a Meaty treat!

max's style fried chicken with pickled cabbage

                 Doesn't it look so yummy?! Well, its not just the looks but the taste as well. This is my family's weekend treat. Usually on week days, my family only eat veggies and rice. So on the weekend, we treat ourselves to eating meat or fish along side pickled food or stir fried veggies. This one, was a tasty and juicy treat. I found the recipe online. Just google the name Max's Style fried chicken and the list will pop up. Lots and lots of recipe ideas with this particular recipe, but i chose this one since its the easiest to prepare. Along side, is my homemade pickled cabbage. Traditionally, this side dish uses green papaya. I just happen to have a head of cabbage in my fridge so i went ahead and use them instead. It's still good and very healthy. Did you know that eating pickled food has alot of health benefits in our body? Plus it aides in the digestion especially after eating fatty foods. In the Philippines, where i came from, pickled papaya is being served along side Lechon, fried pork or fried chicken. But that was never explained why, other than the very delicious combination of taste. I just found out not too long ago, that the purpose was to help digest the fat in our food, amazing isn't it?!

Pasta night!



homemade ginger tea



baked garlic, mashed



pesto and bread

                    This was last night's dinner. My daughter has been craving for pasta and since we dont eat meat, not until the weekend at least :) i decided to make some Pesto! This recipe was from the new show called "THE CHEW" and this was by Mario Batali. What i like about this pesto is, he added some baby potatoes and green beans with the pasta. Then for the pesto, the basil was still chunky, he added the olive oil last, so the consistency is not too thick. I love it! And for the bread, just a regular white bread but the good part is i spread it with some canola butter and my baked garlic. I love love baking garlic. When they are done, they become soft, you just squeeze them out of their skin and mash them together making a paste like consistency. It is so good and the garlic has a sweet taste to it, making it a perfect garlic spread. I baked the garlic at 400 F for 45 mins, i used 2 heads of garlic BTW. And whala, you have your own healthy spread! And i should mention that the nice and icy cold ginger tea was a perfect drink for this meal :)

I want to ride my Bicycle...i want to ride my bike.....

Hello!
      As i have metioned and posted on my blog, my husband bought me a new bike. It's a Schwinn wome'ns Trailway hybrid bike. It was a little too high for me, i had the seat adjusted and i have to practice to hop on it, since i am used to riding a bike just perfect for my height. And so i got the hang of it, and finally the day has come for my bike to feel the breeze and rough road in the bike trail. I must say, that i am completely satisfied with my bike. My husband was right, it was really smooth to ride with and very light. Not like my old one(which my hubby is now using) it was so heavy, i couldn't even lift it.
       This was, at our local Park by the way. it was a perfect day to go biking that day, unfortunately our daughter was not with us, she was still in bed when we left, tired from last nights football game. But she was delighted and thought it was cute, that her parents went on a date without her hahahah....(usually, when we say were going out on a date,  we literally mean "WE" the people in our house. The three of us, my husband and i  cannot bear to go out and have a wonderful time with just the two of us, unless our daughter says "no". well, thats us and every family is different.
        But anyway, i cannot wait for our next "bikes-capade". BTW my husband is planning to buy her own hybrid trailway soon, he wasn't happy riding that old bike, he said his butt was sore heheheheh....

vintage finds

80's Debora Kuchme for Neiman Marcus



70's Kay Windsor striped dress





80's My Michelle multicolored dress with matching belt





vintage ebony and ivory TRIFARI necklace


ALL OF THIS ITEMS ARE AVAILABLE HERE



backyard barbecue

my sis-in-law seasoning the meat



viven's bow tie pasta



my favorite seaweed, left over from last night's party



viven's fruit salad, from last night's party



my niece



the gang




the "torch bearer" heading to the grill

                         Ok, if eating is wrong, i dont want to be right...hahhahaha  well i don't know what else to to tell you, but our family loves food. We all love to cook, spend time talking just about anything and telling jokes! So, after last night's party, we decided to have a barbecue at the park before we head back to Bakersfield, which is like a 3 and a half hour drive from Modesto. unfortunately the park that we went ot did not have barbecue grills and they have this huge sign that says no fire. So then, we go back to my brother in law's cousins' house for the barbecue. I say, park or no park made no difference. We were as merry as we can be. So merry, that we forgot the time. we're supposed to leave before dark and when you know it, the sun just disappeared hahahhaha.....You are always in good company with your family around, that you just forget the time. Even if you just talked about nonsensical things, going back years before when we were kids, but just the laughter being shared together is just priceless. I can't wait till the next gathering again. It did'nt matter wether we drove 3 or 4 hours. We got home close to midnight, tired and our bellys full, and the laughter and times spent together will stay in our hearts forever.

Mitsuwa Markertplace

Mitsuwa marketplace



isn't she cute?




i am so drooling .....




too pretty to eat :)




Love bean bread




so good!




oh my, more goodies!



bento box



and some more.....




hello kitty marshmallows?




this is insane!!!!




hmnnnn....sushi




my favorite, inari




and more.....



people, lining up for this noodle stand



                                       OHAYO!!!!! Ogenki desu ka? my dear friends! A week ago, we went to San Jose, CA to visit a dear friend of my husband. It's been 2 or 3 years maybe since our last visit. They are like parents to us. And my daughter would call them grandma and grandpa too. They are really nice couple. We went with my sis-in-law, her mother-in-law, my sis-in-law's husband and their daughter. So pretty much the same folks going out on a trip....hahahaha. We're very close family, that's why. It was really nice to them again, a lot of catching up with what's going on here and there. We pretty much just passed time talking in thier kitchen table, ate some sandwiches and the best part was the "goodie" Anne, ordered this sort of strawberry shortcake. She said it was the last cake of the strawberry season, so she made sure that shes going to serve it to us. It was really delicious very delicate cake. Just the perfect sweetness and tangy taste to it. I forgot the name of the Mexican Bakery, she ordered it from, but she said Anne said that it was the only bakery in San Jose who makes that wonderful delicate strawberry cake.
So, later that day we head home but before that we got to stop by the japanese marketplace called MITSUWA. Love, love this place. Everytime we go to San Jose, the family always stops by at that place. I knew my niece love Japanese food, so i promised to take her there. We love their "goodies" especially their bento box. Huge selection to choose from. And since it was a long trip, like 5 hours maybe from where we live. I make sure that i get evry flavor there is in thier bento boxes. Of course i do love INARI. Anne was the one who introduced the food to me:) really delicious. i don't know what it is really, but the wrapper is like a very thin omelet and inside is this sweet sticky white rice. My niece like them too!
We were just so excited like a kid in a candy store when we got there. On the corner, was a noodle shop, and also a small noodle stand in the middle. people were lining up. The noodle smells so good, but we didn't get a chance to buy one, because of the long line and it was getting late. We have an invitation that night in Modesto, So we didn't want our belly to get full before we go to the party you know...hehehehe...Well, too bad i was really tempted to get just a small bowl of noodle soup, just to taste them. Maybe on our next visit. How i wish we have it here in Bakersfield.  By the way before i forget here is a photo of the strawberry cake.

round table pizza



chicken and combo pizza




Maui Zaui




garlic bread





wings

 



and the family, looks like were taking our class picture reunion :)


          Hello dear friends! It's been a while since a post my last blog. I've been a busy bee lately. Anyway, this was taken a few weeks ago, when we visit my sis-in-law in Modesto, Ca. And as all of you know, whenever there's a family gathering food is always present. We seldom eat out, we like the backyard get together, but in this particular day, my brother-in-law's cousin invited us out to Round Tables Pizza. They say it was the best. My husband looooves pizza. Me? well just depends on my mood. I have never had a pizza that i would say i really liked. They are either too oily, crust is too thick, or they are too salty for me.
           So, we sat there waiting for our order. They ordered 3 kinds of pizza for us to try. We had the combo, the chikcen parmesan and Maui Zaui. And OMG!!!!!! They were right! BEHOLD!!!!! dear fellas.....i finally found "the pizza" place that i really liked. Everything was really good. The Maui Zaui was my personal choice. It's like a hawaiian pizza but "the BEST'. A touch oif sweetness, the perfect saltiness, with the tomatoes, canadian bacon, sweet peppers and cheese on top....hmnnnnnnn....delish! And i love their garlic bread too! Melt in your mouth garlicky taste. And guess what, i have found out, just recently that we have Round Tables Pizza here in our town. Imagine that. For sure i will visit the place one of this days, and check if they are good. Because you know sometimes, the tastes differs from one place to the other, i think depending on the cook? but that's just my opinion.
             So there, i'd say it again...Round Tables Pizza is the best! try their Maui Zaui it's that good!