DITSE'S BIRTHDAY

Today is Ditse’s birthday and as our way of showing our gratitude for everything that she has done for us…we always celebrate it with cake and a special dinner. Of course, it cannot be helped that she had to cook some of the dishes herself, but most of the time, we buy her something special like cake or lechon manok or liempo or siomai…to save her the effort of cooking everything by herself. Sometimes, we also invite her children to spend the day with her…to give them time to spend together…but with their very busy lives, they rarely are able to come. And so this year, it was just us…I just hope she felt special even for just one day…

NEW BLUETOOTH HEADSET

I made another purchase via the internet and it arrived thru special delivery today…but I swear, I really do need this gadget because it had been pretty hard for me to make some calls using the tab because it is so bulky to just hold up and make phone calls (kinda makes me look stupid too) So more often than not, I need to insert the earphones first…this is OK when I am the one making calls but what about during those times when I receive the call…I had no choice but to hurriedly take out the earphones and insert them but by the time I am ready to answer, the caller had already hung up. So when I saw this Bluetooth headset on sale with Groupon, I immediately grabbed the deal because it was quite cheap too! Imagine, at only PhP400 I could have my own Bluetooth headset yippee! I could simply put it on my ear whenever I am travelling and there’s no need any more to take out the gadget just to answer the call. A very welcome development indeed!

HOT AIR BALLOON FESTIVAL @ CLARK

 Today, we spent the day at Clark, Pampanga to witness our first-ever Hot Air Balloon Festival…it had been celebrated annually for 18 years now, ever since the US military bases vacated Clark to promote tourism in the area. We had planned to do this since last month pa, ever since I saw the announcement about the event. But it was all just plans…we never really made concrete itineraries and made invitations to others to join us. So on the week before the event, I was still non-committal to my sister who wanted to tag along with us for the event…good thing we were together na din since last night so when the hubby decided to push through with it… she was able to come with us.      
The day before, Alan already bought some hotdogs and longganisa for our breakfast/picnic tomorrow while waiting for the balloons to be launched then on D-Day, we got up early to cook rice, and the hotdogs, we also packed some plates, glasses, cold water in a jug and of course, a picnic mat. Then, after I woke up everyone (including Anna, Alan, Ditse and the kids) off we went to travel for about an hour to Clark, Pampanga. We do not have the money to pay for the entrance tickets and so we opted to just find our spot outside the launching grounds…anyway, we can see the balloons naman from just about anywhere. At first, we went near the entrance, we followed where the people were going…but after awhile, we realized the entrance was still quite far from the launching area and in fact, our parking spot was even nearer and so we changed venues and hurried to where our car was parked because they were starting to inflate the balloons na.      
The balloons this year included a lot of regular shaped balloons and had many forms and sizes - a space shuttle, a sun, an elephant head, Humpty Dumpty, and whole lot more. The balloons, a blog says, were from different countries around the world and were brought here to the Philippines. The thing about hot air balloons is that you can’t control them. They go where the wind takes them. So even if the balloons did not fly near where we were situated, at least we were near the launch area so we get to see them before the winds took them elsewhere …we were so lucky indeed! The kids had so much fun taking pictures and watching in awe as the colorful hot air balloons took off.  
But the day is not just about hot air balloons – we were also able to witness para-gliders doing exhibitions and different formations in the sky. But what really made our day was the Breitling Jet Team that made a spectacular aerobatic display with their supersonic jets…it was just so amazing! We almost did not get to see it because we thought the show was over and we decided to move out of the parking lot earlier than the others so as not to get stuck there…but good thing that we were caught in traffic or maybe the cars just decided to stop on the highway and gaze at the marvelous maneuvers unfolding before our eyes. And so we all went home quite satisfied and happy with everything that we had witnessed…will we come and visit again next year? Maybe…if it were better planned and maybe if we get the chance to get real up-close with the balloons or even better – get to ride in one---that would be the best experience yet!       

JOLLIBEE PARTY AND STAR CITY WITH BALIKBAYAN RELATIVES

About three weeks ago, our step-sister who had migrated to Canada in 2006 came home for a much-needed break. They went there at around June of 2006 with two kids and a dream to make it big in Canada…and they did all of that and much…much more! They now have their own dream house, their own car that would amply fit their growing family of three boys and a girl (the youngest boy and girl were born there), their successful jobs and some money saved/left over to vacation here in the Philippines…imagine that! Well, I guess their big risk and hard work for the past seven years had paid off and now they are starting to enjoy the fruits of their labor…
They planned their vacation to last for about a month, and for the past three weeks of their stay here (we haven’t really seen them yet) they have been making the rounds of tourist spots in the country like Bohol, Palawan, Tagaytay, etc…visiting the places they have truly missed and going to popular tourist places that they want to enjoy and savor. I heard, they even visited Bali or was it Bangkok…whatever…and so this weekend, is the one they have reserved for us. Well, it was not the usual long all-night sleepovers that we used to do where we just spend the night making non-stop kwento and all…but I guess they have other plans and so this birthday at Jollibee for one of their kiddos and for the little girl, to finally meet the Jollibee mascot, is the time that they have reserved for us…we do understand their busy sked! I guess not even a month is enough to arrange meet-ups for all the relatives and friends that you want to see and spend a moment with…
Suffice it to say that we had fun during the Jollibee party…the kids played some fun games and even us adults, participated in some of the games. Then, after the games the kids wanted to have more fun and went to Star City…this time the hubby and I just begged off, I knew it was a Saturday and there were just too many people there…I also knew the hubby would not be enjoying the rides and so we just left our kids in Anna’s care and took off on our own. It was almost 7, when they went out of Star City and we said our goodbyes and thank you’s to our balikbayan relatives…I knew it was just a short but sweet visit especially for the kids who have not been able to have the kinda fun and chat they would have needed to catch up with each other’s lives…but I guess there’s always FB… so here's hoping the family will have a safe trip home! Sure hope, too, that we’ll have a longer bonding time on their next trip home!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - Porkchop aloha

Here’s another easy recipe that I was able to get from mgalutonidennis@blogspot.com. I say easy because it allowed me to do my exercises while cooking. I simply marinated the porkchops overnight in a mixture of calamansi, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Then, in the morning, I pan fried the chops in a little oil and when the meat has turned pink, add the marinade and a little water and let the mixture boil until the pork has considerably softened…when the liquid had been reduced, add the pineapples, adjust the seasonings according to your preference, turn off the fire then serve!

MEETING UP WITH AN OLD FRIEND

Facebook is truly a wonder as it has made the world smaller and access to friends even from those around the world so much easier! Can you imagine getting in touch again with a friend whom you parted ways with when their family moved out of the old neighborhood when you were about fifteen years old? Imagine too that she’s now living in Chicago, Illinois, some 8,100 miles / 13,000 kilometers away in the U.S of A…hard to believe right? But thanks to FB this kind of miracle now happens every time!
But this friend I recently met up with is not the same childhood friend who lives in Illinois, USA. This is another friend whom I met when we moved to Diliman after living ten years in Cubao. She lived across from our house and on the first day after we moved, she immediately knocked on our door and introduced herself and we hit it off right away. By then, I became pregnant with my first born son and she was the one I shared my joys and woes with…but sad to say, we moved to Paranaque after only two years and I have lost touch with her ever since, though I made her a godmother of my child.
Then, suddenly a few months ago I saw her trying to add me up as a friend on FB and of course I immediately accepted her and we chatted just like the old times…I learned that she is now married to a new guy, but she has not had another child again…just my inaanak, Top-top, who is BTW, now a pretty young lass herself, albeit a bit on the chubby side. She stayed in Bicol for awhile, in pursuit of ‘gold’ but she did not luck out and had to return here…her next stop was Cagayan where she engaged in another form of business, making jewelry. This is where she met her current man and nowadays she keeps herself busy with another business venture – the Royale Business Club.
It is actually a multi-level marketing company that earns its profits thru networking/recruiting and sales of beauty products that are all produced and distributed locally. Recently, however, they have branched out to different countries like Singapore and some Middle East countries like Qatar, UAE, in order to target OFWs. She invited me to join but at first I balked because I needed to shell out about 12K for the membership fee…but she gave me an incentive/package wherein I could get some products advanced and if I am able to sell them and reach the amount of 12K, I can be a member na…no cash-out required! Pretty neat huh! And so I agreed to meet up with her so she could explain to me the basics of the products and the company itself. I left the office at around 3pm to go to her place via a trike at the Bliss area. Stopped first though at Yviana’s to buy some banana cake which we can share…after all, it is coffee time! She still looks good, after all these years of not seeing each other and in between her explaining to me about their products and services and of course, how I could eventually earn, if I get to recruit some down lines…well, it all looks legit naman and the products are all enticing…I just hope I would have the guts to eventually sell them to the people in our office…or better yet to recruit some down lines so that I could earn much…oh well, here’s crossing my fingers something good will come out of this yet!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - Bonchon chicken

There had been many outlets of this famous chicken house here in the country (that originated from Korea pala!) but sad to say, I have not been able to try it yet…but what I was able to taste was the version made once by my cousin-chef when we visited another aunt’s house in Pasig…it tasted great and at the time, I saw how he cooked it and saw the ingredients he used, but did not remember the proportions and so I searched the net and saw a couple of recipes …they basically had similar ingredients and the processes involved were the same. First, the chicken part – though I was not really a fan of chicken wings, I decided to use them for this recipe since most sites I visited used the wing part of the chicken (but I think it’s OK if you use any part). Marinate the chicken pieces in salt, pepper, minced onion, minced garlic and 2T soy sauce, overnight is best - the longer the better. Prepare the breading by mixing ½ c flour, ½ c cornstarch, salt and pepper, and a dash of your fave seasoning (vetsin or magic sarap). Toss the chicken pieces in the breading, making sure that each piece is coated well. Deep fry the chicken pieces until golden and drain on paper towels. Let rest for a few minutes. Re-fry the chicken wings until crisp, about 6-8 minutes. Then toss the chicken wings in the sauce. For the sauce, mix together ¼ cup soy sauce, 2 tbsp. honey, 2 tbsp brown sugar, and ¼ c water in a bowl. Then set aside. Saute garlic and ginger for two minutes. Pour in the soy sauce mixture and simmer for ten minutes until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and toss the chicken wings with the sauce. Coat each piece well and serve with hot rice…It tastes really good - the kids and the hubby liked it!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - DULCE DE LECHE CREAM TART

This is another sweet and sinful recipe that I got from Casa Veneracion but first you have to start with making dulce de leche. What exactly is dulce de leche? Well, according to Wikipedia dulce de leche is a confection prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from the caramelization of the product. Literally, it means ‘candy of milk’ or candy made of milk. It is popular in South America, in particular, in Argentina, Uruguay, Southern Brazil, Colombia, Eastern Bolivia and Venezuela.
But the product itself varies from country to country – some like in El Salvador, has a soft crumbly texture while in Colombia and Venezuela it is made with corn starch giving it a soft custard like texture. Mexican’s make theirs from goat’s milk while in Puerto Rico, it is sometimes made with unsweetened coconut milk. The most basic recipe calls for slowly simmering milk and sugar , stirring almost constantly, while other ingredients like vanilla, cinnamon may be added for flavor. Much of the water in the milk shall evaporate and so the mixture thickens.
Here in the Philippines, I have learned to make dulce de leche from my fave chef – Connie. You just boil an unopened can of sweetened condensed milk for two to three hours (shorter if using a pressure cooker), allow the cans to cool completely before opening them to have your very own dulce de leche. This may be used to flavor candies, cakes, churros, pies or even with plain old pandesal…but enough of the history, you may get the exact recipe at the CASA Veneracion blog…I just want to say that what drew me to this recipe was because it required no baking. You just have to make the crust (from graham crakers) then mix together the cream mixture. Then its assembly time - place the dulce de leche layer on top of the crust then the sliced bananas and cover it all with the whipped cream mix. Sprinkle the top with cinnamon and chill first before serving…quite easy eh? Delicious too!

PLAYING WITH THE RABBITS

These bunnies were born last month on January 26…and today is our first time to play with them…and it may be the last time too…coz we’ll be giving them away again, in a few more weeks…we can’t afford to keep anymore bunnies kasi e…Whitey’s babies this time are four – two white ones and one completely brown like its dad and another white one with big brown patches. They’re just sooooo cute and cuddly, quite big at just three weeks! One pair will be given to Keith’s ‘special friend’ while the second pair to Ate Gemma, Kaye’s school bus operator, she had long been asking us to give her some bunnies and now she can finally get her wish…

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – FISH FILLET IN SWEET CORN AND WHITE SAUCE

I had some leftover fish fillet from the one I used to make the nuggets and so I decided to cook another fish dish but this time with some sauce so it won’t be too dry. We had this for lunch and though it was just me, the hubby and the daughter…it was truly a satisfying meal! I got the recipe from CASA Veneracion’s archive. The only difference is that instead of using fresh corn on the cob, I cheated and used the ones in a can…It still tasted great though! I just knew my family loves anything with milk…and corn…so they just love that this dish had both…thanks Sassy for sharing!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – BAKED PORK IN MUSTARD AND YOGURT

I am posting this dish even if my family did not like it…I guess it may be considered as one of those epic failures of a dinner that I made…boohoo! I knew I followed the recipe to the letter and the chops came out juicy enough…but I guess the family does not really like mustard in their food…which was just too bad because while the pork was cooking in the oven, they were quite excited because the aroma of the dish was just so great…but when it was served…they found the taste - peculiar! Oh well, at least now I know not to serve them anything with mustard…lesson learned!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – MAC N CHEESE

I made some snacks for the hubby since he’s been busy all day trying to make an aluminum cage for the bunnies…yippee! Now I won’t have a difficult time trying to clean the cages since the underside would be made of plastic pallets that they would have a hard time chewing out…well, because in the previous wooden cage, they were able to chew away some parts of the metal screen – the reason why some of our kits died last year because they fell through the hole…so this time, the hubby is making something far more stronger and as my way of showing gratitude I made them this delicious snack. It’s just a simple recipe really – pretty much like your home-made spaghetti. The main difference is that after cooking the macaroni noodles and the meat sauce, you assemble the pasta and sauce on a baking dish, top with a generous amount of cheese, pop in the oven and when the cheese melts…it’s ready!

FAVE SUSHI

Just posting a pic of one of the few foods that my daughter considers her favorite…she is such a picky eater and so more often than not, whenever I discover something that she likes, I try my best to buy it for her…like this sushi…she likes this together with salmon sashimi. But the salmon is just so expensive at PhP400-500 per kilo! So I guess I would have to discover others…a bit cheaper than the salmon. (hehehe) This assorted sushi costs about PhP300 per plate…just enough for our family of four.

VALENTINE’S DAY 2013

Today is Valentine’s Day …and so it is expected that many people will flock the malls – mostly young lovers, sweethearts, and families wanting to spend the day with their kids…but how and why exactly is it celebrated? According to Wikipedia, the tradition started as a Christian celebration to honor a Saint Valentine for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry under the Roman empire. The use of hearts on Valentine’s Day came about because legend says that St. Valentine cut hearts from parchment and gave them to soldiers and persecuted Christians to remind them of God’s love and encourage them to remain faithful Christians. It was also believed that St. Valentine sent the first ever greeting card to the daughter of his jailer (whom he also miraculously healed from blindness) by sending her a letter on the night before his execution and signing it with ‘your Valentine’, a phrase still widely used in Valentine’s day cards to this day. However, the first recorded association of romantic love for Valentine’s day occurred in the 14th century with a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer entitled Parliament of Foules…there were three other authors who made reference to birds’ mating on St. Valentine’s Day. Many more references on Valentine’s Day appeared in English literature like Paston Letters, Hamlet and Fairie Queen. But it was only in the 19th century that paper cards became popular in England. By mid-19th century, mass-produced greeting cards became the norm rather than handwritten notes. Then in the 20th century, instead of just cards, gifts like roses and chocolates packed in a red heart-shaped box were also given out to their lady loves. In the 1980s, Valentine’s Day was also promoted as a day to give jewelry. But to tell you frankly, I am not an ardent believer in all this hullaballoo that has become of Valentine’s Day. Of late, it has become a highly commercialized holiday that is being taken advantage of by numerous scrupulous establishments like greeting card companies, chocolate factories/makers, flower shops, jewelry stores, restaurants and even, hotels that offer special promos for lovers and families. It is merely a product of too much commercialism and HYPE, all for the benefit of PROFIT. And so on this special day, instead of standing in line to eat at restaurants or watch movies or check-in at a hotel…we would just rather spend a quiet dinner at home…with the kids. We could go out on our own date – either eat out and watch movies after the Valentine frenzy is over…

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – CHIX N CHIPS

You may have noticed my penchant for cooking fried chicken …many times in the food blog portion of this blog, I have featured different methods of cooking fried chicken – some of them were OK but sad to say I have not found the perfect method…where the chicken is crispy on the outside and still juicy and tasty on the inside…and so my quest continues. This time around, I am using another recipe from mgalutonidennis.blogspot.com. (check out his site for the complete recipe). By way of a background, the term chicken and chips is popular fare in England and it could mean chicken that is either fried, roasted or barbecued paired with fried potatoes – may be sliced thinly like mojo chips or julienned like fries. The main difference in this recipe is that unlike in the others where the chicken is marinated overnight then fried the next day, this time around it is boiled in water and allowed to cool first before deep-frying in hot oil. While the chicken cools, you may fry first the potatoes. Then, the chicken is fried twice to make it crispy…and was it indeed? Yes! It was quite tasty too…just too bad that I cooked this in the morning and we had this chicken for our lunch so it was not as crisp anymore unlike the one that my kids had for breakfast…maybe next time I will try to cook this for lunch or dinner during weekends at home.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - FISH NUGGETS

It’s Ash Wednesday today, the beginning of the Lenten season…for us, Catholics, it is a period of forty days where the faithful are called upon to pray and fast, abstain from meat and other luxurious goods like ice cream, chocolates and pray…repent and ask the Lord for forgiveness. Unlike before where all Fridays are days of obligation wherein meat is completely shunned, it is not so anymore…now only two days are required to abstain from meat – Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. So today, to honor the day when people are made to wear ashes on their foreheads to remind all of us that we came from ashes and to ashes we shall likewise return, I made this recipe for my kids baon – fish nuggets. There really is no exact recipe that I followed…all that is needed is just any fillet of fish - any kind will do. I used cream dory, patted them dry first with paper towels then seasoned with salt and pepper to taste. After a few minutes, I dredged the fish pieces in flour and fried in hot oil, a few pieces at a time. Then, I drained the fish in paper towels, waited a bit till they cooled before packing them in my kids’ lunchboxes…another yummy baon!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Pork chops in honey-lemon sauce

This is another quick and easy recipe from “mgalutonidennis.blogspot.com” (just go to his website for the exact recipe and ingredients). What I did was marinate the pork overnight then come morning just pan fry the chops in a non-stick pan then set aside. In the same pan, fry the ginger, honey, soy sauce and brown sugar. Return the chops and let the mixture boil just until it thickens. Turn off the heat and serve with hot rice or in my case, pack in the kids lunch boxes…yummy!

My first born...

Last month I became a grandmother...courtesy of my eldest son whose wife gave birth last January 20... and this made me look back to our 'somewhat' short bonding moments as mother and son. You see we never really had the chance to be together all that often...it's a long story...but suffice it to say that in my own little way, I tried my best to be a good mom to him...but I don't think I ever was...and now, I am a grandma...and sad to say I suddenly missed the little boy I once held in my arms twenty-four years ago...I knew many times I have failed to be there for him...I just wish he knew that in my heart of hearts...I will always love him...after all he was the first recipient of my unconditional love - my first born son...

MY FIRST IBON-EBON FESTIVAL

I have long heard of this festival from my pamangkins who took part in it during their school activities…sometimes, they would participate as dancers, other times as part of the band, in fact, there was even one pamangkin of mine who made the rounds of different provinces performing as a drummer to feature this particular Candaba festival. According to Wikipedia and the Department of Tourism website the Ibon-Ebon festival (literally means Birds and Eggs festival) was organized just recently. It was spearheaded by Candaba Mayor Jerry Pelayo in 1998 as a way of paying homage to the migratory birds that flock to the Candaba swamp as they travel in search of warmer temperatures from different parts of the globe. One of the highlights of the festival is the street parade participated in by many students from the different barangays of Candaba. These are just a few of the pictures of this year’s street parade…

1ST BIRTHDAY PARTY FOR NICOLE

One of our pamangkins will be celebrating her birthday today…and so to celebrate her special day we bought a little something from the grocery last night. After all, it is not every day that a girl gets to spend her first birthday and so we want to make this day special for her even in our own little way.

JOGGING AT CIRCLE WITH ANNA

(February 8, 2013) I stepped on the scale today and was quite disappointed…you see I have been dieting and biking on and off for about a month now but sad to say, I still weigh about 140 pounds…I lost only a bit… and to think that I have been working my ass off on that bike each morning for thirty minutes and watching what I eat each day via MyFitnessPal app…oh dear, I guess that only means it is not enough at all… maybe I need to add jogging to my repertoire (at least twice or thrice a week), or maybe increase my biking time to 45 minutes, or stop eating dinner altogether…I don’t really know, I have run out of fresh ideas…and so today, when my sister invited me (or was it me who invited her…can’t really recall e) to go jogging, while she goes biking around the Q.C. circle…I relented immediately hoping that this would be a welcome addition to my attempts to lose weight. I just hope that I would find more time to jog here more often, if not with her, then, even if just by myself – LET’S DO THIS!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – PORK BROCCOLI WITH OYSTER SAUCE

For the kids baon, it is quite rare for me to cook a veggie dish. Well, this is because the vegetables usually become wilted and unappealing by lunch hour. So when I saw this method of cooking from one of my favorite food bloggers, I thought I should try it so that the vegetable would not come out overcooked. The usual method that I knew was to add the broccoli after I had sautéed the meat but even if I turn off the fire quickly the broccoli still turns out wilted after some time…broccoli pa naman is one of the very few vegetables that my daughter likes and knowing its health benefits – high in fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin A, folic acid and calcium, I try as much as possible to cook this often for her. And so this time, I blanched the broccoli florets first in boiling water, just a few minutes. Then I scooped out the florets then dropped them in a bowl of iced water. Drain and set aside while I sautéed the meat in garlic and onions, added salt and pepper to taste, and a little oyster sauce. Finally, return the broccoli to the pan, turn off the fire…and it’s done! I just hope it still stays as good as it looks now come lunch time.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – Chicken Asado

Here is another chicken dish that is just perfect for the kids' baon...it's so easy to make and quite delicious too! It's quite similar to the adobo wherein you just have to mix everything together - the chicken, garlic, onion, ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, muscovado sugar, salt and pepper. Add a bit of water and let the mixture boil. (I biked for 30 minutes while it boiled and only went down to check the water level twice). Then, when the mixture had been reduced, turn off the fire. In a non-stick pan, add sesame oil and fry the chicken pieces, add the remaining soy mixture and a bit of honey, turning the chicken pieces every now and then so that it does not burn...after a few minutes...voila! Another delish baon for the kids! Thanks again, Dennis! (you may check out the exact recipe at his blogsite - mgalutonidennis.blogsite.com)

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – PALITAW SA LATIK

Last week, my daughter related to me that she and her classmates cooked this native Filipino snack as their project in T.L.E. (Technology and Livelihood Education, what used to be our Home Economics). She was among the students who played a major part in cooking the dish but when the dish was done, she was only able to eat one palitaw! She was so frustrated since she helped more than the others did and yet she only got to eat one tiny little piece…definitely not commensurate to her efforts. And so I promised her that I would buy ingredients for palitaw latik this weekend and help her re-create the said dish. Around siesta time, when she said she feels rested and can get up without feeling woozy, she helped her father in making palitaw sa latik…another favorite family dessert/snack.

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES - CHEESE AND POTATO SOUP

This is another dish that I made today for my sick daughter – warm and hearty soup with her fave ingredient – cheese! I saw this one day in Casa Veneracion’s blog and I knew right then and then that this would be one surefire dish that would be a hit with my family. And I was right! The process is quite simple really. (just check out her blog for the complete recipe) All that is needed is to cook the potatoes and onion in butter, add the home-made broth and season with salt and pepper. When the potatoes have softened, process or puree in a blender until smooth then return to the pot. Add the cheese and some parsley for garnish before serving. Thanks again Connie! This truly made my daughter’s day! P.S. The next photo shows what we had to go with the soup – fried chicken and potato salad…yummy!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH AND SOPAS FOR THE SICK GIRL

My little daughter is sick...yesterday, I awoke to find that she had crawled into bed to sleep beside me and I felt that she was quite warm and feverish. And so today, to make her eat...she is already a difficult/picky eater as it is, moreso now that she is feeling a bit woozy... I prepared two of her favorite dishes - sopas...and something, anything with cheese - grilled cheese sandwich. The first is her comfort food whenever she is not feeling well and the cheese sandwich...well, she likes anything with cheese so I figured if the soup would not perk her up to eat anything, the melted cheese in toasted bread would surely do the trick! And I'm right...she did eat...even if a bit sparingly...at least she ate something!?!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – SINIGANG NA ULO NG SALMON

This is our lunch today - another favorite comfort food that is just right for a rainy day... Before we used to cook another fish for sinigang - the maya-maya but the fish earned a bad rap ever since its fakes (called Imelda) allegedly proliferated the Pasig river, thus, many were hesitant to buy and cook maya-maya anymore for hygiene/health reasons (me included). And since we already discovered that salmon is another good fish to cook sinigang, we never looked back and had been cooking that ever since. First, you clean the fish head thoroughly then saute ginger, garlic, onions, and tomatoes. Add the fish and cook well. You may add salt or patis, whichever you prefer before adding the miso then the water. When the sinigang boils, you may add the vegetables, mustasa or kangkong, then the sinigang mix. Let the sinigang boil for a bit more then turn off the heat and serve the soup while still hot and steaming!

KITCHEN MISADVENTURE SERIES – MEAT AND VEGETABLE FRITATA

This recipe can usually be done with leftover giniling that is cooked with bell peppers, carrots and potatoes. But if you don't have any leftovers, you can make one from scratch. Start with browning the meat then saute in garlic and onions. Add the diced carrots, potatoes and bell peppers. When the vegetables have cooked, stir in three beaten eggs and lower the heat to allow the eggs to set. You may cover the pan with a tight lid to ensure that the eggs are fully cooked or you may invert the fritata to a plate and cook the underside. Once cooked, serve the fritata at once with catsup on hot toast or rice. Happy eating!

NEW FOOTSTOOLS FOR THE HOUSE

On our way home we passed by the hardware store inside Starmall to buy some plumbing materials that Jun would need this weekend to fix the kitchen sink, change the p-trap as it may be leaking. He also bought us a new shower...yipee! My daughter would be so glad! Then, as we were getting near the cashier, I saw the foldable footstools at 50% off! I had been eyeing the said stools for quite some time now since I saw them about a month ago siguro...but they cost about 250 for the small ones and 350 for the big one, but now that they are being offered at 50% off, I immediately decided to buy some...after all they're only gonna cost less than 500 for two small and a big one for my room. Yipee! I know they're not the hofa ones that I would've wanted but close enough so they would do...