Savory Squash Soup |

Savory Squash Soup |

Squash soup is a personal favorite. Unfortunately, no cooking has been happening since I can't remember when, thus the silence. I found this in my inbox a while ago and decided to break the silence because this dish, for me, is special. Easy to make, healthy, and comforting.

I have some nice photos of Gumasa and I'll upload them soon. I was in Koronadal, South Cotabato two weekends ago for a family reunion - my maternal grandmom's 90th birthday and my brother's 14th.

Yes, Johann is 14 years old already. Mashallah, he's growing to be a fine young kid.

Dinner was good this evening. Not homecooked but it was good, tasty, and something I missed. Felafel sandwich and lentil soup. Made me think of Saudi which I somehow miss.

Paul will be here in less than two weeks and it will be good to reconnect.

Until next time.

Om.

Kimchi Fried Rice

Just like when I first tasted durian, I hated the taste of kimchi.  But now, the taste buds are more cultured.

Here's a kimchi fried rice recipe from Tasty Meals at Home.

Top it with nori and its even more delicious.

jal-meok-kket-sseum-ni-da

I love kesong puti (white cheese)

According to this article, kesong puti (Philippine white cheese) is high in protein, low in fat and carbohydrate.  It's not vegan-friendly as rennet is used to form the curd.  I'm not in that level of awareness yet so maybe if I'm reborn human again in my next lifetime, I'll be a vegan.  For now, I'm happy to be ovo-lacto-vegetarian.

Three days ago, I rediscovered kesong puti when I prepared the grilled vegetable salad for a friend's birthday dinner.  It was not very salty as I expected it to be.  I remembered my first taste of Laguna's kesong puti and I didn't like it because it was very salty.  Growing up on Eden processed cheese, I was looking for that creamy processed cheese taste.  For most of us here in the Philippines, cheese means processed cheddar cheese either in the form of Eden or Kraft cheezwhiz.  Ten, twenty years ago... you will not find cream cheese, mozarella, parmesan, feta, blue cheese, and the rest of what Westerners consider proper cheese on an ordinary Filipino family's table.  Sweet spaghetti with grated processed cheese... macaroni salad with cream and processed cheese cubes... cheese-whiz sandwich... that's typical Filipino party food.

So back on my story, the kesong puti wasn't very salty and the taste was very mild.  I'm not sure now if this is the traditional kesong puti but I'm liking it.  Last night, I decided to eat at home and fixed myself a kesong puti sandwich with slices of tomatoes and cucumber and honey spice mustard on foccacia.  It was yummy.  I had mixed green salad on the side with balsamic vinaigrette.  This evening, I had the same except that I used the leftover samosa tamarind sauce as salad dressing.  Becky gave me some samosa to take home last week and while the samosa was long gone, I kept the extra tamarind sauce and found it good as salad dressing as well.

Hopefully this will help bring back the glow in me. ;-)

***

A lot of things happened today... took the bus to Makati because the mrt was too crowded at 6am... went to practice with YM co-teachers in Makati... had an awesome practice and a lot of really great adjustments from Maritoni... ran home to change and get things for work... first thing that greeted me, posted on our office door was the letter from the OVCRD telling me that my research proposal was endorsed for funding next year... then went to the office of the University registrar to have my student account fixed... done... had kimchi rice, fried egg, and tofu furai for lunch at SC... claimed 2 checks for thesis advisees 2 sems ago at less than 20usd each, whahahaha... oh well hello UP... went to the University Health Service for my long overdue medical exam... requirement for permanency... went back to CHK to print my form 5A... went to Educ for advising and enlistment... had snacks with Adj in CSAA... dropped by Psych department to see if research groupmates were there... bumped into another colleague instead and updated me on our article... went to Ortigas to teach the 6:30pm mysore class.

WHEW!!! It was a loooong but fruitful day.

Major adult decisions have to be made soon.

John and Lucy Scott in Boracay

I was supposed to join this retreat but most of my exams were scheduled on the same week.  I decided to cancel on the last minute. I was able to catch John and Lucy though at the led class in Makati just before they flew back to NZ.  It was great to reconnect with them even just for a few hours.

Here is Liana Romulo's article about the retreat: Renowned Ashtanga yoga teacher leads Boracay retreat - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos.

Cheers.