tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-219658712009-02-22T05:00:34.254+13:00Originally meant as a repository of sort for published manuscripts and articles, but reading amazing food blogs lately, I was encouraged to include topics on food and gardening and share other topics of interests to other women like me, who love to garden, fine foods and good cooking.Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1152475686332006382006-10-10T03:12:00.000+13:002007-03-13T06:43:24.576+13:00

For the past weeks my body was signaling that I had been indulging in too rich food. The sign? I was craving for bitter melons. I don't know why, but after having rich and greasy food day after day after day, I would always want to eat bitter melons. This stemmed from our belief that eating something bitter will help purge the system of any impurities. Problem was, bitter melons are not common

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1159434034782319662006-09-28T20:46:00.000+12:002006-10-05T07:40:26.173+13:00

Isn't it amazing how the sight of flowers can lighten up our day? It's been raining for days and so, what I thought would be gloriously sunny days tending to the garden turned out to be wet, cold and shiverry. Anyway, we woke up to gloomy skies again this morning. Apparently, it rained the whole night, so everything in the garden looked drenched and wet. I ventured out into the garden to at least

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1153512312594418412006-09-27T08:03:00.000+12:002007-01-27T17:02:12.406+13:00

After three days my mung bean sprouts were ready for the harvest and for the wok. I don't know why but even after years of making this lumpiang prito, there would always be excitement and a feeling of satisfaction as I look at the pile of just-rolled lumpia on my kitchen table ready for frying and freezing. Moreso, if they were rolled properly and they are in uniform sizes. Here's how I did

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1153455018078104872006-09-23T16:08:00.000+12:002006-09-27T20:48:51.913+12:00

David loves crispy vegetable spring rolls (lumpiang prito) dipped in ketchup. Sometimes, he prefers Mang Tomas Sarsa ng Litson, while I am a vinegar dip (made with white vinegar, lots of crushed garlic, a little salt and black pepper) fanatic. I make lots of these and freeze them in packets of 10 pieces, ready for when he wants something crispy for lunch. I am quite choosy with the mung bean

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1154235109225745482006-07-30T16:49:00.000+12:002006-08-02T19:01:20.680+12:00

Thank God, those wet, chilly and sometimes foggy travels during weekends to and from Masterton and Featherston were done with! We have finished the Adult Learners' Tutor Training Course. There were sixteen of us at the start of the course. Unfortunately, four had to drop the course after a few sessions. The course was conducted alternately at the Wairarapa Community Center in Masterton and the

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1153358481587721572006-07-20T13:13:00.000+12:002006-07-22T17:46:36.853+12:00

Nothing beats fresh vegetables when it comes to good cooking. However, chopped, frozen veggies are sometimes practical, especially if you're pressed for time and you just can't be bothered preparing the ingredients--chopping, dicing, slicing, etc.--which is very time-consuming.This smoked fish chowder was one of those recipes I saw on "Food in a Minute" (a one minute advertorial program to fill

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1153200125024089552006-07-18T17:16:00.000+12:002006-07-21T16:10:52.646+12:00

It's too wet and chilly outside to do any gardening chores after days and days of intermittent rain. David suggested that I do some 'playing' to keep me from getting bored. By the way, 'play' for us, means for me to experiment on some recipes using the oven. As I don't know much about baking, I would usually go over recipe books in search of some interesting things to 'play' on. I immensely

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1152650359954333372006-07-12T08:34:00.000+12:002006-07-13T07:53:39.290+12:00

We had a good harvest of fruits and veggies from our garden last summer so I had to freeze most of it. So glad I did because fresh veggies are quite pricey during winter if they are available at all. Anyway, now is the time to dig the freezer and make an inventory of frozen veggies for immediate use. Problem with frozen veggies, your choices of how to cook them are limited as they get really

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1151550178592949382006-06-29T15:00:00.000+12:002006-07-12T12:40:43.386+12:00

Is your tummy tired of take-aways and greasy foods? Give it a break! Here's one interesting dish without the grease. Served with steaming white rice, it is nice and light on the belly. Enjoy! Prawns and Celery Salad with Ginger Dressing500 grms prawns, raw2 large celery stalks and leaves15 ml (tbsp) rice wine vinegar2 tsp sugar1/2 tsp flaky sea salt1 tsp finely grated gingerSteam the prawns until

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1150251244013865112006-06-14T14:04:00.000+12:002006-07-20T17:25:21.456+12:00

The sun struggled to come out this morning after what seemed to be endless wintry blasts that brought about heavy snow in the South Island and in some parts of the North Island as well. Green pasture farms turned to vast snow fields. Farmers in the highlands had to use helicopters to gather and feed their stock. Over here at the Wairarapa area, incessant rains caused heavy flooding, damaging

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1149399982821975002006-06-04T16:52:00.000+12:002006-07-13T07:57:00.586+12:00

"Guisang Sale Manok", is one of the family's favorite soups. It is chicken sauteed in lemon grass (Related to citronella, lemon grass is a bulbous, greyish green tropical grass with a delicate, lemony essence. Its taste is refreshing and light, with a hint of ginger), and pieces of freshly picked corn on the cob added to it. The corn adds a hint of sweetness to the lemony flavored soup. When the

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1148804743120204172006-05-28T18:42:00.000+12:002006-07-22T07:54:06.356+12:00

When I feel like I am consuming too much of too rich foods, my body would crave for ampalaya (bittermelon), thinking this bitter veggie is some kind of a detoxifying agent that would rid the system of stored grease. I love this bitter veggie thinly sliced then sauteed in lots of tomatoes with cubed pork and shrimps, which we call "lagat apalya" in Pampango. A simpler version of this, "guisang

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1147595100529523282006-05-14T20:24:00.000+12:002006-05-24T06:08:36.553+12:00

Until recently, I did not know the difference between a marrow, a zucchini or a courgette. David pointed out that all three come from the same plant (summer squash of the cucurbit family) and are given names depending on their stages of growth. They can either be yellow or green and generally have similar shape to a ridged cucumber. The word zucchini comes from the Italian zucchino, meaning a

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1147395117899100812006-05-12T12:50:00.000+12:002006-05-12T14:27:18.096+12:00

Picked from JR's Orchard where I worked as apple packer this season, were these strange looking fruits. When the supervisor showed them to me, I asked her if I could have one. To my delight, she said that I could have all of them after showing them to everybody. So I took them home with me and took some photos to show to you. Looking more like small cacao pods than apples, these are mutants of

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1147134550157159402006-05-09T11:48:00.000+12:002006-05-13T10:45:09.646+12:00

Wellington, New Zealand--Filipinos in the Wellington region and the South Wairarapa area, gathered together at The Little Theatre in Lower Hutt, to celebrate the 2nd Filipino Festival (Filifest 2006) laat April 1, 2006. Organized by the Wellington International Filipino Society (WIFS) headed by Ms Nilda Campbel, Ms Anita Mansell and Ms May Young, the annual event presented different regions of

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1147057051323240092006-05-08T14:52:00.000+12:002006-05-26T22:03:26.003+12:00

We have yet to experience the first morning frost this year. although, temperatures have gone down to single digits. This means, winter is just a breath away and so, it's time to thank summer plants for a good harvest and do some clearing in the garden. Sad eggplants and stakes used for the runner beans had to be plucked out, kamote and jerusalem artichokes dug up for any tubers, and the

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1146216597649131282006-04-28T20:34:00.000+12:002006-05-09T13:08:17.593+12:00

Tomato preserve, Ketchup, Tomato Jam...Back when I have never seen nor heard of tomato paste and tomato sauce (and therefore, spaghetti sauce in tins), I would see my mother slice, deseed and boil tomatoes in a huge cauldron. (This she did when at harvest time, the prices of tomato would be too cheap, like, a bushel weighing eight to ten kilos would cost only Php2.00 to Php5.00. She would then

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1145814014185978662006-04-24T05:15:00.000+12:002006-10-04T15:58:25.013+13:00

I have always been interested in how car boot sales are being conducted. Several times, David and I planned to participate in the local one, (in fact, he has put together some old stuff--pre-loved things we could not find use for anymore--in a big box ready to go into the car boot any time), but the not-so-pleasant weather every time, would always prevent us from going.Last Sunday, we decided to

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21965871.post-1145432224586127122006-04-19T19:28:00.000+12:002006-05-27T07:46:28.603+12:00

First to fall on to the ground were a couple of medium sized fruits from the tree by the veggie garden. That was March 27. Every day thereafter, we gather an average of one and a half kilos a day. Almost a month since then, we still gather as much amount of feijoa every day, but expect the quantity to gradually diminish until the feaijoa season ends in June. The first time I saw a feijoa fruit in

Melhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07598732510639070453noreply@blogger.com4