A new toy

It's been at least 8 years since I bought a camera.

I loved my Sony but it was time for a change.

Hello, Canon Rebel EOS t2i with 18-55 lens.

Haven't had much time to really use it and explore all that it can do

but here are some shots I've taken so far.

 1.  my new bowling ball...

 2.  a vase of silk hydrangeas that I put together.

 3.  a plant that a friend gave

4.  white vases on a shelf

I have so much more to learn about photography

and I have so much more to learn about photo editing.

I am excited at the prospect of learning both

and sharing the products with you.

New York, revisited

The first time I ever tried pinatisang manok was in December 1988 during my first trip to New York City.  My husband and I took a side trip to the Big Apple while visiting friends in Rhode Island for the holidays.  While in the city, we stayed with a college friend, Relinie, who was working as a nurse at NYU Medical Center at the time.  She served as our guide and brought us to some famous landmarks like the Rockefeller Center, World Trade Center, Statue of Liberty, and Macy's!  On our first day in the city, she served us this dish for lunch.   I have never forgotten how tasty it was.  Since then I have tried a couple of times to cook it but could never get just the right flavor because I never had chili pepper leaves.  Over the weekend, I finally found all the pepper leaves I could get my hands on and more.  One of our friends had several bushes and we took a few cuttings for planting and a few more for cooking.  Tonight, I may have just done Linie's pinatisang manok justice 23 years hence. 

Disclaimer:  Make sure to close all doors to the bedrooms, keep the exhaust fan at full blast, and light all the scented candles you can find.  Thankfully my husband was out when I cooked it and sprayed the house with perfume to mask the scent of the patis (fish sauce) before he arrived. 

Pinatisang Manok

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken wings
• 1 c chili pepper leaves
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
• 3 tbsp patis 
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup water
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger, julienned
• 1 cup water

In a medium sauce pan, saute garlic until brown - add onion and cook until translucent - add ginger for another couple of minutes - add the chicken wings and cook each side until brown (5 min on each side) - add pepper leaves - add water - bring to a boil - lower temperature to medium and simmer for another 20 minutes or until the sauced has reduced in half.  Serve hot over white steamed rice.

The week that was..

What made your week?

Me?  

Little things like...

 ...my new bowling ball...because it helped me get a couple of strikes at our League play.

...this Monarch caterpillar...because it will soon metamorphose into a beautiful butterfly!

...these calamansi...small but oh so good because the marinade I made with it came out so tasty.

 ...these mangoes...because I went on my first mango picking trip and collected a few bags of these!

...these sprouting green onions...because I never knew you could grow them just by placing the white part in water!

Breakfast, Pinoy style

This morning, we broke the night's fasting with a sumptuous spread of typical Filipino breakfast dishes.  I wish I could say that my family eats this way everyday.  This definitely was a little bit more involved than our typical, oatmeal or egg and toast but well worth the preparation because it was to share with friends who had just spent time this morning cleaning up Paradise Beach in Indialantic.  Our small Philippine organization, Sanlahi, Inc., has adopted this stretch of beach and we go and clean it up on the first Saturday of the month.  It was a pleasure to have prepared this month's breakfast to those who came out to help out.  These are some of the dishes we shared this morning.

Garlic fried rice

 I simply fried 3 tbps. minced garlic until golden brown and remove a few to garnish.

Add 4 cups old rice and fry until done. 

Top with fried garlic and serve hot.

 

Fried dilis

Fried danggit

Pork tocino

Tomato and salted egg salad

 This salad goes with tocino, longganisa, fried fish, etc. and fried rice.

4 red ripe Roma tomatoes, chopped

3 salted eggs, chopped

Salted eggs may be found in any Asian food store.  Some stores will keep them in the fridge or on the shelf.

I usually cut the egg in half with a knife and then use a spoon to scoop the egg out and add to the salad.  I chop it up in the salad or chop on a chopping board then add.

Sprinkle with a couple dashes of fish sauce, juice of a couple calamansi or lemon.

Top with 2 tbps green onions.

Serve cold or room temperature. 

This is how salted eggs come packaged

Tsokolate (Philippine hot cocoa)


Check out Erin's Hearty Meat Lasagna.