Learning to Cook and Other Things

It is good to be back . After a long absence from the blogging world, I hope I am here for good, ready to take on the pleasures of surfing, reading and learning from friends, as well as strangers. It was an abrupt thing and didn't have enough time to inform anyone. I am sorry. Suffice it to say that I feel alive again, hopeful if you may; and somehow feeling that I am again part of a world so familiar yet strange, part of the time. I missed everyone. I miss posting about some of the things I do in the kitchen and in my garden. Unfortunately, I no longer have a garden in my backyard. In fact, I no longer have a backyard :-) Our new place is smaller than the old one. Here, there is no garden, no fruit trees, no plants, except those we were able to take along because they were already in pots. Unlike before, "my" garden has been replaced by a stinky dirty kitchen which literally becomes dirty when it is raining hard. Gosh! :-( Enough of this negativity now. I should rea

Life could not be cooked-up. Because if we do, we can be burned. Food can be prepared. Sure. Choose your process: marinate, blanch, puree, simmer, steam, roast, fry, sear, barbecue, bake, broil, or concoct --- but never the truth.

Not a chance. Because I am in our family's favorite hang-out --- the dining room. It is a place where we bond, share ideas, argue even, or perhaps, discuss while having family meetings, and of course, do our favorite thing --- eat. But dining is more than just the food. It is more like savoring the comfort of finding everything in its proper place. The dinner ware, the cutlery, all that glass, and stem ware. The whole gamut of items that make dining a living pleasure. Talk about the oven that toasts the morning bread, and the popcorn popper enough to make midnight snacks truly comforting; or the ice cream maker for those very simply delightful sherbets; the coffee maker that has brewed dozens of fragrant coffee concoctions. And what about the pots and pans that help create those special cooking moments? The grill? Yes, and at times sinful as well as unhealthy. Prefer something more nutritious? Try the convection oven. Want to make the food easier to digest, th

Yes, let us --- drink to a new wine rack. Another aspect of our furniture that I want to update is the wine cabinet. What we have right now is so massive and dark. Actually this is my partner's choice. He normally goes for dark and massive types of furniture. On the other hand I like the opposite. I like natural finish and medium-sized home furnishings. Does that indicate something? Fact is, I prefer medium scaled furniture, not massively built. I'd rather have it quaint and understated. Because, that is actually my personality. I believe that you could tell the personality of a person from the way his or her house is built, that's if it had been built from the ground. Get a glimpse or an indication of an individual's taste, attitude and psychological leanings; though that is not entirely conclusive, but yup, somehow, you can get the ' feel '. Also, smaller houses and smaller furniture are easier to clean and maintain right? Although, I may not be doing t

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have always dreamed of a large and a nice and elegant looking kitchen. Here's a website I found that displays the kind of kitchen furniture, I would have love to have. If only in my fantasies. Check them out here . And below I hope the site wouldn't mind if I borrow these aweso me photos: <---- Counter top furniture for brief tete-a-tetes and coffee sessions. But maybe I'll get it in natural finish. Whoa! And I wouldn't mind at all if I get this wow! laptop movable table.

Isn't it obvious that the kitchen and the dining areas are now my most favorite places in the house. I guess have never really talked about this aspect because, hey it is a cooking blog. Right? Wrong. I should have. After all, these two home areas are essential to cooking and of course dining. Where do we prepare and cook the food we eat? And where do we serve them? It is just that I prefer to talk about our home meaning the structure and its furnishings in an appropriate blog which I try to maintain as well. And surfing through the many online furniture sites recently, my dream of owning or building a dream kitchen and dining has been revived. Even before I even learned to really cook, I have often fantasized that our kitchen and dining room must stand on a combined floor area not smaller than 100 square meters. Spic and span, lined with elegant yet modern wood kitchen furnishings, including cabinets in natural finish, to me would be awesomely welcomed. Yet, I feel thi

Today, is one of my son's birthday. I am borrowing this recipe from Myrna D. Segimundo's recipe book called Philippine Cuisine. (It was a gift from him). The recipe is a traditional Filipino poultry dish and is called lechon manok ( oven roasted chicken). According to the recipe book, "the lechon manok recipes vary from region to region depending on the flavor preferences of the place. In the southern regions, the most popular flavor stuffing are tamarind leaves and lemon grass." As the book required: 1.5 kilos whole chicken, washed and patted dry 1 bundle fresh tamarind leaves or 3 pcs lemon grass or 1 sachet of tamarind broth powder (sinigang sa sampalok powder) liver sauce for lechon The preparat ion instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit 2. If fresh tamarind leaves or lemon grass are available, stuff the chicken cavity with either of those two. Otherwise, rub the chicken inside out with the tamarind powder. Set the chicken on a baking rack and roa