A NEW SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB!

At long last after quite a long wait I finally did it! I finally went out and bought myself a new SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 7.0 PLUS. You see I have had the money since November last year but I refrained from buying one at once because I have read in blog posts that a new 7-inch tablet will be coming out by December and so I waited until the last day of December but still no Samsung Galaxy 7.0 plus hit the stores. Finally, I heard of its arrival over at Yugatech’s blog at around the first week of January but I didn’t rush out to go and buy a new unit just yet. I waited a few more days to browse through reviews and restrained myself just a little bit more. You know just in case something better comes up and indeed something better did come up the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 with an Amoled screen that has infinitely much brighter and crisper resolution display. But alas it is way beyond my budget already! In fact, I only just initially planned about 20 – 22K as my budget for the tablet but the 7.7 is already at 30K while the 7.0 plus is around 24K. But still I persisted and bought the 7.0 plus. Anyway, it had dual core processor already and never mind the not so clear screen resolution.

But you may wonder, if I would be spending around 24K, why not buy an Ipad? Well, my main consideration was that I didn’t have wifi connection at home and so I needed a gadget that had 3G and would allow me internet access using just my sim card. And since the Galaxy Tab at 24K already provides that, I just knew it would be the one for me. IPad’s 3G version cost something like 30K also! So it’s definitely a no-no. The 7-inch tab is just right because aside from having the feel and weight of a pocket diary/notebook, it’s just the right price! I just hope I would definitely be able to use it for blogging! Here’s hoping I could do real time blogging soon!!!

[photo grabbed from the internet]

MOVIE REVIEW: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER

It’s our weekend to just stay at home and as our usual routine, we either spend the time just watching TV or movies in USB or just hanging out with the kids upstairs in the room while they play with the PC. The hubby usually just tinkers around with his carpentry work in the garage and basically leaves us in peace. On this particular day, after we ate a late lunch, we chanced upon a good movie at the Star channel – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (the 3rd installment of the Chronicles of Narnia). The movie starts with Edmund and Lucy shown living in the house of a cousin, Eustace. They were staying inside Eustace’s bedroom just hanging out when suddenly they noticed that the water in the painting was moving. Soon, the water spills into their bedroom and continues to rise until they are submerged in water. When they rise up to the surface, they discover they are in a real ocean and with the ship in the painting right next to them.

The crew of the ship fishes them out of the water and they soon discover that they are in Narnia. The passenger on board the ship is none other than Prince Caspian. Eustace, on the other hand, becomes flustered with all that’s been happening and could not believe everything he sees especially after seeing a talking mouse and a talking Minotaur. Edmund and Lucy learn that Prince Caspian is on a voyage to search for the Seven Lost Lords of Narnia and the kids enjoyed joining them in their quest, well, except for Eustace, of course.

Soon they see land and they reach Narrowhaven, a city of Long Island and when they embark they find the city ‘seemingly’ deserted. But it wasn’t truly deserted as it seems because it is actually a lair of slavers and the four (Prince Caspian, Edmund, Lucy and Eustace) are captured and thrown into a dungeon. In the dungeon, they meet Lord Bern, the first of the Seven Lost Lords and he tells them what happened. Outside of the prison, they see some frightened slaves being led on a boat out to the open water. Then suddenly a green mist appears and disappears, taking the slaves with it. The Lord tells them that the other six Lords went off in search of the mist and has not returned ever since.

The next day, they were sold at an auction and a buyer shows up (actually the captain of the Dawn Treader) who takes over the town and sets all the slaves free. Lord Bern gives his sword to Caspian who gives it to Edward for him to use while in Narnia. The Dawn Treader soon arrives at another seemingly uninhabited island which is in fact, inhabited by invisible men who hop about on one foot. They abduct Lucy and trick her to go inside a magician’s mansion to recite a spell to render them visible once again. Lucy reluctantly does so after learning that they can neither read nor write.

Lucy finds the spell book, and finds all sorts of spells inside, including a spell to make snow and to make one beautiful. She tears that page out and finds the spell to make things visible. Lucy arrives with the master of the island, Coriakin who tells them to proceed to Aslan's Table, with a Blue Star to guide them, and lay upon it all of the Seven Swords of Aslan. But he also warns them that they are all about to be tested.

The Dawn Treader then sets out again, but they sailed into a storm. During the storm, Lucy has the bad sense to try out the beauty spell and she turns into Susan, and finds herself with her brothers Peter and Edmund in America. But in effect, she deletes herself and also their experiences at Narnia. Lucy learns her lesson and burns the beauty spell.

The next day, the Dawn Treader reaches yet another seemingly uninhabited island. They explore and reach a cave. Inside they find a pool of water with a golden statue at the bottom. Edmund tries to probe it with a broken-off branch--and the branch turns to gold in his hand. Then they realize that the statue is actually one of the Seven Lords, Restemark, turned to gold and dead. They retrieve his sword but Edmund was tested and obsessed with acquiring riches for himself. Caspian sees a resource over which he, as king, should take dominion and they start to argue. Only Lucy's intervention keeps the two from killing each other. Eustace, meanwhile, goes off exploring and finds more treasure than he has ever seen in one place. He finds a skeleton (actually that of Lord Octesian) and steals a gold bracelet.

Caspian and Edmund are looking for Eustace, when a winged, fire-breathing dragon swoops down from the mountains and scoops up Edmund so he could read a message burnt into the rocks: I AM EUSTACE. They then realize that the dragon is Eustace. The group stays on the island overnight to keep Eustace company. The next morning, the Blue Star appears to them. A mermaid comes to warn them not to continue their journey but they press on.

That night, Dawn Treader lands at yet another island, the Island of Aslan's Table. There the crew find three more of the Lords (Revilian, Argoz, and Mavramorn), not dead but fast asleep and tangled in their own beards. At Caspian's direction, they recover the swords that the Three Lords carried. They lay these, and the swords they brought with them, on the table--but they make only six. They still must recover one more. The Blue Star appears to them, and takes the form of a young woman--Liliandil (Laura Brent). Liliandil then tells them that they must sail on to one more island: the Dark Island, source of the Green Mist and of every man's nightmare. There Lord Rhoop (Bruce Spence), carrying the last sword, walks that island, mad with fear. This will be their greatest hazard, for the island will make any man's nightmare take real form.

And so they sail on to the island, armed and ready. As they approach the Dark Island, the Green Mist reaches out to them, though the men do their best to ignore it. All of them see their worst fear as embodied by the mist - Drinian sees a thick fog, that robs him of sight; Caspian sees a vision of his father, dressing him down; Edmund sees the White Witch, who offers him the same thing that she once offered him many years before: to make him her king. Eustace flies to the island, scoops up Rhoop, and sets him on board. Then, a Great Sea Serpent, which was imagined by Edmund attacks the ship.

Eustace fights with the Serpent but the Serpent takes Eustace in his jaws and throws him onto the rocks. Eustace flies off to Aslan's Table Island as the Sea Serpent wraps itself around Dawn Treader, threatening to crush her. Edmund and Caspian seek to steer Dawn Treader toward the rocks, to ram the Serpent. Eustace, on the sand bar, wakes up and sees the Seventh Sword nearby so he races to the table and lays the last Sword on top of the other Six while Dawn Treader's crew continue their desperate fight with the Serpent. Finally Edmund impales the Serpent with his sword. The deep darkness lifts, and Dawn Treader is in daylight again.

They set out alone in a longboat to Aslan's Shore. Aslan informs them that their journey is at an end. Caspian, knowing that he would never return from an adventure into Aslan's Country, decides at the last instant to turn back, and go back to Narnia to govern it properly. Reepicheep is welcomed permanently into Aslan's Country. Aslan then sends Lucy, Edmund, and Eustace back to earth, back the way they came. They find themselves back in the room in Eustace' house. Eustace hangs the fallen painting back on the wall--and in it, Dawn Treader is sailing away from them. The film ends with Eustace writing in his diary.

It’s a really good adventure movie. I am just not sure if it stayed true to the novel upon which it is based. I will try to read the book some time and tell you if it was indeed made in accordance with the book.

[photo/movie poster grabbed from IMDB]

MAC’S BIRTHDAY CAKE

It’s a nephew’s birthday today but we didn’t have all that much money and so it was his mom who actually spent for his spaghetti dinner and all that we bought for him really is just the cake. What was just different is the cake that we bought. You see for such a long time we have long been buyers of Red Ribbon cakes but since last year they have not come out with any new flavors and so this time around we decided to go back to an old favorite – Goldilocks. And guess what it seems they have good flavors of cake that we never even knew of. This one that we bought was called Almond Java Mousse and surprisingly it was not so sweet and neither was the cake so spongy. I guess they learned their lesson, you see we have been loyal buyers of Red Ribbon because their cakes are not airy, just full of flavors and very dense/creamy. It’s good that Goldilocks had ventured into these specialty cakes, too, truly one that I would recommend!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 51: PAKSIW NA PATA

Today, I tried to salvage the crispy pata that I cooked yesterday. It was still crispy but the inside was a bit dry and tough so I guess I needed to put in some sauce to make it a bit juicier, hence, the decision to make it into paksiw na pata. Besides, there was just a little left of the pata so I figured adding in some sauce would extend its life a bit further and feed all four of us better than if it were just plain crispy pata. I used the recipe from Connie so just check out the full recipe at her blogsite Casa Veneracion. The only difference is that I was unable to find any banana blossoms in our nearby talipapa so I made do without it. Also, I didn’t have oregano so I just placed star anise to make it a bit like pata tim and it turned out quite well.

NEW CABINET PROJECT FOR MY DAUGHTER

At long last, after my endless prodding for him to do it, he finally did – my daughter’s cabinet what else??? Well, I guess he got tired with all his furniture projects last year – the kitchen cabinet and two TV racks in a span of less than two months. So I guess he truly deserve the break but for this year, his daughter had long been hankering for him to make her a cabinet and now, he finally went out and bought some wood to add to the remaining few pieces he has left from previous projects. On the first day, Saturday, he did nothing but sand and smoothen the wood sometimes with a grinder, other times with just sandpaper. I know it’s a tiring and tedious process but I guess he wanted it perfect for his little girl – no rough edges that may harm or hurt her. And then, the next day Sunday, he set about assembling the cabinet. There was still no work/classes on Monday and so he plodded on with his project and by the end of the day he was finished doing the cabinet doors, imagine that? Just three days and he was able to assemble the entire thing already??? All that’s needed now is some paint, rollers and brushes and it’s good to go! I will update you and post more pictures as soon as it is through.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 50 – PASTILLAS, CRISPY PATA AND TURBO CHICKEN

It’s Chinese New year tomorrow which is why it’s a holiday for us also. I guess the Chinese went up in arms when P-Noy declared two Muslim holidays last year and so to appease them (I guess???) P-Noy decided to declare their New year celebration also a holiday. Well, that’s good for us since we’d be having more days off! Anyway we’re not really Chinese and we don’t really believe in all that feng shui but hey it doesn’t hurt to follow some of their beliefs eh? Like yesterday, my daughter and I figured it was about time for a haircut and so we went off and got a haircut on the eve of their new year because they say cutting off the hair also removes some of the bad luck we may have accumulated the past year. And then, we didn’t really have a sort of feast prepared for the night but I decided to just cook good food for our dinner tonight.

In the afternoon, the kids and I had fun doing pastillas from a recipe I have had a long time ago which is why I can’t remember where I got it??? All I know is that it needed a cup of condensed milk for every cup of powdered milk. But we didn’t have a cup of powdered milk and so we had to just make do with half of everything. We followed the no-cook version and just mixed everything slowly and during the last stages of mixing, it became quite difficult to stir the mixture. We left it inside the ref for a while and watched TV to let the mix harden a bit more. But, of course, kids being kids they couldn’t wait for very long and so Kaye took it out and began to form it into logs even if it was still quite a bit soft( I am not sure if it was because we needed to refrigerate it longer or maybe add a little more powdered milk but since we didn’t have the latter and my daughter lacked any more patience to wait, we decided to just do as she wishes.

As it is, the pastillas did not look so good even after my daughter dredged it in sugar but boy oh boy did it taste oh so good, almost like the pastillas that we are so fond of eating but find difficulty buying not just because it is difficult to find but because of its steep price. Now that we have discovered this, we now can easily do it at home…hurrah!





Then, for dinner I decided to cook turbo chicken using the Bounty Fresh Honey Lemon marinated chicken. But since the turbo is quite big and just cooking the single chicken would be quite extravagant/expensive I decided to also cook at the same time a bit of crispy pata to which I just added some salt and pepper a few minutes before it is placed inside the turbo broiler. I cooked both the chicken and the pata for a little more than an hour and we all had a hearty dinner at around 8. They said the chicken was a bit bland. I guess the sweet and spicy is truly their best seller for a reason eh? So now I know I won’t be getting any of their brands anymore. From now on I’d just stick to marinating my own. Then the crispy pata was a bit of a revelation - true the pata skin was quite crispy outside but they say the meat inside was a bit overcooked and dry. I guess, I’ll just turn it into paksiw na pata tomorrow to make it a bit juicier.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 49 - GARLIC CHICKEN WITH MUSHROOMS

Today, for the kids baon I borrowed a recipe from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog which he titled Garlic chicken with mushrooms. I marinated the chicken last night in just salt and pepper. Then when I awoke today, I fried some garlic in oil, and then reserved it for later. After that, I melted some butter and fried the chicken till it was just cooked through. After that, I placed the mushroom and the water in the mushrooms and let the dish boil for about 15 minutes. At first, I thought the dish looked dull and colorless and even lacked a bit of salt and so I added more salt. But there was still something lacking – some kind of zing to the dish. Until finally, when it was cooked and I garnished it with the roasted garlic, the dish totally changed! Truly amazing what garlic can do to spice up an otherwise bland dish! Thank you Dennis for this recipe!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 48 – Pork chop steak

Nope, this is not actually a new dish but rather another comfort food of sorts - a dish that’s quite easy to make and one that I just fall back on when I fail to think up anything new to cook. Anyway, my kids love this and so this is actually an almost weekly item in our breakfast/baon menu. What’s more, I can pre-boil the dish the night before in soy sauce, calamansi, pepper, garlic and onions so that the next day, what would be left for me to do is simply fry the pork slices in oil, return the marinade/sauce that I boiled them in last night, drop the freshly sliced onion rings before turning off the fire and voila! Breakfast/baon is done!

A SURPRISE GIFT!

I know, I know it’s not yet my birthday, it will be for another three months yet. However, I got a surprise birthday gift from my dad whose birthday we are actually celebrating today!!! Hurrah! Actually, it wasn’t truly a surprise because he has been hinting at it when we chatted a few days ago on FB. He asked if I still needed a TV and I said YES GLADLY especially if it’s his LCD TV that he’s giving away. But he never replied and so I figured maybe he was just kidding??? But when we arrived at his condo today, I saw that his old 32-inch Hitachi TV in the sala is still there. So, maybe that’s not what he was going to give me. Then surprise, surprise the kids saw a box of a 32-inch Sony Bravia behind the small sofa. Well, he sure as hell won’t be giving that to me would he??? Well, I guessed as much because what was inside the box was his old 21-inch LED TV in the bedroom - which wasn’t so bad at all. In fact, it was just right for our bedroom! Because it even had a free movable TV bracket that we can turn around any which way we want and a surround speaker! Thanks a lot Pa! I hope you win more raffle items in golf (because he won the Bravia in their Class 70 Xmas party) so that you could give me more hand-me-downs!

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

This entire weekend was spent bonding with family members who celebrated their birthdays in the month of January. First off, we went to my Aunt’s place in Pasig because it was her two kids’ birthday last January 8 and 11. Their party was held on the 14th at around 4pm but it was for the kids’ classmates and so we opted to come a bit later. Anyway, we were commuting since the hubby and Ditse (with son Mac, of course) went home after breakfast. We opted to stay behind and get a bit of studying done before leaving for Pasig at around 3pm. My brother called as we were traveling on a bus and wanted that I pick up his kids. But I can’t do so as I was on a bus with my two kids already.

There was much traffic which made Mike unable to pick us up at the market so we just rode the trike to get there. We arrived at their house at around 6pm and surprisingly there were just a few people milling about. The kids’ classmates have left and only about five kids remained. Auntie Chuchay, Tito Alex and Xuey have arrived but the host of the party was nowhere to be seen. It seems she’s still sleeping upstairs and then took a bath upon waking. It was past 7 pm when she went down and by then, Papa and Tita Espie have already arrived and I fed Kit and Kaye some spaghetti, hotdogs and fried chicken which were served earlier during the children’s party.

After a while, we ate dinner and I felt so full with all the delicious food that Ace has prepared for us - the best was the Bon Chon chicken style chicken that seemed fried with breading then cooked in a sauce that had hoisin and oyster sauce (I think!) I was too excited to eat to take some decent photos …sorry! After eating, the kids took a dip in the pool and by then, Papa was asking me if we could pick up Sam and Chi for Papa’s birthday tomorrow. Anyway, we’ll be coming from Pasig and they think it was a bit near. Well I am not sure if the hubby would agree to that so I told them he would just pick them up tonight after he gets back from Pampanga. I even called the kids’ grandmother to ask permission to get them at such late hour and thankfully she agreed.

It was around 12 midnight when the hubby arrived with only Chi because Sam didn’t want to come and just wanted to sleep. We fed them some leftover dinner first of the remaining pata (it wasn’t crispy but pata tim hehehe) but the bon chon chicken was already gone! But there were still some salad and pasta left over. Well, there were many people in the house (they had a guest from Norway, I believe, Mike’s boss at the farm). We slept in the loft at the children’s room with Kaye. Chi slept by herself on the double deck (coz I was afraid Kaye might fall off) while Nicole and Kevin slept on their big bed with the remaining friend who stayed for the night. Kit, Ace and Mike slept on the sofas downstairs. Before we slept, the hubby and I got to talking and agreed we both liked the design of the loft in the kids’ bedroom so I guess we’d be copying it in the new house we’re planning to build at BP within the year (hopefully!) Well, here are some of the pics that I was able to take…boohoo! No food pics!












PAPA’S BIRTHDAY

The next day, after rummaging around for some breakfast (since the host left us last night to attend a party) and after taking our baths, we left for Papa’s condo in Makati for his birthday party celebration. We took Auntie Jingay’s kids with us since she and Mike would follow us to the condo a bit later (well, he needs to attend to his guest but I think he won’t be able to bring him to Papa’s party because Papa was strict against bringing in strangers since his place is just quite small). The kids took their time getting ready so it was already around 11 when we arrived at the condo but unsurprisingly we were still the first ones there.

We ate some snacks (some nuts, chocolates, candies and other junk food) while waiting for the others to arrive. Then, in a while the food arrived (courtesy of Ate Marisa’s catering) then the lechon arrived too (brought by Dian from Fort Boni) and we finally ate and good thing I was able to get some decent food pics this time hehehe!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES 47: Disastrous corn maja

I know, I know I have made this dessert countless times before which is why I just don’t understand at all what I did wrong again this time. If you look at the picture on the left closely, the maja seems a bit watery, and indeed it was! I thought it was just like that at first and would later on harden as it stays longer in the ref but lo and behold even if I let it stay in the fridge overnight it still won’t harden!!! Maybe it’s in the milk I added to make up for the coconut milk that I lacked. I doubled the ingredients this time since every time I make this, I always make too little with just a half-inch of maja made. And so I tried to double the recipe but the results turned out disastrous. To fix it, I decided to reheat the entire thing and added more cornstarch and also some gelatin just so it would harden and be solid enough to eat. Well, it still tasted good even if it did not look so good. At the right is a picture of the ‘fixed’ maja. It looked fine at the outside (I used green gelatin, well, it’s the only one I have left) but actually it was still a bit soft and gooey, and a bit too sweet! So next time I guess I’d stay away from using any kind of milk and just stick to coconut milk.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 46: Beef Steak - my comfort food

For this morning, I decided to cook for my kids an all-time favorite of mine, one that I may consider a comfort food of sorts since it brings back memories of a warm kitchen and the smell of simmering beef wafting gently in the air. I know, it is also a favorite of my kids but I haven’t been able to buy as much beef as I want because well, you know, the cost and all plus the fact that you have to cook it a bit longer than pork to achieve that tenderness that just melts in your mouth. And so I pre-boiled the beef in soy sauce, calamansi, pepper and onions the night before. I also added some water so that the beef will become tender. Then, this morning I fried the beef in a bit of oil and let it boil in its sauce with some water to soften it just a wee bit more before adding onion rings just before I turned off the fire.

Then, for my lunch I also made a salad to go with the beef steak. I felt that in order for my diet to really work, I need a non-fattening dressing like vinaigrette and so I searched the net for white wine vinaigrette and found the following recipe:
1/3 c olive oil
1/3 c white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp white sugar
½ tsp salt
a pinch of black pepper

A friend gave me white wine vinegar as a gift last Christmas and so I decided to put it to good use with this salad, problem was when I was making the dressing I mistook the sugar for the salt so when I wanted to add more sugar (because the dressing turned out too sour for my taste) I ended up adding more salt than I would’ve wanted, oh dear. So I made up for it by adding more olive oil and sugar. Well, at least the dressing still came out fine. Next time, I should remember to lessen the vinegar a bit and add more sugar or even honey to balance the sourness.


P.S. Sorry I forgot to take pics of my kitchen misadventures today, maybe next time when I have done it right.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 45: BBQ SPARERIBS WITH HOISIN SAUCE

For the kids’ lunchbox today, I made a recipe that I got from Dennis’ Lutong Bahay blog though I made a few adjustments. First, I boiled the pork spareribs in bbq marinade, salt and pepper, garlic and a little sugar. Then, when the meat is already tender, I fried the meat in a little oil in a non-stick pan, returned the marinade to the pan and added hoisin sauce just before turning the heat off. Dennis’ recipe called for cooking the spare ribs in a turbo broiler but I decided to just fry it, adobo style and I’m glad the end result was still great - another flavorful but fuss-free meal for my kids’ baon!

Book review: FOR ONE MORE DAY by Mitch Albom

This is my first book for the year which I was able to download today thru the internet. Last December, I bought a copy of this book as a gift for a friend and though I wanted one badly for myself, I restrained myself and figured I would just get an ebook not just to save up on expenses but also on space because I don’t have anymore space on my shelf. And so today, I was finally able to download an e-book and I placed it in my Samsung Corby phone so that whenever I have available free time I can start reading. I will update you on the book’s story as I go along.

But first let me tell you why this is the book I chose to read. Actually I have long been a fan of Mitch Albom, ever since I have read his book – The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It’s a very good book which I was able to read in just one sitting. I know I haven’t been able to make a review/post about it in this blog, but maybe someday when I reread it, I will. And so ever since, I have been on the lookout for more books by Mitch Albom and this one title caught my attention since last year because it was touted as a good book to give for moms on Mother’s Day and so it tickled my interest, eventually I found out why.

The story is actually about a ghost and how a son was given the chance to spend one more day with his mother who was then already dead. It tells the story of Chuck Benetto who grew up idolizing his father who just went off and left them. As an adult, he begins to realize the many times he has taken his mom for granted though she has stood up for him many times in the past. Then he makes one final mistake when he (once again) chose his long-absentee father only to return home and find his own mother dead. And so, he ends up a broken man, with a myriad of problems in his career, family life, languishing in alcohol and regrets.

He finally decides to take his own life and on that fateful day, he takes a midnight drive back to his hometown but upon entering their old house, he finds his mother there (eight years dead), puttering about in the kitchen as if nothing has changed. He then spends the entire day with his mother and he gains valuable insights into their relationship which he failed to see before and others which his loving mother shielded him from ever knowing so as to keep his youthful view of his life and family intact. He learns how his mother worked hard (despite the downsides of their society to a divorcee) to put both him and his sister through college, how she patiently stood by him even if she disagreed with his decision to stop studying college and embark on a baseball career (because it was what his father wanted).

He was also able to admit to her the reasons for his absence during the last birthday she spent before she died. How he lied to her about a client meet-up when actually it was for another ‘baseball game’ for oldies that his father set-up for him so that he could once again get his foot back inside the ‘big leagues’ so to speak. But in the end he failed to do what his father wanted – return to baseball (even as a coach or a trainer) because he realized it wasn’t really his dream to live, but his father’s. And in the course of wanting his father to return his love, he desperately tried to live a life that wasn’t meant for him…

Chuck regretted not being there when his mother died for the rest of his life and he was finally given one more day to be with her. His mother also made him realize many more previously unknown factors from his childhood – including the reason why his father suddenly left them. It turned out that he had another family, a previous wife he married during the war when he thought he wouldn’t make it out alive which is why his mother decided to cut the ties between them - for good. And with that one fateful day, he was given the chance to understand everything about his seemingly failed relationships. But most of all, that one day gave him the chance to resolve issues in his family and get his life back on track.

In the end, Chuck was revived by a police officer at the scene of the accident and his experience with his mother at their house seemed just like a dream to him. But what matters was that it inspired him to quit drinking, reconcile with his family, and do things he may have failed to do. It’s a very inspiring story, a bit like the fatalistic movie, If Only, but with a different twist. The two stories main underlying message is how one should cherish the time spent with loved ones because you may never get a chance to show the person how much he or she means to you. In If Only, the story revolved around lovers Sam and Ian and how they spent one perfectly enchanted day before the other one dies. This time though the story revolved around a mother and how she shows that even through death, her love for him remains eternal.

P.S. I was not really able to read the ebook on my phone as I had originally planned because the fonts were a bit small and it was difficult to navigate the book using the Corby and so when I was able to buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus, I immediately installed the e-book and was able to finish reading the book one weekend we were at BP (Jan 28-29). It was that good, you just can’t put it down without finishing the entire story.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 44: TURBO CHICKEN IN LEMON AND PEPPER MARINADE

Here’s another easy dish because I cheated a little and used a ready-to-use marinade from McCormick, particularly the Lemon and Pepper Marinade. So all I really did when I bought the chicken thighs yesterday morning was marinate them in the mixture, let the chicken stay in the fridge overnight so that the next day when I pop them in the turbo oven all the flavors would be incorporated. But sad to say even if I marinated the chicken overnight the flavors still did not penetrate past the skin. In fact, only the chicken skin was a bit salty and sour and the flesh still quite juicy but tasted bland. Well, next time maybe I guess I needed to make some grooves or cuts in the chicken so that the marinade can penetrate. Anyway, here are pics of the cooked chicken.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 43 - GRILLED TUNA PANGA

For our lunch today, the hubby decided to cook the tuna panga that an officemate bought for me yesterday at Farmers market. It was the same thing we cooked last Christmas eve and I guess the hubby was a bit bitin then because there were so many people and he could only eat a bit of it which is probably why he requested me to buy again (if ever we are able to go to Farmers) and thankfully when my officemate left yesterday to do some errands in Cubao she willingly passed by Farmers to buy some fish.

It was an easy and simple recipe that he did. A few minutes before grilling the fish, he marinated the tuna in a little garlic, soy sauce, calamansi, and salt. Then he placed it over the grill and after like 30 minutes, the fish is done! He was careful not to overcook it lest the fish meat come out dry and tough. Instead, what he served for lunch was just right – very juicy and tasty tuna… just yummy!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURES SERIES 42 - CHICKEN AND POTATOES IN LEMON CREAM SAUCE

Here’s another chicken dish for my kids’ lunchboxes which I got from CASA VENERACION. (As always just get the exact recipe from her site) I was able to buy some chicken fillets at the grocery yesterday and so I decided to cook it for their baon today. The recipe was quite easy and fits exactly with what I needed to cook - nothing too time consuming since I need to be quick. I started by frying the potatoes in butter then when the edges were a bit browned I added the chicken fillet. After a few minutes, I dropped the onions and when cooked I added a bit of water (since I didn’t have some chicken broth). When the mixture boiled, I lowered the heat and let it simmer for about twenty minutes. When the chicken and potatoes were cooked, I added the lemon – cream mixture. Again, I didn’t have any lemon so I substituted 7 pcs. calamansi but it turned out a bit sour so I’ll need to remember to put less calamansi next time. I also added more salt without tasting it first so the dish became a bit salty just a bit though coz it doesn’t seem to be salty anymore when eaten with hot rice. Then, after ten minutes of letting it simmer uncovered, the dish is done!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES 41: BRAISED CHICKEN

Here’s my first kitchen misadventure installment for the year – Braised Chicken for the kids’ lunchboxes. I got the recipe from Connie Veneracion’s blog (CASA VENERACION) so if you want the recipe just check out her site. I marinated the chicken the night before so the flavors would all be incorporated into the chicken the next day. I only substituted calamansi juice for the lemon since it’s quite difficult to get that here in our place. Then, in the morning I just boiled the chicken in its own marinade, added a bit of water and let it simmer slowly until the chicken was cooked. After about 30 minutes, I added the hoisin sauce and voila – another easy and delicious dish from Connie! My kids loved it and said it tasted a bit like chicken tocino - imagine that!?! Now I can give them all the chicken tocino they want without the unnecessary preservatives!!! Hurrah! Hurrah!

HOPEFULLY A HAPPIER 2012!

Okay, okay so I promised myself not to make a regular list of resolutions for 2012 pretty much like the way I did last year since I would be turning 40 then and I’d want to take each day as it comes and not be hounded by a list I would find hard to complete. So let me track back a bit and see what I was able to accomplish last year??? Well, so far judging by the entries of this blog I have been able to do 20+ Kitchen misadventure articles, around 15 movie reviews, only 1 book review, about 5 articles only that dealt on travel and places (which meant I did not get to travel as much as I wanted this year, and no air travel pa!)

What’s more, there was a noticeable increase of entries that pertains to health – i.e. starting to jog again, joining a fun run, kidney stone screening, bone scanning, having an APE. Well, I guess that is understandable and comes with aging! Then, it was only during the latter part of the year (because of the bonuses!) that we were able to buy some gadgets and techy stuff like the 32-inch LCD TV and Kit’s Samsung Galaxy Y phone (where we bought 2 because he lost the first one after only two weeks!) There was also a proliferation of entries regarding our new diversions / pets – the bunnies that gave birth to a total of three sets of kits for the entire year! Imagine that if we were able to sell the said kits, we would’ve been able to recover most of our investments but as it is we only gave the bunnies away as presents. Well, that’s OK they were given to relatives and friends anyway.

So I guess, what do I need to do this upcoming 2012??? I guess I need to do more traveling – one aspect I have sincerely neglected in the last year. Our travels last year were mostly due to office outings – at Bolinao, Pangasinan, FAS outing @ Calatagan, Batangas and Tagaytay, CMS outing @ Bataan and lastly our family outing during the Holy Week at Taal, Batangas – all within Luzon and can be traveled within two to three hours by car. What’s more, we have not traveled as a family since 2010, (our last was at Bohol with Myk and Inang) and so I guess I truly need to save up some money this year so we could do some traveling and our first destination – Baguio or even Sagada!

Next, though I was able to be more adventurous last year with the more than 20 dishes I whipped up for the kids baon, I admit I tended to shy away from baking and making desserts. So this year I guess I need to make more desserts and start baking again. I also hope to watch more films and read more books! Lastly, though I don’t really believe that 2012 will truly herald the end of the world, I still intend to establish a stronger relationship with my God! And also I want to do a Bucket List of things I want to accomplish before the world ends. So here’s good luck to me and hopefully the year 2012 shall be a happier one for all of us!!!