Burnt Lumpia: Filipino Food | Filipino Recipes | Culinary Hijinks

If Elvis Were Filipino...

Everything I know about Elvis Presley, I learned from The Honky Tonk Man. Which is to say, I don't really know anything about Elvis Presley. Spending many of my formative years watching professional wrestling has somewhat skewed my world view. It turns out that Elvis didn't really like smashing his guitar over people's heads. Who knew?

Anyways, what I do know about Elvis is that the guy had a serious addiction to peanut butter and banana sandwiches (among other things). Elvis loved PB&Bs so much that the sandwich has become something of a cult dish over the years.

Although spreading peanut butter and mashed bananas on white bread, and then frying the whole mess--grilled cheese-style--in butter sounds incredibly satisfying to me, I've never actually had a peanut butter and banana sandwich. But I've concocted something that may be just as good, if not better, than a PB&B:

An Ube and Saba Banana Sandwich!

Picnic for the Planet & Some Fried Chicken

This Friday April 22 is Earth Day. And to celebrate, The Nature Conservancy is encouraging people all around the world to step outside and head to their favorite outdoor spot to enjoy good food in the company of great people.

Picnic for the Planet is a celebration of the planet we live on, the food it provides and the people we share it with--after all, there's more to Earth Day than just recycling; our food choices can have huge impacts on our environment as well. According to The Nature Conservancy, you can take the following actions to make better food choices for the planet:

1. Eat Smart: Learn what's in your food, where it came from, and who it impacts.
2. Eat Local: Where possible, buy food that is in season from local food producers.
3. Eat Sustainably: Eat sustainable seafood — one of the only things that we eat that we still get from the wild.
4. Eat Green: Eat more fruits and vegetables — it's good for your health and the planet's.
5. Eat Out: Join us in the Picnic for the Planet!

To participate in Picnic for the Planet, people can choose a location and plot a picnic here: meetup.com/natureconservancy to help spread the word.

Heck, at the very least just head outside on your own and have a private picnic with some good eats.

What's that you say? What should you throw in your picnic basket? Well, chefs around the country (like Mario Batali, Alice Waters, and Eric Ripert) have all offered up their favorite picnic recipes to provide some outdoor eating inspiration.

And if those recipes aren't enough, how about some Filipino Fried Chicken from yours truly?

Homemade Ube Pop Tarts

My childhood was not without its fair share of processed convenience foods. Seeing as both my parents worked, and worked often, the refrigerator and cupboards at our house were usually stocked with enough TV dinners, frozen pizza, frozen waffles, boxed macaroni, Instant Ramen, and the like, to last an ice age or two, or to at least feed three undersupervised boys for a few days.

Luckily, the high dosages of yellow number 5, high-fructose corn syrup, trans fats, and nitrates had no long-term ill-effects on my brothers and me. Wait, scratch that. Both my brothers (ages 35 and 28) now have gout (seriously). Though somehow I managed to escape that fate. Good times.

Anyways, my favorite junk/survival food from back in the day had to be pop tarts--the toaster pastries that I believe were meant for breakfast, but I took to eating the tasty pastries any time of day. I was especially addicted to the strawberry pop tarts with the white frosting and sprinkles.

Although I've long since shaken my addiction to the sugary toaster shingles, I still sometimes get the urge to buy a box of pop tarts whenever I pass them in the grocery store--for just a taste of nostalgia. But then I take a look at my own young son sitting in my grocery cart and realize that if any of that processed pop tart-y goodness got into his system, he would surely run through the walls at home.

But a few weeks ago, I came across this great article in the LA Times about homemade pop tarts. After reading the article, I immediately thought, "Wait a second. I could make my own pop tarts? And I could put whatever I want in them?"

Of course I had to try the recipe out, and of course, I had to put my own pinoy-twist to it as well. The outcome? Homemade Pop Tarts filled with Halayang Ube (purple yam jam) and glazed with ube frosting.