THE SUN hasn’t risen yet but Deive already started chopping woods at the back of the house. Mang Lito and Aling Poling arrived with fresh fruits and vegetables from the farms of the Lopezes. “Wow! Señorito, you are an early bird. But why are you chopping wood? Let my husband do that instead,” said Aling Poling.
“No need. I want to do this. I heard Callea likes bulalo (beef bone stew). I want to cook for her,” he said then brought down the ax to the huge block of wood. He scratched his head when it only dented the wood instead of splitting it in two.
Mang Lito laughed. “Señorito, let me do that for you. You don’t know how to chop wood.”
“This is my first time. Callea told me that you used an earthen stove to cook bulalo and it is cooked with wood.”
“Do you know how to cook bulalo, S
