kusina xprmnt: gising-gising na bicol express w/ quail eggs

i'm in the mood to cook lately... :-) nothing unusual, but i find it odd that i want to cook dishes that i've tried once or twice before and although i love it, i just didn't get to eat it again....because either it never exists in any resto here in zamboanga or i'm just too lazy to prepare the dish...

so here's a Kapampangan dish i learned from a former boss which insisted that i try it... and since i'm the type who dissect a dish ingredient by ingredient, my first Gising Gising was no exception... :-) i love the creamy coconut milk, the way it blended with the shrimp paste and the beans' taste ...   

they usually use baguio beans for this, but i experimented with sitaw. a neighbor passed by our house days ago selling her harvest for only 30pesos! i bought all of it, so i have more than enough for my gising gising experiment. I coined this dish as Gising Gising na Bicol express because i made the pork cuts a bit bigger so that the outcome looked like a Gising gising and Bicol Express combined... :-)

so here's how this easy experiment's done....

to the daddys in my life...

to Pao and my daddyboo!!!
your first Fathers Day hun!!! :-) happy happy!!! you've been a daddyboo for 8months already...and... (o wag hahaba ang hair!)... and so far you're doing really really great... hehehe... i will forever remember your night shift during the first few weeks of pao at home... you took charge of the feeding and nappy cleanup while you let me heal... :-) and still your night duties now, getting up to prepare pao's milk... i love seeing you spend paotime, you two really really make my heart leap with happiness! if only i can capture more of it... i know you'll be the greatest daddyboo for pao... he will surely agree with me... :-) although i have my issues now, but i want you to know that i really appreciate you. :-) mmmmwuah!

to our very patient Papang!

i am very guilty of wasting a lot of time with you... i feel bad for being so spoiled around you since i moved back... you've been really really quiet for as long as i can remember, forever patient to mamang and to all of us.... but during those few moments we get to talk, i know there's so much in you... your apos would really agree with me... i wish i know how i can connect to that you while i have the opportunity... :-) mwuah!

tatlong taon na akong Promdi! :-)

nung isang araw pa ako napapaisip, anong meron sa June? bakit parang feeling ko merong something special sa month na to... kanina ko lang naalala... 3years ago, June, iniwan ko ang buhay ko sa Manila... 11years din ako dun, 5years sa college, the rest work na... 

i know hindi sya dapat masyadong big deal, pero siguro big deal siya sa akin, di ko lang alam kasi di ko iniisip pero nararamdaman ko... marami akong namimiss... yung convenience ng maraming bagay, yung di ka maiinis dahil available ang kahit ano all the time... yung marami kang pagpipiliang kakainan (naku ngppiyesta talaga ang tastebuds ko nun!).... yung biglang lakad on a weekend dahil wala lang, maraming pwedeng puntahan 2-6hours na byahe nasa masayang lugar ka na... yung dami ng mga pwede mong gawin at puntahan para mejo paganahin naman ang utak mo (naku miss ko na mga play!!! lalo pa ngayon laging may broadway plays!).....

oo lahat yan miss ko.... pero uuwi lang ako sa bahay makikita ko pa lang mula sa gate ang bungal na ngiti ng baby ko... makikita ko lang na masaya ang parents ko at may anak silang nasa bahay, may bonus pang apo (or baliktad, may apo sa bahay tapos may bonus na anak? haha)... makikita ko lang ang asawa kong finally e mukhang nakapagmove-on na talaga... balewala ng lahat... :-) 

andami ng nangyari simula ng nagdesisyon akong umuwi na ng Zamboanga for good... i got a husband and the cutest little boy (walang kokontra! syempre ako ang mommy, sya na ang pinakacute sa mundo for me!! hehe)... karamihan sa mga nakasama ko sa Manila e kung saan saan na rin, nagsimula na ring magkapamilya yung iba, yung iba naman about to conquer the world or tapos na sa pag conquer! :-) napapangiti ako pag naiisip ko to... parang yung feeling nung graduation, parang ganun ang pakiramdam... and napapangiti pa ako lalo thinking na nasa isang masayang adventure ng buhay ako ngayon, at sila rin, tayong lahat! (salamat sa FB updated pa rin tayo sa isa't isa hehehe) ang bait naman ng Life sa atin, binigyan tayo ng masayang noon... at super masayang ngayon. :-)

wala...senti lang ako ngayon... at talagang ngtagalog sa blog ko (pers tym ko tong ginawa...mukhang mas masaya atang ganito hehe)... noon kasi natatakot akong maging monotonous forever ang buhay ko...trabaho-bahay-trabaho... pero ang saya lang isipin, things will change one way or another... for the better, maybe not... pero naaliw lang ako sa maraming possibilities ng buhay... :-)

kung iisipin, marami akong options noon... pero pinili kong umuwi... pinili kong maging promdi ulit... ewan, pero i know yun ang pinaka-tamang desisyong ginawa ko sa buhay ko... dahil masaya ako ngayon... at marami akong napasayang mahal ko sa big move na ginawa ko... at nabuhay si Promding Chamimay dahil din dun... :-)

trenta pa lang ako ngayon, alam kong marami pang adventures sa buhay ang nag-aantay sa akin.... at sa mga bago kong kasamang ru-miot ---- ang baby ko at ang dude ko. :-) 

so tama na ang senti at i-ready na ang mga gears for another fun ride! :-) cheers to more Promdi years!!! :-) 

huling picture ko (kuha ni kuya jodl) sa Manila... nasa elevator kami nito, ihahatid daw nila ako sa taxi (dahil pagkatapos kong mgclearance sa office e diretso na ako sa airport, dala ang 11years ng buhay ko sa dalawang bag at isang bayong na dala ko...)

ampayat ko pa pala talaga noon!!! :-)

8th month paobday weekend

my little man turned 8months last weekend... and it feels like he wants things in fast forward... he acts more like a toddler than an 8th month baby... he wanted to walk, to run, to talk, to explore... im part happy and excited but anxious to keep him a baby for some more time... well i guess all the mommies in the world feel that way... :-)

i'm loving weekend after weekend after weekend with the pao... before i would rush on making travel plans for weekends months before, but now im just excited on what weekends with my little love would be... no plans, anything goes. :-)

on his 8th month birthday weekend there were more singing (he even sings with the choir in Fort Pilar during mass) with his brows meeting, more wrestling, more endless walk around his crib, more book reading (he loves to read too! yey!), more solid food experiments, more sneaking on mommy's chocolates, more peek-a-boos through the window, more alien talks, more gigil, and did i say more singing? :-)

here's a photo dump of that wonderful ordinary weekend. loooove!

kusina xprmnt: unmodified french toast

i remember the first time i've tried a french toast... i was in first year college and my boardmate just thought of making some for everyone in the boarding house... what i can remember is the soft creamy feel of the bread... which made me compare it to pancakes...but a whole lot better.... been wanting to try making it myself... and 14years after finally i get to... ha!

the first attempt was a bit of a failure... bread still tasted bread... the following day, i increased the milk so the bread can absorb some more.... it tasted better but something's still lacking... i guess it's butter, i skipped butter so my diabetic mom can have a few bites too... but i think the next batch would really need some butter.... and some maple syrup too!!! :-)

here's how i tried to copy some french toast recipe... i did not try to do anything unusual... just trying if i can pull this off... will be more daring in the next batches... :D

what you'll need:

4 eggs

4-5 tablespoon of condensed milk (or more if you want!!)

half a cup of evaporated milk

half a tablespoon of vanilla extract

6-8 slices of day old bread

a little olive oil (butter would be a yummier choice here)

the how:

1.) mix eggs and all the milk and vanilla in a bowl. ensure bowl is big enough to allow soaking of the bread later

2.) soak in the slices of bread in the mixture... let it absorb the liquid...

3.) heat the pan (non stick so you won't have a hard time doing this!) and add a little olive oil... (butter butter butter's better!)

4.) place the soaked bread and let it have some burned color before turning to the other side... careful not to overdo one side otherwise your french toast will just taste burned...

5.) serve it with anything you want... sausage or some fruit would be nice... :-)

back of Pulong Bato trek

here's a long overdue post... we did this trek back in March (2012 that is hehe) but didn't get to blog just because I was too OC to edit all photos first before picking some to post hehe... we were still very active in March so definitely a trek is part of our weekend to-do list... our target: the trail behind Mt. Pulong Bato!

i have tried to trek the back of Pulong Bato back in highschool (i don't have any camera back then so the memory of that trip was just all in my head)... i remember huge ferns, lush trees, very fresh forest that seems to only see people on very very rare instances... i wanted to go back... this time with camera in tow to make sure i get to put the images in my mind for others to see... but those huge ferns, lush trees and untouched forest seem to have disappeared... well probably because we went there when summer heat's starting to burn things around... there are more dried leaves along the trek and a few moss and ferns in some areas that remain moist and cool...the little community at the foot of the mountain that i remember from the long ago trek had become bigger this time...the river is a bit dry, no rains in our place for several days... but that cool-trees-and-mountain feel remains...

photo by Juvee

after a 15min walk from the jeepney stop, we paused for a quick shot of the back of Mt. Pulong Bato. The back looks very much like the side facing the city.

i love how rustic and quiet the whole place feels... dirt road + rockful of semi-dry river + hanging bridge + coconut and acacia trees = looooove!

we're running again!

after what feels like months of not running and binging, we were back on the tracks again... it seems like it's hard to push ourselves to start again, took a lot of will power to fight off laziness and the rain (yes rain...one of our excuse! so yey for itlog powers!)

run mode's back, appetite's finally controlled... we'll see if we'll get anywhere in a month... :-)

i hope this post will not jinx the momentum... :-)

unang paoweekend of June

one of those really great ordinary days! :-) 

more wrestling time...bird watching....butiki spotting... practice balance... hand clapping... wilkins bottle drummin'... kuna bumps... puppies play... kiliti giggles... solid food experiments... cawa-cawa crawl... morning walks... alien language conversations... 

...and some passenger seat wrestling too!!!

oh boys! i really believe now that baby boys are such bundles of energy!!!

now i have someway to put all my "hyperness" into! every weekend is such a treat... the little buddy always have something new for us. :-) 

sugpo skewers! perfect for picnics!

here's a very easy picnic grilled food recipe that will surely be a hit! :-) well for one because it's sugpo! (or let's call it prawns to make it a little susyal!)

Here's what you'll need:

1 kilo sugpo or prawns

1 big white onion cut into cubes

10 tomatoes cut into cubes

salt

pepper

dried basil leaves

2 lemon

barbecue sticks