Allow Me to Digress

It’s good to be home.

I cleaned up a cabinet where I put a variety of things I value and also other things that I don’t feel like throwing away.  Rummaging through all those things stored up there for years was like meeting Aileen of the past. I rediscovered pictures, letters, journals, souvenirs, postcards, receipts, musical play tickets, concert tickets, even plane tickets, and all other tickets, expired credit cards (I just can’t throw away a credit card, can I?), among many others. I "unearthed" cross-stitch stuff and stamp collections - hobbies I had long forgotten. (hahaha :)  I read some notes and hand-outs from college that made more sense now to me than 5 to 6 years ago.  I was saying to myself, "I actually wrote that when I was 19?" I felt I was much wiser then than now hahaha… writing about such abstract topics with so much idealism.

I realized how much I’ve changed and how much I haven’t. How much I’ve improved and matured and how much I’ve regressed (admittedly, in some ways). Ok, I hope I was wrong about feeling I was wiser before than I am now. I am much wiser now than I was before.  I should be.  I SHOULD BE!

This is my 10-minute post.  Now I’m getting back to work.

Another morning, another day, another start.  A bit gloomy - and perhaps it’s not just because of the weather.  Going through another routine that makes life life and trying to learn new things to get to know a bit more about life, in the end learning how wonderful life is now you’re in the world.  Not always exciting, but there’s always a lot to be thankful for.      

Ok, I know there’s something wrong with what I just wrote. Dangling modifiers, sentence fragments, name it. I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words… But I know you know what I mean. Last night I just didn’t feel like cooking. I didn’t cook anything last week. I’ve been thinking about paella but then I’ll just wait when I get back home where I can have all the necessary ingredients.  I didn’t have parmesan cheese for my carbonara because stores here said they ran out of stocks.   

Cooking nothing last week, I have to cook twice. Checked the ref and the cupboard, and what did i see? Eggs and macaroni. Cream from the last time I cooked carbonara.  So last night I had macaroni ala carbonara (1). Never done that before, have I?  That combination, I mean.   Today, I’ll have macaroni salad - with mushroom and bacon and cheese? (2) for snack and left over carbonara for dinner. 

Sorry to disappoint. This isn’t much of a post.  Now that you’ve read this far and if you realized it was a waste of a precious fraction of your life, I apologize.

You can either close this browser, or allow me to show you I’m sincere about my apology by trying to make it up to you through a happy song.   

Happiness

Happiness is two kinds of ice cream
Finding your skate key, telling the time
Happiness is learning to whistle
Tying your shoe for the very first time
Happiness is playing the drum in your own school band
And happiness is walking hand in hand
Happiness is five different crayons
Knowing a secret, climbing a tree
Happiness is finding a nickel
Catching a firefly, setting him free
Happiness is being alone every now and then
And happiness is coming home again

Happiness is singing together when day is through
And happiness is those who sing with you
Happiness is morning and evening
Daytime and nighttime, too
For happiness is anyone and anything at all
That’s loved by you

Children are really the happiest people in the world. Children and those who are child at heart.  I miss children and I miss the child in me too. Now, I getting back to sad mode.  It IS the weather!  Let’s leave it at that and I better get back to work.  Happiness is being alone every now and then... I’ll treat myself with ice cream later!

Oh by the way… yes, that was Your Song from Moulin Rouge playing in my mind earlier.

This post is for Atsi, the happy cute little girl on the right. For the happy childhood memories. (Ayan, di dahil sad ako hehe

This title is inspired by Pablo Neruda’s "Tonight I can write the saddest lines."  Puedo escribir los versos mas tristes esta noche.  I wrote that from memory!  I remember memorizing that line as a new hire in a company where I used to work for.  I was very bored with my computer based training (tons of CBTs) then.  (Eds, I remember I made you believe that I know the entire poem in Spanish! I know two more lines but then they’re not related to this post. 

I have committed to cook something each week. Honestly, I was really lazy to do stick to that yesterday, the last day of the week, but then Discipline told me to do things that I have to do even if I don’t feel like doing them.  So I chose something simple, which was better than not cooking anything.  Mashed potatoes (Chinese: 土豆泥; Italian: purè di patate; Spanish: patata triturada; French: purée de pommes de terre ). I mashed potatoes until my hands hurt.

I had done this before and I decided to do it the way I used to do it.  I did research about simple mashed potato recipes and those pretty much look the same.  Here are the ingredients:

potatoes

butter

salt

ground pepper - I love putting a lot of pepper, but just enough not to make me sneeze.

Here’s something about mashed potatoes from Wikipedia.

Mashed potato, (mashed potatoes in American English and sometimes called smashed potato), is a common way of serving potato in many countries worldwide. It is made by mashing boiled potatoes (peeled or unpeeled) and mixing in milk, cream, butter or vegetable oil, and sometimes cheese. A French variation adds egg yolk for Pommes duchesse that is piped through a pastry tube into wavy ribbons and rosettes, brushed with butter and lightly browned.

Mashed potato is also an ingredient of various other dishes, including Shepherds’ pie, Colcannon and potato croquettes.

In addition to butter, cream, or milk, mashed potato may also be seasoned with salt, pepper (often white pepper, to blend in), and/or a dash of nutmeg…In many American households, the top of each serving is hollowed with a spoon in order to form a gravy and/or butter volcano crater.

Potatoes, especially mashed potatoes, have a high GI-index which some consider is bad for health.

What is GI index?!

Glycemic index (also glycaemic index, GI) is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose levels. It compares carbohydrates gram for gram in individual foods, providing a numerical, evidence-based index of postprandial (post-meal) glycemia.

I don’t feel like reading further.  Too complicated for me hehe.  Good or bad, it doesn’t matter to me.  Mashed potatoes taste good!  It won’t hurt to enjoy some once in a while.  Ang lahat ng labis ay masama. If you want to read more about why mashed potatoes are bad for you… go ahead,here’s the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycemic_index</a></p></strong></p>

Pro-potatoes site: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=48

How I Cooked the Potatoes

I washed the unpeeled potatoes, about 4 small potatoes in all, and then drew a deep X mark on one side of each with a knife. I forgot where I learned this, but the X would "burst" once the potatoes are cooked and you can peel from the opening.  I boiled the potatoes and let it to boil and boil, hoping it would be much easier to mash. I just have a regular fork to mash them. Caution, very hot! Let the potatoes cool first.

There is another way which I saw on the internet - peeling the potatoes, dicing them, then boiling.  Sounds much easier to mash, but then I was pretty stubborn about sticking to what I used to do.  I ended up having to cut the cooked potatoes into small pieces to that they’ll be easier to mash.

It took me two hours or more to finish everything.  From boiling, mashing, and mixing stuff together.  I mashed two hours of my night away, thinking about many things starting from how I used to play with my food when I was a little kid (when no one was checking on me) and then how lonely I was right then mashing potatoes in a quiet little kitchen on a Saturday night.  I thought about happy, sad, funny, happy, funny, sad, sad, and then sad thoughts some more until I decided to "mash" those sad thoughts as I "mashed" the night away.  Overall, it was pretty fun.  Much better than sleeping.  Or reading or watching tv to get myself to sleep.  What a Saturday night.  One day, I just might miss Saturdays such as that.

Pablo Neruda’s Poem: http://www.westal.net/hp/mint/poems/puedo.htm

My friend Che is the first "Friends" fan I’ve met.  I remember back in college, she would say she was glad it was a Wednesday (or was it Tuesday?) that she could watch "Friends" again on TV.  Then the following day or so, she would say something about Chandler being really funny, and Monica doing this and that, and other stuff that really didn’t make much sense to me because I was not interested in "Friends" (What did I watch on TV then? I seldom watched TV, maybe I was too busy studying I’m sorry, Che! haha :)  Finally, after 4 years, I have understood you.  Oh, Che is also the reason why I like musical plays!  She lent me her Miss Saigon CDs (or were those tapes?) and I fell in love with the songs.

Miss Saigon would be one whole topic that would be too long to discuss here.  I better go back to "Friends."  I discovered "Friends" two years ago… and back then I sort of have a "feeling Friends" time with some friends who would hang out in our flat. It was the best apartment ever! On lonely days I would just watch "Friends" - which was also a part of my Chinese review - by reading the Mandarin subtitles.  I am not making an excuse!  How do you say "Don’t be too hard on yourself" in Mandarin?  I learned it from "Friends" and here is how it was translated:

Bie gei ni ziji taida de yali! 别给你自己太大的压力！(Literal translation, don’t give yourself too much pressure.)

Friends (Laoyouji 老友记or Liurenxing 六人行) is a very famous English learning tool in China.  Good thing I have started watching "Friends" when I encountered some students who would talk to me about it.  And to some students who were asking for tips or pieces of advice on learning English, I tell them to watch English movies and "Friends" of course! (What a teacher! Such wisdom! haha :)  Ok, those were the stressful days when my acting skills were challenged because I had to act as if English were my first language.

Now, I am back to those days, lonely days, and still, "Friends" never fails to give me a laugh or two! (but not on weekends)  They’re like my imaginary friends in this place where I’m almost friendless.  I’m going nuts! Please send me home! (This is a distress call to my dear family. Hehe

Which "Friend" am I?  I’m definitely not a Monica, and not fashion conscious as Rachel.  Therefore, Phoebe is who’s left and she’s who I got in the test I took.

Aileen, you’re a bit like Phoebe!

Um, ok! You’re, like Phoebe. Ok, so you may not have Phoebe’s, well, special intuition or, um, musical talent. But, like everyone’s favorite beautiful-blond-psychic-masseuse, you never lie and your friends are the most important thing in your life. With an utterly free spirit like yours, some people see you as flaky. But creative, perceptive-as-heck, and eerily wise is more like it. You see the good in everyone, which could make your dating life a bit, well, uneven. But you always land on your feet with your humor, kindness, (and who-knows-what-from-beyond) as your guide.

There’s some truth to that, don’t you think so?  The not-so-true part is the "you never lie" part.  Hahaha:)  Not that I lie… I just love to pretend I’m lying perhaps. Hahaha:)  You might want to take the test too!  Here’s the link: http://web.tickle.com/tests/friend/?test=friendogt

This post is for my friend Che (Ciao!), who is a very private person (doesn’t have a Friendster account), but reads my blogs because I ask her to.  She does give me nice feedback too!  Che, I like it when you said you can relate to my "Blogging Principle" and the little discussion we had about it.  Hahaha

This is also for my 601 fangjian friends Aimee, Debbie, KV, Vanessa, Ian, and Steve.

Sounds like a good movie title, huh?  The Interpreter, "Terminater"… hehe

This is no movie review.  I haven’t watched anything really nice on TV lately except "Friends," every weeknights at 11 p.m.  How I look forward to that 30 minutes of the day!  Going back to what I’m supposed to say, during a chat conference with my good old college friends, Clara, my online kitchen support, said she just had this personality test that involves 4 quadrants. It did sound pretty interesting so I checked it out in the Internet.

This dates back to 1999 so you must have heard or even taken this test too.  In case you haven’t, you don’t have to answer the questions to know which quadrant you belong to.  You can just read through this article and you’ll find out. 

Time for a little introspection… check this out:

Here’s the link to the article:  http://www.fsonline.com/fsj/archive/060199cath.html

A part I copied from the site:

—————————-

Here’s a quick summary of some of the characteristics of each of the styles.

The thinker–On the good side, thinkers tend to be orderly, precise, conscientious, neat, trustworthy, and careful. On the negative side of the equation, they tend to be a bit fearful, dependent, defensive, traditional, restrained, and non-expressive.

The relater–On the good side, relaters tend to be loyal, attentive, patient, mellow, cooperative, pleasant. On the negative side, they tend to be indecisive, immobile, possessive, hesitant, and poor delegators.

The socializer–On the good side, socializers tend to be open and trusting, enthusiastic, compelling, optimistic, and charming. On the negative side, they tend to be overly emotional, gullible, superficial, highly talkative, imprecise, and unfocused.

The director–On the good side, directors tend to be leaders; they’re good at initiating and they’re competitive, powerful, assertive, confident. On the negative side, they tend to be impulsive, forceful, pushy, inattentive, demanding, and impatient.

—————————-

Among the four quadrants, I think I can relate to the description of "The Relater" the most, especially on things that irritates a relater.  Relaters are pleasant, cooperative, mellow, loyal… yes, I am too kind, to a fault. haha… kidding.  That’s something nice to say on job interviews though - along with other lines like "my weakness is that I can be so committed to my job that I forget about my personal life." 

As for the weakness: indecisive (hehehe.. sometimes), immobile (I don’t think so, maybe seldom hehe :), possessive (I don’t think so), hesitant (hehehe), and poor delegators (yes, I want all the work! haha… sometimes.)

Hi to my friend Sheila (Shiirasan! , who said she was suprised that I now have a blog because I am supposed to be very busy. Hahaha

This week is special because I made something that is not tuna or macaroni or salad.   

Project Carbonara

I searched the Internet for "simple carbonara recipe" and the easiest recipes that I’ve found were those using a can of cream of mushroom soup for the sauce (I tried that before).  I was about to settle for that - until I found recipes on authentic carbonara.   

Lazy Aileen said, "Cream of mushroom soup?  That’s good enough! Better than doing another combination of tuna, macaroni, and salad."

Motivated, adventurous Aileen said, "It may be harder but if I were to make something new anyway, why not go for the authentic one?"

No, I’m not a schizo nor do I have split personality. Now let’s hear what my friend Wiki has to say about carbonara:

Carbonara is a traditional Italian pasta sauce. Carbonara means coal, and many believe the dish derives its name because it was popular among coal miners. Others believe, however, that the dish is called carbonara simply because of all the black, freshly milled pepper that is used.

Carbonara recipes vary but they are all made from eggs, black pepper, and pancetta or guanciale (pig’s cheek or jowl bacon). Other ingredients in Italian versions of the dish include Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese. Some recipes also include cream or milk, garlic, and parsley, although this is not the original, Roman version of the dish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbonara

Ok, you must be complaining by now that this is the wordiest recipe you’ve ever read (Aileen, you talk too much!  Where’s the recipe?!) but then again, read the title of my blog - I’m allowed to digress.  Here’s the recipe, with some of my comments.

(Source:  http://www.recipezaar.com/143726)
Ingredients:
8  ounces linguine, cooked drained and rinsed (or any kind of pasta of your choice) 
8  slices bacon 
1  bunch green onions, sliced  (leeks may do - are they the same?)
4  ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced  (I bought the canned button mushrooms.)
2/3  cup parmesan cheese, grated
3  eggs, room temperature 
2/3  cup cream, room temperature
2  teaspoons parsley flakes 
salt & pepper 

4 servings Change size or US/metric
Change to:  servings US Metric
 
40 minutes 10 mins prep (For beginners, it took me around 1.5 hours to do this… with help too.  hehe

1.  In frying pan brown bacon and crumble in pan. (I fried 10 strips. My friend Ivy said the more bacon, the better. Thanks Ivy!)

2.  Remove all fat from pan except for about one tablespoon.

3.  Add onion and mushrooms to bacon, saute until soft.

4. In bowl beat eggs, add other ingredients and mix; set aside. (Should parmesan cheese be included in the mixture? I would try that next time… they don’t have parmesan cheese here. I just topped my pasta with grated cheddar cheese before eating it.)

5.  Add rinsed, cooked noodles to frying pan with the bacon, onions and mushrooms; heat through. (Heat through. I repeat, heat it really well. You might have an upset stomach afterwards if you didn’t because you’ll be pouring the raw egg mixture next!)

6.  Just before serving, remove from heat and add bowl of egg mixture to hot noodle mixture and mix. (I was quite nervous when I was doing this step! I was really hoping this will work.)

7.  Serve immediately. (Very important! I have the leftovers heated and of course it didn’t taste as good. I had little bits of eggs on my pasta.)

Aftermath:
My tummy did feel a little bit funny but that was just for a short while.  I think it was psychological - thinking about the raw eggs mixed with the noodles.  I don’t like the smell of raw beaten eggs.   

General comment:  This is the best that I’ve ever cooked so far!

Here are just some lessons I’ve learned:

1.  When in doubt, ask.   
I wasn’t so sure about the last step - I don’t have to cook the "sauce" at all? I’m going to eat the beaten eggs raw?  I was thinking of heating the sauce a bit, but good thing I called my friend Clara first to confirm that the instruction in the recipe is correct.  (If i had thought about it harder i would have realized it’s definitely a no-no.)

2.  When in doubt and there’s no one to ask, don’t.
Oregano instead of parsley?  I was about to trust my judgment because I didn’t want to bother Clara again.  Good thing I didn’t trust my judgment and I believed that Clara and I are really good friends that she wouldn’t mind being bothered again.

I learned that it should be parsley flakes or nothing.  No oregano. (Is there a substitute for parsley?)  "Everything McCormick" doesn’t work in this recipe. Obviously I need a course on Spices 101.   

So if Clara didn’t reply to my text message, I should just have omitted parsley.

If I can do it, you can do it too!

Thanks Clara, my on-call "kitchen support," for saving my carbonara.  This post is for you. :)  Kurarameisan, doumo arigatou gozaimasu!   

Forced by the circumstances I have made it a goal to learn to cook something each week.  Since I have now made it public - sharing a goal or a dream does make you accountable to people somehow - I will have to strive harder to stick to it.  Well not exactly cook - it can be bake or simply mix anything up - anything related to the kitchen aside from washing the dishes, which is my favorite household chore.   

  I will also try to write about my cooking experience each week (even if I’ll be back where I’m supposed to be ;).  Imagine  that, I’ll have 52 entries on cooking in a year! (In case I would continue to blog.)  Wow, maybe I would have those nice recipe blogs. I’ll post the links below - I am inspired by browsing through different recipe blogs. That’s what you call blogging to contribute to mankind.   
   
For the past 4 weeks I’ve been here, my experiments include:

>>  macaroni salad (it has cheese and apples on it!),
>>  tuna sandwich (it has lots of pineapple bits and cheese),
>>  tuna macaroni salad (well i just mixed up the things i used for the previous two except that i ran out of apples).

In all those recipes, I added everything McCormick that I found at home. Those are really cute little bottles, aren’t they?

Ooops I skipped a week.  It was probably during my first week that I didn’t try anything in the kitchen. I did need a little adjustment period in the new place I’m in, and I never thought that I’ll be staying here this long.  Learning something new has always been fun and exciting - a cure for a trite, mundane existence, but it does entail hard work as well, plus determination to keep on learning when the novelty fades away.   
 
If you’re someone who doesn’t cook but wants to learn how to cook or perhaps has a tiny spark of interest in cooking, I hope the succeeding posts on my gastronomical adventures will be helpful to you. 

If you do cook, you might want to give me pointers. :) 

Be warned that my post on recipes would have really stupid comments.  Afterall, I’m no chef wannabe but just a cooking dummy who just wants to have fun and learn. 

The title of this post is inspired by my friend Brian, who doubts my culinary skills but can’t deny that I’m good-looking. (How many points do I earn from that one?

Some recipe links:

www.recipezaar.com

http://www.pinoycook.net/

Have you ever heard of the sweetest pizza?

I just had it last week!  The last slice was eaten yesterday, for breakfast.  It must have been already 4 days since I received it but I can still remember how excited I was when I got the package from the bus station.  Sweet because it was really sweet of my friends to send me my request.  Yes, the dream I had days ago came true, partly - because I got the pizza and the best part is without ragged kids.  Here are my three John Maxwell inspired laws on dreaming, and even if it’s a Sunday today, I hope I don’t sound preachy:

Lesson 1:  The Cinderella Principle. 

Errrr … no prince charming came out of the box (that would have been  nice too hehe), but I just thought of naming this lesson Cinderella because of this song from the Disney movie:

A dream is a wish your heart makes

When you’re fast asleep;

In dreams you will lose your heartaches,

And whatever you wish for, you keep.

Have faith in your dreams, and someday

Your rainbow will come smiling through;

No matter how you heart is grieving,

If you keep on believing,

The dreams that you wish will come true.

So there, don’t lose hope!      

Lesson number 2: The Oven Toaster Principle. 

Good things come to those who wait.  Better things come to those who can wait further.  (Or even the best!)

The pizza wasn’t in a box.  It was frozen hours before it was shipped overnight, carefully packaged in a plastic box container and wrapped with foil. (Thank you very much, Ate Jeny!  I thought the pizza was in the big rectangular box! Yung toy pala yun hehe :)   

You can just imagine how tempted I was to eat it (cold pizza isn’t that bad, and for someone like me who’s been longing for that pizza, it would have been good enough and far far better than nothing.)  But then, I am reminded by Ate Jeny that it’s best if I wait for it to be heated first.  Problem was I didn’t have an oven toaster here so I still had to buy one. So it wasn’t until around 10 hours after I got the pizza that I was able to enjoy a slice.   

Patience is a virtue.  Believe me, it’s the best pizza I’ve ever eaten! Up to the last morsel Best enjoyed when shared too :) 

Lesson number 3:  The Blogging Principle.

Share your dream, win a fairy godmother or genie!

See what I got after blogging about my dream!  Don’t be shy about your dreams.  Share some.  Maybe some dreams are to be kept secret, but some may be told to some friends… who you know can help you make them come true

This post is dedicated to my fairy godmother,

Ate Jeny, who does have time to read my blog when she’s not pretending to be busy - I enjoyed the cheesy volcano eruption, thanks!

and her fairy godmothers in training…

Teacher / Inday Geri, the ultimate divisoria shopping companion haha:)  - I do now that you’re royalty that’s why I was the driver right? :)  I’m glad I made you like pizza… hehehe :) 

Joy, who’s always smiling and never fails to greet me with a warm "Ate Aileen / Teacher Aileen" whenever we see each other - cge ba pizza party

… and my backup singer, Ate Joan. (Ang ganda ng boses mo… keep it up) hahaha…. :)  Sorry ngayon ko lang nablog about my dream come true, kasi alam mo naman busy… saka i want to write something really nice for you guys

Thanks for making my wish come true - at least for this week.  Do you want me to email you the complete list?  Nice drawing, too!  (Sana nandun din ako, Teacher Geri. hahaha :)  I wish I can post it here now but too bad walang scanner. Next time

and to all dreamers who just don’t give up, and "fairy godmothers" who brighten up other people’s lives with the little surprises they bring.

Grazie mille, amici!