Cook and Brew.

It’s weekend once again. How’s your Friday so far? Mine’s great. The husband took a leave from work and we finally had the chance to do a task we’ve been putting off for so long. Looking forward for tomorrow as it will be another a LM day. We’ll drop by tomorrow and see the construction’s progress since a couple of weeks ago. We might also go malling afterwards and check out if the Kohler faucets we saw online are locally available.

Have a great weekend everyone.

I just encountered this term recently as I was browsing for some good deals in my favorite online travel booking site. I didn’t know there is such a terminology to describe a new category of luxury vacation. Karisma Hotels & Resorts boast as the pioneer and the only vacation expert who can effortlessly provide such exemplary service. So how do they define this further? Personal beach butlers, concierge, turn-down, 24-hour room service, premium beverages and Gourmet cuisine. It is more than fantastic food, as they say. It’s the fusion and overall experience of gourmet food, full service concierge, endless vacation activities and best of all, comfy, homey and cozy suites. It’s no wonder why a lot of couples also opt for destination weddings in the majestic pristine white sand of Riviera Maya beaches. The pictures on their site manifest how glorious and majestic the weddings are, I wonder how is it more in person.

It’s undeniable that drug addiction has been very rampant for decades now and one of the worst problems that the government is trying to address. But with unconfirmed news involving a few of the police force members and politicians as drug lord protectors, we can’t blame people to feel helpless. How can you trust people who are supposed to be front runners in eradicating this problem if they are the ones who complicate things and make it worse. These politicians should instead initiate more intensive drug rehab efforts to save the user while drafting and promulgating stricter laws in “catching and jailing the pusher”. On our part, we can equip ourselves with drug information and education so that we’d be familiarize how dangerous they are and to help us help who are suffering and caught in this predicament. After all, it’s never too late to start anew.

One of the creative projects I’ve been delaying for so long is to digiscrap my first ever recipe book. No, I don’t have my very own creations (yet) but it will be a compilation of my tried and would be tried favorite recipes I’ve scoured from every resource – magazines, from the web, recipe books, etc. But I’m thinking to make it a more personalized one by including a photo of my very own trial. Let’s see how will I go about this project. Hopefully, I’ll accomplish it this year. For the mean time, I’m still collating ideas from various resources.

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Speaking of ideas, do you have a suggestion what to gift a bachelor? The husband’s attending a stag party and their group will be giving the celebrant a sort of token before the big day. Will enzyte do as suggested by one of them?

We’ll be dropping by a nearby grocery later this afternoon to buy a few snack items for the little one. Our groceries in the cupboard is still enough to cover this coming week so what we’ll just pick up are the replenishment for Asher’s supplies like his distilled water, Koko Krunch cereals, Fruitini juice drinks, Yakult, yogurt and some biscuits and wafers. There’s just one canned sardines left so I’ll also get a few. It was Asher’s first time to taste it last week and he liked it. Just the perfect alternative should he dislikes what the cooked adult food for lunch or dinner.

Since the dry market is just nearby the grocery store, I’ll also go check and buy if there are non-fleece blankets available. The doctor banned our fleece made ones as it may trigger an allergy to our son and since it’s been colder these past few nights, I really have to get one. It doesn’t have to be electric blanket since the temperature is pretty tolerable with just an ordinary, warm blanket.

If you want to save yourself from having wrinkles (and using the best eye cream for wrinkles) getting tired of thinking what snacks to prepare for your kids, check out this simple and easy to do recipe from yummy.ph. The choice is yours for the sauce/dips recipes given but having them both at the same time seems to be more enticing.

Fried Mozzarella
10 to 12 slices mozzarella cheese, cut into 1-inch thick and 4-inch-long strips
1 1/2 cups Japanese breadcrumbs
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

For Honey Mustard Sauce
6 tablespoons Japanese mayonnaise
1 tablespoon deli mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic paste
1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

For Cilantro Lemon Mayonnaise
6 tablespoons Japanese mayonnaise
1 tablespoon cilantro leaves and stems, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
salt and pepper to taste

1. Dredge the mozzarella cheese in flour one by one. Dip into the egg after. Do this twice. Double coating the cheese prevents it from oozing out of its breadcrumb casing.
2. Then roll in breadcrumbs.
3. Fry mozzarella cheese until golden.
4. For the sauces, just mix everything and set aside. Serve cheese sticks with the two sauces.

For a more detailed procedure complete with pictures, check out the recipe here.

I’ll share the picture once I get to cook this within the week.

My son’s recent hospitalization made me realize that I have to be more wary on the stuffs that we have and use at home. His doctor instructed us to watch out for a lot of things so as not to trigger an allergy that can lead to another asthma episode.

1. Keep him away from pets (their danders are among the top allergens)
2. Put up a no smoking zone (all the time)
3. Keep away stuffed toys
4. Hypoallergenic beddings and allergy mattress covers must be used
5. Avoid dusty objects and surfaces

It may be a little tough to make sure these things are observed ALL THE TIME but anything for my child, I’d be all eyes and alert always. I can’t endure to see him undergo any discomfort and pain once again.

I love how my new HP G60 laptop comes along with hundreds of free pre-loaded trial games. Cooking Dash is one of those games that kept me stimulated whenever I don’t feel like working. From the makers of endless versions of the Diner Dash series, this is another Dash exciting, thrilling and wrist-hurting game where a player helps Flo and her Grandma Florence keep five DinerTown restaurants up and running while Cookie the Chef is away and pursuing a career on a popular cooking reality TV show.

The Cooking Dash offers:
* Over 50 levels of game play.
* Master the art of perfectly prepared meals in five different restaurants.
* 3D rendered characters add dimension to the animation.
* Cooking component.
* Interesting variety of foods to prepare.
* Plenty of challenge and strategy.

It is fast-paced and like the other Diner Dash games, bonus points for chaining commands together and seating are seating. If Flo is real, she would definitely need a testosterone booster to keep her up and for enhanced strength, endurance, recovery, and growth to work out all her tasks.

The game’s kinda addictive but easy. I was able to accomplish all 50 levels in just one day.

On New Year’s eve, I was tasked to cook my own version of Carbonara. Actually, my sister shared this recipe but I slightly deviated from the original ingredients. My in laws and my dear son loved my cooking dearly that they’re asking me to cook it again this weekend. Save for the ingredients preparation, total cooking time is fairly fast. It’s just easy to do but be warned though that this isn’t absolutely one of those diets for quick weight loss.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 Onion – chopped
1 whole Garlic – chopped
Mushroom (1 can, sliced)
Beef cubes (1 box)
Nestle cream (1 can)
Cream of mushroom (1 can, campbell’s)
Evaporada Milk (1 can, alpine)
Cheese (1 box, grated)
Fetuccini/tricolor (spiral) pasta
Bacon or crispy fried Maling or luncheon meat
Butter

1. saute garlic and onion in butter
2. add on the mushroom
3. beef cubes
4. add on the cream of mushroom
5. stir constantly, under low fire
6. add: nestle cream and evap milk
7. add the grated cheese with continous mixing
8. boil the pasta (put butter to prevent pasta fromsticking)
9. fry bacon w/o oil (til crunchy)

serving: top on the bacon or you can mix it with the sauce

I can safely assume that we’ll enjoy our own space (read as territory) not later than the second half of this year. Our dream home is just an arm stretch away so with that said, my reign as the Queen of the house will also soon begin. Among the things I look forward to that excites me the most are my would be kitchen adventures. I admit I’m not a good cook. I know a little bit about cooking but there’s still a lot that I need to master. We grew up with a housemaid who does the cooking for us. Here in my in laws’ place, it’s my MIL who does it. This is the reason why I didn’t have the chance to learn some more. I’m planning to obtain a culinary arts online bachelor degree or enroll myself in a basic cooking class perhaps because after all, I need not be pressured to prepare luxurious menus like those offered in fancy restaurants. One step at a time.