12 o'clock blessing

IELTS result

2007-05-18T12:41:00.000+08:00

i got a good grade from IELTS.

a band of 8 out of 9.

good enough for having english as a second language.

wish granted: rain on summertime

2007-03-19T13:43:00.000+08:00

last sunday morning, i missed the rain. somebody must've been listening from upstairs. a few minutes after, rain fell...on summertime!

a sweet blessing

2007-02-27T12:17:00.000+08:00

a friend of my hunny came in from bicol. his brother arrived from denmark. we were given a chocolate directly from denmark...and not from the duty free here in manila.

ash wednesday

2007-02-22T13:34:00.000+08:00

yesterday is ash wednesday. we heard mass at the lobby of my hunny's building together. imposition of ash is made after the mass.

this is one of the rare times that me and my hunny would meet on a lunch time during office hours.

definitely summer!

2007-02-19T13:09:00.000+08:00

as i was walking my way to office, gust of hot wind is blowing against my face.

i guess summer is here. good thing i wore only a shirt to office.

weather is too hot. get ready for the summer heat!!!

nice calamari

2007-02-16T11:58:00.000+08:00

last night we had a nice calamari.

dish is fast. but it may be quicker if you disregard your cleanliness etiquette!

this will be posted on 'minced me'.

valentine treat

2007-02-15T11:59:00.000+08:00

after getting a valentine blessing from church, we went straight home as this is the worst time to go out on a date as the restaurants are jam packed.

upon reaching home, my brother-in-law asked us to dine at a nearby KFC.

we had a bucket of chicken, mac salad, mashed potatoes and rootbeer.

near KFC is a dimsum stall selling dimsum and mami noodles. they have an ongoing promo of a buy 1 take 1 mami. we got a wanton noodle and had it together with KFC.

valentines!

2007-02-14T12:22:00.000+08:00

it's valentines and surprised my hunny when she woke up.

i gave her a kenny g cd and a big chocolate with it.

she's very surprised!

i love my hunny.

minced me

2007-02-12T13:07:00.000+08:00

this is my new blog which focuses mainly on food i encounter each day. go there and spy on what i indulge in. :)

happy new year!

2007-01-22T13:33:00.000+08:00

it's been a long time since i last posted a blog. i'll try to update them again and thanks for waiting.

we were at san luis last weekend for a birthday party of my nephew. we had pasta, sinigang and goat stew.

the goat stew was good. i think i ate the eye of the goat in one bite.

kare-kare magic

2006-11-07T12:01:00.000+08:00

kare kare is a native delicacy favorite to all pinoys. it is a mix of tender beef, boiled vegetables, creamy peanut sauce and good servings of bagoong.

they usually use peanut butter as the base for the peanut sauce. but we found a better alternative and cheaper too.

the different stuff added that made this mix different is the coconut cream and the cheap toasted garlic peanuts found locally in a grocery store.

kare-kare sauce

2 packs instant kare-kare sauce in powder from
1 pack instant powdered coconut cream
8 small packs garlic peanuts, chopped coarsely
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion
beef broth
boiled beef cubes till totally tender

dissolve the kare-kare sauce according to package instructions. dissolve the coconut cream with half the liquid required from the package instructions.

saute the garlic till brown. add the chopped onions till soft. add the chopped peanuts and brown the nuts a bit or until the roastiness flavor is sensed.

add the kare-kare mix and coconut cream mix. stir quickly to prevent from sticking. if sauce becomes very thick, add beef broth to reach a manageably thick sauce.

add the beef cubes. simmer for 15 minutes. add patis or salt just to tickle the taste of the sauce.

sauce should be a bit bland as the bagoong will adjust the saltiness when served.

coco crab concoction

2006-10-26T12:26:00.000+08:00

we went to my cuzz one of the weekends and they gave us 1 big crab. it was only yesterday that we had the chance to cook the crab. crab was already boiled and we just need to add magic to it.

coco crab concoction

1 large boiled crab. quartered cleanly.
1 medium stalk leeks, chopped
2 stems celery, chopped. leaves removed
1 powdered pack of coconut cream
3 tablespoons fresh ginger, chopped
2 tablesppons fresh garlic, chopped
1 small chilli pepper, chopped (add more for a fiery hot dish!)
1 tablespoon good bagoong (native salted shrimp fry)
oil

to prepare the coconut cream, mix the powdered coconut with just 3/4 cups of water. add more water if you want a thinner consistency.

in a pan, add a generous portion of oil. add chopped ginger. stir until you can smell the aroma of the ginger. add the small chilli pepper. add the garlic and saute for about 1 minute. with the garlic still a bit yellow, add the celery, leeks and the bagoong. saute for about 2 minutes.

add the prepared coconut cream and the quartered crabs. simmer for about 2 minutes.

from time to time, mix the concoction to prevent from sticking. serve with tons of piping hot rice!

fish stock

2006-10-25T12:04:00.000+08:00

we went to market yesterday and got good fish. we found nice mahi-mahi and had it filleted.

seeing the scraps, we requested for them to be included with the fish. the butcher agreed.

we also boiled shrimps and kept the stock i used this instead of plain water.

I made a good stock with it but still don't know what to do with it.

basic fish stock

fresh fish bones
salt
celery stalk, chopped
sibot (chinese soup pack with mixed wood, herb and spices)
shrimp stock (or just plain water)
salt and pepper

boil the shrimp stock. water is ok if no stocks are ready. add all the cleaned fresh fish bones. add the chopped celery stalks. add the sibot. simmer covered for 15 minutes.

u can use the stock on any dish requiring liquids. use it instead of water. but be careful of the 'sibot'. it has a strong chinese herb flavor which might affect the flavor of the dish.

pansit salmon

2006-10-23T12:10:00.000+08:00

as our ref is again thinning, we searched around the kitchen and checked what's available.

we went also to quiapo to look for native veggies and had concocted a meal which my mom taught me. this is the first time my hunny tried preparing the dish.

this dish is also easy to make and very fast. good for an instant welcome merienda for a group of 10!

pansit salmon
1 big can of salmon (may use mackerel as an alternate)
2 stalks leeks, chopped
2 tablespoons choppped garlic
1/2 kilo dried pansit sotanghon
1 small carrot, chopped
1/4 kilo green beans (baguio beans), sliced in 1/4 inch cuts.
1/4 kilo cabbage, sliced in 1/4 inch cuts.

rinse the dried pansit in running water and soak them for about 15 minutes to soften.
in a hot pan with oil, saute the garlic till brown. add the leeks till soft. add the carrots.
add the salmon together with the liquid.

add the pansit to soften. add water from time to time to prevent from drying.

water may be adjusted as you prefer. more water may be added to have a dish with little broth. water may also be lessened enough for the pansit to cook but still soft to the bite.

when noodles are about to cook, add the cabbage and the green beans.

serve hot with bread. this dish may be informally be partnered with rice too.

surviving on food from nowhere:creamy tuna mushroom zing

2006-10-19T16:49:00.000+08:00

we had a good dinner last night. my hunny prepared something out of anything found in the cupboard. we found canned tuna, canned corn and canned straw mushrooms.

the creaminess just comes naturally. no milk or dairy was added but the flavor amazingly develops beautifully.

creamy tuna mushroom zing

2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion
1 medium can tuna chunks
1 medium can whole corn kernels
1 large can whole straw mushrooms
1 small carrot, chopped.

drain the mushrooms. drain the corn. add garlic to hot pan with little oil till golden. add onions and mix till soft. add the carrots. add the tuna. gently mix without breaking the tuna apart.

add the mushrooms and corn. add half the liquid from the corn kernel.

adjust salt and pepper to taste.

patola magic

2006-10-18T11:58:00.000+08:00

patola is a native vegetable with tough skin which may cut pristine skin.

peeling it is a bit tricky as you have to slice off the tough ribs from the fruit. but once removed, it reveals a soft light green fresh with soft seeds inside.

patola magic

2 medium patolas, skinned ans sliced in 1/2 inch rings
2 tablespoons garlic
1 medium onion
misua (ultra thin dried flour noodles)
soup stock
salt and pepper

in little oil, saute garlic and onions till done. add the patolas. add the soup stock. simmer till the patolas are tender. add salt and pepper to taste. crumble the misua and mix it directly to the stock. serve soup very hot.

eggciting eggzageration

2006-10-17T12:10:00.000+08:00

shang ri la is selling their breads at 50% off.

this is a good buy as their breads are of high quality.

with 50% off, price is near as the regular supermarket breads.

just add a few pesos, your bread changes from plain to spectacular.

eggciting eggzageration

3 fresh eggs
raisin - walnut organic bread
herbed butter

slice the bread to desired sandwich thickness
add a layer of herb butter on both breads

combine all 3 eggs. whip lightly. add about 3 tablespoons water to add moisture. add little oil on pan. when the pan is barely hot, spread the egg evenly to form a flat egg mix.

slide off the egg on a plate maintaining its flatness. cut the egg the size of the bread. place it carefully on the bread and top it off with the other slice.

serve warm and lightly toasted.

dinner with cuzz

2006-10-16T12:25:00.000+08:00

we had a nice dinner with my relatives in cainta.

as a starter, we had patola with misua.

for the main dish, we had good filipino food. kare-kare, pork chops and fried boneless bangus.

we later went home late at night with a very satisfied tummy.

sinigang twist

2006-10-12T12:03:00.000+08:00

the city is just recovering from milenyo. an effect here is that the vegetables are scarce as the storm destroyed the plantations. I was looking for native pechays and kangkong but none were found in the supermarket shelves.

the only available veggies around are the chinese mustard leaves...not a regular sinigang veggie.

well... we tried it and went out unexpectedly very good!

sinigang twist

1 kilo pork ribs
1 cup sliced radishes
2 bundles chinese mustard leaves
1 cup sitaw (long string beans) cut in 2 inch lengths
1 sachet sinigang mix

boil the pork ribs until very tender. add the radishes and sitaw. boil till tender. add the sinigang mix. stir and simmer for about 2 minutes. cut the mustard leaves in 2 inch lengths. drop them into the broth. simmer for 2 minutes. serve very hot.

fish fillet milenyo

2006-10-04T16:00:00.000+08:00

part of the food we need to cook and prevent it from spoiling is fish. we had bought salay guinto and fried them crisp.

after 4 days of no electricity, the fish is still there. to disguise the fish, we decided to do some adjustments to the fish.

fish fillet milenyo

3/4 kilo salay guinto
1 medium red onion
3 tablespoons garlic
butter

fry the fish till crisp and well done. remove the bones, head and tail. as much as possible, retain the meat of the fish in one piece. that is, one piece per side. but if you find it difficult on doing this, just remove the bones. that is enough.

chop the garlic. slice the onions thinly. melt in a hot pan a good dollop of butter. saute the garlic till brown. add the sliced onions. saute the onions till brown. this browning will caramellize the onion and will produce a distinct sweet flavor. add the fish fillet. do a good mix till the flavors have blended. add salt and pepper to taste.

lrt fire!

2006-10-03T15:33:00.000+08:00

last night, we need to go to a clinic at UN Avenue where my brother in law got a minor operation. heavy rains cloud the metropolis with occasional gusty winds blowing its might.

along the way, the lrt we were riding on was up in smoke! panic burst out of nowhere and people were running out of the train.

good thing we got near a wall and protected my huny. in a few seconds, people were out of the train and they calmed down.

we later found out that the airconditioning system located on the roof of the train burned.

passengers transferred safely to the next available train.

surviving on no electricity and water: fish ampalaya

2006-10-02T15:51:00.000+08:00

we were struck by the strong storm "milenyo" and had to survive the grueling 4 days of no electricity and water.

a concern is how to preserve food. one meal that was made up is the fish ampalaya.

to preserve the fish for several days without refrigeration, we fried them well done. to preserve space, we filleted them and kept the meat.

we noticed that the ampalaya is getting mature. we need to cook it fast. we cut it up in chunks and prepared a very good meal.

fish ampalaya

1 large ampalaya, seeded, cut in chunks
8 fillets of fish, fried
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/4 cup dried shrimps

in little oil, saute garlic till brown. add onions and tomatos. saute till soft. add the dried shrimps. mix till the aroma escapes the pan. add the fish. add little water to keep from drying. add the ampalaya. simmer slowly till ampalaya is soft but still crunchy to the bite. serve hot.

milenyo

2006-09-29T12:07:00.002+08:00

storm milenyo devastated the metropolis bringing in strong winds and tons of rain.

this is the worst flood we had experienced. water nearly went in the house. knee deep flood is just in front of our place.

no electricy. no water. good thing water pressure from the local district supplier reached our home. it was a slow trickle but it filled all our containers. i also had the chance to squeeze in a quick shower in the dark.

we're back in office now. the family's fine and healthy. i just hope that the electricity will be back tonight when we go home.

milenyo

2006-09-29T12:07:00.001+08:00

milenyo

2006-09-29T12:07:00.000+08:00

galunggong is still cheap

2006-09-27T12:03:00.000+08:00

prices are now jacking up. but, generally, price of galunggong is still cheap.

we had galunggong for dinner. it was only about 75 pesos for 10 pieces. the fish was enough for the three of us plus an additional lunch pack for my hunny. this makes the 75 peso meal good for 4 servings. that's about 18 pesos per serving and the serving is good.

fried galunggong

10 pieces galunggong
oil for frying
salt
little wine

clean the fresh fish. remove the gills and the intestines. wash with running water.
sprinkle generously with salt. add about 1/2 cup of wine. marinate for about 10 minutes.

put oil in hot pan. place enough oil in the pan so that it can cover half the body of the fish.

fry the first side of the fish for about 15 minutes in medium heat. we fry the fish crispy brown so that i can eat the whole head. do not move the fish until it is well done on one side. moving it before it is done will destroy the flesh of the fish.

flip over the fish to cook the other side. fry for another 10 minutes.

serve with boiled tomatoes with bagoong.

fortuner ride

2006-09-26T15:12:00.000+08:00

we rode the new car of our friend juday. she got a good toyota fortuner. that was a very nice car.

i further got in love with the car when i learned that going to baguio and back to manila needs only 1,900.00 pesos worth of gasoline.

even better than the honda civic of my dad.

i hope to get one fortuner as well.

birthday of ima

2006-09-25T12:02:00.000+08:00

we went to san luis last weekend for a surprise visit to ima's birthday. we didn't announce our arrival to surprise them.

we brought a nice big cake for ima and she's very much surprised. the cake was so good that it was consummed in just a few minutes.

chocolate trimmings were pulled out first from the cake leaving a messy dessert which shows all the children (young and old) had good fun.

i hope that the fun would continue forever.

corned beef shangrila

2006-09-22T12:02:00.000+08:00

we haven't gone to the supermarket so i dropped by a grocery store just to get something simple for dinner. i had a reliable can of corned beed and some veggies. these veggies are available anytime and when assembled, you'll be surprised on how it looks. tastes good too!

corned beef shangrila

1 300 gram canned corned beef
1 medium onion, sliced in thick rings
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1/2 cup leeks, chopped in 1 inch slices
2 baby carrots, sliced in thin rounds
salt and pepper

in a hot pan, add little oil and fry the garlic till golden. add the onions till soft. add the canned corned beef. add little water to prevent from drying. add the carrots. heat through for about 3 minutes. add the leeks. adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

surviving no food from nowhere: egg stew

2006-09-21T12:21:00.000+08:00

my hunny made an interesting stew last night. we rummaged again through our ref and our food cab and had made this egg stew. the eggs we used came from organic free range chickens. sounds so nice and cool but acutually they are just eggs from a homeless local chicken running around our rural home.

egg stew

6 eggs
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup tomato sauce
salt and pepper

boil the eggs till well done. remove the shells.

on a pan, saute the onion till soft. add the tomato sauce. simmer for about 5 minutes. add the eggs. stir. add salt and pepper to taste.

A variation is available. Going through our food cab, we saw dried vermicelli available.

Vermicelli Egg Soup

Do the Egg Stew as stated above, add 3 cups of water. then add ample amount of cut vermicelli into the stock. if you want a soupy stock, lessen the vermicelli. once the vermicelli is added, expect the stock to lessen as it will be absorbed by the noodles. adjust the salt and pepper afterwards.

dried preserved fruits

2006-09-20T12:05:00.000+08:00

when we were in china, we went to a neighborhood grocery and got dried fruits.

the chinese have a very simple technology of preserving fruits in abundance.

we got a small seeminly berry-like fruit. it's now brown and don't know what it is like when it was still fresh.

taste is sweet, with a hint of cloves, and a touch of spicyness. similar to the spicy tamarind from thailand.

2 to 4 seeds are usually found in the fruit. be careful not to bite the fruit immediately as the seeds are titanium-like hardness.

i never really liked these preserved fruits before... but now, i kinda like them. i'm on my second bag of preserved fruits. i usually take them when i'm in the kitchen, washing the dishes....

classic cheese and butter sandwich

2006-09-19T12:18:00.000+08:00

i prepared this morning a simple sandwich that enhances the flavor of the bread.

you will enjoy the flavor as the sandwich is humble and good.

i am using the good bread from shang and a good butter i got from the sup.

classic cheese and butter sandwich

2 thick slices of all-grain brown nut bread
cheese slices
butter

on one side of each bread slice, spread generous amount of butter. this prevents the bread from drying as i would eat the sandwich by lunchtime.

place the cheese slices evenly on the bread.

top the sandwich with the other slice of loaf.

seal properly to prevent drying. my office does not have an oven to toast the bread. but if you have one, it will be better if you toast the sandwich till light golden brown having a texture of thin crunchiness on the face of the loaf but still very soft in the inside.

good bread at half the cost

2006-09-18T12:02:00.000+08:00

last friday, we walked around the lobby of makati shangri-la hotel and visited the circles event cafe.

we checked their good buffet food and stuff. new offerings are now available. very different is the addition of chocolates in cosmetic inspired packaging. i wonder if you can bring them home. i see colored chocolates in lipstick form, lollipops in compact powder packs, and other girly stuff deserts.

we also visited their bread section. we found out that they changed their discount hours from 9pm to a very early 6pm! wow! that's is a perfect time for me to go there and get good bread at half the cost! just in time after my office hours of 8 to 5!

now, i'll have good bread everyday in all my lunches at office.

china and macau

2006-09-15T12:16:00.000+08:00

we went to macau and china.

my first time to be out of town together with my hunny.

this is quite an experience as we go there with a language barrier to hurdle.

tons of good food and good shopping.

i learned a trick on how to communicate when shopping....

1. remember "do shau". this means: "how much?"

2. then on pricing, all shops have their calculators. communicate by keying in your haggling price on the calculator.... then they will respond with no or yes. ...or they will key in their own price ... and work it from there.

3. try charades.... it will be totally fun and very fulfilling if you successfully send your message through.

blessed mother's day

2006-09-08T12:57:00.000+08:00

Today is the birthday of Blessed Mama Mary. She started the life of Jesus and brought him up perfectly to be a very wonderful person.

If all mothers are like Mama Mary, all of us here are like Jesus.

Mama Mary, pray for us. Let our prayers reach Jesus through your intercession.

easy gelato

2006-09-07T12:09:00.000+08:00

ice creams here are a bit expensive especially if you know how to make good ones. in our spice cabinet, we have different artificial flavorings available locally. you can use and experiment with them to produce a unique flavor. Sometimes it is very simple that you'll realize that the commercial ice cream manufacturers are making money out of a simple and affordable ingredients.

one discovery i found is just to use butter flavoring. it enhances the flavor of the home made ice cream making it seems richer and improves the taste. below is a sample ice cream that you can make any time.

butter corn gelato

4 tablespoons powdered milk
4 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon artificial butter flavoring
2 tablespoons fresh corn kernels
1 1/2 cup cold water

in a heavy glass bowl or jar or just plain heavy drinking glass, add water, milk and sugar. mix well till everything is dissolved and mixture is smooth. add the butter flavoring and corn. stir a bit till the flavor is mixed with the milk mixture.

freeze overnight. the next morning, remove the frozen mixture from the freezer. leave it at room temperature for about 5 to 10 minutes or until it is easy to crush. using a spoon, crush and mix the frozen mixture until frothy and slushy.

if desired, place it back into the freezer for another 8 hours. this way, the ice cream will be softer and finer. but if you can't resist it, you can just eat it immediately....

i can do the long process of double freezing since it is more adaptable to the schedule of my office. i make the mixture at night. after i wake up in the morning, i do the crushing to make a slush and place it back into the freezer. and as i arrive back from the office, the slush is ready to be served!

bagoong

2006-09-06T15:46:00.000+08:00

i can write a very lengthy subject about this condiment as it touches the culinary roots of the filipinos. you'll find this very aromatic food all over the country. but on this article, i will just show you how to make good bagoong the easy way. the secret here is generosity when using garlic.

the pork fat and skin leftovers i used here are the fat portion of our porkchop leftover.

bagoong

2 cups salted shrimp fry
1 large full head garlic, chopped
1 large white onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup oil
1 teaspoon anato powder
pork fat and skin leftovers

in a pan, heat the oil. add the garlic stiring constantly till evenly golden brown. add the chopped onion. stir till limp. add the salted shrimp fry and the pork fat left overs.

if you want the bagoong less salty, rinse the salted shrimp fry under running water till the saltiness is reduced. the longer you wash, the blander it gets. Following my taste, i did not wash the shrimp fry.

stir until the shrimp fry is well cooked or for about 10 minutes. if a bit dry, add more oil. add the anato powder to improve the color. simmer for 2 minutes more.

bagoong can be served with green mango, singkamas, boiled eggplants, sitaw, ampalaya or pechay. may be used with dips when mixed with vinegar, calamansi, kamias, or tamarind broth. may be used as flavor for saute meals, fried rice, or mixed with mayo.

the use of bagoong listed here is only the tip of the iceberg. you'll enjoy it anywhere possible.

binagoongan ispesyal

2006-09-05T14:21:00.000+08:00

it has been a long time since my hunny is requesting for this native delicacy. i believe that there is no other similar meal comes close to this original filipino dish. the secret here is to adobo the pork then fry them before going into the regular binagoongan procedures. When serving, drizzle the dish with calamansi to balance the saltiness of the shrimp fry.

binagoongan ispesyal

STEP 1: ADOBO
4 tablespoons chopped garlic
4 tablespoons cane vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 leaf laurel
10 whole pepper corns
1 kilo pork belly chopped in serving sizes

wash and clean the pork belly. in a pan (with the flame still not open) mix the vinegar, soy sauce, chopped garlic. add the laurel leaf and pepper corns. add the pork and mix till the pork is coated.

light now the flame. simmer the pork WITHOUT MIXING. simmer until the pork is tender adding ample amount of water to prevent drying.

STEP 2: FRYING

remove the pork from the reduced adobo broth. set the adobo broth aside. in a separate pan, add about 1 cup of oil. fry the pork till the sides are brown. remove pork from oil and return the pork into the reduced adobo broth. set aside the used oil after frying.

STEP 3: BINAGOONGAN
1 cup red salted shrimp fry
1 whole head chopped onion
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon powdered annato seeds (atsuete)

using the used oil you used when browning the pork adobo, add the chopped garlic. stir the garlic till golden brown. add the finely chopped onions. mix till the onions are translucent. add the shrimp fry and simmer for about 15 minutes for the shrimp fry to be well done. add the powdered annato seeds. stir to evenly spread the color.

add the pork adobo together with the reduced adobo broth into the shrimp fry mix. mix and stir through until the flavors work together.

serve with hot rice. it is suggested to serve this dish with grilled eggplants.

blessings!

2006-09-04T12:02:00.000+08:00

tita eleng is here and i asked if i can change my peso to her dollars. she said ok.

i went to their place bringing along with my peso savings. when i received the equivalent, it's twice as what i have expected!!!!

wow... tita eleng is so good.

when we are stable in canada, i'll do the same as what is tita eleng is doing.

onion tuna

2006-09-01T15:22:00.000+08:00

i again made a simple pack lunch for my hunny. this can be done in a jiffy with ingredients readily available.

onion tuna

1 can packed tuna in oil
1 medium onion
butter

slice onion in thick rounds. add 2 tablespoons of butter in pan. add onion to pan till slightly caramelized.

add the tuna. stir a bit to loosen the meat into chunks. simmer for about 2 minutes. add salt to taste.

pack the onion tuna together with 2 pcs of calamansi if preferred. squeeze the calamansi on to the tuna before serving to add some zing.

hunny's pack lunch: corn and sausages

2006-08-31T12:14:00.000+08:00

i woke up early today and made a good pack lunch for my hunny. this is a simple dish done in a nick of time. all ingredients are readily available anytime.

corn and sausages

2 pcs. chicken cheese sausages
1/2 cup fresh corn kernels
1 stalk leek, sliced
butter
egg

prepare the sausages. remove from wrapper. in a pan, add 1 cup of water. simmer the sausages for about 5 minutes.

while waiting for the sausages to simmer, slice the leeks and prepare the corn.

remove the sausages from the pan and drain the pan. heat up the same pan until dry. add 2 tablespoons of butter. add leeks. saute until limp. add the corn. saute till corn is done. set aside.

on the same pan, pan fry the sausages for about 2 minutes.

on the same pan, add 2 tablespoons oil. carefully crack the eggs on the pan and fry the egg sunny side up. fry till the desired doneness is achieved.

pack the sausages and corn at the bottom of the box. place the fried egg on top of the sausages and corn gently.

serve with garlic fried rice.

this pack lunch can be done in one pan only which saves you time cleaning.

easy amps

2006-08-30T12:14:00.000+08:00

we had ampalaya (bitter gourd) last night. this one is very basic but doubly delicious. the taste of ampalaya is learned. first taste is a bit bitter but you'll later enjoy and seek its unique flavor.

easy amps

1 large ampalaya
1 large tomato
1 medium white onion
1 egg

cut the ampalaya lengthwise. remove the seeds and gently scrape off the thin white fibers attached to the flesh. cut into thin semi-circular strips. chop the tomato and onions.

in little oil, saute the onion and tomato till limp. lightly beat the egg and add to the saute while stirring. put the ampalaya into the saute. add little water and simmer till the ampalaya is half cooked. texture of ampalaya should be shiny, soft but with a little crisp to the bite.

add salt and pepper to taste.

passports, DFA, and fixers

2006-08-29T16:02:00.000+08:00

we renewed our passports last friday afternoon and got them today. I can say that the government is efficient on their passport processings. everything is on time and fast.

a very minor drawback is the lack of posted instructions. but this is not a big factor as you can freely ask the security personnel and DFA employees for assistance.

No long lines were present when we renewed.

Releasing is ultra fast as you just go to your designated window, show your claim receipt and the passport is in front of you.

just keep in mind that there are MILLIONS of fixers blocking your way to the main entrance. JUST IGNORE THEM. they have TONS OF TRICKS to lure you into their trap. just be firm and ignore their instructions and proceed empty handed to the DFA main entrance.

once inside, you are now free from hassles, no fixers, no noisy people, only persons who has real businesses inside.

in the compound are complete facilities. you can get your passport pictures, photocopy your old passports, buy black pens, clear plastic pouch for photos, paste, staplers and free application forms. YOU DON'T NEED THE SERVICES OF FIXERS OUTSIDE.

Just go in the DFA entrance straight and then you are now ready for all your needs inside the compound under a cool shade without the high service price given by fixers.

chicken sale'

2006-08-28T12:39:00.000+08:00

we made a chicken sale a few days back. this is a native dish from pampanga usually prepared during the rainy weather. It uses a native herb sale'. this is looks like a long green grass but with a flavor similar to fresh ginger and a hint of vanilla.

Sale' is the native variety of lemon grass.

chicken sale'

1/4 kilo chicken, cut into serving pieces.
two generous stalks sale'
1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 medium onion
cooking oil
salt, fish sauce and pepper

smash the sale with the back of the knife to awaken the flavor and juices. in a hot pan, saute the sale' for about 2 minutes until the flavors are released. remove the sale' from the pan and set aside.

in the same pan using the same oil, saute garlic and onions. add the chicken. add about 1 liter water. put back the sale into the stock. simmer till the chicken is tender. remove the sale again and discard.

add the green papaya and simmer for about 15 minutes till the papaya is translucent and soft. add fish sauce or patis to add saltiness. adjust salt and pepper to taste.

serve piping hot.

red salted eggs

2006-08-18T13:28:00.000+08:00

one of our company's clients visited our office. they brought salted eggs. these are duck eggs, boiled, dipped in salted clay mixture for several days and colored red.

best salted eggs are from pateros, a town 30 minutes away from manila.

these eggs are usually eaten with fresh tomatoes together with fried fish.

bamboo shoots and chili tops

2006-08-17T13:44:00.000+08:00

we had a nice native home dinner. we had fresh bamboo shoots from pampanga. we call this locally as 'labong'. this is a different delicacy as you harvest the bamboo when the plant is still about 1 foot high.

the bamboo shoot has a very distinct young bamboo aroma and very good texture. the secret to this dish is to add as much oil you can add and never add water while cooking.

bamboo shoot and chili tops

1 kilo slivers of bamboo shoots
1 cup young chili leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
1 head garlic, chopped
1/4 cup ground pork
1 cup oil
crushed chicharon (pork rind)

heat the oil. add the garlic till golden. add the onions. add the ground pork. saute till it changed color.

add the bamboo shoots. saute for about 4 minutes. bamboo will absorb most of the oil and will be shiny and crisp.

add the chili leaves and chicharon. heat through for about 3 minutes. serve with rice.

tahong chips

2006-08-16T12:55:00.000+08:00

my hunny brought some tahong chips. these are mussels prepared in chip form for snacks.

it is probably made from finely chopped boiled mussels, flour and some basic spices like salt, pepper and msg. they are mixed together, rolled flat and baked...or fried then drained.

chips doesn't look swell as color resembles yellow greenish dog poo.

taste is also not that recommended. tastes like fish flavored pig feeds.

It is a bit expensive as compared to other local chips. my recommendation is for you to buy the smallest sized pack just for you to taste it. but eat it to have fun in a cool party????? NO WAY!!!!!!!!!!!

san luis pasalubong

2006-08-15T13:55:00.000+08:00

it is customary that when you go to the province here, the old folks would give you something for you to bring home.

last sunday, we went to san luis. my mother in law gave me stuff wrapped in plastic. i asked her what it was but she declined to say what was it.

back home, we had it for dinner. it was a nice pork ribs stewed in soy and with lots of duck liver!

Ima had remembered that i need to beef up on iron and liver is a good source. almost half of it was liver, prepared specifically for me! I love Ima.

merienda buffet at Partyland

2006-08-14T12:19:00.000+08:00

we went to pampanga last weekend. we had a late lunch and had the chance to go to sm san fernando. we found Partyland. this is a kapampangan restaurant who's original branch is at san fernando dolores.

we had a good buffet. for only 109 pesos, we had an unlimited supply of puto and dinuguan, pansit canton, pansit palabok, spaghetti, tokwa't baboy, banana turon, palitaw, guinataang bilo-bilo, goto and halo-halo.

very promising was the guinataang bilo-bilo. they added some anise seeds into the gata which added an exquisite flavor making it unique from a local guinataan merienda.

successful operation

2006-08-11T14:51:00.000+08:00

kuya olan just had his operation. he got his gall bladder removed.

he's now on his way to recovery. i hope he gets better...

catnap

2006-08-10T12:23:00.000+08:00

i stole a few minutes of my time on my lunch break.

i had a 15 minute catnap.

i think i heard myself snoring.

then i woke up.....refreshed!

ralph lauren and gucci

2006-08-09T12:03:00.000+08:00

we went to bambang, manila and went through the old stuff for sale. we got a good bag in good condition. one for me and another for my hunny.

i got a green plaid original ralph lauren bag. i'm now using it for office.

my hunny got a nice black leather gucci bag.

all are in good condition. all for just P1,100.00 (20 US$) only.

pangat

2006-08-08T12:02:00.000+08:00

the good thing about going to the province is that you go back to manila with packed food given by the old folks and the family.

last night, we had chicharon and mechado which are all coming from last weekend's gathering.

this is a nice fast dinner after a good day's office hours and a tiring grocery round-up.

louise christening

2006-08-07T15:45:00.000+08:00

i was chosen as the ninong of my niece Louise. We got there a bit late but enough to catch the blessings for the child.

Usually, christenings here are celebrated with an abundance of fiesta food. They killed a pig just to serve the guests.

They had prepared mechado, morcon, chop suey with liver, caldereta, chicharon, pata tim and leche flan as dessert.

A few weeks back, I was checked for having low blood and low in sugar. Good thing they served the vegetables with liver. I had a feast of liver that day which I terribly need. The leche flan covered my needs for extra sugar.

herb tuna panini

2006-08-04T12:27:00.000+08:00

yesterday i had a nice sandwich. originally, it was a tuna pan de sal sandwich of my hunny. she brought the four pandesals to Subic but forgot to eat it. stored in her bag, the bread got flatten.

Now i brought the same pandesals in the same plastic packaging but now it's flat. i coined the name: herb tuna panini as it now looks like one!

herb tuna panini

herb butter (soft butter with chopped garlic, basil and dill)
pan de sal
canned tuna in oil

spread generous amounts of herb butter on the pandesal. drain the tuna. add the chunky tuna on the pandesal. place the pandesal in a nice plastic bag. hide it in your office bag. go travel to subic. forget about the pandesal. at night, put the flattened pandesal in the ref. on the next morning, bring it to work and enjoy it on meal time!

treasured pearl

2006-08-03T12:09:00.000+08:00

we heard mass yesterday for our wednesday novena. Fr. Bob McConaghuey celebrated the event. On his prayers, he assured us of one thing:

A treasured pearl will be given by Jesus from now till August of next year that will definitely change our lives for the better.

(Mt 13:44-46)

surviving on food from nowhere: bean sprout pansit canton

2006-08-02T14:40:00.000+08:00

a couple of days back, we had sauteed bean sprouts for dinner. we had good left-overs from it and had it for lunch today but with an exceptional addition: pansit canton. Pansit canton are dried flour noodles that is available here anywhere.

bean sprouts pansit canton

vegan bean sprouts (from my previous blog)
2 cups pansit canton
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
long leaf coriander, chopped
olive oil

on a hot pan, saute the chopped garlic in olive oil until golden brown. add the dried pansit canton. add half cup of water to rehydrate the dried noodles. stir heavily to evenly soften the noodles. add the chopped coriander generously to the noodles. adjust salt. add soy sauce if you like.

on a plate, spread the cooked pansit canton. top the noodles with the vegan bean sprouts. serve hot!

vegan bean sprouts

2006-08-01T12:00:00.000+08:00

last night, we decided to go vegan. but this is the worst time to buy veggies as storms are coming. vegetable crops are being destroyed by the rain. cost of the crops are shooting up high.

going through the suparmarket, only a few vegetables remain at a stable price. the others doubled their usual cost. bean sprouts, or togue, costs the same as before. perhaps, these are just grown in green houses which are safe from the dreaded rain.

vegan bean sprouts

1 kilo bean sprouts
1 medium carrot
2 cups chopped cabbage
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion
parsley
1 stalk celery

wash the bean sprouts in clean water. drain and set aside.

in little olive oil, saute garlic till brown. add onions and chopped celery. saute till half tender. add the carrots. heat through for about a minute. add the cabbage. saute till cabbages are half limp. add the chopped parsley. add the cleaned bean sprouts. mix in high heat until the bean sprouts are crunchy tender. add salt and pepper to taste.

make it easy bread

2006-07-31T12:01:00.000+08:00

Baking is somewhat therapeutic. It relaxes your nerves when making one. Here is a fast and easy recipe. Ingredients are as easy as 1-2-3. We do not have a conventional oven at home so i pan fried the dough and made it into nice rotis.

what's good with this dough is that you can add herbs and spice to have wonderful flavors infused in the bread. i have some dried oregano and add some into the dough. you can add other herbs like basil, oregano, pepper, fried onions, garlic or just plain sea salt.

Easy Bread

1 cup lukewarm to hot water
1 tsp sugar
2 Tablespoon dry yeast
3 cups flour
herbs for flavoring

mix hot water, sugar and yeast. set aside for about 15 minutes for the yeast to awaken. mixture should be frothy after. if not, yeast is stale. discard the mixture and make a new one using new yeast.

in a big bowl, sift the flour. at the center, make a well. pour the yeast mixture and slowly mix by hand. knead dough until it forms into a smooth ball. add more flour if dough is too sticky. consistency should be firm and does not stick on your hands.

to rise, grease a bowl with shortening. put the dough in the center of the bowl. roll around the dough in the bowl to coat the dough with the shortening. The light shortening that smeared the dough will prevent it from drying up. cover the bowl. let the dough rise in a warm place. I place my dough on top of the ref near the heating element found behind it. let the dough rise for about 1 hour. it should double in size.

with generously floured hands, transfer the dough on a floured table. sprinkle dough with flour. shape the flour into desired sizes for baking.

For conventional ovens, place them on cookie sheets. let the dough rest some more for about 5 minutes. Place them in the oven in slow to medium heat until the dough is golden brown.

For pan baked bread, shaped dough should be generously covered with flour for it to be handled easily and prevent it from sticking on the table. dough should be flat to evenly cook the insides of the bread. let the flat-shaped dough rest for about 5 minutes. heat pan in low to medium heat. cook the dough until dark spots appear on the crust of the dough. turn the dough over to bake the other side.

after baking, let the bread cool for about 5 minutes before serving. this will help the bread cook through the dough and set the bread properly. Enjoy and be proud of what you have made!

surviving on food from nowhere: wanna bet, kiss my pakbet

2006-07-28T12:01:00.000+08:00

pakbet is a native dish composed of native vegetables which are available all year round. we cleaned our ref last night and found these vegetables lying around.

wanna bet, kiss my pakbet

12 pcs long sitaw (green string beans)
3 pcs small eggplants
2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 small onion, chopped
3 small tomatoes, chopped
2 tablespoons shrimp chili paste (bagoong)

saute garlic in little oil till golden brown. add the chopped onions and cook till translucent. add the tomatoes. cook till the tomatoes are very soft. add the bagoong to saute. chop the sitaw into 2 inch lengths and add it to the pan. add very little water to steam through the sitaw. after 8 minutes, add the talong that was cut into 1 inch lengths. cook in low to medium heat until the vegetables are tender and done. serve with rice. Salt may not be needed as the bagoong is already salty.

dinner at superbowl

2006-07-27T12:02:00.000+08:00

last night, my hunny treated me at superbowl.

we had braised tofu - superbowl style and seafood congee. these are simple dishes full of flavor and at a very affordable price!

for dessert, my hunny gave me chocolate coated raisins.

eggplant in coco cream

2006-07-26T12:20:00.000+08:00

we went to a cool pakistani party one time and different flavors were introduced. one was the eggplant with the coco cream. we tried to imitate the food but we did not get close to what they had served. I suspect they used yoghurt on the recipe but we had a good try.

eggplants in coco cream

8 pcs round eggplants, cut in quarters
1 cup heavy coco cream
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion, finely chopped
200 grams diced pork
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
chili flakes
salt and pepper

saute garlic till golden brown. add onions. add pork. simmer till pork is tender. add the eggplants. when the eggplants changed color, add the coco cream and curry powder. simmer in low heat to reduce the cream. adjust salt and pepper to taste. serve with white steaming rice.

rosemarie pork medallions

2006-07-25T14:45:00.000+08:00

i went to the supermarket last night and got a nice cut of pork. i believe this is the small part near the pork chops.

rosemarie pork medallions

3/4 kilo pork meat, cut into 1/2 inch medallions
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn starch
1 egg
rosemarie
parsley
ground annato seeds (atsuete)

clean the pork. add salt and pepper and let stand for about 15 minutes.

prepare the batter.
lightly beat the egg. mix the flour and cornstarch. add a pinch of ground annato seeds to improve color. mix until smooth and free of lumps. add water if too thick. add a pinch of rosemarie and chopped parsley into the batter.

heat pan with about 2 cups of oil or enough for the pork to fry evenly.

coat pork slices one by one evenly on both sides. slide into the hot pan with oil. fry in medium to high heat till golden brown. dry the pork medallions on paper towel. serve hot.

dipping sauce may be any sauce found in your food cabinet. we used vinegar with chopped fresh garlic and crushed black pepper.

just flew in from my flu

2006-07-24T13:46:00.000+08:00

i was sick for the past week. it's really difficult to be sick. can't do anything productive. just stayed in bed all the time.

good thing my hunny took good care of me.

I'm now back in shape and ready to go.

sardines on a rainy day

2006-07-12T12:49:00.000+08:00

weather today is totaly rainy. ankle deep flood is on the streets.

i made a nice sardine meal for my hunny. it's her request for today's lunch. this is a simple food readily available anytime. I'm not really sure on why this meal is better eaten on a cold rainy day.

easy sardines

1 tablespoon crushed garlic
1 medium onion, sliced in thick rings
1 can sardines
oil, salt and pepper

in a pan, saute garlic till golden brown. add the sliced onions. saute till soft. add the small can of sardines. mix carefully preventing the fish from being deformed. Serve with a nice garlic fried rice.

surviving on food from nowhere:two dish veggie

2006-07-11T12:09:00.000+08:00

last night, we looked around our ref and found two different kinds of veggie dishes.

one was a leftover from one of our chinese restaurant dinners. this is a hunan tofu stew mix. this is tofu sauteed in black mushroom ears, carrots, bell peppers, green chili peppers with oyster sauce as base.

the other is a sauteed sayote and carrots with ground pork as the flavoring. this veggie dish came from the leftover lunch of my hunny at office.

we first heated the sayote in the hot pan. then mix the hunan tofu on the same pan. mix and heat until the flavors blend as one. yeah!

40 years anniversary

2006-07-10T12:12:00.000+08:00

my mom and dad celebrated their 40th year wedding anniversary. my hats off to them. we had a simple dinner. we had a bucket of kfc, laing, adobo, fish and a good enchilada.

surviving on food from nowhere: spanish open omelette

2006-07-07T12:02:00.000+08:00

i woke up late and still very sleepy. i need to prepare packed lunch for my hunny. i again did my routine of rummaging through the ref and found various small food items around. it seems that these are enough to make a good omelette. but time is not on my side, this omelette needs an adjustment applying a technique to cook everything fast ... the egg is mixed together with the filling!

spanish open omelette

2 eggs
1 tsp crushed garlic
1 stalk leeks, sliced thinly and diagonally
1 small tomato, chopped in chunks
1 half bell pepper, chopped in chunks
3 hotdogs, chunky sliced diagonally
oil, salt and pepper to taste

in a wide pan, drizzle oil around. on one side of the pan to where most of the oil settled, place the chopped garlic. on the other parts of the pan, arrange and place the chopped leeks, chopped hotdogs, chopped bell pepper and chopped tomatoes.

do not mix them together. make sure that each ingredient has its own territorial place in the pan. arrange the ingredients in such a way that all of them is touching the hot pan. allow the pan to heat through the ingredients without mixing them together.

when the garlic is golden brown, mix now the ingredients together. in the mean time, lightly beat the two eggs together adding about 2 tablespoons water and a pinch of salt. add a little more water if you want the eggs to be fluffier. milk is a good substitute for water. but i have none, so i stick with plain water.

back to the pan, gently pour the lightly beaten egg evenly around covering the bottom of the pan. swirl the pan to let the eggs distribute nicely. cook for a minute or two until the eggs are done.

easy and fast. now we have lunch for today. prepared in just 10 minutes.

tuna sausage surprise

2006-07-06T12:47:00.000+08:00

this is a surprise meal made from different stuff from our ref. it started on an idea of my hunny adding vegetables on a can of tuna. as the vegetables piled up the pan, it turned out to be a very wonderful dish.

tuna sausage surprise

1 can tuna (solid in oil)
1 german sausage
1 small bell pepper
2 tablespoon garlic
1 medium onion
1 can straw mushrooms
1 medium carrot, sliced into rounds.
1 small potato, cubed.
1 stalk celery, cut into 1/2 inch chunks.
chopped parsley

boil the german sausage till soft. cut into rounds. set aside. chop the bell pepper into squares and pan fry in little oil. set aside. pan fry the cubed potato. set aside.

add about 2 tablespoons olive oil in a pan. saute the garlic till golden brown. add the onions. saute till translucent. add the sausages and tuna. drain the straw mushrooms and add it to the pan. Add the carrots. stir fry for about 2 minutes. add the potatoes and bell peppers. add the chopped celery. saute for about 2 minutes for the flavor to develop. adjust the salt and pepper to taste.

wet inside the building

2006-07-05T13:13:00.000+08:00

we went in the office finding the place very wet. apparently, a pressure pipe burst on the floor above us and leaked tons of water over the centralized air conditioning ducts.

worst hit was the transformer area where water is dripping directly on top of it. luckily, piles of old files cover the transformer which absorbed the water.

another area hit was a computer behind me. good thing the server was not hit which is just a few inches from the damaged computer.

leaks stopped at around 10:30 am. however, elevators are still not in operation.

breather...

2006-07-04T12:07:00.000+08:00

i went outside the closed building for a breather.

shook off the tension and walked around the bland makati streets.

went back... still feeling the same...

nothing new...

adobo pan de sal

2006-06-30T12:01:00.000+08:00

we got some good pan de sal from a supermarket near my office. pan de sals are the local bread roll with a light crust outside and soft inside.

In our ref, we found some extra pork adobo, left-over from the fiesta of san luis. my hunny made me nice adobo sandwiches for today.

Adobo Pan de sal

pork adobo, shredded and fried till toasted.
cheese
mayo
lettuce
pan de sal

break in half the pan de sal. spread ample amount of mayo on both sides.
place a cut lettuce leaf. spread enough adobo meat on the lettuce. add the cheese.
put the other half of the pan de sal on top to finish the sandwich.

guisadong corned beef

2006-06-29T12:25:00.000+08:00

this morning, i prepared a nice corned beef guisado for my hunny's lunch. most ingredients are found scattered around the ref.

guisadong corned beef

1 small can corned beef
half an onion, sliced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 small marble potato
oil
salt and pepper
dot of butter

thinly slice the marble potato. in little oil, fry the marble potato. when translucent, add the garlic and saute till golden brown. add the onions. after about a minute, add the corned beef. add very little water to prevent drying up. add a dot of butter to enhance the flavor. adjust salt and pepper to taste.

surviving on food from nowhere: noodle surprise

2006-06-28T12:53:00.000+08:00

we were not that hungry last night and prepared a simple noodle soup for dinner. we have frozen chicken balls, some kikiam from the freezer and leeks from the vegetable crisper.

Noodle Surprise

1 pack instant 2-minute beef noodle
1 stalk green part leeks, thinly sliced
1 pc chicken ball, sliced
2 table spoons sliced kikiam, sliced

boil water according to package instructions. add a little more to accomodate the additional stuff to put in. when boiling, add the sliced leeks, sliced chicken ball and sliced kikiams. boil for about a minute. add the noodles. simmer till the noodles are done. serve very hot.

best leche flan

2006-06-27T12:08:00.000+08:00

here is the best leche flan i've ever tasted. quality, texture and flavor... all three are superb. courtesy of my best ate...

best leche flan

3 itik egg yellow (duck egg yellow)
2 cans condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
white sugar to taste (optional)
rind from 2 dalayap fruits (native lime fruit)
brown sugar for the caramel
4 llanera (oval tins)

To make the brown caramel:
on each clean llanera add 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. place the llanera on top of an open flame. brown the sugar. evenly swirl the melted sugar to cover the bottom of the llanera. then set aside to cool and harden.

To make the flan:
mix the itik egg, condensed milk and evaporated milk in a bowl. add white sugar if you want it more sweet. The white sugar is only optional. You can make the flan without it as the condensed milk is already sweet.

strain on a fine sieve to remove lumps. equally distribute the flan mix to the 4 llanera. level of the llanera should not go over 3/4 of the tin to prevent overflowing.

cover the llanera securely with plastic wrap or a tight tinfoil preventing steam from getting into the tin during cooking.

in a pressure cooker, add water. water should be high enough preventing from drying up, but not boiling over and into the tins.

pressure cook in a very low fire for about 20 minutes.

set aside to cool. To serve, open gently the plastic covering of the tins. run a knife around the edges to loosen the flan from the tin. put a plate on top of the tin. gently and quickly flip over the plate together with the tin. gently remove the tin off the plate and from the flan revealing the golden brown caramel on the soft yellow flan.

san luis fiesta

2006-06-26T12:07:00.000+08:00

my hunny and I visited ima and tatay at sanluis. the feast of San Luis was actually, last June 21. It's a regular working week day so we just visited them last sunday.

We had a nice food gathering. We had miki-bihon pansit, some sisig, some lengua, fried native chicken, asado, sinigang with lots of vegetables, and nice kare-kare.

weather was overcast with some rain. better than having a very hot sunny day. we went home same safely on the same day.

surviving on food from nowhere: german veggie wedgie

2006-06-23T14:14:00.000+08:00

we again rummaged through our ref and found small portions of various vegetables. my hunny created the german veggie wedgie.

german veggie wedgie

1 small bell pepper
1 stalk chopped leeks
1/2 can straw mushrooms
1 medium carrot, sliced in wedges
1 bundle asparagus, cut in 1 inche lengths
10 pcs baby potatos, sliced in wedges, boiled for 5 minutes
1 german sausage, sliced in rounds.
2 Tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion, chopped
olive oil
salt and pepper

saute garlic in olive oil till brown. add the chopped onion. saute for about 2 minutes. add the potatoes till soft. add the carrots. add the sausage. add the chopped asparagus. saute for about 5 minutes for the flavors to cook through. add the mushrooms, leeks and bell pepper. adjust salt and pepper to taste.

bubba gump

2006-06-22T12:16:00.000+08:00

we had dinner last night at bubba gump. I'm with my hunny and my sis.

we had the best food item they offer: bourbon street mahi mahi.

two big fillets of mahi mahi, char broiled. smothered with creamy cheese sauce. in the creamy cheese sauce are tender shrimps, mashed potatoes and a crunchy potato nest.

miami heat is it!

2006-06-21T12:31:00.000+08:00

miami wins in the nba! yay!

miami's not my team but i was rooting for payton who hasn't had a ring yet. now he can sleep well....

jason williams also now has one. but he's a disappointment. he went in the nba with a bang but the bang didn't last long.

pat riley still has his championship touch. a classic riley.

dallas mavs is still young. i will not be surprised if they will be the champs next year.

arrived early at work

2006-06-20T13:27:00.000+08:00

i arrived an unusual time of 7:40 at work. that's very early in my case as i usually arrive at 8:06!

gift of a lifetime

2006-06-19T12:15:00.000+08:00

my baby went back to school for english sessions. this is to improve english proficinency and boost confidence in meeting foreign clients.

this is a gift which she will cherish for a lifetime.

sharing the lasagna

2006-06-16T12:59:00.000+08:00

my hunny brought some lasagna for her office mates.

they liked the lasagna. that's quite good for a first lasagna!

my first lasagna!

2006-06-15T12:26:00.000+08:00

last night we prepared our first lasagna. this plan has been running around for quite some time and it was only last night that we had it made. preparation looks complex but when we did our first lasagna, it was a cinch! just prepare the 2 sauces, boil the pasta, arrange, bake and you're done!

my first lasagna

Lasagna

Boil lasagna according to package instructions. do not over cook. may be removed from the boiling water even a little under-done. pasta dish would still continue to cook later when you put bake the dish into the oven. take good care of the lasagna when boiling. do not stir too much. add generous amounts of water to prevent them from sticking. after draining, sprinkle some olive oil to preserve it from sticking with the other lasagna.

sauce 1: white veggie sauce

1/4 cup butter
olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 medium onion
4 tablespoons flour
2 cups cream
1/2 cup full cream milk
1 cup chopped spinach

melt butter in a heavy sauce pan. add generous amounts of olive oil.
saute garlic till light brown. add the onions. saute till limp.
slowly add the 4 tablespoons of flour while constantly stirring. this will prevent lumps from forming. continuously stir for 5 minutes to let the flour cook through. this prevents the sauce from having a floury taste and texture.
flour mixture will thicken. add some of 1/4 cup of cream if the mixture is too thick when mixing.

add the cream and full cream milk. simmer for 5 minutes mixing it frequently to prevent from sticking and forming lumps. add the chopped spinach. add salt and pepper to taste. simmer for 3 more minutes. Consistency should be a bit thick for it to hold its shape when set on the lasagna. set aside.

sauce 2:red meat sauce

1/2 kilo minced pork
2 tablespoons olive oil
chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper

6 slivers of bacon
2 tablespoon garlic
1 medium onion
olive oil
4 cups tomato sauce
1 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup ready made catsup
chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper

prepare the pork. trim, clean and mince the pork. marinate with salt and pepper, chopped basil and coat it with olive oil. set aside.

on a heavy sauce pan, put the bacon on the hot pan without oil. fry the bacon till crisp. remove from pan. reserve the oil for sauteing later. chop the bacon to bite size pieces.

using the oil from the bacon, add garlic and chopped onion. add some olive oil. saute. add the marinated minced pork. pan fry for about 5 minutes in high heat or when the pork changed its color.

add all the tomato paste and tomato sauce. add the catsup. add the chopped basil. simmer. add little water if consistency is too thick. add salt and pepper. simmer till the pork is tender to the bite. Consistency should be a bit thick for it to hold its shape when set on the lasagna.

Preparation:

in an oven proof square pan, put some olive oil at the bottom to line the pan. add 1 layer of lasagna in an over-lapping manner forming a flat flooring of pasta.

Add the red sauce on top enough to cover the lasagna. about 1/2 in. thick. sprinkle some grated cheese.

add another layer of lasagna.

add now the white sauce enough to cover the lasagna. about 1/2 in. thick.

add another layer of lasagna.

usual lasagna has 3 layers of lasagna. finish the pan with sauce on top and generously sprinkle cheese with it.

pop it into an oven to brown the cheese on top. we did it on our microwave and grill oven and it went out fine.

Another tricky part here is how can you lift a perfect lasagna from the deep dish pan! we just used two flat ladles. 1 is used for scooping out the lasagna and the other is for holding form it its place.

This is a very rich delicacy. Eat generously and enjoy!

tuna mint basil

2006-06-14T12:02:00.000+08:00

i prepared a nice sandwich for my lunch today. i got fresh herbs from the supermarket yesterday and made a nice tuna spread.

tuna mint basil

1 can tuna (solid in vegetable oil)
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
salt and pepper to taste.

put the tuna in a bowl. add the mayo. add the basil and mint. add salt and pepper to taste. add more mayo if you want a more spreadable consistency. serve with freshly baked bread.

mom got well

2006-06-13T13:44:00.000+08:00

my mom had severe pain on her ankle due to a compression of the sciatic nerve.

panic struck me when my sister called me up when mamuy is asking to be brought to the hospital.

Later on i have learned that it was not an emergency.

I asked my sister to give mamuy strong pain relievers to ease her condition.

after about 12 hours, pain had subsided and mom can now walk by herself.

surviving of food from nowhere: pansit palabok

2006-06-09T12:18:00.000+08:00

we rummaged through our old food cabinet and found that we can make a basic pansit palabok. this is a local delicacy using thin rice noodles, having a red-orange sauce made from shrimp stock, smoked fish and spices.

well, that's the real recipe. but in this case, we will frugally use instant stuff, old-but-still-ok pork meat found stored in the ref and chicharon left-overs.

easy pansit palabok

1/4 kilo dried rice noodles, soaked for about 5 minutes to soften.
1 pouch instant pansit palabok mix (this is locally available or sold in oriental stores.)
1/2 cup cooked pork, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, chopped

boil the rice noodles until tender. drain and set aside.

dissolve pansit palabok mix in tap water according to packet directions. set aside.
saute garlic till golden brown. add the chopped onions. saute till onions are limp. add the pork to cook through. that's about 2 minutes. add the palabok mix. continuously stir the mixture until the mix is thick enough to coat the rice noodles.

to serve, put the cooked rice noodles on a plate. Top with ample amount of sauce. add more if desired. then top it off with the crunchy chicharon bits.

free cookies!

2006-06-08T12:13:00.000+08:00

i got free cookies today. got them from the untouched leftovers of the company board meeting.

it will need another board meeting for me to get free cookies from the company.

lhay off to dubai

2006-06-07T12:42:00.000+08:00

my good friend lhay will be off to dubai now.

she'll have her work and stay there for good.

i wish her luck for her and for her family.

saved some money

2006-06-06T12:57:00.000+08:00

i went to the bank today to deposit some money.

this is our savings for us and for the family.

tatay's accident

2006-06-05T12:07:00.000+08:00

we visited tatay back home as he met an accident. an iron door slammed on his heel creating an 8-stitch wound. he was given immediate treatment in a community hospital.

we had a gathering there to perk up tatay's mood. we had good food and good fun.

served were calderetang bibe, sopas, piniritong tilapia, piniritong talong, and pinakbet.

surviving on food from nowhere: sardines sotanghon soup

2006-06-02T13:37:00.000+08:00

i rummaged through our food cab a few days backa and found a small sotanghon, a.k.a. vermicelli. we made that into a good hot soup last night playing on simplicity at its best.

sardines sotanghon soup

1 small sotanghon soup (the 5 peso vermicelli pack)
1 can small red and spicy sardines
1 medium onion, chopped
1 TB minced garlic
1 small tomato, chopped
1 bundle native pechay, chopped into 1 inch lengths
1 pack powdered beef soup flavor

soak the dried sotanghon in water till soft. cut the noodles into desired length.
saute garlic in little oil till brown. add the onion.
add the chopped tomato. saute tille tomato is soft.
add the can of sardines. add 1 liter of water.
when boiling, add the beef powder.
simmer for 2 minutes.
add the chopped pechay. simmer for 2 minutes.
serve very hot!

prayer answered: fr. bobby titco's successful return

2006-06-01T13:14:00.000+08:00

a prayer was answered. we asked for fr. bobby titco's successful spiritual trip to italy. he returned a few days back and attended his mass last night.

it is through him that we sent our prayers to the homeland of the holy Padre Pio.

God is good. Padro Pio is listening.

tuna sandwich

2006-05-31T12:04:00.000+08:00

i have prepared nice and simple tuna sandwich last night. we had that for dinner and it is also my lunch for today.

tuna sandwich

1 can tuna (solid in oil)
1 medium onion
2 cups mayonnaise (more if desired)
salt and pepper

chop the onion into small cubes. mix tuna, onions and mayo in a bowl. do not over mix to protect the tuna from losing its texture. add salt and pepper to taste.

this spread may be used in sandwiches or in salads.

pics from the swim reunion

2006-05-30T13:00:00.000+08:00

we got the pics from the swim reuunion. u can tell that everybody's having fun!

Hunny’s reunion and Apung bito’s birthday

2006-05-29T15:38:00.000+08:00

We had a great weekend. Saw lots of good friends and got a good family reunion together with lots of food to enjoy!

We had a swimming reunion at Villa Antonina in Angeles, Pampanga. This is a small resort within the residential areas of Angeles. All classmates of my hunny brought their own food for everybody. Food was great and company is fun! We had inihaw na manok, spaghetti, chocolate cake, almondigas, lumpiang shanghai, hotdogs, fried chicken, pork kaldereta, lechon and unlimited beer!

The next day was apung bito’s birthday. All the family got their food contributions. We had chop suey, lechon manok, incomparable sisig, kalderetang manok, lelot manok, fried tilapia, inihaw na tilapia, inihaw na liempo and unlimited ice cream!

surviving on food from nowhere:lelot

2006-05-26T12:03:00.000+08:00

we had a very nice lelot last night. commonly known as congee. this is a simple congee made from what is left in our ref.

Lelot
1 cup glutinous rice
1/4 cup tablespoon chopped garlic
1 medium onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh ginger
1 stalk leek
6 cups soup stock
4 medium eggs
fish sauce
salt and pepper
spring onions, chopped

hard boil the eggs and set aside. toast half of the garlic then set aside.

saute the garlic in oil till brown. add the onions. add the chopped ginger. saute till the aroma of the ginger fills the air. add the leeks. add the glutinous rice. mix quickly as the glutinous rice may stick on to the pan. mix for about 1 minute. add soup stock. simmer till rice is very soft. add water if needed to keep from drying. add fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste.

drop the hard boiled eggs into the congee. serve very hot. top with toasted garlic and chopped spring onions.

shoes for my baby

2006-05-25T12:08:00.000+08:00

i got shoes for my baby. i know she likes it. i love her.

taba ng talangka

2006-05-24T12:07:00.000+08:00

last weekend, we were in pampanga. we went to a shop and got the taba ng talangka. this is the fat and eggs of a small black river crab squeezed and sauteed in garlic and oil packed in glass jars.

you usually saute the crabs again for a better tasting delicacy.

I warn you that this is a perfect recipe for tremendous amount of allergies!

taba ng talangka
1/4 cup chopped garlic. more if desired.
generous oil
butter for flavor
1 1/2 cup of talangka fat

melt butter in pan with oil. brown all the garlic making sure not to over brown. add all the talangka fat in the garlic. saute for about 8 minutes in medium fire. serve with tons of hot fluffy rice. add a little calamansi upon serving.

if itchiness is felt, take a couple of anti-histamines and enjoy!

surviving on food from nowhere:pansit

2006-05-23T12:12:00.000+08:00

we had pansit last night. and it was overflowing. i'm having it for lunch today at my office. my hunny and kno got their share too.

3/4 kilo rice noodles (dried)
small cabbage
small chinese cabbage
1 bell pepper
2 medium carrots
1 medium onion
enough leeks
garlic
soy sauce
fish sauce
salt and pepper
chicken heart, liver, gizzard adobo

saute garlic till golden brown. add chopped onions and chopped leeks. add chopped bell peppers and chopped carrots. saute till half cooked. add the adobo. mix till cooked through. set aside.

on a separate pan, simmer soy sauce for 2 minutes. add about 1 liter water. add the dried noodles. cut them when soft to make it easier to serve. when the noodles are 'al dente' (about 10 minutes), add the vegetable and adobo mix. Add patis, salt and pepper to taste. Add more water if you want a moist pansit.

Mix the pansit well. Serve hot with calamansi and toyo on the side.

Adobo

lots of garlic
1 medium onion
1 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 kilo chicken heart, liver, gizzard (cleaned)

brown the garlic. add the chopped onions. add the soy sauce and simmer for 1 minute. add the vinegar. Simmer in a low fire. Never touch or stir the saute until the vinegar is cooked. This is for about 5 minutes. Add the chicken heart, liver and gizzard. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until the chicken parts are tender. Add little water if needed. Best eaten the day after as the chicken parts had absorbed all the flavors.

sta. rita fiesta

2006-05-22T12:13:00.000+08:00

we went to the sta. rita town fiesta.

tons of food available.

adobo, tidtad, bulanglang, desserts from my sister, roast pork asado, big fried fish, puto, tamales, pindang, red eggs, tomatoes with wansoy and bibingka.

we stayed in our ancestral home. the house was built 120 years ago and still has the original facade.

Too bad we need to go home a day before the feast day as we have to work on a monday.