It is really comforting in the kitchen

For the longest time, I've been putting off learning how to bake. That's for reasons like I'm scared to try, I might fail (hence, scared to try), and if I fail, everything will go to waste (so, I am scared to try). I still remember that one December day when I was I think 10, our family was invited over to my dad's boss' house and his boss has a daughter who made the best oatmeal cookies I've ever tasted. And from that time, my mom hasn't stopped nagging me to start baking. She has this huge plan for me, foreseeing that one day (and since being the only girl in the family), I will be baking all kinds of good stuff like cookies and cakes, which we can share with relatives on family reunions. But years and years passed and now I am turning 25 (oh, good God!) and it is only now that I have taken up all the courage I have to venture into baking.

A few weeks back, my 1st baking attempt wasn't bad at all. I started with making muffins, which didn't need a mixer or that too complex ingredients. So that took away a little fear. Yesterday, I tried making panna cotta which didn't taste half as bad, either.

We had home-made pancakes for breakfast yesterday. I couldn't believe I made something out of raw ingredients like flour, egg, milk, baking powder and baking soda.



After I mixed everything in the stainless bowl I bought weeks ago just for the muffin-making debut, I was praying really hard that it will turn out fine. Otherwise, we will be defaulted back to cereal, which makes me sick now. When the pancakes were slowly taking form in the non-stick pan, I felt relieved. I flipped it out of the pan and into our plates. And God, it was light and tasted heavenly! I was really please with the result so we enjoyed it with butter and some maple syrup and with kiwi fruit on the side.

yes, that white little thing on the side is whipped cream! :)

Another day

I am pouring out all my energy into cooking and baking. Well that's for 2 reasons: it keeps my mind off my worries (even for just a while) and 2ndly, it gives me a sense of worth and fulfillment after seeing the food I so hard-workingly prepared and the faces (face, for that matter) of those who are having it. Some of them are amazed at how I was able to come up with such good food (modesty aside haha). Some are in awe at the presentation, making the food appear much more enticing to gobble up (thanks to research, cook books and various search engines). Their eyes just light up and smile when they see the home-cooked meals that is so appealing, it's as good as dining out (if not better, cause there's no service charge and you don't have to fight for parking). So yeah, I wanna keep this up.

tortillas, sweet chili chicken pieces, fresh iceberg lettuce, grated cheese, white onion, carrot sticks, garlic mayo, buttered corn kernels and cups of hot home-made mocha (coffee with cocoa, milk and sugar).

***

I've been preparing myself for that one time all out talk with the topics lined up in my memory. And just as I'm waiting for the 'right time' to come, I am hearing words like "i don't know what to do without you" and "I found what course I wanna take" and for some reason, I felt it was real. I felt He was sending me a message and telling me to think some more. After all, it IS 7 years.

Chopsuey photos (following the chopsuey thoughts entry)

That's a filipino breakfast that I truly miss. Sinangag nalang ang kulang, longsilog na. At may sisig pa! Sayang, walang sizzling plate. Nonetheless, it still tastes very very good! And look! There's UFC and Knorr seasoning pa!

fried egg, sisig, longganisa with Filipino condiments to go with it

I rocked breakfast this morning. On the menu are: Garden salad made of baby lettuce leaves, spinach, feta cheese, fish nuggets, cherry tomatoes, white onions and cashew nuts with Italian dressing. There's also pumpkin soup, creamed mushrooms, muffin, champagne ham and fried egg. Oh my, we were stuffed! That's how you start a day. :)

The very enticing breakfast we had this morning plus a cup of hot water waiting for a teaspoon of coffee, sugar and milk.

My typical Friday night early dinner. As I am mostly alone on a Friday, this is what my dining table looks like. Bread, water, a bit of salad and some cold cuts. That's it. No time consuming cooking required. Quick and easy. But sometimes, it's still nice to eat with somebody.

Snack? Dinner? Merienda? Who knows? That's a Friday meal when you're alone.

Baking Debut

It's a productive Friday today for me.

I came home from a night shift at 7 this morning. I felt so good taking the lifts down, walking out of the door and seeing all the people just about to begin their day when I just finished mine. It was still dark when I left the hospital and it was really chilly. So, clad in my black puffer jacket, I took the 3-minute walk I usually take to the parking lot and off I drove in the dark night sky, looking forward to reaching home and lying on my bed.

I was up at half past one and my head was turning for a while. Gelo and I had lunch of okra, spanish sardines and instant soup with egg (it's Friday, afterall! All the grocery's gone for the week). I drove him off to work after then went home and started on the one thing I've been looking forward to, the whole week: my baking debut!

my new toys waiting to be played :)

whole wheat strawberry yoghurt muffin in pieces

...going into the oven

And hello to these beautiful babies! :)

This winter season is killing me. That is but not limited to the cold cold weather, the constant raining and the shorter days. It is now 5:10 pm and the clouds are starting to turn gray and hazy. I did cook our lunch today and opted to have something fresh rather than the longganisa I ordered from the filipina at work. So yes, it's called Parmesan fish and boy, it is good! :) I dropped Gelo off to work at 2 pm today. i felt like a mom dropping one of my kids off to school and yelling behind them "Have a good day (at work)!" and he replies with a wave of the hand and a nod. So I drove back home and did the laundry. So now, with cold feet and numb hands, I am home alone waiting for 11:00pm to come so I can go pick him up from work and spend our night chatting away.

all the mess of cooking

look at those beautiful things!

and the fresh and healthier alternative to frozen fish nuggets

How Tangled Last Week's Timetable Was

Finally, January 14 came. It's one of the most special days for us because it is his birthday. He caught me waking up early to set up birthday trimmings, a bouquet of balloons I got the night before (which I hid under the couch) and my gift to him. But it didn't matter because he was just so euphoric that he didn't mind knowing beforehand.

failed surprise attempt

And that day, we had so many things on our to-do list some of which are as follows:
1. Go to market and grocery to do shopping - check
2. Hear Mass - check (and had Fr. Gilbert bless him after the Mass)
3. Lunch Out - Pasta & pizza at La Porchetta
4. Go to Albany to buy moisturizer - no more time. next week nalang.
5. Cook Spaghetti pinoy style @ home - Sarrrraaaaapppppp! This is the 1st time I cooked a sweet style spaghetti using spaghetti sauce, banana ketchup and 1/4 cup sugar. Of course, hotdogs and mince beef are always on the list. So yeah, it reminded me of Jollibee. :)

my sweet style spaghetti that sold like pancakes

6. Get DSLR from Andrea - Angel sent a DSLR for Gelo as a birthday present. And Andrea, their cousin who just came from a flight from Dubai carried the DSLR for him.
Additional: Had Movenpick after dinner for some ice cream. :)

Fast forward to 2 days back. I stayed home and spent the whole day chopping and preparing ingredients so that I won't have to do any cutting on the day of his party.

the making of lumpiang shanghai

From 5 pm until 11 pm, I was sitting on a chair with a chopping board in front of me and with very heavy arms and a sore back, trying to finish off everything that needs to be done. And yes, I did! After that, I suddenly felt like my mom who cooked everything for us for every birthday and Christmas that passed without anyone really helping her. And tiring as it was, there's a feeling of fulfillment when you see his face smiling at you with grateful eyes. :)

Yesterday morning, I got up relatively early and started my only task of cooking all the meals to be served that afternoon. Yes, sense the sarcasm there. But seriously, I didn't really mind to do all the cooking as 1st of all, it is for him. Second of all, I love cooking! And third of all, ow never mind! Don't wanna be cheeky and spoil this entry.

On my menu are:
1. Carbonara
2. Seafood Curry
3. Adobong Batangas
4. Lumpiang Shanghai

happily doing all the cooking

His mom added some roast chicken which gives us one more additional dish. And we had White Mudcake for dessert. And lots of sparklings for drinks. :) After the long afternoon of jokes, games and gossips (wink wink), we headed to AMF for some bowling action and we had fun, indeed. Our team won which is good considering we haven't played bowling for a couple of years now. So we had some good laughs.

The point of the whole day was to make him happy. I knew he was. In fact more than anything, he felt blessed to have wonderful friends who never failed to remember him, a generally supportive family and a partner who is both a companion and a friend.

To Gelo: wishing you wealth, health, happiness and success! All my love, to the only fish in my sea. :)