hey, i took that picture!

i was bloghopping the other day and saw a nice picture of a plate of Korean barbeque. then i thought to myself -- hmmm, that pictures looks awfully familiar. so i went through my archives here and looked at my pictures and sure enough, it's a picture that I took over two years ago. unfortunately, i wasn't watermarking my pictures then. so i sent them a "not-so-nice" note and when i checked back today, they've already given me credit for the photo. that's all i want. proper credit.

the famous picture:



here's the original post: BCD Tofu House
http://lolaskitchen.blogspot.com/2005/01/book-chang-dong-tofu-house.html

here's where i found it: Copycats

steel-cut oats

i'm currently nursing a very mild stomach flu (which i've never had before). so for two days now, i've only been eating crackers and chicken broth. today is the third day and i was told i can eat oatmeal.

i've always wondered about the oatmeal served at good restaurants. they're not the usual mushy, watery, instant Quaker-oats type. instead, they're made with whole oats where you can actually see each individual oats and they're cooked al dente.



since I never really liked Quaker instant oatmeal -- unless we're snowed in and there's nothing left to eat and even at that, i still refuse to eat it -- i've been using steel-cut oats. one famous brand is McCann's Irish oatmeal. i've been using McCann's for quite a while now. in fact, i used their instant kind when the 5-year old was just beginning to eat solid food. their instant kind is really good. Quaker oats is nothing compared to it.



anyway, i made their steel-cut oats oatmeal from scratch this morning. didn't realize it takes close to an hour to make it. oh well, it was really good and worth it.

giada at the white house

i'm watching The Today Show with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira right now and they just finished showing a segment with Giada de Laurentiis (host of Everyday Italian on FoodTv) who also happens to be the granddaughter of the famous film maker. anyway, the segment was about Giada's trip to the White House where she toured the kitchen and talked to the First Lady about their Valentine's celebration. she also talked to the Bushes' personal chef.

now everyone knows that President Bush's personal chef is Filipino. i've known about it. since the Clinton days. problem is, i have always had this picture in my mind that she looked like a plump old woman who cooks nothing but Filipino comfort food (think Mama Sita). boy, was i totally wrong. first, she's not an old lady. she's a great looking youngish lady who is very personable and highly educated. her name is Cris Comerford and she cooks gourmet meals. incidentally, Cris is short for Cristeta. so there, i was wrong about my assumption of her.

on another note... i did get my usual flowers today. i commented over at PinoyMomsNetwork how i always get flowers on my birthday, on valentine's day, and on our wedding anniversary. that's aside from the usual presents. of course, i've come to expect them but now, the excitement is over what colors do i get this time?



this time, i got two dozen assorted ones. there was a time a got all purple ones (my favorite color, isn't it obvious) but hubby says they look drab and dead. one time i got peach-colored ones. not a fan of the color but they were surprisingly beautiful. in any case, i love it that hubby is thoughtful enough to give me these regularly.

for the 5-year old's school valentine's celebration, i had to make goody bags for each of his classmates. i wanted to be creative so i set out to stamp each child's name on the label. not. it would've taken hours to finish if i did that so i resorted to hand writing them instead.

new hang outs

check out these new places where you'll find me most times:

Pinoy Moms Network

Pinoy Cook Forums

new toys

so i finally cleared all the clutter on my kitchen desk. i had to buy another desk (an armoire: fold-down writing desk with a tall bookcase on top of it) in order for my junk to have another home. but the kitchen desk without anything on it looks so weird being bare. so i put back my PowerBook on it and bought a new MacBook for the new desk.

baby brother:

bare kitchen desk:


meanwhile, i was at the Japanese store a while ago to buy junk food and got me this cute lidded cup for my green tea:

an old Japanese woman cooking...

what???

i asked my 5-yr old how a certain teacher in his school looked like so that i'll know it's her when i talk to her next week...

she has a face. and lipstick. and long hair.


on the way to school yesterday morning...

eagles eat penguins' eggs.

there are no eagles in antartica.

yes there are. i know.

and penguins build igloos.

no, Eskimos build igloos. they live in Alaska.

can we build igloos later?