Three weeks from today, I’ll be hosting a super-fun party on my Facebook page with a bunch of great giveaways. With five days to go until the release of Remember the Lilies, I thought we’d have a little bit of fun. Each Thursday for the next three weeks, I’ll post a tidbit from life at Santo Tomas Internment Camp. At the end, I’ll ask a question. You may either answer the question here on my blog or over at my Facebook page. The following Wednesday, I’ll pick a winner from all the commenters to win a great prize! This week’s prize is a great package from Leelin Filipino Bakery.

I posted a few weeks ago about what the food situation was like at Santo Tomas. You can read the post here. The people were starving to death, surviving on about 700 calories a day. One of the favorite things to do in the camp during those horrible times was to talk about food. Not just talk about food, but obsess about it. Conversations centered around food. It was all the people could think about.

And they didn’t just think about it – they made up their own recipes. There was no way to cook the meals or to taste if they were any good, so they would list ingredients that would never go together. All in the pursuit to calm their rumbling stomachs. And they wrote down their recipes. Many women left the camp with new recipe books. If anything in the books was palatable, we don’t know.

What food would you most fantasize about if you were starving to death? If you could eat one dish, what would it be? And let’s have some fun. Post your recipe or a link to the recipe. Perhaps we can all come away with a few new dishes to try!

This is one of my family’s favorite Filipino dishes, Adobo.

3-4 pounds chicken legs/thighs (I’ve used boneless/skinless chicken breasts. They work, they’re just drier.)

1/2 cup Datu Puti or cane vinegar (DON”T use regular. You can find this at a better grocery store or an Asian grocer)

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 bay leaves

4 cloves garlic

Brown chicken, drain fat, and set aside. In a slow cooker, combine the Datu Puti, soy sauce, bay leaves, and garlic. Add chicken, stirring to coat. Cook on low heat for six hours. Serve over hot rice. It will fall off the bone and be absolutely delicious!

I can’t wait to read all of your yummy recipes!