The Modern Mom

When I was in high school, I watched this movie entitled, “The Joy Luck Club”. I think I was with my mom and sisters when we watched it. The movie tells the story of four women who escaped their difficult lives in China, went to the US, had daughters who all seem to inherit their weaknesses and how they all were able to rise up to their shortcomings and get better. There was this part where everyone was having dinner and they were eating crab. June, who thinks her mom always compares her to the beautiful Waverly, got angry at the latter because she thinks that she is never good enough. Her mom told her that it’s not true and uses the sample of the crabs they had for dinner to emphasize. At the table, Waverly immediately gets the claw, which is the best part but June gets the smallest piece because she wants others to get the better ones. Her mom says that it’s because June has a good quality heart. It has been a running joke in our family that my eldest sister, Cla, is June because she...

In welcoming the new year, I try to clean the house and get rid of the junk I've accumulated throughout the past year.. and by get rid, I mean put them in boxes and store them. Hehe. In our household of two humans and two dogs, we hired a full-time helper (FH) to assist us in our daily chores. The dogs require constant care and since hubby and I both work, we decided this is the best way to keep our sanity. We also have a stay-out helper (SO) whose (real) primary job is to keep our helper company every other day. SO was our saviour when our string of helpers quit one after the other so when we were able to hire someone full-time, we continued her services, thanks to H. :) This has been our set-up for the past six months and it has been smooth sailing until the holidays. Because SO couldn't come, FH was left to clean the house for the past two weeks. Mind you, I do the cooking of main meals at home and I don't expect the house to be sparkly clean but she didn't even try....

We harvested okra today from our mini garden! I was so excited to see that they've grown so big over the past few weeks! While they are still fresh, I decided to hit two birds with one stone and empty out leftover vegetables from the crisper. This recipe can be adjusted based on what you have in your refrigerator. :) I chopped 1 small white onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 tomato and some leftover meatballs we had for dinner yesterday. I also diced 1 whole green bell pepper and included this leftover sweet corn kernels we used for pizza. I cut the okra into approximately 2-3" pcs. Procedures: 1. Sauté onions and garlic until translucent. 2. Add the bell peppers and stir. 3. After about a minute, add the meatballs. I added freshly ground pepper at this point. 4. Add the okra. Stir well to make sure there are no areas burning. 5. Add 1/4 cup water and cover. 6. Once the water has evaporated, check if the okra is cooked. If not, add another 2 tbsp. of water and cover. 7. Add the toma...

Of all the steak houses here in the Philippines, Cowrie Grill has always been my favorite. Aside from their tender, perfectly cooked steaks, they also have a great service. No request too big for their diners. My sister, Cla, and I had lunch there the day after my birthday because she was not able to attend my celebratory dinner the night before.  I developed an appreciation for cheese when I went to London for training last year so I decidedly to try their cheese platter. This was listed under their dessert menu but I think this is more than what anyone can finish after a full meal. The cheeses available were Goat, Brie, Roquefort, Oveja and Gruyere. It also has dried fruits - cranberries, raisins and apricots - cashew nuts and grape s! I loved the goat cheese and gruyere. Never really liked soft cheeses so Brie was meh. Cla asked for some honey and it brought everything to a whole new level. Someone looks happy! I was too! I was going to get my wisdom tooth extracted later that a...

When our helper left us last week, I discovered that we still had a lot of meat in the freezer! I hate seeing our freezer so full so I decided to cook them one day at a time. Today was pan-fried porkchops. I marinated the pork yesterday with soy sauce, calamansi, sugar and garlic. I didn't use any measuring tools so just eyeball it. Marinade should be a salty/sour with a touch of sweetness. Marinate meat for at least 1 hour. To cook, add some oil into the pan. Make sure it's hot before adding the porkchops. Cook each side for 5 minutes. Add the marinade and cook with the porkchop. Serve hot! This is a very easy recipe. Let me know how it goes!

Insomnia makes you want to be productive. When I can't sleep, I usually watch home improvement or cooking videos on Youtube and a vertical garden has always been on top of my list. Since Reg is out this Sunday, I decided to just go for it.  After having lunch with my family, Camille and I didn't have anywhere to go. I told her we can check out QC Circle because I've read somewhere that I can buy plants there at a low cost. I was also in search of the wire mesh which will hold all my planters. The one in Wilcon costs Php850+ for a single piece! I needed 4 pcs., so no thanks. Haha. Entrance to QC Circle is only Php15/car. There was only 1 store selling the wire mesh. Initially, she gave it to me for Php250/pc but I haggled until she gave it to me for Php150. I also bought my planters there for Php10/pc. The stall beside that was selling herbs for Php35/pc but I was able to ask for discount as well. I bought 2 pots of 6 different herbs! Total I paid is Php350 plus Php100 for 2...

My husband told me that their cook at home/ office is on vacation. Since only he and his mom eat lunch there, I decided to make his "baon" tomorrow vegetarian so they care share it. My mother-in-law is vegetarian, fyi. :) I have limited ingredients in my pantry because I have't been to the grocery yet. Good thing my mom gave me a big pack of beautiful dried mushrooms that I have yet to use and I stocked up on vegetarian sauces and condiments (in case my in-laws come by for a visit) during my last trip to Bee Tin in Chinatown. Looking at the mushrooms, an image of a delicious looking plate of braised mushrooms came to mind! Luckily also, I still have half a head of Taiwan pechay inside the refrigerator. It all seems meant to be! Haha. I have never been the kind of cook to measure ingredients so these are just estimates. :) Here's the recipe: 1. Wash the dried mushrooms, maybe around 10-15 large pcs. Soak in boiling water for 25 minutes. 2. When soft, cut the stems out....