Sunday Family Lunch

It was an impromptu Sunday lunch at home. So, I looked at whatever was in my pantry to rustle up a decent meal. I've been meaning to try a recipe of chicken wings with a sweet glaze. I had bought chicken wings when I did my grocery shopping the day before so I gave it a go.

My family was too kind when I asked for their opinion when they tried it. "Ah, masarap naman" they would say while carefully avoiding my eyes. Ha ha ha.



The chicken dish was weird, to say the least. It was tasty but the chicken tasted like a dessert entree with it's sweetness. Anyway, now we know what will not be served ever again in the family table. Bwa ha ha! :-)

Fortunately, I had some other things to serve them. Otherwise, my reputation will be ruined. Ha ha ha. My in-laws brought some cake too.



After lunch, my nice Ashley wanted to go horseback riding in Tagaytay. So, why not? It's just an hour away anyway. After much discussion about why she needs to take another bath and why her hair had to be tied on top of a bath, we finally went our way.

We arrived at the horseback facility in Tagaytay around 5:00 p.m., barely an hour left of daylight. Man, that horseback facility hasn't changed much in thirty years! The kids went horseback riding and biking. My mom and I spent the hour talking and catching up. Hubby and my brother served as nannies, watching the kids.





Hope your Sunday was fun too!

Beef Bulgogi

My nephew Jay-jay and Ashley ambushed us again and invited themselves over for the weekend. Not that I'm complaining. I'm kinda liking the mommy role:-)

Anyway, I think the kids are too dependent on computer games and the X Box to entertain themselves. I do my best to ply them off those computer games and encourage them to do other stuff. I'm making a bit of progress by letting them help me cook, bake and I make them practice writing and some coloring activities for Ashley. Jay-jay loves to read Science books, so that's a plus. I also read them stories before going to bed.

Both kids enjoy helping me in the kitchen. We've made cookies, cupcakes, and both have eagerly helped me make family lunches and dinner.

Today, both kids helped me make the marinade for the Beef Bulgogi. I let them "chop" the Korean pear with a dull table knife. They helped me measure the ingredients and tenderize the meat (by pounding the beef with a dull knife). The kids took turns turning on the food processor. My kitchen was a mess but we had fun making the marinade. I didn't have my camera while we were doing this, that's why there are no pictures :-(

For the vegetables, the kids helped cut them with kitchen scissors and I carefully let them cut some of the vegetables with a real knife. They had fun arranging the vegetables and tofu in the paellera. It makes a pretty presentation, don't you think? :-)



Ashley started crying when her kuya Jay-jay wouldn't let her stir the pot.



She eventually gets her way anyway. Here she is happily posing while stirring the pot.



My niece Ashley, so pretty :-)



It's our first time to make Beef Bulgogi soup. My housekeeper had forgotten to add salt the homemade beef broth (the original recipe called for canned beef broth) so our Bulgogi turned out a just a tad bland, but it can be easily adjusted next time.

If you're making Beef Bulgogi, I suggest you get the sukiyaki cut so that the meat will be very tender. The sirloin that I got from the supermarket was a bit tough, despite the pounding that we gave it.

Your kitchen will smell really nice when you are cooking this. As my nephew Jay-jay commented:

"What's that good smell? It's like perfume" :-)



Hubby liked this dish very much. The kids didn't like it as much since it had a lot of vegetables in it but they did manage to eat a substantial amount, so I'm happy with that.

I'm excited to improve this recipe next time I make it. I'll post the recipe once it's worthy :-)

King Bee - Dinner with Hubby

Finally, Hubby managed to squeeze in a couple of hours to have dinner with me. Gosh, I sound like a desperate mistress, don't I? He he he. Hubby and I met near his office and travelled a short distance to King Bee Restaurant in Daang Hari, a "short cut" to Cavite if you're coming from Alabang.



Hubby had dined there before with some of his co-workers and wanted me to try it too. King Bee, despite being in the off beaten path, was quite full when we arrived. I was surprised that it was. Since it was literally in the middle of nowhere.

Anyway, after sampling an assortment of dimsum, I could see why people flock there. The food is good and the price is quite reasonable. Our total bill was under a thousand pesos. All the dimsum that we ordered were quite tasty and were worth what we paid for.

Here's a run down of our food trip :-)

We ordered one of the staples in any of our Chinese restaurant forays, the Hakaw or steamed shrimp dumplings. Yummy.



Pictured below is Tao Pey. Ground pork, shrimp and pancit (?) wrapped in a tofu sheet. This is Hubby's new favorite :-)



Hubby ordered Quail Egg dimsum, sort of like sio mai but with a boiled quail egg inside. I never got to taste this because hubby ate them all :-)



My favorite is the King Seafood dimsum with fish fillet, shitake mushrooms, crab stick and prawns wrapped in a pechay leaf. I'll try to cook this soon, hopefully :-)



We also ordered the Stuffed Shrimps with Salted Egg Yolk. It was a little too rich for our taste. The presentation looked appetizing and quite unusual though. It would look impressive in any table.



We had the usual dessert of Mango Sago and Almond Jelly with Lychee. Both were very refreshing and the perfect foil after a heavy Chinese meal.





King Bee's servings for their main courses are quite big. The small ones usually can feed up to four average people. Each order of dimsum is good for just one hungry Hubby :-)

Happy eating!

Why not take a bidjoe? :-)

Our little monster :-)

My niece Ashley ... so kulit :-)

Belated Happy Mother's Day!

I've been so busy this past week. My nephew Jay-jay and nice Ashley stayed with me for a week and they have kept me on my toes. They kept me busy with lots of hugs and kisses and funny conversations. Our house now feels so lonely without them.

The kids and I baked cookies, made mother's day lunch, made mother's day cards and bargained about who's going to use the laptop next, haaay.. Unfortunately though, there were no pictures to share with you :-(

Anyway, hope your Mother's Day celebration was fun too!

To the greatest mommy in the world, my mom, I love you!

The world will be a much better place if all moms loved their children like the way my mom loved us :-)

I turned out ok, didn't I? :-) He he he.

New Word from My Niece Ashley

SNORSING - loud sound while sleeping.:-)