Ah, gawa ako ng cookies.

Ayos to para may kakaiba sa hapunan. Bago to a, magkakaron ako ng bisita. Lam ko ermitanyo ako, laging may sariling lakad, may sariling mundo. Hindi na umisod ang utak ko na parang iba. Ewan ko ba, abnoy nga talaga siguro ako. Linis dito linis doon. San ko kaya lagyan ng dekorasyon? Ah bahala na, ilagay ko na lang sa ref yung manok.

Pero di natuloy. Eto ako nag-iisa uli. Ako na nga lang ngunguya sa cookies. Chocolate chip pa naman to. Ibigay ko na lang iba sa kapitbahay ...

Watched that little jingle for Discovery channel.

I dunno, stuff like that is good to watch for people like me


When I see pictures like this, it makes you think how little are troubles really are in the grand scheme of things. The whole world is just awesome

Ever since I've had my place, it looks like this place turned into a food blog.

I guess when I'm busy enough, all those chaos inside my head wouldn't manifest itself into something decidedly ugly.

Which in itself is a good thing.

Lots of exciting stuff ahead still. There's so much possibility with this kind of freedom. Now that I don't sink myself into work that much (yeah, once the clock hits the 8 hour limit, I split) I'm beginning to explore things that I'd really like doing.

Pretty much surprised myself that I like exploring culinary pursuits. And I thought my hands are made for clicking mice.

~~~

I've bought a bag of rice, of Dinorado variety. I think when I was a kid, this was one of the more expensive ones. Knowing me however, I really don't care much about price.

What I realized when I bought it is that it gives off a handsome scent. Almost 'creamy' like what you would say to a dairy product. Isn't that interesting? When settled, it seems to form a neat pattern probably because of the shape of the grain.

Monday night found me with a lot of overripe bananas and a yearning to bake. So, here's what came out of the oven


It's brown.

Made with cinnamon, a spoon of Hershey's cocoa, some raisins, and the usual bread ingredients and you have an awesome bread.

Okay maybe it is half bread and half brownie (though some may argue brownies are breads). I was able to put in just enough sweetness that it doesn't dull the tongue and didn't put in the banana / vanilla flavoring altogether.

The result is a brownish bread. Unfortunately, it's selfish and it's enough to eat it alone. Though it could use some butter, but all in all, you'll feel good it's sliding down your belly.

Case closed.

I don't know how to make spaghetti sauce.

But for some reason, some instinct told me that I'm going to have to saute garlics/onions put tomato sauce then put everything else after. However, I so don't want those icky spaghetti sauces locals and Jollibe make. That deep red, annoyingly sweet, boring sauce don't really appeal to me. Even as a kid.

Then when I tasted a Sbarro made spaghetti, I said to myself, "This is how spaghettis should be." The tomato sauce having that subtle sourness, and that vegetable sweetness sinking in to your palette.


Unfortunately, the spaghetti garnishes were cut too big to enjoy when I made one -.- it smelled reaaaaally good though. Props to the sausages I've put in there, it was divine

Saturday morning, I took the last of my personal belongings from my old haunt in mandaluyong. I'm a full pledged ortigas dude now. Megamall and Shangri-la are a good walking distance away. But that doesn't bother me. In fact, when I bought my electric oven and table, I carried it all the way from there.

It was arduous. Used to it though. Or maybe my pain threshold is just high enough to endure a task that would've been easier for less than 40 pesos and a taxicab. I just thought it's good exercise having those weights in my hand.


Mornings at my balcony. It's a very cool feeling playing the guitar in early mornings.

It's been more than two weeks of cooking and might I say, I don't have patis in my condiments. How does a Pinoy survive without one?

I certainly think using that iodized salt wouldn't give that special salty flavor, but I think what I'm aiming for is trying out foods without it to know the subtle flavors of the food I cook. Flavors that gets overwhelmed and easily overlooked.

Unfortunately, I was trying to cook tinola the other night and when I tried it the next day, the soup tasted like boiled water. Incidentally, I used red ginger instead of the usual luya because I was careless in the grocery stores and grabbed whatever looked like something I can use.

Even funnier, my officemates thought what I cooked was curry.

I plan to invite guests in my little room for dinner every now and then. However, if there's gonna be eating, I'd need a larger table. I do have a table where my laptop is, but it sure is not enough to hold a nice munch session.

It's more of a breakfast table / ironing board / what-have-you kind of table. For the most part, it serves the purpose at present. So I'm hunting for a relatively cheap folding table that's nice in the little room I have. That would mean I need some more chairs. Geez, I'm spending so much for something I won't use for long (maybe).

I dunno about any 'feminine touch'. But if it makes my room even nicer without making it look claustrophobically crowded, I'm all for it.

I'm thinking of a few candles here and there. Then again, that suggests I like the room hotter than it already is without the air con on. Pretty sure my electric bills this month would be the biggest I'll pay since I've been using appliances like there's no tomorrow.

Initially thought of some blooming stuff, but that's just gay. The best I came up with is a board with prints of my photographs. I have yet to see something that will do just that. Or just one huge-ass poster of my favorite shots.

Hmm what to do what to do

Yeah, I baked too much muffin last morning. Brought it to office. My officemates liked that shit. Looks like more incentive for me to learn more stuff.


Muff muff muff ... muffin!

I was pondering in front of the oven, watching the rellenong bangus I made til I decided, what the heck let's take pictures :)


My cooking set: oven + induction cooker + rice cooker


My fridge is getting crowded ...


The grand view. Not that it's as grand as Niagara falls or anythin'. I have a balcony and I use it.


The other side


The men's room. Neat and tidy. Hope I don't get anymore wasted episodes tho. Coz I'm pretty sure I can easily turn it into a toxic wasteland.


I love this carpet. Reminds me of the 80s era when most dads would go to the Middle East where jobs boomed


A small flower garden. I absolutely forgot what flowering plants that's growing on that pot.

Like the world that just wouldn't stop spinning ...

Alright. Got some cooking equipments.

The first thing I did was make leche flan. Not so sure if it's any good.

I've also tried making chicken afritada. And like all beginners, I successfully burned it. Induction cookers are quite powerful o_O

But like all things, there's a next time. I should've stirred the damn pot.

There's also the matter of me walking from megamall to san antonio village just to buy groceries.

Hmm. Maybe I should buy a bike.