First Weekend Cooking Trip...

I've been wanting to have more "me" time and be able to somehow rid myself of earthly woes. I've been wanting to detach and be alone for a while and the universe indeed granted yet another wish of mine.

Last week, I moved into a fancy condo unit which is owned by my mom's friend. I'm really glad they assigned me to look after the place for a while since I work very near the area. I'm happy that my mom trusts me a lot. I never let her down. She helped me with my things and then I volunteered to clean the unit especially the kitchen.

It may not be obvious but I honestly wanna be a domestic goddess.... I love cooking and entertaining people at home. I got sooo excited as soon as I saw the kitchen.  waaaaahhh so relieved! It has a reliable fridge and gas for the stove.  I immediately hit the grocery to buy the basics.


The following day, I invited Badeth and her sister Salve for a hearty meal. I made my ever special cheesecake and since it has been ages since I cooked pasta, (I'm quite known for my sinful rich flavored pastas), I've decided to prepare it again to see if I still got that magic touch. hehehhee

Crispy Tuna Alfredo

you can't go wrong with bell peppers

First on the menu was Tuna Alfredo. I like this recipe a lot because instead of putting cheese on top, I put crispy tuna flakes!! Imagine, creamy rich sauce along with the crunchy texture of tuna..not to mention the aroma of those luscious green bell peppers (I'm a sucker for bell peppers!) This is very easy to make I promise!!! A no-brainer dish!

I also prepared my classic rosemary mojos! They were an instant hit!!! Reminds me of Shakey's big old mojos. I believe it tastes better than what they serve now. Also a no-brainer snack!

Salve while on Facebook marathon

the view from the apartment

We chowed down immediately after the pasta was ready. We hung out on the table and chatted like crazy. Blah blah blah blah... about anything we could think of..... The girls enjoyed the sights. The unit had a spectacular city view and they were thrilled I got a reliable internet access so I let them use Alexa (my laptop) the whole day (Facebook marathon). Badeth and I took some photos of course.

I even taught Badet on how to whip cream. It's really challenging! It's not as easy as it seems. It takes a lot of hand control and patience.

Badeth whipping it good!

my very special Blueberry Cheesecake

Evening came and I was thinking on what to serve for dinner (despite the fact that I still have lots of pasta alfredo left). Well, let's just say that I don't like serving left overs to my guests. Ok ok, I admit.. I just want to have an excuse to cook again hehehehehe., But the problem was, I really didn't have anything in mind, I wasn't prepared. I only had some canned goods in the pantry so I thought I'd just prepare some corned beef, a fluffy veggie omelette with brown rice (classic comfort food). But then I realized I had a lot of extra cooked pasta, I knew it would go bad and brittle if I just put it in the fridge so I had to maximize what I had. I checked the chiller and luckily, I had a lot of tomatoes and even herbs so I quickly decided to make my very own Italian style tomato sauce from scratch which I have developed a few years ago. Good thing I got almost all the needed ingredients (though I wish I had fresh herbs rather than dry ones).

i love garlic!!

my very own Italian style tomato sauce

Cornedbeef in homemade Italian red sauce

 

So I just combined the basic stuff. You need 2 things mainly: to have the right ingredients and to have the patience until you achieve the desired taste. I'm the kind of cook who is not into strictly "measuring" my ingredients... I like experimenting a lot and I never use MSG.






So there I was, experimenting again... wondering if my guests would enjoy it or turn blue after the 1st bite. Hmmmm I knew I was on the right track though.... the big question in my head was whether they would like it or not. You see, most of us got used to the classic canned thick tomato sauce. Basically, I just wanted to break-away from that culture. I wanted to make my own... and a better one.

It was also a hit! It seemed they liked it more than the 1st one. I'm relieved that they appreciate my cooking a lot! It was worth all the energy!

a very private moment

I'm happy that I'm now able to reveal  my more private side. That despite my image being very outgoing and always seen on stage, the real me still remains to be very happy with simple things like being at home and pampering people with hearty meals. I'm happy to be given the opportunity to show my passion in cooking once again. I know I'm not a pro chef or the best out there (I don't really plan to be one for it's gonna be for my family's pleasure only), I'm pretty much satisfied to see my friends enjoying what I've prepared for them... Seeing those empty plates are more like trophies to me!

unleashing the chef in me...

I often get comments from friends like, I'm ready to marry and that whoever is the guy for me is surely gonna be lucky to have me as his wife... hmmmmm yeah I guess so.

Whoever he is, he sure is one hellova lucky guy!!! He must be really worth the wait! I really don't wanna think about that right now for I'm busy on how to develop myself more (everything has its proper time). For now, I'll just develop more special recipes and cook more so I'll be ready when he comes!

I can't wait for next weekend's cooking trip.... I wonder who my guests will be.. hmmmmm