The Weight of Nothing

The Weight of Nothing.....Tell me the weight of
a snowflake, a coal mouse asked a wild dove.
Nothing more than nothing, was the answer.
In that case, I must tell you a marvelous story, the coal mouse said.
I sat on the branch of a fir, close to its trunk, when it began to snow heavily, not in a raging blizzard, no, just like a dream, without any wound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles in my branch. Their number was exactly 3,714,952.
When the 3,714,953rd dropped onto the branch, nothing more that nothing as you would say, the branch broke off.
Having said that, the coal mouse flew away.
The dove, since Noah's time an authority on the matter, thought about the story for a while, and finally said to herself, "Perhaps there is only one person's voice lacking for peace in the world."

This was written on one of the pages of my Ocarina songbook and I thought it was such a wonderful story to share during this holiday season.

From my home to yours, Happy Holidays and may the New Year bring us all the ever elusive peace that we want.

Desert Beauty

Visiting some friends this summer in El Paso, Texas brought a lot of pleasant surprises. We got a first hand introduction to a bit of Tex-Mex culture. Situated so near the Mexican border, you can actually see the hills of this central American country. It felt like we were in one of those tele-novela's and going about was like being lost in translation.

Dinner one Sunday was at Cattleman's, located within the desert just off the city limits. As the name evoke's, it is a carnivore's mecca with it's own cattle ranch. What impressed me more was the unexpected beauty of this seemingly desolate land. Being able to catch the sunset made this experience even more melodramatic.

Going over some photos makes me want to reach out for their Frozen Margarita made with the juice of a local cacti, perfect for an end-of-the-day cocktail.

USDA Prime Challenge

A good thick steak is something we REALLY enjoy in our house. We have also come to a conclusion that the best steaks are those that we prepare and cook at home either pan-fried or grilled over hot coals and served with whatever we want. No fancy sauces, just the taste of pure meat.

Having the chance to purchase USDA Prime (which we have never tried before), we decided to put it to a challenge against lower graded steaks. Verdict......it's called Prime because it is.

The Bread of the Month

A few months back, the New York Times' own Mark Bittman featured a no-knead bread from the Sullivan Bakery. For a while, I think this was one bread recipe tried in kitchens all over the world. I would visit blog sites and this no-knead bread would keep popping up. This is my own Sullivan bread served still warm, with some Italian salami.

"Get Lost" place

Paradise found.....Living in a small town can be a good thing especially during long, boring weekends. It gives us reason to drive to Siaton town, a 50-minute drive south of Dumaguete and spend a day or two at our favorite "get lost" place, Antulang Resort. Positioned at the southern-most tip of Negros Island, it is a place of refuge from our daily anxious and antsy lives.

Langkawas...I dug up some from my garden to use in my curry. Lovely colors!

Bed of Roses

Life is indeed a bed of edible, high caloric roses and porcine faces....Browsing through all the cupcake books has sent me into a baking binge. There is a bounty of web and blog sites wherein the only food they talk about is CUPCAKES.

The wonderful thing about them is that I don't get complaints from my nephew and nieces about who gets the corner with the most frosting or why the other got a bigger slice (or so I thought). These are simple vanilla cupcakes made with butter cream frosting.

What lies within?....Door & Windows of Sagada

Let my silence speak this time.

Salmon Mini-Bouganvillea

At last it has flowered after waiting 13+ years! This teensy plant has me all excited since this is the first time it has ever bloomed profusely and I just can't stop admiring it each time I pass by the garden. This little patch of land which I have called my,Secret Garden, has gone through several facelifts over the 20 years that I have lived here. When I first started I had such grand illusions of what it had to look like and so like any novice gardener, magazines and pictures were my guide. Once, it had to be a flowering garden and all purchases for the garden had to do with flowers. You know how these seed packets have a picture of how your plants should look like once it starts flowering? Well what was I thinking! I had no idea about zones, temperatures and land preparation, so nothing much came out of the land. Believe me, but I even tried to plant Kentucky Blue grass once only to have the seeds washed out after a night of heavy rain. So we had Kentucky Blue grass sprouting at the sides of the canal outside our house. The garden had gone through a vegetable phase as well but I found growing them a bit labour intensive. I have finally found the garden I want and can live with and it is a combination of all those I have mentioned earlier and some. This tiny Bouganvillea has stood witness to most of these changes, maybe all these flowers are a sign that I am finally at peace with my garden and maybe with myself as well.

Steamed Chicken with Chinese Sausage

Recent health concerns within the family have motivated me to look for more heart friendly recipes and this one has been in my recipe box for more than a decade. It's a simple and no fuss dish to serve when you have not much time. All you need is a good (organic is best) 1.5kl chicken. Cut it into pieces and toss in about 2 Tbps. of corn flour , 2 Tbsps. of Shaoshing wine, 1 Tbsp. Sesame Oil, 1Tbsp. Soy Sauce and some salt. Arrange in a heat-proof dish and insert slices of Chinese Sausages. Put in a steamer and let cook for about 45 minutes. Sprinkle chopped chives before serving.

St. Kieran's Ginger-Date Balls.....Now don't let the ginger turn you off from trying these crunchy sweet balls. Ginger has been known to be a natural cure for motion sickness, as a poltice for arthritis and rheumatism, sore throats and of course indispensable in the kitchen for tinola, steamed fish and chicken. This recipe came about when one of the mom's in my grandson's school, St. Kieran's, brought this during one of the school's fete's. It turned out to be such a hit that everyone was requesting for the recipe which she most kindly printed and shared.

St. Kieran's Balls
In a saucepan place the ff:
1/2 cup chopped dates
4 oz.(125g) butter
4 oz. preserved ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar
Cook on low heat till dates are soft.
Cool, then add 2 1/2cups rice bubbles.
Mix well, then form into balls.
Roll in dessicated coconut.

Cubed Truffles

Quinito's Truffles..... My grandson loves almost anything chocolate and these truffles from Simon Johnson in Sydney are his favorite. Rich, pure chocolate at it's finest, with a sprinkling of nuts...ahh...I'm in heaven.

Shortbread from HRH Prince of Wales

Duchy Organic Shortbread......If only we stuck to just satisfying man's basic needs, our lives would be much less complicated and stressful, albeit a bit boring. But then, don't we all go through days when we just crave for the best of something simple and uncomplicated? These are by far the best Shortbread biscuits I have ever had! Rich, buttery and made from organic ingredients grown and harvested from organic farms in Britain including the Home Farm at Highgrove in Gloucestershire.

Unlike gifts that come and go,
Or tinsel on the attic stowed,
May the spirit of peace we hold so dear,
Remain with us all throughout the year.

From our house to your house,
Happy Holidays!!!