Recipes for Distraction | No-Cook Food with Lots of Distracting Thoughts

Thyme-and-honey Pork steak with Sauteed banana heart with lentils and tofu.

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 09:49:00 +0000

Sauteed Banana Heart

Ingredients

Banana heart, 1 piece, chopped and rinsed in salt and water
Lentils, about 1/2 cup
Tofu, 1 slab, cut into cubes
Garlic, about 5 cloves, chopped
Onion, 1 piece, chopped
Red bell pepper, cut into strips
Soy sauce, 5 tbsp
Honey, 5 tbsp
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes
Cumin, 1 tbsp
Dried Thyme, 1 tbsp
Water

1. In a casserole, boil the lentils until tender.

2. In a wok, fry the onion, garlic, and tofu.

3. Season with soy sauce, honey, thyme, and cumin

4. Add in the lentils (including the water they were boiled from) and the banana heart. Simmer until tender.

5. Season with salt, pepper, and chili flakes.

6. Garnish with slivers of red bell pepper

For the Pork Steak

Ingredients

Steak rub
Garlic, minced
Honey, 3 tbsp
Soy sauce
Thyme
Salt
Pepper

1. Prepare the steak rub by combining all the ingredients in a bowl.

2. Rub on both sides of the pork, or for best results marinate overnight.

3. Fry in low heat on a wok.

DIY Paving for the Undecided

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:23:00 +0000

I'm now contemplating on my latest DIY project slash mini-distraction: landscaping our ancestral house in the province. Right now, the garden is as empty as a blank page, save for the concrete hollowblock fence for which the decades-old santan bushes had to be uprooted. Now, there are no plants or trees. There are no garden structures--no pergolas, gazebos, not even a lousy wooden bench. I did say it's empty as a blank page. I'm not even sure how to go about it: plant first then build the structures, or the other way around.

The thing with landscaping projects is that they're literally back-breaking work.

You're dealing with bricks and stones after all. Even if you opt for managably-sized pebbles and gravel, they're still a whole lot to deal with. I know this for a fact because I've been buying DIY books on landscaping and home improvements at Book Sale, and it says right there: paving your patio and driveways is not a one-man/one-woman job. Which means even the most enthusiastic DIY-ers would need a helping hand, or hands, preferrably.

The pictures on the book, by the way, also include women, not just men, them working side by side in glorious gender equality with their shovels and trowels, pickaxes and hammers, them lifting and positioning heavy flagstones and bricks and other driveway pavers, in their nice work outfits and workgloves, and they make it look easy. But what if Edge is in no mood to lift a finger?

Mr. Keillor

The last book I read--a novel, not a DIY how-to--"Love Me" by Garisson Keillor says something about young people buying old mansions, taking care of them to great pains, renovating them to no end, and then split up because the pressure had been too much. Then they go find another partner and live in a different city in a more-or-less low-maintenance dwelling, but soon afterwards, having never undergone a renovation, they find that they miss the original lover. That's about as much as I remembered from it. Maybe I got it all wrong, and I must find the book to quote from it properly.

In the meantime, I must decide whether it's bamboo or brick.

Why Wedding Venues Must Be Picture-Perfect

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:08:00 +0000

The other day I was watching Rachel Getting Married starring Anne Hathaway, directed by Jonathan Demme, and it occured to me that from now on whenever I'd think of wedding scenes in films, I'd always fall back on this particular film for reference.

Anne Hathaway, by the way, isn't Rachel.  At best, she's the younger sister, the designated black sheep of the family, briefly released from rehab so she can attend the event.  Which is what sets the tension in the story.  Prodigal daughter arrives, unnerves everyone, upsets the balance, and in a brief scene, mounts a guy she has seen for the first time, who turns out to be the best man.  I think.


But back to the wedding plans.  Those guys make it look easy.  I don't remember seeing any wedding coordinator in the film, but somehow they've managed among themselves to set up a tent, hire a band, conduct rehearsals, decorate the venue, decide on seating plans (using tokens and trinkets and toys), etc.

And to emphasize the whole hands-on virtue of the affair, bride and groom, attired in aprons over their tux and gown, serve platters of foods for their guests.  Oh wow!  The entire film is like a 120 minute audio-visual guide on how to prepare for a wedding, family drama and issues included.  If you're wedded already, chances are you'd be saying to yourself, gee, I wish this is how we did it.


* * * 
While I'm a fan of DIY, I'd prefer it if there was a coordinator.  Being wedded is stressful enough, so let an expert problematize the details, like wine glass curvature and allergen-free desserts. 

One other thing I realized about venues becoming very, very crucial for the couple's big event: technology.  Or to be exact, Wi-Fi, iPhones, and Facebook.  In the old days of the camera, we had to wait for the photos to be developed, and if we're lucky, bride and groom sends us a copy.       

Now, everyone is armed with digicams, iPads, and those super duper DSLR cameras  with super duper lens.  Suddenly, everyone is a photographer.  And what's more is that we can upload those pictures on Facebook right away for others to see.

Therefore, it's not enough for the venue to be grand and spectacular and romantic; it should be a knockout as well.  After all, those perfect gardens will be forming the backdrop for your pics.  No wonder luxury venues for weddings--undoubtedly the most important milestone in our lives--are still the harried, finicky couple's best option.  (See estate weddings.)


In Rachel Getting Married, the reception was held at the family home, which goes to show you can organize a grand event in your own residence and still be elegant at it, and not appear a cheapskate.  Sure, I'm all for it.  But then I remember that's just the movies, where things look easy, and gourmet food appears out of nowhwere, and the bride and groom wait on tables without a hassle.


* * *

The Ten Best wedding scenes in films (Oddly enough, Rachel Getting Married  is not included).

Omelet for the Vegetarian in You

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:18:00 +0000

Told you there'd be more omelet recipes. This one is Edge's doing, a healthy vegetarian omelet. (You can never go wrong with malunggay, you know.) Hopefully, you're the lacto-ovo-vegetarian kind, because brother, we must put eggs in the omelet.

Ingredients

2 eggs

1 red bell pepper, slivered

3 cloves garlic

1 onion, sliced,

2 tomatoes, quartered

1/2 cup malunggay leaves

cheese, diced

salt & pepper

1. In a wok, fry the onion and garlic.

2. Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, cheese, and malunggay leaves.

3. Set aside on a plate.

3. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk the egg, seasoning it with salt and pepper.

4. Fry the egg, swirling the pan so the mixture spreads thinly.

5. Scoop the ingredients atop the egg, and fold.

6. And there you go.

Enjoy! :)

Bad Barbecue

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 11 Mar 2012 12:48:00 +0000

Omelet via Microwave

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 05:48:00 +0000

For those times the gas range ran out of gas, and you need breakfast badly (who doesn't?):

A microwaved omelet.

Ingredients

2 Onions, chopped
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1/4 of a head of Cabbage, sliced
1 egg
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes
Cooking oil, 1 tsp

1. In a Pyrex dish, put the oil, onions, and tomatoes.
2. Pop into the oven for a minute and a half.
3. Meanwhile, in a bowl whisk an egg and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chili flakes. Top with cabbage slices.
4. Take the Pyrex out of the oven and add the whisked egg.
5. Cook for 2 more minutes.
6. Enjoy!

Wow, it's been a looong while since I last updated this so-called recipe blog, and my come-back entry is... omelet? Sure. Why not?

Sinigang na Bangus sa Bayabas (Stewed Milkfish in Guava)

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 02:40:00 +0000

This is Mami's recipe, something she likes to cook whenever good ol' neighbor Kuya Elmer brings us guavas from their tree, which is every three or four days. Thankfully, the guavas are the kind that are big and sweet. Mami uses the fully-ripened ones, when they're already soft to the touch because that's when the sweet and the sour are at their peak. Sometimes, she even forbids us from eating the guavas since she knows we won't stop and there'll be nothing for her to use. When there's no milkfish in the house, we have to buy right there and then, because Mami is cooking and she rarely cooks nowadays given her age. The result, anyway, is always good: the harmony of flavors (and aroma) from the cooked guava and milkfish is just superb.

Once, in a moment of laziness to go out of the house and buy the aforementioned milkfish, it occurred to me this might be the last dish Mami ever prepares, and it'll guilt me to death not having bought the fish she requested. So I did. When I get back home, I found out she had a similar sentiment. She was also thinking why this dish was so important for her to make today, what if this is the last dish she ever makes? Us and our fishes.

Anyway. This is a really simple dish to make, something Mami calls "lutong tamad", or recipe for the lazy. You just toss the ingredients into the casserole, and wait for them to cook. In the correct order of course.

1. In a casserole, pour 8 cups of Water.
2. Add 8 - 10 fully-ripened Guavas, and let them boil until just about mushy.
3. Add a small Onion.
4. Add two big Bangus, cut into 4 pieces each
5. Add an Eggplant, (chopped into small logs), and 6 okras

6. Season with 2 tbsp Patis (fish sauce), and a dash of Salt and Pepper

7. Finally, add the Kangkong leaves.

Serve hot with rice, and enjoy! :)

Paksiw na Puso ng Saging

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:13:00 +0000

Paksiw na Puso ng Saging

Ingredients

1 Banana Heart
1 Onion, chopped
4 cloves of Garlic, minced
Leeks, chopped
1/8 kilo Pork, sliced into cubes
Oyster sauce, 6 tbsp
Soy sauce, 4 tbsp
Salt
Pepper
Chili flakes
2 cups of Water

1. Mix 4 tbsp of salt with the banana heart, mash and squeeze well, and then rinse under running water to remove the bitter taste.

2. Boil the pork in water with salt and pepper. Drain and reserve the broth.

3. Saute the onion, garlic, leeks, and the pork in oyster sauce and soy sauce.

4. Add the banana heart and a cup of broth. Let simmer until the banana heart is tender.

5. Add 5 tbsp of balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper, and some chili flakes if you want.

6. Simmer for 2 more minutes.

7. Serve and enjoy.

This dish also goes well with shrimp, so if you're going for healthy, nix the pork and use shrimp instead.

How Wide Is Your Grout?

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:13:00 +0000

I'm sure all this fuss about this darn kitchen renovation is supposed to distract me from something--I just don't know what it is. It's a good thing it's only our kitchen that's being renovated not an entire house being built from scratch, because the spacing between the ceramic tiles alone is enough to drive me crazy. Actually, not crazy, but the constricted bloodflow at the back of my neck made me dizzy from the pain.

Yes, I worry about grout spacing.

The other day me and Edge were at SM, checking the grout of nearly every tiled surface, because I'm pretty sure my tiler had laid the black and white tiles too close to each other on the backsplash. We were inspecting grout at the mall! Edge thinks I'm being too OCD. After all, it's just tiles. Shouldn't I be concerned instead about the tiles actually staying put, or if they're level at all?

But it's NOT just tiles! Those were the tiles I bought two months ago when that Home Depot visited our subdivision and set up a temporary shop at the basketball court. A three-day sale. When you got an entire Home Depot visiting your neighborhood, practically just a stone's throw away from your house, you know they're telling you the 17-year-old tiles in your grimy must finally be replaced. The second sign. The first one being of a more blatant, icky nature--earthworms actually crawling up from the edges of the already jagged, water-logged countertop.

So there they were, the black and white Mariwasa tiles with the silver sublte polka dots, sitting in their boxes in my room for two months. Two months the renovation was delayed because some typhoon was always getting in the way, and because my wingman Kuya Elmer couldn't find me a worker.

I forgot how those two months were spent. I know I sanded and woodstained our sofa, tried reading a book or two, became a godfather to a friend's daughter, etc, etc. But at the back of my mind, I was visualizing the granite (bought from another home depot) and the tiles all laid out beautifully in our new, handsome worm-free kitchen. So I want those damn grout spaces perfect.

However I shake the thought off, I know those too-narrow grout lines will bug me for nights on end. Everytime I stand in front of the stove stirring soup my eyes will gravitate towards the narrowness. So I googled the standard grout width and different DIY forums offered anywhere from 1/16 of an inch to as wide as 4 mm. But never non-existent. As for the grout lines my tiler did, yes there were spaces, but some had just a tiny sliver.

I should have known there are such things called tile spacers. My tiler didn't use any. For the granite I saw him insert two nails between the two slabs to check the uniformity of the space, but with the tiles, he didn't. And I was watching him all along.

I certainly didn't wait two months with my black and white tiles just for him to botch up on something as basic as laying out tiles evenly. He could have at least asked how wide a grout I want, and actually used spacers.

Since this grout thing will never give me peace of mind unless corrected, I had to postpone Wednesday's work just so I can head to that Home Depot real address and buy more tiles, assuming that Home Depot still carries them. Thankfully, they still do. And the weird thing is that four days later, when the tiler pried off an offending tile according to my wishes the next day, Thursday, it easily came off, and intact at that.

Now I'll have him take out the other five tiles I'm not so happy with, because it's my sanity that's on the line.

Am I just overreacting? Maybe. Maybe not.

There's this forum though where a bunch of folks argue whether the tile spacers should be left in or taken out, and the discussion got so lengthy, something philosophical must surely be at work there already. (Of course, with nails, our version of tile spacers, you take them out, duh.)

See, I'm not the only one problematizing this sort of thing.

http://www.screwfix.com/community/message/1135702

Oh Look at That Billboard!

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 07:35:00 +0000

So amidst all these news about men in skimpy underwear on giant billboards being taken down for conservative reasons--(apparently, a city mayor has had to cover his niece's eyes as they passed Guadalupe bridge where the offending billboards are, so he filed a complaint)--amidst all these, here's an environment-friendly, absolutely censor-proof billboard.

The eco-friendly billboard by Coca-Cola Philippines! You know it's eco-friendly from all that carbon-dioxide-hungry Fukien tea plants planted in no less than recycled plastic Coke bottles.

Channeling Hemingway.

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 13:50:00 +0000

PhP 20 find at Booksale.

from Wired.com

"...We need to power down our tablets and smartphones, men, and get back to challenging Mother Nature to kill us for our ambition and arrogance, whether it’s stalking a hungry lion or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Dominating at Angry Birds or FarmVille is no way to prove our manhood. You can score badges on Foursquare and become the mayor of a local organic vegan cafe, but wouldn’t you rather score bronze and silver medals of valor like Hemingway did in World Wars I and II?

Wouldn’t you rather learn about life from adventure (and mojito-fueled misadventure) than Wikipedia?

Perhaps Hemingway would approve of a select few online destinations:

• He would love Twitter; his greatest quotes are all 140 characters or less.

• Considering his fondness for kitties, Hemingway would spend countless hours on YouTube and I Can Has Cheezburger?

• Like all men, Papa loathed shopping — the only store where he felt comfortable was Abercrombie & Fitch, back when it distributed sporting goods instead of gay porn — so Amazon would make his purchases quick and painless. Unfortunately Amazon does not stock vintage, wormwood-laced absinthe... "

Read more

What Hemingway Would Think of the Internet

How to Pick A Baby Gift in Ten Seconds

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:51:00 +0000

As luck would have it, someone chose me to be their baby's godfather yet again. This time it's my old officemate, the last person I was expecting to settle down and have a baby but there it is.

I wonder why they keep picking me as godfather. I like to think I'm stingy, and I think I've demonstrated that to my friends enough number of times. In a world that puts a premium on gift-giving, that's certainly bad news. Of course I'm not saying my officemate only cares for the baby gifts that would come her daughter's way. And anyway, christenings aren't just about the perfunctory gifts; more than that, it's about reestablishing a new bond with your friend's family, sort of like being a co-parent or guardian to their child.

Still, there are nice baby gift choices you know will surely be appreciated, without hurting your wallet and without appearing a cheapskate. Such as:

1. Funny Baby Onesies. Onesies are baby body suits that snaps at the crotch--the classic any-day, all-occasion baby attire--whether short-sleeved or long-sleeved.

And just to make this baby clothing a tad more exciting, they make funny onesies too. After all, if grown-ups (e.g. rockers, emos, punks) wear statement T-shirts on a daily basis, why can't babies have a badass, ironic statement T-shirt of their own too? Call it infant comedy or diaper humor. Examples?

I only cry when ugly people hold me.

Hung like a 5 yr old.

Ipood.
Party. My Crib. 3 Am. BYOB.

2. Digital Photo albums: Okay, granted there's always Facebook to post your pretty pictures on, or 32 GB memory cards for your cameras. Still nothing beats a real actual photo album, the old-school kind that can hold and flip the pages back and forth. Or if you're feeling hi-tech, make it a digital frame which plays a slideshow of your most cherished pixels.

3. Spa Coupons for Mother and Child. Yes, spas offer a joint session for those harried moms and restless kid these days. Spa coupons are environment-friendly baby gifts too. No packaging to throw away.

I'm not sure what a baby massage is like or whether babies are stressed at all to ever require one, but back in my days there was no such thing and I think I would have appreciated a relaxing rub or two. Do babies regularly given a back rub grow up to be nice caring responsible individuals? We'll see.

Hmmm. I'm all out. I'm sure there are other cool baby gifts out there, but these are all I could scrounge at the moment. And now I must begin wrapping.

It's Eiga Sai Month Again!

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 00:22:00 +0000

Eiga Sai 2011 Screening Schedule

JULY 1 | FRI

(Opening Night by Invitation at Cinema 2)
Departures (131 mins ) 7:00 PM

JULY 2 | SAT
The Chef of South Polar (125 mins) 1:00 PM
Departures (131 mins ) 4:00 PM
The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones (139 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 3 | SUN
Summer Days with Coo (1:38 mins) 1:00 PM
The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones (139 mins) 4:00 PM
The Chef of South Polar (125 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 4| MON
Yunagi City, Sakura Country (118 mins) 1:00 PM
Villon’s Wife (114 mins) 4:00 PM
Climber’s High (145 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 5| TUE
Your Friend (125 mins) 1:00 PM
One Million Yen Girl (121 mins) 4:00 PM
Feel the Wind (133 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 6 | WED
One Million Yen Girl (121 mins) 1:00 PM
Climber’s High (145 mins) 4:00 PM
The Summit: A Chronicle of Stones (139 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 7 | THU
Feel the Wind (133 mins) 1:00 PM
Climber’s High (145 mins) 4:00 PM
Your Friend (125 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 8 | FRI
Your Friend (125 mins) 1:00 PM
Yunagi City, Sakura Country (118 mins) 4:00 PM
Departures (131 mins) 7:00 PM
JULY 9 | SAT
Departures (131 mins) 1:00 PM
One Million Yen Girl (121 mins) 4:00 PM
Villon’s Wife (114 mins) 7:00 PM

JULY 10 | SUN
Summer Days with Coo (1:38 mins) 1:00 PM
Feel the Wind (133 mins) 4:00 PM
The Chef of South Polar (125 mins) 7:00 PM

Hagod Vegetable Dish | Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 22 May 2011 23:59:00 +0000

Back from Cabiao. This time I deliberately did not take pics of the fiesta food, not even pics of people. Not that they weren't delicious (the fiesta food, I mean), on the contrary I gobbled up what I had scooped onto my plate before I remembered to take a picture. I love the Pata Tim or is it Lechon Paksiw?

You know fiesta food in the province, it's 10 kinds of meat dishes, usually pork and chicken, and only 1 kind of vegetable dish which more often than not is chop suey. The whole time we were there I was fearing for Mami's life, wondering if her anti-cholesterol pills were up to the challenge.

Even a week after the fiesta they were still serving leftover fiesta food, which surprisingly tasted even better after every reheating. (The LPG tank was missing in our house, we had to depend on relatives next door for meals.) Our only source of fiber was rice and ripe mango and the occasional steamed okras and eggplants dipped in yummy buro.

So when a dish such as Hagod comes along, it's such a welcome relief.

Hagod (literally "scrape" owing to the act of scraping the malunggay fruit with your teeth to get the meat)--apparently is both the alternate name of malunggay in the province, and the name of the dish itself in which it stars. The dish in the pic above is courtesy of my Mareng Dea.

Ingredients:

    1/4 pork pieces, sliced
    1 ampalaya, sliced
    5 small eggplants (talong) sliced
    10 pieces okra
    3 sweet potato (camote), cut into cubes
    10 pieces malunggay fruits (hagod)
    3 tomatoes, sliced
    1 onion, sliced
    5 cloves garlic, crushed
    1/4 cup shrimp paste (bagoong alamang)
    1 cup water

Cooking Instructions:

1. Boil pork in 1/2 cup water until water has evaporated. Saute meat until golden brown. Set aside.

2. Saute garlic, onion, tomatoes, and shrimp paste. Add the pork and the vegetables starting with the ones that take a while to cook (i.e. camote and malunggay/hagod), and putting in the okras last.

3. Add water. Simmer until vegetables are okay.

4. Don't forget the freshly-ground pepper and salt.

Books and more books from the province!

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 15 May 2011 06:10:00 +0000

Still vacationing in Cabiao. Surprisingly, I'm still alive despite the intense heat. I did manage to bring my pepper grinder, but forgot to bring along cooking oil (too lazy to buy here). And then there's the TV-less living room. Good thing I brought books to keep me entertained.

Left, my books from Booksale, right, Mami's prayer books, center, a toy horse

Anyway, what I love here in the province are the Booksale branches. Have been to the two Booksales already, one in WalterMart, Gapan, the other in N.E. Pacific in Cabanatuan. And just like in the previous years I always come out with great finds. Yay! Back when me and Edge were still holing up here in Cabiao we bought The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, an early edition of Smilla's Sense of Snow, and A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies, and Little Altars Everywhere.

There's always something good that others don't seem to mind. In the city I'd spend two hours inside the store and emerge with nothing. I suspect they've been snatched the minute the books got delivered.

Maybe it's an indictment of our culture that fewer and fewer people are reading books these days. That day at Booksale at WalterMart Gapan, while I was scouring the shelves fearing they don't stock anything good anymore, a teenage girl came waltzing in and asked the clerk if they carry the Justine Bieber magazine? Justine Bieber has a magazine of his own?

Anyway. In the cupboard-sized Boooksale branch (think Harry Potter's room under the staircase) at WalterMart, it only took me ten minutes to unearth Peter Høeg's The Quiet Girl (P45), Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary (P45), Waiting for Godot (P20), a short story collection by Ernest Hemingway (P20), and Samuel Becket's (P20)! Imagine Waiting for Godot for 20 bucks! Peter Høeg's The Quiet Girl!

I had to schedule my trip to N.E. Pacific Mall in Cabanatuan for another day.

There I found a book of poems by Margaret Atwood, with matching CD of her reading the poems herself. Come to think of it, I've always wondered what she sounds like. Also found a comics compilations of Berke Breathed and his Bloom County.

And I bought myself an eco book too (Green's Not Black and White), which ironically enough, took me lots of guilty carbon footprint in a single day to travel to the bookstore and chance upon said book and then go back home again. When I got home, the binding fell off an hour later (thank God there is glue in the house, no cooking oil but there's glue,) so I'm wondering how a book that purports to be an eco-book promoting the virtues of durability in consumer goods can have so fragile a binding it won't even last an hour with me.

There's also for P55 Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Mmmmmm, mmmmm. And a hardcover edition of The Little Prince, with matching dedication by grandma to her grandson back in 1987.

Anyway, have so many books right now I'm needing plastic cover to swaddle them with.

Alugbati Salad | Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:03:00 +0000

It takes balls to eat and enjoy alugabati leaves (in English, called Malabar nightshade--such an apt name) Sometimes, Ilocanos add the leaves to their dinengdeng and pakbet recipes, but then again, not too many are crazy about alugbati, even Ilocano themselves. It's probably the slimy, earthy taste.

Staunch enemies of this humble, underrated vine say the leaves are only good as a poultice for boils. Fine. But if you ever come across alugbati leaves in the market, know that they make a wicked salad, and they can also go with your pasta in sardines sauce (more on that later).

So this simple salad recipe: forget the lettuce for the meanwhile; the alugbati's dark green leaves are loaded with vitamins and minerals. And they're easy to grow besides. Just stick a stem into the soil and before you know it you've got a thriving vine in the garden.

Ingredients

Alugbati leaves
2 Tomatoes, sliced
1 can Pineapple tidbits (reserve the syrup)
1/3 cup Raisins
1/4 cup Peanuts, chopped

Dressing
1 Tbsp Balsamic vinegar
a squeeze of Calamansi
Syrup from the can of Ppneapple tidbits
Freshly-ground pepper
Salt (if you will)

1. Steam the alugbati leaves for about 3 minutes, blanche afterwards. (You'll have to separate the leaves which have stuck together while being steamed.)

2. In a bowl mix the alugbati leaves, tomatoes, pineapple, raisins, and peanuts.

3. For the dressing, combine the balsamic vinegar, calamansi juice, pineapple syrup, and salt and pepper.

4. Enjoy!

How to Eat Chesa!

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 09:00:00 +0000

1. Peel the ripe chesa (eggfruit). You know it's rich in Vitamin A and other antioxidants from the sumptuous yellow coloring alone.

2. In a bowl, mash the chesa.

3. Heap spoonfuls of powdered milk and a bit of brown sugar. You can also use condensed milk.

4. Drizzle with honey.

5. Top with raisins.

In the photo above, we're eating the chesa fruit raw though. You can do that too.

The New Improved Philippine Peso Bills Look Like Toy Money, Says Mamy.

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:25:00 +0000

Mamy, for your information, is 90 years old already, which means she has seen just about every mutation the Philippine currency has undergone--from the worthless WWII Mickey Mouse Money to the time when there was still the blue PhP2, PhP 5, and PhP 10 bills, featuring Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo, and Apolinario Mabini, from the gold-laden coins of the Marcos era to the generically-designed coins that we have now, devoid of the fishes and eagles, and tamaraws and butterflies of my childhood.

The point is, she's seen everything.

So when she says the new Philippine Peso bills issued by Noynoy's regime look like toy money, she's speaking from experience.

But of course I tell her the new bills are inarguably way better than their predecessors. The new money is packed with lots of anti-counterfeit features that I begin to wonder how much does it take to make every bill.

Here's the new 500 Peso bill, where Cory and Ninoy are finally reunited:

Me and Edge were lucky to get our hands on the new bills, from his office's cafeteria (with a fresh and crisp stash), and from my college friend's sister who works at no other than the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas. (So far, we're still missing the 200 Pesos, but since we're not so crazy about Macapagal, that can wait.)

With the exception of Cory Aquino, all the heroes in the previous denominations are retained in the new bills, although they all seem to be on a Benjamin Button diet. Manuel L. Quezon looks awfully handsome in his younger years. I miss the old Manuel Roxas in the 100 Peso bill, he looks more dignified there. In the new one he looks pissed.

So what's changed? The new money allegedly is antibacterial, so I don't want to hear anyone complaining how they don't like touching this and that cruddy old bill.

And yeah, more enhanced security features. Let's count them all.

1 Security thread

2 Watermark

3 See-through Alibata which spells Pilipino (a tough feat for ordinary printers to align those letters front and back)

4 Embossed prints

5 Security fibers

6 Serial Number

7 Hidden Denomination (when viewed at an angle of 45 degrees)

8 Optically variable logo (for the 500 and 1,000)

9 Color-shifting ink (for the 500 and 1,000)

Sure, they made a few boo-boos when they misplaced islands on the Philippine map, or did not check with the parrot as to the color of its beak, or how the scientific names of the flora and fauna was not italicized, etc, but what's a few trifling details when your money is more secure than ever? Now, I hope they do something about our boring coins.

Okay to be honest, I still think the old PhP 500 is handsomer, but then again I'm a creature of habit so I just might warm up to it in no time.

A Poem To Recite inside the Vatican Bathroom

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:50:00 +0000

This is the poem Tom Cruise had Philip Seymour Hoffman's character Devian recite at gunpoint in Mission Impossible III--my favorite scene in the movie. And whoa, what plush bathrooms the Vatican has got!

The pleasure of Shawn's company
Is what I most enjoy.
He put a tack on Ms. Yancey's chair
When she called him a horrible boy.
At the end of the month he was flinging two kittens
Across the width of the room.
I count on his schemes to show me a way now
Of getting away from my gloom.

Written especially for the film by linguist Neal Whitman, the poem is panphonic, meaning all the sounds in the English language are included. Some words were replaced in the film though.

For a detailed history of how the poem came to be, visit the author's blog itself:

http://literalminded.wordpress.com/2006/05/05/a-panphonic-poem-for-mission-impossible-3/

(Notice how in their email correspondence, the scene described is different from what eventually happened in the film so as not to inadvertently get the plot out in the open.)

I actually liked Mission Impossible 3 more than 1 and 2. The stakes have been upped, and we know what Ethan Hunt is fighting for. Even the supporting cast is breathed with personalities and personal struggles. They should have had J.J. Abrams direct all three in the first place.

Sinigang na Baboy | Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 00:30:00 +0000

Nothing beats a hot bowl of sinigang na baboy. Period.

Ingredients

1/2 kilo Pork, cut into chunk cubes
10 pcs Tamarind (or tamarind powder)
1 Onion, diced
6 Tomato, quartered
2 pcs Radish sliced
2 pcs Carrot, sliced
1 bundle Kangkong, cut into 2” pieces, stalks included
2 pcs Green finger chili (siling panigang)
Salt, Pepper, and Patis (fish sauce) to taste
4 cups Water

Instructions
1. If you’re using fresh tamarind, boil in a little water. Once soft, take the tamarind out and strain back into the casserole. Set juice aside.
2. In another pot, boil the pork over low fire until tender.
3. Add the onions, tomatoes and tamarind juice or tamarind powder.
4. Add the carrots and radish.
5. Put the kangkong leaves last.
6. Season with salt and pepper and patis (fish sauce).

That Million Dollar Make or Break Question in Gay Men's First Dates

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 00:25:00 +0000

from Top scientists get to the bottom of gay male sex role [Great title, btw.] by Jesse Bering, writing for the Scientific American

'Although self-labels were not associated with unprotected intercourse, tops, who engaged in a greater proportion of insertive anal sex than other groups, were also less likely to identify as gay. Non-gay-identified MSW [again, “Men Who Have Sex With Men”] may have less contact with HIV prevention messages and may be less likely to be reached by HIV-prevention programs than are gay-identified men. Tops may be less likely to be recruited in venues frequented by gay men, and their greater internalized homophobia may result in greater denial of ever engaging in sex with other men. Tops also may be more likely to transmit HIV to women because of their greater likelihood of being behaviorally bisexual.'

Beyond these important health implications of the top/bottom/versatile self-labels are a variety of other personality, social and physical correlates. For example, in the article by Moskowitz, Reiger and Roloff, the authors note that prospective gay male couples might want to weigh this issue of sex role preferences seriously before committing to anything longterm. From a sexual point of view, there are obvious logistical problems of two tops or two bottoms being in a monogamous relationship. But since these sexual role preferences tend to reflect other behavioral traits (such as tops being more aggressive and assertive than bottoms), “such relationships also might be more likely to encounter conflict quicker than relationships between complementary self-labels. "

Read the entire article here.

The Printer Faceoff | Brother vs. Canon

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 16:54:00 +0000

After four months of printerless existence, me and my sis Van finally decide on replacing our Brother DCP-165C with a Canon MP258.

Canon MP258

We didn't exactly say, hey let's go buy a Canon MP258; at SM Cyberzone, we were eyeing the Brother machines, hoping we'd still chance upon a model that could accommodate our CIS (continuous ink system).

As it is, Brother had business-mindedly phased out all its printer models utilizing the LC38 ink cartridges. The only other Brother printer that could use our existing extended cartridges was MC250C which costs a whopping PhP 6,500--because it comes with fax, although I have no idea whom I'd like to fax. Our budget was only 4 thousand bucks, and neither of us was willing to chip in any more.

One nice advice I heard that night from the lady who outfits your printer with good ol' CIS (despite it being illegal in some US states): "Wag bibili ng printer na bonggang bongga. Don't buy a printer that's worth scads of money." Her argument: most printer life is about two years, give or take, in short, most printers are made to be disposable, so if you're contemplating on buying a printer, get one that's reasonably priced.

Apparently, after a set number of printouts (around 10,000 copies), printers have to be reset to their original factory settings or they will conk out. Which is why our two years old Brother suddenly stopped printing. Either that or the encoder strip got smudgy and my prodigious wiping it clean with alcohol only effectively erased (gasp!) the lines. Sure, the scanner still worked fine, even after repeated dismantling by my dad in a vain attempt to repair the unit all by himself, but the printer just won't print and kept showing error messages instead.

Resetting the printer, by the way, entails disconnecting the network cable from your printer and pressing and holding a specific combination of buttons. Kinda like a secret code you didn't know your printer was capable of.

So aaaanyways, we now have a Canon MP258, which is like the next best thing because it was just PhP 3,000, and we were raring to go home already besides.

Here's how the two printers stack up against each other, and why I kinda miss our old Brother.

Canon MP258:

The Good

1. Document feeder starts from top and spews out at the bottom; less prone to paper jams

2. Sleek and compact look

3. Printheads are on the ink cartridges themselves, not on the unit

4. Excellent photo printing

5. Well-lit display

6. Output tray door automatically pops open whenever you print.

The Bad

1. Saves scanned images in jpeg format only--no tiff, psd, bmp, etc.

2. Ridiculous waste of ink for test prints--whole long bars of colors when Brother judiciously prints out just tiny little squares


The wasteful Canon test print

3. No way to choose Fast setting on the printer itself, unless you change settings via the PC first. (For "fast" photocopies, your option is to scan the document first, then manipulate settings before printing.)

4. You can't print documents without turning the PC on.

5. No buttons on the printer for cleaning. Cleaning is done via PC.

6. Original ink costs a bomb (But don't they all?)

7. Packaging uses styrofoam

8. At times makes quite a racket for no reason at all

9. Has to warm up first before printing or scanning, which may take a while

10. Only one-year warranty

Brother DCP-165C

The Good

1. Multiple options of formats for saving scanned images, not just jpeg (good if you're finicky about your retaining all your pixels)

2. You can print documents even with the PC off.

3. Has Fast setting for photocopies.

4. Modest amount of ink used for test prints

Brother's more practical test print

5. Packaging uses recycled egg carton-like cardboards

6. Has two years warranty

The Bad

1. Dim LCD display.

2. Document feeder starts from bottom, spews out on top--more prone to paper jam.

3. A bit bulky-looking, but then again it's a printer, not a fashion model.

4. You gotta have all the cartridges filled to be able to print. If even one of them is empty, you can't print, no matter if it's just a lousy all-black document.

How to Waterproof Your Digicam (and Practically Everything Else)

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:42:00 +0000

On an early morning show some weeks ago to sort of herald the coming summer, they featured waterproof housings for digicams.

But they didn't stop at that. There's waterproofing, too, for laptops and cellphones and Blackberries and PSPs and iPads. Practically every imaginable gadget there is today. i bet If Walkmans were still around, a custom waterproof case would have also been shown on the show.

To prove his point, the guy doing the demo in the show had brought an aquarium filled with water. He and the host then proceeded to dunk the waterproofed gadgets into the water, splashing here and there like a couple of carousing kids. The cameras and cellphones were safe and bone-dry--good for them, good for the show's producers, and good for the rest of us watching. Everyone's happy.

* * *

Which brings us the question: What do we really want to do when we hit the beach or the pool? The last time I checked we're there to swim and soak and have a frigging good time. Aren't we there to supposedly forget the frantic worries of work and deadlines, the incessant shackles of addicting technology, the humdrum of city life for a while?

And yet we insist on bringing our laptops and digicams with us. We just have to waterproof our gadgets.

Okay, some of us must work, even on vacation, and that's fine. Multi-tasking is not yet a crime. But must you really type away while floating on the salty seas of Boracay?

I can understand the digicams. We want to take pictures of ourselves submerged, we want a shot of Nemo the clownfish underwater, we want wet wet wet photos for our Facebook profiles. But waterproofing a PSP? Do you really want to go to the beach or play Need for Speed? This conflict of interest is so insane.

* * *

If your life really depends on waterproofing your digicam, there's always a safe and dry recourse. Depending on your camera brand and model, some digicams actually have special waterproof casings that can be bought separately. You might have to pay scads of money though, it's almost like buying another cam, but at least you know your digicam is impervious.

For those whose cameras don't come with a nifty housing, there's also DiCAPac, a strong plastic casing for digicams, camcorders, mp3 players, and the like. The thing just begs to be submerged, and confidently so, being compliant and passing Japan's rigorous JISIPX8 (Japan Industrial Standard) test with the highest grade.

For those looking for something cheaper and instant, a ziplock bag would do, but don't bet your life on it. For best results, testdrive your waterproof casing by using tissue paper first. (In case of accidental dropping in water, expert advice placing the gadget in question in a bowl of raw uncooked rice, to absorb the moisture. Resist the temptation to turn it on to prevent short circuiting.)

In all of these, the final advice still is: take only what you need to your swimming trip, and nix the unnecessary gadgets, because you're there to have a purely good time.

Okay, I'll allow the mp3 player: floating on the seas with bluest bowl of sky above you while you're plugged to Bruce Springsteen is next to heaven. But the minute you find yourself itching to use your gadgets as a crutch for enjoyment whenever the view gets boring, ask yourself what you really really want.

I'm Looking For a Band

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:32:00 +0000

Back at my crummy illegal office in 2006, I made this Name the Hidden Bands puzzle by Virgin Records my desktop wallpaper. It wasn't really officially called Name that Hidden Band; it could have been Find the Lurking Musicians for all I know, but suffice it to say, I didn't even make it to 10.

Maybe because I had such a narrow range of musicians I know and like--If you asked me who Tom Waits was, I'd say an author. Or the musicians I like then don't have names that could be rendered as a bizarre image or scenario for a puzzle: Alanis Morissette, Paula Cole, Portishead, No Doubt. I do like The Cranberries (despite Dolores O'Riordan's untiring penchant for rhyming every other line), and REM, and All Saints, but alas they were left out. (Also, since I was a new convert to Smashing Pumpkins at the time, I didn't catch the image of that man with the hammer soon enough, but I do remember having sniffed out Garbage.)

Anyway, in between writing articles, I'd switch to the desktop wallpaper and futilely hunt for more bands, and I end up finishing neither.

* * *

Incidentally, back then, there was still no Lady Gaga, Katie Perry, Daughtry, Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, Lady Antebellum, or Paramore. I can see how easy it is to render Lady Gaga as a puzzle, (Just put a lampshade over the head of a woman, or lots of raw meat), but the others are just plain hard.

I wish I had surfed more for leisure back at the office.

[Will post the answers later.]

Homilies About the RH Bill in Your Friendly Neighborhood Church

noreply@blogger.com (mothproof) — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 00:21:00 +0000

The parish church at Edge's place in Bulacan held a nightly bingo game session December last year to supposedly raise funds for the said church's construction. If it has the blessings of the Church, then apparently gambling is legal, whether it's bingo or blackjack or tong-its. If the Church gets something out of the venture, then by all means shake that bingo bottle and get ready with your bingo cards. Nice, huh?

So I don't see the point why the RH Bill is being staunchly opposed by the Church, specifically the CBCP. Is it because the Church isn't getting any pennies from this wicked bill? Maybe if the Church could only get their hands on some profits, say from all the condom manufacturing the RH Bill would entail, then they'd be more willing to say Aye. Or Amen.

* * *

Intramuros Tourist Guide Carlos Celdran is back with a new stunt, after his infamous DAMASO placard during a Holy Mass at the Manila Cathedral. This time around his target place is no other than the premises of CBCP, where he gleefully ripped out the anti-RH Bill posters. It may be an exaggeration already, on his part, a sort of desperate, if not take-notice-of-me act, but if that's what it takes to send the message, then go ahead and rip out that poster.

Last last Sunday, I accidentally overheard the priest in our chapel imparting a few non-Church related last words before he dispatched the flock. It was about, drumroll, the eventual corruption of the funds should the RH Bill gets approved. How those funds should be used to build schools instead. The whole thing was said like an afterthought, a public service announcement next to the choir rehearsals notice, and basketball tryouts, and other bulletins. Nice touch, Father.