Life’s Ideas

I had a chat with my friend in Australia the other day. It’s been a while since our last chat. She said she had been busy preparing for the birthday party of her daughter. She is a hands-on mom and would like to do most of the preparations herself. She made the cake for her princess. I knew she could make a cake and decorate it nicely but I wasn’t’ expecting the cake to be that fabulous. She has a great deal of creativity and she makes unique and sophisticated designs of handicrafts. She makes good business with candle designs and decorations. Then came the cake which was a surprise. She only bakes cakes during special occasions. If we were only neighbors, she would have baked a cake for me on my birthday.

Designer Cake by a Friend

I’m just very happy that in spite of her endless chores (being a mom of two), she still managed to nurture her creative side. Way to go, friend. Someday all those hard work will pay off.

Tags: birthday, birthday cake, cake, designer cake
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As I said before, Friday night is our movie night. Last Friday, we watched the Night at the Museum 2 – Battle of the Smithsonian. We did not exactly plan for this one. We had three films in mind before then, Angels and Demons, Drag me to Hell and the one we finally decided to watch.

I did not feel like cooking for dinner that night. We went to Wasabi, our favourite Japanese restaurant for dinner. It’s situated just a few steps away from the movie theatre. Unfortunately, we were told that we had to wait for forty minutes for our order. We were so looking forward for a Japanese meal so we agreed to wait.

After placing our order, we went to the theatre to buy our tickets. We checked the schedule and we opted for Night of the Museum 2. It was the only one our schedule could allow. We would run in late if we chose any other film. From there, we walked around to check out the place. We found a supermarket inside and we bought some glazed donut bites. We ate some then returned to Wasabi. We were just in time for our orders to be served. What a sumptuous dinner!

When we got to theatre, it was almost full mostly of children, about 75%. The movie is for the whole family. We were wondering if they were a spill over from the UP movie which was also showing. It could be possible that the UP movie was already full so some children had to watch Night of the Museum 2 instead.

The Night of the Museum 2 stars Ben Stiller as Larry Daley . If you liked the first Night of the Museum then you would surely enjoy this one. Larry Daley has moved on with his life after the museum. He was no longer the night guard at the museum. His business took a significant turn and so he now can fully provide for his son. One day, he came back to museum and found out that most of his friends will be transported to the Smithsonian Museum for permanent storage. One time, Jedediah Smith, played by Owen Wilson phone him and Larry thought his old friends needed his help so he went to the Smithsonian Museum. His son was giving him directions on how to locate his friends at the museum using a computer at home. Then the fun begins. The old residents at the museum did not welcome the newcomers.

At the end, Larry realized Larry had to go back to his old job as a night guard. He is at his happiest there, doing what he enjoys most.

Tags: Battle of the Smithsonian, Ben Stiller, Jedediah Smith, Larry Daley, movie, Night of the Museu, Owen Wilson, Wasabi
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I am a fish person. I love to eat fish and would prefer fish over other kinds of meat but this does not mean that any fish will do. I like shallow water fish the best, the ones that live in coral reefs. I like my fish meat to be really white, fresh and the smell, not so fishy.

Leather Jacket Fish

I remember in the Philippines, I used to eat leather jacket fish. It has a very thick skin that you can remove just like a jacket and inside is a very thin plastic-like layer of second skin that holds together the meat of the fish. In our town, we call the leather jacket fish with the thick skin still intact as saguksok. When the skin is removed, it becomes baknit and this is what you can find in the local fish markets. My mother buys leather jacket fish whenever available because it is very cheap. I like this fish because it meets my criteria. I don’t really mind the appearance of the fish as long as it passes my standards. My mother usually fry baknit and cook it again
with a little oil, garlic, onions and black beans. This is my favourite way of cooking baknit. It is like fish paksiw (stew) with a twist.

Dressed Leather Jacket Fish – without the skin

Last Friday, I bought a pack of dressed leather jacket fish. I missed eating this fish so much. I cooked it for dinner today exactly how my mother used to do it. It was almost like being home in my parents place once again.

Tags: fish, fish stew, leather jacket fish, paksiw
Posted in Food, Cooking and Dining, Living and Loving, Thinking Out Loud | 1 Comment »

I am very happy that finally our Frigidaire dishwasher is functional again. The Boardwalk technician came to our place and repaired it. The only problem was that it would not drain. After the wash cycle, there’s still water in the dishwasher. I tried running the dry cycle but still it would not work. It had been like that since December of last year. Hubby tried to reason out that perhaps it has something to do with winter and the buildup of snow that could have affected the water pipes. We waited until spring and found out we were wrong.

I was really hesitant to use the dishwasher before. Besides the fact that we only have a few dishes soiled after every meal, it also comes up much more expensive than hand washing. It uses a lot of water and electricity. Before loading dishes into the dishwasher, you also need to make sure to wipe off the big stuff that is stuck in your dishes. You literally have to do some partial cleaning on the dishes.

Our Frigidaire Dishwasher

I’m still hesitant to use the dishwasher but not that hesitant anymore. You see, it goes with the place we’re renting. We need to use it every now and then or else it may not be at its best after awhile of being left alone. Also, as a housewife, there are really times when you don’t feel like washing the dishes right after eating especially when hubby is watching a nice TV show on the couch. This is when the dishwasher comes in handy. Also he wants me to watch TV with him rather than making noises (banging the dishes and pots) at the kitchen.

The best thing about the dishwasher is that it cleans glasses better than if you hand wash them. The plates too comes out shinier from the dishwasher. On top of everything else, it is sure nice to have a choice. When I have time to spare which I usually do, I hand wash everything. When I’m short of time, like today after dinner, we’re going to watch a movie, then I would need to use the dishwasher so when we get back from the movies, dishes will already be clean.

Tags: Boardwalk, dishes, Frigidaire dishwasher, plates, pots
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In the Philippines, we are not familiar with cast iron pans. I did not even remember seeing cast iron cook wares in our department stores there. What most Filipinos use are aluminum cook wares. This is because aluminum is very cheap and this is only what most people there can afford. There are many stainless steel, glass and Teflon cook wares but they are too expensive for most Filipinos.

Our beef in the Philippines are mostly organic and grass-fed. There are only very few ranches there and the sources of beef are usually families who raise cattle for side income. They just bring their cattle to the meadows to graze every day. They supplement the cattle feeds with hay, rice and corn chaff during long periods of drought. It usually takes several years for the cattle to reach adulthood when raised this way. This could be the reason why our local beef takes too long to cook and explains why we are not fond of pan-fried steaks.

The cattle is tied to a post and left in the meadow to feed on grass

In Canada, our beef is very tender, usually grade AAA. I have always loved beef and having it cooked in a short time makes it even better for me. I have learned to cook roast beef here and discovered an even easier way to cook beef, by using a cast iron pan.

My cast iron pan is a 12-inch pre-seasoned Lodge Logic. Using cast iron is not as intimidating as before because there are already pre-seasoned ones in the market and they are ready to use. Cast iron pans is a good investment because they are inexpensive and can last forever if you know how to care for them. Mine does not have a cover that goes with it but I have a glass cover from my other stainless steel pan that I could use when I need to. It just fits perfectly well.

Exactly how my cast iron pan look like

Everybody loves a good steak. I use my cast iron pan mainly for cooking steaks and pork chops. Just less than ten minutes and you have your steak done. I usually just season my steak with salt and pepper and give it a garlic rub and that’s it. I give each side a good sear and cover it for about three minutes and it’s done. I give it some time to cool down a bit to redistribute the juices back to the meat. The pork chops takes a little longer since you really have to make sure that your pork is well cooked.

My cast iron pan has become one of my best friends in the kitchen. Heat is well distributed so it cooks evenly, plus you only need to cook on medium heat. I always get the meat cooked to my liking. Using the fingers when testing for the meat’s doneness is always reliable when cooking with a cast iron pan. Sometimes when you use other types of skillet or pans for steaks, the meat will appear to be well-browned but when you slice it, it’s not as well-cooked as you want it to be.

Tags: beef, cast iron pan, cattle, cow, pork chop, skillet, steak
Posted in Food, Cooking and Dining | 3 Comments »

Every now and then we go shopping at Ngoy Hoa Oriental Store. It is the only one here in our city and is a small one. There have many Filipino products there so it is always a joy to be there.

We went there the other day and I was hoping I could find some fresh young coconut (we call it buko or butong in the Philippines) and some Thai sweet basil. There was no fresh coconut but there was basil. We love eating at Thai restaurants and we especially like their noodle soups. It is always served with fresh sweet basil and the aroma is so soothing. That’s how I learned to love this herb.

Thai Basil – I buy this at the Oriental Store

young coconut – I miss this so much

The last time I prepared my first seaweed salad, I promised myself that seaweed will be a staple in my pantry from then on. I bought several packs of wakame and kelp in different brands. Some are dried and the others are instant salads. I also bought toasted nori and sesame seeds and some Japanese rice seasonings.

We bought these dried seaweed at Ngoy Hoa

What I like about Ngoy Hoa is that they have our Filipino meat preserves and they are very good. My husband’s favourites are tocino and chorizo for his breakfast meals. My favourite is the fish tapa. We also buy our lumpia, siomai and dumpling wrappers there.
What I don’t like in going there is that sometimes you get tempted to buy unfamiliar products that you wanted to try but find out later that you can’t stand it. Like last time we bought a dumpling sauce but when we opened the bottle, the smell and the taste was so disgusting to us. We had to throw the product in the garbage right there and then.

We experience this once in awhile but then it’s still good to have an Oriental store here. I just hope someone else will open another store or who knows, I could be that someone?

Tags: basil, coconut, dumpling, filipino, grocery store, ngoy hoa, noodle soups, regina
Posted in Food, Cooking and Dining, Living and Loving, Shopping and Products | 2 Comments »

     Even before I know of its health benefits, I have always loved to eat seaweed. My mother is a big fan of seaweed and she knows how to prepare it well so all the children in the family love seaweed too.  Seaweed is said to be the most nutritious plant food in the planet. It contains all the trace minerals that we need. It’s just so ironic that I, who love to eat seaweed had a nodular goiter before. Seaweed is so rich in iodine which is very crucial in helping regulate our thyroid function. It’s only lately that I learned that goiter is rarely caused by lack of iodine in the diet. In my case,  it’s more of a genetic thing. My mother used to have a nodule like mine before, so tiny and just went away on its own.

     The seaweed that we eat  in the Philippines are different from what the Japanese restaurants are serving although just the same, they all taste and smell of seawater.  All the seaweeds that I know of, need blanching before you season them and turn them into a salad.

Seaweed salad with carrots and cucumber

     Today I made my first Japanese style seaweed salad. I never miss to order this every time we go to a Japanese restaurant. I always love this as a side dish. I made mine from dried wakame seaweed and I just followed the recipe for the seasoning that I got from the internet. It turned out really nice. My husband loved it too. From now on,  dried seaweed is going to be a staple in my pantry.

Tags: seaweed
Posted in Food, Cooking and Dining, Health and Home, Wellness and Me | 1 Comment »

I have never tried bread baking in the Philippines nor have I observed somebody doing it. I have absolutely no idea how do it until just recently. I searched the internet for information on bread baking, the basic steps, the equipments needed, recipes with reviews and other tips and recommendations from expert bakers. I did not buy a bread machine because I was determined to learn the basics. Bread baking is very intimidating to me at first but then I decided to try.

The first bread that I baked was French bread. The recipe is very simple, it just called for flour, water, butter and yeast. I just followed the recipe religiously and I made it. The bread did not look perfect in shape but it was not bad at all for a first timer.

French bread – My first bread baking attempt

The next bread I baked was white bread. I figured I need to have one good recipe for this because we love to eat white bread once in awhile. The recipe called for either bread flour or all-purpose flour. I used the all purpose flour but then my bread was good but I did not like its texture. I should have used the bread flour instead.

My first white bread

My third was the whole wheat bread. I could not believe it. That was the best bread I have ever made. It was also as good if not better than store-bought breads. Now, I have found my whole wheat bread recipe for keeps and what’s even better, it calls for whole wheat bread flour only.

Our favorite whole wheat bread

The best part of baking our own bread is really knowing what is in the bread. I can be sure it has no unwanted additives and preservatives because I bake it myself. There’s also a definite plus, your bread comes cheaper than store-bought breads and there’s always the assurance of freshness. Baking helps relieve stress too and is very rewarding.

Tags: additives, all-purpose, baking, bread, butter, flour, French bread, freshness, preservatives, white bread, whole wheat, yeast
Posted in Food, Cooking and Dining, Health and Home, Living and Loving, Wellness and Me | No Comments »