"It is a wise father that knows his own child." - William Shakespeare
In my family, we take great pleasure in preparing home-cooked meals for each other during most celebratory occasions. Sure, it's wonderful to treat the celebrant(s) to a fine restaurant meal, but it's just as nice (if not more thoughtful) to take the time to cook a nice meal for someone. On Father's Day, I served Shrimp Pad Thai, Stir-fried Baby Bok Choy with Oyster Sauce & Garlic, Steamed White Rice, Sago Coconut Pudding with Diced Mangoes, and Passion Fruit Sherbet. Verdict? Splendiferous and oh yum-mo! Mmm...
Pictured above is a plate of Pad Thai, stir-fried bok choy, and rice. Tasty. A national dish in Thailand, Pad Thai is a dish of rice noodles, eggs, garlic, Tamarind juice, chiles, and any combo of shrimp, chicken or tofu. Stir-fry, heap onto a plate, garnish with chopped peanuts and cilantro (coriander), and serve with a wedge of lime. Omit the chicken and you've got yourself a vegetarian meal! The dish is versatile and recipes vary. One time, I ate a very satisfying curried beef version at a Chinese-Indian Hakka restaurant.
Well, I didn't make a "100% authentic" version for these reasons: my sis wouldn't allow me to put in cilantro (sis and Dad aren't fond of the taste) and bean sprouts. Ever since my sister donated one kidney to my Dad last year, she avoids exposing her remaining kidney to potential health hazards. Ehrr, she kept citing the Salmonella sprout outbreak of 2005 that sickened 650 Ontarians and other recent occurrences. Yeah, so I substituted stuff...
I learned a few things from my father and one of them is... improvisation. I subbed Italian flat-leaf parsley for cilantro and slivered sugar snap peas for bean sprouts. Perhaps not as good as my sister's... but delicious, too!
Oh, for dessert, a serving of warm baked Sago Coconut Pudding with ripe mangoes. I modified my sis' recipe (sago pearls, cornstarch, milk, coconut milk, butter, white & brown sugar, custard powder and eggs). Beneath the caramelized surface is a thick but creamy custard with hints of coconut and packed with sago pearls. You can sub tapioca pearls (similar to sago) for the sago pearls. Warm, comforting and sweet, just like... my Dad. 
Dessert was followed by... more dessert! Scoops of Passion Fruit Sherbet garnished with sprigs of fresh mint from our garden - a cool, lively, fresh fruity taste. A perfect end to the meal. My Dad said it was all really good.
"Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping... waiting... and though unwanted... unbidden... it will stir... open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us... guides us... passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love... the clarity of hatred... and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace... but we would be hollow... Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we'd be truly dead."
- Angel in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Yeah, so I've been looping Buffy episodes again. OK, I need an intervention.
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Massa P aka "fruity"
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Oh My God, as soon as I look at the picture my mouth watered. I hope that tasted as good as it looked.
Those dishes look so amazing… particularly the Pad Thai. I'm so hungry now… thanks a lot.
I just ate lunch and that dinner still made me hungry. I want dessert.
That looks delicious.
Wow, that first dish looks awesome!!
I gotta tell you, that not only sounds delicious but the presentation is a 10 out of 10. Very nice!
Funny, I just ate the same thing as the first picture two days ago! Yum!
I'm so full with your delicious blog posts.
Sarap naman nakakabusog.
^_^
Oh my lowrd. All that yummy food. Now I can't concentrate.
Even if I wanted to, I would not cook for the special people in my life — gosh! I must be a failure in this regard. I would rather we dined out.
The Thai food makes me miss my trips (taking early retirement last October). I used to be in Bangkok for transit almost like every other month.
That looks so good. I haven't had lunch yet and that's looking even better every second.
Food.
Sherbet.
Waaaah, I am dying just by looking at those foods. Hmp… I think we also have a mint in our "garden".
Interesting and yummy!
Wow. Good that you know how to cook and improvise. Though I know how to cook Filipino foods, I have no idea about substitutes.
GEEZ. I'm missing Buffy the Vampire Slayer!
What a great way to celebrate Father's Day, indeed. A home-cooked meal that looks as yummy as yours would be a delight to see on my table. You do wonders in the kitchen, I'm sure. For hire ka ba?
Hey, would u like a link exchange?
Do you have any idea how good those look to someone (i.e. me) who's stuck in her dorm room having a can of soup and milk chocolate for dinner?
Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum yum! Delicioso!
ZOMG Buffy reference! Joss Whedon is a mofo genius. Nuff said.
Hi! Thanks for the comment! Are you from Toronto?
Oh my gosh! Why have I not seen your site before? Look at all that food!!! Sweet celebration of Father's Day and I love how you presented the meal. Busog na ang tyan, busog pa ang mata!
Pad Thai! Man I can go for that now. That looks sooo good to eat right now.
Are you for sale? CAN I KEEP YOU? HUH?
Follow the trail of Tim Tam crumbs to my house, MUHAHA.
Ah, you were right. You did have one hell of a Buffy quote in your entry too!
It's a good one though!
*sigh* Do you want to come and live with me? I'll let you have free room and board if you promise to cook such delicious looking dishes for me! It all looks so very yummy, especially the sherbet.
That has made me seriously hungry and still 3 hours until dinner, grrrr!
Yum, that looks perfect! I could never prepare something similar. I could only order it, lol.
The shrimp sure looks delicious. Would you be so kind and share your recipe for the Pad Thai and stir-fried bok choy? Please?
Thanks!
Aw. Everything kinda made me hungry. And I also love that, you know, the thought that you would cook for somebody special on a special occasion. I just hate it that I do not have any prowess in cooking.
Looking at these pictures and reading about the dishes is making me very very hungry.
It looks so good. I agree with you about it being more thoughtful to actually make the meal instead of going out to some place. It looks like you put a lot of thought into this, too. 
Um, this blog entry makes me hungryyy! Especially for the dessert. Looks like you guys are pretty good in the kitchen. My mom is an awesome cook, but I can't cook to save my life. I sort of have to learn though, or I'll never survive on my own!
We always take one another out for dinner for things like that… Haha… But, it looks like you had an incredible dinner! It looks so good!
Oh my, that looks absolutely delicious! And… I love shrimps! Shrimps have to be my favorite! That desert looks very tasty. Geezes, I'm hungry now!
Sa tuwing bumibisita ako sa blog mo nagugutom ako. Hehe.
They look sooo awesome dear. I would certainly try making Pad Thai. I'll ask my Thai friend who has this Thai resto for the recipe. I love Pad Thai since that's what I usually order when I am in her resto.
OMG. I'm drooling now… I just ate but I'm all hungry again.
I agree with you — cooking for someone on a special day is so much better than just taking them to the nearest restaurant! Especially if the meal looks that delicious and there are TWO desserts!
Lol, Buffy is repeated here, too, very late at night, though. I watch it when I can't sleep. It's really funny (and also a bit nostalgic) because I used to watch it when it came out here in Germany, although I missed everything except the last episodes of Season 7 (I believe).
Aw man I am drooling just looking at those pics! It looks so good and amazing presentation as well!
I miss Pad Thai much. I love Thai noodlles and can't remember what are those noodles from the street of Bkk… But I found them here in Sweden because there are many Thai here… so I can grab them from the Thai shops.
Got better option somewhere else. 
I WANT you to cook for me fruity… pluzz.
Kiss
Fendi
*drools* I can't take my eyes off at the first dish.
I can be your daddy anytime! Haha! The shrimp looks heavenly! My gaaaaad. I'm hungry!
Are you for sale???
Anything with chiles is an instant win for me!
That's brilliant that your dad loved it. But with such wonderful culinary skills, how couldn't he?!
I'm back! I'm back! Salamat sa walang sawang pagdalaw… Sarap kumain!
Wow. I THOUGHT it was from a restaurant. The presentation's good. I'm sure my mom would love the passion fruit sherbet. They all look yummm!!!
You don't need an intervention. Buffy is a totally healthy addiction. I need an intervention. I need to stay away from these pictures as much as possible. Especially the first dish. I'm a shrimp person and a rice person. *mouth waters*
It's always good to cook for someone during a special day. There's more thought in there.
Hmmmm, yummy… I love shrimp a lot. In fact, I just had them this pm for lunch, lol.
Wow! That food looks really delicious! Especially the shrimp. I hope you enjoyed the food!
Looks good. Shrimp is one of my things in the whole world. Yummy.
Salamat pala sa pag dalaw mo sa site ko.
Masarap ang feeling dito daming pag kain pero nakaka gutom lang talaga. Ikaw ba ba luto nyan lahat?
Ang mag babalut
All that food made me hungry.
But other than that, it's nice to have home-cooked food - adds more taste and feeling to it. My mum loves to cook and I love her food - just makes it all better knowing your family made it instead of just eating out.
Oh MY! I'm drooling here. It sure is authentic… 100% fruity oaty authentic!
Can we celebrate "Happy Ex-workers from Mordor, We Survived" day at your place?
Faddah Paddah Pad Thai, that's a lame title that only you could concoct.
Just kidddddddddding! Love, love, love the photos!
Ho-ho-hodges
I've always wanted to try more Asian dishes. If you'll be so kind enough to share the recipes? Hehe! OMG, drools on your Passion Fruit Sherbet. Passion Fruit has always been on of my favorite fruit flavors.
I can totally relate with the quotation in the last part. I've been dealing with passion and desire issues!
P.S. I just saw an episode of No Reservations. There was this secret group of people who are into "gastronomical adventures". It is called The Gypsy. I would love to be part of that! Hahaha! Just wanted to share!
That comment in no way indicates cannibalism… just that Mari can't speak English anymore. XDDD
This post is making Mari hungry…*drool*
You'd never think about substituting sugar snap peas for bean sprouts…neat idea!
Mari's Dad got socks and home-cooked hamburgers for Father's Day. Kinda skimpy, but we made it up to him by dragging him to barbeques all week and then barbequeing our own ribs. Needless to say he's still stuffed.
Never mind the substitute ingredients. From the pictures alone it's already mouth-watering! I just ate, but this makes me hungry again…
Pad Thai… yyyyuuurrrggghhh… *drools*
I hate you. I'm on diet eh, lol.
People in my family tend to forget about special occasions and then give you the, "Shit, was that today!?" look of panic.
Yum! Haha, good thing it's almost lunch here. Your entry made me hungry.
This is one delicious, mouth-watering entry… Now I'm hungry.
You sure do have passion for food.
fruityoaty and (her) food porn ROCK!!!
Oooh… OOOOHH!!! Oh, hungry! (No, I'm not affiliated with that candy bar company.)
Not 100% authentic… but as long as it was made with "love" as one of the ingredients — it's always great!