breakfast pizza

i love my schedule this semester. 3 days a week at school really gives me more time to cook and that make good food and make my belly happy. since it's a tuesday today, we got the chance to sleep in late, other than the part when randall tries to wake us up to let us know that he needs to pee, poo or eat. but that's normally shawn's job to take him out during that time, because i really won't.

i was supposed to take shawn to napa to have a food tour today but he had a lot of things to do because he starts his last semester (yay!) tomorrow... and he doesn't like it very much. so instead of going out, i decided to just make pizza. and since we woke late and was craving for some breakfast food even before we slept last night it was a no-brainer to make it.

read more >>

foodbuzz 24, 24, 24: it's a celebration!

it all started around christmas time. it was actually during our christmas get together when they told me that i should host a dinner. then i thought, well, since january is my birthday month, i just might as well do it. i haven't really planned anything out yet, until foodbuzz accepted my proposal for a dinner. when i got that email saying that my proposal was accepted into their 24, 24, 24 event, i had a reason to do the dinner.

looking back at the week that just passed, i would like to say that it was a very, VERY stressful one. let me break it down to you, i started school last wednesday, i had to sign up for 2 more classes because i didn't get into the other class i wanted, and then do all the shopping and prep work for the dinner i hosted last night. goodness gracious, just thinking about the week that just passed makes me want to pull my hair out. gah, how did i survive that. shawn's right, prep work for that dinner i had should be more than a day. he can be right sometimes... sometimes.

before anything else, i want to rant on how i can't believe i just added another year to my age. ugh. birthdays can be really bittersweet sometimes. i still want to hold on to 18, but just as a number. seriously, if i think like i was still 18, oh no, i can't even do it. it was scary, ohhh, over-gelled hair and all. oh, the younger years.

now that i can breathe, i can now tell you what had transpired this past weekend.

i just invited a few friends over, mostly the ones who asked me to host a dinner last december, it was actually very last minute, though i still asked them to dress up a little bit. so, there were like 15 on the list, i think but people cancelled because they already had plans, and earlier plans trumps later plans any day. so i was just like, who ever come, comes and i guess there's gonna be more food for everyone.

prep work started the night before, shawn was my forced assistant, at least i had some help. we made a few stuff that had been in my repertoire for a while now, and a few more things to add to the mix. that night, we made the salsa for the bruschetta, patties for the turkey burger, marinated the beef and chicken for the barbecue, marinated the salmon for the seafood salad, started on the seafood salad, the mushroom and chive risotto and i baked the blondies. that was a lot considering there was just the two of us doing everything.

i woke up at 7 the next day to start on the potato leek soup, the sauce for the lemon pepper pasta, put the meats on sticks, baked the pineapple upsi... actually get everything done before everyone comes at 6 (or so).

it was a very long day. i was standing the whole day, i don't even remember going to the bathroom, which reminds me, "hey there kidneys, are you still okay?!". after all the stress of cooking a lot of food, people started coming semi wet from the rain. i love the rain, but hey rain, i'm serving hot food here!

so what was on the menu? here's a break down and the links where to find the recipe.

read more >>

sour cream pancakes

me and shawn’s daily routine this winter break includes, shawn waking up really early to let out randall, because honestly i am crazy in the morning. well, it’s because i sleep so late from catching up on shows i have missed that day because we don’t have cable right now since it’s the recession. and besides, i can download almost any show online… well, except food network, sad i know.  he would then feed randall and go back to sleep and we would wake up around noon already. that's the reason why i don't get the chance to make a lot of breakfast type food these days, and making it around noon is just weird to me. so i just normally cook lunch food. but we like breakfast food a lot and shawn loves pancakes so making this was a really good idea and it's something both of us would enjoy since we miss eating it!

i know that a lot of people grew up eating the joy of cooking’s buttermilk pancakes. not me. well, living in the third world, i grew up on powdered milk and white bread with butter and sprinkled with sugar. pancakes weren’t a household staple there, but some small bakeries and food vendors who carry their merchandise on their heads with a bilao (bamboo baskets) would sell pancakes, or hotcakes as we call them, in the afternoon around 3pm. they would be much sweeter than what’s normally served here in the states. they’re also smeared with salty margarine and sprinkled with sugar. those vendors obviously don’t know a lot about healthy eating, but hell, those things were chunks of heaven wrapped in a plastic bag. yes they give those hotcakes to you in clear transparent bags, just like the bags in the produce section of your supermarket. weird, huh?! that’s the philippines for ya!

read more >>

chicken with lemon and caper sauce & this blog is still alive!

my crazy schedule is to be blamed for the lack of attention this blog has been getting… or not getting, i really don’t know how to phrase that. but you get my point, right?! but anyway, the past couple of weeks had been very hectic for both me and shawn. we had been going out to see family, and just plain busy at home. yesterday, we cleaned so much! and i am telling you… a lot, like filled-half-the-96-gallon-garbage-bin a lot. it was a very tiring day yesterday and apart from cleaning we repositioned the bed and did 3 loads of laundry. oh my, writing it down makes me so tired already. but it’s a good thing that it’s over now and i can breathe again.
now, let’s talk about food. i made this dish twice last week and it’s really easy. first, i was just playing with the ingredients i had and made dinner for me and shawn and he liked it. he liked it so much that he pimped me into doing it again at his cousin’s house. so his cousin and i went to safeway and bought the stuff, because she only had green onions in her fridge. i also made herb roasted potatoes, but you know what, i really do think that i should venture into other sides. seriously! like what out friend vince made when we went there this week. he made mashed potatoes with mustard seeds. it was really good!

read more >>

01022010 (it's the same backwards!) & huevos rancheros

i can't believe that a decade has passed since the crazy pandemonium y2k caused. computers going crazy and shutting down on you was a scary thought for a lot of people because most of us relied on computer-run systems and machines. people taking out all their money from the banks and atm, going crazy shopping at costco and filling up their pantries and basements with craploads of food and water. then 2000 came. nothing happened. everything was normal. well at least from what i saw. nothing too big happened. but i what i remember from that time was a fully stocked pantry for a few months. and i'm saying FULLY STOCKED! even though the extent of my culinary skills before wasn't as diverse as it is now, i really had a big fascination with food and everything related to it.

i went back to school in the past year and was happy with the results of that. i also started this blog, which i forgot for a while but now starting to get back into. it's really rewarding to start a project and see it progress right before your eyes. i have a very short attention span and keeping this blog is a challenge in itself. a challenge that i put on myself so that i have that constant pressure that my body seeks. pressure's like crack to me, i need it or else imma go crazy and pass out in the middle of the street naked with a fork on one hand and a whisk on the other. i also joined project 365 on flickr for food bloggers. i joined because i want to do something for a year, continuously. i know that by december 31 of this year, i can look back at 365 photos i have taken and i know that it'll be a great recap of my year.

read more >>