Repost: Hott Saturday

Originally posted NOVEMBER 25, 2009

Two saturdays ago, the weather people forecasted a sunny 34-degree weekend in melbourne. i declined my girls' invite to go shopping around CBD. through out the day i kinda regretted not going cause it was rather cloudy and there was a cool breeze.

got bored inside the house and asked the husband to go to the shopping centre. it was a very unproductive day; didn't see anything i liked until this man passed by the car on our way out the mall complex:

sorry, cant help it. :)

well, it was kinda really hot. but still!!!

you made my day, mr. invisible pants! :)

making wishes and dreaming

25th July 2010, in front of the house

I used to talk to the moon when it's full, atop the roof of my grandmother's house back when I was about 15. Loony, i know. But like how people say you can make a wish if you see double rainbows or four-leaf clovers are lucky, I used to believe you can make a wish on a full moon. I actually made that up but it actually gave me comfort doing that. That's probably my share of cray-craziness at that time of the month when La Luna's power is at its peak.


Tonight was a cloudless winter night with the goddess in full force. And I am a slave to her beauty, i was hypnotized. I braved the 6-degree night with my camera, tripod and remote. It would be just nice to stare at her  in all her gloriousness.

My midnight sun.
25th July 2010, in front of the house

even monochrome cant keep her

She's giving me good vibes. Thanks, dear goddess; I was in dire need of inspiration and here you are serenely singing us your cradle song.

I swear, since seeing Your face,

the whole world is fraud and fantasy

The garden is bewildered as to what is leaf

or blossom. The distracted birds

can't distinguish the birdseed from the snare.

A house of love with no limits,

a presence more beautiful than venus or the moon,

a beauty whose image fills the mirror of the heart.

- "I SWEAR", by Rumi

...

To complete tonight's food therapy session...

Filipino fave food first. (Say that five times fast!)

This, i always miss. Puto Bumbong is probably in my top three favorite Filipino food. It's slightly hard to find as they are usually only available around Christmas time. One day I'll try to make it.

They dont make maki here in Melbourne like Tokyo Tokyo's maki where they put sweet-sour mango instead of avocado/cucumber. And bite sized too.

DROOL. The famous Razon's Lumpiang sariwa (Vegatable Roll). I really have no words, just DROOL.

Razon's palabok. Enough said - if you're Filipino you'll understand.

Haaaaay, I'll have this in my dreams please....

Good thing I did this food post after dinner, Otherwise I'll be snacking at 12:29am. :)

F.U.

For a late dinner, I made these...

Clockwise: Vienna sausage omelet, fried mini-cheese kransky, grilled veggies sauteed in butter and garlic and leftover mabo tofu with bok choy.


I HAD A BAD DAY. there, i said it. It's actually more of a really bad ending to my work day so after wasting one hour staring in black space thinking about it, i sought refuge in my kitchen. My cooking spree is totally justified. ;)

I also made myself a nice cup of Gloria Jeans' caramel coffee. I'm not supposed to have my second cup of the day - my skin doctor would not approve. Well, it's her or my sanity.

Very, very, addictive coffee. This is Janine's and Lorna's fault.

Four days ago, I had lunch at a friend's house where they served grilled eggplant and capsicum. I would not touch eggplant if my life depended on it... until four days ago (this is the vegetable eggplant I'm talking about ok?). HOW COME NOBODY TOLD ME EGGPLANTS COULD TASTE LIKE BUTTER??? And that they are sooo far from okras in terms of texture? So Im a recent Eggplant convert and loving it. So this is my second night making these grilled veggies - Eggplant, capsicum and mushroom - this was my addition as I have a demi-obsession with mushrooms.

sauteeing grilled veggies

Im grateful for Donya Nella and Don Gil for introducing me to this grilled veggie dish. It is now part of my our weekly menu. :)

Recently, like the last 3 months, I've been learning a lot of dishes from friends and colleagues. For example, I never knew how to bake. My sister and I used to watch the Henny Sison baking/cooking show every Sunday and the only thing I got from the show is that you should follow exact procedures and measurements with baking otherwise it's not gonna turn out right. Since then I have always been afraid of baking and coming to Australia, I envied people who know how to whip up lovely cupcakes from scratch. Here are a few samples:

Lorna's cupcake

My birthday cupcakes by JDO. They we're perfect.

Lilianne works part time and some days she comes in with a tray full of cupcakes. Just coz.

SEE? How can you not be jealous? Lovely Lilianne graciously shared her basic cake/cupcake/muffin recipe which was fantabulous! It was soo easy I feel like a pro (nyehehehehe). I've only made the banana muffins and it wasn't too shabby; my friends' kids actually like them. Thanks heaps, Lil!

love the smell of freshly baked banana cupcakes

It's a work in progress and when I get better results I'll share photos.

Anyhoo, having breakfast for dinner was all in all a good idea. I feel a bit better, and a bit sleepy too. Tomorrow should be better.

P.S.

I love this egg poacher. That's one thing I am yet to learn, to properly poach eggs manually.

et voila! perfect poached eggs!

P.P.S.

Except for the first photo on this post, all photos are taken with an iPhone 3GS. Not bad no? x