Lemonades, Burgers, PICKLES!

PICKLED MANGOES
A TYPHOON AFTERMATH

Once you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger.

 Okay, that was weird when I first heard that but hey, it was in Telephone's video! 

I see it as a gloomy way of saying,  

when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. 

Right? Uhm.. okay.

 

Anyways...

PAG-ASA announced that typhoon Pablo (international name Bopha) might possibly cause great damage in the Philippines since it'll be stronger than the typhoon which hit the country around this time last year that caused deaths. Thankfully, our place wasn't severely affected. A few times there were strong gusts of wind and heavy rainfall, but it didn't last longer than 10 minutes, and they were so far apart that I was thinking there's no typhoon afterall.

Bad news though...

Our house (my grandmother's actually but I always consider it as "ours") which was situated facing the Pacific Ocean, was damaged. Good thing it wasn't totally destroyed, no one was hurt, but the glass windows were all broken. The biggest problem however was that the shoreline receded. The house is in danger of being washed away by the waters. The neighboring houses which weren't made from sturdy materials were totally washed out. And a restaurant by the sea was totally washed out. It was that bad. I wanted to share photos but its totally heartbreaking, I'd rather not.

On the other side...

 Ever heard of pickled mangoes? Okay, I think I made that up.

When I woke up this morning, I saw this: 

Magazine pages, leaves, and mangoes everywhere. There were too many mangoes and it would be such a waste just to leave them there. They were too small though. Some were too ripe, some were too green, and almost all weren't fit for eating.

And an idea...

Why not feed the overripe ones to the chickens? My mother said the chickens would eat them.

And the unripe ones? PICKLES!

So I picked up those that could still be salvaged. One bag was for the chickens, and another was for my pickles! Okay, more like thinly sliced mangoes in brine. Me and my sister used to make these when we had too many mangoes we didn't know what to do with them. I just made a jar-full.

When I looked at the picture, I get that watery feeling.. that type when you salivate (eeewww) when you see something sour.

You can follow me on Instagram! Here o! :D

 I'm not sure if you could relate though. But geeezzz, for me it really looks (and tastes!) delicious!

So, when life gives you typhoons...

Go ahead and make pickled mangoes!

And since I'm trying to spread some optimism here...

 I joined a GIVEAWAY over at Zoey and Nana's World.

It's HERE. Find out how. ;-)

Banana muffins!

Ever since we sent my friend to the emergency room for being low on potassium, I promised myself that I will never take bananas for granted. And since then, I have tried to become creative. :D

I am not a big fan banana cake or muffins, but what else do you to overripe bananas?

sorry for the nails

I'm not good at baking, and this might look ugly, but take my word for it, it was delicious! I was inspired by the vegan recipe I found on PETA's website. But as usual, I don't follow instructions. I'm happy it turned out great still.

Give it a try too!

Banana Muffins

 4 ripe bananas (small)

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup muscovado

1/2 cup regular brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Mash bananas. Add oil and muscovado. Mix.

Sift flour, salt, and baking soda together. Add to the banana mixture.

Mix until flour is blended.

Pour in muffin pans. Bake at 360 °F

Uhm, I wasn't able to time my baking. But hey, by the time nothing clings to the fork and it comes out clean when you stick it to your muffins then you're good to go! Well, that's about 15-20 minutes.

I made a dozen small muffins :)

Instead of regular sugar, I used muscovado, which explains that dark brown spots on the muffin. And because I wasn't very confident on using muscovado, I only used half a cup, hence the other half cup of brown sugar. And well, honestly, we don't have white sugar (only confectioners'). 

According to Wikipedia, muscovado was one of the most prominent export commodities of the Philippines, especially from the Negros region from the 19th century until the late 1970s.

Okay. :D

HAPPY WEEKEND! 
oh, HAPPY DECEMBER!

Christmas Chevron

I have always considered myself domesticated not because I love staying at home and do household chores (noooo!) but because the things that make me happy are actually the things that I can do at home.

Since I'm unemployed by choice, I have kept myself busy with projects that just pop out of my head.

First accomplishment on the list is my Christmas chevron table runner. And because I ran out of yarn (and patience), it ended up the size of a placemat. I now use it as a telephone mat, or something like it. :)

I'm glad to say this is my first Christmas 2012 Project!

 

Unfinished. I still had to clean the sides after. 

How To

I liked the idea of crocheting a chevron pattern. So I scanned through my stitch collection book and found this! If you want to make your own, here are the instructions. I also included the stitch key, in case you're like me who couldn't read patterns.

Easy, right?

click to enlarge

 Photos scanned from the pages of Textured Crochet by Helen Jordan ©2007.

It wasn't perfect but I liked how it turned out.  

And I realized it was hard to crochet with long fingernails - the side of my right thumb was really sore.

So there goes the domesticated princess' first Christmas project.

What's yours? ;-) 

Giving Thanks: Family

from http://sadiegirl10.tumblr.com/

 Philippines do*es* not celebrate Thanksgiving, but hey, that's not a reason not to be thankful!

I'm thankful for my parents who love me unconditionally.

I'm thankful for my brother who hates me, I know (aren't brothers-sisters supposed to be like that?).

I'm thankful that I have a sister. Though she had made her decision and we're not in good terms anymore, I still cherish the memory that I once had a loving and well, most of the time, selfless sister. Still optimistic though.

My favorite Tito, and my cousins. They're just the best!

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On another note...

Okay, I know this must be rude that I ripped this off somebody's Facebook wall (random, not even my friend), but still, I had a great laugh when I saw this. So I sharing it, anyhow (without permission and without credits :p).

I believe this was written by a kid for a school activity. :D

Happy weekend!

{Not So} WW: Memories

 

 

{Breaking Dawn} Didn't see that coming

Today, me and my movie buddies, my best friends in the entire world, watched Breaking Dawn Part 2. 

Truth to tell, I fell in love with the books. It was only on 2007 that I started reading the first installment. It was also the first time I tried novels in audiobooks. I've had Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and some fairy tales in audio when I was a kid, but this one was different. The audiobook was about 13 hours long, read in the first person... and well, yeap, somehow, I fell in love with Edward Cullen (ugh!). I just didn't like the last book, it was too long, and dragging.. and I didn't like the sound of Reneesme.

The baby was weird, cute, funny, and scary - all, at the same time!

 Anyways, move forward to what happened today... Honestly, I enjoyed the movie - especially the fight scenes. I didn't watch the Part 1 when it was out in the cinemas (I didn't have high expectations) but then decided to watch it last night to trigger my excitement. And it did. 

My friend gripped my arm when Carlisle lost his head, literally, and we were like, "that was not what happened in the book." As compared to the book, it only suggested what could have happened if a battle erupted, but not as brutal as was portrayed in the movie. But still, it was a great! I kept on thinking that there must be a "Filipino twist" to the movie and somebody will wake up and say "masamang panaginip lang pala (just a bad dream)." Close. :)

At least, here's a movie where there's an effective portrayal and elaboration of an almost forgotten part of the book... and I had to admit, I didn't see that coming!

I also loved the closing credits. And Christina Perri's A Thousand Years. Just perfect (the song + credits, I mean).

I say 7.5 out of 10 stars.

 

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

Oh, and say hi to my friends! ;-)

It was also Dutch's and Gem's birthday. :D
Whatever movie we watch together, even if it's the worst, I still find it enjoyable haha.

I have loved you for a Thousand years I'll love you for a Thousand more

Read more: CHRISTINA PERRI - A THOUSAND YEARS LYRICS

{Not so} WW: Interiors

Renting a fully-furnished condominium unit wasn't at all what I expected it to be. Well, in some aspects, at least. We weren't able to check the unit out personally so we just trusted a friend when he said that the unit was ok. Overall, it was, really. But it had way too much uncomfortable wooden furniture as should have been placed in a 50sqm unit. The furniture was new - the style and feel (and taste) of it wasn't. One day I was thankful for the really wide dining table, the next I hated the really hard chairs (I bought my own seat cushions, by the way). But the place was perfect though when you think of safety and accessibility. 

After a month (and an estafa) later, I eventually assessed my plans of having my own unit in the future. I still want to give it a go. Perhaps after getting my own car? 

But I would definitely not have this interior design as an inspiration.

:)

So, what do you think?
Livable, yes. But...

Don't get me wrong, I really liked the place. It's not about the small area, or the hard chairs, but the people you were with, and the experience itself. :)

So..

So I said see you on December. But then I've got nothing else to do!

What happened these past few months?

I graduated.
And I honestly thought I wouldn't. Looks like it was worth all the worries and teacher-stalking.

I grew a year older!
Older, but not wiser. Oh I wish this year brings more blessings. And love.

I took the bar.
Weird, while I was taking the exams, I suddenly thought of making a new blog: The Adventures of a Bar Flunker. Yes. It was difficult, and looooong! But I'm still praying. I hope I pass. At this point, all I can say is that I did my part, and Thy will be done.

Okay, that's about it. Yep, that's what happened. I had just put my life on hold. And it's back again! ;-)

And oh, we got swindled.
More on this on another post. All I can say is that not all friends can be trusted - especially with money.

So, lately..
Since I've got no job, and decided not to apply yet, I'm at home the whole time. I'm back on books and a lot of crocheting. And TV series, and movies. I wanted to enroll in Education, since the state college where I live is offering a sort of, crash course. My decision was made, I was going for it... until my parents weren't that supportive, financially.Haha! Oh well, there's always a next semester!

Merry Christmas! In advance. :)

Blogversary!

I'm so happy the blog survived a year - barely, that is. I had lots of *CRAPPY* posts. haha!
Thanks to everyone who dropped by since I started. You don't know how thankful I am.

I had big plans, but bigger things got in the way.

These bigger things are obviously more important. That's why I'm temporarily shutting down.

See you on Christmas! <3 That is, if we survive the end of the world! ;-)
Take care everyone!


Love,
Simonette