I’m not an expert when it comes to writing recipes and even if I read a recipe, I never follow it to the dot especially the measurements. I always base the taste of whatever I’m cooking on how my my tastebuds react, in other words, “to taste” has always been my concept. So bear with me on my first try at writing a recipe. Measurements of ingredients below are estimates of how much I put into the Binagoongan I cooked last week.

This is for you Zita, for urging me to write my recipe for Binagoongan. My Binagoongan is nothing special, I just put together the recipe that was handed down to me by my mum and some tips I read online.

Here’s my ingredients:

1/2 kilo of pork, cut into cubes
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onions, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 tablespoons of shrimp paste (bagoong)
1 teaspoon of sugar
1 tablespoon of vinegar
1 tablespoon Canola Oil (you may also use Vegetable Oil or Olive Oil)
1/2 cup of water
Optional:
* 1 piece eggplant, sliced into cubes (I always want a vegetable or two present in our every meal and eggplant seemed to be the safest [in terms of taste] vegetable to mix with the Binagoongan.
* Chili (Pulang Sili) or Hot Sauce – for those who want their Binagoongan spicy. When I cooked the Binagoongan last week, I didn’t have Chili at home so I added a tablespoon of Hot Sauce instead.
1. Boil pork until water evaporates and produces its own oil.
2. Fry the pork til golden brown then set it aside.
3. Saute onion, garlic, tomato and chili with Canola Oil, then mix in the pork.
4. Add shrimp paste (bagoong), stir for 5-7 minutes.
5. Pour in the vinegar and add sugar.
6. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
Serves 3 to 4 people. Best served when hot.

Since I had a very hectic week last week, I set aside time for relaxation and doing something that I haven’t done in long while. 

Saturday Afternoon of Cheese and Wine with the Husband

Husband and I had a busy Saturday doing grocery shopping and household chores so in the afternoon, we had wine and cheese on our verandah before having dinner. We talked of how blessed we were to have finally found a place of our own. We talked of the good old days when we’d sit infront of our house in Taytay and dream of living in another country. Now, we’re living exactly what we dreamt about three years ago.

Sunday Afternoon of Watercolor Paint and Brushes

Sunday morning was spent cooking and cleaning so in the afternoon, I chilled out by watching an episode of Heroes, blogging and by painting (!). I don’t have the talent to really paint or draw but 
I love doing it because it makes me happy. I find it funny that even if I’m this old, I still paint like a kid.

Hope you had a lovely weekend!

Pinoy Top Ten: Sampung Magagandang Lugar Sa Pilipinas Na Napuntahan Ko

1. Manila – dito ko nakita ang isa sa pinakamagandang sunset.

2. Baguio – isa sa mga relaxing na lugar na napuntahan ko.

3. Cebu – ang aking 2nd home next to Manila. Dahil sa sobrang dalas ng pagpunta ko noon dito (ng dahil sa trabaho), napamahal na ang Cebu sa akin.

4. Boracay – white sand, party by the beach at night

5. Bohol – isa sa mga lugar na at-home ako

6. Makati – kung saan ako nag-trabaho at kung saan ko nakilala ang asawa ko

7. Batangas – beaches and kayaking!

8. Bicol – isa sa mga lugar na at-home din ako

9. Ilocos Region – Pagudpod, Laoag, Vigan–mga ilan sa mga lugar na namangha ako nang ako’y bumisita dito

10. Davao – Pearl Farm!

Good friends and delicious food–a great way to end a hectic week.

Last Friday, on my way to a pre-dinner meet-up with friends, I found myself incidentally side by side with Jackie at Paddy’s Market who was also window-shopping for Christmas gifts.

At 5:00pm, Hilda and I met up with our long lost friend Indra at Passion Flower. We’re so happy that Indra’s back in Sydney (he’s back from his UK travel), it’s been ages since we’ve seen him.

Chloe joined us in Passion Flower too! After months of silence, Chloe is back!!! 🙂

After dessert (baligtad ang start ng kainan namin), we went to Pepper Lunch to meet up with the whole gang: Evan, Ara, Tom and May.

I was finally able to meet May!!!! She’s a schoolmate from La Consolacion. Small world talaga! Who would have thought we’d meet here thru Hilda? Her sister and I were classmates when we were in High School.

After-dinner drinks was at the 3 Wise Monkeys. We just a glass of whatever we were having before we went home.

The boylets

The girlalus

It so happened that Friday was Halloween so the city of Sydney was sooo alive with people wearing costumes. Felt like we’re celebrating the Halloween too.

Sunday (26/10/08): Champorado for Breakfast. Leftovers for Lunch. Chicken Afritada and Ensalamadang Mangga for Dinner.

Monday (27/10/08): Ate leftovers: Chicken Afritada and Ginisang Sitaw at Kalabasa. Not much time to cook (because I brought work home!!!), plus, we had enough leftovers anyway.

Tuesday (28/10/08): Daing na Bangus and Sauted Cabbage and Carrots

Wednesday (29/10/08): Binagoongan with Eggplant

Saturday (1/11/08): Egg and Spam for breakfast. Leftovers for lunch. Menudo for dinner.