Another blissful-restful weekend I am spending. I love to spend time at home and be just  cozy and warm with a plethora of things I like to do. So while I do my laundry or  turn the  dishwasher on, I can do something else that I  enjoy. To be  productive with my  hands gives me joy no end. It seems that every weekend I feel a need to create or do something that gives me satisfaction whether it be food or a project. I made  a simple dessert from  sticky rice flour  and tapioca cooked in coconut milk and brown sugar. Steve loves it---that surely doubles my satisfaction of having made it.
        

                           

This morning I  stopped by the farmer's market and got me (this time) a purple cauliflower, two butternut squash, a bundle of kale (my new favorite greens) and a bunch of cilantro (my all-time favorite herb aside from  basil).

As usual, the beauty of the cauliflower (with its intense purple) holds me from cooking it too soon. (I'll probably start eating it as a crudite  slathered with some  onion dip---then cook the rest in curry and achar masala). Meanwhile, like its beauteous cousin (the purple broccoli), I let it sit on a goblet to grace my  wee dining table  and give my eyes to feast on for a day or two.

Here she is...my artsy craft for the  day:

                      

I do not have fish in my fridge right now but I guess I will be eating one very soon (one of these days) as I made my favorite condiment to eat with one whole fried fish---head, eyes and all.  I will always have time to make cilantro hot sauce.

                                      cilantro hot sauce

Last Friday, I contacted someone in  New York City who  teaches tatting at her home. I got really excited with the prospect of learning the craft. I wish I checked out youtube first before I emailed this tatting lady who graciously emailed me back with information regarding the lessons. In the afternoon today, while my favorite guys went to the library, I spent time learning the art of tatting. I've seen someone in my past make  lace (as a requirement for an home-economics project) but I have never tried it myself. I ordered a  book to have something on print and also watched tutorials on youtube. I just do not have the shuttles to start yet so by the time the sun set, my hands were itching to create something again and there  by my side table I saw my crochet needle and thread and started making some  snowflakes. (How apropo---winter is coming isn't it? Although I must admit, I already have a  gazillion snowflakes I crocheted a few years back for my Christmas tree) I find crocheting more snowflakes (still) fun.
 
                                            snowflakes pictures here

I started my Saturday with a drive to the middle school to drop off my little Zachary for his gymnastics and soccer classes. He really looks forward to these activities doing  forward rolls and kicking balls, and nothing else. (When I probe deeper, he tells me they played duck-duck-goose-goose in his soccer class) Going back home, I had two hours to kill (not a lot of time considering the clutter I have to straighten up), I stopped by the farmer's market and browsed through the items. A purple veggie I mistook for cauliflower kept calling my name so I thought I'd make a pot of  spicy curried (with achar masala) cauliflower that will make Steve happy (and healthy). When I paid for it, the vendor corrected me and said it is a broccoli [confused, I looked at the other stall where I thought I reall saw a purple cauliflower....and it was a cauliflower in the other stall, ONLY  much much deeper purple]. I've never seen a purple broccoli before.

When I got home, I inspected this broccoli in my hands and marvelled at its smoky purpleness. I realized I could not bring myself to cook this purple princess, so I trimmed its leaves and ensconced it on a goblet to grace my little dining table. It looked very happy and comfortable where I put it. I could almost read the florets' thoughts..."we are so pretty we might not be eaten afterall."

I continued to marvel at it through the day as I passed the table going here and there doing housechores. I sometimes pause to touch its purple wonder...I think to myself, "What am I going to do with you, oh  purple princess? You look so delicious---but you are too beautiful to cook." 

To get my mind off the dainty thing sitting on my table---I started to bake bread---reminiscent of a usual breakfast item back home. We used to have pan de sal (like rolls) with cheese and dunked in coffee in the morning. Lead me to nostalgia lane. People walk to the panaderia early every morning to get their  brown bags of pandesal. The same happens about 3 in the afternoon when people  eat their merienda (snack), this time  usually paired with  Coca-cola.

As dusk approached, two other items I picked up for good health now sitting in the  basket caught my attention. I swear they were saying "psst...pssst." (this is a very informal way Philippinoys catch other  Philippinoys attention. These red and orange beets, powerhouses of antioxidants stared me in the face as though asking---"are you gonna leave us to wilt  here in this basket?" I usually make use of  their leaves too (why throw a good source  of fiber when it's there?) I thought a good  boiling, dash of salt and pepper and drizzle of olive oil will highlight its delicious flavor.

These beauteous Latinas (they look to me, so colorful and full of life) attended our dinner as a side dish and they were surely devoured lavishly with a great smacking sound of the  lips.

Delicious indeed!!!

I must say, I have the sweetest husband this world has ever grown, for while many a Filipina I know whose husbands are "un-Filipino" who CANNOT endure and WILL not endure and allow the cooking of any kind  or form of dried fish that we Filipinos are fond of--- to eat with our plain white rice and  dip (sawsawan)---my husband (BLESS his heart) will endure the fishy smell as I cook to satisfy my (once in a while) cravings for the (YES!) stinky stuff.

                                        (Above: danguit)

                                          (Tuyo)

                                           

I do appreciate my husband's "giving heart"  and I do try my darnedest to keep the stinkeroos down by opening the windows, turning the ceiling fan on and (above picture)  simultaneously boiling aromatics such as  star anise, five spice and  cinnamon sticks.  I also camouflage the stinkos by baking  chocolate chip cookies and  at the same time replenishing the cookie jar for the Zach-zach.

My pastry sidekick chef helping out (we forgot to incorporate the choco-chips in the dough--ooOps!

Still tastes yumm-O!

Grilled porkchop and shrimps

 Back in Long Beach after a month-long visit with my family in the Phil. and a gruelling flight, I finally  sit with my husband on our deck with a simple grilled  meal and stories to exchange. There is just no place like home. While Zach and I were away visiting my side of the  family, Steve passed his time between Long Beach and the Poconos. He also spent some time in Greece and checked out the Parthenon and other ruins.

I love to share with my husband simply-made meals  such as this. They are big on flavors though. With the cilantro hot sauce I prepared before hand, you just can't go wrong.

LATO (Grape Seaweed)

Saturday morning, Ate Ruth wakes me up to accompany her to the market. I wake up Zach as he told me the last night that he wanted to come with us to see the fresh fish and  cut up pork and beef meat hanging  in the wet market's stalls. What an adventure. Ate Ruth drives us to the market. As soon as we  stepped in the wet market, I saw mounds of mounds of these grape seaweeds in the fish department. I could not pass it up--I just had to have some and make some salad.Amazing how they taste like caviar--vegan version. Growing up in the Philippines, I was always delighted when I see lato salad on the table---not only is it fun to eat and delicious to eat, lato is also  very nutritious. 

  What beauty...

                                                       Lato Salad

 Roasted yellow squash with peach-habanero hot sauce is a dish so delicious you can't stop eating it.

My last dinner at the back deck with my hubby before I went to the Phil. to visit my  Nanay.
Grilled baby back ribs and spiced chicken fillet with sage-potato salad in white wine, rustic pugliese bread, yellow squash with peach-habanero sauce and  cold lemonade.

Cherry pie for dessert ends the dinner well.

I always have two trays of eggs (18 in each tray) because of all pastries in the world, I love those that are made of eggs. For my dinner postres, I love a taste of leche flan or macaron or brazo de mercedes. They end meals just right---nothing fancy but oh ooo satisfying.

Leche Flan

    Not broken hearted--just playing...

    More meringue-ish than macaron-ish

    But tastes just as good

Really good with chamomile tea

Yesterday I stayed home with my darlingest because he was not feeling well. It was such a nice day though, so Zach and I decided to take a walk on the  beach and catch some vitamin D. We watched the lifeguards put up their gigantic orange  chairs. We forgot to bring our stale bread for the seagulls---just as well, looks like the birds are done with breakfast they were nowhere to be found.

 By the way, Zach decided he was Spiderman that day so off I went to the beach WITH Spiderman who was a little under the weather BUT...when you're  Spiderman---

      You gottta do what you gotta do!

 I found a spot and leaned myself against this flimsy fence---closed my eyes and enjoyed the morning sun while Zach at this point sat down and started playing with sand.  When we started for home , my foodie heart started thinking of Brazo de Mercedes. I put Zach to nap and worked on this favorite (again, eggs!) dessert of my childhood.

While we called  these Brazo de Mercedes (Mercedes' Arm), in Spain they call it Brazo de Gitano (Gypsy's Arm)

     Hmmm....I ate a piece and walked nostalgic down memory lane.

Quiet Pleasures of Home


While I puttered around my little garden, my  Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear sat on the porch, yapped and tinkered with his doll occasionally yelling "To infinity and beyond." I revisited my pink and  white Bleeding Hearts and as usual, my delight seeing them knew no end. They are so delicate and so at peace with their environment sometimes swaying with the wind and the  musical chimes. Let alone the fact  that yesterday was prophesied as doomsday, my bleeding hearts hung from their stems like regal princesses unfluttered by non-sense  news, one can't help but smile to see them.

Zach prefers these white bleeding hearts to the pink one

 white and pink bleeding hearts together---they're simply beautiful!!!!

  Buzz Lightyear guarding the unchartered planet...
(In the background, a pot of snakeplants I bought from Home Depot---this will be divided into 4 pots and will be enjoying some part-sun-part shade in the summer. I am really preparing them for the next winter to be put inside the house as my air cleaner and additional oxygen supply.)

Moving on to my Lily of the Valley, I marvelled at the tiny simple bell-like beauty that it is, emitting  a fresh faint smell that makes one feel envigorated. Just like Jesus (as He is called the Lily of the Valley) the humble plant quietly grows lush and flourishes in the shade just like He does in our hearts when we pursue Him.  I remember a song I learned in church:

                                  Everybody ought to know (2x)

                                  Who Jesus is...
                                  He's the Lily of the Valley
                                  He's the bright and morning star
                                  He's the fairest of ten thousand
                                  Everybody ought to know.

Then I was surprised to see that the wild columbines have actually budded and opened up. These were seedlings I transplanted from the Poconos and I did not expect  them to appear this spring. This is another flower that is so delicate and simply gorgeous usually gracing moist woody areas. They are amazing in how beautifully these plants  seem to live serene lives not caring  if they will be  appreciated or not. They  just live to beautify and  relish life.

Having been inspired by the many shapes I saw in the garden, I went in to conitnue celebrating my quiet and peaceful life. I thought of  making bread with my hands and enjoy the simple pleasure of handling dough and forming it into something that extends my  enjoyment and appreciation of anything plant. What else could it be but the beautiful artisanal fougasse (leaf-shaped bread)? Hmm..again reminds me of Jesus who's called The Bread of Life. A lot of lessons can be learned from these interesting biblical  analogies. Take a look at my fougasse:

 This reminds me of the big holey leaves that used to climb up our humongous mango tree back in my childhood.

 My husband likes the taste of artisan bread---rustic and hearty dipped in olive oil infused with herbs.

I also made two potato loaves for Zach's lunch sandwiches in school.This always gets nutella for a spread.

So there...the simple pleasures of life on ordinary weekends. Truly, life can be celebrated even in peace and quietness, no fanfare, no best bargain buys from mega sales--- just family, home and little ordinary things that can be enjoyed without having to spend a wad of money. And you can sit back and relax with a warm cup of tea (or  mango-spinach smoothie ---Zach's preference) and a slice of artisan bread with nutella spread on it----among the flowers. What delight!

More perennials I look forward to:

                                                       Beautiful pruple alliums...

                                         Alliums growsmaller by the year..   
 

                                            Zachy can't resist smooshing the purple  puff

                                              ahh...peonies

                                                    Z checking his strawberries if their ready to eat

                                                      Pink asiatic lilies and pink hydrangea

mini-daisies

my dwarf apple tree