Eryngii mushrooms

When people ask how I am able to come up with new ideas for home-cooked meals, I tell them I have three rules: 1) I never shy away from unfamiliar food products and cooking … [Read more...]

All-Filipino menu

arroz caldo, palitaw, liempo, halo-halo, sinigang, salabat

You can't make Sam wear a T-shirt that doesn't make a definitive statement. … [Read more...]

Lo mein in less than 15 minutes

Have you ever had leftover stir fried meat and vegetables that look too terrible to serve after reheating? You can toss them with boiled noodles and save yourself the pain of … [Read more...]

Thai mussel soup with coconut milk

It's a Thai dish1 but the similarity to the most common Filipino mussel soup is uncanny. You have the usual spices and aromatics like ginger and garlic but this Thai soup has … [Read more...]

Mussel soup with coconut milk

My 16-year-old daughter, Sam, adores mussels any way they're cooked. But her 14-year-old sister does not touch mussels unless they were baked and topped with cheese. Until … [Read more...]

I have a lot to thank manga for

C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia

Many people say it isn't good to provide children with their own computers and internet access. More say it's a mistake to let them go online unsupervised. I say that depends … [Read more...]

How to extract tamarind juice

Tamarind (or sampalok in the Filipino language) refers to the fruit of the Tamarindus indica or to the tree itself. The fruit is used as the base for soups, stews and sauces … [Read more...]

A different kind of wallpaper

MacBookPro wallpaper

While I've been spending days poring over the wallpaper swatches I've collected prior to the dining area project, Speedy had been obsessing over a different kind of wallpaper … [Read more...]

Mango cream pie

The day we learned that Red Ribbon Bake Shop had phased out its Mango Cream Pie was a sad day. The Mango Cream Pie was one of the two reasons we patronize Red Ribbon, the … [Read more...]

Holiday paper crafts

Christmas tree ornaments

For the past two years, we have been making personalized gift tags for Christmas. Two years ago, the gift tags were simple computer printed affairs but especially designed by … [Read more...]

Stages in beating egg whites

In various baking entries, people complain that their puto did not rise or that their cake was too dense or some other thing that relates to the texture of the product. While … [Read more...]

Contrary to popular belief, cats and dogs can be playmates

Puppy and kitten at play

All I really wanted was to post an entry with lots of photos about how we spent a relaxing Sunday playing with the pets, doing paper crafts, cooking, baking... But there's … [Read more...]

Defining a section of the house

Dining room

One thing about this house is that, strictly speaking, there is no "living room" and "dining room." Instead, there is a living area and a dining area. Meaning, the dining and … [Read more...]

Tiramisu, party style

Serving a cake during a party means placing the cake tray on the table, cutting it and placing individual servings on dessert plates. What if the cake can be apportioned … [Read more...]

Dorm or driving school?

With both girls a few sniffs away from going to college (okay, one for Sam; two for Alex), the issue of transportation has inevitably been discussed for the nth time. Will … [Read more...]