The (Mis)Adventures of Superboink

Forgive my absence. It's been a week or so, and I am still trying to experiment on my routines. Catching up on blogging is in the middle of my long list of to do's. I still have to write about Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical, my overdue Spiral Buffet pig-out (which happened twice already a few weeks apart), over two months worth of recipes, some motherhood insights I get to ponder on day to day. You have to see my blogger drafts. I've placed reading in higher priority as I want to catch up on the pile of new books on my bedside. I'm getting excited for Hunger Games - with the casting being revealed already. We watch movies more often now. I was wondering how long it has been since the last time we were like this but it feels good now that W is also with us to enjoy. No more BF-GF dates. Wholesome family quality time indeed. Yesterday we watched Captain America. Ohh. I haven't even blogged about my review of Thor, XMen First Class, Transformers...gah. I...

from Sardonic Salad

click on the picture for a bigger view SHARING THIS TO THOSE WHO ARE WILLING TO HELP THE PHILIPPINE SCIENCE HIGH SCHOOL'S INDIGENT STUDENTS. AN ART EXHIBIT FOR A CAUSE. :: :: :: :: ::

I am kind of torn if I love Monday or not. =D When things start to get crazy within the week, I find myself rushing things like cooking. Well that happens when I have everything planned out and suddenly something comes up and I have to deal with it right away.  As a back-up plan, whenever I am not that busy (like some weekends, see some ? teehee!) I cook meals ahead and keep it inside the fridge for reheating later on. Given that, I am always on the hunt for food that doesn't spoil easily and keeps in the fridge well. This humba version may not be the "real" humba some of us know of, but this is the Humba I grew up eating - cooked especially for us by my grandmother.

I tried experimenting with Minatamis na Saba - slightly improving the gooey texture it renders when it's kept for sometime in the fridge. This version may come off a bit too sweet at first, but once you chew on the saba, the acidity of the lemon will balance it out.

I was given fresh Lapu-Lapu (fish) from down south by my mom. After planning to have it steamed for the weekend together with the ginataang alimango (crab with coconut cream - that I'll also cook), I have decided to fillet it instead and rub some herbs for our dinner.

Oh no, this recipe is definitely NOT complicated at all. Haha. This is probably one of the cutest food prep I made (though I could have done much better).  :: :: ::

Love. It takes almost nothing except each other's company to enjoy when my son W and I are together. A simple joke, (corny at that) can make us burp and fart really hard from laughing. Hahaha!  Sometimes, no matter how tight my budget is, I still make it a point to treat W to something new and cool. A short trip to Dairy Queen proved to be a great bonding moment for us. He enjoys ice cream as much as I do - and I just wanted to prove to him that before Selecta came up with their extra creamy version, it is DQ who serves their ice cream upside-down. =)

Philippine Science High School , the country's premiere secondary educational institution is still accepting admission applicants until this Friday, July 15 .  Getting into Pisay is surely no easy feat but if you do, you will be given a quality education " enriched in science and mathematics " that's designed for " exceptionally gifted Filipino children ." You are also privileged to study without paying for any tuition fee and you get free loan of textbooks. Top that with monthly stipends (you're being paid for just studying well, how cool is that?!) and if you come from a low-income family, you may be eligible to receive uniform, transportation and living allowances. Pisay dolls =) cutie! from [LINK]

A frittata is different from an omelette. Yes.  Frittatas are prepared and cooked with the meat/veggies "add-ons" incorporated in the beaten egg mixture already. An omelette on the other hand has the "add-ons" placed on the egg when it's almost cooked, then folded. It's mainly on the way the additional ingredients are added to the egg. =) Hence, I'll stop calling this an omelette. Teeheehee. =D

It sure beats the stress out of me when I have a bowl of steaming noodle soup to comfort me. The soup soothes and is perfect for cold, rainy days like today.  My sister loves this so much. Ahh, I'm missing her already even if it's still months before her wedding. =)

It has been customary at home to have a vegetable dish to go with any (dry - fried/steamed) fish or meat dish in a meal. We were taught that vegetables are important so there's rarely a meal without them when we were growing up. Sometimes, we would kid our lola (grandmother) how for her love of us apos (grandkids) she'd include a lot of meat in the vegetable side-dish that it almost looks good enough to be the main meal. We got so used to her style of cooking that now that I am already the one doing the cooking for my family...well, I also put a lot of meat in my veggie dishes turning it to a one-pot meal. Teehee! Ahh...I love my lola so much!

It is a privilege to serve as someone's maid-of-honor, much more if it's your sister getting married.  We are truly happy for her and her soon-to-be husband. =)

It seems like I'm running out of better ideas on how to cook chicken so one day, I opened a cookbook for help. I chanced upon this recipe - African Chicken Stew - which is believed to be from West Africa.  The good thing about this dish is that no matter how it sounds exotic, it is actually very easy to make - with ingredients easily found and can even be modified to whatever's readily on-hand. Another thing I liked about it is that it is already a one-pot meal with vegetables. W liked it!  :: :: ::

When kids arrive home from school what do you usually give them?  Sometimes, I worry that if I give W a heavy snack, he might skip dinner and feel hungry late in the evening.  Also, there are times when I am too busy attending to other things that I don't have the time to whip up some freshly cooked pancakes or even pasta for merienda. photo from my old blog =) will post a more recent pic soon.

When we watched X-Men First Class in Eastwood a few weeks back, I asked M if he's game walking towards Cyberzone Plaza, which is over a hundred steps away from where we were. He said okay, so with W in tow we headed to Serenitea's newest branch.

Johnny Rockets ' here! The famous California burger joint opened its first Asian franchise here in Quezon City a few years back. With the same diner-style decor and famous milkshake and burgers, Johnny Rockets brought about so much anticipation to Filipino burger-lovers. I was able to dine at Johnny Rockets in California a couple of times. The one I frequented was in Long Beach, beside the movie house. My favorites: their Route 66 burger and strawberry milkshake with malt. I am also enthralled by the cutesie 50's diner style interior design, complete with diner booths and jukeboxes. Everyone wanted to try Johnny Rockets despite reviews that this Manila franchise is way too expensive (Read: triple McDonalds' price). So yay! (L) Signage and (R) Restaurant entrance/facade

What sets a Cream Dory fish apart from the ranks of tilapia or bangus is that it has a mild taste and soft, silky and almost melt-in-your-mouth texture (if prepared just right). Sometimes I wonder, isn't all kinds of fish like that? But each time I eat a cream dory, I get that enticing aroma and enjoyable feeling bite after bite that I don't usually experience with other cooked fish.

It is quite hard to put every thought and feelings one has in just one post. I for one, can't seem to determine how to share stories about the many different merchants in Mercato Centrale and Midnight Mercato . I therefore conclude (ala high school science experiment a-ha! moment...) to just make a ' Round-Up ' Pos t while I continually create new posts about specific products and merchants.  (LOL see my list of backlogged posts). =D Here goes: