Food Friday

This week's Featured Food Friday player is...

Ms. Iska who owns the site ISKAndals.com, with her blog post: Saucy Pan-Fried Crispy Chicken Wings Adobo

Yummmy..and can we have some of those for dinner? Am sure that's what my youngest would say when he sees that shot. Cooking the chicken adobo-style then frying it is a wonderful idea! You can just imagine all the flavors that has seeped in...And if you want to see more yummy recipes (and shots!) then I encourage you to check out Ms. Iska's site!

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My post for this week is: Banana Bud/Blossom in Coconut Milk (with Shiitake Mushrooms).

Ingredients

• one whole banana bud/blossom
• several dried shiitake mushrooms
• coconut milk (pure and diluted)
• water, salt, onions, ginger, chili, fish sauce

banana bud/blossom cut thinly then mixed with salt and pressed to remove the sap; mushrooms soaked in water

Procedure

• Slice the banana blossoms thinly (except the thick top ... discard that part) then add coarse salt. Press together to release the liquid/sap from the sliced blossoms. It will turn brown. Remove the liquid and discard. Set the banana blossoms aside.
• Place around two cups diluted coconut milk on pot, together with crushed ginger, chili, and sliced onions. Add the banana blossoms and sliced mushrooms; let boil. Simmer for around twenty-five minutes (or more) until tender. Add water if needed.
• When both the mushrooms and banana blossoms are tender, add around a cup of pure coconut milk. Again, simmer for around five minutes (this is the part where you may adjust the seasonings: salt or fish sauce) then turn off the heat.
• Serve hot.

Had that together with fried salted fish (boneless dangit) and steamed rice. I ate a lot of rice that lunch. :D

I notice I seem to be eating/posting food with coconut milk these past few weeks. Not to worry, next week am sure there will be NO coconut milk! lol. Thanks so much for playing, everyone!

Reminder: Please don't forget to link back (a simple text would be great, or you may use the buttons provided here). Also, please try to visit the other party-goers and leave some commentluv to let them know that you dropped by. Many thanks! :)

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Rain Drops

Love that quote... :)

Food Friday

This week's Featured Food Friday player is...

Chef Heather, who owns Girlichef (where all roads lead to the kitchen), with her blog post: Ham, Cheese, and Broccoli Pretzel Pockets

I really love Chef Heather's food posts since she not only takes awesome shots, but also writes significant info about each topic. Everytime I visit her site I learn something new and always leave feeling inspired. If you want to know what I'm talking about, then go ahead and click that yummy shot above! 

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My food post for this week:  Wrapped Pork with Mushroom and Cheese. I know, am terrible when it comes to naming dishes. lol. But that's what it basically is...just ground pork wrapped in cabbage with mushrooms and cheese.

Ingredients

• ground pork
• dried shiitake mushrooms (soaked for around two hours in water)
• cabbage leaves (to wrap the ground pork)
• canned peas (you may use fresh or frozen, if you want), malunggay (moringa) powder, soy sauce, dried herbs, salt, and pepper
• tomato sauce, egg, cheese

Procedure

• Mix ground pork, malunggay (moringa) powder, egg, soy sauce, dried herbs, peas, salt and pepper.
• Put a small amount of the ground pork mixture into each cabbage and wrap. When done, add water (where you soaked the mushrooms), and tomato sauce. Water must be above the cabbage wraps. Add more if needed.
• Dump in the sliced mushrooms, then let boil. Lower the heat and let simmer for around 30-45 mins. Add more water if necessary.
• Once you're satisfied (I based mine on the mushroom's "doneness"), add cheese.
• Adjust the taste to your liking, then serve hot. With bread or rice. Your choice. :)

My sons opted to put more cheese on theirs; we had that with crusty bread. For a first try I guess it was ok. I loved how the mushroom managed to "assert" itself even with all that cheese. My eldest son told me to add lots of crumbled bacon next time as a garnish, together with the cheese. I whole-heartedly agreed (bacon is always a good idea, lol)! :)

Reminder: Please don't forget to link back (a simple text would be great, or you may use the buttons provided here). Also, please try to visit the other party-goers and leave some commentluv to let them know that you dropped by. Many thanks! :)    

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Blue

Blue Blue Blue.
I think.

Food Friday

This week's Featured Food Friday player is...

Ms. Tetcha who blogs over at Delight My Appetite with her post: Family Dinner at Kabisera ng Dencio's

Now that's quite an elegant way of presenting the turon (plantain banana wrapped in spring roll wrappers, then deep-fried), one of my fave snacks! It does go well with ice cream (like almost anything else, lol). Ms. Tetcha and her family had a very lovely dinner that night..and if you want to see what other drool-worthy food they had, then don't forget to click on the picture above!

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My food post for this week is something that I have always wanted to recreate on my own: Sticky Rice with Mangoes.

Ingredients:

• sticky rice (about half a kilo), cooked in water with pandan leaves
• coconut milk (two and a half cups)
• sugar (1 cup refined/white and 1/4 cup muscovado)
• mangoes (sliced)
• toasted sesame seeds
• additional half a cup of warm coconut milk

Procedure:

• Cook the sticky rice first. Some use diluted coconut milk; I used plain water, simply because my coconut milk wasn't enough. lol. Served the same purpose, though. Let cool once cooked.
• Mix the two and a half cups of coconut milk with the sugar and place on low fire. Let simmer and mix every once in a while until slightly thick. Turn off heat.
• Add the cooked sticky rice then mix well. Set aside.

To serve:

• Place a decent portion of the sweet sticky rice on a plate, then add the sliced mangoes. Drizzle a fair amount of warm coconut milk all over then sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.
• Enjoy! :)

I loved it! This was my first time to cook sticky rice (yeah, it really was!) since I find it kind of time-consuming when it comes to cooking 'kakanins' (snacks that usually needs sticky rice, powdered or not). I love eating them, though. lol.

My first taste of this sticky rice/mango combo was at a Thai restaurant and I was hooked! Whenever I see this on a restaurant's menu (which doesn't happen often), I always order at least one serving! :)

Thanks so much for linking and playing with me, everyone! So sorry haven't had the chance to visit your links, but will do it real soon! Been really busy these past few weeks. sigh.

Reminder: Please don't forget to link back (a simple text would be great, or you may use the buttons provided here). Also, please try to visit the other party-goers and leave some commentluv to let them know that you dropped by. Many thanks! :)   

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Fun Phone App

That's my niece and my youngest...playing on the floor. :D
Having so much fun with the phone apps! Oh, found out that iphone5 will soon be available on Globe...ooooh! I don't plan on getting one soon, though. I think it's slimmer and my olloclip might not fit the new phone. :D

ps. used the aremaC phone app to achieve that effect.

Food Friday

This week's Featured Food Friday player is...

Mr. Nick, who owns Intelliblog, with his blog post: Spring Risotto

Doesn't that just look so gorgeous? I think I have tried risotto only once and I wasn't impressed (not that am an expert, lol) and that's why I haven't ordered it since. But just looking at that shot...it's now on my need-to-try-soon list! Want to know how to whip one delicious dish like that shot above? Then click the picture to be transported to Mr. Nick's Intelliblog.

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This week's Food Friday post is something that I have cooked for the first time: Tuna in Coconut Milk. I have eaten this dish a million times, though. lol. The fish that we usually use for this is what we locally call tulingan, and I believe that the English names are Mackerel Tuna and Skipjack Tuna.

Ingredients

• 1 Kilo fresh fish (tulingan/tuna with the gills removed and the tail pulled off - they say that you need to remove an irritant found near the base of the tail, that's why it should be pulled, and not cut off. true? i have no idea, but i just go along with the old folks' explanation. lol)
• 2 1/2 cups fresh coconut milk (honestly, nothing beats fresh coconut milk, but if you have the canned/powdered ones on hand, that's fine too)
• 2 or more chili (your choice)
• salt, pepper, ginger
• fish sauce (optional)

Procedure:

• Place coconut milk (about half of it) and cleaned tuna in a pot. Add salt, pepper (I used lots!), chili, and ginger. Let boil then simmer for about half an hour. Or until you think that the fish is tender enough.
• Add the remaining coconut oil and let it simmer for about 5 more minutes. This is usually the time to adjust the seasoning to your liking. You may add fish sauce, some more salt, or even some more pepper. Your call.
• Once you're satisfied, serve hot. With rice. :)

There are also other ways to cook this fish, but this has got to be my fave. I know, I just love coconut milk with almost any dish so I might be biased. lol. I learned that cooking this dish was so simple and easy (I didn't slave over the stove the whole time!) that I am a hundred percent sure that I'll cook this again. :)

Reminder: Please don't forget to link back (a simple text would be great, or you may use the buttons provided here). Also, please try to visit the other party-goers and leave some commentluv to let them know that you dropped by. Many thanks! :)   

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Long overdue...

There's no doubt about it: we need new furnitures! The ones that we have right now were originally from the other house that we lived and somehow it just doesn't seem to fit our current home anymore. I am not a fan of "uniform everything"; I like the furniture to be different but goes so well together without screaming "looks at me!". lol. Been looking at some bistro furniture at thegardengates and I like the homey and go-ahead-get-comfortable feel to their designs.

Everything's still in the planning stage, though. I hope that hubby and I will have the time to sit down and talk things over. I want to hear what his ideas are about his type of furniture, too. :)

Pink Rain Lilies

Rain lilies...they look so fragile and sweet. So lucky to have 'caught' them before they wilted! :)

Life...

If you have a young one around, chances are you are going to be buying clothes and shoes more often. I know, they grow up so fast! That's why when we go to the malls I always look out for great deals in wholesale shoes and kid's clothes. Lately, though, we haven't had the chance to go to the mall just because we just don't have the time.

Our three year old just turned four this week, and you know what that means...new clothes and shoes! Specially now that we are thinking of enrolling him to a school nearby.

I just wish that hubby's with me when that time comes, though. He has been assigned to the province and can only visit us around once every three weeks. Sigh.

But that's life and am not really complaining. lol. ;)