Trick and Treat

I got this delicious and refreshing Halloween dessert idea from Real Living (Oct 2004 issue). But just like my other dishes and food preparation, I slightly modified it to Emi-fy it (you should try my “Sinilaga” – coined term of Riki for my nilagang pork ribs but using Pork Sinigang Mix)*. Instead of Vanilla Ice Cream (boring!!!), I used Double Dutch for the filling. Yummy!

Just cut off the top of the orange, hollow up the pulp inside, cut good old Jack o' Lantern's face into the orange and fill it up with ice cream! Put in freezer at least 3 hours before serving. VOILA!!!

MY Frozen Jack O' Lantern

Preparation Time: 15 minutes. Cost of three Valencia Oranges: P80.96. Ice Cream Cost: P65.00. Pleasure (and pride!) on my hubby's face (and moi as well): PRICELESS. :D

* Ok fine. EMIFICATION is basically attributed to my rawness in the kitchen and my failures to strictly follow the authoritative cookbook. But nevertheless, my loving husband always has a clean plate afterwards, so what can I say! ;)

Barbeques and Tremors

Riki just received his first paycheck from his new job. He had been irking me for months to try out this Brazilian Barbeque restaurant in Rockwell (he is a barbeque addict). So finally, last Friday night we tried it out. They only serve buffet, main attraction being the varieties of barbeques served (and sliced) straight in your table. So we tried it all – barbequed pork spareribs, beef hanging tender, lamb, squid, (brazilian?) sausage, atsutsu atsutsu, even barbequed pineapple and banana. The last two were my only favorites (and yeah well…the sausage too).

I’ve always preferred my food well done. So I did not enjoy all the barbequed meat that much. The lamb slice I had still has blood oozing from it. Eeewww. I just took a (small) bite of it, chew it for sometime and spit it out afterwards (similar to what you do during wine-tasting). But I did try all the variants (in very small servings), just to complete my experience.

Hubby on the other hand, finished all the big slices served to him. He must have loved it. When I asked him how it was, he just said…”well, me DISTINCT taste sya.”

Distinct is the adjective we associate with nouns to avoid being outright cruel. Like, your breath has a distinct smell early in the morning.

I guess Brazilian barbeque is just not our thing. Pinoy and American barbeques pa rin!

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An hour after I was already comfortably snuggled in my sofa alone, watching the latter part of Bowling for Columbine in AXN (I find Michael Moore more amusing though in Fahrenheit 9/11 by the way). Riki went out for a while to meet his business partner.

Suddenly, I felt my couch moved. Not sideways mind you, but vertically. Huh?! I do not have vertigo, so WTF is happening. And then I felt the walls swaying, heard the windowsills creaking. Oh my God, it’s an earthquake!!!

I have read so many articles in the past about how to react and what to do during such a fortuitous event. At that very moment, I can’t recall any of it, except the three words – Triangle of Life. So I grabbed my cellphone and ran towards the main door and stayed there. I was so scared, I had difficulty dialing Riki’s number. The building is still swaying madly. When I got connected and heard his voice, I started crying. “Beybi, me earthquake!!! And di pa sya nag-sto-stop….Beyyybbbbiiiiiiiiii……….huhuhu”. Riki was trying to pacify me, told me to get out of there and into the other unit (our agent/neighbor), but I just can’t do anything. I was scared to death to go anywhere. The solid bedroom door was swaying like crazy.

During my lifetime, I have experienced so many earthquakes already. I still remember where I was during the 1991 deadly tremors. But I have never been so petrified as last Friday. The last earthquake I remember was during my dorm days. My roommate woke me up, told me there is an earthquake and we should get out of the room. I recall I just grabbed my comforter, placed it above my head and walked peacefully out of the room. I didn’t even think of getting my cellphone back then because I knew I will be back in my bed after 20 minutes or so.

So why was I so terrified during last Friday’s earthquake? Because it was the first time ever that I was all by myself during the tremors. Alone and 20 floors up a building. I guess it would be a different story if I was just on the ground floor and can easily go out to a safer place. I felt I was trapped. And the idea of dying alone (further aggravated by the fact that the most important person in my life is on the other end of the line) weakened me, unabling me to think straight.

After the initial shock (which is the longest minute or so of my life!), my senses came back (or so I thought) and I decided to get out of the building. There might be aftershocks. I cannot afford to experience that alone as well. I will die not because of the earthquake, but of heart attack. So I quickly slipped into my pants and ran out, and took the elevator going down (yes! I thought taking the stairs down will be more dangerous and time-inefficient). Tanga.

Luckily, the elevator landed me safely on the ground floor and out of the building. Almost all the tenants are outside already. When Riki arrived, he decided to take me away from there first, because I was still madly shaking and terrified of buildings. We drove around and ended up at The Fort, where there are wide open spaces. We only went back to the condo after an hour and after he had fully assured me that it is entirely safe already.

Riki later informed me that after the unfortunate events of 1991, all buildings and structures built in the country are now required to install “rollers” to be able to withstand the highest impact earthquakes, so that it will just sway with the tectonic movements and not collapsed. I checked on our building’s age. It is only five years old. Ok good. For now.

As of this writing, I am fully inclined to the option of a house and lot rather than a condo unit for our planned acquisition next year. I don’t care about the rollers.

Cooking Escapade: PANCAKES

I made pancakes for breakfast today.

Ingredients:
1 (200g) PILLSBURY One-Step Hotcake Mix (with real chocolate chips)
3/4 (175 ml) cup of water

This is easier to prepare than the other pancake brand. No egg needed in the mix. Just stir the hotcake mix and water, and put in a hot pan, viola! Instant breakfast! And like cookies, this special pancake has real choco chips in it. Yummy!

Too sweet though. Must be partnered with coffee to offset the taste.

Adieu to Aling Nene’s Barbeque

After four straight days of being confined in the eight corners of our condo unit and four straight days of eating all things fried, my baby and I longed for fresh air and real food for lunch. My husband is an addict (and an expert at that!) of pork barbeque. But it is Sunday today, so The Beach House in Sunken Garden is out of the question. We are then left with one other option. Aling Nene's. So off we go to South Superhighway, amidst the heavy rain, just to satisfy our cravings for Pork BBQ.

Regulars of this restaurant for a very long time already, we are accustomed to their smoky and not-so-classy dining environment. We don’t eat anything else here (because I don’t trust how they cook the other food) but their specialty – Pork Barbeque. But today, as we enter the restaurant, we have a strong feeling it will be our last time to eat there.

The whole restaurant is in shambles. Dripping water from the ceiling (not to mention that half of that ceiling seems ready to fall off anytime), flooded floors, stale-looking food, and guess what! NO AVAILABLE PORK BARBEQUE!!! Aling Nene’s without pork barbeque. Something is indeed wrong here. (There is a resto in Mandaluyong named During’s Barbeque. We tried eating there once, guess what, the staff told us they don’t serve barbeque. Hello!?!)

But my husband won’t yield that easily. He went to the other side of the corner (yes! there are three Aling Nene’s branches side-by-side in this nook of SSH). Guess what again, the other resto is closed already. What remains is the take-out branch. Thank God! Our trip here won’t be put to waste. Or so I thought. Even the quality and taste of the barbeque had deteriorated. It is indeed our last trip to this restaurant.

We will not be surprised if a month after today, that last and remaining branch will close as well. There were only five people eating there today, us included. That resto used to be full-packed. Like us, most regulars go the distance just to enjoy their house specialty. The staff doesn’t want to comment to my probing hubby’s inquisition, but it seems the root of the snag was crisis between management (well, it was evident even before with the three branches all at the same location, competing for the same market!). It was just so sad. Aling Nene's had become a regular part of our lives already. It is a synonym for Pork Barbeque in our food dictionary. We plan to pass this tradition to our future children as well.

Before we left, I paid a last look at the portrait of Aling Nene and Mang Siding in the corner. At least they are still together. (Our dear MamaBell's recently lost good old pal Daddy Nic’s at her side along Nicanor Garcia St-formerly Reposo St. He was replaced by J&J who now offer’s Foam Parties during weekends. But I still wonder, maybe Juanico is Daddy Nic’s real name?).

Well, as the pop song goes, some good things really never last.

Cooking Escapade: MY FIRST MENUDO

My first menudo dish ever and my hubby (and me) loved it!!!

McCormick (Menudo Mix) is indeed heaven sent! My cubed potatoes and carrots were cooked just right and the sauce is good too. I think it's too oily though. And i seemed to have over-fried the meat a lil' bit. Well, i always like my meat well-done. Will just try to cook it better next time.

But wait, I just learned that the only difference between Menudo and Afritada is that the former has liver and the latter is usually chicken (but can also be pork!).

I don't eat pork liver so my menudo dish don't have that in it. It means..... i should change my title to PORK AFRITADA instead? Hahaha...