Watermelon Eyes

I couldn't believe my (watermelon) eyes!

Recipe: Tinolang Manok (Chicken Ginger Soup)

This recipe is a sure delight to most Filipinos. It has been a popular local dish as it was even mentioned in Chapter Three of Dr. Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere. The novel, Noli Me Tangere, was written in 1884 and Rizal is the country's national hero.


What you need to prepare:
-casserole

Ingredients:
-1 whole chicken, cut into small serving pieces
-1 small ginger, peeled and sliced
-1 small garlic, crushed
-1 medium onion, chopped
-2 tbsp patis (fish sauce)
-2 medium sayote (chayote squash), peeled and cut into serving pieces
-sili (chilli) leaves
-1 tbsp canola oil
-1 liter of water
-dash of salt

Let's start cooking!

1. Heat canola oil in a casserole. Saute garlic, onion and ginger until it produces an aromatic scent.

2. Add the chicken pieces to brown the meat lightly.

3.Season with patis and a dash of salt. Then pour water and cover for about 15 minutes.

4. When the chicken is half done, add sayote. Simmer over medium heat for 7-10 minutes.

5. Stir in sili leaves just before serving.

Serve with love!

NOTES:

1. Be careful not to overcook the vegetables.

2. You can also use raw papaya instead of sayote, and malunggay leaves instead of sili leaves.

Sudoku Champ in the Making

My niece who is fifteen months old begins scribbling and enjoying the exploration of the Sudoku world. As a start, she can count one, two and three. :GRIN:

Recipe: Fish Cardillo (Fish in Tomato Sauce and Egg)

I thought of sharing with you one of the many dishes my husband likes. The garlic, onion and tomatoes will produce a fragrant smell and it also enhances the flavor of the fish. This is definitely tasty and easy to cook. Here's my own version of Fish Cardillo.


What you need to prepare:
-frying pans

Ingredients:
-1 kilo tilapia, bangus (milk fish) or dalagang bukid (Yellow Tail Fusilier)
-1 medium onion, sliced
-1 small garlic, minced
-2 cups chopped tomatoes
-1 small pack of Tomato Sauce
-1 large egg, slightly beaten
-1/2 cup water
-1 tsp patis (fish sauce)
-1 tbsp olive oil
-a pinch of salt


Let's start cooking:

1. Scrape fish scales and clean thoroughly. Sprinkle with salt and fry until they are half brown on both sides. Drain in kitchen tissue.

2. Saute onion, garlic and tomatoes in olive oil. Add tomato sauce, fish sauce and half cup of water.

3. Add slightly beaten eggs and cook until it becomes a thick sauce. Season with salt.

4. Place the fried fish on a serving dish and pour cooked sauce.

Serve with love!

NOTES:

1. My grandma call this recipe, Cardillo but it is also sometimes referred to as Sarciado.

2. The original Tagalog Sarciado recipe will require you to marinade the fish overnight in garlic, onion, fish sauce and calamansi (or lemon) juice. Then roll the fish in bread crumbs prior to frying.

3. Another ingredient that is not included in Sarciado is the slightly beaten egg.

Recipe: Torta (Ground Pork in Tomato Sauce)

Kapampangans call this recipe Torta but I learned from my mother-in-law that this is called Giniling in Tagalog. If you're a busy person and you don't have time to cook everyday, this is the perfect recipe for you. You can cook it on a Monday then store the rest in the refrigerator. Just re-heat a serving portion in the microwave and you have something to eat for the rest of the week.

Torta with Chinese Buns/Mantou

What you need to prepare:
-skillet

Ingredients:
-1/2 kilo lean ground pork
-2 medium potatoes, washed and diced
-1 medium green bell pepper, diced
-1 medium carrots, diced
-5 small tomatoes, finely chopped
-1 small pack of tomato sauce
-1 medium onion, sliced
-1 small garlic, crushed
-1 tbsp olive oil
-a pinch of salt
-a pinch of pepper

Let's start cooking:

1. In a skillet, saute garlic and onions with olive oil. Add ground pork until light brown or thoroughly cooked.

2. Add tomatoes, carrots, potatoes and green bell peppers. Stir fry for two minutes. Then season with salt and pepper.

3. Pour in tomato sauce and 1/2 cup water. Cover and let it stand for five minutes.

Serve with love!

NOTES:

1. My mom would add sliced hotdogs and green peas in this recipe while my mom-in-law's giniling recipe isn't complete without raisins.

2. You can eat this recipe with a hot bowl of white rice or Chinese buns (Mantou).

3. You can buy Chinese Buns in Robinson's Grocery, Nepo Mall. 12 buns is around Php50.00. Just steam the buns about 3 to 5 minutes and they're ready to eat.

4. For a more flavorful experience, try this recipe with a combination of 1/4 lean ground beef and 1/4 lean ground pork.

Our Love Potion

While most couples spend on expensive figurines, candles or paper weight as their wedding favors, we opted to give our personal brand of bottled water to our guests. It definitely added a mark of distinction on our wedding favors. The idea is cute, unique and most of all, practical.


We operate a purified water station in Dau, Mabalacat so we decided to customize the water label that would fit our wedding motif. Each bottle has 500ml of Liña Agua Purified Water and a personalized label "Love Potion".

I made the sticker sweet and simple. I've included not only our names and wedding date but also our message of thanks to our family and friends for sharing with us our big day. Check out the personalized nutritional facts and the bar code with a note saying "Just Re-married". (We had a simple civil wedding a few months before our church wedding.)

The bottles were placed on the guest tables so everyone can enjoy a cold, refreshing drink while watching the wedding program. If you're interested in ordering personalized bottled water as your wedding favors, feel free to email me.

Future Fashion Model

Philippine Fashion models have a new competitor on the rise - my niece.


Quintin enjoyed every minute of her first birthday photo shoot. No wonder she was featured Baby of the month.


When we came back to get a copy of her pictures, we were all delighted to see her charming smile on the shop's advertisement. Of course, the beaming grandpa snapped a souvenir of his grand daughter's public photo and proudly announced "This is my grand daughter!" .

Photos from Colorado Photo, SM Pampanga

Hotel Vida - A Review

August 8, 2008 was detox time from our busy lives as we took a day off and spent an overnight stay at Hotel Vida. This hotel is a true gem! It is located in Clark Special Economic Zone, Angeles City and it is nearby all that you would want to do in and around Clark.


What I like about it: It took me only about 15 minutes to make a phone reservation. We were then entertained promptly when we arrived. Our junior suite room was decorated exquisitely. We even have fresh fruits as welcome tokens for our stay.

The kitchen was very cozy with its modern style furniture.

Gilbert enjoyed the spacious living room and the comfy trundle bed.

The pool side view from our soft bed is also marvelous and the ambiance is very relaxing. All hotel staff were courteous and accommodating.

Salt Cafe/Restaurant was also excellent for fine dining. Waiters and chefs served us with a smile. Well worth the money!

What needs to be improved: First, they could have used bigger bathtubs in the hotel rooms. Don't get me wrong. The tub is clean and comfortable to soak in but my 5'11 hubby just couldn't fit in. I also realize that the tub is really small because water is rolling off the bath tub side and sliding off the edge when we shower. Second, when I made our reservation, I was guaranteed that Wi-Fi connection is free of charge. When we got our total bill, I was surprised to see an additional Php500 charge for Internet. Well, I was totally in-love with the place so I didn't protest about the misunderstanding anymore. We were very satisfied overall. We highly recommend it to our friends and relatives.

My ratings for this hotel are:
4 of 5 = Check in / front desk
5 of 5 = Quality of Service
5 of 5 = Value for Price
4 of 5 = Rooms (Bathroom, Kitchen, etc.)
5 of 5 = Cleanliness

You can view more about Hotel Vida by visiting their site: http://www.hotelvidaclark.com/