About Me

Hi. My name is Pinky. I was born and raised in the Philippines but migrated to the U.S. with my parents when I was still a teenager and have been living in California ever since. I’ve been married for over 30 years to a sweet, loving, hardworking guy who also happens to have a quick temper. He hates chismis (gossip), reckless drivers, and telemarketers. But he’s crazy about his family so I guess it all evens out. He can get quite grumpy at times. So much so that I’ve often jokingly told him he’s like an ornery old goat. But he’s my Old Goat and I love him to pieces. I think life would be pretty dull around here without him.

“Here” refers to Casa Catastrophe, the big, messy house we live in with our 5 kids and a goofy dog named Max. Yup, my Old Goat and I have 5 kids — a son I refer to as “Number 1” and four daughters, “Yissi”, “Tissi”, “Bashful” and “Spunky.” (Listed down like that, they kinda sound like the seven dwarves.) They’re all good kids who are either working, going to school, or both. They make life really busy, noisy, and chaotic, but fun and fulfilling at the same time.

My friends and family have been urging me for years to start a food blog but I wasn’t sure I wanted to undertake such a daunting project. I worried about the time it would take. I have enough to do raising five kids and trying to keep Casa Catastrophe clean. I didn’t know if I could find the time to devote to maintaining a blog. I’m a reluctant housekeeper and would rather bake a cake than do the laundry, but the laundry still needs to get done. Besides, I’m not a writer, I’m not a professional chef, I never went to culinary school, I don’t know the first thing about taking photos, and I’m not even all that computer savvy. I’m just a home cook who loves puttering around my kitchen putting meals together to feed my often hungry family.

Still, I needed a way to document and archive my recipes. I wanted a way for my children to be able to look back when I’m gone and remember some of the comfort foods from their childhood. I wanted to give them a means to relive some of the happy moments spent around our kitchen table, cooking, eating, talking, arguing, laughing, and sharing the love their Dad and I tried to make sure they knew was always unconditionally theirs. And so this blog was born.

My dishes are a blend of American, Filipino and Spanish cooking with some other cultures thrown in just to confuse you. Most of my recipes are pretty easy while others can be a bit more complicated; some are from scratch and some are not; some are healthy and others, unapologetically, not so much. I am not above using instant or frozen ingredients when time constraints dictate that I must. I’m an admitted cookbook junkie and enjoy nothing more than poring over cookbooks and food magazines looking for new recipes to try. I love going to the grocery and to farmers markets shopping for ingredients I can use for future meals, and am happiest when I see my family gathered around the dining table relishing a meal I put together. So join me as I document the dishes I whip up with ingredients from my pantry. I think we’ll have a blast. Besides, it sure beats the heck out of doing the laundry!

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