28 Lines to Make You Smile

1.. My husband and I divorced over religious differences.. He thought he was God and I didn’t.
2.. I don’t suffer from insanity;  I enjoy every minute of it.
3.. Some people are alive only because it’s illegal to kill them.
4.. I used to have a handle on life, but  it broke.
5.. Don’t take life too seriously; No one gets out  alive.
  

6.. You’re just jealous because the voices only talk to me
7.. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder
8.. Earth is the insane asylum for the  universe
9.. I’m not a complete idiot — Some  parts are missing

10.. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
11.. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
12.. God must love stupid people;  He made so many.
13.. The gene pool could use a little  chlorine.
14.. Consciousness: That annoying time  between naps.
15.. Ever stop to think, and  forget to start again? 
16.. Being ‘over the hill’ is much better  than being under it!
17.. Wrinkled Was Not One of the  Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
18.. Procrastinate Now!

 

19.. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts;  Do You Want Fries With That?
20.. A hangover is the wrath of  grapes.
21.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash  advance.
22.. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
23..They call it PMS because Mad Cow  Disease was already taken.
24.. He who dies with the most  toys is nonetheless DEAD.
25.. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.
26..Ham and eggs…A day’s work  for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a  pig.
27.. The trouble with life is there’s no  background music.

 This one is my hands-down favorite:
   

 28.. I smile because I don’t know  what the heck is going on.

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends!
Life is too short and friends are too few!

Thank you Judie for this!

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Sausage and Spinach

I bought this giant jar of sun dried tomatoes from Costco last year and it’s been sitting in my pantry waiting to be opened. I finally opened it last Monday to make sun dried tomato pesto for a pasta dish I was going to make for lunch. Rochelle and co. were coming to the house for lunch and this was the fastest and easiest dish I could make with the ingredients I had on hand.

food 582-1

I got this recipe from the free Betty Cocker mobile cookbook app in my iPhone.

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, undrained
1/3 cup olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts

1. Place all ingredients in a food processor. Do not use a blender.
2. Cover and process for about 3 minutes or until smooth. Makes 1 1/3 cup.

I made mine chunkier. I also plan to add 1-2 T of tomato paste next time I make this to give the pesto a richer color and a deeper favor.


sun dried tomato pesto

I had a package of 4 small Italian garlic sausages (Santi’s brand) I bought in Unimart. I also had a box of frozen spinach in the freezer. So I decided to make a pasta dish with the sausage, spinach, sun dried tomato pesto and left over fetttucine pasta. As usual I made it freestyle which means no recipe and quantity of ingredients. The recipe below is an approximation of what I used. Please feel free to alter the ingredients to suit your taste.

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomato Pesto, Sausage and Spinach
1/2 cup or more sun dried tomato pesto (see recipe above)
4 Italian garlic sausages or other kinds (each one about 4″ in length)
10 oz. frozen spinach
250 grams fettucine or any other pasta
1/4 cup garlic, minced
olive oil

1. Thaw spinach and squeeze out excess liquid. Set aside.
2. Slice sausages and fry in pan til brown. Discard excess oil.

3. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the minced garlic. Saute til lightly browned. Add spinach, sausages and pesto. You can also add some red pepper flakes for more heat. Turn off heat when the mixture is thoroughly mixed.

4. Boil water and add 2 T of rock salt. When the water is boiling add the pasta. Check for doneness at 8 minutes. It should be al dente after 1 or 2 minutes.

5. When the pasta is cooked do not drain the water. Simply transfer the pasta to the pan where your sausage mixture is. Mix pasta and sausage well. If it’s a bit dry add some pasta water to the dish. Mix well. Transfer to a serving dish.

I suggest putting more pesto and parmesan cheese on the table so guests can add more to their pasta if they want. I really liked this dish. The pesto was a bit mild but you can taste the pine nuts and parmesan cheese. The addition of spinach was also a good idea. It added more nutrition and texture to the dish. I think my guests liked it since they left the bowl empty.

It’s really hard to prepare a meal while taking pictures. There’s the risk of touching my camera with oily hands. Or I might burn the garlic while I was taking pictures. That’s why I have so few pictures that made it to this entry. I have to do more planning next time so I can take pictures before cooking.

Miss Fitrum – Nikko Santos

I love youtube. It brings us precious moments like this that can’t be missed. Miss Nikko Santos you now join the elite group of Melanie Marquez, Janina San Miguel and Alyssa Milano as Filipino stars of youtube. Thank you for bringing us such joy and shame. Watch and laugh. Thanks to Elisa for sharing this!

Nikko Santos

Janina San Miguel

Alyssa Milano

So who do you think is the winner?

Best Chocolate Cake at Classic Confections

It’s all Jeanne’s fault. She had to let me try the best chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten in my life. When I saw the box labeled Classic Confections I knew I had to see their store and check out their other cakes.

The chance came last Sunday when we ate at Tapella which was also at Greenbelt 5. After dinner we searched for the elusive cake shop.

I was shocked to find it right beside Fely J in Greenbelt 5. I’ve seen that cake shop so many times but I’ve never eaten there. Usually after dinner at Fely J we’d have dessert at Restaurante Pia y Damaso. It must be because Classic Confections has very limited seating and is always full. We still didn’t get to eat in the restaurant that night because they were about to close already.

They also sell cans of cookies and other goodies displayed on the wall shelves.

This is THE cake. Nono’s Chocolate Oblivion is the BEST chocolate cake in the Philippines if not the world! Yes I love it that much. It tastes more like a giant truffle than a cake. It’s rich, dark and not too sweet. It’s so creamy and it has sweet crunchy walnut praline bits on the outside. You can only eat a small piece of this cake in one sitting. But you will surely be satisfied even with a bite.

Even sitting in the refrigerator for a week this cake is as good as the first day. You may ask me why it stayed a week in my ref it was so good? Because I allow myself to eat only 2 spoonfuls a day. I even stashed some in the freezer for emergencies! Please trust me. Run to Greenbelt 5 and try it for yourself.


Nono’s Chocolate Oblivion P995


cheesecake P1300


Meline’s Chocolate Cake P595


assorted bars and cupcakes


opera torte P105
coconut cake P160
tiramisu P175


banana cream pie P155
cheesecake P195
cheesecake oblivion P215

We bought the mini lemon torte and Meline’s chocolate cake and ate it for dessert after lunch on Monday. The lemon torte was very good but it wasn’t as tart or as crunchy as Roshan’s. It was ok but I like Roshan’s better. The chocolate cake was the standard chocolate layer cake with frosting so I passed on that one.

Jeanne said the banana cream pie and mocha sansrival were also very good. My friend Marie Anne or Tisay agreed that the sansrival was very crunchy, creamy and not too sweet. I have to try that next time.


double chocolate mousse P175
lemon torte P185
mocha sansrival P185


rum cake P135

Thanks again Jeanne for sharing this treasure with me!

Classic Confections
2/F of Greenbelt 5
Makati City
telephone: 746-2773, 490-7896

4/F 87 West Capitol Drive,
Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig City
telephone: 729-9243; 0917-524-5892

The Jackson 5 in Manila, 1976

The Jackson 5 came to Manila in February 1976 for a series of concerts called Love Jive, held at the Folk Arts Theater and the Araneta Coliseum. They  performed on six consecutive days. To promote their concerts they guested in the TV show called Student Canteen hosted by Eddie Ilarde, Bobby Ledesma and Coney Reyes. Thanks to Arlene and Rochelle for emailing me these pictures. 

Tito, Jackie, and Michael with Connie Reyes, Eddie Ilarde, and Bobby Ledesma

Marlon, Michael, and Randy with Connie, Eddie, and Bobby

 
Marlon, Tito, Jackie, Michael, and Randy with Connie

 Michael sang “one day in your life” 

 

Dinner at Tapella Restaurant

Last weekend has been good for my blog but very bad for my diet. Last night the same group who ate at Yedang decided to eat out again. I suggested Tapella in Greenbelt 5 since I love paella and wanted to try their manchego paella. I didn’t know Tapella was owned by Gaudi.

 

The place was small but had simple and pleasing interiors.

We ordered the chorizo stewed in red wine. It was a very small order. There were 5 of us and we barely got to eat 2 pieces each. It was very good and salty. We asked for bread to dip into the flavorful oil and wine sauce. They charge for bread too. A bread basket with 6 tiny slices of toasted baguette and 1 hard ciabatta costs P60. Too bad I didn’t get a picture of it.

Chorizo al Vino
chorizo stewed in red wine P245

This is half an order of soup. We had it split into two bowls. It had a very strong seafood taste which was a bit overwhelming.

Sopa de Mariscos
hearty seafood chowder P120

 

These tiny sticks of ham and cheese were just ok. Nothing great. We couldn’t even taste the cheese. It was very insignificant in it’s contribution to assuaging our hunger. My suggestion? Order something else.

serrano ham & cheese in phyllo pastry P110

 

The paella pans were probably 10″ in diameter and serves 2 people. The paella negra was good. It could do with a little more flavor though. It was served with aoli and lemon wedges.

black squid paella P520

 

Rochelle’s son enjoying the paella.

 

Everyone liked the black paella better than the manchego paella. It wasn’t really bad but it was just ordinary. There was hardly any taste of manchego cheese. It tasted just like rice cooked in chicken broth.

manchego cheese, chicken, asparagus &
shrimp paella P500

 

We saw the other table eating this so we ordered it too. It’s angus beef brought to your table pre-cooked a little. They bring out a chafing dish burner and put a plate on top.

You cook the beef to the wellness you desire. The beef was tender and good. You’re given a dish of salt to season the steak. For me that’s all you really need if your beef is good. What I didn’t like about this whole thing was that the chafing dish burner wasn’t enough to cook the beef. It took a long time just to get the red out of the meat. Chris wanted to let the fat brown up a bit before she eats it. I told her she’d have to wait til the next day for the fat to even sizzle a bit.

Chuleton Villagodio
grilled angus beef 750 g P2,065

 

The beef came with 2 side dishes -potatoes and red pepper.

potatoes in olive oil

 


red pepper
The bill for 4 adults and a child was P3,900. We didn’t order any drinks except for a lemonade. No dessert or coffee either.

Tapella by Gaudi
G/F Greenbelt 5, Legaspi St.,
Legaspi Village Makati City,
Metro Manila
telephone: 757-2710

 

Healthy non-fat good ice cream?

 
The picture above is banana ice cream made with only frozen bananas and nothing else! According to the kitchn all you need to do is freeze some bananas  then puree them in a blender or food processor until it’s smooth and gooey. This I’ve got to try.  It’s perfect when you still have a lot of bananas that are about to become over ripe. I’m sure using lakatan for this will even taste better than American bananas. I wonder what will happen if you drizzle in some melted chocolate while the bananas are in the machine? Hmm reminds me of chocolate covered bananas.

Yedang Korean Restaurant again

I’ve been on a diet for a week now. I only ate a small chicken pie for breakfast and a pb&j sandwich for lunch today. By 5 pm I was so hungry already. I was about to cook dinner when Rochelle called and asked if I wanted to eat at Yedang Korean restaurant. I immediately said yes. I really liked the food at Yedang when we ate there last July.

Tonight Warren took charge in ordering. I even enjoyed the food more this time around. As usual he ordered too much but we still managed to finish almost everything. I made up all the calories I saved during the day with dinner tonight. At least I didn’t overeat.

The next 6 dishes are the free appetizers that are automatically given to each table.


sweet peanuts


sweet new potatoes
 

spicy bamboo shoots
 

beansprouts
 

kimchi
 

sweet dilis/anchovies
 
Warren ordered only 3 meat dishes to be grilled. 1 beef, 1 pork and 1 chicken. All were good but the beef was my favorite.

grill sweet beef ribs (Kalbi) P300
 

grill chicken (dak-Kui) P250
 

grill pork spare ribs P250
 
 
Take a piece of grilled meat and put it on the shiso leaf, add some rice and sauce. Roll it up and eat it. That’s what the server taught us to do. The shiso leaf was really delicious. I didn’t bother with the ordinary lettuce.

shiso leaf and lettuce
 

spicy pan fried squid w/ vegetables P300
 
The pajeon or seafood pancake was our favorite. It’s just like the Chinese oyster pancake but this used mixed seafood and some ground beef. It tasted like an omelette but with a stickier texture.

Pajon – seafood w/ green onion pancake P300
 

noodles with chop suey (Japchae) P300
 
I liked the bibimbap too. It wasn’t spicy. It tasted just like fried rice.

Dolsot Bibimbap P250
vegetable hash rice in stone pot bowl

bibimbap
 
We all loved the ginseng chicken soup. It was perfect for tonight’s rainy weather. It had soft rice in the soup. It was like arroz caldo but with more soup than rice. The broth was very flavorful and the chicken very tender. It was a bit expensive though.

ginseng chicken soup P600
 
 
 
Yedang Korean BBQ Restaurant
88 Meralco Ave., Pasig City
telephone: 636-1461

 

Vera Electric Kettle by Casa Bugatti

I love to drink tea. I collect all kinds of tea from the tea bag kind, sleep teas, fruit teas and exotic loose leaf white tea from China. I also collect really thin glass tea pots and cups. But I use a plastic kettle I bought from Makro for P600 or $12 to boil water. This Vera Electric Kettle by Casa Bugatti in orange would look great in my kitchen! But I don’t think I’ll spend $300 for it.


The Vera Electric Kettle has electronic control for all functions to achieve desired temperature (between 113 and 212°F) for making tea. There’s a screen embedded in the handle which displays the temperature and a clock that shows the time and offers a self timer to have your hot water ready and waiting for you.

It will be out in September for $300.

via Unplugged