Banana and Cheese Pudding-ding...

Here's a simple but delightful comfort dessert.  PUDDING!!!

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoon melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 pieces day old sliced bread broken to small pieces
2 bananas sliced diagonally (or any other fruit you like to go with the pudding)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (depends on what you like)
whipcream (optional)
lady fingers or vanilla wafers (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350F
Beat eggs in a mixing bowl.  Add milk, sugar and vanilla. You can add cinnamon as well if you like.
In an 8" x 8" baking pan put bread covering the whole pan. pour butter all over the bread.
Place sliced banana
Spread shredded cheese to cover
Pour over mixture and make sure bread is soaked up with the custard.
Bake for 45 minutes or until pudding springs back when pushed with fork.
Serve it as it is or make it fancy by adding whipcream and wafers or you can serve it with ice cream.
Enjoy!!!

Tomorrow is June 20, Father's Day. The root word of FATHER is also the same for PATRON, meaning to protect and provide; or PATERNOSTER as in the Lord's Prayer (Our Father).  We, Fathers, have a big responsibility to protect and provide not only material stuff but more importantly, love and spiritual guidance to our children.  We never stop being a father to them no matter how old they grow.

"Colossians 3:21 (NASB) Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart."

Godspeed!

Changes and Decisions....

"Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

It’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted a blog and a recipe. Lately, I don't feel like writing at all. My better half (or is it bitter?..he he he) says I could be having the writers' block and for a while I thought that's just it. But I came to terms with it. It's just plain laziness or I just don't feel like writing at all. Or both. Just allow me for a moment to get away with my excuses.

There have been a lot of things that has happened the last couple of weeks. Decision that needs to be made and changes that needs to be done have been piling up. Finally, after so many sleepless nights, we finally did it.

DECISION and CHANGE #1
My business partner and I finally agreed to give up the office we have for the last couple of years and just do a home office for the meantime until economy picks up again. It's a hard decision to do. In my entire existence, this consultancy firm is actually the only business I actually owned (well, ok! half of it!). So, as much as I want to hang on to it, there's no other recourse but to give it up. I know I said we'll be doing home office and we’ll be fine but knowing the trend, I know I will be watching it die slowly. As a matter of fact, I am already seeing it happen before my very eyes. My business partner more saddened by this turn of event, hangs on to it more than I do. Financially, he will not be affected that much because he's already retired. It’s the love of doing what we do then giving it up, that’s what’s breaking his heart. He may not say it but I can feel it. July henceforth will not be what it used to be.

DECISION and CHANGE #2
I finally made up my mind to change career and go back to school. To be honest, I was just forced into it by my present predicament. I don’t know if I could hack it but you got to do what you got to do. I was contemplating whether to go to a culinary school (since I can cook anyways) or do the medical field. No, I’m not gonna be a doctor, you silly! I’m thinking more of the laboratory tech like in the MRI or CAT Scan. Something like that. SO, yesterday, I started applying for federal grant and scheduled my school orientations. Most probably, I will be back in school by fall this year. My better half, which’s been very supportive all these years is kinda excited with the prospect of me going back to school. She’s been persuading me to do so ever since although it was about pursuing a master degree on my field. So hello school! Here I come!!!

DECISION and CHANGE #3
Biggest decision as far as I can tell because it really affected my daily schedule, my relationship, my comings and goings. We finally added a new member in our family. No, not a baby! Well, it is in a way because you have to take care of it like one and it’s about a year and half old. Yup! You guess it right. We got ourselves a DOG! We adopted a mix Chihuahua (actually mukha siyang ASKAL if you ask me and it’s alright! See for yourself). We named him Sheldon after a character from The Big Bang Theory TV show because they share some similar peculiarities.

So there they are the reasons why I was taken away from my laptop and my blogs for two weeks.

“That’s all I have to say about that….”

(P.S.: I'll have a recipe tomorrow.)

Coming of Age...plus CHICKEN INASAL ala CARL!!!

I just finished watching a movie that has been a part of my young life and probably most of my peers of the same age. Do any of you remember the movie “Private Lessons”? I am pretty sure that a lot of you, especially the guys, are smiling right now. I know I am!

Private Lessons was released in 1980, the year we graduated from High School. The film starred the unforgettable Sylvia Kristel as Nicole, the 30-something woman and Eric Brown as Philly, the 15 year-old son of a wealthy businessman. It is basically a Coming-of-Age movie. I will not delve into details as to the storyline but it will suffice to say that this movie has fired up a lot of our imaginations back then. Sylvia Kristel always graced our imaginings a lot, oh yes she did!!!. Ah, the excitement of growing up and the thought of….really nostalgic!

Anyways, while we’re on the subject of reminiscing, our batch is planning of having a reunion in Las Vegas 30 years after graduating high school . Those back home already did and we who are in the other side of the ocean and were unable to attend will have a chance of connecting with our batch mates specially those here in the US, Canada and some from the Caribbean. So far, we have 16 confirmations and counting. Do try to attend if you are a member of our class. For sure, we will have so much fun remembering the happy times that is High School. And guys, I will try to get my hands on a copy of “Private Lessons” and we’ll watch it once again and go back to our memories of Nicole…

 Now, a promise is a promise so here's my recipe for Chicken Inasal.


CHICKEN INASAL

INGREDIENTS

6 to 8 chicken wings or legs
1 head Garlic, finely chopped
1 medium size ginger, grated
2 pcs. Siling pang-sigang, de-seed and finely chopped
½ cup vinegar
¾ cup Soy sauce (Kikkoman if possible)
½ cup sugar
Salt and pepper
Bamboo skewers
Oysters or mussels, depends on preference
3 to 4 bottles of beer
For dipping sauce, use vinegar/soy sauce or calamansi/soy sauce combination. With siling labuyo of course.

In a bowl combined vinegar, soy sauce. Add sugar and dissolve. Add garlic, ginger and sili. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add some more sugar, soy sauce and vinegar according to your taste preference. Marinate chicken for 6 hours. Skew chicken using bamboo skewers and grill slowly on a medium heat. Don’t use high heat because you will undercook the inside meat.

Now you’re probably asking where the oysters/ mussels and beer will come into picture. For appetizers while cooking of course! If you hail from Bacolod you know. But for us who grew up in Manila, the explanation is simply this: in Bacolod, chicken inasal and seafood go together! Plus beer and a heap of newly cooked rice….Kaon ta bala…Godspeed!!!

A Brief Respite On A Galaxy Far Far Away...

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….”


A line so familiar to geeks and videophile like myself. For more than two decades now, this movie franchise never cease to amaze the young and old alike, new fans and old fans. Ever since the first Star Wars movie came out in 1977, fans continued to drove in millions to the movie houses when the sequels, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi were shown. More fans were drawn in when the prequels came out knowing that the movies will finally reveal what made Anakin Skywalker turn to the dark side and became the dark lord known as Darth Vader.


Last Saturday, I was treated again to the genius that is Star Wars not via the movie but by its Original Score. John Williams whose career spans six decades composed the Star Wars scores as well as many of the most famous film scores in Hollywood history, including Superman, Home Alone, the first three Harry Potter movies and all but two of Steven Spielberg's feature films including the Indiana Jones series, Schindler's List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park and Jaws. He also composed the soundtrack for the hit 1960s television series Lost in Space as well as the fanfare of the DreamWorks Pictures' logo. Williams has composed theme music for four Olympic Games, the NBC Nightly News, the rededication of the Statue of Liberty, and numerous television series and concert pieces. He served as the principal conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra from 1980 to 1993, and is now the orchestra's laureate conductor.

The live orchestra and choir conducted magnificently by Lucas Richman treated hundreds of audience in The Orleans Arena to a brand new Star Wars experience by synchronizing the original scores with the footages from all six episodes beamed thru a huge high definition LED super screen with a recorded intro by James Earl Jones, the voice behind Darth Vader plus a brilliant series of introductions for each musical piece performed live by actor Anthony Daniels who appeared as C3-PO in all six episodes. The lasers and pyrotechnics thrown in for good measure were a spectacle to see.

Should the concert come to your city, don’t let it pass without you experiencing the Saga that is STAR WARS…may the Force be with you…

I promised a menu for today. I can’t post it right now due to time constraints but I will tomorrow. Stay tuned. Godspeed!

Memorial Weekend...

I started out my chores early today. Did a lot of client calls and follow up on leads and learning that either the project was put hold or worse we lost on the bid. Tsk tsk tsk...Oh well, gotta keep hanging on...

In my opening conversation a client-friend, I greeted him happy long weekend because of the Memorial Day celebration on Monday. By the way, how do you greet somebody about this holiday? Do you say “Happy Memorial Day”? Halika nga. Himayin natin itong holiday na ito ng mga Kano.

“This holiday originated in 1866 after the long and bloody Civil War between the North and the Southern States of America. Waterloo, NY drugstore owner Henry Welles got an idea when surviving soldiers came home with missing limbs and stories to tell. He suggested that all the shops in town close for one day to honor the soldiers who died in the Civil War and were buried in the local cemetery. On May 5, people brought flowers and wreath and crossed to decorate the graves of the Northern Soldiers. Major General Jonathan Logan on the other hand, planned another ceremony, this time honoring the surviving soldiers. They, too, went to the cemetery to decorate their comrades’ graves with flags thus giving birth to what they call “Decoration Day”. It was declared then by General Logan that the 30th of May 1868 be designated for the purpose decorating the graves of the fallen soldiers in defense of their country and whose bodies now lie in almost every city.”

“The two ceremonies were joined in the same year and the northern states commemorated it on the 30th of May. In 1882, “Decoration Day” was changed to “Memorial Day” and soldiers who died in the previous wars where honored as well. At first, it was designated a public holiday only in the northern United States. President Nixon, in 1971, declared the last Monday of May, as Memorial Day which is now a federal holiday and celebrated by the whole nation.”
-rephrased from Beverly Hernandez, About.com, “Celebrate Memorial Day” article



We Pinoys have a similar holiday in the Philippines. It is called “Araw ng Kagitingan” which falls on April 9. We too celebrate the bravery of Pinoy, Chinoy and American soldiers who endured while a lot died during the 90-mile walk called Bataan Death March. I remember this very well because of the war stories my father told us. My father, the late Ramon Bergonia, was a member of USAFFE during WWII and was with that death march. He was able to escape when, one of their rest stop, something grab the attention of the Japanese guards. With the Jap Soldiers distracted, my father escaped by jumping into a ravine, running and rolling with bullets whizzing left and right. An old couple found him later in the bottom of the ravine and nursed him back to health. He was suffering from malaria during the march.

We all celebrate the Memorial Day one way or another. We probably have love one/s that died in the service or are presently in the service. Or just love ones who passed away already. Let’s keep praying for safety for those who still alive and relive the wonderful memories left behind by those who have passed on.

Have a wonderful weekend. I will be back on Tuesday with another dish for you to try. Godspeed!

Excuse me, your english is showing...

Nakakatawa talaga when you try to translate something literally from one language to another tapos it came out somewhat wrong. Have you ever had that experience? Well, if not sorry for you! You're missing an opportunity to laugh at yourself.


Well, I did have one episode last night. I was on my way to the grocery to buy some beer (they say a bottle of beer is better than a glass of soda. I couldn't agree more!) when I noticed that the car on my right doesn't have his head lights on. So I rolled down my window and said to the guy “Excuse me! You don’t have a headlight”. I was supposed to say “you don’t have your headlights on" but it came out wrong. Hindi ba sa Tagalog we say “ Wala kang ilaw” and if you translate it to Cebuano you translate it as it is: “Wa kay suga”. And my brain did just that, translating the sentence directly to English so it came out “you don’t have a headlight”. Well the guy understood me anyways, thanked me, turned on his lights and went his merry way. After the episode, my brain started to analyze what I said and I suddenly realize that I had another spoken language mishap.

I remember a joke when I was still working with PLDT and assigned to the province. I have this co-employee who one day remarked, kiddingly of course, “buti pa itong mga bata dito sa Iloilo ang galing magsalita ng ilonggo. Ako ang tanda ko na di pa ako marunong magsalita nyan.” It’s so funny di ba? But somehow that statement is true here in the US. Not that I don’t know how to speak the language. Goodness! English is our second language in the Philippines. I aced several of Ms. Gasingan's (my english teacher) periodical exam in high school.  I am even tell the some of the people I had the pleasure of working with that wherever you go in the Philippines, you won’t have a hard time (well little I guess) communicating because, english-barok or what, the locals have some command of the English language. Try going to the Thailand or China or some other non-English speaking country and for sure, you’ll find yourself doing some sort of a sign language.

I am so amazed about the children’s brain and how quickly they absorb knowledge. My girlfriend’s niece and nephew were both born in the Philippines and just moved here in the spring of 2007. The boy was just 5 and the girl was 3 then. At first, the boy had a little difficulty communicating with his cousin who was born here in the US and the girl is just starting to learn how to talk. The long and short of it, both now speak English flawlessly complete with the twang and idioms and day-to-day conversational English. They still understand Tagalog but not after asking “what” first. As for us “older” people, a friend once made a comment saying that our English is too formal. Probably so. We learned it from school. And this is the reason why we are so prolific a writer but poor conversationalist. At least I am. I know I can write better than most of the people I deal with but when it comes to just having a chat with them. Oh goodness! I have to compose something first in my brain before saying it out loud or else, I will have another “No headlight” incident.

Moral or the story:  Help is understood in any language.  Also, chat more with your friends even if you sound silly at first.  You'll get the hang of it sooner or later.

P.S. My gratitude to my followers who I found out just now that I already have two. Thanks Nori and Nancy.  Spread the word. It’s nice to have some audience for a change. Godspeed!

Arroz Caldo ala Pobre and ala Sosyal

Sigh!!! My laziness is starting to get the best of me.  I know i can continue with this blogging thing. Siguro I am just tired due to my activities last night plus I had less than the required number of sleeping hours.  Anyways, I have to shake this.  Otherwise, I won't be able to finish this blog...

The end of May is fast approaching.  Barely a week remains on the 5th month of the year.  Another month and we're halfway down 2010.  Ano na ba nangyari?  Anong bago for 2010? I was really hoping when 2009 ended that 2010 will be better than the previous year.  Tsk tsk tsk.  It was worse!  The only project that we were able to land is still up in the air.  Well, at least, we were paid 50% of our fee.  But we're more concerned of being productive rather than staying home and act like pensioners.  Teka! My business partner is already on pension.  Ha ha ha!!! Ako lang pala ang acting like a pensioner.  Talking of my business partner, he is such a sweet person.  When I came here in the US, he was the one who acted as my father here.  He signed up for my first apartment, my first car, basically everything to help me with get settled here in the US.  Kaya even if he is super kulit to the max (tama ba yung expression ko?), I consider him as my second father, a friend, a confidant.  In the event that we have to close shop (I hope not!), for sure, we will still be in constant communication. 

Going back...This year I think I really hit bottom.  I am literally scrapping the bottom of my financial barrel.  Konti na lang baka di na ako makabayad ng bills ko.  But you know what?  For some reasons, I am still able to!  I am then reminded of a line from a Christmas song:

"And when we worry and we can’t sleep
 We’ll count our blessings instead of sheep
 And we’ll fall asleep counting our blessing"

"And when our bankroll is getting small
 We’ll think about the time when we had none at all
 And we’ll fall asleep counting our blessings"
                   - from "Christmas Medley", Ray Conniff Singers, 1962

There are times when in the middle of the night, I would wake up and then worries take a grip on me, especially when I think about the financial quagmire I am in right now but I will not delve into details.  Don't get me wrong.  I am not looking for symphaties for my situation.  I do just fine, thank you.  But what I want to drive at is that when you're on a crossroad with one leading to despair and one hope, choose HOPE.  I don't know why I am blogging about this but if this will help at least one person nearing despair, I'm urging him: DON'T!  Help is on its way.  I promise you!!!  Up to now, nababayaran ko pa naman ang bills ko.  I still have a roof over my head on which our loan by the way, we were able to modify, and bring down our monthly payment by as much as 81% of what we used to pay.  Talk about GRACE!!!  If that's not a BLESSING, then what?

Recession, recession, recession.  That's a topic for another day.  For now, as promised, I am posting the recipe for Chicken Arroz Caldo ala Pobre and ala Sosyal.

 CHICKEN ARROZ CALDO ala SOSYAL

 The Ingredients
1/2 cup regular rice
1/2 cup malagkit na bigas
1-1/2 lb chicken wings, cut into 2 pieces OR
             chicken legs cut into 3-4 pieces
2-4 Eggs, boiled
1 head Garlic
1/2 medium Onion
1 tbs finely chopped Ginger
fish sauce, pepper, saffron flower, onion spring
5 cups water
calamansi or lemon

Brown about 3/4 of the finely chopped garlic. Set aside. Saute remaining garlic, onion and ginger and chicken. Put the regular rice and malagkit.  Add fish sauce to taste, mix and simmer for 5 mins. Add water and stir for 10 mins. Add boiled egg, pepper, saffron flower and onion spring.  Serve in a bowl, sprinkled with browned garlic and with calamansi or lemon on the side.


CHICKEN ARROZ CALDO ala POBRE

Substitute the regular and malagkit rice with 2-1/2 cups of left over rice, the chicken parts with chicken bouillon.  The boiled egg is the main "meat".  Cook as directed above. Kung walang itlog, pwede din.  Lugaw na tawag dyan. :D


Another blog has ended, another one to start.  I hope you, my good readers, will spread this around.  And please click and check out the ads I placed within my blog.  This could help me earn a living..he he he...Godspeed.