I'm scared of lasagna - the making of it. Of all the pasta dishes, it is what intimidates me the most. Maybe it's the work involve or the baking involve - I mean why can it not be like a spaghetti - boil then toss the sauce?
After researching about lasagna and different variations of its recipe, I decided to try this one because it predominantly uses mozzarella - my favorite cheese. Forgive my humble assessment but I really feel the turnout was a success. Why do I think so? Because I ate the meat sauce separately and could not stop eating it for days. I'm not a cook, so I'm not going to detail what I did and recipe linked above should do the trick . I'll show you though the experience of cooking/baking a lasagna for the first time.
Photo#1: I'm standing here boiling the meat with the sauce, in near panic as I'm trying to think if I need to transfer it to a bigger caldero as it is almost overflowing and beside it, I'm boiling the lasagna pasta - what the crap is this stuff, so huge and wide -- and I'm juggling texting back to my teammate Venkat (who believes I'm trying to burn down the house) and my friend Tin (who will soon be a professional baker) warning them of where I am with my cooking. By the way, fresh parsleys are heaven and are good for presentation too!
Photo#2: I'm a little bit relaxed at this time, spreading the ricotta cheese mixture with my layers. I go all out with parsley. I put them EVERYWHERE, I don't care. I actually cannot decide now if I undercooked my pasta or overcooked it. True mark of a happy-go luck cook (read: idiot) in the kitchen.
Photo#3: My sauce is ready and I'm ecstatic! Ecstatic because I just layered my mozzarella slices! My perfectionist me wished that for next time, I'll try those raw mozzarella cheese, not the sliced one. I think those kind is a wee bit expensive, I think around 500 pesos.
Photo#4: The recipe never mentioned cheese bubbles. Take a look at that picture. I was worn out with 2 hours of cooking at this stage, I think I was in dementia when I remembered my mom telling me that the secret to a good leche flan is that when you whip the egg mixture, it has to be so fine as to not cause any bubbles. So I started swatting the bubbles while this was in the oven. Yeah, I know, totally non sequitur. I apply pieces of advice on wrong scenarios.
Photo#5 :). I know :). It was good. And note the garnish: ever ubiquitous parsley ;-).
I'm writing this in candle light. I decided to no longer use electrical lights past midnight. Yep, no TV, no lamp, nothing within the vicinity of where I am. It's beginning to help me write more or recall memories and my God, the ambiance! Of course this decision is not really thought out. This candle better not emit a lot of smoke, else I will get booted out of this dig.
Three discoveries:
Journalism will never go away. The medium of journalism may change - whether that's found on paper or on the web but we need credible source of information, verified, fact-checked, and written well. That totally eliminates practically all bloggers. So this means I'm not yet sold on full-on citizen journalism. Watch Page One: Inside the New York Times documentary. Really good movie, it made me think.
Based on reading travel blogs, those people who love to travel are foodies at heart. Or is it the other way around? I love both and while I continue to write about my travels, I decided to share a little bit of my attention to making food. Here's my must-dos to make for 2012:
Learn how to make an ice cream from scratch (from scratch my foot, I need to buy an ice cream maker, eye-ing this).
Make a mean lasagna. [Done this, just this weekend! Will post about it soon!]
Bake a cake I can call my specialty. I need a mixer machine! The last time I baked muffins using a manual whipper, I could not lift my arm for days.
Bake a loaf of bread from scratch.
Make a salad with grains on it. I'm not particularly fond of salad but I want to make one but it has to incorporate a little bit of my rice or grain-loving self.
Learn to cook brussel sprouts. Brussel sprouts are amazing and typically it's steamed and being relegated to a side dish. I, however believe that they deserve a spot in the main dish kingdom!
Raw leather bracelets are awesome, especially if they come customized.
Discovery comes in many forms, be it from the world around you or from within yourself.
I'm so currently obsessed with kale chips - thank you Gwyneth for introducing me to a healthier snacking choice. The recipe is for dummies like me: buy fresh kale, wash, pat dry using your paper towel, remove the leaves from the stems, mix with some olive oil (not too much, just sprinkle), some salt (i prefer my chips salty, so I add lots of salt), bake in 425 degree oven for 10 minutes. And tada, kale chips!
"In my life, I have learned to be more curious than afraid." Sums up how I feel about cooking. I'm a complete beginner and my knowledge is limited to: I don't know when soy sauce is used to flavor, all I know is that when I put black pepper on anything, it tastes like heaven has arrived.
Of all the failures in my humble Atlanta kitchen (god knows there were a lot), this one stood out as my favorite success - my chicken and dumplings of which I customized for Filipino taste :). It's creamy and the broth is sufficiently thick, perfect for cold weather. Also, I made the dumpling from scratch! Original recipe here.
I never knew recalling moments and poring and picking pictures can be time consuming :). But it's extremely gratifying to see through a year of fantabulous experiences and recognizing that it is indeed a time to be grateful. It has been an epic year. I own 2010! So let me indulge and let you in my memories for the year that was/is.
Watching Avatar in 3D with Dad (who loves technology more than I do).
This is my favorite scene - the floating Hallelujah Mountains, if I can freeze it in one picture. Definitely mouth-gaping, especially on 3D.
It's spell-binding. Hunan Province, in China is now in my travel list to explore next!
Penpal on overdrive.
I actively sent out postcards to strangers through Postcrossing - the best part was checking my mailbox at home and finding out I got international mails from strangers - thank goodness, not just credit card bills! I got Nikki to join in and she, as always, amps any idea to wonderful craziness by making it a family event for her husband and their kids. She writes on the postcards, Diego (10 year old, her eldest) mails the postcards and when they do get to receive one, they read it as a family. Pretty cool. Opens up her kids to new worlds. Feel free to steal this idea :).
Baking and cooking were both great discoveries for me this year.
Huge thanks to my trusty oven and to Car and Anto for the tips and tricks and for always inviting me whenever there is food celebration at their house! I really did try a lot of dishes and I also realized I kind of like cooking more. Baking is so exact and I'm too clumsy and I get bored easily following the notes. I've collected the beautiful mess I made in 2010 (not comprehensive though). in an album so I can laugh at it.
Embraced Blackberry and a Tablet.
From a person who does not want to spend on technology (I'm for experiential purchases), this is my breakthough or may otherwise be known as the beginning of regret, let's see. More on this soon and if there's anyone to blame, it is the bitch, my reliable, seldom reachable technical support. Blackberry, for its archaic design and a tiny screen, gets to be the most efficient phone for me to support my social networking activism.
Not sure if I should label this as lowlights given the amount of distraction, but Plants vs Zombies deserves a cloud in my 2010! And Words with Friends! (Both of which are not available as games in my current gadget, go figure). They ate my brains!
Obligatory adventure on restaurant discoveries.
Restaurant discoveries is a must as I prefer not to repeat the same restaurant with the same company. The following springs with sumptuous delight in my memory - Van Gogh is Bipolar (for the inventiveness), Kuya's, O Kitchen, Eat Well, Kebab's and Gratitude Cafe (this is more than a restaurant, I attended a session there on how to read someone's aura - superb!). I think also one of my highlights in discovering new places for good food are my monthly lunch-outs with Mike and Nikki. It's mightily challenging to schedule a common time for us to eat out but we still do manage to not miss it despite traffics and color-coding and still do stick to our no-repeat resto mantra.
Tasting Tibok-Tibok
It was accidental - the trip was really our do-it-yourself Pampanga road trip with Pogs, Irish, Kat and Alvin and discovered this totally addicting dessert called Tibok-Tibok - which can be described in one sentence as maja blanca version 2.0. Side trip: Philippine Hot-Air Balloon Festival and although colorful, the highlight was us trying to get out of that area so we could eat and getting lost finding San Fernando city!
Rowing
I blogged about it. It's good for the upper arms, just bad I guess if you swallow the salt water (given that the salt water is from the very dirty Manila Bay).
Coming back to social networking > Twitter.
Just happy to be back in Twitter for 2010. I discovered it three years ago and have been intermittently updating it and when a lot of people have joined in, it then made sense for me why I did also become active. Social networking happens when there is significant mass of people to 'socialize' :). Wow, genius. #sarcasm.
Facebook on the other hand I may have officially given up.
Golf
My uncle enrolled me in golfing lessons as I told him I will be in Atlanta the next year and might be near to the famous Augusta (Tiger Woods' mothership). Feeling talaga ako makakalaro ako duon, hehe. My golfing instructor is so exasperated as he doesn't get it why I sway when I swing. He said, 'Di sya sayaw..'. Oh. I thought much of golf is all about posing :).
Get Pricked!
I've leaned towards eastern medicine because I want to practice that belief that the power we need to heal ourselves are already within us. Here I am with Yung Chin, a taiwanese traveler who I brought to Dr. JC to experience this wonderful healing process, pinoy style.
Fishing
Again, my uncle and my dad's influence. I was not able to catch fish but my dad did. A huge one.
Watched Lea Salonga live.
It was more a gift to my mom as I want her to witness Lea still singing well as if it's still her prime (it's still her prime, yes?). My mom loves performances and watching Cats The Musical is so perfect, simple story but so abundant in singing and dancing. The dancing is very techincal, it's amazing how the performers can still sing while doing the moves. Mom and I enjoyed it very much.
Donated blood for the first time.
Ask Des, I almost freaked out. 450cc of blood? That's enough to make two dinuguan good for 40 people! But it's at least a noble way of inflicting pain to oneself. Right after blood donation, against doctor's orders, Des and I went gallivanting the town with Pogs to tour an Estonian traveler within Quezon City. And I went back home sick - nursing fever and flu for days. Moral of the story: Listen to your doctor! (And still donate blood, the feeling is priceless!).
Witnessed People Crucifying Themselves
With the most appropriate people to see this kind of events with - my parents (and my Tita) hahaha! We went to San Fernando Pampanga to witness people whipping their backs and nailing their appendages as nationwide Lenten season is being observed. It was hilarious as my mother cursed me for asking her to walk at that heat! My dad is laughing his head off as my all-white Machu Picchu got splashed with human blood - penitents whipping their backs during a procession. The whole experience was like watching a Filipino classic movie - all the gore, the drama, and the suspense. Oh it was bad-ass fun. You have to see it with your old folks.
In reflection, I do believe the Bible is a story in metaphor. And most of what's happening right now is just lost in translation. What a bloody post this has become!
Walked barefoot in the city.
Not really a stiletto moment - but I walked barefoot from the Shangri-la Hotel to the Shangri-la Mall parking because my feet was begging for mercy. I promised to myself I will never wear heels again even if it looks good on my outfit (comfort over style, and I'm sure this promise I will never keep). Yes, I came from a glamorous wedding and luckily, it was already evening when I decided to hit the ground, caveman style.
Travel by myself
I'm used to traveling with a buddy but a milestone this year as I am very proud to have done traveling outside the country by myself that is not related to work. Toronto was my experiment and it was an adventure to check out museums by myself, plot my itinerary by myself and fill the time with whatever I fancied. Good times.
Given a choice, I would prefer to travel with someone for I was caught many times clasping my hands in excitement at a very nice piece of art but found no one readily available beside me to gush it with. I do highly recommend that at least once in our lives, we travel by ourselves - tough but good for the soul.
Watched a live baseball game
I did this already in Tokyo a couple of years ago, but nothing like watching it in a stadium with teams that are previous world champions. Yep, it was Atlanta Braves vs Toronto Blue Jays - and the only player I know was Derek Jeter (Thank you Mariah Carey).
Come to think of it - Atlanta Braves. What a premonition! Main highlight - sitting on good seats costing around $70CAD and getting it for $10 dollars. (My bargaining chip: I'm from the third world...)
Bonding Experiences
Reunion with my High School Barkada
Met all expectations of being a noisy, messy, but full of sentimental love kind of reunion as we walk dear Jenny down the aisle in wedded bliss. It was perfectly set in the charming town of Bacolod, the place where we all introduced ourselves to each other 18 years ago.
Post-event: Playing Mismo - a jejemon game of sorts in the wee hours of the morning at my house. I think we had a good belly laugh for over an hour.
Celebrity Sightings
Seen Megastar 3 feet away from me! Seen Manny Pacquiao 300 feet away from me! Such a sucker for larger than life characters.
Watched Gay Pride Event in Atlanta
All for equality. I know it does not beat the stories my friend Jaja tells me, of how they do Pride in San Francisco, but Atlanta experience will do for now.
Picture stolen from Luan's facebook photostream :).
Get Rejected in a Bar due to Lack of Proof of Age
Yes, got rejected and not just one bar, but in two bars in mid-town Atlanta because I did not bring any form of identification. In an act of desperation sans shame, I even sang a Beatles song to the bouncer to prove I'm old.
And during my birthday at that. It actually feels good, ha ha ha.
Finally for the first time. Post-mortem: My candidate for presidency did not win but I'm happy with the results.
Re-connect with friends, family, strangers.
Even as simple as bringing my parents to Mercato Centrale to try out new food or as elaborate as doing the yearly garage sale with Aimee, Cindy, Fe and this year with Chris, or those weekend overnighters (I remember the coffee farm house, that was good) with different loved ones, or driving on 100km/hr on ayala avenue (Ayala Ave!) at 2AM to bring a French traveler to his destination or even up to the extreme of traveling a thousand miles away beyond Pacific Ocean to reconnect with a good friend, all these proved that we do remember moments and happiness is only real when shared.
2010 was definitely my year, because everything was an adventure. I don't post any work related stuff (as much as possible) but that area too, for this year was an out of comfort zone thing experience. Anything that forces me to grow, tops it on my list - on a hindsight of course.
I hope this year was awesome, heroic, stunning, kick-ass cool for you as it was for me!
Looking forward to 2011! Latin America backpacking, New Orleans, living abroad, already on my planning list!
Accomplishments a.k.a. welcome streaks of insanity, here we go.
Giant Trevally. I did not catch it, my dad did. We're planning a second round of fishing this summer. Can't wait.
Baked 90% of this monster - Waldorf Carrot Cake, thanks to Car for mentoring me. If you call this 90% = I grated 10 million carrots, I mixed the ingredients , I whisked them, and I put it in the oven, after which I forgot about it and if not for Car who did all the checking, the frosting, the strategy to ensure the cake does not get burnt, I don't know if it would come out as beautiful as this picture. So now we know, it is likely deserving and necessary to give credit to project managers, in as much as we credit the soldiers! Car, again, you should set up a resto na! According to mom (I have a slice sent to Bacolod through dad) it tastes so good, "like Goldilocks, be!" That's huge, Mom's favorite place is Goldilocks! So I'm planning to make one again this Holy week, yebah.
This is a picture of the salad I'm gushing about and I'm labeling it as of today, the best salad/food in the world. But of course, I said that too a month ago about the thai pomelo salad I found at Salcedo Market. But this..I don't even know what this is called, I call it salad but actually it may not be. It's a meal in itself - it has couscous rice, garnished with 50,000,000 herbs, with fresh lettuce at the base, and then with rigatoni (?) pasta immersed in some 50,000,000 herbs, poured in a bucket of olive oil. It also comes with potato wedges sprinkled in rosemary, and again showered in a gallon of olive oil. I say that because I love olive oil - it's my favorite among all food oils. There are olives and pickles too and it goes with some white cream sauce I will falsely guess as sour cream base. This is topped with a non-meat oblong shaped mashed peas that tastes so good when dipped in that white sauce. It's a Mediterranean dish, it tastes like it's from Turkey or some middle eastern country. Or almost Moroccan.
I don't even know what I'm talking about, I haven't even been to Turkey nor Morocco. I've been to Bahrain for 24 hours and I say things like this. But seriously, I'm not pretending, it tastes like a mix of those countries and I'm suspecting in my past lives, I must have been swarmed by these countries' cuisine.
You eat them together, a little bit of couscous, of lettuce, of pasta, of the non-meat dipped in the sauce, and chew, and chew and kaboom. Your tongue will curl in total elation of the varied texture and will it forever worship you.
I am completely aware not everyone would like it, but I do. I just want to know who are my people, who are the mad ones, the mad to be saved, delirious of everything, stealing quotes from Kerouac :). Let me know your experience. It's available at Legazpi Market every Sunday 7:00AM to 2:00PM. Go to the stall that sells Tofu Steak.
Accomplishment # x: Just gotten back to cooking! First experiment just to put me back again in the game, I chose to do an omelette - filled with tomatoes, red bell pepper and onions, with edges burnt to make it crisp (unintentionally, but my gosh it tastes good, like twister fries!). And of course, 50% of the ingredients is black pepper. My salt of the earth is black pepper, I don't think I could cook without it. I think it's genetics, my dad feels the same, we almost got kicked out in the kitchen once when mom was making her usual awesome fruit salad and we insisted there should be sprinkle of black pepper. (Our sprinkle means 10 swoosh of pepper).
My omelette is served with those red veggies, scattered all over the place, shabby chic plating (also unintentionally, jeez...It's challenging to flip an omelette, my (non) skills are so rusty).
In all honesty, it tastes so good, I wonder how can a failure be this successful! I'm so encouraged, let's copy Julie/Julia, I resolve to try 5 new recipes this February. I might even narrow the scope, how about 5 different, ridiculous kinds of omelette?
But I'm not really the type to narrow scope, I dream big dreams, I will bake a frigging cake! Scary! Let's do this together! Share your recipes and I'll try it! Bring on the fire hydrant!
Just woke up from a very filling home-cooked dinner with foodie friends Anto, Car, Pogs, Jayvee and new kid on the block Jsin (I spelled as how I pronounced it, haha! Influenced by the news!). All food served were baked from the oven - except for the strawberry-in-balsamic dessert which was heaven just by remembering it. Pogs cooked a mean US prime rib-eye Angus (has to be said) steak - It's a good thing I have not yet surrendered to full blown healthy eating, probably not soon enough with this kind of fun loving omnivore friends. He instructed, "season it first with salt and pepper" and then you cook the hell out of it. Last conjunction, my interpretation. Well-done for the win.
We had chicken pastel, yep, with all the complications of a topped dough, courtesy of the soon-to-be rising-star chef, Car. I secretly squirmed when I saw margarine being mixed with floor (I have not fully given up on healthy eating!) but when I tasted it, yum, a best-seller! That thing is creamy! When is this girl going to start receiving food orders? Best chicken pastel ever. Also by Car, for dessert, toffee pudding - I cannot believe these wonderful tasty things are coming out of my oven!
Good food, good friends, good wine (finally! Found the holy grail! From Chile!), great conversations until the wee hours of the morning, capped by watching a truly sickening horror movie. It was one of those nights I have always pictured for my home - rich with friendship, although this time, still lacking in pieces of furniture. Thank the gods for friends!
p.s. Dear reader, if you're reading this and my mobile number is in your address book, please be so kind to spend 1 peso for me and send me your number. Text me and I will give you a wonderful food for thought in return :). Some person decided I should have some software upgrade on my phone because it would be cool and all, and I need me daw some real-time gps maps, and I need me to be able to check on my work email daw (go figure, says my newly converted non-workaholic self) and all I can remember is, "Tsong, may kasalanan ako." All memory erased! The plan is to road-test the oven Pogs, not bulldoze my mobile phone! Sometimes, I absolutely detest that my friends are gadget freaks, why do I have to be dragged...
Where would be my ideal date? Hmmm...let me see. To bring me to somewhere unexpected where it has the possibility to change me or inspire me. Here goes The Beckoning of Lovely:
---oOo---
Every 30 minutes, I eat here. No kidding. It's nearing gluttony (In Africa, my behaviour may already be conduct unbecoming), that one time, I joined my parents in their early morning jogging over at Bacolod Lagoon (yes, I woke up 5:30AM just to exorcise the ghost of this deadly sin). Anyways, if you're in Bacolod especially for the weight watchers, here's my advice: it's futile to diet, I mean, it does not really make sense if you do, Bacolod being the Sugar Capital of the country, yummy desserts are everywhere. Here's my mini food adventure with my family during this holiday break.
A cool discovery -- this not-so-hidden restaurant at Lacson Street, dining in Louise is like having a meal at some ancestral house. It was recommended by Tita Anne, mom's friend and mahjong mate. I value Tita Anne's opinion because their family seems to love dining out, courtesy of their daughter Hannah (batchmate, that's what we call each other, even though I'm like 7 years older).
The interiors has that antique feel, even the napkins complement its
ambiance. Check out the tip box, so cute, like a mini-chest. When I asked the waitress what's their forte, and she told me, "Fried chicken, ma'am", I raised my eyebrows. Fried chicken for a forte, in a town that introduced chicken inasal to the world? Ano to, KFC? But we ordered it anyway and I was really, really surprised. Deep fried, the chicken skin has that mild salty aftertaste, yummy! It's a chicken that does not need sauce or god forbid, a gravy to enjoy. Their shrimp ball and the sauce are also good as you can see from the picture where a hurricane passed by cleaning our plates. Highly recommended, promise. Hannah told me their steaks are super good too. Louise Restaurant is at 19th Lacson Street Bacolod City. Tel # +63.34.4340435.
Who could go wrong visiting Calea? Anything good and sweet is here. I ordered this walnut-raisins-cake and grabe, namit! Iiyak ka sa sarap, I miss Bacolod desserts. I feel it's always a rip-off to eat the cakes of Starbucks, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cheesecake etc., even Bizu in Makati if you have tasted the cakes of Calea (and at cheaper price! Around 50-60~ per slice). I've been road-testing one of my favorite desserts lately - chocolate crinkles and the verdict: Calea tops it! Bob's in Bacolod is way down the list na, I tried it this time and it's no longer moist, and the outside is hard, ambot. Whatever happened to my childhood memories. Becky's crinkles here in Manila come in far second. I asked the person in charge if we can order sugar-free cakes and she said the owner does not want to bake a cake that's sugar free. My mom warned me not to ask anymore since she has requested like a thousand times already to no avail. I insisted and told the cashier that most of the people buying here are usually health conscious (and diabetic), so why not? The cashier sighed and said, "Ma'am, indi gid ang owner." The owner daw said Sugar Country ang bacolod, she will not bake a cake without the primary ingredient of the province. That shut me up :). Calea has three branches in Bacolod. One of them: Lourdes Center II Bldg. 14th Lacson St. Bacolod City. Tel #: 63.34.4340288. (Those are wonderful semifreddos in the picture above by the way).
Went to taste Sate Babe at Bob's again, with its peanut butter sauce, there's nothing like this in Manila it is very good. Bob's has multiple branches in Bacolod. One of them: BS Aquino North Drive, Bacolod City. Tel #: 63.34.434.2409.
This trip, I did not visit this coffee shop but Kuppa is a pretty cool place as previously introduced by my friend Greg. The pasta and the ambiance is good. We went there to look for sugar-free cakes but they only serve by slice. They have Starbucks na at Bacolod which I hope will not stop Negrenses from supporting local joints like Kuppa, Cafe Bob's, Bascon Cafe, among others. Cor. Tindalo Hidalgo St. Bacolod City. Tel #: 63.34.433.6562.
I just think my hometown which frankly has nothing to offer when it comes to sights to see, has so much to give when it comes to gastronomical delights. Of course, if you happen to be in Bacolod, you should not be restricted by the above, there's Roli's napoleones and half-moon to try, Lumpia Ubod of Capitol Supermarket in front of La Salle (I wonder if it's still there), Pendy's spare ribs and prune cake, anything at Imay's and at Aboy's, Manukan country with its orange oil - and eaten by hand chicken inasal (the only way to eat it - side story, my long time Bacolod friends Fe, Melissa and I had a chance to eat at JT Manukan's at Makati and we asked the owner Joel Torre who was there, if we could eat with our hands and he encouraged us to. Only Bacolodnons can know the best way to eat inasal). One time I was eating breakfast at home and I mention that the sardines is good, I wondered what's the brand? My mom said it's home-made, sold by the ex-governor of the city. Yes, that's how food lovers we are, even ex-politicians' retirement occupation is making food!
Happy Holidays and I hope you had no guilt filling your stomach with the best this season has to offer! Minsan lang naman, kis-a lang, once a year lang :). Namit gid!
