out there who has read and supported this blog for the last four years, months, weeks, days, hours, or even if you've just tuned in four seconds ago.

Thank you.

Thank you for BELIEVING in Filipino food.

And stay tuned...