Homicide and Halo-Halo (Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery #2)(76)
The past year and a half has been A LOT, so I especially need to shout out the group that helped me keep it together this whole debut journey: my beloved Berkletes. Thanks for providing a safe space to celebrate, commiserate, thirst, and more. Y’all are the best.
Another group that’s been there for me this past year is my awesome DnD group, Ye Olden Girls. Real life has gotten in the way and we can’t meet as regularly as we used to, but you all have brought so much fun and laughter into my life. Thanks so much for your love and support.
Slightly unorthodox, but since we’re talking about people who helped me keep it together in 2020 and beyond, I want to thank Alyssa Cole and Talia Hibbert (among many other BIPOC romance authors) for saving my mental health with your joyful portrayals of BIPOC romance. We don’t, like, know each other or anything, but your books helped me get through some tough times, and I can’t thank you both enough for that. Same for Sherry Thomas, whose Lady Sherlock series I reread over and over and over in the first few months of the pandemic, when I needed the comfort of familiarity as well as excellent storytelling. Books truly can save people.
To all the librarians who’ve been so supportive, thank you so much! Library work is tough, and I appreciate the wonderful things you all provide to the community. Same goes to all you booksellers out there who are kind enough to not only stock my book but also hand-sell it and include it in your employee picks. It’s never not thrilling to see my book out in the wild.
To my readers, thanks so much for your support! To the ones who take the time to message me or post on social media about how my book made them feel seen, you have no idea what that means to me. And to the ones who take the time to educate me when I mess up, thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me know so I could learn and do better. For investing your time and energy in me because you believed I could do better. I love you all.
And finally, to James and my family. I love how excited you all get for me over every little thing, and all the ways you try to support and be there for me. I couldn’t have done this without you all.
Love love!
Recipes
Tita Rosie’s Grilled Adobo Chicken Wings
Tita Rosie makes this fun summertime spin on chicken adobo for parties and picnics. These are the general proportions that you can scale up or down, depending on how many people you’re serving.
Ingredients (per pound of chicken):
1 pound of chicken wings and/or drumsticks per person 1 teaspoon baking powder
? teaspoon garlic powder ? teaspoon salt ? teaspoon black pepper
For the sauce (per pound of chicken):
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar (white cane vinegar or apple cider vinegar) 1 teaspoon brown sugar
1 to 2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 bay leaf
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Rinse chicken and pat dry. Mix the baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper, and coat the wings.
2. Lay the wings flat in baking trays or zippered plastic bags and store in the fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.
3. Prep your grill and cook the wings over indirect heat for 30 to 40 minutes until the skin is crisp, turning once or twice. You can also bake in a 400°F oven for 40 to 60 minutes, turning every 20 minutes to evenly crisp the skin.
4. While the chicken is cooking, add all the sauce ingredients to a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered until the liquid reduces to a thin glaze.
5. Toss the grilled chicken wings in the sauce until evenly coated and serve.
Lola Flor’s Turon
These sweet, crispy spring rolls are sooo addictive! The recipe below is for the traditional banana and jackfruit filling, but feel free to get creative by swapping in different ingredients, such as cheese (Filipinos love the combination of salty and sweet) or even chocolate.
YIELD: 12 TURON
Ingredients:
1 cup brown sugar
12 square lumpia or spring roll wrappers 6 saba bananas (sliced in half lengthwise) OR 4 large firm-ripe yellow bananas (cut in thirds) ? to ? cup sliced jackfruit (fresh or canned) Neutral oil for frying (canola, vegetable, etc.)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Place the brown sugar in a medium-wide bowl and fill a small bowl with warm water.
2. On a clean work surface (cutting board, large plate, etc.), position a lumpia wrapper so it looks like a diamond, with a point facing toward you.
3. Roll the sliced banana in the brown sugar and place horizontally in the middle of the wrapper. Add a strip or two of jackfruit next to the banana.
4. Take the wrapper point closest to you and fold it over the banana-and-jackfruit filling, then tuck the point tightly under the filling.
5. Fold the left point and then the right point over the filling (it’ll overlap slightly and look somewhat like an envelope), then use both hands to roll the wrapper tightly away from you until only a 2-inch point at the top is exposed. Dip your finger in the warm water, spread it on the exposed point, then continue rolling until the wrapper’s fully sealed. Set the wrapper aside and continue doing this until all the wrappers are filled. Reserve the remaining brown sugar in the bowl.
6. Add ? to 1 inch of oil to a heavy-bottomed pan (such as cast iron or a Dutch oven) and heat to medium high. You can also use a thermometer for more even cooking, in which case, you want it heated to about 350°F.