Counting down...

Looking at our counter, I just did a doubletake when I saw the number. Today is day 100 people! 100 days before the wedding! And there is still so much to do!

If I could take time off right now and find a cheap flight back to Manila, I would do so. I am really sorry Malou if I'm not there helping you out. At the very least, I could be your driver who does know how to drive a stick shift (even if it's been almost eight years since I drove with one). Bawi na lang ako pagdating ko.

Hopefully by the time you read this everything went well with the paperwork. Considering we have the Family Code on our side, I think the civil registrar has no choice but to push our paperwork along. That and any future b2b from San Pedro, who has a h2b abroad, will have an easier time getting a marriage license.

Mahal na mahal kita Schatz and see you in a heartbeat...

LSH 1 - Lip Smacking Hopefully It's time to give thanks...

If you think about it, everyday is a great day to give thanks. Hey, you are breathing right? You have a roof over your head? You have a computer so that means you have electricity. If you are using a net cafe machine, that means you are wearing clothes and have money to pay for it. So, every day is a GREAT day to give thanks.

We've just finished our Thanksgiving lunch. Usually people in the US celebrate Thanksgiving dinner. We prefer lunch. That gives everybody time to ride home safely. Also, that gives a lot of people time to come by our place and partake of the Thanksgiving buffet.

Like every year, or more like every time I get the cooking itch, I get to cook something special. The night before, my mom bought a box of large frozen shrimp, a nice salmon and two bags of clams. I told her that I would take care of the shrimp and salmon if she makes clam soup. When I woke up today, I just went looking for some shrimp recipes that I could whip up in a jiffy. Here are the recipes I used.


Herb Salmon
1 large salmon
mixed herbs (oregano, thyme, dill, rosemary, whatever you want to use)
olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Prepare the baking dish by pouring some olive oil on the bottom and spreading it around. Place the salmon on the baking dish skin side down and "wash" it with some more olive oil. You could also use melted butter if you like.
3. Season the salmon with the herbs, salt and pepper.
4. Place salmon in the oven for 15 to 25 minutes. If you start seeing the salmon fat dripping and bubbling, give it 2 more minutes before you cut into it and check to see if it is done. Don't overcook it as dry salmon is not tasty.

The Lemon-Butter-Garlic Prawns are on the left and the Salt and Pepper Shrimp are on the right. As you can see, they didn't last long and my sister had to save the last couple of pieces for me before they were all gone.

Lemon-Butter-Garlic Prawns
(I got this recipe from the Pinoy Cook's blog and slightly modified it. Here is the original recipe if you would like to take a look.)
17 Large Shrimp
Butter
Lemon juice (try calamansi if you want)
Garlic
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
2. De-vein all the shrimp. Save the shrimp shells in a bag and place in a freezer. It should be ok just as long as you don't thaw and refreeze the shells. The shells could be used for soup or seafood stocks.
3. Chop the garlic into small pieces.
4. Spread some butter on the bottom of a baking pan. Place the shrimp on the baking pan.
5. Pour the juice on top of the shrimp.
6. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper and spoon the garlic on top of the shrimp. Place some pats of butter on top of the shrimp also.
7. Place the baking pan in the oven for about 10 minutes. When the garlic smells heavenly and shrimp have pink to red stripes they should be ready. Serve immediately!


Salt and Pepper Shrimp
(I got this recipe from Tyler Florence on Food Network. I modified it because I did not have chilies nor club soda. Here is the original recipe if you like.)
17 Large Shrimp
Cooking oil (peanut, vegetable, or whatever you have on hand)
2 large eggs
3 cups cornstarch
1/2 cup COLD, COLD, COLD water
ginger cut into slivers
salt and pepper

1. De-vein shrimp. Save those shells!
2. Pour cooking oil into a wok or frying pan. It should cover about an inch of the bottom of the pan. Place the wok on the stove and let it heat up. To check if the oil is hot enough, place a SMALL amount of water (A couple of drops at most! Please ensure no kids are around and that you protect yourself from the hot oil.) on a long wooden spoon and let it drip into the wok. You should hear the familiar crackling sound of hot oil. If you don't hear anything, wait. Let me say that again, unless you hear that crackling sound, don't fry anything!
3. Mix the oil and water in a large bowl. Whisk in the 2 cups of cornstarch and get rid of any lumps. It should have the consistency of heavy cream. Season with lots of salt and pepper. As Chef Florence said, "... remember it is called Salt and Pepper Shrimp!"
4. Fry the slivers of ginger and remove them once they turn slightly brown.
5. Mix the last cup of cornstarch, fried ginger and salt and pepper in a separate bowl.
6. Dredge a shrimp in the cornstarch and shake off any extra seasoned cornstarch. If any ginger pieces come with it, let it be. Dip the dredged shrimp in the batter and let the excess drip off.
7. Slide the shrimp into the hot oil. It should only take a couple of minutes to cook one side. Once it's done, turn over ONLY once. Remove after a couple of minutes and let it drain on paper towels. Season the shrimp again with salt and pepper. Serve with sweet and spicy sauce immediately.

All they can see is a forest of knees...

This is something TNgal and I have agreed on from the beginning, no children are invited to the wedding unless they are the flower girl, ring bearer, etc. We just thought that kids may not have fun in an adult event especially one that goes on for hours on end. I've attended a couple of weddings and I remember that all those kids were hyper in the beginning and then they start getting fussy during the reception. The parents then have to bring them outside to calm them down. I have seen kids who are quite well behaved but those are rare. So just in case you are wondering what one should do when inviting couples who have kids, read this article (may ask for a free user name and password).

Looking overseas...

Has your pride ever gotten in the way of getting to your destination a lot faster? How about if you were working on something and you've hit a brick wall but you still refuse to ask for help from the person in the next cubicle even though you know he's gotten past that particular wall? In my neck of the woods, I've been humbled many times when a complex task is easily accomplished by a few simple commands. Especially for something that requires a quick response, one should not hesitate to ask for help.

I've always believed that we have a very solid educational system. I compare some of the things that my cousins are studying in the US with what I learned in college. Sometimes I find that what's basic for us is already advanced for them. That's why I've been thinking of sending TNgal's and I (future) kids to their grandparents in the Philippines at least until they get to the collegiate level. When that time comes they could choose whichever college they want to go to just as long as they get to come home every summer.

Reading this article (may require a free username and password) has really gotten me thinking about what kind of education our kids would get here in the US. If the educational system is being adjusted just to boost grades temporarily, that wouldn't help our kids in the future. It's like setting them up for failure as they learn nothing just to make the school system look good.

Finally we've moved (the rest of the blog)...

Other than the countdown script (which for some unknown reason is also a problem on other W@Wie blogs), we have now completely moved here. I'm currently stuck at work waiting for some things to finish so I thought I might as well finish this. If any of you find a countdown script (that doesn't require a registration to use) that works with blogger, please write the URL down in comments. Thanks!

What is family?

I come from a very large family. I don't know what it was in the 50's or 60's but it seems a lot more people conceive a lot of children during that time. Of course I have no statistics to back it up but probably if I search the net something will come up. Anyway, I am glad to come from such a large group of cousins, aunts and uncles, grandparents, granduncles and grandaunts, etc. When I was a kid, and up til now, I was amazed, and a little confused, whenever someone would introduce me to a new aunt or fourth cousin. I am very happy to know that TNgal also feels the same way as we hope to have at least four kids in our long and mostly happy marriage (well ok in the near future marriage).

We all come from different backgrounds, and beliefs at times, but we all know we are linked somehow. If not by blood, it's by some sliver of relations of long time friendships. Even if we have not met each other, just by knowing that you are the cousin of an aunt of my father is enough for me to shake your hand and give you a hug.

So in this world today of adopted children and artificial insemination, what is family for them? I found this article (this may require a free account) about how children conceived by an anonymous donor are trying to find and connect with their siblings. One of the kids even introduces his brothers and sisters as "This is my sister from another mother, and this is my brother from another mother, this is my other sister from another mother' " and so on."

Flashback!

I'm trying to move all the posts from our old blog to this one. Bear with us if you've read these posts before. We'll try to intersperse new posts with the old one every once in a while. Also, if you see the title of a post starting with FB, then that means it's a flashback post. Ok?

Let the great migration begin!

We've just moved from a different blog host as they were going to shut down by the end of the month. Now I need to move all our old posts from that blog to this one. I am also wondering how I could move all those nifty java applets and code I've "lifted". Ahh just like old times!

FB Chatterbox is gone!?!

I am really glad people still come by and read our blog even if it turns out to be a long read. Thanks again and we hope you can come by again.

What's really annoying is that our chatterbox seems to have deserted us. Your thoughts are still there but I don't know for how long. Oh well, now I'm wondering if we should just really move on to a different blog provider. What do you think?

For now I will remove the "Your Thoughts?" section until I can find a different chatterbox. Thanks for sharing!