The Secret Recipe to a Relationship

I never thought I would ever come to a point in my life where I can say, "Yes I can cook good food."  But ever since I got into this relationship with Rocky, I have found myself in a life where reaching for my dreams seems to be the norm. 

Rocky and I now cook more often than buy food outside or have it delivered.   While Rocky is good at coming up with delectable soups and very filling pastas, I am thankful he really enjoys my salads and other simpler dishes.  Most recently, Rocky has been really loving the Turbo Broiled Chicken that I can make.  The recipe was a family favourite which so many people have really appreciated and to be able to cook it now makes me feel very happy.

Since Rocky and I have been taking taking steps to eating healthier, the additions of cooking machines such as the Turbo Broiler and the Slow Cooker Crock Pot are a definite plus.  The tricky part is really finding not too difficult but healthy recipes to try.

Which brings me to the topic of relationships:  

If you find yourself in a relationship which stifles your growth as a person or forces you to sacrifice your dreams, then maybe it is time to reconsider how you treat yourself.    Maybe it is time to get out.

While it is not uncommon for sacrifices to be called for from either party in making a relationship work, all such sacrifices should always be a two-way street.  Both should realize the give-and-take nature of a relationship is a constant act of finding ways to keep things balanced.  While this doesn't meant counting and tracking every single thing and time you make certain compromises, it does mean being aware that you aren't the only one doing them.  Often, I've read  facebook status updates and comments from single people complaining about how love has always been unfair to them or how it was time "they took care of themselves  more."   I sometimes find myself wanting to reach out and tell them, "You know, that's precisely it.  You HAVE to take care of yourself more.  You have to always keep yourself happy.  Because if you don't, you won't have happiness that you will want to share with your partner."  The happiness that makes a relationship strong and nourishes it to grow is a happiness that comes from each partner and is shared with each other.  If only one person keeps "producing" the happiness and the other keeps "relishing it," then I'm afraid that's merely a relationship doomed to eventually fall apart or worse, live on with one of the two feeling cheated and trapped for the rest of his life.

Be happy.
And share that happiness with the person you love.

If you find someone who is doing the same then, then chances are you have found the person you are meant to  be with for the rest of your lives.

[so easy] Home-made Ice Cream

It doesn't help that he's pretty hawt for a cook.
Bonus points for posing with a cute piglet!

As some of you readers know, I've only recently learned to cook.  After years of watching Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef and Nigella Lawson's Nigella Bites and other similar shows, I've always wanted to one day find myself being able to cook for the man I love.  Being a geek, I had my fears that cooking would be one of those skills totally out of my reach.  I mean, hey, I have no dreams of becoming some kind of a kitchen deity, but I do want to be able to surprise my partner with a home-cooked meal one day.  Who knew that by this time, this year, I'd be not only able to cook meals for my partner, Rocky, but also create things which I myself never thought possible.

And one such "impossible" thing that I would want to share with you readers is this:  

Home-made Super Easy to do Ice Cream.

This is our home-made ice cream topped with some Dark Chocolate topping!

Ingredient: 

Bananas
Seriously, that's it.  Bananas are all you need.

Optional:  

Anything else you might want to add to it after such as peanut butter, chocolate syrup, milo, etc.

Equipment:

Knife

Freezer

Blender

Step 1:  Allow the bananas to get nicely ripe.  In fact, a little bit more over-ripe is better.  Once the bananas as starting to feel softer than firm... the brown ones are BEST!
Step 2: Cut up the bananas into slices.
Step 3: Freeze.
Step 4: Assuming it has been a few hours, or even a few days, and the craving for ice cream finally hits, take frozen banana slices from freezer, and toss into blender.
Step 5: Blend nicely, but not too much.  Too much and you may end up with something more like puree.  Just blend it enough to get the nice creamy texture of ice cream.  You'd be surprised how the non-blended bananas mix nicely with the blended parts to form tremendously delicious ice cream!

This is an example of blending TOO MUCH.
More a Banana Smoothie than Ice Cream.
So to make up for it, just tossed in a Flat Top and some chocolate sauce.

Step 6: Eat! Or add the stuff you want, then eat!

So yes, it is THAT simple.

Rocky found this recipe online and while we were very skeptical at first, it seemed easier than the other ice cream recipes that we found (some required looking for liquid hydrogen.  Another used ice cube trays to create the ice cream.  And all needed so many ingredients... milk, creams, etc.)  This recipe was surprisingly simple yet very delicious and fulfilling to eat!

I highly recommend you try it to surprise the man you love!

Kitchen Based Musings

I have recently learned to cook soft shell crabs.

Hell, to be more honest, it has barely been more than a year since I actually started cooking.  Thankfully, I've discovered among the many dishes I have gradually learned to do better that there are two dishes that I can do pretty well.  Both dishes were staples that I used to always order with my partner at this restaurant called Fish and Co.

Fish Fillet with chips.
Soft shell crab salad.

Fish Fillet is quite easy now that one can buy Cream Dory fillet in a supermarket.  With just a light seasoning of salt and pepper, then an egg to bind flour to it and you got a dish ready for pan frying fun.

Soft shell crab on the other hand takes a bit more effort.  Having been able to toss my partner and myself a salad when the urge was there, I decided a few days ago to take a stab at actually making soft shell crab salad.  I had discovered that Shopwise sold alfalfa in a generous amount for its price, and with the balsamic vinaigrette salads I've been making, the idea of being able to add to it a soft shell crab was something I could not resist.  I mean, how hard could it be right?

It turns out, creating a soft shell crab salad does require a strong determination to accomplish the task.   Well, at least it did for someone like me.   I discovered Shopwise also sold soft shell crabs in the frozen Japanese section for Php250 a box (which had four crabs) and while I was letting two of them thaw, I decided to surf the net for any tips on how to cook the sucker.

Soft shell crabs, it turned out, need to be cleaned before cooking.
Oh my lord.
Lemme explain that reaction  by letting you watch the video I viewed.



OH MY GOD.  Yes.  They cut off those parts and the FACE while the crab is still alive.
Alive!  Do you read me?!??!
I don't pretend to be an animal rights activist or anything, but seriously couldn't they have at least killed the crab properly first before cutting those parts off and cooking it?

This video kinda hit me bad.  And even though I was working with long dead frozen crabs, I found myself feeling sad for the fellers as I took the kitchen shears and snipped the faces off.  I felt their firm bodies in my hand and hated how my brain could still imagine them squirming and struggling in dying agony.

Wah.

It is interesting how you don't even need to season the crabs much.  Just roll them in flour that has been seasoned a bit with black pepper and paprika, and that's it, it is ready for frying.

So yeah, the salad was delicious!  Very easy to prepare and well worth the effort.  I'm certain certain chefs and foodies out there have loads of suggestions for me (like how to better prepare the crab, or what is a better way to season things, etc) but ultimately what matters is being able to cook something my partner and I will enjoy.

I just wish I didn't find myself stopping each time I had to clean the crab and remembering how somewhere out there, some of these poor things have to get "cleaned" before they even die.