True North

BBQ weekend

2011-06-10T07:51:00.001-04:00

So hopefully the weather cooperates and this weekend will be nice. The menu will include:

Honey-Chipotle Pork Ribs

Flank Steak in Chimichurri Sauce

Shrimp with Sezchuan Salt

Salmon

Tomatillo Salsa

Chorizo Cheese Dip

Guacamole

Various roasted veggies and fruits (bell peppers, vidalia onions, avocado, pineapple)

This will be a busy cookout!

Chili Time!

2011-05-04T13:10:00.003-04:00

The last time I tried to make some chili, the beans needed more time in the water and the spice mix I had was way past due. From the Award Winning Chili recipe, I finally had some chili that was worth the work.

Chili
1 lbs of ground beef
2 onions, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 (14.5oz) can of Wegman's diced tomatoes chili style
1 (8oz) can of tomato paste
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp smoked hot paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 lbs of dried kidney beans, soaked overnight
1 cup water from the kidney beans soak

1. Heat up a tablespoon of canola oil in a cast iron pot. Cook the onions and bell pepper until the onions are translucent. Remove the onions and bell pepper from the pot.
2. Cook the ground beef in the pot. Add the onions and bell pepper again.
3. Add all the remaining ingredients (except the beans) and bring the pot to a boil.
4. When the pot is boiling, add the beans. Cover the pot and bring to a simmer for 2 hours.

Beefy Bourguignon

2011-05-04T12:59:00.002-04:00

I finally tried this again. This tasted much much better. Here are my shots.

BROWNed meat and cooking the onions with burgundy and thickening it with flour.

Bright vegetables.

Supper time!

Grownup Mac and Cheese

2010-10-31T22:34:00.001-04:00

We were hankering for some mac and cheese. We had a great one from this restaurant in Lehigh Gorge so I looked around for something to try. I found this (http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/29/addictive-mac-and-cheese/) from a blog entry on the NY Times. I did not have enough time nor cheese so I tweaked the recipe a bit. Hey we all liked it so this goes on our blog!

Ingredients

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

2 cups heavy cream

3 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 grated cheddar

1 grated pecorino Romano

1 pound elbow macaroni

Method

1. Combine milk and cream in a pot and heat. Melt butter in a high-sided skillet over medium heat. When butter bubbles, add flour. Cook, stirring, 1 minute.

2. Slowly pour hot milk into flour-butter mixture while whisking. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.

3. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in salt, nutmeg, black pepper, cheddar, and pecorino Romano. Set cheese sauce aside.

4. Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Add macaroni; cook 2 to 3 fewer minutes than manufacturer's directions, until outside of pasta is cooked and inside is underdone. (Different brands of macaroni cook at different rates; be sure to read the instructions.) Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well. Stir macaroni into the reserved cheese sauce.

5. Pour the mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese.

Long day...

2010-08-20T15:18:00.001-04:00

I can't really complain. Things have to be done, the pantry restocked, plants to transfer. Hey at least the sun is out and I am about to see my dear schatzi.

Asian Style BBQ

2010-07-10T21:02:00.006-04:00

Finally the weekend is here. We were spared from all the heat and a nice shower came during the morning. Unfortunately I was planning to barbeque some chipotle in adobe sauce ribs outside. I saw this recipe the other day so it was out with the chipotle and in with the fish sauce.

Recipe: My Take on Fatty 'Cue Spare Ribs
2 1/2 cups fish sauce
1 cup sugar cane vinegar
1 bulb of garlic, peeled and smashed
1 medium shallot, peeled and sliced
2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup sugar
2 racks pork spare ribs
1 gallon of water plus 3/4 cups of water
red pepper flakes
6 ounces palm sugar

1. In a pot, place a gallon of water. Add the sugar cane vinegar, garlic, shallot, black pepper and 2 cups of fish sauce. Cover the pot and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, place in a nonreactive container and chill.

2. For this recipe, I placed the ribs in the brine for about 9 hours but you can probably leave it in between 6 and 12 hours.

3. After the requisite brining, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove the ribs from the brine and sprinkle the red pepper flakes as liberally or as lightly as you want. Place ribs on a couple of trays.

4. Once the oven has reached the proper temperature, place the trays in the oven for about 20 minutes.

5. Combine the palm sugar and 3/4 cup water in a small pot over a medium flame, and heat until the sugar melts. Combine that simple syrup with the remaining 1/2 cup fish sauce.

6. Bring the trays out of the oven and glaze heavily with mixture. Put them back in the oven for another 20 minutes. Repeat the process two more times but make sure you flip the ribs at least once so you can apply the glaze.

7. Once done and you brought the trays out of the oven, let the ribs rest for about 5 minutes. Chop up the ribs and enjoy!

Here is a shot of the ribs.

Here is a closeup shot of a rib.

Tis' the Season

2010-05-22T13:04:00.002-04:00

Can you believe it? It is that time folks. Time to clean up those tongs, wipe down the grill and chill those bottles of beer (or cider if you prefer). Yes sir, the weather is just perfect for grilling!

Take a gander at these beauties...

From Sesame Tenderloin Skewers with Asian-Style Sauce

-serves 4 as an amuse-bouche-

Ingredients

1/4 cup tamari

1/4 cup ponzu

2 tablespoons sesame oil

Small splash of mirin

1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

1 clove garlic, grated

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

1 small onion, minced

Chopped fresh chili to taste

3/4 pound pork tenderloin, cut into 1- to 1 1/2-inch cubes

1/4 cup white sesame seeds

Procedure

1. Begin by making the sauce/marinade. Whisk together the tamari, ponzu, toasted sesame oil, mirin, ginger, garlic, cilantro, scallions and chili. Divide the mixture in half. Place one half in a large Ziploc bag, and the other half in a serving bowl.

2. Add the beef to the Ziploc bag, and seal. Massage the marinade into the beef. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.

3. Meanwhile, soak as many 3- or 5-inch bamboo skewers as you have cubes of meat in water for at least 30 minutes.

4. Preheat your grill pan over medium-high heat.

5. Mix the sesame seeds together in a pie dish.

6. Remove the meat from the marinade, and discard the marinade. Thread 1 cube onto each skewer.

7. Dredge the meat in the black and white sesame seeds, covering them on all sides, pressing them into the meat if necessary. Grill 1 to 2 minutes on each of the four sides of the meat. Serve with the reserved sauce.

Everybody Screams for Ice Cream

2010-04-03T21:03:00.001-04:00

I had the privilege of eating Texas Blue Bell ice cream a couple of years ago. Unfortunately the dry ice was not sufficient to keep all the pints cool but that was due to an airline mishap and not of the company. Anyway I do not remember what I had but I know I liked it. I just read about another "local" ice cream maker called Jeni's Ice Cream in Ohio. If I ever had the chance to pick up a couple of pints specially the salty caramel flavor, I would.

http://www.bluebell.com/

http://jenisicecreams.com

It was fun while it lasted

2010-03-22T16:47:00.001-04:00

Compare Monday with Saturday and I wish it was the weekend all over again.

Rendevous

2010-03-20T14:20:00.001-04:00

Two people, a lamp post and a tuck away corner. Need I say more?

Have you heard a peacock before?

2010-03-20T12:35:00.001-04:00

As I was getting out of my conveyance, I heard this shrill call pierce through the air. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out where it came from.

Behold, the majestic peacock (waiting on tables it seems)!

Explain this to me

2010-03-20T12:17:00.001-04:00

Ithe title of this sculpture is "Listener" by Karen Petersen. I see the head facing upward. How is that listening?

Redoing the roof

2010-03-18T17:31:00.001-04:00

A couple of years from now, this is what my roof will look like once all the shingles have been removed. I am not looking forward to the bill...

Could go for some dragon...

2010-03-18T17:26:00.001-04:00

I really miss freshly cutup and chilled dragon fruit. I distinctly remember finding some in chinatown a couple of years ago but I have not seen it since.

NR - Last part of the show

2009-09-07T22:44:00.002-04:00

Hmm, it's a really cold show.

Sam's Soul Food reminds me of a Jamaican joint in Maine. Then again, maybe The Feeding Tree will satisfy my jerk needs.

Diner. Go get some. I have always read about Marlow and Sons and I would not mind learning how to butcher a cow. Hey, then I can head over to Diner and eat what I just worked through.

NR - Almost there

2009-09-07T22:35:00.002-04:00

I have always dreamed of a dim sum breakfast. I gotta say, this looks likes a great place to go to. I have the usual shrimp dumplings and the pork ones. It has been a while since I have had duck feet. Mmmm tripe! I remember the restaurants I went to when I was a kid and there were people who go around with these steaming racks. Me want my har gow!

I never had the opportunity to see the arepa lady but this taco place is my kind of fast food. Mmm no gringo tacos for me (though I confess to my Chipotle addiction).

NR - Thirty Minutes in

2009-09-07T22:24:00.003-04:00

New Asha is a Sri Lanka restaurant. I am interested in the black curry because of another NR episode about Sri Lanka itself. Imagine toasted spices (the black in black curry) in your curry. Yum!

Tiki restaurant? Not really sure about that.

NR - Next 10 minutes

2009-09-07T22:14:00.005-04:00

Mmm you would think that a temple would not have an open to the public canteen. I am really digging the dosas.

Sik Gaek is my kind of seafood restaurant. Live octopus! Come on. I am looking forward to the large hot pot with the bucket for your left over shells and bits.

NR - First 10 minutes

2009-09-07T22:12:00.002-04:00

Mmm, the Golden Shopping Mall reminds me of the different food stalls in Singapore or the mini-shops at Greenhills Shopping Center.

No Reservations - NYC Outer Boroughs

2009-09-07T21:40:00.002-04:00

We are an occasional viewer of No Reservations. What got us excited today is tonight's episode about New York City's Outer Boroughs. I always thought Manhattan is New York City but apparently it is composed of five boroughs. I really have not had the chance to see all there is to see in NYC but I have been to Coney Island and some parts of Queens. Hopefully, all the restaurants in tonight's episode will be enticing enough for me to go out and get some grub!

Happy Addition

2009-09-05T18:06:00.002-04:00

For some people, seven pounds is a PITA. To me seven pounds is just right, and happy, and bouncy and beautiful. I can not wait to see what seven pounds will do in the future.

You would think...

2009-08-16T20:10:00.001-04:00

... it would be easy finding a tagalog story book. I am in need of a story book that is written in tagalog. I am particularly interested in legends, fables or any folklore. All the books that I have found are in english. Any help is appreciated.

Finally it taste's just right!

2009-06-23T19:56:00.002-04:00

Back in April (2007), I tried out a clam recipe but it did not turn out the way I wanted. The main problem was that the broth was a bit bitter. Most likely the problem was that the white wine did not cook off properly. Today I tried the same recipe again but this time, I changed a couple of steps.

- I used a better type of butter (more fat!)
- I did not let the butter turn brown by cooking it on the lowest heat setting on the stove
- I skipped the bacon/ham
- I let the broth cook for a while, smelling the broth until most of the alcohol is gone
- Added a cup of water to the mussels

That did it. No bitter taste nor aftertaste. It tasted just right but I may try to use half a cup of water next time.

Why oh Why!

2009-06-05T21:36:00.002-04:00

Really AT&T? HTC Hero/Lancaster has a QVGA display only? The first android phone you have and you limit the display. Shame on you!

At least they got the hardware right. I don't know about the name though...

Switcharoo?

2009-06-05T21:25:00.002-04:00

So my coworkers and I decided to grab some korean fried chicken for lunch. We have been trying to get this lunch thing together for a while now but we've been busy with work. So the one day we head over to Bon Bon Chicken and it's turned into Bon Chon! What happened!?! I go looking at their website but it still says they are at that address!?!

I still licked my fingers clean after eating but I miss the pickled daikon.

We lose again...

2008-11-05T06:08:00.001-05:00

I can't believe this. Yet another New Jersey governor gets taken away by the White House!

After all the fighting, now comes the hard work...

2008-11-05T06:05:00.003-05:00

Barack Obama is voted as the 44th President of the United States (POTUS). What I want to know is, where is Jack Bauer?

Making Decisions

2008-08-10T17:43:00.002-04:00

I really have a hard time purchasing items whose price tag has more that two digits. It takes me a couple of weeks to convince myself that I really need the item. Thanks to truenorthgal for helping me decide.

Replacing Your Passport

2008-08-01T03:57:00.002-04:00

If you have a non-machine readable passport by April 2010, you may be out of luck trying to travel six months beforehand. I suggest you start checking out your country's individual passport status. That or you may just opt to stay where you are.

A Lazy Afternoon...

2008-06-01T11:00:00.020-04:00

I finally find the time to post all the baked goods and food I've been making for the past month or so. Like my wife says, it takes a while before you get around to post. Unless I specify otherwise, most of these recipes were borrowed from the NY Times.

We bought this ridiculously large bag of all purpose flour from this warehouse store. Truenorthgal really loves to bake so we thought it was a good purchase. Past forward a year later and the bag is still there. Usually I leave the baked goods to her but as she is busy with work, I thought I would take a crack at it. Here I made an Applejack Apple Cake. I could not find a decently priced bottle of calvados so the friendly fellow from my local liquor store suggested applejack.

Applejack Apple Cake
Time: About 1 hour, plus one hour’s resting

2 sticks butter, softened, more for greasing pan
Flour (if using bundt pan)
2 medium apples (about 8 ounces), peeled, cored and quartered
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup bourbon, Calvados, Cognac or brandy

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-by-13-inch rectangular pan with butter, or butter and flour a 9-inch bundt pan. Put apples in a blender or food processor and purée; remove and set aside.
2. In food processor, combine 1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons) with 1 1/2 cups sugar and pulse until combined. With motor running, add eggs one at a time. Add apple purée and process until just combined.
3. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add about a third of flour mixture to apple mixture in food processor. Then, with motor running, add about half of milk; add another third of flour, followed by rest of milk, then finally last of the flour. Process until batter just evens out.

4. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake until middle is set (your fingers should leave only a small indentation when you gently press cake), 45 to 50 minutes. When done, cool in pan for about 10 minutes.

5. Meanwhile, combine 1 cup liquor in a small pot with remaining butter and sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and liquid is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then pour over cake; let it sit for at least an hour before serving. (For bundt, let it sit for an hour, then unmold). Store at room temperature, covered with waxed paper, for up to 2 days.

I also had a craving for fish tacos. A while back I went to Atlanta for some training and surprise surprise there was a Baja Fresh restaurant there. I promptly ordered the fish tacos and they were good. Anyway, so whenever I get a chance I try to order fish tacos if it was available. Here I started making tortillas.

Grandma Salazar's Tortillas
Adapted from Traci Des Jardins
Time: 25 minutes plus 20 minutes to 1 hour for dough to rest

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons bacon drippings, lard or vegetable shortening.

1. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add bacon drippings and mix by hand or with a pastry cutter until mixture is crumbly. Slowly mix in 1 cup cold water. Add just enough additional water (about 1/3. cup) to make a smooth, slightly sticky dough.
2. Divide dough into 12 balls of equal size. Place on a board or baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel; allow to rest for at least 20 minutes or up to an hour.
3. On a lightly floured surface, roll tortillas into 8-inch rounds. Place between sheets of waxed paper. At this point dough may be covered and refrigerated until cooking time, or used immediately.

4. Heat a griddle over medium heat. Remove tortillas from waxed paper and cook one at a time until puffy and slightly brown, about 30 seconds a side. Wrap in a clean kitchen towel to keep warm until serving.

Once the tortillas were done, I proceed to make the salsa verde.

Salsa Verde
Ingredients:
1 cup water
4 tomatillos (husks removed)
2 jalapeno peppers
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 lime (juice and zest)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Place the water and tomatillos in a pot.
2. Bring the water to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes.
3. Place everything but the water in a food processor and blend.

Finally, I start making the fish itself. Yep, it was a long night but I could not wait to taste the results.

Fish Tacos (from Food Network but I added my own touches)
1 lb tilapia fillets
1/4 cup canola oil
Juice from 1 lime
1 tbsp chili powder
1 chopped jalapeno
1/2 cup cilantro

1. Whisk together the oil, lime juice, chili powder, jalapeno and cilantro. Pour over fillets and let marinate for 20 minutes.
2. Heat up your grill. Place marinated fish on grill and flip after 4 minutes. After about a minute, remove fish from grill and let it rest for about 5 minutes.

Here is my fish taco dinner.

On another night, I had some left over shrimp. I haven't used my chopsticks for a while now so I thought about making a chinese dish. Here is what I had:

Stir-Fried Shrimp With Black Beans
Time: 30 minutes

1 1/2 tablespoons black bean garlic sauce
2 tablespoons dry sherry or white wine
About 1 1/2 pounds uncooked shrimp, in the 20 to 30 per pound size range, peeled
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 clove garlic, sliced, and 1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 pound bok choy or other cabbage, trimmed, washed and dried
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon peeled and minced or grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup minced scallions
3/4 cup water

1. In large bowl, marinate shrimp in 1/2 teaspoon sugar, sliced garlic, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.
2. Separate bok choy leaves from stems; chop stems into 1/2 - to 1-inch pieces, and roughly chop leaves.

3. Preheat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil and raise heat to high. When it begins to smoke, add minced garlic and, immediately thereafter, shrimp and its marinade. Cook shrimp for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon it out of wok or skillet.

4. Put remaining peanut oil in wok or skillet and, when it smokes, add ginger, followed immediately by bok choy stems. Cook, stirring, until bok choy is lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes, then add leaves. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add 3/4 cup water and let it bubble away for a minute.

5. Return shrimp to wok or skillet and stir; add black beans and their liquid, scallions, and remaining sugar and soy sauce. Stir and cook for 1 minute. Turn off heat, drizzle remaining sesame oil on top, and serve.

I have on occasion purchased a bag of chocolate chip cookies, popped a couple of them into the microwave and been disappointed. So I said to myself time to make my own batch of chocolate chip cookies! Hey, I have to finish of about 36oz of semi-sweet morsels anyway.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Joy of Cooking 2006 Ed)
1 cup and 2 tbsp of flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 375degF. Whisk together flour and baking soda.
2. Beat in a separate bowl the butter and sugars.
3. Add to the mixture the egg, salt, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat until well combined.
4. Pour in flour mixture until the the texture of the mixture looks somewhat grainy. Add in the chocolate chips/morsels.
5. Drop a heaping spoonful of the mixture onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Leave about 2 inches of space between drops.
6. Place sheets into the oven for about 8 minutes or until the cookies are slightly brown.
7. Once done, let cookies stand then place on racks to cool.

Hmm, I think I need something spicy in my life. Truenorthgal really loves these thai meatballs we made a while back. I just did it because I wasn't using that particular cookbook for a while now.

Fragrant Thai Meatballs (based on a recipe in wok & STIR-FRY)
1 lb ground pork
1 tsbp chopped garlic
1 finely chopped tanglad
4 scallions finely chopped
2 tsbp chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsbp red curry paste
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp patis
1 egg
flour for dusting
peanut oil for frying
fresh ground pepper
sprigs of cilantro for garnish
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp red curry paste (or more if you really want it spicy)
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp unsalted peanuts
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup gata

1. Heat vegetable oil in sauce pan. Add curry paste and fry for about a minute.
2. Place peanut butter, peanuts, sugar, lemon juice and gata in the sauce pan also. Once the mixture boils, lower heat to simmer for about 5 minutes. When the sauce thickens, remove from heat and set aside.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients thoroughly(excluding the flour, peanut oil, and sprigs of cilantro).
4. Shape meat mixture into small balls then dust with flour.
5. Heat the peanut oil in a pan and deep fry meatballs. Drain cooked meatballs on paper towels. Serve with peanut sauce and sprigs of cilantro.

Here is my dinner!

It was nice afternoon yesterday. The sun was out and I was done with all my chores. I bought a pint of heavy cream last Tuesday with plans of making scones during the weekend. Since the weekend was here, time to whip up a batch of scones!

Cream Scones (Joy of Cooking 2006 ed)
1 3/4 cups flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup cranberry raisins

1. Preheat oven to 450degF. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Combine well.
2. Make a small well in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the heavy cream. Add cranberry raisins as well. Mix in as few strokes as possible.
3. Handling the dough as little as possible, make some balls onto a baking sheet. Flatten using the palm of your hand or the bottom of a wide bottle.
4. Place sheet in the oven for about 15 minutes or until edges are a bit golden.

Here is my breakfast.

Here is a closeup of the scones.

I hope that made you hungry and itching to make some yourself.

Amer Idol Redux

2008-05-21T22:02:00.001-04:00

I didn't expect that. Congrats to him! BTW, Carrie Underwood's performance reminded me of Shania Twain. Dang those go on forever...

Amer Idol - David Archuleta...

2008-05-20T20:58:00.003-04:00

Hands down it's David Archuleta...

Amer Idol 3

2008-05-20T20:40:00.008-04:00

Final Round!
The World I Know - David Cook with guitar
- Definitely one record you can get by (Collective Soul) Randy
- I truly applaud you... Paula
- Nicest, sincerest contestants we have... completely wrong song choice for you... Billy Jean Simon
** Same same...

Imagine - David Archuleta
- Dude you are so good tonight you are exactly what this show is about... Randy
- ... you've left me speechless... stunning, stunning... Paula
- In my opinion you came out here to win and what we have witnessed is a knockout... Simon
** A little over the top though he could have brought this out in round one

Amer Idol 2

2008-05-20T20:22:00.007-04:00

Round Two!
Dream Day - David Cook with guitar
- King of the duel! Sing your face off! Randy
- Great way of taking a song we don't know and loving it... Paula
- End was ok made the most of what you had, didn't feel like a winning moment for me... 6.5/10 Simon
** Rock and Roll baby!

In This Moment - David Archuleta
- You could sing the phone book and it would be good... Randy
- You are on fire tonight... Paula
- Chose the better song... round two goes to David Archuleta Simon
** Definitely much better

Amer Idol 1

2008-05-20T20:16:00.003-04:00

Round One!
Haven't Found What I'm looking for - David Cook
- His voice was hawt! Randy
- We have found what we are looking for! Paula
- Phenomenal! Simon
** Smooothhh....

Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me - David Archuleta
- Right time to peak! Crazy vocals! Randy
- Chills up and down my arms... so much sunshine from your singing... Paula
- Last week your were ok... tonight is the best you've done so far... round 1 to Archuleta Simon
** Voice could go higher...

The T 2's

2008-03-17T05:43:00.001-04:00

It's our second year. It's still great. It's quite a ride. It's like falling in love all over again. Now gotta go as it's August Rush.

Pil Pil, Baking and Peppers

2008-01-26T19:17:00.000-05:00

Since coming back from a quick Christmas and New Year rendezvous with truenorthgal, I was too tired to start cooking again. I am glad that my mom and dad gave me a couple of weeks worth of food so I don't have to worry about what to do for dinner as I was adjusting to my regular work schedule again. Anyway, I wanted to eat something just cooked so I got a couple of things from my local supermarket and started cooking away. Here are a couple of things I've been doing for the past two weeks.

Spicy Dinner

Gambas Pil Pil

I found this recipe from one of the Spanish cookbooks truenorthgal and I found a couple of months back. I bought a package of deveined shrimp in early December but never had a chance to take them out of the freezer. Considering that the basic ingredients are shrimp, garlic and olive oil, this is definitely easy and yummy!

1 lb peeled, uncooked shrimp (keep the head on but remove the antennas)
a good measure of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic (or as much as you want), chopped
1 or 2 chopped dried chilies
salt

1. Place a skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil.
2. Line a pan with aluminum foil. Place the pan in the oven for two to three minutes at 350 deg F.
3. After the olive oil is hot enough, add the garlic and crumbled dried chilies. Add the shrimp and once they turn pink, pour the entire contents of the skillet onto the pan.
4. Sprinkle the salt on the shrimp and serve immediately! Use crusty bread to mop up the spiked olive oil while eating. Try not to burn your fingers or your tongue.

Baking Frenzy

Whenever I have breakfast, I am on the lookout for scones. There is something about this nice bread which may or may not contain fruits, nuts, chocolate or spices. I like them with butter and jam, peanut butter, and cream cheese. Hey if they are not plain, I have them as is. So while trying to remove any unused items in our pantry, I found some flour and a brownie mix. I thought since I liked scones I might as well try my hand making some. I have to say that I had mix results with making bread before (translation: hard disks or tough loaves) so I was hesitant to try it out. Since I had an excess amount of flour, I said I had nothing to lose anyway. So here is the recipe I used for these scones.

Cream Scones
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar plus some more for sprinkling
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream

1. Sift all the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Preheat the oven to 450 deg F.
2. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour in the heavy cream. Using a large spatula, mix the ingredients with as few strokes as possible. When I tried this, it took me about 8 to 10 strokes. It may look lumpy but that's ok as you can see below.

After Mixing Ingredients

3. On a lightly floured board, pat the dough into a 8 inch round and about 3/4 inch thick. The trick here is to handle the dough as lightly as possible. You can run your hands through cold water to minimize transferring heat to the dough. Cut the dough into 8 wedges or small rounds.
4. Place the dough onto a ungreased pan. Brush the the wedges or rounds with egg whites and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Prepared Cream Scones

5. Place pan into the oven and bake until golden brown. It will take about 15 minutes. Serve warm with butter, jam or clotted cream!

Creamed Scones after 15 minutes

Oh as for that brownie mix, I just added one egg and 1 cup of vegetable oil. Then just for a chunkier consistency, I added some slivered almonds and roughly chopped unsweetened chocolate. This is one wicked brownie.

Mmmm Chunky Brownie

Lacking Veggies

After a couple of days, I noticed that I wasn't getting enough veggies in my meals. I resolved to look for some vegetable recipes. It still took til this past Friday (past 2130) before I got to cook the stuffed peppers though but it was worth it!

Stuffed Bell Peppers
4 bell peppers
salt
5 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
five cloves of garlic, chopped
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cup cooked rice
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup water
dash of habanero, tabasco or whatever hot sauce you like

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the bell peppers whose tops and seeds have been removed. Make sure the peppers are submerged for about three minutes. Remove the peppers from the water and let cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 deg F. In a skillet, heat the 4 tbsp olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook them until they are soft and translucent. Add the meat, rice, tomatoes, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Cook the stuffing until the beef is pinkish as seen below.

Half Cooked Stuffing

3. Using the remaining olive oil, spread them on the inside of the peppers. Put the peppers in a baking dish with 1/4 cup water. Place the stuffing in the peppers. Mix the hot sauce, 1/4 cup water and ketchup in a bowl. Spread the mixture on top of the stuffing. Place the baking dish in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Cooked Stuffed Peppers

A Close Up of a Pepper

Stuffed Peppers with their Caps

Dinner!

White times ahead...

2007-12-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

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!

Grass is greener...?

2007-09-01T21:33:00.000-04:00

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!

Veggies and my figs...

2007-08-17T20:34:00.000-04:00

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.

Now spring is here....

2007-04-22T12:03:00.000-04:00

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 :)

Surf and Turf

2007-04-04T20:52:00.000-04:00

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

Time to cook!

2007-02-18T15:57:00.000-05:00

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!

Time for a break...

2007-02-12T20:24:00.000-05:00

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!

Just a little bit more...

2007-02-01T22:00:00.000-05:00

All I can say is that I can't wait for the weekend to start!

So many new things...

2007-01-30T21:42:00.000-05:00

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):

Also, I just finished collecting all the seasons of 24 so far. Season 6 is on and so far I can't get enough of this. The thing that really surprised me (SPOILER ALERT) was that one of the men who was part of the cabal last season was Bauer's own estranged brother!

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. :)

The BIG picture and playing two fields...

2006-11-01T20:43:00.000-05:00

A group of people took a picture of a large fresco and the resulting high resolution picture is a 8.6 Gigapixel shot. Just imagine the detail! Well, imagine no more as this same group placed the picture on the web. Here is their website: http://haltadefinizione.deagostini.it/

Oh and I found this interesting article about what should one do if he or she opens a business but still has a day job. Malou and I have always been planning on setting up our own business and I've always thought that we would do it while we are still working. Eventually, when business is thriving we would slowly ease out of our day jobs to pursue it full time. Someday but for now, it's the kids we should be thinking about.

We're still here...

2006-09-16T23:36:00.000-04:00

... life just got in the way.....

Truenorthgal and I have been up to our ears with work. Hey, at least we got work right? She tells me that the last entry she put up was just before she got back into the rat race. Hmm, that has been a while. Wow, it's been six weeks since that time and we've just reached the half year point of our first year being man and wife.

Truenorthgal also realized that today was the day she was supposed to use her return ticket. I could just imagine the tears that would have flowed if that happened. I would have probably asked for two weeks off work so I could come with her. We would still be hopeful that we could be together back here.

I'm just happy that we have reached this point that I could blog about it instead of it happening. It being my wife and I being apart again with no guarantee of us being together until a couple of years have passed. Ahh, hope springs eternal.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi to everybody and hope you still keep coming back. We have tried a couple more recipes but are just too lazy to type it up right now.

:-D

End of July coincidence

2006-07-27T14:39:00.000-04:00

We're supposed to be perfect on our first day on the job and then show constant improvement. - Ed Vargo, major league baseball umpire

Then: July 31, 2003. Last day at work in Manila.

What happened in between: Studying in Germany for my masters degrees, a wedding and an extended honeymoon

Soon: July 31, 2006. My first day on the job after an obviously long hiatus. Yey!

July 31st seems to be a gateway to big changes for me, career-wise.

Which is weird. But in a good way.

Not so ORD-DEN-ary trips

2006-07-05T17:27:00.000-04:00

I am in such a funk lately. Lots of small and big things have happened the past weeks but I seem to have lost the words to write about them. Instead, I let my thoughts sit in my mind then wait for writing inspiration that wouldn't come. After a couple of days, all those glorious things turn into mush as they get weighed down by other thoughts and when I finally get that urge to blog, I end up confused by the mess. Where do I start my writing?

Maybe I'll just skip the old ones and start with the recent pile. Last In, First Out.

******

Two Fridays ago, Jay and I took the last flight out of Newark to Chicago. We were going for a weekend trip to attend my niece's baptism. Since we had a major delay due to inclement weather, we did not get to my sister's house until around midnight.

But lucky for us, my sister was awake for Kloe's feeding so we managed to get our first look at the little girl. She was so small and so cute and so loveable. I actually wanted to pick her up from her crib and look at her more closely but decided against it when she gave the smallest yawn I've ever seen. Sooo adorable!

Thankfully, I got plenty of opportunity to just sit and gaze at Kloe the following day because I got up early (6 AM even if I just had a little over four hours of sleep). Oh yeah, I was that excited! And it seems that Kloe was just as anxious to see us guests again for she was awake early too. She looked at me warily at first but after Ate Car introduced me to her again (a technique that works well so the baby won't get upset), she warmed up to me and gave me toothless smiles in between her pouts. Hehe... aliw!

Hay... Ganun pala yun.

It's tough to explain the emotions I felt holding a baby that's a really close blood relative. Prior to that weekend, I have never carried one who is not just a friend's baby. Since it's just my sister and I in the family and our close cousins are roughly the same age as us, we did not grow up with kids. We were the kids. This explains then why I have anxieties about carrying tiny humans. I have no experience whatsoever with baby-sitting and I am more adept at handling machines and tools because of my engineering background. Holding very young babies, I have observed, would be like holding dough. Soft, wriggly, heavy dough. They need both arms and all ten fingers for proper cradling, support and cuddling. My skills with turning knobs and levers, as I have long suspected, proved to be useless here.

And because we just spent two days there, our joy and fascination with Kloe was naturally shortlived. Para lang kaming nanaginip. If before I would wonder how she looks like when I hear her in the background when I talk to Mama, now I see her in my mind's eye. So endearing with her chinita eyes and chubby cheeks.

I include her in my prayers everyday. That she grows up to be healthy and a source of pride and joy to her parents. But I also pray that she does not grow up too fast. I still want to see her as a baby. And when we visit again, I hope Kloe will get to recognize and baby-talk with me. When that day comes, I think I'll be more prepared to fall in love with my niece all over again.

*****

So we came home from Chicago Sunday night and by the following morning, I was heading back to the airport to fly to Denver. Jay was to stay there on business/training for the week and looking at the chance to see the "mile-high city" together, we decided that I should tag along. I used my Worldperks miles to get a free flight.

From the sky, Denver looked a lot like marble or granite tiles, the brown or beige ones that are typical of nice kitchens on HGTV. Everything was flat and rather dry-looking except for the occasional patches of green in the middle of nowhere. Jay's office friend Allen was on the dot when he explained that Denver is much like a desert that co-exists with the snow-capped mountains called the Colorado Rockies. The contrast of the landscapes would have been a little difficult to imagine had I not seen it for myself. I guess this is also how the Kilimanjaro looks like in Tanzania. Red, dusty earth in the foreground and the majestic peaks in the back. Awesome.

Since Jay was there for work and not pleasure, we did not exactly venture out to explore much of Denver or Colorado Springs where we were staying. One thing to realize from the get-go about Colorado though is that its attractions are better suited for folks who like the outdoors and would be willing to travel great distances. Along the Arapahoe Road outside of our hotel, one can already see the Rockies but I'm thinking that to really view the mountains from a decent distance, we'd have to drive 30 to 40 miles. I did not want to go alone in the daytime so we had to be content with scenery in the local vicinity.

So my next best bet at seeing their city involved driving to LoDo (or Lower Downtown) and walking the length of 16th Street Mall and stopping by Larimer Square and the Civic Park. The drive going there was not too bad. I just had to be extra careful on the freeway because most of the vehicles in Denver were big, bold and brash SUVs. In keeping with their outdoors-y lifestyle, I'm sure. Our rental car was not puny by any means but Denver motorists, I noticed, have mastered the art of zigzagging through lanes like they would at the grocery check-out counter: "I see a shorter lane over there. Okay, I'm switching!" No signal lights, no horns. Defensive driving, as it turns out, is the key to road survival here.

But the really cool, truly Denver, experience Jay and I had was at the local pub/restaurant in LoDo called Wynkoop Brewery. Since they're a brewery, they naturally make their own beers and have jugs that can be bought to-go. For around $7, we can take home half a gallon of their local bestseller. Jay and I were thinking that it would be a great pasalubong which can be enjoyed during the 4th of July festivities. We mentioned this to the waiter and asked if they know of any restrictions to bringing alcohol as a carry-on item on the plane. Our concern was more for the FAA safety guidelines and the taxes, state or federal, we might incur.

The waiter then asks us where we're flying back to and excuses himself to talk to the manager. He comes back and tells us that apparently, the glass jugs that the beer comes in may not withstand the pressure gain between mile-high Denver and slightly above sea-level New Jersey. He says that there is real danger that the jug will implode even while we're still airborne.

Whoa! Now isn't that interesting?!

No one really bothers with pressure differences when we go hiking or go to Baguio for a vacation because the elevations are not too significant. But when one comes from a place that's 5,280 feet above sea-level, height does matter.

We ended up not buying the beer because of the risk but left the pub with the kind of smile one usually gets after a nifty discovery: Apparently, you can make beer in Denver but you can't take the beer out of Denver...

Unless, of course, they design new glass jugs with a pressure-balancing device.

Seven Things To Do Before You Turn 30

2006-06-22T14:16:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine forwarded this to me. Good timing.

*****

Seven Things To Do Before You Turn 30

Turning 30 represents a chance to right wrongs, settle scores, start fresh. It is time to build on past successes while creating new ones. The following may not be applicable to everyone in making the most of it, but among those who asked who were in the cusp of 30, these are the things they wished they had done sooner.

1. TRAVEL - Most young people should have the opportunity to see that the world is bigger than the mall. If you are lucky enough to be sponsored in making a big trip to the US or Europe, treat it as a learning experience, not just a great opportunity to buy Bass loafers on discount. It is a cliché but true: travel makes history come alive and opens up the mind to countless new experiences. Make sure you can learn from it while you can.

2. BUY LIFE INSURANCE - It is a fact of life that in your 20s, life insurance is seen as cumbersome, morbid and not worth paying. Insurance agents, on the other hand, are weasels, vultures and vermin that don't have enough rocks to crawl under. The reality is accidents happen. Buses ram into cars. Planes crash. Boats sink. Anything can happen and it's too late to sort out a potential financial mess when your family and relatives are in mourning. This is not a pitch for insurance companies, but if you'd stop blowing off that agent, you'd find out what you can get out of life insurance, namely peace of mind.

3. GET FIT - At 20 losing pounds is like sneezing. There's hardly any effort involved. At 30, just budging the ripples of fat on your thighs would involved a crane and fork-lift. Generally, the younger you are, the easier it is to reach and maintain optimum fitness. Getting into the habit early on primes and conditions your body so that by 30, at a time when couch potatoes start discovering mysterious aches and pains, you're in the pink of health. Start living healthier sooner and the benefit will remain with you longer.

4. SAVE OR INVEST MONEY - Saving is rarely a priority in your 20s, shopping is. There are many young bright things out there with Prada bags, Max Mara suits and debts that are shoved into a drawer in the hope that they would evaporate. Around 30 or thereabouts, the shopping plateau hits. There are life changes: a shift in careers, a marriage, a baby. Follow your mother's advice and pay yourself first every payday by deducting a percentage that gets debited straight into an account you can't touch. Not doing without it will train you to live on what's left. At 30, you'll be glad you made that early sacrifice. While your peers will be struggling to put something away, you can be secure in the thought that you had a headstart.

5. LEARN ANOTHER LANGUAGE OR GET ANOTHER DEGREE - The best time to learn another language or get another degree would be when you're unencumbered by job and family responsibilities, with the extra time and energy to work and study at the same time. Acquiring relevant skills and knowledge add up to your value as an employee or manager and brightens prospects for the future.

6. LIVE ON YOUR OWN - Some people think independence means not borrowing the car on Saturday night. That's admirable, but moving out is much more of a learning experience. Paying household bills you've racked up, learning how to clean up after your own rubbish without a squadron of maids, even cooking your own meals are lessons well learned far from home. So many young people claim that they are the masters of their own destiny but fuss when the maid doesn't turn the hot water on. Perhaps the best lesson one can learn in this life is that Mommy and Daddy are not always there to pick up after you. Living on your own will teach you in ways no textbook can and will equip you better for the time when you start a family.

7. EXORCISE YOUR GHOST - During your 20s, it's okay to blame your anger on deprived childhood, cruel friends and traitorous boyfriends. During your 30s, the same excuses sound pretty lame. At some point or another, you will have to be responsible for your own actions. So your parents broke up? So one of your boyfriends jilted you for your friend? So bloody what? Using these creaky skeletons as scapegoats for a miserable existence hardly counts as looking forward.

Get rid of those ghosts that have stubbornly hung over you. They have no place in your tomorrows except as references to periods in your life. Turning 30 means moving on, not pestering with old grievances.

And carrying on is only the start. Better things are yet to come - just wait until you're 40.

So now you've graduated

2006-06-13T21:00:00.000-04:00

To the new graduate, congratulations! After four to five years of college, you have finally tossed your cap and are starting anew. I hope all the effort you put in those years pays off with your first, second, third.... job. That or you may be thinking of taking some time off before you embark on your career. Hey, you may even think of heading back to school for your post-graduate degree/s. Then again you realize that with all the debt you incurred, you ought to look for a high paying job just to get rid of it! The lucky few who don't have much debt will probably head back to school to teach or to give back to the community for a couple of years. Good for you! Whatever you do, make sure you clean up that résumé and get rid of any skeletons in your closet. You never know what anybody can find on the net nowadays. Finally, if you've started your first job ever, think first before you buy that nice shiny toy or that fancy footwear that cripples you everytime yet you still want to wear them. One has to think about the future now.

LSH 8 - Some more food photos

2006-06-09T10:40:00.000-04:00

Clockwise from top-left: Baked tahong and Pasta with sun-dried tomatoes and olive oil, Lemongrass pork and green beans in butter, Spicy tilapia, and Swedish pot roast.

If you'd like to try out the recipes, drop me a note and I'd type them up from the cookbook.

Happy eating!

May zipped right past me...

2006-06-09T09:22:00.000-04:00

... but I am still alive in the blogging world. In fact, I have not missed reading posts of other bloggers. It's just that the previous month just flew by and the writing bug did not bite. Until now, maybe.

Things are A-OK in the home front. Lots of learning here and there. A major argument with the husband took place two weeks ago and there'd been some changes since in how we navigate through our married life. It's still a wait-and-see game but we hope we're doing the right thing.

By the way, two weekends ago we had our humble apartment blessed. The idea to have it seemed anti-climactic to me then because we were already on our second month of residence. However, Jay wanted to get it done if only to celebrate being together and gave me the pitch that it was as good a time as any to have family and friends over for some food and conversation. So I relented and it did turn out to be a good idea. We managed to squeeze in around 15 people without having some of them eat in our bedroom. It was cozy and nice and having kids over running around brought laughter in our otherwise normally quiet place.

And it's weird too how such gatherings tell you time and again how the world really is small. It turns out that our local parish priest here carried out his vocation studies in the seminary right next to the church where we celebrated high school masses. So not only did we have a rep from God bless our place, I had some pretty good conversation too with someone from my hometown. Neat! Brought me back some fond memories.

***

Reading back my previous posts, I realized that I promised to share the recipe for the cinnamon rolls I made. I am not kidding when I tell you that they taste like Cinnabon's or Cinnzeo's. But less sweet because I used just half the amount of sugar for the glaze. I tried to make the visual documentation of the baking process as complete as possible but it was tough doing so without the danger of getting the sticky combo of flour, sugar, butter and cinnamon onto the camera lens. So I only have photos of the roll being sliced, mini rolls ready in the pan and the rolls right after they baked and were cooling down. I would have taken a photo of the finished piece of heaven but I ran out of batteries. :-)

And since I have the habit of copy-pasting recipes I like onto my notepad, now I can't find the link to the site where I copied it from. I hope I am not plagiarizing. But this is the recipe with some of the proportions tweaked to suit my preference for less sweetness.

Cinnamon Rolls

Prep. Time: 4:00
Serves: 12 - 15 (apparently more from my experience)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 Tbls. ground cinnamon
(2) .25 oz. pkts. active dry yeast
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 cup 110 degree water
1 cup warm milk
2/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cup melted butter
2 tsp. salt
2 eggs - slightly beaten
up to 8 cups all-purpose flour

For the filling:

1/2 cup melted butter
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts OR pecans - optional

For the bottom glaze:

1/2 cup melted butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar

For the top glaze:

2 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup melted butter
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. maple extract - optional, but recommended
up to 6 Tbsps. hot water

1. Mix together 1 1/2 cups sugar and the cinnamon; set aside.
2. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tsp. sugar in warm water; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix together milk, 2/3 cup sugar, 2/3 cup melted butter, salt, and eggs; add yeast mixture and 4 cups of flour to mixture; beat until smooth; stir in enough flour to form a slightly stiff dough.
4. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.
5. Place dough into a large greased bowl, cover, and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
6. Punch down dough and let rest for 5 minutes.
7. Roll dough out onto a floured surface into a 15" X 20" rectangle.
8. Brush 1/2 cup melted butter over dough; sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over dough; sprinkle nuts evenly over dough, if desired.
9. Tightly roll up dough and pinch edges together to seal; cut the roll into 12 - 15 slices using dental floss or thread.
10. Coat the bottom of a 13" X 9" X 2" baking pan with 1/2 cup melted butter; sprinkle 1/3 cup sugar evenly in the bottom of the pan.
11. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the prepared pan; cover pan and allow to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
12. Bake rolls in a 350 degree oven for 25 - 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
13. Stir together powdered sugar, 2/3 cup melted butter, and extracts; stir in hot water, 1 Tbsp. at a time, until the glaze reaches desired spreading consistency.
14. Spread prepared icing over slightly cooled rolls.

While I do realize that this recipe calls for a lot of butter, I am not an experienced baker to know if there's a healthier substitute for it and if the finished product will turn out just as nice. So I do the next best thing and refrain from making this treat often. Once a month is enough. That and I make sure to give some of them to my in-laws.

Now why didn't I think of that

2006-06-08T22:18:00.000-04:00

After the wedding I decided to move to another company. I was thinking about it for a couple of months before the wedding. What finally got me to say yes to the move was that no matter what excuse I gave for them not to get me, they still relented. They never said no to any of my "demands" so I said, this may be the right time to start fresh.

I never thought of taking time out between jobs. I am the type that wants to make sure another job is in place before I submit my resignation letter. I don't want any vacant time in my resume. That's just another reason for a company not to take me seriously. But the thing is, some companies are okay with this. In this article, Gen Y workers are apparently more likely to leave their jobs than Gen X'ers. With the current generation, they don't mind taking it easy as there is a job waiting for them after their break. Maybe during my next move I could take a couple months off. I wonder if Malou is fine with that.

Say goodbye to childhood

2006-06-06T19:14:00.000-04:00

I'm proud to say that my father was an OCW (or is it OFW nowadays?) when I was growing up. That meant I had more responsibilities at home than a regular teen. It wasn't too bad and I remember enjoying my summers. When I finished high school though, I worked during the summer break while waiting for the start of the first trimester of college. I wondered then how many teens were doing what I was doing during that time. Hey, I'm sure I wasn't the only one but I bet there weren't that many of us. Apparently, this is catching up in this generation. This article describes what teens nowadays have to do to get into college. I wonder what teens will be doing a couple of generations from now. Will they be interns in companies by grade 7?

LSH 7 - The Italian (Cooking) Job

2006-05-25T19:31:00.000-04:00

Halu! It's been a while since I've posted here and as you've probably noticed, Malou and I have been going gah-gah over cooking. Sometime last week, I believe around Wednesday, I was hankering for some eggplant parmesan and salmon. We just came from our biweekly grocery the previous weekend and I didn't want the large eggplant to go bad. So with some provisions and a large appetite, I set out for The Italian Cooking Job...

Eggplant Mozzarella and Provolone Dish

(1) 8oz can tomato sauce
(2) teaspoon olive oil
(1) clove garlic, chopped into slivers
(4) tablespoons dried basil or more depending on one's taste
(1) teaspoon black pepper
(1) eggplant
(1/2) cup shredded provolone
(1/2) cup shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the olive oil in a sauce pan. Turn the stove on medium heat. Once olive oil is hot, add garlic slivers.
3. Once they turn slightly brown, add the tomato sauce. After five minutes, add the dried basil and black pepper. Keep stirring the tomato sauce until the basil and the black pepper is mixed completely with the tomato sauce.
4. Turn the stove to low heat and cover the pan. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Clean the eggplant under cold running water. Remove the skin of the eggplant and then chop into 1/3 inch thick disks.
6. Place eggplant disks in the bottom of a baking dish. Pour just enough of the tomato sauce on top of the eggplant disks to cover them. If you have a small enough baking dish, you can add another layer of eggplant disks and tomato sauce.
7. Spread the mixture of mozzarella and provolone cheeses on top of the tomato sauce. Place baking dish in the oven and set timer to 10 minutes. Check on eggplant dish by making sure the cheese has melted and covered the entire pan. Serve immediately!

Baked Dijon Salmon

(1/4) cup butter, melted
(3) tablespoons Dijon mustard
(1 1/2) tablespoons honey
(1/4) cup italian dry bread crumbs
(2) salmon fillets
(1) lemon sliced into 1/3 inch disks

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place lemon slices on the bottom of a pan. Put salmon fillets on top of the lemon slices.
3. Mix the butter, Dijon mustard and honey in a bowl. Brush mixture on the salmon fillets.
4. Cover the fillets with the bread crumbs.
5. Place the pan in the oven for 15 minutes. Check on the fillets until they are a cooked well. Serve and enjoy!

Meet my first niece

2006-04-27T13:25:00.000-04:00

Her name is Klaudia Louise and she weighed 8 lbs. and 4 oz. and measured 20 inches when she was born last Tuesday. Ate said that the baby looks like Kuya with the chinky eyes and pert nose but I have to say otherwise.

Klaudia Louise seriously looks like my sister back when Ate was a baby.

Don't believe me? Take a look!

Like mother, like daughter. Hehehe!

LSH 6 - Cooking and baking it up

2006-04-27T11:30:00.000-04:00

I have a love of food. Most of the websites I go to and books I gravitate towards feature cooking and baking and eating experiences. As a matter of fact, a huge part of my money goes to food, be it for dining out or grocery-shopping. The decision to buy reasonable girl stuff even when they're marked half-price would take me forever but I would think nothing of dropping some gourmet items on my cart while at the supermarket. Crazy as it may sound, orange juice on special gets me more excited than an all-out mall sale.

But the kind of food I like best are still the ones that I make from scratch in the kitchen. Knowing what I put in them, what I can change about the ingredients and the proportions and seeing all these individual items come together in a delicious medley of textures and flavors make me happy. So far, I have been lucky in the kitchen and have not had a serious cooking or baking disaster. The dishes I make are certainly not perfect; they may even be a tad bland or salty or lacking in ingredients in some cases but they still turn out to be rather good. Maybe not I-can-seriously-sell-this kind of good but good enough to make me sort of "famous" in our circle of friends and relatives.

And since I married a foodie at heart (Jay cooks dishes that I'd go to restaurants for - seared salmon with asparagus, chicken kiev, and others of the sort that breaks budgets - while I make the more traditional variety - adobo, afritada, lumpiang shanghai and others), we have plenty of fun and spend a good deal of time grocery-shopping and planning our weekly menu, much to the horror of our grocery bill and waistlines. As a matter of fact, the past couple of days were a culinary adventure because we made dishes that we either never made before or prepare very seldom.

As proof, here are some photos of the food that Jay and I made within the last week. You can click on the food names to go see the recipe we used except for the shrimp and tofu tempura which we got from a cookbook.

Empanada

Pandesal

Shrimp and Tofu Tempura

LSH 5 - Asian finds

2006-04-21T08:24:00.000-04:00

It was a gorgeous afternoon last Wednesday and to make the most out of it, Jay and I met up after he finished work and decided that we'd go to Chinatown. We needed to buy some Asian ingredients for our next cooking escapade and at the same time, get myself some more of the taho that I sampled last Sunday courtesy of my mother-in-law.

The train ride to the World Trade Center was my first after two years and, although the progress of the construction is, in my opinion, still not much different from how it was in late 2003, I sensed that life has moved on in that part of the city. People were outdoors, taking photos, talking, walking leisurely and generally enjoying a carefree day. It certainly looked like summer has arrived.

After meeting up, Jay and I took the subway to Canal Street which traverses a good part of the old Manhattan neighborhood. Since New York's Chinatown is said to be the largest Chinatown in the United States, it was indeed a sight to see and behold. I got the feeling that I was back in Hong Kong as soon as we got to street level. Shopkeepers are all Asian, if not Chinese, and the babble of voices in a foreign dialect certainly belied the fact that we were in the Big Apple.

Some three hours later of walking, our hands were laden with plastic bags full of Asian goodies like live crabs, big shrimps, and fresh vegetables. We even got ourselves a new wok, frying ladle, bamboo steamer and nabe earthenware pot for half the price that we might get them in "Asian specialty" stores outside of Chinatown. So happy!

But the biggest treat for me still that day was getting my fill of taho. The warm, soft, and sweet soy concoction brought me back to Pacita where manong magtataho would supply me almost daily with this healthy snack. Only thing missing from the Chinatown version were the small tapioca balls and it would have been a true Pinoy treat.

LSH 4 - Sweet surprises

2006-04-18T18:51:00.000-04:00

Baking banana bread for Easter Sunday turned out to be another bonding moment with Jay. It felt good sharing an activity I love with him. One plus too is that we managed to cut the prep time by half because I measured the ingredients while Jay took care of the mixing. And thank goodness for male brawn. Since we don't have a kitchen mixer yet, my husband's arm and the trusty combo of egg beater and spatula did the job. Trust me, it was not easy mixing nine cups of flour with mashed bananas and eggs and butter manually.

Here's a snapshot of the pretty muffins that were oh-so-soft-and-moist delicious when they came out of the oven. Jay had secretly put in a chocolate chunk in each one so the mouth-watering treat became even more of a surprise. Mmmm!

Dreamy

2006-04-13T14:39:00.000-04:00

I am planning to bake again some loaves of banana bread on Saturday that we can bring over to my grandmother-in-law and my dear friend on Easter Sunday. It's a hit with Jay and his folks so I think it's safe enough for scaled-up production.

As I was browsing the net for some other baking recipes, I remembered this ad on TV showing KitchenAid mixers. So off I went to their website and was immediately smitten by this dreamy contraption:

Artisan® Series model has a 325-watt motor, 5 quart stainless steel bowl with ergonomic handle, two-piece clear pouring shield and a tilt-back mixer head design that provides easy access to bowl and beaters.

Features:

10-Speed Solid-State Control
Includes Flat Beater, Dough Hook and Wire Whip
Power Hub for Additional Attachments
Unique Mixing Action
Assembled with Pride in Greenville, Ohio
Dimensions: H 13.7" x W 8.7" x D 14.1" 22.8lbs

Oh my.

When I dream of beautiful machines, they often look a lot like this heavenly mixer. And if I had one of these babies on our counter, I probably wouldn't mind being arm deep in flour for hours.

Yep, I probably won't mind at all.

Home sweet home

2006-04-09T18:55:00.000-04:00

If you've ever lived in a multi-storey apartment building, you'd know that you never can really get away with total silence. You have neighbors living right next to you, one across the hallway and a couple others down the hall. So if you are a little hermit-like the way I am, you'd be glad if the neighbors aren't nosy or noisy.

But our humble little unit is giving me cause for smiles. It's just the right size for the two of us - 600 sq.ft. of newlywed space that fits most of our stuff and then some. My relatives-in-law have been very nice and generous by filling up the place with things that any new homeowner would need. In fact, when Jay and I moved in here three weeks ago, all kitchen gadgets and plates and pots and glasses and utensils were already bought and ready for use. Only thing we needed really was food to stock the fridge with and the only reason they didn't put anything in there was because we were off getting married in Manila and the apartment was pretty much empty for a month.

Anyway, whatever we needed for the place was available. That or something can be used as a temporary substitute. So you can imagine our great savings when after getting married, all we needed to purchase was a dining table and a kitchen trolley/cart. The dining table was our answer to the need for a better dining experience. The kitchen trolley, on the other hand, was for our rice cooker and toaster. They were fighting a losing battle over space with the microwave oven so we just had to intervene.

Another reason to smile about is the centralized heating for the whole building. We don't pay for it separately so that's a blessing. A flat like this, I hear, can get billed $200 a month during winter. Imagine that. And since spring season in the east coast is taking its sweet time getting here, we are really grateful to have the five vents that supply us with heat for "free" this past two weeks.

Talking about other "free" things, we also have the water to be grateful for. We also don't pay for it separately which is truly a big deal because we have a nasty leak in the shower. The hot water knob doesn't quite shut itself off so I think we're wasting around 1 gal/hr of hot water - enough to fill the tub in one day. We should really get it fixed soon but we're not too optimistic. This building is no longer as robust as it was when it was built in the 80's, so getting it fixed may mean taking out the pipes and replacing those and the fixtures altogether. I am not sure how long that would take. With the weather still wintry in the mornings when Jay gets ready for work, we'll probably postpone the maintenance visit for late April.

Well, other than our leak problem, all is good with this place. It's compact, cozy, nifty and relatively quiet. Most importantly, it's ours to call home.

Always on the 8th

2006-04-08T21:08:00.000-04:00

Today is special. For those who care, we always celebrate the 8th of the month. Today, in particular, is our first month as husband and wife. It is also our 37th month as a couple.

Pretty sappy, really, to be counting our togetherness on a monthly basis but that's just how we are. Before we tied the knot last March 8th, we've only been together physically in one city at the same time for three months. That's less than 10% of the entire duration of our couplehood. And if you've ever been in a long-distance relationship, you would understand why we feel the way we do about such little milestones.

More of our happiness captured in photos and video on our big day can be seen here and here.

One month hence

2006-04-06T09:07:00.000-04:00

It's close to one month since we got married and I have yet to find the time to blog until now. My life now with Jay has seen a move from east to west, literally, and it took me a while to get things into some sort of rhythm, system or order.

We planed in from Manila on March 20th and Jay went back to work the day after. We were supposed to have until the 26th to spend as newlyweds but we had to cut our honeymoon short. You see, in addition to the many changes that married life brings, Jay resigned from his work with the company he's been with since 1998. I, myself, have never been with a company for more than three years straight so I can imagine how much of a move out from his usual zone it was. So from the 21st to the end of March, he was busy tying up loose ends and passing on his duties to the people he's leaving. And today, is his fourth day on his new job. I ask him every night how his day was at work and he seems to genuinely like how things are turning out. According to him, his colleagues are nice people and he has work that keeps him busy and challenged during the day. Those I think are exceptional reasons to say that the decision to move was good. And the pay raise that came with the new job doesn't hurt either.

But what about me? What have I been doing so far?

Since I am here just visiting my husband, technically speaking, I have no responsibilities at the moment outside of taking care of the house while he's away. I have taken to keeping things spic-n-span (the apartment is just the right size so it's fairly easy) and making sure that we have something nutritious and tasty to eat during mealtimes. I am actually a bit scared that I'd get too used to the routine. Staying at home is really one of the easiest things to do if there are no kids yet. No stress from work, no rushing in the mornings, no traffic to sit or drive through, no pushing oneself to do the same thing again the next day. Perfect, right? But here comes the clincher: There's no salary either. Hehehe. So when I do decide to go back to work, getting a paycheck would really be one of the top motivations.

In other news, my sister whose in Chicago is due to give birth in two weeks or so. I talk to her everyday now and she seems to be getting antsy as the delivery date is getting closer. She tells me that sleeping is difficult now with the baby always moving. Kawawa naman siya.

I was telling her the other day to really try for normal delivery as recovery is much quicker and the procedure is less expensive. But who knows? Our mother had us both by Caesarian section and we daughters could end up the same with our babies. Anyway, the most important thing is to have Ate Car and baby nephew/niece come out of delivery safe, healthy and well. Everything else is secondary.

More news about my life here in New Jersey on my next post.

LSH 3 - Pork Ribs

2006-04-02T22:16:00.000-04:00

For the past couple of days, I have been thinking of having some breaded pork chops as part of a meal. During lunch, Malou and I went out to eat. Right there in the menu was a lunch special for sweet and hot pork chops! They fried the pork chop then poured some sweet and hot chili sauce on it. I still plan on making some breaded pork chops hopefully during the weekend.
About the ribs, we bought a pack a week ago. I promised Malou I would take care of it some day. Well, today's the day! I also had some molasses in the ref so I thought I might as well use some of that too. I was thinking of hunan spare ribs but it was probably the color of the ribs I was after.

1.5 lbs pork ribs
0.5 cup of soy sauce
0.5 cup of vinegar
1 tbsp of molasses
3 cloves of garlic mashed
0.5 cup of apple juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place pork ribs in a pan.
2. Rub garlic cloves all over pork ribs. Leave the garlic with the pork ribs.
3. Mix the soy sauce, vinegar and molasses. Pour over the pork ribs and garlic.
4. Place pork ribs in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Flip pork ribs and roast for another 20 minutes.
6. Place pork ribs on chopping board and let rest. Pour juices left in the pan into a sauce pan. Add apple juice and heat sauce pan until sauce is to desired thickness.
7. Chop pork ribs and serve the sauce on the side. That or just pour it on the pork chops!

LSH 2 - Quick and easy mushrooms

2006-03-29T18:28:00.000-05:00

We had a bag of mushrooms that we weren't able to use. It has been over a week since we bought it and I said to Malou the other night I will take care of them tonight. I asked her to wash them before hand before I got home. This is what I eventually ended up doing:

Ingredients:
1 container of washed mushrooms chopped
three cloves of garlic chopped (or more depending how much you like garlic)
a pat of butter
orange juice (no pulp)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat your pan and add butter. Make sure it coats the bottom of the pan.
2. Add garlic and let brown.
3. Add mushrooms stirring the entire pan occasionally.
4. Season mushrooms with salt and pepper.
4. Add a bit of orange juice. Now how much orange juice you ask? That depends on how much liquid you want in your pan. I think I added about 1/16 of a cup just enough so that the mushrooms don't dry out. Remember that mushrooms give up a lot of liquid so don't over do it or you might end up with a sour mushroom soup!

If you have anything to add or would just like to comment, feel free!

It's been three weeks...

2006-03-29T18:13:00.000-05:00

... since that glorious Wednesday morning when I woke up and realized, today is THE day. We have been thinking, planning, arguing, resolving, and finally accepting what our wedding day was going to be like. Ahh, yes, we are going to be man and wife today. I remember after taking a bath, I open the card Malou gave to me during breakfast. It was a lovely card and really made me appreciate the day even more. And boy what a day it was.

Three weeks have passed and we are still trying to get used to calling each other wife or husband. We went to our local parish earlier in the day to register. We have gone grocery shopping a couple of times already. We even went out the other day and bought our dining table! I still feel a little heady with everything that is going on right now. No rush anyway as we have our entire lives to spend with each other.

Sun, sea and sand with my Jay

2006-03-02T00:15:00.000-05:00

We had our prenuptial pictorial at Dive Solana in Anilao, Batangas last Monday with award-winning Rey Mondez behind the lens. The whole day was spent posing and showing the camera some love. Hehehe! It was tiring but well worth the effort after we saw the amazing and unique photos. Click here to see more.

An oh, many thanks go to Joel Uichico, owner of Dive Solana, for accommodating our request to take photos all over his nature hideaway and to Tita Bessie and Ito for helping Sir Rey with the props. I got some cuts on my soles for trying to walk over sand and pebbles but no sweat! The shots were awesome!

Bunso kasi

2006-02-23T04:17:00.000-05:00

Jay will be here soon and yet the whole idea of us getting married in less than two weeks still seems surreal. I am having sleepless nights, you know, but not because I am worrying about the wedding activities. It's more because of the anxieties that are part and parcel of moving again and leaving my parents for good.

And lately I've been getting flashback moments of my/our childhood and they come at times when I look at my parents from across the dinner table. They're almost always happy thoughts but the tears that threaten to spill are from sadness.

Hay... There's a good chance that I'll be spilling buckets when I march down the aisle.

What's coming...

2006-02-22T22:08:00.000-05:00

So many things happened today that I still can't believe it's time to go. I just hope everything goes well in the next couple of weeks. I also hope that when we come back here, our love is still as fresh as it was three years ago. Here's to us Schatz and see you soon!

GTB 1 - Getting the basics... Broadband

2006-02-15T19:58:00.000-05:00

One of the first things I looked for in an apartment or house is the cable and phone jacks. Being born in this generation requires an online presence. Since dial-up is slowly dying out, and I have no plans on getting email via a 52kbps connectionI, I started scouting around for the best broadband provider that fits our budget and our needs.

I initially wanted a package but found out that they either do not serve it in our building or the price keeps increasing every year. It was a good thing that my DSL provider doesn't require a voice connection because we plan on getting cell phones with a family plan. So I placed an order a couple of days ago and was checking on it for the past two days. At first they couldn't find my request as I did not request a voice connection. It took six or seven transfers before I could talk with someone who could find my account. I made sure I got all the pertinent info I needed from him so that next time I call, I would know what to identify myself with. I thought that would be it but then I got an email today about my modem getting shipped to my address. When I checked the address, it was missing a critical piece of information! I called them up again but they said it shouldn't be a problem. They will update my record and when the delivery company comes around, I could opt to pick the package up myself. Let's see if I can get the package before I leave next week.

TDGOT 4 - If they can do it for stuff, they can do it for money...

2006-02-13T15:40:00.000-05:00

If Ebay could bring buyers and sellers together, why can't someone bring lenders and borrowers together? Chris Larsen had the bright idea of bringing the process of loaning money online. Give this article (go to Bugmenot.com for a free login) a read if you want to find out more. If you had the cash on hand and feel like being a VC for someone, head on over to this site. Hey, maybe this will help you unloading that bonus you got this year.

HTE 1 - Here, There, Everywhere!

2006-02-03T23:10:00.000-05:00

For all you travelers out there particularly those flying with NWA to and from the US and Philippines, you may want to double check the weight of the baggages you want to check-in. I read on NWA's website that their checked luggage allowance has dropped to 50 pounds for people flying internationally. Then while reading through the fine print, I noticed something....

If you notice the really, really small print, it says "Exceptions for travel wholly between the U.S./Canada and the Philippines, checked pieces may weigh up to 70 pounds (32kg) each." I contacted the reservation number for NWA and a nice lady named Ginny confirmed that people traveling to and from the Philippines are not covered by the new rule. If you need to see it for yourself, here is the link.

I'm going to print this page before I leave for the airport as insurance.

TROOH 7 - Our humble abode...

2006-02-02T17:42:00.000-05:00

My tasks for the wedding was making sure we had proper financing for the wedding and getting everything ready when we come back here. One of my major tasks was finding a dwelling for me and Malou. I only started looking sometime during December of last year since most people are moving out and more units are available during this time. I was getting pretty worried as it was already late January and I had yet to find an apartment. Hey, it wasn't like I was looking for a palace that was dirt cheap. As long as it had one bedroom and the place was clean I would have taken it.

The first apartment I looked at was still being renovated. The realtor said that it would be available on Feb 1st. It really wasn't much since work was still going on. What I liked about it was the free standing bath tub in the bathroom! It reminded me of those western movies where people soak in a tub that was in the middle of a small room. Anyway, I just told the realtor that I will call her again the following week to find out if the apartment was done.

During this time I was calling realtors/owners trying to find out if they had any vacancies. Most of them didn't call me back and some had listed bad phone numbers. What can a guy do? Anyway, during the last Sunday of January I found a couple of listings on craigslist and promptly gave them a call. Two were located in the same area where I currently reside and another was in Queens. The guy from Queens never called me back but I scheduled with the realtor/owner of the two other listings. I made sure to see them both on the same day. After work though, as I was getting ready to go, the owner of one of the apartments called me to say that somebody got the apartment already! So by the time I got to New Jersey I was feeling low. I didn't have high expectations for the other one. Boy was I wrong.

It was one of the condos I pass by every time I get a haircut or go to a doctor's appointment. I was always intrigued by it because it always looked nice from the outside. When the realtor showed me the inside I couldn't believe it. The corridors were very clean and I did not smell any obnoxious odors wafting from anywhere. Their elevator is quirky in the sense that you had to open a door to get inside (of course an inner door closes when you go up and down the building). Also, the floor number starts with the ground floor. Hey I'm back in Germany! The condo had nice hardwood floors and felt pretty spacious. I could already see Malou and me cooking our first meal together. I just hope the realtor didn't feel the vibe I was giving off as we looked in the bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living room. I did make sure to fill up the application form because I was pretty sure I'll be back.

And early yesterday, I signed my first apartment lease.

Remiss

2006-01-29T22:56:00.000-05:00

I have been awfully remiss in my blogging duties. I even have to be reminded by Jay to write something - anything. The first time we had a blog, I almost didn't get to study or work on my thesis because I felt this strong urge to write something and share with the whole wide web. It's not the case anymore.

Maybe it's because I find our blog lay-out boring. It's not cluttered, sure, but I am not crazy about the design, the font, the feel. You know how it is. Even if you have a Manolo Blahnik in your closet but you just want to go for a walk in the park, the shoes won't really go with the mood.

Jay says I can do what I want with the look. But the fact is, making changes on anything computer-based is not one of my strong suits. I don't know anything about looking for codes and what-not. Jay is the one who knows these things. Oh well. Maybe when I have better internet access (dial-up is cheap but tapping-your-foot slow), I will see what I can learn and will try to incorporate some personal designs.

*********

Tomorrow I am heading out to get plane tickets. One set for our honeymoon in Club Paradise and another for my trip to EWR with Jay.

I had a bit of a tiff last Friday with the Club Paradise agent because she was asking me to pay more for the SEAIR tickets after I've already gone to the bank and deposited the full payment for the honeymoon package. My head is cooler now but Friday saw me reprimanding her like a ten-year old.

You see, I asked this travel agent days before if anything changed with the package price that she sent to me by fax some two months ago and she, off the bat, said that things are still the way are and I can go ahead and make the payment after I fax to her the signed reservations form. I did exactly that. That was Tuesday. She called me up on Wednesday to say that the tickets and vouchers are ready. Good. I called her Thursday to say that I will deposit the money the day after. Friday comes and I go to Metrobank and by 5:30 PM that same day, I faxed her the deposit slip. Fifteen minutes later, she calls me up to say that she made a mistake and that the SEAIR ticket prices have changed and that I need to pay around two thousand pesos more.

Blood rushes to my face.

You know, I am a nice person. I don't demand much more than good, honest service. Since we really wanted to honeymoon in Palawan, I made more calls to Club Paradise than they did to me, if only to ask from time to time about our reservations and to find out if we already need to pay. (This Club Paradise agent was telling me last December and early January that it's still too soon.) I was the customer and yet I made all the following up. So you can imagine my irritation at having to be told that I was still short of payment when it was entirely not my fault. Simply put, travel agent was negligent in her duties and I certainly made this clear during our phone conversation. I wanted to speak to her manager to say my piece but she abruptly ended our discussion with her saying that she'll take care of it. I don't know exactly how this will turn out for her but the only thing I am sure of is that I am not paying extra.

*********

I am a bit worried about my wedding dress, by the way. Veluz says that embroidery is a little delayed because of the holiday rush in Lumban. But she also says that the design is coming out to be really, really nice and people over in Lumban are actually pleased with their work. I had told Veluz last December that inasmuch as I like flowers, I want my embroidery to be uncommon. She then made criss-crossing patterns that form diamond shapes for the train and I liked how it looked on paper. So I sure hope it turns out beautiful. My next fitting will probably be this weekend.

*********

My sister has sent me the Proactiv kit that I talked to her about. Turns out that she has both regular and mild formulations but she stopped using them when she got pregnant. Lucky me because a set costs around 4K at Home TV Shopping! I tried the mild version last night and this morning and I am awaiting positive results. Mind you, I don't have acne problems. But I do want to have a clearer complexion so I'm road-testing some items. Vanessa Williams, Jessica Simpson, Alicia Keys and P. Diddy Combs all swear by this product so I am thinking that it probably does work. I happen to think that Alicia Keys has one of the prettiest faces in the music industry so her advertisement of Proactiv looks promising.

Harder time at school...

2006-01-27T14:53:00.000-05:00

I posted something last year about how some schools are segregating children by gender. Here is another article (get your free login from Bugmenot.com!) about how boys are now the "disadvantaged gender" in the education system. As scientists are discovering how girls' brains mature 18 months earlier than boys, educators are finding that the gap between the sexes widening. Hmm, so maybe studying in an all boys HS did help?

TROOH 6 - Heading West ... MidWest...

2006-01-20T13:51:00.000-05:00

As prices for square feet keep getting higher, more and more people are heading to the midwest to get a better bang out of their buck. Your salary may be a bit lower but you get more space for a lot less compared to buying houses in the East and West coast. I wonder if my future SIL and BIL thought about this already? Maybe WE should head over there?

Two months to go

2006-01-10T20:16:00.000-05:00

With the wedding just around the corner, I thought I'd give a rundown of the things we have accomplished so far.

Here goes:

Manila Cathedral requirements
- Marriage license already submitted and approved banns from parishes are already
with me. Will submit them on Sunday together with a copy of the invite, canonical
interview forms, chosen songs from list, missalette.
- Must ask MC about preferences for offertory items and if candles, wine, etc. are
already provided.
- Impromptu is already finalizing endorsement forms for Rey Mondez, Threelogy,
and JJS. Remind Impromptu to get permit to use choir loft.
- Ask MC again if Fr. Figura can officiate wedding mass.
- Canonical interview set for March 1st.

Pre-Cana:
- Paid Discovery Weekend na. We're doing this five days before our wedding!
Hectic talaga. But we think it's one of the best things we'll do as a couple so we're
going for it. Just need to rush the certificate of attendance to MC as soon as the
seminar finishes on March 5th before 5PM. If we can't make it, drop it off on
March 6th and have security guard acknowledge receipt.

Villa Immaculada
- Food-tasting complete. Updated menu. Will meet with AE Peng on Sunday to
get floor plan and finalize other details.
- Pay outstanding balance on Feb 13th when headcount should be almost complete.

Bridal gown and Groom's attire
- Third fitting with Veluz scheduled for Jan 21st. Will see some embroidery na on
the dress.
- H2b's first fititng will be on Feb 25th or 26th. Gave Veluz his measurements last
November. Have to give Veluz our itinerary during the next fitting so she can
earmark end of February to rushing h2b's attire.

Wedding trousseau (his and hers)
- Need to buy all the things I need (stockings, lingerie, etc.) by end of January.
Must get Veluz's advice if I still need a corset.
- H2b will buy his shoes, socks, etc. from where he is. Must remind him again.
- Jewelry set is already in Mama's safekeeping.

HMUA
- Send Ara Fernando a reminder by Feb 15th. Finalize number of heads to be made
up too.

Mothers' dresses:
- Paid Veluz 50% already. Mama's first fitting is on Jan 21st. MIL2b's is scheduled
for mid-February when she arrives.

Fathers' attire:
- Papa will buy his barong by third week of January. Plan trip to Greenhills.
- FIL2b's barong? No idea. Will give suggestions to MIL2b when she arrives.
Measurements of FIL2b is with me.

Dresses for entourage:
- First fitting set for third week of January with Lya Armovit. All dresses (except
for SIL2b's) should be finished and delivered by second week of February.

Hotel:
- Have bought the Club at Hyatt membership card and have faxed the Hyatt AE
our room requirements. Reservation numbers are with me but must call them
again in early February to make sure updates are made.

Photo:
- Pre-nup pictorial set for Feb 27th. Must remind Sir Rey of our agreement to
deliver the jpeg photos to us the day after and to not forget the signature sheets.
- Call pre-nup venue again on Feb 20th to confirm arrival.

Video:
- Gave Threelogy already the scanned photos from our childhood. Must give to
them the pre-nup photos by Feb 28th together with the mp3 files of the songs we
want.

Ceremony accessories:
- Finished 50 copies of the missalette.
- Need to buy gifts for offertory soon.
- Bible and rosary ready. Remind h2b not to forget to bring two boxes of the fireplace
matches I want.
- Should I buy party poppers too? Undecided. But will probably keep things organic
with loose flower petals and birdseed (alternative to rice grains).
- Got vintage 1958 fifty centavo coins from Bangko Sentral for free! (Thanks to
former W@Wie Karla Fider for posting the details of her contact person.) These are
the first Philippine coins written in English. All others issued after that series indicate
already "Bagong Lipunan". Ganda! Cleaned them na and placed them in the wooden
arrhae box I found at SM's Kultura section.

Wedding cake:
- Judy Uson supplies the wedding cake to VI. Have chosen the design already and
gave color scheme (not in the list of choices) to AE Peng. Ask again if this can be
accommodated.

Bridal car:
- Part of VI's package. Specify the car model in the contract during the Jan 15th
meeting.

Wine:
- Should we buy wine? Maybe just ten bottles. Have to look for the non-alcoholic
variety.

Invites:
- Finished distribution of all of them except for the lady members of the entourage.
Will give them personally when we meet for first fitting.

Wedding favors:
- None. Decided to donate the money to charity.

Gifts for entourage:
- Finished buying and gift-wrapping most of them.

Flowers and decor:
- Paid Steve Dorotan 50% DP. Will meet him on Jan 15th at VI with AE Peng and
Impromptu to discuss table centerpieces and venue lay-out. Bring print out of desired
flower arrangements.
- Buy some votive candles from Tanya Zurbito.
- Get the luminaries from Kate Lucero by March 1st.

Wedding coordinator:
- Impromptu's been a big help but since I am hands-on during the preparations, their
real test will be on the wedding day. So far, so good.

Music
- Paid JJS 50% DP. Will meet him on Jan 15th too to discuss song list and to assess
need for better sound system at VI, if necessary.
- Prepare CDs of choice songs to be played while musicians eat and rest. Don't forget
to label the CDs and categorize the songs.

Emcee
- Paid DP to Mallory Cosio. Will meet her on Jan 15th too to go over reception
programme.
- Ask h2b to ask if any of his friends would like to render a song number.

Dance instructor:
- Have spoken and confirmed with Debbie Faune for a whole-day dance lesson on
Feb 26th.
- Remind her of schedule again by February 13th.

LCD Projector and Screen
- Paid 50% to Webdevices (a.k.a. Velvet San Diego). Have AE Peng of VI note
placement of projector and screen that would be best for viewing.

Crew meals:
- Undecided if I will get these. I feel bad having to discriminate between suppliers
and guests. Will decide when we get a better handle on the headcount.

Honeymoon:
- Reservations already made at Club Paradise. Should get the plane tickets by early
February from travel agent.

Other things that need doing:
- Start calling people about their attendance by Feb 6th.
- Buy fine OHP pens for signature sheets.
- Withdraw money for payments by mid-Feb and group them in envelopes according
to suppliers.
- Hand over contracts and receipts to Impromptu on Feb 20th.
- Pack things in boxes according to destination: hotel, church, reception, honeymoon.
- Arrange for pick-up of luminaries by Joanne Rodriguez on March 9th.
- Finalize headcount for the pre-wedding dinner at Alba's.

It's been three years to the day...

2006-01-05T23:32:00.000-05:00

Malou just informed me that this is the day I sent her the first of many, many, many emails we would send to one another for the past three years. Wow, it's been three years since I hesitated to send her an email. I've always wondered what would have happened if I never sent that email or if she just wrote me off. Well if I knew then what I know now, I would have wrote to her a lot sooner.

Ich liebe dich meine Schatz.

It's 2006! Changes a-hoy!

2006-01-02T09:19:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everybody! Sheesh I sound like Dr. Nick Riviera but anyway, it's a brand new year and quite a lot is going to happen to everybody. I received a delightful surprise on the last day of the 2005 when our friendly postman came by and delivered the wedding invitations! I didn't expect it until Tuesday but I was glad I already had them. I've already arranged them by country and state so that the post office will have a faster time processing them.

I also received the canonical interview questions and only read through them fully today. I think the only one question I had to spend time on was when I was asked how often did I go to mass, confession and take communion. Considering there are 52 weeks in a year, I am assuming I've gone to at least 52 masses. Hopefully

Well that's it for now on my end. Enjoy the rest of your day!

Maybe ten more

2005-12-30T08:55:00.000-05:00

Today was a good day.

Since I started working, my college friends and I have not been seeing each other often. Sure, there'd be occasional, spur-of-the-moment, let's-meet-for-coffee invitations but there's usually only a handful who actually manage to show up. Chalk it up to work, traffic, odd hours and you've got less and less face-to-face encounter between friends. However, with the holiday season here and friends who live or work abroad coming home to visit families, it was a good time as any to gather in one place and catch up on news.

A dear friend whose shadow I have not seen after graduation in 1997 was there and I was really happy. She's occupying one of the key executive positions at People Support now and we're truly proud of her. Nice too that as we were chatting away, she told me that she has asked about me frequently from our other friends the same way that I was looking for news about her. Now that was truly heartwarming.

And it's good to know that this scenario repeats itself as we excitedly share stories about our lives and loves as well as that of our other friends who are not there. Most of what we know and found out are positive news and standard gossip, nothing fall-of-your-seat shocking which I think is a blessing at these changing times.

So now, after seeing them again, I will revise my side of the wedding guestlist. I think I have ten more people that I'd like for us to share March 8th with.

Again, today was a good day.

TROOH 5 - Yes Virginia, less expensive houses do exist!

2005-12-29T11:51:00.000-05:00

If you haven't read our previous posts, TROOH really means "The Roof Over Our Heads". I started this because I'm worried that when the time comes, Malou and I won't be able to move into our own house because of high prices. If you want to to check out my previous posts, just check the archives.

I am in the unfortunate (if you look at it that way) position of currently living and working in the East Coast. If we choose to live here after the wedding, we will have to look for houses somewhere outside the city limits. That usually means the 'burbs. Anyway, to find a house that would fit our budget, we would probably have to travel almost two hours to and from the city where we work. In this article (check out this site for a free login) though, if you look at the housing market outside New York, Washington, Miami and along the coast of California, you would find decently priced homes. This has made me rethink where we could possibly start our family. I do hope that when the time comes for us to purchase a home, we won't be turning down house after house just because our pockets are not that deep.

Don't like the gift, swap it!

2005-12-21T22:17:00.000-05:00

I've always wondered what to do with my aunt's gift. It's a small cooler to keep your lunch warm but it's pretty bulky. I eventually saw my gift being reused as a bill refuse (bills are kept in it). I read an article about "regift" gifts and thought the idea of going to a party and swapping "unusable" gifts was pretty good. So, if you want to have a post holiday party and need an idea for an activity, use that one. Bring all your "unusable" gifts, wrapped properly of course, and swap them with another person. You could keep swapping until someone announces that you have to open the gift you currently have. Hey, the worst that could happen is you get your regift back

About those pesky logins...

2005-12-19T14:58:00.000-05:00

I know some of you have been prevented from reading an article because you have to sign up for something. Well, I saw this website a couple of months ago but didn't come across it again until today. You may be able to find other logins for pix sites as some of those sites require an account on their service just to see those shared pictures.

http://bugmenot.com/

stress relief

2005-12-19T14:55:00.000-05:00

If you need to release some stress after a long day of planning/preparation/running everywhere, go to this site. Have fun!

Mini update

2005-12-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

Things are going A-OK with the preps. I have done a lot of things since my last wedding-related post. I just haven't had time to blog about them. So here goes:

I have already claimed (from the municipal hall) and submitted (to Manila Cathedral) our marriage license! Yipee! This was something that had us for a while in a moment of panic because we thought that Jay would have to come home to personally appear in front of the civil registrar. Buti at nakinig sa rason yung Civil Registrar at napakiusapan!

So what I did was to just send Jay the forms and he brought them over to the Philippine Embassy to be"notarized". And I use the term "notarized" loosely here because it's not a legal document and no lawyer signed it. But all is well. I submitted our license to MC last week and the request for the publication of marriage banns are already with our respective parishes. Will get the approved banns by the first week of January. Yey! Ahead of schedule kami!

I also have now the invites we ordered whose pictures I posted before. Ganda! Very classy. I finished addressing around 40 of them, ready for courier service to Jay on Tuesday. He'll take care of the mailing for overseas guests because (1) it's cheaper, and (2) the invites will reach the recipients much sooner.

My appointment with Veluz two weeks ago was also fruitful as we brainstormed about my dress' embroidery. I have already chosen a pattern for the train and the bodice; it's only the cut of the cloth for the train that has left me undecided.

Veluz kasi is giving me two options: (1) to maintain the rectangular shape of 45" cloth, or (2) to cut the cloth diagonally, flip one half, join the edges, and produce a somewhat trapezoidal fabric. Choosing the second option would instantly give the gown a wider train at the very end, if you can visualize what I mean. What would normally be just 45" would widen to, say, 60" at the base where the focus of the embroidery will be anyway. More space for the design, in other words. I see the beauty of such a technique but I am not too convinced by an irregularly shaped train.

You see, the main reason why I wanted a piña gown, in the first place, is to have an heirloom dress for the daughter(s) that we will have someday. I want her to have something Filipino, traditional and beautiful if she chooses to wear the same dress or parts of it when she gets married. An irregularly shaped train would understandably have limits to its use. A rectangular one, on the other hand, offers the possibility for use as a veil, part of the dress, and of course, as a train. The traditional cut just seems more versatile in the long run, di ba? But I have postponed deciding 'til Veluz shows me the pattern for both cases in a bigger format. She said that she'll ask one of the embroiderers to draw it in actual size. With that on the back burner for now, only the embroidery work for the bodice has begun.

Those are my accomplishments for now. In two weeks, the new year would be here and things will definitely go full speed ahead. Nine weeks left 'til the wedding when January says hello!

Hey Pare (Buddy)/Boss!

2005-12-16T16:15:00.000-05:00

My sister and I were talking yesterday about what would happen if we both worked for the same company. We both just looked at each other and laughed as we both knew, it wouldn't work out. I would probably disagree a lot with my sister over technical details. Now I wonder what if I was the boss of a good friend of mine or I was the underling of my friend? It'll probably test our friendship when something big comes up. Read this article if you want to know more.

That ugly side ...

2005-12-12T15:13:00.000-05:00

During the month of October, alienated youths, from the French suburb La Courneuve, burned cars, broke shop windows and attacked police in anti-riot gear. This was triggered by the death of two youths who were accidentally electrocuted while hiding from chasing police. Just today in Sydney, Australia young people smashed cars and destroyed shops in response to drunken white youths attacking people they believed were of Arab descent. It's hate, hate and more hate.

Those articles (which might require a login) have pictures that show how much resentment has built up all these years from people who will inherit this earth. It is frightening to see how far these young people would go to beat people to a pulp, just because they are different from them. In the article about La Courneuve, you could feel Looping's hopelessness in a system that was supposed to be color, race and sex -blind. His mother Djamila sends him to school but they are not expected to succeed. With an Arab name, he cannot find a job that will accept him. In Sydney hate begot hate as drunk white youths started beating Arab-looking people. It said in the article that the instigators where members of white supremacist groups but why were there so many? Why did others join in?

What is it with skin or hair color, the size or shape of one's eyes, height or accent?

Day of days...

2005-12-07T18:20:00.000-05:00

Today is the feast of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. I just realized that this is also the official name of the Manila Cathedral (Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception Manila Metropolitan Cathedral). Malou and I are also "celebrating" our thirty-third month together, leaving us 90 days before our wedding. A lot has already happened since our last monthsary and there is still a lot more to do. Malou is doing such a great job preparing everything that I am glad I am just in the sidelines letting her do what she does best. Occasionally I get to help but mostly it's all her.

I love you Malou and I'll be seeing you soon!

Garlic with a side of botulism

2005-12-07T18:06:00.000-05:00

About a year ago I removed the dry skin of a garlic bulb and separated all the pieces. Then I dropped it into a small bottle and filled it with extra virgin olive oil. I just left this in the spice rack we have in the kitchen. Over time, I finished using the garlic infused olive oil on salads, eggs, sandwiches and whatever else I fancied the flavor of garlic infused oil. I also ate the pieces of garlic. I was just reading another blog when I came across an entry about placing infused olive oil in the refrigerator and removing the garlic least I get foodbourne botulism! Apparently garlic can be a breeding ground for the bacteria that causes botulism. That just sucks! I'll be a lot more careful next time I try this.

Fat in a can/bottle...

2005-12-07T12:37:00.000-05:00

Go to any school and you know what you'll find? A cafeteria that serves terrible food and a vending machine filled with chips and soda (softdrinks in some countries). Now just imagine all those thirsty kids who just came from gym class and looking for a drink. Where do they go? If a soda vending machine is nearby you'll see them line up. These lawyers from Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against the top soda makers and their local bottler so that "sugary beverages" are banned from school. When I was in school I never used those vending machines as I already had food with me and at the same time I'm cheap. Why spend extra money on soda when there's a water fountain? Hey, sometimes I even bring my own water bottle or fruit juice from home. Why bother? Sure parents have varying schedules but to encourage their kids to buy soda by just handing them money for lunch borders on irresponsibility. Can't you at least give them a water bottle so that they have an option? Fill it up with calamansi or mango juice! Don't give up on your kid's health by just giving in to easy solutions.

TV talk and edutainment

2005-12-07T10:37:00.000-05:00

When I was still studying in Germany, I did not have a television set. We had a common room for the whole building and that's where the big TV set and DVD and VHS players were. If anybody wants to watch the news or anything, it's the place to go. Nga lang, it became too public for my taste with people coming and going and I suppose most of us there felt the same. So after a week or so, a good number of my classmates invested on one for personal use since our rooms had free cable connection anyway. I, on the other hand, opted not to cave in to the temptation.

Hehe. I remember how my sister was genuinely panicked when I told her over the phone a couple of days after I first moved in that I don't have a TV. Can I live daw without one? Hehe. She really made it sound like it was as essential to life as air.

Her sibling concerns aside, I was of the opinion that having a TV in my room in tandem with the free and fast internet connection would take away precious time from studying. Yeah, right. It turned out that other distractions like chronic sleepiness were bigger challenges.

So after spending close to two years without moving pictures on a daily basis, it was touch and go for me. I could either get hooked on the boob-tube after our re-acquaintance or I could be totally turned off by it and say good riddance to the couch potato syndrome.

But now that I am back home and have my own TV in the comfort of my room, there's something to be said about the glorious contribution of cable. I keep a schedule now of shows that I regularly watch on a Post-It note by my dresser. It lists CSI (I watch all three but like the original one way better), Scrubs, Desperate Housewives, House, Las Vegas, Joan of Arcadia, Medical Investigation, Numb3rs, and others. Most of the shows I just mentioned are syndicated either by AXN or Star or ETC.

And I get the educational fare too. Every night, just before dinner, I get to watch Food Network's cooking shows like Rachel Ray's 30-minute Meals, Tyler's Ultimate, Molto Mario, Alton Brown's Good Eats, Unwrapped, Emeril Live, Sweet Dreams, Passion for Dessert, Hot off the Grill with Bobby Flay, Ming's Quest and many other lip-smackingly good shows. By the time the show is finished, I would have an appetite that could have been satisfied by anything with the visions of glorious plates of food in my head.

What can I say? I can gustatize food even just by watching how it's made.

The recipes they feature look pretty easy to make too for as long as the right ingredients, utensils and kitchen appliances are on hand. Among the kitchens I've seen though, I like that of Bobby Flay's the most. It's steel and wood which to me is a nice blend of sturdy and homey. So I take note of the brands of kitchen equipment that they use on the set when the credits are shown so that someday I can look for them. Wala lang. Hopefully we get to furnish our future home with such fine stuff too.

When I am not stuck on the Food Network's current offering, I can be found over at the National Geographic channel. There is nothing on there that's not the least bit educational, I tell you. I stumbled upon Mega Structures on a weeknight once and was so fascinated by this special they had on a diamond mining field in Alaska. The mine is beyond huge and they blast and move so much dirt with a bulldozer as big as a six-storey building that it's incredible to learn that getting only a mug-full of diamonds in a year for the whole mine is already considered good and profitable.

No kidding.

Then the other day I was watching this special they had on for animal burrows. The host of the show went on to feature a female grizzly bear who was hibernating for the winter. It's interesting to note that the two-ton bear did not even flinch the entire time it was poked, moved, stuck with needles, tagged, and dragged back to its burrow. All along I thought that even when an animal hibernates, it will wake up, however slightly, once it is disturbed. This one did not even move a muscle from its deep slumber. The host says that the bear is on hibernation for six months during the year and if humans were to do that even for just half the time, our muscles would have atrophied and we would have developed arthritis by the time we woke up.

Fascinating.

Mommy, why does that car smell like french fries?

2005-12-05T16:12:00.000-05:00

These are the days of rising prices, what with the price of a barrel of crude oil hovering at $60. Since your food is being trucked from one location to another, gas has to be processed to get to your house, water has to flow to your pipes, all of these things add up. I was comparing what I paid for gas this month with the same month last year and there is a significant increase. So I've resumed what I always did when I was a kid and I would turn off the lights in any room when nobody is there. Every little bit counts.

Over the summer, the company I work for wanted me to work at our sister site. It would have cut my commute time in half but I had to drive to get there! It was a good thing I refused as oil prices went up after a couple of months. I would prefer to walk rather than spend $50 a week to fill up a gas tank.

I wonder what would happen if I switched to biofuels. This article (this may require a free login) reports a merchant who uses the byproduct of his company as fuel for his converted car. Though using this type of fuel may render void the warranty on his car and he has to make the fuel for himself, he still keeps doing it. Hopefully as more and more alternative sources of fuel are made available for vehicles, car companies would make more cars that can use them.

Pipa is a "Good Time"...

2005-12-03T20:46:00.000-05:00

Since Malou is doing our food tasting today, I thought I should share with you the wonderful dinner I had last Friday. Hopefully sometime this week Malou can also share how good the food is for our wedding.

I've always been interested in eating at a tapas bar for a while now. How many little plates will it take to fill me up? I've eaten at restaurants where they serve multiple courses and after about five courses I can't eat another bite. Will it take more with saucer sized portions?

Pipa is a taperia near Union Square. My sister recommended this place when we were deciding what restaurant to go to for our "monthly" (or whenever we feel like treating our other siblings) siblings night-out. I was glad we got reservations as the place was pretty packed by the time we got there. The restaurant was in a large room with chandeliers hanging everywhere. I was wondering why there were tags on them and then I realized that the restaurant was connected with the furniture store next door. Hey if you found something you like, you could easily head over to the store to buy it.

One of the first things I checked was the wine list they had. I was particularly interested what riojas they had. They had Spanish (of course) and French wines. I couldn't particularly see the rest because they were priced per bottle. It was a good thing I saw one rioja that they served per glass. When our waiter came around I asked about that particular red but he was not that enthusiastic about it. When I mentioned that I wanted a rioja but was uncertain what to pick, he suggested one that I was interested in. That and it was in the right price range. You can click on the image to see the bottle we had.

It was a good thing we ordered quickly as it took them a while to deliver the little plates. By the time they arrived, we were famished. I started with the Pulpo Gallego (sauteed octopus, calamata olives, roasted potatoes, and smoked paprika). The octopus was cut in bite sized portions and really mixed well with the rest of the ingredients. It was very tender and quite tasty. The olives gave it a salty kick but it was not overpowering. Hmm maybe it was the wine?

We then proceeded to eat seared scallops with caramelized onions, melted manchego cheese and crispy serrano ham (Scallops a la Mancha). I tell you those were pretty good scallops! The sweet onions and the mild cheese helped it along.

I asked for a piece of mushroom coca (or Catalan flatbreads) as it looked pretty tasty. It had wild mushrooms, figs, thinly sliced serrano ham, toasted almonds and white truffle oil. The sweetness of the figs with the slightly salty ham accented the mushrooms. I didn't notice the truffle oil that much. You could think of it as some sort of "Spanish pizza".

I then had more mushrooms by reaching for a mushroom croquette. Have I said how much I like mushrooms? I really, really like mushrooms. It was breaded and wasn't oily at all! The mustard dressing was a little mild. I expected a sharp zing but all I got was a small pop.

By this time my other sibling calls and tells me to order Gambas Al Ajillo. I do so because I was sure it would arrive just as she came in. It came a little later but it had a lot of garlic! I also really, really like garlic and I am glad Malou doesn't mind. It was good enough for us to get more toasted bread to scoop up the olive oil and bits of garlic.

I also had a Pipa coca which had Spanish chorizo, roasted peppers and tomatoes, artichokes, manchego cheese and paprika. Mmmmm....

Speaking of peppers, a small clay plate no bigger than a coaster contained a stuffed sweet pepper, filled with lump crab meat and shrimp. It was COVERED in a smoky type of cheese. I don't recall what it was called but it was lip smackin' good!

Oh and I saved the best for last. We had dates stuffed with almonds and cabrales and then wrapped in bacon. It was placed on an endive leaf. Out of all the tapas we had, this was the one I liked best. I could have ordered more but I reached my limit. Hmm, so it looks like I had about four small plates of food considering we shared all everything. That includes the sherry I had for dessert.

Ahh, that was some dinner.

Hear ye, hear ye!

2005-12-01T09:33:00.000-05:00

I went to Amis Print today in Guadalupe to look at the mock-up of our invites.

The verdict? The invites are understated and elegant - just as we wanted them to be. I am happy!

So after I took pictures, I gave them the go-signal to start printing. And I was promised that some time in the week after next, I shall have our complete order. If that's the case, then I can put the names of the recipients on the envelopes and get those overseas invites couriered to Jay for distribution by mid-December. Yehey!

If you're interested to look at close-up shots, you can click here.

Old photograph

2005-11-30T02:16:00.000-05:00

I am supposed to update our wedding checklist but happened to look again at some of the photos I recently had scanned for our AVP.

Ain't he a cutie?

I wish that someday one of our little boys would look exactly like Jay.

500 cc takes 3 to 5 years

2005-11-29T01:06:00.000-05:00

Yep, you read it right. That's how much blood a pregnant woman loses during normal delivery of a baby. And it takes three to five years for the same normal and healthy woman to replenish all that lost blood.

Sheesh. No wonder mothers who give birth to babies that are too close in age look anemic and just literally sapped out. Their husbands are not giving them the required years to recuperate! Add to this the long and cruel hours child-rearing requires and you bet that the saying "a mother would give up her life for her child" takes on a different meaning. It's not a decision she makes in the face of war or hunger. Day to day living does it for her!

So what else did I find out in today's family planning seminar?

Ah, I know now what an IUD (intra-uterine device) actually looks like. Sheesh. Whoever invented that thing probably had Marquis de Sade for inspiration. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think the metal fins on top are made of copper and the tail of the whole thing is plain string. Like the ones used to tie balloons. Only (hopefully) sanitary. The comadrona who conducted the seminar said that the IUD can last six years inside the uterine cavity while flipping this chart with illustrations of a woman's va**na held open by a speculum. I was freaking out with all that display of horrific acts to the human body when she singled me out and asked if we (absentee Jay and I) have made up our minds between natural and artificial methods. From the look on my face, she knew I was not going to choose IUD.

I also know now how to properly put on a condom for my partner. Hehehe. This one is funny because the guys were asked to take the seats in front of the class before the lecture started and from behind, you can see them sort of squirming in their seats. The comadrona was very forthcoming with her spiel and she looked pretty comfortable out there blowing air through the condom and checking it for leaks. Then she made this twirling motion with her thumb and forefinger on the tip of the condom saying that doing so ensures that we (females) do not overstretch the material and use that collecting space for the sem*n when we (females again) put it on for the husbands. She even made this grand gesture of smelling (!) the condom and commenting that it's chocolate-flavored. Agi.

The comadrona also mentioned that documented abortions in this country number 400,000+ annually, majority of which are due to unplanned pregnancies.

So after two hours of this family planning seminar (good thing it was not a workshop!), am I better informed? I like trivia so I can say that the two hours were not exactly a waste of time. Having an expert talk to you about these things in all seriousness sometimes beats reading about them in books too.

By the way, we get our marriage license on the 9th. Yey! :-)

Counting down...

2005-11-28T22:43:00.000-05:00

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...

When to be patient and when not

2005-11-28T00:20:00.000-05:00

First of all, thank you to Jay for moving our blog from MyBlogSite to Blogger. Due to reasons beyond our control, we had to move. MyBlogSite is spinning off its blog hosting services to a third party and if we wish to keep our little home on the web, we need to pay something like $8 a month. Since we're natural spendthrifts, moving to a free site was the way to go. Good thing we did not have a lot of furniture to bring along. So if you're here and reading this, our new place has a new look and new layout. We're much closer now to our neighbors too, the W@Wies. Hopefully we find the time (and for me, faster internet connection) to make some interior decorating. The place will look spiffy and personalized soon enough. :)

In the meantime, I have some general updates about the wedding.

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I secured two weeks ago the creative talent of Ms. Lya Armovit for the entourage dresses.

Ms. Tet Hagape was actually my initial choice based on good feedback from fellow W@Wies. Distance, common sense and gasoline price notwithstanding, I went to her place in Pasig with my coordinators only to not meet her for our 4:30 PM appointment.

She was late and made us wait for an hour and a half.

Since I am a stickler for punctuality (yes, even before I lived in Germany), I gave up when 6:00 PM rolled in. All this time, I was mentally controlling my exasperation. The girls were also starting to get pissed. An appointment is an appointment after all. Besides, I came all the way from and need to drive back to Laguna. It was getting dark and I was getting bitchy by the minute. What made me decide to just leave was when she called and said that she'll be there in 20 minutes and asked if we can wait a little bit longer only to call half an hour later and 'fess up that she needs more than an hour because she's stuck in traffic somewhere in Ortigas.

Ano ba yan?!

So I told the girls that we're going and that's that.

The following day, I thumbed through the W@W BYP looking for designers and seamstresses that would jog my memory. I called up Cecilio Abad, Enan Almando, and Lya Armovit because I've read at one time or another of their work. I got all of their rates but immediately booked a meeting with Ms. Lya Armovit at her shop at Market! Market!

Finding her store was easy and looking at her designs was even more so. The dresses were simple, understatedly elegant and clean. Exactly how I wanted them. We had some discussion about the styles and the personalities of the ladies to be outfitted and not much later, sealed the deal. Lest you think that we have an awful lot of money to spend, I'd have to say that apart from my dress and those of the mothers which will be made by Veluz, we only have five ladies and one flower girl on the entourage. There's more funds to go around when the party is lean.

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Two weeks ago was our 120-day mark. It meant that we can now apply for a marriage license. So off I was to the office of the municipal registrar of San Pedro to secure the forms. I told them of our case - Jay being overseas - and was told by the town official that he requires us to be both present. I presented my argument saying that Jay can't fly home without spending an outrageous amount of money on a plane ticket. It's already December and flights are sky-high expensive (literally) even if we're lucky to get him one. I also informed the town official that I know of a couple with the same case as ours who filed their application and was granted their marriage license in Quezon City. What they did was to get the forms, send those to the h2b in the U.S., have the h2b sign said forms in front of the consul officer in the Philippine Embassy, mail them back to the b2b and then have her lodge the application herself at the town hall. Town official did not know about the procedure I explained and asked me then to do it like that and he'll see what he can do. My lawyer-father, in the meantime, scanned the Family Code of the Philippines and found that such a procedure is allowed when one party is abroad and cannot be present. So now, I've got the forms back from Jay in the mail and would be going to the town hall again tomorrow, with Papa in tow and the Family Code, just in case.

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Then last week, I went to Divisoria to check out 168 mall, the clusters, Ylaya and Tabora.

Man, oh man, was it a day of sweat.

I was there bright and early to look for possible wedding souvenirs, materials for my DIY missalette and anything else that would catch my fancy. Alas, I couldn't find anything that I went ga-ga over. Resigned, I decided to traverse Recto to Avenida and go look for the specialty paper for missalette. Mind you, I did it on foot! Jeepneys that were plying that route were already filled and by the time a couple of passengers would alight, I can already see the LRT. The walk was not too bad. Took me around 15 minutes. I was just careful though to appear like I knew my stuff and to hold my backpack close to my chest.

I found the papers I needed at National Avenida! Woohoo! They're the exact same paper thickness (120 gsm) and color (casino gold or copper) that will be used for our invites by Amis. Goody!

Got them for a steal at 1 peso per pack of 10 sheets of A4 size.

Grabe! I realized the mistake of the bar code scanner only when I got home. There was nothing wrong with the bar code, per se, but the price encoded in the inventory was wrong. Each pack was regularly priced at Php43 but was on sale for Php20. Imagine my surprise then when I got home and saw that I was charged only 8 pesos for my whole stash of specialty paper. I bought other things from that store like planners so the error was not difficult for me to miss.

I will start printing around 70 copies of that missalette next week.

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More news about the W@W Christmas Party on my next post.