Hot Pandesal with Reno Liver Spread & Dari Creme

I love Hot Pandesal.

When I was a kid, Hot Pandesal was always paired with Reno Liver Spread or Dari Creme. For the 30-somethings and up, this statement brings back a lot of memories.

I remember waking up at 5 in the morning to jog with my parents along Reposo Street from our small apartment in Taguig Street in Santiago Village, Makati City. My main motivation was not the exercise. It was going to the bakery along Reposo Street and buy Hot Pandesal.

My mom always joked that I'd fill my little hands with all the pandesal I could get hold of. During those times, palaman was a luxury. So if there was Reno, that was heaven. Ah, there will be no other liver spread for me other than Reno! As for the butter or margarine, Dari Creme was considered bootleg. My dad worked for San Miguel Corporation so all products at home had to be. Anchor Butter or Magnolia Butter was our staple. We'd have Dari Creme or Queensland butter once in awhile. :)

Reno and Dari Creme are part of Generation X...the so-called Martial Law babies.

As everyone in my generation would say, life was so simple then. Not much complications. Staying home was boring. Playing out in the streets till the Meralco lamps lit at 6 in the evening was the in-thing. No Internet or cellphones. We'd go to the libraries and study. I'd borrow Hardy Boys books and be part of the detective squad. In school, I'd be playing tex or cops and robbers.

Game-and-Watch or Atari were luxuries for the well-off kids. I'd be out in the basketball courts or in street courts challenging for limahan and win a Litro of Coke. We'd bike all-day or play tumbang-preso, pepsi-seven-up, piko, siyato, or patintero. For me, those days were blissful.

So there. On this lazy Sunday morning, as I have my breakfast with bread spread with Reno, and the other with Dari Creme (now, in Lite), I get happy flashbacks of my childhood. I feel so blessed that I've seen happier days. I may have more money in my pockets today, but I had less worries then. I come to realize that especially today, peace and happiness are priceless.

Thank you, Reno and Dari Creme -- you made my day! :)


(homer nievera)