OMG.

I think all I can remember about this week is all the food I've consumed. I am still reeling from the fantastic korean dinner I had today with family after Ana's baby shower. I specifically requested to be off today because I wanted to attend Ana's shower. I can't even remember the last time I saw Tita Susan and she was flying in just for the day's event and flying back to Mississippi tomorrow.



I've never attended a shower before so it felt reminiscent of a rom-com movie where all the girls would break into a chorus of "awwwwwwwws...." and giggles everytime Ana opened presents and showed them little baby shoes and baby jumpers. They had light finger foods and I attacked the plate of mini beef turnovers which tasted so much like those Jamaican Patties I used to get from ATC. Mygahd I miss those.

Omar was so cute being the only boy at the party. I suppose you can break the no boys in a baby shower rule for an adorable 9 year old. He was so eager to join the games despite everything being baby related and prizes for winners were targeted for females. I wuvwuv my omeeboy.


After the shower, the family headed up to Flushing for Korean BBQ dindin. It was so good, I was in Kimchi heaven. I have got to take Mica and a couple of other people there. It's amazing food and good value for money. OO Ging, dadalhin kita doon. Kung kelan ka man mapadpad dito.

Name drop time!
My cousin Miya is studying at Brown University. She told me this one story about a day she was in her dorm room studying when a girl peeks her head in the door and says something like "Oh wow, you have a quad!" (quad=four to a room, most rooms in Brown are two to a room) Miya looks up and sees Emma Watson standing on her doorway! If you've been reading entertainment news, you'll learn she's enrolled herself in Brown last fall and chose to stay in the dorms like the other students as opposed to getting her own flat. According to Miya, she walked in and looked around the large dorm room and said something about wanting to live there. Miya said she watched her walk around with her mouth open. Miya also says she looks exactly like she does in photos, which would be absolutely gorgeous, by the way. It's very rare I gush over young actresses nowadays. Most of the existing ones you see on magazines now are complete idiots. Emma Watson joins the ranks of young women like Ellen Page whom I very much admire.

Boss called me this morning telling me not to bother coming in to work today. The snow storm is so bad and the resto is so slow. I was glad for the break but was kind of disappointed I won't be able to earn back the money I spent the past two days wining and dining as if I could afford it.

I woke up with the sweetbreads still on my mind. I can't believe a dish can get me so high. I almost walked out of the apartment with the full intention of heading back there and having it again.

I opted to stay in all day though and finally print some photos I've been meaning to frame and hang on our hallway. The frames I bought in Ikea have been sitting there for weeks and it's time I used them.

Mica wanted chicken mami for dinner and despite not having ever made them, I decided to give them a go. I didn't have time to make chicken stock from scratch so I bought chicken broth and threw that into a pot with the chicken cutlets, celery, onions, carrots, scallion stalks, whole peppercorns, salt and a bay leaf. Simmered that while I prepared the rest of my ingredients. I refused to use chicken bouillon cubes since I felt like that would be cheating. I try to only use those when I'm lazy. Thankfully, my broth was just right without the help of a little MSG.


I burned my garlic chips but it was fine when added to the bowl in moderation. This was a cheap and easy meal, the only thing that took too much time was my obsession with making it look picture perfect. I julienned the carrots, sliced the scallions finely, steamed the vegetables individually and setting them aside so as to not overcook them in the broth where they would eventually lose their color. I even used an egg boiling guide to make sure my eggs weren't boiled to the point where the yolk's edge turned green.

Tomorrow I get another off day (fours days in a row!). This one was requested a month in advance since I'm attending my cousin Ana's baby shower. I'm thinking of giving her my copy of Wolves in the Walls for the baby. The baby shower invite said to give a book instead of a card to start the baby's library. I hope they don't find the story and illustrations too scary for the child. The pictures are quite beautiful.

The evening was spend eating a variety of items I currently regret. While Mica and I watched the Sabrina movies back to back (both the 1950s Audrey Hepburn and 1990s Julia Ormond version), I snacked on cassava cake, seaweed snacks, butter pecan ice cream while I drank malibu pineapple. I had a couple glasses soda with my dinner so all of that simmering in there gave me a bad acid stomach. Ugh. I wish I can just fart this all away and get it over with.

I was meeting Mica at 5:30pm for dinner today. I spent the morning surfing through David Chang's restaurant menus and reviews since Louiie mentioned she was planning on getting his cookbook, Momofuku. First thing that came to mind was, "Hmmm, another place to go and try..." I was at the Union Square area a little too early to meet up with Mica so I found myself back at Strands Bookstore standing at a corner, poring over Thomas Keller's The French Laundry cookbook. I met up with her and we walked on over to a restaurant we were both trying to apply to for extra part time work. The head chef was very nice and said we can probably start in a couple of weeks when things start to pick up more. They've only been open a month so things are still slow moving. I am excited to work in a new place, gain more experience and meet new people. Plus! The best part? It's a Filipino restaurant! In my personal experience, most filipinos are not the best kind of tippers but I am taking this more for the change of scenery and pace. I won't be quitting the vegetarian gig anytime soon though, our weekends have been doing pretty well over there lately and I don't want to miss the good dinero. Specially now that I've developed this new expensive habit of eating out at these fancy places.

Tonight I found myself back at Apiary, this time with Mica and three of her dancer friends. One is also a NY based dancer and the other two were visiting from Hong Kong. Mica and I were there at 6pm and told the maitre d' that we're expecting three other people to join us in an hour and we will be staying at the bar for drinks while we wait. We each get a glass of prosecco and I convince Mica to share an order of the crisp sweetbreads with me. The bartender/waiter looked at us for a second then began,

Him: Have you had sweetbreads before?
Me: No
Him: Uhm well just to let you know that sweetbreads are a young calf's thymus gland....
Me: (cutting him off) I know what they are, that's why I want to try them.

I was smiling at him trying to convincing him that "It's ok, I won't send it back saying 'Ugh! Yuck! Gross!"

Him: Feeling adventurous tonight are we?
Me: Oh YES

Mica was apparently fiddling with her phone and distracted while this whole exchange was taking place because when I casually mentioned to her what the we're about to eat when the waiter left, she said "putangina mo, anong pinapakain mo sakin?!" I reassure her that it will be AWESOME and to add bonus reassurance, tell her that LOUIIE says they are great. Lately, we have come to believe that whatever Louiie says is good, indeed has to be good.

The dish came and we dug in. Now, I've used a lot of adjectives in the past describing the food I eat. I've mentioned amazing, great, awesome, delicious, good, excellent. I'm running out of things to describe dishes already. BASTA MASARAP SIYA OK! NAPAKASARAP NIYA TALAGA. I really would prefer not to describe it as "kinda like chicken" but it was what came out of Mica's mouth when she has her first bite. I guess it did, only BETTER. It was tender and melted in your mouth. The frisee salad that came with it was a perfect contrast to the sauce that circled the plate. I polished off the rest of the dish and secretly began running my fingers on the plate and licking off the wonderful sauce since I didn't want to waste a single drop of it. I saw the bartender sneak a glance just as I was sucking on my thumb and he smiled. Later, when we were seated with the rest, he jokingly asked me if I ordered the sweetbreads again.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we saw the man of the house himself! Scott Bryan! He was standing by the bar as soon as Mica and I walked in and made our reservations. My insides began screaming and I tried to calm myself as I told Mica, "Ayan na siyaaaaa!!! yung naka-puti! OMG!! Siya na yooooon!!!" I've seen a few Hollywood stars around New York but I haven't felt the same kind of "gigil" I felt when I realized SCOTT BRYAN IS IN THE ROOM. I wonder what will happen to me if I see Anthony Bourdain? I might faint. He lingered around the bar before dinner rush while we sat and drank waiting for Mica's friends. Later Mica asks me, "Nakita ka na ba ng chef nung andito ka dati?" I told her he wasn't there when I first came. "Kasi kanina pa siya tingin ng tingin sayo eh."

"TALAGA?!?!?"

Punyeta ang dork ko talaga. My reaction made Mica laugh so hard. She says she's never seen me so giddy ever. Anyway, wala lang naman yon pero natuwa parin ako. He disappeared into the kitchen when diners started pouring in. We were lucky they managed to squeeze us in despite a very busy night.

The rest of the party came, we sat down and ordered. I got most of the same I got last time except I chose the Roasted Merluza with curried mussel chowder instead of the chicken. I won't say anything about it anymore, you know it was good. Everybody else was very happy with their choices as the meal progressed. Since I recommended the restaurant, I was happy to see them pleased with their meals. Remember what I said yesterday about my dinner in Prune being my most expensive meal? Well today trumped yesterday's bill. BUT I DON'T CARE! Maybe next time though, I will stick to ordering only a few items at a time and not overly stuff myself in one go. Sitting silently by the bar while I enjoy a bowl of the tuscan bean and kale soup followed by the sweetbreads should be fine.

...and I spent it alone :)

I woke up and took my time. One thing I hate doing on my off days is rush myself. I took my time getting off of bed, making coffee, breakfast, watching last night's episode of Lost, looking at menus online deciding where to eat for dinner. I decided on Prune after watching an episode of No Reservations where Bourdain is joined by Eric Ripert (of Le Bernadin) and Scott Bryan (of Apiary) where they enjoy a late meal at Gabrielle Hamilton's place. I took my time in the shower, got dressed and headed over to Union Square and ended up where I usually go on my day off, a bookstore. This time I went to Strands and bought a copy of Thomas Keller's cookbook Ad Hoc.
I also bought a copy of Waiter Rant, which is the front of the restaurant's version of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential. I read an excerpt about verbal tipping and found it both hilarious and relate-able that I had to get it.

I walked around the east village and down to Prune, which was about 14 blocks and two avenues from the bookstore. The place didn't open until 5:30pm so I sat at a cafe and perused through Keller's cookbook as I waited for time to pass. Six o'clock came and I figured it was enough time to let the restaurant open and prepare itself before it welcomed diners. I didn't make reservations since I was once again dining solo. I needn't have worried, I was their first customer. I ordered the roasted marrow bones with parsley salad and the seared duck breast with dandelion greens and raisin-caper dressing. Bourdain has said it again and again, his death row meal would be roasted marrow bones with parsley salad. I shall have to say I agree. Honestly, I could die tomorrow and I would die a happy (wo)man. I will tell you the duck breast was fantastic but the bone marrow was the highlight of my meal. Seriously. It was the BEST.THING.EVER. It was nature's butter. Trying to describe it would be futile. No words can illustrate how simple yet absolutely amazing it was. People started pouring into the restaurant as I devoured my appetizer. A couple sat beside me and as the waitress told them about the bone marrow appetizer being the best selling item on the menu, I sneak a glance and smile at her. She pauses and gestures to me and my marrow stained fingers as if to emphasize her point. I couldn't help myself and told them to get it. "You have to get that, I swear, it is amazing," I tell them. They agreed and order it. Later the man turns to me and says, "Would you like a glass of our French Burgundy with your meal? We ordered a bottle and we won't be able to finish it." I graciously accept and later I surreptitiously tell my server to charge me twice for my dessert and give one to the couple at the next table as soon as they finish their meal. I've been specially lucky with free drinks this week. I forgot to mention that the bartender in Apiary also bought me an extra glass of wine when I was there. I had a glass of riesling prior to the burgundy and was at this point feeling particularly generous and adequately buzzed. I tipped the server more than the usual, ignoring the fact that my meal tonight was one of the, if not THE most expensive solo meal I've ever had. I can say now that it won't be my last.

I was lucky with a cab today. New York City is supposedly notorious for it's difficulty in hailing a cab. I never had that kind of bad luck except when it's raining hard. Tonight, I was at an intersection and didn't even hail a cab. All I did was look at a passing cab and it pulled over a few yards from where I was standing. It took me several seconds to realize that it stopped for me and I ran to it. I needed to make the 7:45pm showing of Shutter Island at a theatre near Union Square. I got there (over tipped the cab driver, it was the alchohol, I tell you) and found that the 7:45 showing was sold out. I quickly checked my phone for the next soonest showtime and found one at a theater right in the middle of new yorker hell and tourist district, Times Square. I normally never go anywhere above 14th st unless I'm taking out of town friends around NYC but it was early and I really didn't want to go home so I went and saw the movie. I don't want to spoil it for people who haven't seen it but it was a really good movie. Martin Scorcese did an awesome job as usual despite the conclusion having a particular resemblance to another movie (you'll know which one I'm referring to when you see it).

I walked out of the theater once again greeted by Times Square's bright lights that it felt like it was 7pm despite it being almost 11pm. I got home and Caitlin walked in soon after bearing a bottle of Jack Daniels. We drink while watching Sabrina (the Audrey Hepburn version) in the living room. My eyes, tired and relatively drunk, gave up halfway through the film and excused myself to my room where I decided to type this post before bed before I let go of today's high.

Louiie, we are going to Prune when you come to NYC next month, and we're ordering the sweetbreads with bacon and caper sauce.

***I'm really buzzed and if there are any grammatical errors or typos in this post, I shall fix them tomorrow morning***

I'm currently watching Singles on Netflix and Pia messages me on YM mentioning my Apiary post the other day. She apparently also reads Rajo Laurel's blog and saw his post about that night's dinner. He has photos up so if you want to catch a glimpse of the food, you can see it there. He misspelled the name of the restaurant though (apriary instead of apiary) so his links to the website don't work.

Interesting info about his post, who owns the hand on the 2nd photo and the lady on the background in the 2nd to the last photo? Hehehehe....

Thanks to Pia for telling me about his blog.

It's raining outside and it's all gloomy.

Mica called in sick because she had a (stupid) accident last night with the pressure cooker. She opened the thing before it had time to release pressure and cool down and it, naturally exploded all it's contents (pork sinigang) on her, burning her arms, hands, face, chest and upper abdomen. She now has what I'd like to call war wounds. Her arms and hands looks like that of a chef's and her stomach looks like it was grazed by a hot iron. Her lips are semi swelled up that her mom and sister now says she has angelina jolie lips. Yey... She is currently buzzing aloe vera leaves in our food processor to make a gel paste with the consistency of snot and rubbing it all over her burns. Double yey!

I brought home an empty bottle of chambord and wrapped it in twine to make a decorative bottle.

Did I ever show you my herb "garden"? I planted chives, basil and parsley seeds a few months ago and they're ready for picking. The chives, however have given up growing and listlessly lies beneath the other herbs.

Boring stuff:
Laundry, I was out of socks and underwear
Cleaned my room, dusted and swept every nook and cranny

Less boring stuff:
Went to target, bought socks and underwear so I don't run out of it so fast. Hahaha!
Headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond to look for the scalp massager I saw in Ana's house,
then Barnes and Noble (again) where I scored myself this...

and this...

I bought Arkham Asylum mainly because of Dave Mckean's awesome art. He produced the most horrifying image of The Joker that I've ever seen.
Plus I just re-watched Batman Begins last night and am still in a Batman high. I hope Christopher Nolan won't let Heath Ledger's death hinder him from continuing his work on the Batman franchise. Mr. Nolan is a supremely awesome filmmaker. Has anyone seen the trailer of his latest film Inception?

Ellen Page is in it! YEY!

Not too boring stuff:

Having read enough about Scott Bryan from Anthony Bourdain's books, an entire chapter was dedicated to Bryan alone in Kitchen Confidential, I decided to seek out the chef that New York culinarians have been raving about. I know nothing about him except for what Bourdain mentions in his books. One episode I saw of No Reservations had him working at Veritas but a quick web search told me he no longer works there. He apparently left Veritas two years ago and wandered around who knows where until he eventually found his way back to NYC, in Apiary in the East Village. Reviews for Apiary were a little on the blah side when it opened until Scott Bryan was hired to replace the existing executive chef. The website could use a little work and the place might be able to use a bit more press so I was a little apprehensive about my trip there tonight. I was hoping against hope that Bourdain's description of him then would still hold true today.

I went there with No Reservations (hehe) and was sat at the bar, which I didn't mind at all. I came prepared with reading material since I was going to be dining solo. They extended their restaurant week menu until the end of the month so I was able to score a 3-course dinner at a fraction of what it might have cost if I ordered a la carte.

TUSCAN WHITE BEAN SOUP black kale, tomato parmesan, extra virgin olive oil
I was annoyed after I swallowed a spoonful of this. Why? Because THIS is what I wanted to make when I made this. Although I did end up with good soup, theirs was PERFECT. The waiter said the soup was too thick to be served with bread but if I wanted some, they would give me anyway. I was glad I said yes because I used the bread to wipe every ounce of liquid off that bowl.

ROASTED ORGANIC CHICKEN celery root puree, glazed carrots wild mushroom jus
When ordering off restaurant week menus, I am more inclined to order the boldest looking item on the menu because I want to see what the chef can do with not-your-usual ingredients. I was planning to get the duck leg confit but changed my mind to the chicken due to a recommendation from a New York Magazine article I read prior to my visit. I was also curious as to what he could make out of such a boring ingredient. I remember reading somewhere that "chicken is for people who don't know what they want to eat."

After visiting Bar Boulud with Mica a few weeks ago, I was expecting miniature portions. I was given more that I prepared myself for. I actually walked out of there pregnant, barely able to breathe through my layers of clothing and skinny jeans. The server set my entree down and immediately I knew I was going to enjoy it. The aroma of the roasted chicken made my eyes flutter and I had to smile. Not bothering with my usual taking-pictures-of-what-I-eat and I immediately dug in. After my first bite, I put my utensils down and grabbed my phone.

"MICA, PUTANGINA KAILAN ANG DAY OFF MO? KAILANGAN KITANG DALHIN DITO."

The mashed potatoes that came with the dish tasted like it was supposed to, only it had the consistency of a mousse. It was light and creamy, fluffy without being too starchy and went perfectly with the chicken. It was a very simple and ingeniously prepared meal. Chicken here, is no longer for the boring foodies.

VANILLA PANNA COTTA raspberry coulis
I've never had panna cotta ever and I loved this one. I'm a fan of leche flan, creme caramel and creme brulee so this was right up my alley without being too sweet. I ate it slow, letting each spoonful linger in my mouth.

I am so going to be back this week. Mica has to try it. Heck, YOU ALL HAVE TO COME AND TRY IT.

Oh, and funny little thing was halfway through my meal, a group of people came and sat by me at the bar. They were speaking tagalog so I looked beside me and saw...Rajo Laurel. He must have been here for NY Fashion Week.

I was supposed to watch Shutter Island after dinner but tickets were sold out so I headed on home where I soaked my feet and gave myself a mani/pedi while watching dvds.

I've been wearing the same shirt for three days. Been sleeping in at Tita Chon's the past couple of nights since Tito Ans, Joe and Nana are here for the kid's winter break. I try to make time to see them whenever they are here since I don't get to see enough of Joe lately. When they picked me up on our way to watch Percy Jackson, tito ans told me that Joe told Omar that I was his favorite cousin. **blush-aww-trying-to-act-cool-moment**

Meeting them for lunch one last time tomorrow before they head back up to Syracuse on Sunday. I must make it a point to go to Syracuse to see them. Tito Ans says there's a place he can take me outside Syracuse where I can go sky diving. YEHE-HEY! It shall be one of my summer plans.

We were squashed in the living room once again and Joe and Omar had to share one couch between the two of them. Omar is notorious for hogging spaces so I'm surprised they lasted two nights like this.

my boyfriends are so cute

No, not the dude who discovered the new world. I meant the other Chris Columbus, the idiot director who ruined my Percy Jackson and the Olympians experience. The same dude who butchered the first two Harry Potter movies. I just saw the Percy Jackson movie tonight with Omar and Joe (who's here until Saturday for winter break). I didn't want to ruin the boys' movie experience but I wanted to grunt, sigh and lift my hand at exasperation at how stupid the movie was. I loved the book series, despite it having a very close resemblance to the Harry Potter series. The movie was a dumbed down, ridiculously hollywood-ized massacre. I wanted to scream in the theatre, "Catherine Keener, what the fuck were you thinking?!? Uma Thurman, come ON! Kevin McKidd, you have to fire whoever told you to do this movie. You made Poseidon look like a complete dunce!"

Pausing to calm myself down....

Anyway, for those of you who have seen the movie but did not read the book, did you like it? It might be okay for those who are completely unaware how much more fun the book was. This reminds me of the movie version of The Golden Compass, which was another great book with a morbid film interpretation. I don't see them making the sequel to that anytime soon as it should be. I swear, if Alfonso Cuaron did not raise the standards for the Harry Potter films, the rest of the franchise might have gone down the toilet. His take on the series is still, hands down, my favorite of all the movies.

My Valentine's present to myself arrived in the mail yesterday. I had it delivered at work since I'm there most of the day and was glad it arrived the day I was hosting so I was there to personally receive it. I ripped the package and contained a squeal of delight as I opened my present, my own copy of the Harlequin Valentine graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. I slowly flipped to the cover page and smiled (and may have been a little misty eyed, too). Neil Gaiman's signature was scrawled on the top right corner. I brushed my fingers on the blue ink and thought "He touched my book." So it may be technically cheating to buy a book that's been signed as opposed to meeting him and having my book signed but I don't care. HE.TOUCHED.MY.BOOK.

I woke up this morning and made breakfast. Goat cheese and basil omelet, roasted garlic chicken sausage and toast. The omelet was something Caitlin said was really good so I decided to try it. I shouldn't have scrimped on the goat cheese but otherwise, the omelet was delicious.

I was dangerously close to spending the whole day indoors and wasting a very rare opportunity to NOT be at work. I was lying in bed at 2pm wasting my time on nonsensical crap when Kelly calls asking for a favor. She needed to crash at my place since she can't drive back home to Long Island because of the snow storm. I told her I'd meet her at Union Square then I jumped off of bed and showered, got dressed and zipped up my dandy waterproof snow boots. I am so glad to have the opportunity to wear those again. I was getting worried it was useless getting them since we haven't been having a lot of snow lately. Well, we had a very very very thick layer of ice on the roads today. It's been snowing nonstop since I got off work last night so everything is nice and white.

I took the Q train to Union Square since it ran on the Manhattan Bridge as opposed to taking a train that ran underground. I wanted to see how bad the blizzard is over the water. It was so bad that I can't see anything beyond the Brooklyn bridge. I could barely see the bridge even, just a faint outline and the Manhattan skyline was totally invisible amidst the pouring snow. On an average day, you would never see me out and about on a day like this but my days off have been unpredictably seldom lately and I didn't want to spend my one free day indoors.

I got to Union Square and saw a few people milling about. Some kids were having snowball fights, some parents were with their kids making snowmen in the park and there was a group of guys still hungover from the Superbowl playing a freezing game of football in the snow.
I've been very unlucky with jeans this week. All three of my work jeans have ripped which forced me to buy three pairs today. I decided to go the cheap route and head on over to Old Navy. Kelly said I should just keep wearing the jeans since ripped is supposed to be a "style" anyway. I told her I agreed, but not when the tear is on the inner thigh crotch area. All three pants had the same rip. My mom says it might be due to all the machine washing. Kelly got so excited about the major clearance sale they were having and couldn't help gushing over the 8 tops she got for only $18.

We walked on over to Dallas BBQ and since I only had that soup this morning, I was so hungry I ordered a caesar salad (which was humongous btw) plus a bbq ribs and honey roasted chicken combo with corn bread and yellow rice. Kelly only had half a bbq chicken with rice, corn bread and corn on the cob but I wiped my plate clean while she pushed her food around halfway through the meal and eventually gave up. She did, however, have three goblets of long island iced tea while I enjoyed a single serving of strawberry frozen margarita.

We got home and watched 50 First Dates with Caitlin while Kelly finished off the remainder of my bottle of Riesling (I swear that girl is an alcoholic, and she knows it too). I chatted with my mom a bit on skype and here I am lying in bed not doing what I'm supposed to do, which is finish Benny's postcard flyers for his show in April.

Ok fine I'm gonna do it now...

*****

On a completely separate note, Neil Gaiman is celebrating his blog's 9th year by having blog readers post a photo of them with the number 9. Let's see if you can find me here. Hint: photo was taken by Jammi during my last TPC shoot.

Oh and OMG, Neil has an awesomly sick house:

the house and his dog, Cabal

I knew there was going to be a snow storm today so last night I bought all the items I needed to make my lunch for today. I wanted a good, hearty winter soup and I had a lot of red beans available on hand. I wanted to make use of those before they wrinkled up and died.

For anyone who wants a good hearty soup on a cold day, try making this and enjoy it with good crusty bread. It will surely warm you up while you watch last night's episode of Lost. :)

Red bean and Kale Soup
1 1/4 cup dried red beans soaked overnight, or use a can of it if you prefer
1 med potato, peeled and cubed
1 med carrot, peeled and cubed
1 cup chopped celery
4-6 kale leaves, sliced
1 large tomato, diced
1 small shallot, or onion, sliced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 can vegetable broth
2 cups water
2 sausages of your choice, cut into small cubes (I used a roasted garlic and herbed chicken sausage)
1 Parmesan cheese rind (what for?) - I call this the magic ingredient
salt and pepper to taste

optional: top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese before serving

Saute the shallots in olive oil until clear, pour in the vegetable broth, water, parmesan rind, beans(drained), tomatoes and sausage. Toss in your herbs. Bring to a boil then lower heat. Simmer for an hour. Throw the rest of the veggies on the last 15 minutes. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and devour.

I personally use my handy dandy pressure cooker and cook it for 15 minutes. All that contained heat brings out the flavor of the rind and the sausages which makes for a fantastic soup. Plus it cooks at a quarter of the time which is great for someone who doesn't have a lot of time.

You can make this in a slow cooker too. Throw all of the ingredients in the cooker when you wake up in the morning. You can do your chores and whatnot as it cooks for a few hours and you'll have your soup ready for lunch.

serves: 4-5

No access to parmesan rind? Throw in a cube of chicken/beef (depending on the kind of sausage you use) or vegetable bouillon. Cmon, I know you want to...

How's that for entertainment?

Omee's party was held at the place where he has his tae kwon do classes. The student instructors along with the master instructor gave all the kids a trial class. They of course had so much fun with all the running, yelling and kicking.

I took waaaay too many photos so I will not subject any of you to go through all of them. Some sample photos below. The rest can be viewed on my multiply as soon as it's finished uploading. If you can't see it yet, check back in a few hours. I may have fallen asleep as it was uploading and failed to publish it.

The kitchen

Woke up and hopped out to pick up more ingredients I needed for my 2nd attempt at baking red velvet mini cupcakes for Omee's party tomorrow.

I made sure the baking soda was with me and the cornstarch was far, far, far away from as possible. The 2nd batch was great and I tossed yesterday's disaster in the trash.

Since I had buttermilk on hand from the cakes, I used some of them to marinate some chicken cutlets while I finished off the cakes then coated them in garlic and herb breading, fried them to a crisp and made myself a crispy chicken sandwich with mozzarella, tomato, mayo and dijon mustard.

I am running late for work but felt like I had to share my morning since it's always so fun ransacking the kitchen during my bake-offs.

YESTERDAY:

It's true. The temperatures have been morbid lately. But despite the weather, Mica and I trudged up to the upper west side to enjoy lunch at Bar Boulud. We took advantaged of the seasonal $24 3-course meal. But us sassy girls each had to get a $14 mimosa and a $4 cup of coffee each, do the math and we pretty much racked up our bill to twice we would've paid for. Oh well, meals at Daniel Boulud's restaurants would only happen twice a year so I guess we were entitled to a little bit of luxury.

We were so full after lunch that we needed to walk it off. Met up with Kendra and we strolled Central Park. It was a cold day but not windy so it was good for walking. We went past strawberry fields to see the small John Lennon memorial.
I've never been to the Bethesda Fountain. The name might not ring a bell but believe me you've seen this in a LOT of movies and TV shows.
We went passed Wollman Rink (Ging, sa Serendipity toh...)
Then we headed back down to the West Village to meet Mica's friend Aisa. I went back to Murray's to get a quarter block of another one of Louiie's cheese recommendations, the Truffle Tremor. It was THE SHIT, btw. I liked this one better than brillat savarin although that was good too. The Truffle Tremor had a flavor that lingered in your mouth long after you've eaten it but not in a bad way. But like the savarin, it was pricey, at $24/lb.

We bought this organic rustic bread (i dunno, Mica chose it) from Amy's Breads and picked up a couple of items from the grocery plus a bottle of Malibu Rum for dinner. We got home and made tomato basil and mozarella bruschettas and garlic anchovy pasta along with a bottle of house red wine from Cipriani where Caitlin (new roommate) works. We proceeded with our planned inebriation by enjoying glasses of Malibu Pineapple as we watched Leap Year and A Knight's Tale in the living room.

TODAY:
I woke up and read Tita Chon's facebook wall message asking me to make cookies for Omar's birthday party on saturday. I immediately got off bed and went out to buy ingredients. I decided to make red velvet cupcakes along with the cookies since Omar loved the ones I gave them for Christmas. I spent the afternoon baking (while watching St. Elmo's Fire, go eighties brat pack!) and could not understand, for the life of me, why my cupcakes would not rise and just looked wrong. I blamed the shortage of flour and vegetable oil for the sorry looking cupcakes. I kept thinking how, having done these for so many times, could I get this one batch wrong. As I was cleaning up and putting my ingredient's back on the shelves, I realized my mistake. In small containers I bought from IKEA, I kept some of my powdered ingredients. What I thought was baking soda had been CORNSTARCH so that's why my damn cakes wouldn't rise! I will make another batch again tomorrow since I just found out today that Omar's guest have risen to 40 children PLUS parents/guardians so I need to have enough for everyone by Saturday.

I went to Queens today to take the Elabdouni's out to dinner. Ate at Enjeline's and had bistek tagalog, chicken adobo, daing na bangus, and kare kare. I also went to the Phil-Am store and scored myself pan de sal, leche flan, lucky me instant sotanghon (I missed these!), plus a bunch of other goodies.

I'm still so full from dinner but the leche flan in the fridge is calling me...let me go answer it.

I woke up at 6am and since I couldn't sleep anymore, spent about 4 hours in bed surfing the web. I didn't think I would sleep anymore so I made plans to have a solo brunch in the city then catching a movie. I ended up dozing off around 10am and woke up a little before 2pm. I got up, showered and headed out. I had originally planned either to have brunch at Flatbush Farm (for the english biscuits and sausage gravy) or in Grill 21 (for the tapsilog) but I was too late for Flatbush Farm (brunch only until 3pm) and Grill 21 was a long walk from the closest subway stop and it was about 17 degrees Fahrenheit outside. I ended up taking advantage of the restaurant week menu at Brasserie Les Halles on Park Avenue. Fans of Anthony Bourdain know that was the restaurant he used to work at as Executive Chef before making it big as a writer/food travel show host. I've read two of his books repeatedly and I felt such an odd feeling as if I was remembering memories that were not my own. He wrote of his days in Les Halles in a manner that gives readers a very good picture of what a typical day in the restaurant is like.

So the food, I ordered

Vol au vent de Champignons Sauvages et Salsifis (wild mushrooms in puff pastry)
Beouf Bourguignon (classic french beef stew)
Creme Brulee au Cafe (coffee creme brulee)

What do you want me to say?

OF COURSE IT WAS GOOD. The beef in the stew was so tender, it didn't need teeth to chew it. An old lady can take her dentures out and still be able to chew that sucker without suffering indigestion. The creme brulee was wonderful too with a light coffee flavor (although I like the texture of Louiie's creme brulee better). The big surprise was the mushroom pastry which I honestly had very low expectations of. It was described so simply that I didn't know such flavor could come from a bunch of fungi. The pastry was more of like a croissant ring, light, flaky and with a slight buttery taste that complemented the flavor of mushrooms. It was absolutely divine. I think, despite their prices, I may put this place on my list of go-to restaurants when I don't know where else to go. I shall be back...and I will have some that steak frites.

Skipped down to Union Square to catch Daybreakers. It was a toss up between that or Legion but after reading reviews on Rotten Tomatoes for both movies, I ended up choosing the former. It was alright, with the expected display of blood and gore (hello, vampire movie, what do you expect? don't let the stupid twilight series sway you into thinking vampires are meant to be emo). Daybreakers was predictable in most parts but despite all the blah moments, I know it was still probably better than Legion.

I dropped by Strands Bookstore and picked up a copy of the Mirrormask book as well as books-2-4 of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I finished the first one in about two days and loved it so much, I went ahead and got the other paperbacks. My nose shall be buried in the adventures of Percy and his conquests with characters in Greek Mythology.

*****

In a completely off topic. I just found out that Neil Gaiman is engaged to his girlfriend Amanda Palmer who is 15 years younger than him. Hell, I didn't even know he was divorced from the mother of his children! I quickly googled Amanda Palmer and found that she's a musician, artist, and really really really loves to get naked in public. I mean seriously. She took off her dress to change into another slipless see-through dress on the red carpet during the Golden Globes in front of all the press!!! Neil, by the way, was present and was assisting her through this entire scene. She's eccentric in a way that's both hilariously funny and borderline annoying. Read her blog post on her first red carpet experience and tell me if she doesn't make you laugh. I can sort of see why Neil likes her and can see where the dynamic is. It's just funny to me how both my male heroes have ended up with second wives who are significantly younger than them. Anthony Bourdain's guesting on Miami Ink accompanied by Ottavia Bourdain sporting a very tight black midriff instantly made me hate her. But after reading about her, I found out that through Tony's relationship with her, he has quit smoking, drug-free, been less vile, and has become a father. So we can say what we want about her but we can't deny that she's been very good for him. I guess despite Amanda Palmer's eccentricities, she may be good for Neil too. I suppose these men reach an age where they need partners who still find the need to care for them in a way that they need to be cared for. Their previous wives might have reached their breaking point where they've had it up to their necks with their husband's rockstar bullshit or whatever reason that's got them so jaded. The point is, I get it, and I offer no prejudice to either parties. I love Neil and Tony for their work no matter what their marital situation may be. As long as their personal lives continue to inspire them to produce more work that I can appreciate, then that's fine by me. Moral of the story is that men, it seems, as they get older, need more personal attention from their spouses. Ironically, this is the same kind of attention we women demand of our men at the beginning of every relationship so we can't blame them for asking of the same in return.

Amazing what we realize when we've been single for so long...ahem...

I'm ranting too much. I have to go to bed. 'nyt...