Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

  I discovered this dish recently from our hospital's cafeteria. I was so intrigued at the name, Gisinggising, so I searched for it and found this recipe from Foodipino . I like the recipe, it's very simple and easy to follow. As usual, I made some modifications from the original recipe. I cooked my version without the meat and instead of just using water spinach or water cabbage (kangkong), I added string beans (sitaw) and winged beans (sigarillas). I also cut on the amount of coconut milk. Here's my own version which I posted in Just-a-Pinch Recipe Club . Click here to view recipe. . Actually, if you take a closer look at the pictures, you will notice that I added some left-over dried shrimps from my stocks to enhance the "shrimpy" flavor.  I also tried another version using baguio beans instead of water spinach (kangkong), but my friends like the combination of kangkong and sigarillas better. So there, y...

In my first post this month of September, I featured Vegetable Pastel , a Del Monte Kitchenomics recipe. In that post I mentioned that I experimented on another menu called Strata. I got the recipe from my new recipe book, " The Old Farmer's Everyday Cookbook Almanac ," given to me by my eldest daughter, Ayana Grace. I remember mentioning this cookbook in my June 30, 2012 post entitled, " A Legacy from my Mother-in-Law " (click here to view post). Photo taken from Amazon.com  Last Sunday, I gave the recipe, Strata, a try. I promised to feature it in another post so here… Photo of Strata taken from The Old Farmers Everyday Cookbook Almanac I was intrigued seeing the picture of Strata featured in one whole page of the cookbook. I must confess that the first thing that came to my mind was "stratum = the singular of strata". So I turned to page 13 where the recipe could be found. There, Strata is described as a dish made with ...

Hello, it's Sunday once again! It's a custom in our church for the Pastor to call all the birthday and anniversary celebrators for the week to stand in front for the congregation to greet and pray for. Last week, my husband and I were called because it was our wedding anniversary day. Today, I was called to stand in front again and as I listened to the brethren singing the Birthday Song, I couldn't help but thank and praise God for every blessing He has showered me with all these 52 years of my life. Oh yes, I will be celebrating my birthday on Tuesday, September 11. Does the date sound familiar? I believe so. If you are an American, I'm sure you would remember one significant event! If you are an Ilocano born in decada 60 , what could it be you are thinking of? To stay in tune with the song, " Count your Blessings " (written by Johnson Oatman, Jr and composed by Edwin Othello Excell), I would do so right now. "Count your blessings, name them one by on...

Happy Sunday to all! What's so special about this Sunday? Well, my husband and I are celebrating our 23rd wedding anniversary today and that makes today a special day! Today also, I baked bread for the Lord's Table which we celebrate every first Sunday of the month in our church. In baking the bread, I use the recipe in making pie crust. So I prepared extra ingredients for the Vegetable Pastel I had in mind. It has been quite some time since I last cooked this menu. The first time I did, I remember my family and friends liked it. So Vegetable Pastel here I come! Remember one of my posts in July entitled,   " Stories from the Cupboard: Feature No. 1 --- My Kitchenmates " (click here to view post). In that post, I featured about some of my favorite recipes using Del Monte Kitchenomics. Vegetable Pastel is one of the recipes of Del MonteKitchenomics . This is the original Vegetable Pastel recipe of Del Monte Kitchenomics . Ingredients: 20 g (20 ...

It's been three long weeks that I haven't posted anything! Office work has kept me away and I've been so excited to post my latest craft and meal experiments that have been fast piling up. :) For today, I'm featuring the instant dishes I prepared for lunch. It's got to be instant because I slept last night with body weakness after coming home from the grocery store with my hubby. This morning I had to spend some effort getting up from bed (it's a Sunday and missing the Sunday Service was just not among the choices!). The paracetamol I took before retiring to bed last night seemed to have worked after all.   Oh yes, it was quite an effort getting up to prepare the usual Sunday breakfast (pan de sal with cheese whiz and coffee). But what's for lunch? Hmmm… good I found some slices of dowry (marinated in salt, pepper, paprika and very little soy sauce) which I haven't cooked the other day as planned. It made my morning much lighter as I only had to pa...

Hello! I've been silent for a week, yes, but to tell you the truth, I've been containing my excitement the whole week through! At last, now I could write about the reason why.  Here, let me tell you. Close friends and family know that I like green. Mint green, apple green, lime green, I love them all! That's why the first time I came across Patricia Wells' Zucchini Carpaccio with Avocado and Pistachios  featured by Kristen Miglore in her foodie blog, I so fell in love with how it looks. I kept dreaming about it but I couldn't complete the ingredients as avocado was not yet in season then. Until one day, a friend gifted me with a bunch of avocados. (Thanks to Ruby!) So there, I remembered the zucchini with avocado salad.   I'm not very good at choosing good avocados and deciding when they are ready to eat.   I just learned that there are several varieties of avocado . Definitely it's not the Hass variety because this type turns purple to blac...