Saturday, June 26, 2010

Rain, thunder, lightning and a sad panda

So, Man Friend left to Atlanta for the rest of the summer. I have no idea what to do with myself. FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Statesboro Farmers Market

OH. MY. WORD. If I could use only one word to explain this heat, it would be: BIG. This heat is big time. BIG TIME. Slappe de bess mon. You could stand outside for two minutes and feel your bangs stick to your forehead. It's great. I was standing on the porch while grilling some amazing chicken breast a couple days ago; I felt my feet burning in the sun. I could feel my skin cells dieing and screaming "WWWHHHHYYY!" There was little sympathy. However, all this glorious weather has led to only one thing, the even more glorious swimming pools. Swimming of pools. Pools of swimming. It's fun. Though I have been a beach bum for years, a good 22 years and counting (kinda), it has been some time that I have been in a pool. The idea of a giant tub with chlorine, dead bugs and debris is not very exciting, but the fact that I'm not pushed around by waves thus leaving me to legitimately swim is very exciting. However, ain't nothin' wrong with body swimming. I could do it for days. The summers here definitely beat out summers in San Diego that usually last 3-5 months.

Today was the first day of Farmer's Market. I haven't been to one since I was 12. There was the veggie section that had good prices and bad prices, arts and crafts, and BAKED GOODS. Oh my goodness. Honestly, we went for the vegetables, I swear. I didn't even know there was a baked goods section. And it was amazing. We ended up walking out with a whole and half of kalamata olive foccacia. Not really a big fan of olives, but damn, this was some good ass bread. We also bought a little over a pound of wonderful Georgia peaches that seriously, really, in all things serious, tastes like juice. From a bottled. Bottled peach juice. Beautiful peaches in a beautiful state. It's wONDArful.





Once I get through with my blood sugar baby, and all levels are normal, I will post up about a taco weekend we currently had. It was outrageous. 

Saturday, June 12, 2010

A good feeling of bad feelings with canned meat


It's been...how long, three months that I've lived here in Georgia. And three months that was estimated until I started missing home. Well Uncle John, you were right. I'm definitely not homesick, but I miss a few things here and there. First being my little brother. Now that I'm not around, it seems he is growing up faster than I can count to seven. I miss a lot of his goofy mannerisms. Another would be my two friends, ha. This is sad, moving on. Lastly, it would probably the convenience of having every type of business. Especially fast food restaurants. I miss taco shop and souplantation. Today after work, Man Friend mentioned he wanted Taco Bell for dinner. I didn't really approve of this because I actually wanted to make some healthy sandwiches, but I was also really tired from having to put in extra work because of a certain manager closing with me. Eventually, I gave in, drove over to Tbell and good lord. There were about 8 cars waiting in line in the middle of the night. I instantly turned around and said hell no. We ended up ordering a pizza and making a delicious salad, but the point here, is convenience. Only one Tbell here in town. Back home, maybe around 5 Tbells. I miss having better access/availability/convenience. You name it.

 I don't approve of eating meat from a can. But I've been doing a good job with keeping pace on my filipino cravings. At some point, I knew I eventually HAD to make this. I remember having to ask my mother to make this dish every other week or so. Some people like to eat it on the side, some like it on top, and some like it mixed with rice. I like it mixed. Man Friend liked it on top of a steamy bed of rice. I honestly think he liked it as much as he did only because I added a few teaspoons of sambal. He likes things spicy. This dish -- originally unspicy. Not a lot of filipino dishes are spicy. Lots of savory, less on the spicy. I usually have to eat everything with a salad. Everything. Especially adobo. I can't explain it. But I can explain the banana in the picture. When I was a lot younger, still being fed by my mom younger, there was always chunks of banana on the spoon. I now understand the point of that was to encourage easier feeding by adding in the mild, healthy sweetness. It worked very well. This makes about...I want to say 6-7 servings, maybe more. We definitely have a day or two of leftovers from this recipe.

Filipino Corned Beef
adapted from All Recipes

1 12oz can of corned beef
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 large potato, cubed
1 tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste
3 tsp sambal oelek (optional)

Heat cooking oil in a pot over medium heat. Saute garlic and onions. Add tomatoes and potatoes. Cook until the potatoes are about half way done. Bump the heat up a little and add the corned beef. You'll have to simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring here and there. Throw in some salt and pepper, sambal if you decide on that too. Serve with warm rice and enjoy!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Filipino Lovin'

 Have you ever sat on your kitchen counter while eating a bowl of cereal thinking, "Why is this so easy?" I haven't. But I did sit on a kitchen counter this morning, eating a bowl a cereal thinking, "I'm going to regret this later." DO I EVER!! Who knew such a small amount of light cereal could be JAM PACKED with fiber.

Tonight was amazing. Tonight has made up for all the other nights I made not so impressive meals. Oh but this one! You...you're good, you. Bistek is the most simple filipino dish made that doesn't require a ton of effort. For those of you who can't understand this Bistek concept, Bistek = beef steak. Alpha Kenny Body. This "flavorful" dish has three basic main ingredients: beef, garlic and soy sauce for days. Onions make an exceptional garnish and an amazing side. Lemon juice bumps up the flavor. I made the marinade without measuring and with my mind glued to a ceiling with textures that reminds me of meringue. I've seen my mom and nanay make this dish so often, I know what to do just by the way it looks. I can proudly say, this Bitsek tasted exactly like my mom's. Man Friend was very happy with this dish and mentioned that the onions were quite pleasing. A lot of people choose to cut the onions fresh and saute them after you cook the meat. Personally, I think marinating them with the meat over night is the way to go. If you happen to have a bottle of soy sauce laying around, that you know you're never going to touch, USE IT. IN THIS. It's simple and "flavorful." Flavorful happens to be a big word when it comes to Man Friend and meals. One thing I would like to make clear, is Sinangag. Filipino fried rice. You can't do Bistek without Sinangag. Two to three day old rice, garlic, salt and pepper, skillet. Good to go.

Not to mention, dessert was absolutely delicious.Thanks to my Auntie Bining who gave me the idea of making Strawberry Delight; she had made a Blueberry Delight the other night I went to visit her. After taking a few bites, I wanted to turn into a bear and cry. It was so good. Thus instantly putting me into a baking craze. I put my rage mask on and went to town. Then I put on my wizard hat and robe. All jokes aside, I made our dessert with strawberries because it was less effort and cheaper. Had I used blueberries instead, I would have had to make blueberry sauce. Man Friend approved of this, and he actually ate more than I did. I don't know whether I should take this as a compliment, or a sad realization that I should, in fact, cut back on my sugar habit. Much like the main course, I made no measurements with this tasty creaminess. Though if I could change one thing about it, I would have made double layers of graham crackers, instead of singles. Ain't nothin' wrong with a little crust.

Bistek

1 lb beef sirloin, thin cut
1 small onion, cut into rings
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp pepper
juice from half a lemon

Remove fats from beef and cut into preferred sizes. In a glass dish or tupperware (I used tupperware but mom uses glass baking dishes), place first layer of meat. Sprinkle a third of the garlic, and a third of the onions. Place another layer of beef, then garlic, and onions. Last layer of beef, garlic and onions. In a small bowl, pour enough soy sauce to cover the beef. You don't need to completely drown it in soy sauce, but just enough so the top layer gets some lovin' too. Add the lemon juice to the bowl and mix. Pour the soy sauce mixture into the tupperware. Cover and refrigerate overnight. It's worth the wait. When you're ready to start cooking, heat a skillet and add about a tsp of oil. Fry the meats and saute the onions to your preferred doneness. A lot of the meat will be cooking in it's own juices, so after frying everything, it wouldn't be a bad idea to pour the left over meat juice over the Bistek.

Sinangag

two day old, cold cooked rice
2 gloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of salt
oil for frying

Heat a frying pan over medium heat. Add a small amount of oil and the garlic. You do not want to cook the garlic thoroughly as they will cook on its own when you add the rice. I would leave it on the pan for about two minutes. Add the rice. Try to break apart the chunks, it will have a better texture and consistency. Fry the rice for about 7-10 minutes. Not everyone's stove works the same, so keep an eye and stir every now and then to promote even frying. Add salt and pepper. Continue frying until you reach a nice dry type of stickiness, or your preferred doneness.

Looks unappealing, but very, very delicious.

Strawberry Delight

1 lb strawberries, sliced
2 8oz tubs of cool whip
2 bricks of cream cheese, room temperature
2 packages of graham crackers (not boxes)
1/2 cup butter
2 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. In a small glass cup, melt butter in the microwave. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool. Break apart graham crackers into perforated rectangles. Place in a baking dish and pour over cooled butter. Be sure that all pieces are coated. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until they turn almost a chocolate graham color. They will be soggy but will harden when cooled so separate the pieces for easy layering. Set aside. Cream the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the whipped cream.

Begin layering by spreading a thin layer of whipped topping on the bottom of a glass baking dish, or tupperware. I used a rather large tupperware. Then add two layers of graham cracker. Then whipped topping. Sprinkle half of the strawberries evenly. Carefully spread another layer of whipped topping, then two layers of graham crackers. Again, spread more whipped topping, then finish with the rest of the strawberries. Chances are, you won't use all the whipped topping. It would be a good idea to NOT use all of the whipped topping, because then you will end up covering the graham cracker and strawberry tastiness. So be sure you are spreading a thin amount of whipped topping, but enough to cover the graham crackers and strawberries.
Cover and let it sit in the fridge over night.


 

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Strawberry Cakesters, wut


 

I can't explain this, but it was on All Recipes.

Cake Mix Cookies
Adapted from Allrecipes.com 

1 package of cake mix
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream butter, add eggs. Mix in cake mix. Drop by spoon fulls. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes.

A lot of the reviews on this recipe mentions to add two tbsp of oil and 1 tsp of vanilla. I read that the cookies will taste less like cake mix, which I think defeats the purpose of making cake mix cookies, aka cakesters. If you do intend on making the adjustments, keep in mind they will spread out a lot, so I would go with tsp sized drops.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

An Amazing cooking week and Cold Feet

I have been doing some cooking lately.

Cooking. Me. Cooking.

It's been AWESOME. I've had home cooked meals everyday this week. On Monday, man friend and I grilled hot dogs, it's been some time. Tuesday, I cooked up some Filipino fudz, longanisa with rice, it has been SOME TIME. Emphasis on that; it's literally been years since I've had longanisa. Today, grilled burgers with chipotle mayo and bacon. I had mentioned the idea of using a full pound of meat between two people was a bad one, but man friend failed to realize that. I am so full. Men. Tunnel vision. PLEASE. I managed to snap a few of the burgers, but since I'm bad, I forgot about the other two dishes. I will post them when I get the chance.

As far as cold feet goes, I'm suffering. All I'm going to say is: I need to wow before I start having dreams about my sad blood elf. D2 is amazing and all, but damn.

6/4/2010 -- update