mmm mmm good

So what do pork ribs, chicken, shrimp, scallops, beef, asparagas, carrots, rice noodles, carrots, celery and a score of other tasty treats all have in common? All were ingredients for the fine gourmet Filipino cuisine to which we were treated this weekend. How is it that a family can travel 5000 miles, spend the night in your home and end up being the hosts? Ambassadors of a culture who, as gwill has pointed out, are known globally for their hospitality par excelence.
You met this family in a post I did back in January. This weekend I got to see first hand why they are so well loved. We spent Sunday afternoon in tortuous anticipation caused by the aroma wafting from the kitchen. We spent Sunday evening sampling sundry items of culinary delight until we could hold no more. Conversation into the night. Monday morning filled with numerous stories like the one I shared with you in January. And a lunch that was on par with the dinner we were still recovering from. We have lumpia in our freezer to last quite some time. I have dined on leftover ribs and pancit twice since Monday.
But no matter how good the food, and how much you eat, stomachs will again be empty. Not so with hearts. Filled hearts stay filled. They spill out and get on those who have filled them and other people as well, but don't empty.
Yes, different cultures. Different languages. Different generations. But a kingdom in common.