Sterces Reunion

When I was in High School, I had a special group of friends and we called ourselves Sterces. The group was formed in 1998. We decided to have our first official reunion this December 2009 (for once, we were all on the same island!).

It's been 11 years, and here we are now!

I cooked my Pesto and Cheese Pasta recipe. Donna got garlic bread to go with it.

(Recipe to follow)

Mayang had a very cool idea about preparing a "Create Your Own Dessert" dessert which consisted of fresh fruits, broas, and cream with cheese (wicked wicked yummy thing should be called a "waistline buster"). Had a wonderful time, of course!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!

Our Noche Buena was a wonderful result of great teamwork. :-)

Due to popular demand, the pasta in white sauce was present again. It seems that everytime I'm home I have to serve time in the kitchen. LOL


I made the stuffed mushrooms for hors d'oeuvres...


Four out of six children were at the nest for Christmas this year, so the folks were pretty happy.

For dessert, we had my mother's buko & fruit salad, which was sooo yummy...



...as well as my twin sister Lili's mango float. Somebody stop me from eating all of these! They're the best!

Will post recipes next time. I have a backlog of recipes to post, but it's still too busy.

See ya all in the new year!!!

5 Days Before Christmas!

I'm officially on a holiday starting today and I'll be flying home tomorrow. Can't wait!
Will be cooking for a reunion with the Sterces (Lili, Mayang, and Donna). :-) Of course there's the usual Noche Buena on Christmas eve and Media Noche on January 1. I hope I remember to take pictures despite the busy schedule. :-)

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!! :-)

In the Land of Oz

Pooped from this evening's workout so I ended up making something very simple: Tuna Pitawiches. When I was in university there was this place called Oz Cafe. Their Tuna Pitawich was my favorite. I tried to make my own based on what I remembered of how it tasted. Added black olives to make the recipe my own. Will post it later. ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Another Stuffed Mushroom Recipe

It's Friday, and after a long, busy day, I decided to just stay at home and take a breather. The formula is pretty simple: watching reruns of “Friends”+ whipping up something new in the kitchen+ going for an evening run. I didn’t realize running would be so much harder in the evening during this time of the year. It’s pretty cold out there. After a while I was able to adjust to the cold evening breeze, but the first few minutes, I felt like my lungs would burst into smithereens. But enough of me and the weather. How have YOU been? :-)

Pesto and Parmesan Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 16 pcs whole champignons, stems pulled out
• 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• 1 slice of whole wheat bread, shredded into crumbs
• black pepper
• 2 tbsp butter

Here’s how to make it

1.) The Stuffing:

a. Combine bread crumbs, pesto, and parmesan cheese in a bowl.

b. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan. Turn off heat right away as soon as the butter has melted. (Do not wait for it to brown!) Pour into the pesto mixture and mix well. (It’s not supposed to be too moist; only moist enough that the ingredients have a paste-like consistency.)

c. Pour mixture into the pan and cook in low heat for about 5 minutes. Stir frequently. Transfer to a bowl.

2.) Slightly grease the pan and sauté the champignons until slightly brown. Add a dash of black pepper.

3.) Using a teaspoon, stuff each champignon with the pesto mixture. Once done, use kitchen tongs to arrange them inside the same pan stuffed-side up. Cook in low heat for 5-6 minutes or until brown. Do not stir.

4.) Transfer cooked champignons on a plate lined with a kitchen paper towel to get rid of the extra butter.

5.) Transfer to a serving plate and serve hot.

I keep my computer nearby because I usually write down the recipe rightaway. At the same time, I watch movies or reruns of my favorite shows while cooking. :-)

Herbed Chicken and Boiled Vegetables

Well, I came up with two very simple but yummy new recipes today. It’s a Monday, but we didn’t have work because it’s a national holiday (Bonifacio Day). I woke up very early and spent an hour working out. I went running at the nearby park for about 40 minutes and spent the remaining 20 minutes doing some stretches. I was surprised to see so many fellow joggers. It was very motivating. It was also fun people-watching. Haha. When I got home, I didn’t realize how tired I was until I fell asleep and woke up two hours later. WOW.

I spent the rest of the day having “friend time” with Tracy and had my first cup of coffee after one whole month of going without it. I ordered my favorite blend called Raspberry Mocha Kiss, and it was indeed BLISS! As they say, delayed gratification pays. :-) I spent most of the evening cooking for tomorrow’s packed lunch (there’s actually enough for dinner, too) since I will be very busy with my usual “first-day-of-the-month-high” at work.

Herbed Chicken

I rarely cook anything deep fried, but I guess this is a good reward for working out and for eating well on a rest day. Besides, I am now gaining more and more appreciation for different kinds of fresh and dried herbs and was up for a little experiment.

Ingredients:

Fresh sweet basil leaves, finely chopped

Dried basil

Dried rosemary

Chicken breast fillet, cut into 3 inch slices

Eden Cheese

Pillsbury flour

1 egg, beaten

Lauric oil or canola oil

Steps:

Slice the chicken breast fillet into half, but not completely, creating a flap. Spread open and apply chopped fresh basil leaves.

Sprinkle with dried basil.

Add cheese, and close. (Use toothpicks to keep the cheese sandwiched in the chicken fillets if necessary.)

Repeat for the rest of the chicken fillets.

Sprinkle with dried rosemary.

Dip in egg, and then cover with flour.

Deep fry in lauric or canola oil.

Let stand on a strainer or paper kitchen towels to remove excess oil.

Serve hot.

Boiled Vegetables

This recipe is good for those who are watching their cholesterol level.

Some may consider this bland, but I do not agree because if one pays close attention (meaning that you are in fact chewing your food well), the vegetables have distinct individual flavors. Paying attention to how the individual ingredients in my food taste is actually one of those little lessons I learned from my little sister.

Ingredients:

Asparagus spears, cut into 3-inch lengths

Brocolli

Cauliflower

Carrots, slices

Water

Steps:

Bring water to a boil. Add all vegetables and cook for about three minutes, or until asparagus is soft, but not limp. Do not overcook.

Drain water.

Serve.

Wedding Bells

Have I ever mentioned that Chandler Bing was my favorite character in the tv show "Friends"?
I loved his humor and the fact that he resorted to it as a defense mechanism. (I do, too, that's why. Haha)

Anyway, I have been watching reruns of "Friends" lately--most of the time while waiting for pasta to boil or other stuff to simmer-- and I realized how fast time seems to be flying. In "Friends", for example, they were just these 25-year-oldswho laughed, cried, celebrated, and grieved together; and the next moment they were these 30-somethings who started getting married. Well, except for Joey anyway.

In the same way it's also a whole new season for me. My friends are starting to get married. In fact, there's gonna be another wedding in two weeks. It's gonna be the second one I will attend this year. I pretty much started 2009 with a wedding (Ate Neri and Kuya Aboy's last January 11) and now I'm ending it with a wedding on December 12. Cool, huh?

Anyway, this week, we will be having a "Wedding Bootcamp" in Lorie's Kitchen. I bet our friends will appreciate us looking fabulous in their wedding pictures. Haha. So, for this week's recipes, we will have more protein and less carbs.

13 days to go.Good luck!