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What's Bolognese Food like?

And my plan to visit Bologna in Italy also involves getting to know about its food. From several sources I gathered these: "The name of Bologna "the fat", as well as Bologna "the learned", for its famous University, the oldest in Europe , has kept unchanged over the centuries. The handmade egg pasta and the pork produce are the cutting edge of the Bolognese food tradition. Bologna's two specialities, are the the famous Tortellini , small squares of home-made egg pasta stuffed with a filling of mortadella , prosciutto (ham), eggs, nutmeg, Parmigiano cheese, pork loin. Then tortelloni , bundles of pasta, typically shaped as a hat with a puff, filled with ricotta cheese flavoured with garlic and parsley, eggs and Parmigiano cheese; or Lasagne , pasta stuffed with ragù , bechamel sauce and Parmigiano cheese and tagliatelle , thin strips of home-made egg pasta , with a ham sauce or ragù alla Bolognese (Bolognese sauce) with meat. The sausage and salam

I love seafood specially if its a treat from my unica daughter

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It's the Ibanag's daughter's birthday tomorrow January 9. But first, she's in Manila for her usual holiday vacation from Jakarta. So today she takes me out for lunch and for a change she tells me let's eat seafood, Mommy. Okey, I say. She doesn't know that my stomach has been acting like crazy in the last 2 days. She's not aware that first I got the flu and then these terrible tummy aches today. So, we go to this 'classy' IT hub cum condominium all over' community, looking for a nice seafood restaurant and ordered nothing but, what else seafood. We ordered tuna belly, crab rice and baked oysters. The tuna belly, I believe slightly seared first and then bathed nicely with vegetable oil that went with the classic chili-soy sauce-calamansi juice dip was good. The crab rice, uuuhmm, well I didn't taste much crab there, but so-so. If the crab rice recipe was kindda wanting the baked oysters in cream and butter, did me in. Yuuum. Tummy sav

Blogroll it is

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I am not sure if I have written about this invite already but I was invited to a site called BlogRoll . " B logrolls are sort of the new “link exchange” programs. The biggest difference is that all sites who participate benefit from the added exposure of being displayed on another member’s site. It is one of the best ways to gain new readers and repeat visitors for your website or blog. According to the invitation, they accept food related blogs. "It doesn’t even really have to be a blog (though it would make more sense). Topics can include: recipes, cooking tips, foodies, restaurant reviews, cookbook reviews, online food magazines, … even sites with just pictures of food are acceptable". The How To: Send an e-mail with these information (Blog Name, Blog Address , Blog Description) dessert.fwh246@gmail.com and insert in your blog one of these codes and write a post regarding this initiative: Code number 1 href=”http://dessert.fwh247.com/blog/?page_id=81″>Joi

New Year left-over ham with white beans

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Yes, this is one terrific dish from New Year's left over ham. It is the bone that does the trick. The sultry and earthy flavor of the ham does it good. Here's the concoction: left over bone from ham 500 grams of white beans (pre-soaked overnight) 1 pack tomato sauce 5 cloves of garlic 1 large onion diced 1/2 tsp of dried oregano 250 grams cabbage or pechay or both (125 grams of each kind) 1 tsp freshly milled black or white pepper salt to taste 2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil Simmer beans in 4 cups water. Include ham bone. When the beans are done, set aside. In another pan, saute garlic, onion and tomato sauce in vegetable or olive oil. Add tomato sauce. Simmer for 1 minute and then add beans. Simmer for additional 5 minutes. Add oregano and black pepper. Salt to taste. Add the veggies when you are ready to eat. YUM!

Watch out for more cooking in 2008

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May I wish everyone a I hope and pray that the new year ushers in nothing but good things in all our lives. To all those who took the time to visit , made comments, linked, and reviewed my blogs, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart. I realize I haven't been around as much as I had wanted to ... obligations you see. But I will definitely see you next year. Now let's raise our glasses. Cheers everyone!

What's for Noche Buena? New Years Eve Menu

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Our Christmas holidays menu remains basically the same every year. It always has these three standard fares: Bone in Ham (commercially available) Queso de Bola (commercially available as well) Frozen Fruit Salad Variations are provided by: Ceasar's or Chef's Salad with Paella or Morcon or Embutido or Lechon with Chinese inspired Noodles or Pasta with Filipino Kakanin (Desserts) Of course, the round fruits. We never go without the round shaped eats like, tikoy (chinese glutinous cake), the small round oranges, apples, pears, grapes, strawberries, ripe mangoes, chico (local fruit), and kastanyas (nuts) and the fruit cake. (Because it's laden with sweet, round and glazed fruits). This year, our Noche Buena shall include: Pink Chicken Potato Salad (Mine becomes pink because I use beets instead of carrots) Seafood Chowder Spring Rolls cooked with Red Wine My Clam and Seafood Chowder concoction is as follows: 2 cups chopped clams and mussels (simmered, removed from shells, dr

Not about Ham acting but Ham selection tips

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Filipino Christmas holidays will not be the same without hams. Rich, middle class or less privileged, all families just love the idea of including ham for the Christmas or New Year's eve festivities. I saw this site with excellent tips in selecting ham. So if you've run out of ham for New Years here are some practical tips in getting it good: "Ham comes from the rear leg of the pork carcass. Not all the cured product from the pork carcass is ham. The picnic (cured lower portion of the front leg), bacon (cured belly), and Canadian bacon (cured loin) are not considered ham. In curing, sodium nitrite, salt, and sugar are mixed with water to form the "brine" or curing solution. This solution is then "pumped" into the ham for uniform distribution of the brine. After several days of curing, the product is washed free of excess brine, cooked, and sometimes smoked. This process is known as a commercial cure." In the United States, "commercial proces