Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

In my post, A Rosy Adieu , I featured the rose I gave as farewell memento to Mae Ann. In that post, I said I will also feature the yellow rose I gave to Eleanor. This is it! Here are the roses I crocheted for both Mae Ann and Eleanor. Pink-purple-blue for Mae Ann because her favorite color is pink and for Eleanor, yellow because it's her favorite color.  See this?  I'm so sorry, the rose is not very prominent in this view. Photo uploaded by Lea in FB.   Here, take a closer look! Another photo of the rose taken by Lea Oh yes, she already used her yellow rose identifier --- fastened on her luggage! I'm so glad it really served its purpose. :) Thank you, Fiber Flux for the idea and Apple Blossom Dreams for the pattern! I confess, I never knew until now that yellow rose could mean any of the following: joy, gladness, friendship, delight, promise of a new beginning, remember me, jealousy, and "I care". Of all the meanings mentioned, I like ...

For my Easter foodie post, here's my new creation... and my fifth recipe entry in Petitchef. Garden Chef's Gindara Tic-Tac-Toe I opened my Pursuits Journal, supposedly to write down some thoughts that have been piling in several pieces of paper by now. But look at what I saw in one of the pages of my journal... a recipe of a dish I tried several months ago that I haven't shared with anyone yet. You may call it perfect timing because 30 minutes ago, I thawed four gindara (sablefish, black cod, or butterfish) pieces from the refrigerator. Isn't that wonderful? I just made a quick check of the ingredients if they were available. Except for the lemon, everything else was present! But I have calamansi and other veggies in store that needed to be consumed ASAP so I made some modifications in the original concoction. Here we go... Ingredients: 250 gms gindara slices 2 tbsps lemon juice Garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste Paprika 1 tbsp bu...

In my post yesterday, The Message of the Cross , I mentioned about what's good about Good Friday. Today, I just found one other crafty reason.   Here's the unveiling of the grand announcement: Photo from Crochet Dynamite Argyle Crochet   Hear ye, hear ye! Argyle Crochet FREE BOOK DAY 3/29/13   Well, how about that? Oh, I'm really hoping I can avail of this offer! How about you? Hurry up and click on the link above now!!!!  Enjoy a happy and crafty Easter! ======== Linking to The Best Blog Recipes

With only one day left before Holy Thursday, local news on TV flashes people's travel preparations and plans of going to the provinces, visiting churches and and other private and solemn places where they could celebrate the Lenten Season.  For this post, I’m featuring a poem I wrote in 2002, a silent personal soliloquy of grief for the utter deceitfulness of sin even before a man is born into this world. It embodies the sentiments of the Psalmist David as he acknowledges God's redeeming and renewing power through the Cross of Calvary where Christ shed His precious blood. I am also reminded of text messages sent by a friend a few years back that tell about the significance of Christ's death. "What's good about GOOD FRIDAY?  Well, there'd be no CROWN-WEARERS in heaven  had CHRIST not  been the CROSS-BEARER on earth!" "Our faith can never have meaning even if we have CHRISTMAS.  It only makes sense because of the EMPTY TOMB!...

Photo from The Sun "Ma, you should watch this movie! It's beautiful!" was my husband's welcome statement for me when I got home from work yesterday. And so I did for the first time, after watching my own favorite TV series. Just as I said in the message I posted in FB a while ago, as I watched the movie, I was reminded of the Hospital Preparedness for Emergencies (H.O.P.E.) Training I attended early this year. It was indeed a touching movie, I couldn't help shedding some tears as the story unfolded the saga of how a family, who was on a vacation in an Asian country, was temporarily separated by the devastating effect of a disaster. Movie marathon coming up as the four-day Lenten break starts. I'd like to watch the old biblical movies I used to watch as a child --- Then Ten Commandments and Jesus. Would like to hear your plans to celebrate the season! Do share in the comment box below.

Networking along the blogosphere,  attending link parties, blog hopping and socializing with bloggers have led me to Julie Danielson's blog site, More of Him . Julie is a wife and mom who loves and follows the Lord, Jesus Christ. Julie is a writer and artist who at the same time, enjoys crocheting, embroidery, scrapbooking, stamping, quilting and beading. Blessed so much by the Lord, she shares her blessings weekly in her blog site's Counting Our Blessings - Link Up . Before inviting bloggers to share their links, she would enumerate God's blessings to her such that joining her weekly link up has made me aware of the ups and downs in her Christian life. Her weekly list has sent showers of blessings into my own direction. This in turn has inspired me so much that today, I am led to count my blessings and share them with others, too! As the chorus of the popular Christian hymn, Count Your Blessings (written by Johnson Oatman, Jr. and composer Edwin Excell) goes... ...

"...So long, farewell Auf Wiedersehen, goodnight I hate to go and leave this pretty sight So long, farewell Auf Wiedersehen, adieu Adieu, adieu To you and you and you.." An excerpt from an old song from the soundtrack of a popular movie of all time, The Sound of Music, one of my family's favorites! (My family loves musicale movies that my kids, even in their early adult age, still enjoy watching.) In my heart, I sing the song to two dear colleagues to whom we said our farewells. I wasn't present during the send-off party, instead, I gave each one of them a rose bag/luggage identifier very much like what I made in the past (see my two previous posts about roses and rosebuds, Rose Buds as Identifiers and Rose Garden ) only that this time, I used the Granny Rose pattern of Astri from Apple Blossom Dreams . But instead of making granny squares with roses at the center, I just followed the pattern for the rose. Astri's granny rose pattern doesn...

Two buttons grabbed in a day!!! Yipee! Garden Chef has just been featured twice!   Yipee images from Google Simple Living and Eating Superthanks to you, Diane of Simple Living and Eating Foodie Friday ,  for promoting my foodie blog ( Uncover the Strata ) featuring the Strata recipe I got from " The Old Farmer's Everyday Cookbook Almanac ." Garden Chef's Strata   "This is a very frugal recipe. You can throw your stale bread in to it, and whatever meat and vegetables you have in the fridge. Mixed with some cheese and eggs and you have a comforting meal , " says Dia ne. Life on Lakeshore Drive And to Kathy of Life on Lakeshore Drive Pick of the Bunch #27  Fabulous Friday Features , thank you for taking notice of Garden Chef's Crocodile Crochet (CROC-het) Purse .  Garden Chef's Crocodile Crochet (CROC-het) Purse Your sweet comment is as soothing as th e coo...

Black Water, Rogue, Lake Placid... what's the first word that comes into your mind? Crocodile, yes, of course! How could anyone miss that? Grrr... I don't like the sight of crocodiles although I have watched several crocodile movies on TV. But when I first came to know about the crocodile crochet stitch from the many crochet works in craft websites and YouTube tutorials, I already fell in love with it.  Having crocheted three crocodile projects in the past was of great help in following the steps for this Croc Purse I made. I have already featured my very first crocodile stitch bracelet     and the two pieces of crocodile stitch necklace I made recently in my previous posts.  But the moment I came across My Merry Messy Life's Crochet Crocodile Clutch Purse I seemed to experience sleepless nights thinking of what color to use for this project. Playing safe, I chose black for the body and white for the top edging. See all the croco...

I woke up late one day so the multitasking begun. As I was dressing up (errr... putting on make-up), I was, at the same time, listening (because watching would all the more make me late for work) to Umagang Kay Ganda , a morning show in a local TV channel, ABS-CBN, that features not only the latest news and current events but also advices, practical tips on daily living and the hottest issues about celebrity and showbiz stars. One of highlights each day is a cooking demo of innovative and healthy dishes that viewers could easily follow. I chanced upon this featured dish: Tilapia Curry with Diced Mango (the recipe which I translated to English was taken from Umagang KayGanda Official Page in Facebook).  Ingredients: Tilapia 3 tbsps vegetable oil 2 pcs garlic, minced 2 tbsps onion 4 pcs tomato 3 pcs green chili pepper 4 tbsps curry powder 3 cups coconut milk Sugar, fish sauce and ground pepper to taste Ripe mango (diced) Wansuy or Cilantro Steps: ...

Whew! How time flies! It was just a few weeks (one month, actually!) ago when Ana Cristina, my youngest daughter, brought home for the second time Yummy Magazines. Here they all are! I have already featured in this site an introductory post about Yummy Magazine and a number of its yummy recipes, as well.  Browsing over the September 2012 issue, I was inspired to cook the following dishes which are all featured in my recent posts --- Shrimp Stew in Unripe Mango Pork Rib Stew in Unripe Mango      and  Bitter Melon and Cucumber Salad (Ampalaya-Pipino Salad) Today, I'm featuring another veggie salad recipe which I also found in the same issue of Yummy Magazine --- the Warm Spinach and Orange Salad in Asian Vinaigrette. Yes, after browsing over this same issue for the n th time! :) Ingredients: 200 grams spinach leaves 2 oranges, peeled and separated into segments 1 red onion, sliced thinly The main ingredients For ...

Today, we didn't have the usual Jolibee meals which Billy, my husband take home every Saturday, so I fried some dried danggit (rabbitfish) and pusit (squid). Perfect for fried eggs and fried rice for breakfast! But that's not what this post is all about. Today, I'm featuring the Ampalaya and Pipino Salad (Bitter Melon and Cucumber Salad) I made for lunch. I discovered this new salad recipe from Yummy Magazine (again!). Yes, the same September 2012 issue where I got the Pork Stew in Unripe Mango recipe I featured last week. Very easy to prepare... here's how: Ingredients: 1 bitter melon (ampalaya), seeded and thinly sliced 1 cucumber (pipino), thinly sliced 1 red bell pepper, cored and sliced into small cubes 1 medium-sized red onion, thinly sliced 3 tablespoons white vinegar 5 tablespoons water 1 tablespoon sugar salt and pepper, to taste Steps: In a bowl, toss together bitter melon, cucumber, red bell pepper and onions. Chill u...

It's not a mistake... oh, yes, you read it right--- Crocodile garland, that's it! Last week, I posted about my purple crochet necklace made of Crocodile Stitches . I made it the other week but last week, I worked on another Crocodile Necklace of another color. Here, see this. Do you like the color? Can you spot the difference? I still used the pattern of Tia Davis but this time, instead of making Double Crochet Stitches to create the crocodile stitch, I made Trebles in order to make larger petals. So now, do you see the difference? Or maybe in the next photo you will notice... I've been practicing making all these crocodile stitches in preparation for another project I have in mind. I hope it will become a reality before this month ends, March being the National Craft Month. Oh, please do share any crocodile crochet project you may have made in the past! :) That would be exciting! Happy weekend to you!  Linking to Serenity Now's Share your Best Pos...