Garden Chef's Needle and Pen

Today is August 12, 2023. On this same day in 1932, Queen Sirikit, wife of the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand, was born. 

Today marks a significant milestone as I open the doors to the inclusion of stamp collection under the new section ’STAMPS’ in this blogsite, where I delve into a hobby that has lain dormant for more than 40 years until its reawakening two years ago.

It’s been months (?) or a year since I made maruya (banana fritters;  kumbo in Ilonggo or Visayan dialect ). This has become a frequent breakfast or merienda on our table during this pandemic. 

We do not remember days; we remember moments.  - Cesare Pavese Hello dear batchmates! It's time to turn the calendar back to when we last enjoyed each other's company. 

Gōng xǐ fā cái (Wishing you wealth and  prosperity in Chinese)!  Gong Hei Fa Choi (Happy New Year in Cantonese)!

On our 31st, I featured how the lockdown caused by the pandemic kept hubby and me together everyday after many years of having been a weekend wife. I also shared about our close encounters with COVID-19, how we, as a family, battled against it, and how God taught us precious lessons in the midst of our journey.  Today, as we celebrate another year, still amid the pandemic, I’m sharing memories of that day 32 years ago… the day I walked down the aisle limping after sustaining a fracture one week before our wedding day.

In my post some years ago, " A Legacy from my Mother-in-Law ," I wrote about how I learned to cook. I also shared where I got the recipes for the first few dishes I usually made as a young wife. In this post, I mentioned the recipe book,  Masasarap na Lutuing Pilipino ni Aling Charing .    In a sequel post , I featured one dish from Aling Charing’s recipe book, one of my husband's favorite dishes - - - Kilawing Labanos (sauteed pork and radish). Hubby introduced me to this recipe from Aling Charing's old favorite cookbook. From then on, this dish has become one of my signature dishes at home. Through the years of making this dish, I already made some twists from Aling Charing's original recipe.

In my anniversary  post   last year,   I mentioned about making this Camote Tops Ensalada as one of my pandemic appetizer dishes. It’s a very simple yet healthy veggie salad that you can make with camote tops, onions, tomatoes and dressing.  See how I gave this salad a twist.

“Today is Metro Manila’s first lockdown anniversary. #COVID19PH”  That’s hubby’s post in Facebook today (March 15, 2021). Yes, it’s been a year since Metro Manila was placed on lockdown. We started working from home, and as health care workers, we physically reported to office two or three times a week. 

  It’s been almost a year since I started staying at home more than I used to for the past 37 years. March of 2020 when working from home (WFH) a number of days per week was made an alternative work option during the COVID-19 pandemic.