It's Bougainvillea's time!

It's a weird weather we're having! It's supposed to be summer - time to don shorts and cotton tops, but instead, the past few days, I had to bring a jacket to work as it was raining, at times, quite hard. The plants in our small garden at home are nevertheless happy and flowers are abloom, especially the bougainvillea. What a lovely sight it gives me each morning as I go out upon waking.

Pesto-rrific!

Creamy chicken spaghetti (Dec. 24, 2011)

Penne with spicy meat sauce
(March 25, 2012)

I've long planned to try making pesto but was never able to do it. Pesto is on top on my list of pasta favorites and it's quite ironic that I've never gotten around to actually making it. Over the years, I've tried many pasta recipes and modesty aside, my friends and kids loved most of them. Yesterday, my daughter beat me to making pesto. And was I impressed! She made not just good pesto, it was a near-perfect pesto! The basil leaves' flavor was not too intense, but worked to a nice balance of taste with the nuts and other spices.  My daughter might as well give some restaurants a run for their money with her pesto! One pizza-pasta restaurant that, for me, serves good pesto is a Veneto Pizzeria Ristorante, which has a branch a stone's throw away from our office in QC. And my daughter's version of pesto comes close to what it serves.  Attagirl!

What's your poison?

Mine's coffee. Brewed coffee. I settle anytime for the instant kind, though, if it's all there is.  I am such a huge fan of this perk-me-up drink, that I consider any meal special if food is paired with a cup of joe. My close friends and I like to bond over coffee and pasta and cake. Thinking about it, I often wonder: Could men have coffee instead of beer in their drinking sessions? To me, it makes perfect sense to make the switch! Not only is coffee healthier than beer or scotch or whiskey, it will also spare them all the troubles that entail alcohol intoxication. And coffee, like beer, is a social drink - best to be enjoyed in the company of friends. Surely, you don't finish a cup of cappuccino or latte in one large gulp. Instead, you take one little leisurely sip, savor its sweet-bitter-creamy taste, breathe in the aroma, then take another sip. In between those sips, you chatter the minutes away with your company. I cannot think of any moment as perfect as when you get to banter and share laughter with good friends and good coffee. So what's my favorite coffee? Kapeng barako from Batangas! I used to brew myself a cup every morning until I discovered in the pantry a can of almond coffee sent some time ago by my sister from the US, then forgotten. Fortunately, we discovered it before it expired. I never knew I'd love flavored coffee but I did. Now it's what makes my mornings really special and worth waking up to. But of course, there has to be sinangag and tuyo and sunny side-up egg. But that deserves another story. (Teehee.)

A little doggie chat

My daughter holding Odie, "The Snob"

Today, as I went about my usual task of buying my office food, I had quite a nice chat with a stranger, a woman who was carrying in her arms a cute mini pinscher donned in a nice ruffled satin dress. I was walking ahead of her on my favorite "forest trail" (it's a road path underneath huge, awesome trees) on my way back to our office and even if I could already feel hunger pangs as it was already past lunchtime, I could not resist the urge to wait for her and so I did, and promptly started a conversation. I learned that her dog's name was Tinky and that it was one year and three months old. I told the woman that I too, am "mom" to two rambunctious mini pins plus a four-month-old doberman (I failed to mention about our german shepherd). As it was obvious that she had her doggie's ears docked, I asked her where she had it done. I mentioned that hubby and I are currently scouting for a vet who performs ear-docking for our Kimchi, the dobe. I also told her about my Tiger Lily's rat poison accident but that she still managed to give birth to our beloved cutie, Odie, who is dubbed the "The Snob". I got to pet Tinky and then after a few minutes, it was time to end the exchange of pleasantries. I continued my walk to the office, and then it was lunch by the computer. I found out that the "palabok" I had bought was "ho-hum" but the conversation I just had with the stranger kept my mood buoyed up. How nice, it is, indeed to exchange smiles and have a chat with someone who shares my passion. It makes me think about my doggie kids at home and how they jump oh-so-excitedly at the sight of me entering our home after a day's work. I treasure the feeling of cuddling my Tiger Lily as I rest on the sofa while watching my favorite telenovelas and now I'm counting the hours to do just that. :-)