A Card and Some Pancit

It's 11:44PM now and my eyes are closing a bit, so I will do my Top 10 next week... for now I will just share these photos.


Y'all know now that I celebrated my birthday last Friday, and since I was out the whole day with sister, it was a bit late when I realized I received a card from Nestle Club. Now that E-Mails, mobile phones, and Internet has been an integral part of our lives, receiving something from the mail was really touching.

Big thanks for the card, Nestle Club!

Last weekend, I was in Quezon Province to take part of the Pahiyas Festival. As early as 8AM, I... together with my sister and our friend Ria were already roaming the streets of Lucban to photograph kiping-adorned houses. Very tiring thing to do because it was so hot that day, that we didn't stay to watch the parade anymore.

Whenever I travel, one of the souvenir items I always buy is the key chain (or key ring), and I always look for something quite extraordinary - and I found two food-inspired key rings.. the Longganisang Lucban and Pancit Habhab. These looked very cute, but in the end I chose to buy a different design - the Kiping - because it was Pahiyas Festival when I traveled there. Maybe if I travel back there, I might go for the Pancit Habhab key ring. :)

Speaking of Pancit Habhab, one of the "food missions" I set for myself for this trip was to eat Pancit Habhab street style. Well, I already knew what it taste like for whenever Ria and any of her family would travel to their hometown of Tayabas (neighboring town of Lucban), they would always give us raw pancit habhab, but eating it at the streets of Lucban would always be something really special. For 10 pesos per serving, it was one of the best street food experiences I had - maybe because I had to eat the noodles without having to use any utensils. Well, as K would always tell me "God created hands before forks," and that principle worked well with this one.

I really enjoyed my first Pahiyas Festival... and I think this would now be part of our yearly travels.

*** Jenn ***

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My Top 10 Favorite PC Game (Food Related)

With so many things to do, my way of taking a break was to play games. Since the family started having computer, games have been part of our daily routine, and I for one just can't get enough of it.


The latest game I am playing is the Hotdog Hotshot. The video above can give you an idea of how the game goes, and right now I getting a little crazy because I already had everything in the cart, and with the customers ordering quite a lot, I can say I am having difficulty playing the game now. As stressing as it can be, I just couldn't stop playing it because the pace of the game will always "keep you on your toes." Currently, this is the only game installed in my netbook, and I am hoping to find copies of other games because I have the tendency to lose interest in the game after I finished playing it.

Now, for my Top Ten (and Top 2 as well). In many years as a computer user, I have played quite a lot of games, and for this edition, I just want to highlight the food related PC games I have played.

1) Hell's Kitchen. Patterned after the reality-TV show of the same title, gamers can get to experience how it is working for Chef Gordon Ramsay. The object of the game is to make sure all foods come out of the kitchen at the same time as possible, so you really have to manage the time wisely. I surely had a difficult time playing this, especially in the later rounds. Quite stressful of a game, but it surely does feel great finishing a round.

2) Diner Dash. Very famous of a game, there are now many versions of the game, including one for Nintendo Wii. Well, regardless of what version it is, it was such a joy to play, though I have experienced failing some rounds. I think all in all, I have played three versions of this, all made for PC.

3) Pizza Frenzy. When we were still using dial-up Internet here at home, the only way I could think of playing games was to download the trial version (1 hour of gaming) from Yahoo! Games. This was one of the many games I downloaded and although I couldn't play continuously after that 1 hour, what made me finish the entire game was that the game resumes where you left off, and the 5 minutes game given was enough to make me enjoy the game. My siblings loved the game, too, and we were continuously looking for a copy of this, but we still couldn't find one.

Anyway, the object of the game is to deliver pizza. Quite easy, yes, but you still need to have some sort of a gameplay because you need to collect enough money to get you to the next round.

4) Ranch Rush. Long before Farmville and all the farming games out there, there was the Ranch Rush, a time management game where the player is given an order slip and must complete it before the time expires. The very first version of the game was quite difficult for me, as I kept on failing on this one order. Just last month, I was able to play the newest version of Ranch Rush, and as nice as it was, I found it too easy to play, though I loved the fishing mini-game after each week.

5) Farm Frenzy 2. A neighbor friend was the one who introduced me to this game, and it was really addicting. I think this was one of the very few games that I kept on playing long after I have finished the entire game. It was quite simple - just provide the things needed by feeding the animals and collecting raw materials to be used in different products. It was a game that anyone can play, but I guess the thrill of the game was to finish the round as early as possible, because finishing early will give you points that could help you upgrade certain things you needed to advance in the game.

A few weeks before my net book was reformatted, I installed the Farm Frenzy: Pizza Party. Same objectives but different products, but I wasn't able to finish it. Looks like I need to re-install it.

6) Bigby's Donuts. Another one of those "old-school" games that I played thanks to Yahoo! Games. Very simple - just collect the donuts and line them up to get three or more donuts of the same color.

7) Hotdog Hotshot. This was my opening paragraph, so no need to repeat, I guess. :)

8) My Farm Life. My cousin Jayson gave me a copy of this game, and it seemed to be a lot like Ranch Rush, so I loved it from the get-go. However, there were glitches in the game copy so I wasn't able to finish it. I still am looking forward to playing it again, because I just loved it.

9) Burger Rush. Like Bigby's Donuts, this is another "match 3 or more of the same item" game. Difference is that you need to choose which ingredients to match because you have burgers on order you need to finish. It's a great way to wind off time because there wasn't much challenge in this game.

10) Chocolatier. My brother was the first one to play this game here in the house, and at first I couldn't understand why he can actually sit for hours just playing this game. I found it quite boring while watching him, but when I tried my hands on it, I understood why he liked it. I guess the story of the game was the one thing I love in this game besides the actual making of the chocolates.

There are still so many food-related games out there, and I so want to try them all, but if given the chance, the games I want to play the soonest possible time are: Stand O'Food, Top Chef, and the other Farm Frenzy and Diner Dash I still haven't played.

*** Jenn ***

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My Vegetable Garden

Last Tuesday, I talked about my peppers and my Top 10 Crops I Want to Grow, and I just want to make a follow up to that, since the past week has been rewarding for me. I will not do my Top 10 this week, as this post will be a bit long.


Tomato Seeds. Like what I said, we went grocery shopping right after I published my post, but we couldn't find the seed section of the supermarket anymore. I thought it was just okay, we might just find the seeds elsewhere. Thankfully, two days after, the family made another trip to the mall and brother suggested we check ACE Hardware, and since he also needed to buy a hoe for our front garden, I asked him to buy me a packet of tomato seeds, too. He was able to get one for me, and yesterday, I already planted some of the seeds and hoping it will sprout in days to come.

I started watching videos about tomato growing, and crossing fingers that the knowledge I gathered would be enough to give me a wonderful produce.

Basil. Last Sunday, my sister and I went to the Sidcor Weekend Market and decided to get a small pot of basil because it's only 25 pesos per pot. This will be our third try growing basil, and we hope we will cultivate this crop. Talking to the owner of the shop, he told us to water the plants in the morning and cultivate the soil once a week. From K, I learned that the herbs have to be indoors, so we just placed it on the desk in our terrace.

Mint. Not part of my list, but sister saw this at the store where we bought the basil, and because it was 25 pesos per pot, too, sister opted to get a pot as well. Unlike the basil, this doesn't need that much watering, but we will take note of the soil...if it becomes dry, then of course, it's time to water it.

Garlic. This came as a surprise. This pot was my bed seed, and because the cats use the pots as their beds, sometimes they knock out the pots. I noticed that there were a lot of loose soil on the ground, and last Saturday I decided to tidy it up. To my surprise, a garlic sprouted from a clove, which we might have thrown. This was my first time to see a garlic sprout, so I took it and planted it, hoping it will grow in time.

Bell Peppers. Remember my bell pepper that needed utmost attention? It was so sad that it died last weekend, because my cat slept on the pot. Arrrgh! Well, all is not wasted, as when I re-planted that pepper, I also scattered more bell pepper seeds and yesterday, seeing them sprouting, I transferred the peppers in a much bigger pot. All in all, I have eight bell pepper sprouts, four per pot. As they grow, depending on their size, I might have to buy individual pots for them.

Ginger. I have one pot with soil, which I used for the bell peppers. The soil was dehydrated so I cultivated it... and to my surprise I unearthed some ginger root! Well, sometime last year, I remembered planting a piece of ginger root in that pot, and it did grow, but the pot was small enough it seemed, and the plant just died slowly. When I uprooted the dead ginger plant, I only was able to get a small ginger root and thought it was all. Seeing these was so surprising, and I am thankful for my little harvest. :)

Ampalaya. One of the crops I wanted to grow, two weekends ago, I decided to cook an ampalaya and even if it was green, the seeds inside were mature already, so I carefully took out the seeds, washed it and directly inserted in into the soil. Some of the seeds haven't sprouted yet, but this one did, and I was so happy! As you can see, there were a lot of loose cat hairs, as this is one of their favorite pots, I just placed some barbecue sticks to protect it. This one is still a baby, so I will wait for a few more days before I transfer this to a much bigger pot. I already got to taste its fruit, so am sure this one would give me a bunch of not-so-bitter fruits.

Brother has been cultivating our front garden lately, and although the soil was still way too dehydrated and way too tough to plant some, us siblings can only plan what to do with that chunk of land.

Papaya Seeds. We were eating papaya last week and we raved about how delicious and sweet it was. Knowing we have this space between the Macopa and the Kamias trees, I decided to get the seeds and place it outside to dry before I plant it. If this grows, I will place it near the Kamias tree, so there will still be enough space for mom's flowering plants.

We also plan of planting Kaffir Lime. The Sidcor Weekend Market has stalls selling different kinds of seedlings, and I just freaked out when I saw this, because one of the reasons why I wanted to go to the weekend market was because there is a stall selling Thai Food products, and I so hope to get Kaffir Lime leaves for my Thai Curry dishes. I am definitely eyeing that seedling and hoping it was cheap enough so we can have leaves every time we want. :)

I am so thankful that everything is running smoothly, but of course, the true sign of victory is when I make my harvest, so for now, this wannabe farmer is gonna keep crossing her fingers. :)

*** Jenn ***

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Top 10 Crops I Want to Grow

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Before I go on with my usual Tuesday blahbbies, lemme share this one first:


Last Friday, I was quite surprised to receive a lot of notifications from Bloggers.Com - a website where bloggers get to "show off" their blogs. I have five active blogs, but I only registered one (this blog) at the moment. I am not really an active member of the site, but I do like that every post I made here will show up on my profile and members can get to like or vote for it. Anyway, as surprised as I was, I head over the site to answer messages, and I found out that I was one of the three editors' picks for that day. Needless to say, I am happy about it because not only did some bloggers add me as a friend on Bloggers, they also hopped into my blog and followed me through GFC. Thank you all!

Likewise, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who followed my blogs through GFC or by e-mail subscriptions or by Networked Blogs. Some people I can't follow through GFC because I cannot see a link back to their blogs, so if you are a new follower or if you followed me and I still haven't followed you back, please tell me by commenting in this post so I could follow you back.


Anyway, you may recall a time when I talked about successfully growing two Finger Chili plants and that I was already harvested a fruit from each plant. Checking up my plants this weekend, I was happy to share that another fruit is coming out and that there were more flowers blooming, which may mean more fruits coming. I am now thinking if I would transfer them to a much bigger pot, but right now, my mind is telling me to keep the plants right where they are because I might damage the roots. A problem that needed my utmost attention were the very small ants and aphids trying to eat the flowers. I didn't want to use any pesticides, so I am thinking of natural ways to eliminate the pests. If you know of a way, please don't hesitate to share it here. Thanks!


More pepper blahbbies... a few months ago, brother cooked a dish with bell peppers, and instead of using the typical bell peppers (which looked like pimientos), he used this plump bell peppers, and as I saw him took out the seeds, I decided to get some and scatter them on an empty pot (with soil, of course). It took time before it sprouted, and seeing a few little seedlings, I transferred the two biggest onto one big pot. The picture was the taller of the two, which was about two inches high.

Seems my rapport with the peppers was getting better and better, but something happened lately. If you noticed in the picture, there was a stick. I actually placed six barbecue sticks around the pot because our cats have found a way of cooling themselves by sleeping on the pots. I guess watering the plants made the soil fairly cool, and they just loved it. I didn't want them to ruin my little bell peppers, so taking my sister's suggestion, I surrounded it with sticks. Still, even with the sticks, my cat Orange-y has found a way to use this pot as his sleep area, and to my horror, I saw two of the sticks broken and the peppers pressed onto the soil. The smaller plant didn't survive, but this one was a tough plant. I am happy that it's still okay, but like a patient who is in the ICU, I really need to give this plant my attention.


Now for my top 10.

Talking about the peppers I have grown, here are the top ten crops I want to grow in our own yard (in random order, excluding the peppers, of course):

1. Ampalaya (Bitter Melon - Momordica Charantia). I didn't like this vegetable when I was a kid, but lately, I am loving it so much. Well, I still wouldn't eat it if it was in pinakbet, but I still want to grow it as I love eating its leaves, too.
2. Tomatoes. Fronting the Multi-Purpose Hall of the neighborhood, some families planted some crops - Wombok, Bottle Gourd, Yard Long Beans... but among the crops that caught my attention were the tomatoes. Passing by the Hall made me see the tomatoes bloom and bear fruits. As soon as the tomatoes turned orange, I realized it just looked so great that I wanted to grow some, too.
3. Eggplant. Mainly because it's purple and I love purple. Hahahaha... kidding aside, I also have started to like this vegetable, that I thought grilled foods tasted much better when accompanied with eggplant salsa.
4. Basil. I found it difficult to buy a pack of basil and use a minuscule amount of it, so sister and I thought it would be much better if we just grow some and get a leaf or two whenever we needed it. We attempted to grow this twice, but we failed on both times because we didn't know rain will melt the leaves. The soonest time we visit the weekend market, I will start growing it again.
5. Rosemary. Another one of the herbs we wanted to grow. If you ask me, I didn't like rosemary infused chicken dishes, but I do agree that it smelled nice, enough to make it to my list.
6. Pandan. We used to have this in our garden, but when brother decided to cure the soil with solignum (we have some termite problems), brother took out the pandan plant, and us letting it stay in a bucket of water made it die over the course of days. Pandan is an essential crop, that I want to have it in our garden again.
7. Lemongrass. We love to grill, and collecting some Thai-inspired recipes made me feel the want to have our own lemongrass even if we can readily buy some at a nearby market. Brother has attempted time and time again to grow this, but he always failed. We really can't figure why it stays alive when placed in a bottle filled with water, and instantly dies when we plant it in the soil. We need to research about this.
8. Saluyot (Jute). An essential part of the Dinengdeng dish, we used to have this in our garden when I was a kid, now I want to have them back so we will have something to cook when the family is lazy to think of anything to cook.
9. Katuray (Corkwood Tree Flowers). I know this is a seasonal crop (it blooms summertime I think), but even it's a tree, I think this would still fit our small garden. Another ingredient used in Dinengdeng, this also tasted good as a salad dish.
   
10. Patola (Sponge Gourd). My late father was successful in growing this before, but the downside is that the vines will use anything to cling on. Still, there's something in me that I makes me want to plant it, too, but I need to use good seeds for this, as there are some that are actually bitter.

I don't know if I can grow all of these, well... I was just hoping I could, but, the family is going to do grocery shopping later this afternoon, so I guess I will start with the tomatoes and eggplants. The herbs will have to wait 'til we visit the Sidcor Weekend Market next weekend (hopefully). The rest? I am just hoping I could find a good seed or in some crops - a branch or twig to re-plant.

*** Jenn ***

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Top 10 Baguio Related Foods

Did I already mention I love joining memes? Well, my blog hop yesterday allowed me to see different memes, and one of the memes that caught my interest was the "Top Ten Tuesdays" over at Oh Amanda. I am not doing any memes every Tuesday here in my food blog, so might as well do it here.

Last weekend, our neighbor Charo traveled to Baguio City for a day trip. Through Facebook, we were able to exchange messages, and my sister sent a message sweetly asking for strawberries as pasalubong (take home presents). Yesterday, they called on us and handed us a few strawberries, which I quickly photographed:


There were more strawberries actually, I just chose this bunch for this picture. These were my sister's, but before I handed it to her, I ate one of the strawberries and it was so delicious! Strawberries from that part of the country really taste best during this time.


I quickly posted that particular strawberry picture in my Facebook wall (my way of saying "Thank You"), and a few minutes after Charo commented on the picture, she sent over another pasalubong - the sundot kulangot. Kulangot in English meant "booger," and as unhygienic as the name was, it actually tasted nice. Well, they probably named this food like that because the food was enclosed in small fruit shells and one has to use the pointer finger to get it, much like picking your own nose. I had fun taking pictures of this regional food, and I had more fun eating it.

Now for my Top Ten.

Well, Tuesdays here in my blog is food blahbbies, where I basically write about any food topics, and since I am joining Top Ten Tuesdays, I decided that my top ten would be related to the topic and / or picture(s) I posted.

My Top 10 Baguio - Related Foods (in random order):

1. Strawberries. This is the only place in the Philippines I know that grows this fruit, and when one speaks of Baguio (or La Trinidad), one would always speak of this fruit.
2. Fresh Vegetables. Since this is the coolest place in the country, the place had so many vegetables to offer. Among the veggies I love include broccoli, oyster mushrooms, and chayote tops.
3. Oh My Gulay! While in the subject of Baguio vegetables, Oh My Gulay! (Oh My Vegetables!) is not only a place to enjoy some nice snacks, it's also a sanctuary for art lovers.
4. Lengua de Gato. Sweet cookies that remind me of childhood.
5. Strawberry Taho. Taho is soft soybean pudding, and normally it is served with caramel and tapioca pearls. Here in Baguio, taho is served with fresh strawberries and strawberry syrup.
6. Macaroni-Shaped Chicharon. I wasn't able to take a picture of this one, but it's a type of junk food sold by ambulant vendors that is shaped like elbow macaroni. Whenever I am in Burnham Park, I'd always hope I'd see a vendor selling this so I can buy at least one serving.
7. Arharn Thai Kitchen. Located along Leonard Wood Rd., this is where I got to taste my first Thai food and I fell in love with it.
   
8. Peanut Brittle. Another well known Baguio food product. There are so many choices (the cheapest would have to be crushed peanuts mixed with caramel), but my favorite is the one made by Baguio Paradise, because the not only are the peanuts whole, they also use honey.
9. Good Shepherd Ube Jam. If you buy a bottle of Ube Jam (even if it is labeled "Good Shepherd") at the pasalubong shops, chances are it would be stale when you reach home. If you want to be sure you get the freshest jam (Ube by the way is purple yam), one must purchase it directly from the Good Shepherd Convent.
   
10. Sunshine Bakery. I do my own trips in Baguio, but at times I would be with my Aunt Julie and some cousins. If I would be with them, one thing we always do was to buy some bread at this bakery before we take the bus home (home in this case would be our house in La Union, just two hours or so away) so we would be able to have some snacks while on the road. My favorite was the ensaymada.

It was just last March that I traveled to Baguio, and doing this post made me miss the city. I know people would tell Baguio has seen better days, that it wasn't as pretty as it was before, but even if it's "infested" with so many local and foreign tourists, not to mention students from other places studying in Baguio, I still get excited to travel there. Hopefully before 2011 ends, I could have the chance to travel there again.

*** Jenn ***

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My Harvest

July of last year, my sister and I cooked Dinamita Wraps, a very delicious pica-pica using finger chilies. We used about 10 chilies that time, and since the chilies were spicy, we decided to see if we could grow it. I scattered the seeds in one small pot with soil, and soon after the seeds were starting to grow. However, their growth took time because there were too many seedlings trying to fit into one small pot, so I chose the two tallest and re-planted them in another pot.


January of this year, I noticed one of the plants bearing a fruit. I was really, really happy about it and I really took the time to tend to the plants, taking out bugs and watering it when the soil dries up. Soon after, the other plant bore fruit, and I am a happy farmer. :)

I knew finger chilies would get long, so I didn't touch the fruits until they were long enough. The fruits actually looked like bell peppers, and for a while brother was saying that I planted the wrong kind of chilies.


When sister and I returned from our vacation early March, I noticed the first fruit becoming orange, but I didn't want to harvest it yet because I don't have any dish to add it with. As the days passed, it became reddish-orange, so I decided to harvest it even if I won't use it yet. The second fruit I harvested a few days after, but I wasn't able to photograph it because I used it the soonest time I harvested it.

I don't really have the green thumb, but agriculture is something I am so interested at even when I was still young. I haven't done much gardening and growing crops, but now that I was able to grow the finger chilies, I am so game to plant other veggies, too. I just scattered bell pepper seeds in another pot, and the next grocery day, I am planning to buy tomato seeds so I can plant it, too. Woo hoo!


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By the way, I saw this at the Yummy Magazine Facebook page, and thought I'd share it here on my blog. Mark your calendar - 21 May 2o11 - it's going to be an awesome, awesome Yummy event!

It's still quite far from now, so I still am not sure if I can attend this event (the location was far, too), but I so want to attend Yummy Magazine event as it's been so long since I last attended one (Yummy Weekend at Salcedo Weekend Market in 2008). I hope the planets would align for me so I could attend this.

*** Jenn ***

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