My cooking journey

Roasting pans on my mind

May 18, 2012 2 Comments

Hallelujah! After months of living in our wee apartment, I finally figured out that our oven (which thankfully did not explode in my face because it was electric) works! I am just so excited to move one step forward with my beginner cook skills and try my hand at oven roasting and perhaps some baking.

BUT again, our wee kitchen is so bare that I do need to make some kitchen equipment purchases to help get me started. This week, roasting pans have been on my mind because I dream finally of cooking up some roast pork / beef / chicken / lamb / vegetables and perhaps throw in a batch of brownies or homemade granola too.

The dilemma is: What kind of roasting pan am I supposed to buy?

Spring onions and a kitchen tool epiphany

May 14, 2012 6 Comments

I used to hate the fact that I live in a bachelor’s pad (Yes, it still is pretty much that.). I used to envy other women, who get to enjoy all these kitchen gizmos, tools and what not. But because of some kitchen beginner epiphany, which came about after hours and hours of indulgent dream kitchen dreaming, I realized that it is such a blessing that I actually get to work inside a bare, very basic kitchen!

Can you guess why?

Recipes are meant to be followed

April 16, 2012 8 Comments

I did TRY to follow...I really did.

I held the hot bowl full of thin lechon paksiw (roast pork stew) sauce delicately, poised to dispose it deep into the recesses of our wee kitchen sink. It took me a long 15 minutes to make this decision, too long a period to decide whether I would face The Husband’s well-meaning scolding on wasting still barely edible food thrown into the garbage or The Husband’s complaints on disgusting, almost inedible soupy lechon paksiw.

I took a gamble.

Can opening is a cooking skill

March 24, 2012 Leave a Comment

Have you experienced days when you are just too lazy to cook and just too lazy to go out for a meal and just too lazy to even call for food delivery? Yesterday was one of those days.

Hello, Siamese twin eggplant!

March 20, 2012 Leave a Comment

Peekaboo! Two eggplants?

The Husband and I guffawed when we picked up this oddball from the mountain of eggplants at Lulu Hypermarket for a batch of Tortang talong. I’ve seen siamese twin bananas, two bananas stuck together at the hip (wherever that is), but this is the first time I have encountered a siamese twin eggplant! Hihihi!

The real vegetable noodle

March 13, 2012 Leave a Comment

Vegetable noodle?

One of the things I love about Dubai is that we get almost the exact same ingredients we have back home. ALMOST.

For good measure…

March 12, 2012 Leave a Comment

Weee! A measuring cup with the little measurement slits

I think measuring cups are a must for beginner cook’s like me, but The Husband refuses to buy any permanent, settling down kitchen equipment because he doesn’t want to accumulate stuff that we can’t send home (Shipping / excess baggage is expensive, ok?). So ever since I’ve started cooking here a few months back been improvising in every way I can…ball-parking it as they’d say. But last week, we finally got a real measuring cup. A dream come true! Hurrah for another kitchen milestone!

Can you guess where this new nifty kitchen tool came from?

The oranges were red

March 4, 2012 5 Comments

Don't let your eyes deceive you...They look like orange oranges BUT...

An orange is an orange is an orange. They ALWAYS are orange. But reality hits you hard sometimes. Apparently, teacher can be wrong too. An orange can be red. Whut????

A story of gratitude and a Zwilling knife dream come true

March 3, 2012 4 Comments

Hooray!

I have a lot of dreams, both big and small, that I write down in my gratitude notebook. Big dreams like being able to write a book about my life with food. As well as teeny dreams such as getting a handful of books I’ve been eyeing for too long, being a proud owner of a Joseph Joseph Nest 9 Plus set and, of course, some Zwilling kitchen knives to help me through my cooking journey.

It was actually good friend of mine, who advised me to do this: write my dreams and wishes in my gratitude notebook. She told me to write them, little or as big those dreams may be, as if I have already received them. So none of those “I wish…” or “I dream of…” sentences. It should be written as a statement: “Thank you for [insert dream here]”

Honestly, at first, I really thought that all that writing down your life’s wishes was just mumbo jumbo. But now that my teeny dream of owning a Zwilling kitchen knife came true, I am so glad I followed her advice. I am a certified believer of written gratitude statements.

I wanted to own a Zwilling knife. I wrote it down. I now am a proud owner of one. And what’s even better is that I was given even more.

This is my story…

Cooking builds good character

February 27, 2012 4 Comments

“Cooking actually builds good character.” I blurted out to my good friend and ex-retreat roommate Tala during our Skype session yesterday. Repeating what I just said in my head, I realized that it sounded like such a spot-on insight! Then taking a quick peep at my chili con carne, which had been cooking for more than 5 hours under super low hear, indeed, cooking can build good character.