When your server’s been hacked before, you panic at the first sign of trouble. I just installed a customized Google search form and search results page for all my blogs. I was trying it out when all the results returned had a “This site may harm your computer” warning just below the titles. I wanted ... (more)
Do you know how much money your spouse makes?
Posted on January 31, 2009 · 29 Comments
It’s a question that was raised during a dinner get-together with girl friends from school. When I was asked I said, “Yes, of course,” but I should have qualified that. Of course, I know how much Speedy makes but not to the last centavo. Does he know how much I make? Yes, but not to ... (more)
Chicken and upo (bottle gourd) soup
Posted on January 31, 2009 · 6 Comments
You can not imagine how excited I was to take photos of this soup. It’s the first time I snipped some leaves from the cilantro that I planted in the garden last December and you’re seeing them as the green garnish on the soup. I patiently refrained from touching the cilantro until they had grown sufficiently and today is the big day. This isn’t the Vietnamese cilantro that I’ve been adding to my dishes for a long time but real cilantro. Click here if you want to read some garden tips on how to grow cilantro.
Another reason I am so excited about this soup dish is that it makes use of meat from chicken soup bones. If you’re a supermarket regular, you might have noticed that chicken is packed in several ways — whole, choice cuts and soup bones. The soup bones are bare bones. They actually have a lot of meat in them…
Cilantro (coriander leaves)
Posted on January 31, 2009 · 28 Comments
Not everyone likes cilantro but I am absolutely crazy about it. The piquant (sometimes described as pungent) flavor perks up soups, spring rolls and stews like no other herb can. I used to buy cilantro from the supermarket but storing them was problematic. The best way is to keep them in the fridge wrapped in paper to absorb the water to prevent them from rotting fast. But even wrapped in paper, cilantro only lasts for a few days. And they’re never as good as when they’re freshest. I tried growing them in the garden but they never lasted more than a few days. They just shriveled and died.
Conversations