Thank you!

Our KaEskwela "fans" club finally became a reality yesterday :)  Thank you to Cecon and Extend Yourself for picking our organization!

Wonderful Welcome!

We had the most amazing welcome when we got to the school.  All the students, faculty and some parents were outside to greet us.  The kids were waiving yellow flags and singing.

 There was a mini gallery featuring our entry and some photos on the stage.  On the other side there were some print outs of my blog! (LOL)

The Cecon knight was the highlight of the program!  The kids got really excited when he made his appearance.  Some kids even went up on stage to dance with him :D 

After the program we witnessed the fan installation.  So happy that all the classrooms now have 2 new fans to keep the students cool :)

I just hoped that the mascot had his own fan/cooling system inside the suit because it was so hot :P

Thank you again to Cecon and Extend Yourself :)  And also to all the folks who "liked" our entry on Facebook.  Hope we will all have more blessings this year!

Happy Saturday

Started the day with a perfect cup of coffee

followed by a  yummy breakfast

Erman's order came with a heart shaped egg!

Stared at the pastries for a while.  Just look at that frosting!  Next time I might just buy one :D 

Went shopping at my favorite organic market.

Dropped by a very nice and cozy bookstore

and bought this wonderful cat book :D  I really love Saturday mornings in Baguio!

Thank You!

Thank you to our dear friends for sending us hugs, kisses and words of comfort :)  

Cubi and Kirby in 2007

 We wish that Kirby and Cubi are both happy at the Rainbow bridge.  I also hope that they are finally friends too :)

artwork by Alasandra

Extra thanks to Artemisia, Fenris, Socks, Scylla & Alasandra for sending us this beautiful artwork of Kirby by the rainbow bridge.

Artwork by Brian

 and to Brian for posting about Kirby on the Cat Blogosphere

Goodbye, Kirby

It was very sad last night when we found out that our dear Kirby was run over by a car :(  He was found dead a few meters away from his home.  Kirby is an indoor cat and always has a leash on when outside.  We are still wondering how he was able to go out and explore by himself.

Kirby lived with us for a few months before moving to his forever home.  Though he did not get along with Nuggie, he was very sweet and cuddly.  He loved hugs and always rubbed against our legs :(

We'll see you at the rainbow bridge, Kirby!  Missing you already :(

Shells, Sea grass and Surfing

The next day we went to another beach that had bigger waves.  Siargao is a popular surf spot and my friend wanted to take a crash course on surfing... and it was a real "crash" course for her since she ended up crashing into the sea :D

I had no plans of joining her so I spent the day walking on the shore where I saw a lot of cool things.

Sea grass!

 

Beautiful orange coral

Sea urchin shell

 

and a boat with a dog on board :)

On our way back we saw rows of coconut shells drying out in the sun.  I always see this in the provinces but just recently found out that it was for making copra.

It was almost dark when we got back to the resort.  It was really quiet since we were the only guests at that time which was nice and a bit freaky.  Freaky since I kept thinking of aswangs.  LOL.  Just kidding on the aswang of course.

I watched the fishermen bring in their catch that night.  I found it really strange that they only caught one kind of fish. 

The nets were filled with these tiny blue fish.  Pretty amazing, huh? :)

Sun, Sand, Sea and Squid

I'm missing Siargao right now.  Siargao Island is about 2 hours away by boat from Surigao.

We stayed at a lovely and very peaceful resort called Danjug.

The beach is just a few steps away.  I spent hours just looking out and listening to the waves.

Watched the fishermen bring in the catch of the day...

which was a whole bucket of squid and octopus!

The cook prepared grilled squid

squid kilawin (raw squid cooked in vinegar)

and monggo with octopus for our lunch.

we had fresh buko juice too! Yum!

After lunch I noticed that the cook left our clean plates out under the sun to dry! Sun dried plates! Very cool :)

Healthy healing meals at the Maya Kitchen

Dr. Blecenda Varona

I attended a really amazing seminar about healthy cooking at The Maya Kitchen last week.  Although I've always considered myself to be a relatively healthy eater (I've been a pescetarian for over 11 years - it should have been 17 years but I later added chicken to my diet) I still felt that I wanted to change the way I ate and prepared meals.  Thankfully, Dr. Blecenda Varona and her son Mark shared a lot of very helpful tips on how to make the switch to a more plant based diet easier. 

Scrambled eggs?

Craving for scrambled eggs? I discovered that you can make a healthier version by using tofu!  Here's how:    

 

Tofu Scramble

Ingredients :

½ kilo tofu, mashed

½ cup broccoli, chopped 

1 big onion, chopped

3 tablespoons coconut oil

1/ 4 tablespoon turmeric

½ tablespoon mustard

3 tablespoons lemon or calamansi extract

2 tablespoon soy sauce

Mushroom powder to taste

Salt to taste 

Directions

Saute onion in coconut oil.  Mix in tofu, turmeric, mustard, calamansi extact, and soy sauce then season with salt and mushroom powder.

I tried this recipe again at home without the broccoli and used regular cooking oil instead of coconut.  Coconut oil is a bit too flavorful for me :)

Soyannaise!

We also learned how to make Soyannaise which can be used as salad dressing or substitute for mayonnaise.

Soyannaise:

1 small block tofu

2 segments garlic

¼ cup corn oil

1/8 cup lemon or calamansi extract

1 small onion

dash of salt

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. 

You can also add other herbs and spices to make your dip more flavorful.  Yum!  It's really good to get started on a healthy diet but just in case you can get a colposcope from medicaldevicedepot.com

* * *

The Maya Kitchen offers other one-day Lifestyle Courses: Food Cart Business, February 11, 9am-1pm. Party Bread European Style, February 11, 1-6pm and Chef’s Sushi Magic by Chef Jan de Guzman, February 18, 9am-1pm.

            Certificate courses with hands-on include: Home Bakeshop Business Class, February 8-10, 9am-2pm; Basic Culinary, February 14-17, 9am-3pm; Advanced Cake Decorating, February 18 and 25, 9am-3pm; Catering, February 18 and 25, 9am-5pm; Fundamentals of Bakery Production, February 21-24, 9am-2pm; Advanced Culinary, February 22-24, 1-6pm.

            Enroll now and get early bird discounts for the Junior Culinary Workshop and Teens Class scheduled on April 10-13, 17-20 and May 8-11. 15-18.

For more information on course offerings, log on to www.themayakitchen.com or e-mail: contactus@themayakitchen.com or visit The Maya Kitchen Culinary Center every Tuesday to Saturday at the 8F Liberty Building, 835 A. Arnaiz Avenue (Pasay Road), Makati City or call 8921185 / 892-5011 local 108.

Kumo in boxes

 I remember the time when Kumo was so tiny that he could fit inside a tissue box.  I miss those days :(

Now that's he's a lot bigger he needs a more comfortable box like this one

or maybe this one?

LaTOP Organic Veggies in Manila

Saturday breakfast at the Cafe by the ruins is one of the things I look forward to every time we go to Baguio.  Aside from the yummy food, I really love going to the organic market outside the cafe.  The fruits and vegetables are all products of LaTop (La Trinidad Organic Practitioners), a cooperative of over 100 farmers practicing organic farming in the Cordillera region. 

Gooseberries

LaTop offers a wonderful selection of produce.  They even have things that are not usually grown here such as gooseberries, blueberries, brussel sprouts etc.  

star ranking

Each product has a grade (from 1-6 stars) depending on how it was grown.  I don't have the exact details right now but I do recall that a higher number is always better.  I'll post the complete explanation once I find the leaflet that I asked from the vendor last year (hope I find it :D).  I remember leaving that leaflet on one of our floor stand mounts but now it is just missing.  Hopefully, I will find it soon!  

Anyway, the good news is that we do not have to go all the way to Baguio for these veggies because  they are now available at SM!  This week I got baby carrots, red beets, ginger, red radish, french beans and blueberries.

Now to find a recipe that uses red radish :)