Mia P. Manansala > Quotes

“In typical Filipino fashion, my aunt expressed her love not through words of encouragement or affectionate embraces, but through food. Food was how she communicated. Food was how she found her place in the world.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Even someone like me felt utang na loob, that impossible to quantify sense of indebtedness and gratitude, to the people who’d raised me. But where was that magical line between selfishness and independence? Between my family and myself?”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“I made it to Adeena’s fifteen minutes late, which in Brown People Time (BPT) meant I was actually a little early.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Her greatest nightmare was holding a party and not having enough food for everyone.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“So even though I was an only child, I had enough godmothers, cousins, aunties, and uncles to populate a small village. Or at least a relatively small town that began to feel smaller and more suffocating the older I got.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“All that time and money for your fancy education, you’d think your vocabulary would’ve improved by now. English isn’t even my first language and I’m practically Shakespeare compared to you.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“I’ve never met people so enthusiastic about their food before.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Romeo and Juliet are not relationship goals.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Too much of a good thing is still a good thing.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Was it so wrong to want to make my own choices, even if they were the wrong ones? I already had Lola Flor and the rest of my family telling me what to do, I didn’t need my romantic partner doing the same.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Homicide and Halo-Halo

“the group of fiftysomething-year-old women I privately referred to as “the Calendar Crew.” Their names were April, Mae, and June”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“To my family, who’ve always encouraged me to go after my not-Asian-approved career choice of writing. Especially you, Mommy—you introduced me to the world of mysteries and shared your love of culinary cozies with me. This whole series is for you. Daddy, I will never bring the care and attention to cooking that you always did, but I hope you tasted the love all the same. I miss you so much, but I hope I did you proud.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“FOOD

Adobo (uh-doh-boh)---Considered the Philippines's national dish, it's any food cooked with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and black peppercorns (though there are many regional and personal variations)
Almondigas (ahl-mohn-dee-gahs)---Filipino soup with meatballs and thin rice noodles
Baon (bah-ohn)---Food, snacks and other provisions brought on to work, school, or on a trip; food brought from home; money or allowance brought to school or work; lunch money (definition from Tagalog.com)
Embutido (ehm-puh-tee-doh)---Filipino meatloaf
Ginataang (gih-nih-tahng)---Any dish cooked with coconut milk, sweet or savory
Kakanin (kah-kah-nin)---Sweet sticky cakes made from glutinous rice or root crops like cassava (There's a huge variety, many of them regional)
Kesong puti (keh-sohng poo-tih)---A kind of salty cheese
Lengua de gato (lehng-gwah deh gah-toh)---Filipino butter cookies
Lumpia (loom-pyah)---Filipino spring rolls (many variations)
Lumpiang sariwa (loom-pyahng sah-ree-wah)---Fresh Filipino spring rolls (not fried)
Mamón (mah-MOHN)---Filipino sponge/chiffon cake
Matamis na bao (mah-tah-mees nah bah-oh)---Coconut jam
Meryenda (mehr-yehn-dah)---Snack/snack time
Pandesal (pahn deh sahl)---Lightly sweetened Filipino rolls topped with breadcrumbs (also written pan de sal)
Patis (pah-tees)---Fish sauce
Salabat (sah-lah-baht)---Filipino ginger tea
Suman (soo-mahn)---Glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk, wrapped in banana leaves, and steamed (though there are regional variations)
Ube (oo-beh)---Purple yam”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“I could ignore my godmothers’ first two comments—while being told you looked like a witch would bother most people, I considered it a compliment. I loved natural remedies, dark color palettes, and made bewitchingly delicious baked goods, so I’d learned to lean into the bruha image.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“There truly was a separate stomach for sweets.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Blackmail and Bibingka

“almost said “just friends,” as if romantic partnership was superior to platonic friendship, but stopped myself. Adeena hated that term and idea. And I’d learned, time and again, she was right. There was no hierarchy to love.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“You're more than your work... More than whatever contributions you think you're supposed to be making. More than whoever people think you're supposed to be.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Homicide and Halo-Halo

“FOOD

Adobo (uh-doh-boh)--- Considered the Philippines' national dish, it's any food cooked with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and black peppercorns (though there are many regional and personal variations)
Bibingka (bih-bing-kah)--- Lightly sweetened rice cake, commonly consumed around Christmas. There are many varieties, but the most common is baked or grilled in a banana leaf-lined mold and topped with sliced duck eggs, butter, sugar, and/or coconut.
Buko (boo-koh)--- Young coconut
Champorado (chahm-puh-rah-doh)--- Sweet chocolate rice porridge
Lambanog (lahm-bah-nohg)--- Filipino coconut liquor
Lumpia (loom-pyah)--- Filipino spring rolls (many variations)
Matamis na bao (mah-tah-mees nah bah-oh)--- Coconut jam (also known as minatamis na bao)
Pandan (pahn-dahn)--- Tropical plant whose fragrant leaves are commonly used as a flavoring in Southeast Asia. Often described as a grassy vanilla flavor with a hint of coconut.
Pandesal (pahn deh sahl)--- Lightly sweetened Filipino rolls topped with breadcrumbs (also written pan de sal)
Patis (pah-tees)--- Fish sauce
Pinipig (pih-nee-pig)--- Young glutinous rice that's been pounded flat, then toasted. Looks similar to Rice Krispies.
Salabat (sah-lah-baht)--- Filipino ginger tea
Tuyo (too-yoh)--- Dried, salted fish (usually herring)
Ube (oo-beh)--- Purple yam”
― Mia P. Manansala, Blackmail and Bibingka

“Make sure you fix things when you can. Sometimes you don’t get another chance.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Filipinos were all about family. My whole life I’d had the concept of “family first” drilled into my head, and it’s how I’d lived until I went away to college. It’s not that I disagreed with it, exactly. Even someone like me felt utang na loob, that impossible to quantify sense of indebtedness and gratitude, to the people who’d raised me. But where was that magical line between selfishness and independence? Between my family and myself?”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“A pound of butter and Lord knows how much sugar later, my head was clear, my spirit was calm, and I had a delicious calamansi-ginger pie cooling on the counter. I twisted shut the lid of the jar I'd filled with the excess calamansi-ginger curd and sighed in satisfaction. Now this was bliss.
The sweetness of the coconut shortbread crust scented the air, interspersed with the zest of citrus and zing of ginger. If I could bottle this scent, I'd wear it forever.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“He wanted to ruin you,” she said. “That’s how I knew he wasn’t over you. And why I thought you were the one that killed him.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Bibingka had a soft and spongy texture, like a chiffon cake, but with a flavor all its own. Modern bibingka was simply baked in an oven, but it's traditionally grilled using charcoal. Lola Flor had a grill behind the restaurant that she used for occasions like this, and her bibingka was miles ahead of any other version I'd tried. My sweet tooth preferred the simplicity of the sugar-topped ones, but the complexity of the salted duck eggs against the other ingredients made me keep reaching for another piece.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Blackmail and Bibingka

“And that... that just broke me. Because while I didn't agree with her idea of what a mother's love was, I couldn't deny that for both her and my mom, that was absolutely how they showed their love. That's what their love amounted to. My mother had loved in the way that she knew how. It had never felt like enough. But maybe I needed to either let people love me in the limited way they could or learn to ask for what I needed out of a relationship. And if they couldn't provide it... maybe I needed to learn to move on.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Homicide and Halo-Halo

“Civil engineers go where their work is needed. Chicago is my goal because it's the biggest challenge, and could really use this kind of change. But Shady Palms isn't perfect. I mean, it was here that I noticed which areas get the benefits of the town's services. Working in Chicago is my dream, but Shady Palms is my home. I want to make Shady Palms the safest and most equal place possible."
"By overseeing construction projects?" Beth didn't bother to keep the mocking tone out of her voice, which made the other girls in the group snicker, but it didn't seem to affect Joy.
Her earnestness shone through as she said, "You work for the Thompsons and are a member of their family. You know that construction projects are political---both in who gets them and which areas benefit from them.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Homicide and Halo-Halo

“Don’t get it twisted. You’re still pretentious and full of yourself. But you’re not like, a bad person or anything. And you are not the reason Janet’s in a hospital bed. So stop pitying yourself and figure out who put her there.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Besides, I hate seeing someone unsatisfied with their food. It means they’re going unnurtured. Unfed.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo

“Adeena Awan, my best friend and business partner, stared down at the pistachio rose white chocolate bar she'd just bitten into. The creamy white chocolate was studded with whole pistachios, dried rose petals, and flecks of cardamom, creating a feast for the eyes as well as the tongue. She glanced at Elena Torres, her girlfriend and my other partner at the Brew-ha Cafe, who was sampling the Mexican hot chocolate bar. The bittersweet chocolate was flavored with cinnamon and chiles plus cacao nibs for texture and vanilla bean for richness.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Death and Dinuguan

“Adobo (uh-doh-boh)---Considered the Philippines's national dish, it's any food cooked with soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, and black peppercorns (though there are many regional and personal variations)
Arroz caldo (ah-rohz cahl-doh)---A savory rice porridge made with chicken, ginger, and other aromatics
Champorado (chahm-puh-rah-doh)---Sweet chocolate rice porridge
Lumpia (loom-pyah)---Filipino spring rolls (many variations)
Malunggay (mah-loong-gahy)---An edible plant, also known as moringa, with many health benefits
Mamon (mah-mohn)---A Filipino chiffon cake, made in individual molds as opposed to a large, shared cake
Matamis na bao (mah-tah-mee nah bah-oh)---Coconut jam (also known as minatamis na bao)
Pandan (pahn-dahn)---Tropical plant whose fragrant leaves are commonly used as a flavoring in Southeast Asia. Often described as a grassy vanilla flavor with a hint of coconut.
Patis (pah-tees)---Fish sauce
Salabat (sah-lah-baht)---Filipino ginger tea
Ube (oo-beh)--- Purple yam”
― Mia P. Manansala, Murder and Mamon

“I almost said “just friends,” as if romantic partnership was superior to platonic friendship, but stopped myself. Adeena hated that term and idea. And I’d learned, time and again, she was right. There was no hierarchy to love.”
― Mia P. Manansala, Arsenic and Adobo