a girl and her dog

a girl and her dog

throwback thursday 4/25

high school.

CAT officers are seniors. and during the army inspection they are expected to bring their dates to the event and the dinner afterwards. what's interesting is that it has been our school's tradition to pick a sponsor (female) or an escort (male) from the juniors.

and that's how, a week before their inspection, we heard she has been asked by him, or she is going to be this officer's date, and so on. well, most of my friends were already asked out so imagine my surprise when the battalion commander walked up to our poor excuse of a home room and asked "will you be my date?".

that was the only time in my life i was asked "will you be my date?". ever. technically, though, i was only filling in the place of his real girlfriend who was the adjutant hahaha. his family was there, of course, and in most pictures of us his younger brother made sure to include his adjutant girlfriend =))

after leading the dance during the dinner party he left me alone with my friends because he's got his real girlfriend to attend to anyway. yes na lang. overall, though, it was a good experience. getting asked out (in the most gentlemanly way! sir yabu always stressed out officers should be gentlemen..and women), going through how-to-act-like-a-lady coaching with our guidance councilor (how to sit, how to stand, how to walk, how to cross your legs, SMILE!), getting pampered on the day, getting excused from classes in the afternoon so we could take our beauty rest before the dinner party (haha, really!).

i had a hat. the same one that you usually see on stewardesses. unfortunately i was the only one with the hat because the others have lost theirs so i had to take it off for uniformity. it would have looked a lot cooler, though, with the hat. :)

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pork menudo

ahh, classic filipino dish yet it's the first time i've ever tried to make one, haha.

Ingredients

• 1/2 kilo pork (cut into small chunks)

• 1/4 kilo pork liver (cut into small cubes)

• 5 pieces chorizo Bilbao (also cut in small pieces)

• 4 potatoes (peeled, cut in small cubes, fried)

• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper (diced)

• 1 cup chickpeas

• 1/4 cup raisins

• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

• 1 cup pork or chicken stock (i used 1/2 pork cube dissolved in 1 cup water)

• 2 teaspoons of patis (fish sauce)

• 3 tablespoons oil

• 1 tablespoon atsuete oil (optional)

• 3 tomatoes (diced)

• 1 small head of garlic (minced)

• 1 medium size onion (diced)

Cooking Instructions

• In a pan or wok, heat cooking oil and atsuete oil.

• Saute garlic, onion. Then add the pork, liver, chorizo de Bilabo, tomatoes, bell pepper, paprika, patis and the stock.

• Cover and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes or until the pork is tender.

• Add the chickpeas, potatoes and raisins. Boil of another 2 minutes.

• Salt and pepper to taste.

• Serve hot with white rice

broccoli chicken mushroom casserole

..or chicken mushroom broccoli casserole, depending on which ingredient is your favorite or which one you're craving to eat at the moment :P i lifted the recipe here and made my own modifications because i am not inclined to baking at the moment and i don't have celery. so my recipe, in the end, is not really casserole, not really soup, and neither is it anywhere near stir-fry. but it's edible and yummy all the same haha.

Ingredients

• butter and oil

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 2 stalks scallions, minced

• 1/2 lemon

• 1/2 onion, sliced

• 1 cup mushrooms, quartered

• 1 chicken breast, skinned and boned

• 1 boquet (because i feel like a bridesmaid everytime i take broccoli from the grocery shelf. everytime :P) of broccoli, sliced

• 1/2 pack of (knorr) Cream of Mushroom, dissolved in 1 cup water

• Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

• squeeze lemon and place lemon juice, scallions, and garlic in a food processor or blender

• arrange chickens in a plate, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and pour lemon juice mixture. set aside to marinate

• boil water in a steamer. once boiled, steam broccoli in high heat for 4-5 minutes

• fry chicken in very little oil until slightly brown on both sides. after frying, slice chicken into flakes

• in a pan melt some butter and saute onions. add chicken and mushrooms and saute until mushrooms are cooked

• add broccoli and cover for about 2 minutes.

• add the cream of mushroom and simmer for another 2-3 minutes.

• serve with rice, as always :)

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chicken in oyster sauce (with pechay)

Ingredients

• chicken wings and legs, cut into serving portion

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 small onion, sliced

• 1 tbsp. ginger, minced

• 1/4 cup oyster sauce

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• 2 tbsp. butter

• 2 tbsp. olive oil

• 1 bunch pechay, separate white part and leaves, chopped

Cooking Instructions

• season chicken slices with salt and pepper.

• in a wok, heat oil and butter. add chicken slices and cook until golden brown.

• then add onion, garlic and ginger. continue sauteing until aromatic.

• add oyster sauce and mix until chicken are coated well with oyster sauce.

• season with salt and pepper according to your taste. add the white part of pechay and cook for about 1 minute. then add the pechay leaves and cook for another 1 minute stirring. turn off the heat and serve.

credits to this site.
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buttermilk

Ingredients

• (a little less than) 1 cup milk

• 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice

Instructions

• place vinegar or lemon juice in a measuring cup

• add milk until 1 cup line

• let stand for five minutes

• mix then use!

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coleslaw!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 1/4 cup milk

• 1/4 cup buttermilk (i had no idea what buttermilk was, i almost added butter to the mixture! good thing i checked and here's how to make a substitute if you've no real buttermilk on hand)

• 2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1 1/2 tbsp white vinegar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/8 tsp pepper

• 8 cups finely chopped cabbage

• 1/4 cup shredded carrot

• 2 tbsp minced onion

Cooking Instructions

• chop carrot and cabbage finely

• combine mayonnaise, sugar, milk, buttermilk, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper and beat until smooth

• add cabbage, carrots, and onion and mix well

• cover and refrigerate for two hours before serving.

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