The first snow fall has arrived. Our little house is blanketed in white. By back is going to complain.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and your loved ones!
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Grass is greener...?
Yeah the grass is greener but after almost a month of no mowing, our lawn is covered in healthy, green and almost knee-high grass! My mower is not really cooperating with me and the grass is too tall to cut using the manual push powered mower.
Yep, I gotta hire someone.
It's a sad, sad day for DIYers everywhere!
Yep, I gotta hire someone.
It's a sad, sad day for DIYers everywhere!
Friday, August 17, 2007
Veggies and my figs...
Kamusta na?
It's been a while since we've posted to our blog. Too many things have happened since April so we'll just say that it feels like the year has passed by even though it's only August.
Anyway, over a month ago I had the most fortunate encounter with figs. Yes, figs. They don't natively grow in the Philippines as far as I know but I remember those fig bars when I was a kid. I thought, those were sweet! A while back, my aunt had a fig tree growing in her yard so one summer, she asked me if I would take a bag of it's delicious fruits. She felt bad that some had already fallen because they were so ripe. Anyway, once I got home I fired up the oven and popped all of them in there. I only spread a bit of olive oil on their flesh (after running them through running cold water) and made a cross like mark on top. Once they were out of the oven, I drizzled a bit of honey on top and had a feast with the missus.
So last month, I saw a bunch of green figs in the fruit section of our local supermarket. I bought about ten or so pieces thinking I could have them for dessert sometime during the week. It was over a week before I realized I have yet to taste the figs again! So out the ref they came and rinsed in water. I basically did the same as last time but I added some crumbled gorgonzola cheese within the figs. Boy that was tasty. Too bad though it wasn't as sweet as I expected. Here is a picture of my dessert.
Now let's talk about yesterday. I had a pretty full schedule yesterday. I don't believe I stopped working on something at the office until just before I left for the day. So I wasn't looking forward to cooking dinner. Well, after putting away my bag, taking care of my chores, I looked in the ref. There was a lot of plastic in the there and I felt that I needed to cook the vegetables before they rotted. It's not a good feeling to be throwing all that good money away.
So, after a lot of cleaning, shaving, cutting and chopping, I produced three dishes. The first was my favorite spargel soup. The second was roasted asparagus, sweet onion and mushrooms. Finally, I made a veggie and tofu stir fry.
Here is how I did it.
Spargel Soup
1 bunch of asparagus (thick green stalks)
1/2 liter good stock (chicken preferably)
carrot tops or whatever leftover veggies you have
salt to taste
1. Bring your stock to a simmer.
2. Wash your asparagus stalks. Break them into two and that will separate the tough part from the tender area. Works every time. Set the tender stalks aside.
3. Peel the tough remainders. Chop them coarsely and add them to the stock.
4. Add the remainder of the vegetables to the soup.
5. Add salt. Taste a bit and add water or more stock if necessary.
6. After about 30 minutes, remove the soup from the stove and pour it into a blender. Puree the soup. You can add a bit of cream or milk if you like.
Roasted Veggies
1 bunch of tender asparagus stalks
1 package of mushrooms
1 Spanish Onion
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1. Fire up the grill or place your cast iron grill on the stove. Clean all your vegetables and make sure they are dry before you chop them.
2. Chop the onion into whatever size you like. Halve the mushrooms.
3. Toss the asparagus stalks in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Do the same with the mushrooms.
4. Place vegetables on the grill. Rotate them once in a while.
5. After the onion pieces turn translucent, the mushrooms and asparagus shrink and char a bit, remove from the grill.
Stir Fry Vegetables and Tofu
1 package firm tofu
1 bunch of green beans (about 15 to 25 pieces)
1 bunch of carrots (about five long pieces)
1 green/red/yellow bell pepper (which ever one you like but not all three)
1/2 jalapeno (optional)
1/4 cup oyster sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1. Clean your veggies.
2. Make 1/2 inch cubes out of the tofu.
3. Chop your green beans into 3/2 lengths. Peel your carrots and use the tops for the soup above. Chop them into disks. Chop the bell pepper into whatever shape you fancy but discard the top and all the seeds inside. Cut the jalapeno pepper into strips.
4. Heat up a wok. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry the tofu cubes. Once they are golden brown on most sides, remove from the wok and set aside.
5. Add another tablespoon of oil. Toss the carrots into the wok. Cook carrots until they are soft or about 10 - 15 minutes (depending on how thick you cut the disks). Remove from the wok.
6. Stir fry the bell pepper and cook until somewhat soft. It shouldn't be too crunchy to the bite or too soft that it falls apart when you pick them up. Remove from the wok also.
7. Add the last tablespoon of oil and the green beans. Coat them with the oil and cook them for about five minutes. Add all the cooked veggies and the tofu. Stir fry the ingredients for about 3 minutes and add the oyster sauce. Cook for another 2 minutes then remove from the fire and serve.
Well I hope you like this post. Give me some feedback if you try any of the recipes above.
It's been a while since we've posted to our blog. Too many things have happened since April so we'll just say that it feels like the year has passed by even though it's only August.
Anyway, over a month ago I had the most fortunate encounter with figs. Yes, figs. They don't natively grow in the Philippines as far as I know but I remember those fig bars when I was a kid. I thought, those were sweet! A while back, my aunt had a fig tree growing in her yard so one summer, she asked me if I would take a bag of it's delicious fruits. She felt bad that some had already fallen because they were so ripe. Anyway, once I got home I fired up the oven and popped all of them in there. I only spread a bit of olive oil on their flesh (after running them through running cold water) and made a cross like mark on top. Once they were out of the oven, I drizzled a bit of honey on top and had a feast with the missus.
So last month, I saw a bunch of green figs in the fruit section of our local supermarket. I bought about ten or so pieces thinking I could have them for dessert sometime during the week. It was over a week before I realized I have yet to taste the figs again! So out the ref they came and rinsed in water. I basically did the same as last time but I added some crumbled gorgonzola cheese within the figs. Boy that was tasty. Too bad though it wasn't as sweet as I expected. Here is a picture of my dessert.
Now let's talk about yesterday. I had a pretty full schedule yesterday. I don't believe I stopped working on something at the office until just before I left for the day. So I wasn't looking forward to cooking dinner. Well, after putting away my bag, taking care of my chores, I looked in the ref. There was a lot of plastic in the there and I felt that I needed to cook the vegetables before they rotted. It's not a good feeling to be throwing all that good money away.
So, after a lot of cleaning, shaving, cutting and chopping, I produced three dishes. The first was my favorite spargel soup. The second was roasted asparagus, sweet onion and mushrooms. Finally, I made a veggie and tofu stir fry.
Here is how I did it.
Spargel Soup
1 bunch of asparagus (thick green stalks)
1/2 liter good stock (chicken preferably)
carrot tops or whatever leftover veggies you have
salt to taste
1. Bring your stock to a simmer.
2. Wash your asparagus stalks. Break them into two and that will separate the tough part from the tender area. Works every time. Set the tender stalks aside.
3. Peel the tough remainders. Chop them coarsely and add them to the stock.
4. Add the remainder of the vegetables to the soup.
5. Add salt. Taste a bit and add water or more stock if necessary.
6. After about 30 minutes, remove the soup from the stove and pour it into a blender. Puree the soup. You can add a bit of cream or milk if you like.
Roasted Veggies
1 bunch of tender asparagus stalks
1 package of mushrooms
1 Spanish Onion
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
1. Fire up the grill or place your cast iron grill on the stove. Clean all your vegetables and make sure they are dry before you chop them.
2. Chop the onion into whatever size you like. Halve the mushrooms.
3. Toss the asparagus stalks in extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Do the same with the mushrooms.
4. Place vegetables on the grill. Rotate them once in a while.
5. After the onion pieces turn translucent, the mushrooms and asparagus shrink and char a bit, remove from the grill.
Stir Fry Vegetables and Tofu
1 package firm tofu
1 bunch of green beans (about 15 to 25 pieces)
1 bunch of carrots (about five long pieces)
1 green/red/yellow bell pepper (which ever one you like but not all three)
1/2 jalapeno (optional)
1/4 cup oyster sauce
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1. Clean your veggies.
2. Make 1/2 inch cubes out of the tofu.
3. Chop your green beans into 3/2 lengths. Peel your carrots and use the tops for the soup above. Chop them into disks. Chop the bell pepper into whatever shape you fancy but discard the top and all the seeds inside. Cut the jalapeno pepper into strips.
4. Heat up a wok. Add 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry the tofu cubes. Once they are golden brown on most sides, remove from the wok and set aside.
5. Add another tablespoon of oil. Toss the carrots into the wok. Cook carrots until they are soft or about 10 - 15 minutes (depending on how thick you cut the disks). Remove from the wok.
6. Stir fry the bell pepper and cook until somewhat soft. It shouldn't be too crunchy to the bite or too soft that it falls apart when you pick them up. Remove from the wok also.
7. Add the last tablespoon of oil and the green beans. Coat them with the oil and cook them for about five minutes. Add all the cooked veggies and the tofu. Stir fry the ingredients for about 3 minutes and add the oyster sauce. Cook for another 2 minutes then remove from the fire and serve.
Well I hope you like this post. Give me some feedback if you try any of the recipes above.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Now spring is here....
Finally the sun is out and the heater has stopped running (I don't have to dread my energy bill this month). Of course, along with the sun, the trees have start sprouting buds and leaves plus the grass is growing longer. Eventually, I have to mow the lawns. We have a ride-on mower (it's a Murray 42819X14A) and I have been reading a little about it for the past couple of hours. I noticed that a lot of people are saying how much emissions come out of these things and how unfriendly it is (noise, pollution). Since it's Earth Day today, I am inclined to get rid of this thing and just buy a push mower that's people powered.
I am not looking forward to this :)
I am not looking forward to this :)
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Surf and Turf
Sometime in February, TNGal felt like having some mussels. She remembered how moules mariniere tasted the past two times we ordered it at a restaurant. Before heading home one day, she went and picked up a bag. So, when she picked me up from the train station, I was surprised with mussels. Also I had about a quarter of a bottle left of some sauvignon blanc so this was a perfect time to finish it off. Anyway, this is the recipe I used:
4 lbs (or 1.81kg) of mussels
1/2 a stick of sweet butter (about 57g)
1 tbsp diced jambon cru or raw cured ham or lean bacon
2 shallots or 1 small onion finely chopped
1 glass of white wine
chopped parsley and garlic and pepper to taste
1. Rinse the mussels.
2. Heat the butter until it melts in a large pan. Add the ham or bacon and the shallots or onion. Cook until they soften (but do not let them brown).
3. Add the mussels and the wine. Cover the pan and shake it. The steam should cook the mussels. Once all the mussels have opened, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
4. Mix the parsley, garlic and pepper. Serve over bowls and crusty bread!
After the clams, comes the beef. We were grocery shopping and came by the meat section. I noticed these lovely flat beef strips calling out to me. I bought a package along with some yellow baby potatoes, mushrooms and pencil thin asparagus. By the time I got home I was drooling with what I had in mind. Anyway, I mixed some olive oil and dried italian herbs (rosemary, parsley, sage and thyme). I cleaned the mushroom caps by using a moist paper towel. TNGal broke the asparagus in two and I halved the potatoes. I spread them on a pan then liberally seasoned them with salt and pepper. I then spread the olive oil mixture over each vegetable making sure they were coated. With a waiting 450 degree oven, I placed the pan inside the oven along with the cast iron pan. I cooked the veggies for about 10 - 15 minutes, just enough to heat the pan and cook the potatoes through. Then I placed the beef strips in the pan and let them cook. The nice thing about a cast iron pan is that it evenly distributes the heat plus it keeps the heat a while longer than regular pans. Anyway, after about two to three minutes on each side, dinner was ready! Here are a couple of pictures. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Plating the beef and the veggies
Just the veggies
The finished product
4 lbs (or 1.81kg) of mussels
1/2 a stick of sweet butter (about 57g)
1 tbsp diced jambon cru or raw cured ham or lean bacon
2 shallots or 1 small onion finely chopped
1 glass of white wine
chopped parsley and garlic and pepper to taste
1. Rinse the mussels.
2. Heat the butter until it melts in a large pan. Add the ham or bacon and the shallots or onion. Cook until they soften (but do not let them brown).
3. Add the mussels and the wine. Cover the pan and shake it. The steam should cook the mussels. Once all the mussels have opened, remove the pan from the heat immediately.
4. Mix the parsley, garlic and pepper. Serve over bowls and crusty bread!
After the clams, comes the beef. We were grocery shopping and came by the meat section. I noticed these lovely flat beef strips calling out to me. I bought a package along with some yellow baby potatoes, mushrooms and pencil thin asparagus. By the time I got home I was drooling with what I had in mind. Anyway, I mixed some olive oil and dried italian herbs (rosemary, parsley, sage and thyme). I cleaned the mushroom caps by using a moist paper towel. TNGal broke the asparagus in two and I halved the potatoes. I spread them on a pan then liberally seasoned them with salt and pepper. I then spread the olive oil mixture over each vegetable making sure they were coated. With a waiting 450 degree oven, I placed the pan inside the oven along with the cast iron pan. I cooked the veggies for about 10 - 15 minutes, just enough to heat the pan and cook the potatoes through. Then I placed the beef strips in the pan and let them cook. The nice thing about a cast iron pan is that it evenly distributes the heat plus it keeps the heat a while longer than regular pans. Anyway, after about two to three minutes on each side, dinner was ready! Here are a couple of pictures. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!
Plating the beef and the veggies
Just the veggies
The finished product
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Time to cook!
It's been a while since we've posted a recipe or a critique about food. I woke up today with a hankering for bread and doing something with the apples we have in the kitchen. It didn't take me long to locate a couple of recipes for white and french bread.
Combining all the wet ingredients for the white bread was easy. So was adding the flour. What was tough was mixing them all together by hand. We do have a mixer but I thought I'd get my hands dirty. I didn't do so well as the dough was in clumps and I really hesitated adding the last cup full of all purpose flour. Also, the the active dry yeast didn't proof as well as I thought. Truenorthgal mentioned that the water must have been lukewarm. We ended up throwing the entire thing into the mixer and adding enough water so it the dough looked like a proper dough.
The french bread dough was a little easier. All it required was all purpose flour, salt, active dry yeast and water! I used the mixer this time but truenorthgal ended up adding a little more water in the end. So by the time both batches were ready, I was already 2 hours into the new day. Here are a couple of pictures of the dough.
Rising dough
Almost done!
Final minutes...
Though the crust was golden, the insides were somewhat undercooked in some areas. One of the white loafs was properly done but the crust is hard. I ended up cutting up the french breads and spreading olive oil and dry herbs on them so I could salvage them. Here they are:
French Bread with olive oil and herbs
White Bread somewhat ok
I'll try them again after we finish this batch of bread. On a brighter note, I really liked how the apple cobbler came out. Here is the recipe I used:
4 - 5 small McIntosh apples
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar (depends on your sweet tooth)
1 stick of butter (or about 8 tablespoons), cold and cut into bits
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
pinch of salt
1. Peel and slice your apples as thinly as you can. Mix some sugar with the slices and then layer them onto a greased baking pan.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a food processor, mix the remaining ingredients until they come out somewhat crumbly.
3. Using a spoon, drop the mix on top of the apples.
4. Place the pan into the oven and cook until top is golden brown (may take between 20 to 30 minutes).
Serve with vanilla ice cream on the side. This recipe is good for about five to six people. Here are a couple of pictures of the results.
Close up of the thin apple slices
Dig in while it's warm!
Combining all the wet ingredients for the white bread was easy. So was adding the flour. What was tough was mixing them all together by hand. We do have a mixer but I thought I'd get my hands dirty. I didn't do so well as the dough was in clumps and I really hesitated adding the last cup full of all purpose flour. Also, the the active dry yeast didn't proof as well as I thought. Truenorthgal mentioned that the water must have been lukewarm. We ended up throwing the entire thing into the mixer and adding enough water so it the dough looked like a proper dough.
The french bread dough was a little easier. All it required was all purpose flour, salt, active dry yeast and water! I used the mixer this time but truenorthgal ended up adding a little more water in the end. So by the time both batches were ready, I was already 2 hours into the new day. Here are a couple of pictures of the dough.
Rising dough
Almost done!
Final minutes...Though the crust was golden, the insides were somewhat undercooked in some areas. One of the white loafs was properly done but the crust is hard. I ended up cutting up the french breads and spreading olive oil and dry herbs on them so I could salvage them. Here they are:
French Bread with olive oil and herbs
White Bread somewhat okI'll try them again after we finish this batch of bread. On a brighter note, I really liked how the apple cobbler came out. Here is the recipe I used:
4 - 5 small McIntosh apples
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup sugar (depends on your sweet tooth)
1 stick of butter (or about 8 tablespoons), cold and cut into bits
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
pinch of salt
1. Peel and slice your apples as thinly as you can. Mix some sugar with the slices and then layer them onto a greased baking pan.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a food processor, mix the remaining ingredients until they come out somewhat crumbly.
3. Using a spoon, drop the mix on top of the apples.
4. Place the pan into the oven and cook until top is golden brown (may take between 20 to 30 minutes).
Serve with vanilla ice cream on the side. This recipe is good for about five to six people. Here are a couple of pictures of the results.
Close up of the thin apple slices 
Dig in while it's warm!Monday, February 12, 2007
Time for a break...
After five days of bone-chilling cold (where the high was around 20F/-6.67C), we finally got a break with the temp when Saturday came around and we were finally greeted with a high of 33F/0C! Trust me, that extra 13 degrees really helps specially when the sun is out in all it's glory. Ahhh, I miss the sun and it's warmth. Though I get that every night when I snuggle with truenorthgal.
Anyway, we woke up late. It was nice just to lay in bed soaking in all that goodness. I've suggested a wine tasting activity for Saturday. I thought truenorthgal wouldn't go for it as she doesn't like drinks with any alcohol content but she said yes. I was just glad we could get out of the house and I was excited by what we will taste and find.
We were headed to Alba Vineyard near the Delaware River. It wasn't that far off from where we lived. Here is an example of how bad it got. We actually had ice falls along the highway.
Here is a better shot:
It was interesting to see all that water freeze up after just a couple of days of cold weather. Though just remember, this happened over time. As water melted a bit, it refroze over the existing ice. The constant thaw/freeze cycle resulted in these icicles.
Eventually, after enjoying the company of the winding creek below, we got to our destination.
It was a wine and chocolate weekend, where various vineyards open their doors to the public so we could sample their wine and some food that really goes great with it. After paying a fee for me and truenorthgal, they handed us free glasses and a taste of their brut-sparkling wine. We excitedly checked on the different bottles on display. Eventually, we heard other guests in the next room and decided to join them.
It was a pretty simple setup. There were various people serving wine and food. They would recommend what type of cheese would go with what white wine or how you eat a piece of chocolate by using it like a straw to get to a nice red. In the end, we tried about seven or eight wines including two ice wines. They measured the amount of wine they poured using bottle pourers so you won't have to worry about getting too tipsy to drive on the road. They were nice enough that they didn't mind pouring a little bit more for you to get a real taste of the wine.
I was really excited with their rieslings and blueberry wine. I specially liked it when I found out they made an award winning gevurtztraminer in 1987 and they were making some from the grapes they planted in 2006! I will definitely come back to the vineyard in the fall and see where they are with it.
Here is a shot of their sign followed by a couple of shots of part of the 30 acres of vines they are preparing for the next season.
Here is one of their corks. I can't wait to pop this one out of the couple of bottles we took home. Thank you Lord!
Anyway, we woke up late. It was nice just to lay in bed soaking in all that goodness. I've suggested a wine tasting activity for Saturday. I thought truenorthgal wouldn't go for it as she doesn't like drinks with any alcohol content but she said yes. I was just glad we could get out of the house and I was excited by what we will taste and find.
We were headed to Alba Vineyard near the Delaware River. It wasn't that far off from where we lived. Here is an example of how bad it got. We actually had ice falls along the highway.
Here is a better shot:
It was interesting to see all that water freeze up after just a couple of days of cold weather. Though just remember, this happened over time. As water melted a bit, it refroze over the existing ice. The constant thaw/freeze cycle resulted in these icicles.
Eventually, after enjoying the company of the winding creek below, we got to our destination.
It was a wine and chocolate weekend, where various vineyards open their doors to the public so we could sample their wine and some food that really goes great with it. After paying a fee for me and truenorthgal, they handed us free glasses and a taste of their brut-sparkling wine. We excitedly checked on the different bottles on display. Eventually, we heard other guests in the next room and decided to join them.
It was a pretty simple setup. There were various people serving wine and food. They would recommend what type of cheese would go with what white wine or how you eat a piece of chocolate by using it like a straw to get to a nice red. In the end, we tried about seven or eight wines including two ice wines. They measured the amount of wine they poured using bottle pourers so you won't have to worry about getting too tipsy to drive on the road. They were nice enough that they didn't mind pouring a little bit more for you to get a real taste of the wine.
I was really excited with their rieslings and blueberry wine. I specially liked it when I found out they made an award winning gevurtztraminer in 1987 and they were making some from the grapes they planted in 2006! I will definitely come back to the vineyard in the fall and see where they are with it.
Here is a shot of their sign followed by a couple of shots of part of the 30 acres of vines they are preparing for the next season.
Here is one of their corks. I can't wait to pop this one out of the couple of bottles we took home. Thank you Lord!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
So many new things...
For the past couple of months I haven't ... we haven't been posting. Since moving, we have been really busy but we realized it's been a while since we've watched TV on a proper set. Our previous set required an antenna as we did not subscribe to a cable or satellite service. Even then, there was only one good channel and a couple of viewable ones. Viewable meaning we can see something but our eyes hurt after watching a couple of minutes. Anyway, I've come to appreciate the following shows (in no particular order):
Oh and I can't wait when all the TV signals convert to HD. I can tell you that it's comforting to see the pits on the actor's faces. :)
- Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
- Naruto
- Bleach
- How I Met Your Mother
- Witchblade
- House M.D.
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
- The Dresden Files
- 24
- Afro Samurai
- Dirty Jobs
- Heroes
Oh and I can't wait when all the TV signals convert to HD. I can tell you that it's comforting to see the pits on the actor's faces. :)
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