Ako ay nahirapang mag-isip para sa tema ng Litratong Pinoy para sa linggong ito. Pagkatapos kong makita ang lahok ng aking mga kaibigan sa LP, ito ang aking naiisip….

Ito ang kandado ng bag ng aming DSLR.

Itong bag na ito ay nabili ko ng segunda-mano sa aking kaopisina na mahilig din sa pagkuha ng mga larawan. Ilang buwan pa lamang ito mula ng kanyang binili at napagisipang ibenta dahil siya ay nagpalit ng bagong camera at nangangailangan ng mas malaking bag.

I soooo love crabs!!! Last Thursday, I wasn’t able to go to the market due to the typhoon. Luckily, a vendor passed by our house selling crabs. So I excitedly asked him how much is his crabs. He told me that it costs P340 a kilo of female crabs and P280 a kilo for male crabs. I chose the female crabs because they have more “aligue”, my favorite part of the crab. I’ve bought 3 medium-sized crabs that is about 800 grams and paid only P250. Tumawad pa ako hehe.

However, the husband is not fond of crabs because, according to him, crabs are difficult and messy to eat, and it doesn’t make him fully-satisfied. But, I insisted to cook them using a different recipe.

Here it goes:

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized fresh water crabs ( alimango )

1 head minced garlic

a thumb-size ginger, chopped and crushed

1 medium onion, chopped

¼ cup tomato catsup

2-4 pcs red chilis (or more, if you want them spicier)

2 TBSP oyster sauce

2 tbsp Chili-garlic Sauce (I used Lee Kum Kee)

1/3 c vegetable oil

salt and pepper

¼ cup sugar

2 tsp vinegar

2 TBSP soy sauce

¼ cup water, or as needed

1 tsp sesame oil

How to do it:

Scrub crabs with stiff brush and rinse well under cold running water.

Remove claws and smash slightly.

Chop crab backs into two. Take extra care to avoid discarding the aligue. Set aside.

Heat oil in a wok and fry crabs for 2 to 3 minutes. The crabs will change its color to orange. Set aside.

In the same wok, sauté the ginger, garlic, and onion. Lower the heat to avoid the garlic from getting burned.

Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, tomato catsup, salt, pepper, chili-garlic sauce, water, and red chilies. Let it simmer for 1 minute in medium heat.

Then add vinegar. Don’t stir for 3 minutes.

Add the sugar. You will notice that the sauce will thicken. You may add more water if the sauce turned out to be very thick.

And finally, add the crab and sesame oil. Cover the wok and cook for about 5-8 minutes.

Serve with plain rice.

Voila! Dinner is ready! This Singaporean-Style Chili Crabs made my day.

We had a great weekend at Pundaquit, San Antonio, Zambales, together with Abeth’s relatives, to celebrate his uncle’s birthday. We went to Capones Island to see the Capones Lighthouse and to Camara Island as well.

Avocado is one of my favorite fruits. But, I believe it only bears fruit once in a year. We have an avocado tree in my hometown, which I planted when I was seven years old. It used to bear many fruits before, but these past years, there were only a few. It didn’t stop to bear fruits but it stopped growing.

If I remember it right, the tree bears fruit during the rainy season. I’ve been seeing avocados in fruit stands lately and recently found out that it is a cure to hormonal imbalance. As I’ve said before, I have Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome, wherein one of the causes is hormonal imbalance. Two weeks ago, I bought about 2 kilos of avocados and made an Avocado Smoothie. Oh boy, they were so good. I wish they are available all year round.

By the way, here’s the procedure on how to make an Avocado Smoothie: In a blender, combine meat from 3 avocados, ¼ cup milk, ½ cup sugar (or adjust according to your desired sweetness), 3 cups crushed ice or 1 tray ice cubes, and 1 cup water. Blend well. Transfer to a glass. This is a great refreshment. Love it!

Dito lang sa bayan ng Kawit, probinsya ng Cavite, matatagpuan ang Aguinaldo Shrine. Ito ang matandang bahay ng unang pangulo ng republika ng Pilipinas na si Emilio Aguinaldo. Napadaan kami sa lugar na ito ilang araw bago ipagdiwang ang Araw ng Kalayaan. Sa totoo lang, wala sa plano namin ang pumunta dito. Napunta lang kami dito ng magkamali ng liko ang aking kabiyak noong kami ay patungo sa get-together ng aking mga kaibigan na gaganapin sa isang resort malapit sa Bayan na iyon. Tutal andun na din kami at maaga pa naman para sa aming tagpuan, napagdesisyunan naming bumaba ng sasakyan at magpakuha ng mga litrato sa nasabing lugar.

At ito ang kinahinatnan….

At dito lang sa Cavite ang lugar na aking babalik-balikan dahil ito ang aking kinalakihan.

Andre’s class is suspended today due to Tyhoon Feria. As I am writing this, it is Signal No. 2 in our area, according to PAG-ASA, but no heavy rain and strong winds are happening. It is currently hitting the province of Mindoro and is expected to hit our area tonight. Hoping it wont cause heavy floods again because it would be so damaging most especially in our area. We will have to elevate all our furniture and appliances to prevent them from getting wet. I asked Abeth to go home early before the typhoon hits our area.

I am thinking of what to cook for dinner using the porkchops in the freezer. I want to try a new dish using porkchops as we usually fry it or cooe it ala Pork Steak. I found this simple recipe over the internet that uses ingredients that are available in my pantry.

So, here are the ingredients:

6 pcs porkchops

3 cloves minced garlic

1 chopped medium onion

2 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp chili garlic sauce (add more if you want it more spicy)

Procedure:

In a bowl, mix all the ingredients except the porkchops. Then rub the porkchops with the marinade and let it stand for at least an hour.

This recipe requires barbecuing over char or broiling them in a convection oven. But since my convection oven is hard to reach because our househelper put itat the farthest corner of our house, I decided to braise them. Yes, it is possible to braise meats in a pot. That’s what I do with my barbecued liempo. It is also the best option if you weren’t able to marinate your meat for at least an hour.

What I did is to put all the meats together with the marinade in a pot and add about ½ cup of water and let it boil. Upon boiling, I lowered the heat and allowed the sauce to almost dry up but not burnt. You will see that the sauce thickens and it will glaze the meat nicely.

I served it with plain rice and buttered baby corn,  mushroom, and garlic.

My husband enjoyed the meal as well as the vegetables. I made him eat veggies this time. Hehehe.

Andre and I went home early from school today because he was stabbed by his female classmate using pencil. They were squabbling on a pencil, which Andre thought was his. I don’t know if it was really his pencil. I’m glad I was there to stop that little girl from stabbing him again. Andre was stabbed in the head, which resulted in a small wound that made him cry so hard. I know he was hurt very badly because he has a strong tolerance to pain. Thank God I was able to stop the girl before she hit my son again. She might stab Andre’s eyes. If that happens, I don’t know what can I do to that little girl. Andre cried out loud and the mommies outside the classroom called the mother of the little girl. The mom spanked her daughter and said sorry to me. I have no one to blame because I know that she’s still a kid. I felt so worried on Andre during that time. All I did was to stop his head from bleeding. Buti na lang hndi masyado madugo, and the cut was not that deep. Haaay. I just told her teacher that we will go home na lang. Poor little Andre.

Tomorrow, we will bring Andre first to the school before going to the office. His lolas will be the one to look after him. Naku, goodluck dun sa classmate ni Andre because his lolas were very very mad.

I have a friend who is into weight lifting despite his physical disability. He used to have an inferiority complex. But, he has overpowered it thru weight lifting. He has won various awards in this field and helped him boost his self-confidence. He has a great upper body and a great abs. I have learned that the secret for attaining a body like his is thru religious work out, protein supplements like Stemulite, eating lots of egg whites, no-carbohydrates diet, and steroids. I thought working-out at the gym is enough, but I was wrong. Bodybuilders like him take protein supplements that can help build muscle and increase mass.

Stemulite has a fitness formula for both men and women. It is a combination of natural nutritional ingredients that are scientifically proven. What is nice about it is that it contains only natural products. I’ve read some of the testimonials with regards to the product users and I found out that it really helped them to increase strength and reduce soreness from exercise, decrease body mass index, increase muscle tone, and increase endurance.

Imposible ba ito?

Ito ay larawan ng 3 kulisap na nagtatalik. Ito pala ay hindi imposible. Napabilib ako ng aking butihing kabiyak sa larawang ito. Ito ay nakuhanan nya noong nakaraang Abril sa may halamanan ng kanilang opisina. Akalain kong natyempuhan nya itong mga kulisap na ito.

Ito ang aking lahok para sa…

This July is my 10th year in the office. I’ve been working with the same company for almost 10 years. It’s my first job after graduating in college, and it only means that I am getting old. Hehe. Me and some of officemates, who also celebrate their 10th year, are planning to have a get-together in a beach resort somewhere in Batangas. I am the one who is assigned to look for the best place for us and I discovered Palm Beach Resort located at San Juan, Batangas. Aside from the beach, they also have swimming pool and I find their pool furnitures nice. I am choosing between their premier and deluxe rooms for the addomodations. I still have to discuss the expenses with my officemates for us to know what would be our budget. They also offer buffet meals for only P1050, which include, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, and breakfast. I think they’ll like the place as much as I did.