Wall Art as gifts

I went to the mall today and I could hear christmas carols playing. I'm so excited to browse thru the stores to look for gifts to buy. Although I already know who am i giving gifts to, I haven't decided on anything yet. Nothing tickles my fancy either so I will do some online shopping for unique (and value-for-money) gifts.

Last week, I bought this item as gift to my sister-in-law and she was so happy with it. The delivery was fast too. I originally wanted this item but it was out of stock when I wanted to buy a wall art. I chanced upon this again last week and thought of giving it to my sister and brother in law for Christmas. It was perfect for their new house. The watercolor design looked like it was freshly painted and the 3 continuous frames in vivid colors match any room my sister in law wishes to display them. The value is too good to be true. It costs $100 per frame in other stores. I will buy this again for our own house.

You will see more of wall art from my favorite online store. They make great gifts this Christmas.

Bagoong and Pusit Recipes - time for smelly dishes

I woke up at 1 am to cook Pork Binagoongan (Pork sauteed in shrimp paste) because that's the only time the neighbors are sleeping. They will not bother to complain and report me to the superintendent. After 30 minutes, my dish is finished and the apartment smelled like shrimp paste LOL. For those who miss Filipino dishes, try to cook them at home even if the house smells - Langhap Sarap yun, YUMMY!

Here's some of the recipes of the smelly dishes I cooked:

Pork Binagoongan

Ingredients:

2 lbs Pork, cubed
1 tbsp Garlic, minced
5 tbsp vinegar
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup tomato, chopped
1 pc chili (banana pepper, jalapeno, or long chili pepper), sliced *
1/2 cup shrimp paste (*no need for chili,I used Barrio Fiesta Sauteed Shrimp Paste, Spicy)
3-5 pcs dried bay leaves
1 tbsp whole pepper corn
24 ounces water
salt and pepper

Procedure:

1. In a pot, pour-in the water and bring to a boil
2. Put-in the pork, vinegar, and dried bay leaves and simmer for 35 minutes or until meat is tender
3. Remove the meat from the pot separating it from the liquid and other ingredients. set aside
4. In a separate pan, saute the garlic, onion, tomato
5. Add the shrimp paste and simmer for 5 minutes (more time is needed for raw shrimp paste)
6. Put the pork in and cook for 7 minutes. Be sure to mix all the ingredients well
7. Add the chili and simmer for 3 minutes
8. Add salt and pepper to taste
9. Serve hot. Share and Enjoy!

Filipino Adobong Pusit or squid in adobo sauce, is cooked along with the ink, so it resembles the spanish calamares en su tinta, but with a tangier flavour, especially when fresh chillies are added.
Serves 2 to 3 persons
Preparation and Cooking time: 30 to 45 mins

Ingredients:
3/4 kilo Small sized Pusit (Squid)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 small bay leaf
1/4 tsp. pepper
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup vinegar
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp. cooking oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 pcs. Cayenne Chili sliced (optional)

Instructions:
1. Pull out head, tentacles, innards and transparent ribs from the body of the squid.
2. Cut off tentacles just above the eyes and discard innards and transparent ribs.
3. Wash and drain bodies and tentacles.
4. Combine salt, pepper, garlic, vinegar, water, sugar and bay leaf.
5. Marinate squids in this mixture for 1 hour. Drain. Save marinade
6. Saute onions in hot oil.
7. Add drained squids, saute until the juices evaporates (about 10-12 minutes).
8. Strain marinade, add to sauted squids.
9. Let simmer for about 15 minutes.
10. Serve Hot with Rice.

Trick or Treating in Etobicoke

My kids were looking forward to this day eversince they received lots of goodies last year in their first Halloween here in Canada. It's Lex first time to join and our first time in Etobicoke neighborhood.

Pre-Halloween
Last Friday, both Miggy and Kyle had their Halloween parade in their respective schools. The funny thing was while they were putting on their costumes, Lex wanted to put on his costume as well even if it's not yet Halloween. He wore a Winnie the Pooh and while they were on the way to Kyle's school, the road workers called Winnie the Pooh and he waved his hands.


A cold Halloween night
We started trick or treating a few minutes before 7:00 pm. It was cold outside and I made sure the kids wore fleece jacket beneath their costumes. Miggy, the Dracula and Kyle, the Police Officer went from house-to-house. Their loot bags were almost half-full after one block. We saw lots of Halloween-themed or decorated houses but there's this one house who stood out. It looked like we were in a set of a scary movie, complete with props and spotlights. There's even a live mummy who moved while I took a photo of Lito and the kids. While going round the corner, a hanging head just appeared above us and Lex got scared. I was not able to pose with the gorgeous witches who are giving away the candies but I had a good time watching them, as if looking at the stars of Practical Magic. We enjoyed this activity and called it a night when the kids loot bags were full. The kids were all smiles when they were comparing all the goodies they received. It was fun!







Lex' first time
At first, Lex was just sitting in his stroller, but no one's giving him any goody so Lito and I took turns in bringing him near the door with the kids. He looked adorable in his costume, he received nice remarks from people giving the treats and from other kids as well. Later on, he wanted to walk and knock on the door or ring the bell by himself. I can't believe that as young as 23 months, he is showing signs of wanting to be independent.

27 to 30 years of friendship and counting

Our high school batch is celebrating the Silver Jubilee this year (Rizal High School Batch 85). Yup, I’m that matured, looks can be deceiving you know, hahaha. My high school life was a colorful one. You can even compare it to the episodes of 90210, Dawson’s Creek or Gossip Girl. Thanks to my friends who have shared with me the joys (and pains) of being a teenager. We have a clique of 12 fun-loving, with eyes for details (to critique unusual classmates), smart and well-liked girls. Our laughter echoes in Masanga -the place we used to hang out. It’s a secret nook surrounded by gardens where students from pilot sections, other ’popular kids’, high school sweethearts eat and spend time. The words ‘laugh out loud’ are already familiar to our group even before they became a buzz word in chat. They say “Birds of the same feather flock together” and I say that what we all have in common aside from having the same haircut is our both being B & B (and another B). Beauty and Brains don’t go together for some but not for our group. Body is the other B though I didn’t have that :). Attending parties, having a cool bf and balancing them with school activities is a tough act. Our group did it effortlessly and with the demands of Rizal High School, who can top that?
After 27 years and for some of us even earlier, we are still the BBB of our batch. Yes, none of us have the same waistline as our age LOL. We have a group in Facebook and our private conversations there were just like the old times. Only this time we are not in our favorite nook but in different parts of the world, reminiscing and still doing the LOLs. Each one enjoying the prime of our lives, sometimes we still comment on our batchmates and share our excitement in our trip planning. I really hope our Calgary reunion will push through when one of us gets married (again for the nth time hahaha) next year.
I feel blessed to have shared and still share with these girls the gift of friendship. Like always, we will be on each other’s side through thick or thin. May God continue to bless us with the 3 Bs and more Bs (not babies though but blessings) now and forever.

RAJGILC members are (L-R) Irminia Cansino, Cherrie Juanillo, Lalaine Leonardo, Ma. Glenda Valdellion, Ma. Joy Dela Cueva, Armenia Ecobin, Ma. Cristina Tiangco, Cherry Roldan, Carlyn Ordonez, Catherine Cruz (not in photo - Jacqueline Salonga, Cynthia Tiangco)

No need to subscribe to cable to enjoy Digital TV

We recently purchased an LCD TV – a 40-inch Sony Bravia (with bundled Sony Blu-Ray player) which was on sale – we’re only shopping if there’s a sale LOL. Prior to this purchase, we used to enjoy a 27-inch Sony TV we got from the old apartment and an HDTV Antenna to capture all the kids shows and channels where we just watch sports, news, CSI and Glee. We now use this antenna in the new LCD TV and we get digital high definition (HD) TV channels as if subscribing to Rogers or Bell Cable. We can capture all the Toronto HD channels like Global, CTV, CTS, CityTV, Sun, Omni 1 & 2, CBC, CHCH. I also discovered that we can watch FOX and another US channel featuring Hollywood movies for free. The shows that we regularly watch plus sports and news are in clear, crisp, digital format. I can watch more of the series I have neglected for the past year. So Grey’s Anatomy, Smallville, House, Gossip Girl are back on my list to watch and also new favorites like No Ordinary Family, Three and a half Men, The Good Wife and NCIS. My kids enjoy the wide screen but most of all we enjoy the savings we get. You too can. Just purchase an HDTV Antenna which costs around CDN$15-20 and use coaxial cable to connect to your LCD TV and voila, feast on digital madness.

Thanksgiving and chicken (not turkey)

I cannot let this week passed without saying anything about Thanksgiving. Canada is celebrating Thanksgiving every second Monday of October. This time of the year is the end of the harvests and time to give thanks. Thanksgiving is not just a holiday but an opportunity to reflect and thank God who provided all the blessings we received. My family is blessed to have come here to Canada to enjoy the life He gave us. We are forever thankful for continuously working in our lives.

Having planned to have a Niagara weekend holiday or an apple picking adventure, we later decided to stay at home and like the tradition enjoy a roasted Turkey, oops Chicken pala. Here’s the recipe of the Roasted Chicken I prepared for Thanksgiving. Enjoy it with chilled potato and salmon salad.

Roasted chicken with garlic and rosemary
The following ingredients are good for one chicken weighing a kilo or less. Double, triple or quadruple the ingredients if marinating more than one chicken.
4 cloves of garlic, finely grated
juice of one lemon
1 tbsp. of salt
as much ground pepper as you like
2 tbsps. of fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp. dried)

Pierce the thickest parts of the chicken with a fork.

Place the ingredients in a bowl and mix together. Add the chicken to the bowl, rubbing the marinade into the meat. Scoop some into the chicken’s cavity. Place the chicken with the marinade in a resealable bag and keep in the fridge for at least 24 hours, turning the chicken every few hours or so.
Place in a roaster (you have to use a rack to allow the fat to drip off) and roast uncovered in the oven at 170oC for 45 to 55 minutes.

The Colors of Fall @James Gardens

This week was a long weekend but since our plans of going to Niagara or an apple farm didn’t push through, we managed to watch the fall colors in another way. A walk in the park is always a good alternative especially when the weather is good and the kids are in a good mood to stroll. James Gardens is accessible thru Toronto Transit thru Royal York or Jane station. After walking a few blocks from the bus station, we reached Edinburgh Avenue where the entrance of the garden is. At first, we were kinda disappointed because we thought that the park is only a small one. The area we went to had a few picnic tables and there was not much trees but only grassy ground where the kids ran around.
But we were wrong after all. After eating lunch, we headed towards the main garden. Lito discovered a bike trail and we just followed it to get to the middle of the park. We enjoyed the great view, the rushing waters of Humber River on the left and the trees in different colors of Autumn on our right. We passed by manicured gardens, bike - stroller trails, bridges and more picnic tables under huge willow trees. Later, we took the hiking trail to go through the forest and we were amazed at the tall trees hovering over us, in different colors. Enjoy this video Lito took. I was busy texting my friend, describing how beautiful it was to see the fall colors from the inside that I forgot about my son who went down his stroller on his own hahaha.