Vege Adventure II

Our friend Barbs (vegetarian and with enviable skill with the kitchen knife) is staying with Janice also. Left to our own devices, we usually eat out but since I'm on a cooking roll... I decided to try cooking lunch for us both. ^_^ Barbs suggested going through kitchenomics recipes since these were what she used at home. We found a bunch of vegetarian dishes, mostly tofu based (sawa na), and we settled on trying PIÑA KANGKONG since we both like pineapple and kangkong.

So we went to the same supermarket I visited yesterday and tried matching the ingredients to our list. This time, our problem was the Kangkong... I have no idea what it looked liked uncooked. Barbs knows but none of the leafy veges there seem to match. Anyway, she asked another lady shopper and the later was kind enough to point out the Kangkong. hehehe According to Barbs it looks different... it was longer and with thinner leaves. I dunno if we really got the right vegetable since the helpful lady did not seem to speak english and just pointed to a leafy stack and said "Singapore Kangkong"

Anyway, next time I go back there... I'm sure I will recognized that leafy vege again and I will surely hunt for it again since the recipe turned out quite easy to prepare and tasty. ^_^

Hooray It Was Edible!

Yesterday Janice called to say a group of friends were stopping by her place around dinner time and if I could come up with something for dinner. ^_^ Glad to have new victims/visitors to test my concoctions on I excitedly googled my way to a couple of recipes I would like to try. hehehe chicken afritada and beef sinigang(I found some tamarind powder in the cupboard)... both of which I have never tried cooking. After making a list of ingredients, I head out to the nearest market and had fun matching my list to the actual products found there. For example, I know what cabbage is supposed to look like in the Philippines but I have no idea what it'll will look like in SG.... veges kinda look the same to me and the Chinese labels does not help at all. There were lot of cabbage look alikes in the store! Anyway, I settled for the cutest ones. wahahaha I forgot to take pictures.... next time for sure.

I had my laptop on the kitchen table... and I followed the instructions step by step. Hmmmm.... they really should put in the little details like how would I know if the stuff/veges is cooked. hehehe Took me about 2.5 hours to get the food done... our visitors were here already and Janice thought I had everything prepared by the time she got home (7:30 pm). We got to eat by 8:30 pm... fortunately the food was edible. Hehehe the chicken afritada was just right (even if it seemed I dumped more red bell pepper on it than chicken) and the beef stew was ok but lacked a bit of salt and most of the veges mushy. Wahahaha

Last I heard... no one got sick from my cooking last night. ^_^

To Cook or To Nuke?

It's so quiet! hehehe I'm in SG right now... staying with Janice... messing up her space... eating her food... utilizing her internet... in short... being her personal pest/pet. hahaha

We went to the supermarket last night... and I can't help comparing prices. The fruits are definitely cheaper and the rest are somewhat the same price as in Manila... so if you know how to cook... you'll get to save a lot. ^_^ hehehe I will probably suffer from indigestion for quite sometime while I learn how to cook. hahaha

I need to prepare food for lunch and I want to try Jan's stove but it looks so complicated so I'll probably just stick to the microwave.
...
hmmmm
...
I'm gonna try making chicken adobo. hehehehe

Challenges?!

Surprise! Surprise! I met an old friend today and we haven't had the chance to catch up for quite some time now. She's been on a long hiatus from our frequent conversations over fried food or coffee. As it is, she's also planning on moving to another country and her papers are in the process of being “prepared” while mine is lying somewhere in my still unpacked boxes. hehehe As old friends does, we skipped the chitchat and dove to the juicy updates of our “love” lives. My laments on my non-existing love life took a couple of minutes then she launched into her much colorful story. ^_^ She met a guy and knowing her penchant for weird men I sat back to ready to make my symphatetic grunts and/or to stiffle my giggles. hehehe Anyway, the actuall telling took a considerable amount of time, she got hooked on an older man with a son from a previous relationship that has a charming face and a distinct personality. =) Charming face and distinct personality being my way of saying it politically correct. hehehe I'm not into looks myself but I had to smile and ask her what she found appealing about this guy. Her answer... he presented a challenge more than anything else. ^_^ For 2008, I wish us both less challenges on that aspect of our lives. hahaha

Happy New Year!