Domestic Diva -- Not!

I know, I know. I should have come up with a better title, but the first word that came to mind was "domestic", and then I naturally thought of Nigella Lawson and her irritatingly perfect dishes, and then I thought, no, I will never be an inch close to that good, hence, the word "not".

So, anyway, today, I learned that to make old champagne extra bubbly, you have to drop a raisin into the glass. Not that I'm a champagne drinker (heck, I say "no" to most drinks), just that I found it interesting, the things one can do to "repair" things. I was blog-hopping while working up another experiment in pasta, and I found that bit of information over at Joanna Goddard's blog.

I'm not much for measuring stuff when I cook, so each dish comes out different, every time. I've had hits and misses, but thank god I've had more of the former than the latter. I know what I want, so I generally just follow my instincts, throwing in a bit of this, or a generous helping of that, without forgetting the basics, of course. I like  putting in loads of garlic, and I get a thrill from watching the bits sizzle when thrown into the hot oil, love the smell they sweat out just a few seconds into the swim. I've mastered the art of sprinkling in just the perfect amount of minced pepper, whereas I used to wreck dishes with putting in too much of it. It's still touch-and-go in the al dente pasta part, but I manage. How elementary, but hey, these are the stuff cooking is made of. Oh, yeah, and I love putting in melted cheese and cream of mushroom in to just about any pasta dish I whip up. I had planned on a cheese-and-cream-of-mushroom macaroni earlier, but because the original sauce came out just a tad too salty, in went the tomato sauce. I'd have to say it turned out pretty well, despite the rocky start.

Cheers!

And, oh, yeah, gotta have music with the cookin', otherwise, it's just another chore.
=)

Monday night, free dinner

I generally do not like Japanese food, but last Monday's free dinner (care of our AVP) at Red Kimono kinda changed that.

I regret not having taken photos of the food. I got stuffed midway, and just talked my head off the rest of the time.

(Celine, Maureen, Vanessa)

Well, hello, Japanese!

Diet? What diet?

I can resist most chocolates, but not Twix.

This is a staple. period period period.

Ube hopia. Sarap!
Especially if it's eaten after being made to cool in the ref. =)


I'll be a good girl again, tomorrow.
Promise.

I've been a good enough girl.

For the past several days, I've been feasting on greens (with Caesar as my preferred dressing)



and whole wheat bread.


(I don't eat it by itself, of course. Yesterday, I had Italian sausage on whole wheat bread and earlier, beef pastrami on whole wheat bread. But, yeah, it's all on whole wheat bread. Ano ba, ang kulit.)

So, maybe, I do deserve to have this right now.


Just one small bag. Promise.

(I think dieting is ok as long as people don't identify the word "dieting" with "starving oneself". It's all just about eating the right kinds of food and the right quantity (or lack thereof, hahaha). And one other thing it's got going against it is that people are generally crankier when they're on a diet. Though I was a grouch only during the first two, maybe three days. Now, I'm back to normal--or almost normal.)

Potato chips!!!

What I ate and did not

Now, let's see.

Thursday, in the office, I had a plateful of baked macaroni. Which i finished, by the way. It was M--'s birthday, too, and I was treated to lunch at Cibo, where I had yummy Pasta Veneziana with wheat bread. In the evening, I had cheesecake with my double tall mocha latte.

Friday morning, I looked in the mirror and groaned. My shoulders were ballooning again--they're always the first to rise up to the occasion once the calories start loading in.

Saturday morning, I started dieting: zero to minimal rice and carbs, protein and veggies only, and the occasional finger food (translate: chips).

Today is Tuesday and, so far, I have been successful.

My friend, S--, told me helpfully, "if that's what makes you happy, dear, then go for it."

Hee.

Gastronomical Blah

I have, fairly recently, given up on the Double Tall Mocha Espresso I consistently order on every Starbucks visit. I've known it all along--that this drink doesn't do anything to kindle my drowsy nerves--but have been in denial, so far. Well, I have had a change of heart and decided to switch to that most macho of macho coffees: the kapeng barako, Starbucks style. I couldn't do without the flavoring though (brewed coffee by Starbucks is E-V-I-L!), so I still make them put white chocolate mocha into the drink.

So far, that has been the only exciting thing to happen to my stomach (and my nerves) today. Lunch in the office was a bland affair of pork binagoongan (which I ordered without knowing what it was--it was too orange to be binagoongan); for snacks, it was a Strawberry-topped Danish which, due to the fact that I've been eating it almost daily for the past few weeks, has lost its excitement and novelty (such boring words!). I mean, I used to eat it with such gusto, but this morning, a third of it found its way into the trash can (the part where the custard and the strawberry jam was, to be more specific). Mom would probably berate me for throwing food away, with all the hungry people out there. Peace, Mommy! =)


I refuse to let this day end with my palate bored, or dissatisfied. After I post this, I shall whip out the Porky Best chicharon from its hiding place. There's Coke and ice in the ref, too. Ah, here comes the high-blood special, but what the heck.


What did you have for lunch?
=)

Food

I have just come fresh from blog-hopping and all these people writing about food really get to my nerves--or, my stomach! I don't like apple pie but reading about how (supposedly) yummy it is makes me wonder whether I've been too hasty in judging it. I'm suddenly craving for oyster cake and baked lasagna and stuffed portobello mushrooms and it's only been an hour since I had breakfast! Incidentally, the Tuguegarao longganisa I ate was yummy and along with spicy vinegar generously sprinkled with salt, it's hi-blood special, but what the heck, it was darn good, anyway. Yesterday, Ate K-- gave me Royce chocolates for Mother's Day. It's in the fridge right now...maybe time for a bite?

Food, food, food. But wait, there's more.

For most of last week, in the office, I've been having Hungarian sausage with buttered toast for lunch. Thirty minutes before that hour, I'd be almost giddy with excitement for said fare and then, thirty minutes into that hour, I'd be pushing my plate away, half of the meal still on the plate. My friend K-- would mutter how I never finish my food and then would dig into my left-overs and S-- would prod me, "finish your food, Shan, You need to eat." Yesterday, while I was out with the kids, I ordered sizzling tenderloin tips and ended up eating only a fourth of the Java rice and almost choking from trying to force myself to finish the ulam. During dinner, I merely picked on the roast beef and fish fillet I had on my plate. The host kept asking me to go for seconds and I had a hard time trying to smile and say "yes, later, thank you," knowing there weren't to be any seconds or thirds for me.

I have that takaw-tingin syndrome that is on its way to becoming worse. A few days ago, a colleague told me I was losing too much weight, which surprised me because every look in the mirror would leave me extremely dissatisfied about my arms (and I was wearing a sleeveless top that day). Anyway, I said "thank you" and he was, like, "what's there to thank me for? You look unhealthy and stressed. Eat!" And I just chuckled and told him that I liked being skinny and he just shook his head and muttered something about not understanding girls and their obsession with skinniness.

But seriously, now, I think I want those chocolates.

Beef Stroganoff with Portobello Mushrooms

YUMMY! Gimme my lunch!

(click here for the recipe)

Marvelous Mac and Cheese

I did a double-take when I saw this mac-and-cheese pic over at ontheflyingtrapeze. And there's a recipe, to boot.



Mouth-watering!

Looking at the picture made me crave for mac and cheese but the closest I could have was a bag of chiz curls (shaped like macaroni and coated with cheese). lol

I love: Italianni's Seafood Florentine

It won't be complete, of course without the bread they serve for appetizer, best eaten with a dip of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on the side. One serving won't be enough... you'll be asking for more.

Their Seafood Florentine is fantastic: spaghetti marinara served with clams, shrimps, anchovies and baked oysters, topped with a heap of savory melted cheese. Try it, try it!

I love Italianni's!

Shrimp Tales (and then some)

Yesterday, when I went on a trip to Festival Mall, I wasn't at all planning to bargain-hunt. As it turned out, however, I was able to snag a few items for half the price!

My main destination was Shopwise, as I had contemplated, for a good quarter of the day, to have hilabos na hipon for dinner. I love shrimps dearly and I hadn't had any for quite some time. Back in Naga, my brothers and I, being shrimp junkies, would spend close to two hours on the dining table, devouring a sizeable quantity of shrimps (pasayan in Bikol). Daddy, being the kind of father that he is, would snitch just a few, then leave the rest to his shrimp-crazy kids. My mom, of course, would snub it (and its high cholesterol content) altogether.

Anyway.

So there I was, on my way to the grocery, trying my hardest to keep my path straight. It was sale weekend and I had promised myself that I wouldn't buy any article of clothing, footwear or accessories, nothing along that line. Alas, I happened (yeah, right) to pass by Kamiseta, and found that my feet were inching their way towards its wide-open door.

A quarter of an hour later, I emerged with my loot: two dresses with "50% off" marks on their tags!

I then made my way, as fast as I could, to Shopwise' seafood section, determined not to have any more detours. And what do you know, the shrimps were on sale, too! Originally priced at P500 a kilo, they had been marked down to P380. I bought half a kilo and then made my way home. Along the way, I went dreaming of the feast that dinner was going to be, and wished that I would have enough restraint in eating the dear crustaceans, as I had been reminding myself lately to go easy on food.

I had wished in vain, though. Shrimps and restraint don't seem to go well together.

About...Food!

Yesterday, I found myself glued to the Discovery Travel and Living channel. I caught: Jamie's Italian Getaway (groovy chef Jamie Oliver celebrates his 30th birthday in romantic Italy and has to cook for culinary-savvy and meticulous Italians--what a feat!), Take-Home Chef (Aussie master chef Curtis Stone, with a whole bunch of camera crew, ambushes innocent grocery shoppers and offers to pay for the items. In exchange, the poor souls will take the chef and his crew to his/her house, where Curtis will cook a meal for free! How awesome is that?) and Kylie Kwong: My China (a culinary show which features, of course, Chinese cooking, all shot on location in China). I just loved them all! The shows' premises are so cool.

What is it about food shows that fascinates us so? The obvious answer, I guess, is that food is one topic that interests people of all sizes, ages, races, etc. We eat more than the average "three meals a day," have these periodic cravings for our favorite dishes, and are constantly on the look-out for new, gastronomical delights, especially when home-cooked meals start to get stale to our taste. What more, watching all those sumptuous, myriad (from the sophisticated to the quotidian) meals being cooked and presented in full color is an experience only a few could resist. Well, I certainly couldn't.

Plus, there are all these wonderful stuff to learn! Yesterday, for example, I found out that Zucchini flowers can be eaten. You just stuff some cheese into them, deep-fry, then, voila! You have yourself fried Zucchini flowers! But what else could they be, eh? Other tidbits: stir-fried Lotus roots are a favorite Chinese delicacy, though the harvesting alone is a really arduous process; and, in Italy, a box of pizza is meant to be eaten by one person (ain't that heaven?).

Am definitely hooked.

The sad thing is that I was never really much of a cook. Unlike some people who get their first taste of kitchen navigation (whaat?) at a young age, I learned how to cook when I was already in College and found myself away from home. My friends/house-mates, then, Emillie, Ribbon and Fenina, patiently taught me the art of frying (I will never forget the giant blister I got the first time I tried to fry tilapia and I've always dreaded frying, from then on), sauteeing, boiling, and all that stuff. I know very few recipes, and am thankful that I was able to write down my Lola's (she was a master cook, oh yes, she was!) precious recipes before she passed away. I make good adobo (my own concoction: Shan-style adobo!) and beef steak (my Lola's recipe), though, and some pasta (mac and cheese, Puttanesca). And, once, when I cooked carbonara for my team and some friends, they praised it to the high heavens and are cajoling me, until now, to cook another batch for them.

I think I will, soon.

:)