I'm Cooking For Two Again

I thought I'd ask my sister but I never got around doing it; I thought that she may give light to the matter for she is also in the same predicament; she's also cooking for two. 

How do you cook for two? I seem to have forgotten it already. 

You would think that cooking for two is simple and maybe even exciting like it was before when there were just the two of you; reminiscing or even re-enacting candle-lit dinners in the past. 

 

It's not that easy, anymore.  You won't like all that fuss; besides, your palate is already so sensitive and discriminating;  you won't eat just anything. More often than not, you already have in mind what you want to eat for the next meal.   We become more picky as we age and sometimes eating is just a necessity. Besides I practically don't eat dinner anymore, unless we eat out or we have guests. 

When my husband and I were both working I only worry about dinner since breakfast is a hurried coffee-and-a-sandwich-to-go; lunch is at work and dinner is sometimes taken in a restaurant. Therefore, more often than not that's the only meal I had to plan and prepare. 

Moreover, I've been so used to cooking for my family of 5; three children with teenagers' appetites that necessitated me to cook in adequate proportions.  Years later, when they became hard-working adults with practically no time to eat properly at the office except fast food, I had to compensate for that on weekends when our lunch was always a feast. 

During those years when I went to the wet market a few blocks from our home, I bought practically a kilo of every veggie we like; a kilo or so of each fresh seafood of my choice that is available and adequate choice cuts of chicken, pork and beef.   I only decide the menu for lunch and dinner at home as I go over my purchases.

You see, I'm not a stickler to a weekly or bi-weekly menu. I buy fresh seafood that's available and veggies that are in season. I don't bring a shopping list to the wet market either,  that's only for the supermarket. 

My old ways is the reason I was at a loss when all my children  had left home; which incidentally coincided with my retirement. At first, I had a  lot of left-overs, I didn't know what to do with them.  I was also left with a lot of wilting veggies in my crisper, that was when I decided to do something about it. 

Cooking for two is a real challenge; at first it wasn't easy to adjust my marketing and cooking habits. How do you cook two bowls of chicken soup anyway?  You tell me, unless you make it from a package, just add water and boil.  But I seldom use commercially prepared soups, I cook from scratch all the time. I also don't use mixes, I make my own. 

Earlier on during this adjustment period, I prepared "asado", which consisted of marinating the beef overnight, brown in little oil, then simmer in its marinade for two hours until tender.  Whenever I prepare this,  I usually prepare a substantial amount every time to make it worth the effort.  Anyway, I told myself, "this recipe can keep and I don't mind reheating it".  Would you believe that it took us quite sometime to finish that usual portion?   Our meals became a replay many times over. I  even converted some as quesadilla filling, some I used for sandwich filling. 

Learning from that experience, I became more conscious of portioning. When I go to the market nowadays, I remind myself to buy only what's good for two. When I buy the whole beef tenderloin, two thick medallions is enough, I marinate the rest and freeze; two pieces of a medium-size fish to fry, bake or broil is enough for a meal with a salad. 

 And oh yes, even salad needed adjustment.  While one big head of romaine for Caesar salad earlier was hardly enough, now I just buy the baby ones; a small bunch is just right for us.  When I cook pasta or noodles, a kilo would ready be way too much;  I know now that even 1/4 kilo is more than adequate. I also learned to get smaller packages of other things, no need to go to S & R anymore ; I can't get chicken wings less than a kilo there anyway. 

This situation has it's pluses though.  Oftentimes my husband would pop in the kitchen and asks "what's for lunch?", and if he is not in the mood for that kind of food, he'll say: "let's eat out".  We don't worry leaving anyone behind to eat alone, we can go at the spur of the moment. And when we also happen to be in the mall during mealtime, then I'm yet again spared in preparing  another meal.

BB cream and Other Alphabet Formulations

Did you ever wonder what BB cream is? 

I was curious when I saw  a magazine ad of a BB cream, I even took a picture so I would remember what to look for at the cosmetic counter. 

When I eventually bought one of the L'Oreal True Match BB cream SPF 50,

I found that I already have a BB cream. My younger daughter, who is always aware of new products gave me a tube of Clinique age defense BB cream SPF-30 earlier.  I thought it was just a tinted moisturizer, 

"take this Mom, I know you're fond of tinted creams".

 I was thrilled for I know Clinique is an excellent brand and not cheap either.  It is funny though that I did not look closely so I over-looked the "BB" on the label.  

I used it several times but it felt "thick and heavy". I feel I have to use it somehow., considering it's value.  So I apply it as protection whenever I do sun-gazing; I look at the sun whenever I take off my contacts to improve my eye-sight making it "high definition".

I've been a user of facial moisturizer under a foundation ever since I can remember. I knew they worked for me and I like the coverage they provided. 

Then came the UV Perfect tinted moisturizer cream with SPF-50, "This is better", I thought for there are shade choices and definitely will add coverage. 

I got myself a tube and started using it under my pressed powder; it felt lighter than my usual age-defy Revlon foundation, though I must tell you that the tinted moisturizer did not give me the coverage that the foundation provided. 

When I tried the L'Oreal  True Match  BB cream, I found that it is relatively lighter on my face.  Then my younger daughter found a store that sells L'Oreal cosmetics at more reasonable prices and since I'm happy with the true match under my pressed powder, I asked her to check out the cost to compared with local prices.  Instead of just looking, she bought for me the true match along with the UV Perfect BB max sunscreen SPF 50.  

"Here, Mom", she said as she handed me both tubes:  "no need to use both, just use the sunscreen for daytime". I was very happy that I'm still using both to this day. 

But I still didn't know what "BB" stands for and I was curious.  I read everything printed on both of the boxes but it does not explain what it meant.  So I went to the expert: "google" for enlightenment. 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

"BB cream stands for blemish balm, blemish base, beblesh balm (apparently because of the trademark in Korea on the word 'blemish'), and the western markets, beauty balm." 

Furthermore...

"BB cream is promoted as an all-in-one facial cosmetic product to replace serum, moisturizer, primer, foundation and sunblock.  It can be worn alone as tinted moisturizer". 

So there your are, that's BB cream.  

But do you know that aside from the BB cream, there are also the CC cream and the DD cream, and  the three together are the so-called  "alphabet formulations".  It's becoming more complicated, right?  Now don't be confused for I found this link on Fashionista.com, written by Cheryl Wischhover on 26 April 2013, who clarified the differences of the alphabet creams.

http://fashionista.com/2013/04/the-difference-between-bb-cc-dd-creams

Cheryl Wischhover wrote that "CC stands for "color correcting", meant to address redness or shallowness, unlike the BB which is like a lighter foundation." In other words, it provides better coverage.  

In the mall that I frequent, Clinique is the only brand that carry this CC cream

Wischhover further wrote in 2013, that she anticipates the launch of yet another cream, "the DD cream, 'Dynamic Do-All', a BB/CC hybrid".

"Why are you so interested anyway?", you'd ask me.   Please don't get me wrong, I'm not that OC (obsessive and compulsive) about make up, really!  It's just that I want to up-date my look to keep up with the times, while make up still works for me. 

And let me tell you that nowadays, I've accepted the fact that as I age, my face will "grow old" with me.  I no longer worry when I see a new wrinkle as I face the mirror every morning or see more creases or "crow's feet" or the so-called laugh lines around my eyes.  I've been resigned to that sometime ago, why worry? It's inevitable, anyway.  Still I want to present a , ah, ah.. how shall I say this;   a proper or respectable face maybe, to people around me, especially to my family; if using the latest in facial care would give me a better way to present myself, why not?  

So how about you? Are you using the BB cream as well? Want to send me feedback? 

My Mother's Day : A Three-day Celebration

Whew!  What a day!  It seemed like everyone greeted every mother they know today; well, at least on Facebook but I can imagine the same on Instagram, Twitter,  and all other forms of social media.  I'm happy to see that most of my friends greeted and dined their mothers and/or was dined themselves by their children. All in all, I'm sure it was a happy day of family bonding.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day for me. Read to know why. 

My celebration started the night before when my husband treated me to Caesar salad and pizza. I  really couldn't take in much more than that since I already had a sandwich for my afternoon snacks, and with my daily shot of green tea frap after my walk, that's enough for me for the day.  Besides, I knew that I was going to have a heavier breakfast the next day than my usual oatmeal-banana-dried fruit since my son was coming to town and was meeting us. 

When I got home, my sister in the US messaged me asking to provide her a picture of our mama. I thought she wants it for her Facebook post. "I'll send it early tomorrow", I said.  I need the morning light to take a good shot of the black and white photo taken in the mid-60's by a local photographer.  

So I got up early and while having coffee, I looked for my personal album entitled:  "Intimate Portrait", I called it that since the entire album is all about me, really very personal, something like a diary.  There were only three pictures of my mama, I chose two of my mama in a group picture and I emailed both to my sister.  She was surprised to see herself in the picture; she didn't even know that there's  such  a picture. She must be 9 years old when it was taken. 

Standing: my brother Tony and me at the back. My mama is seated and my little sis standing in front.

That done, I opened my mini and saw an iMessage from my older daughter, "happy Mother's Day  Mom, see you later".  I bathed and dressed early anticipating calls from my children abroad, I was even thinking that they may even want to FaceTime. True enough, just when we were leaving, I got a call from my son and daughter in law.   

"Hi",  I said, "we're on our way out to have breakfast with your sister".   

"Happy Mother's Day", my son said. "I'll be there tomorrow and it will be my turn to treat you to a Mother's Day breakfast; see you at the hotel at 6:30; I have an 8:30 meeting"  (my son is only here for a day on business but he had to see us).  

My daughter-in-law came on the phone and we both exchanged "happy Mother's Day" greetings.  After that we were off to breakfast. 

We artived at Le Petite Cherie, a French restaurant ahead of my daughter.  The place was cozy, bright and cool even on a hot summer day.   My granddaughter automatically hugged me when they arrived and handed me the greeting card she made which says:

 "happy Mother's Day, Nana, I love you, I love your food". 

My daughter handed me a gift bag as well and upon opening, here it is:

A cookbook of Asian cuisine, that explains the spices.

I ordered Croque Monsieur,  French toast with ham and cheese topped with bechamel sauce served with greens on the side.  I would have preferred fresh fruit with it instead of greens;  however there's freshly squeezed orange juice that went with it. You may wonder why I did not order it's female counterpart instead; the Croque Madame, but there's an egg on top and I'm trying to lessen my cholesterol intake. 

Click the link if you're interested to know more about this sandwich. Recipe included here. 

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/croque_monsieur_ham_and_cheese_sandwich/

When I got home after Sunday mass, I heard the "ding" from my iPhone, a greeting from my younger daughter: 

 "Happy Mother's Day, Mom!  Not feeling well, I'm in pain, call later", she messaged. 

After resting and a mug of warm camomile tea later; she called that she was feeling better. We caught up on family news for a while before we hang up.  

As the day progressed, I saw on Facebook more and more pictures of families of my friends and relatives celebrating.  "What wonders Mother's Day brings to the family",  I told myself.  Most pictures were taken while families were eating; some posted pictures of gifts received;  some gave a breakdown of their day.  All in all, I conclude that Mother's Day is truly the "most celebrated occasion; it being the most popular day to dine out" 

The third of my Mother's Day celebration started early  morning  to meet our son.  Over a sumptuous breakfast spread at Holiday Inn restaurant, Flavors, we had a wonderful time; more than an hour catching up on each other's latest (though he calls often). This made our day; for really, meeting and talking face to face beats FaceTime anytime! 

This is the foyer of the restaurant. Notice those big bowls?  They contain spices, the mustard-colored one maybe curry powder, I didn't look closely nor smelled it.  

What a way to conclude my three-day Mother's Day celebration. A million thanks to my thoughtful children for the warm greetings, thanks to my husband as well who is always there for me. 

Once again, happy Mother's Day to all mothers, I hope that your day is as wonderfully happy as mine! 

Who Should Greet Who On Mother's Day?

Mother's Day feeling is in the air, every business establishment is gearing up for this special day.  Did you ever wonder why it is one of the most celebrated day of the year?  It has become very popular that everyone greets every mother they know.  I'm curious though if there is really a rule here; 

 "who should really greet who"? 

I often hear my husband tell me about a colleague who says that his wife always complain  "why he did not greet her, gave her a gift and dined her on Mother's Day?"  And My husband has a standard answer to that:

 "why, is she your mother?"

Is it really a " mortal sin" if a husband  do not wine and dine his wife on Mother's Day?  Can we brand him thoughtless if he does not do that? In the first place is he supposed to?

So, back to my question, "who should greet who?" 

Who in the family  is duty bound to do it? 

Was it only yesterday when my older daughter was relating to me that her brother recently  asked her; 

"did you feel bad when I didn't greet you last Mother's Day? I realized too late that you're already a mother too".  And she replied: "why should I, I'm not your mother".

But this occasion is so popular that everyone greets all mothers they know,  this greeting has been Instagrammed, twitted and sent via all other forms of social media over and over every year. Wanting to know more about this day, I searched the web and from this link I'd like to share with you; 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day_(United_States)

I learned that it is "the most commercially successful occasion, having become the most popular day to dine out".  In the early years of 1900, a certain Anna Jarvis celebrated her mother's memory; calling it "Mother's Day, bringing to the venue 500 white carnations. Soon afterwards, the annual celebrations continued with people wearing red carnations if their mothers were alive, and if not, they wore white carnations. 

It also talks about billions of dollars spent on gifts on this day; in cards, flowers, perfume, jewelry and things that express how much a mother is greatly appreciated and loved. This is the reason entrepreneurs kept the celebration alive to this day. 

Curious about Mother's Day quotes,  I found that the top ones mimic the "magic" of a mother's touch; just her presence alone has such enormous effect on her children.  My husband has a friend who when sick go home to his mother;  the siblings do the same, and you know what? They really get well fast. Then also, there is my husband's former boss who when not feeling well always get soup his mother brings to his office and he feels better right away. 

Now it dawned on me why when my two daughters are not well, they call me or; in the case of my younger daughter who live abroad, message me. Just last night I got a message from her that she is "not feeling well, has stomach cramps and feeling weak".  I hope that I messaged back the right words because after an exchange or two, she bade me "good night". 

But then again, "who should greet who"? I sound like a broken record, right?  You see, I want to set this straight. 

For me, I have no problem though,  I feel loved and appreciated when this occasion comes around every year.  My three children never fail to greet me, in words, (email, call or text if they are out of the country), cards, gifts and dining out in a restaurant.  And oh! My husband beats them all in greeting me first thing in the morning every year, he also makes sure that we celebrate the occasion whenever all my children are out of town and can't do it themselves; even if  "I'm not his mother". 

So, in keeping with this age's practice therefore;  I'd like to greet all the mothers of the world a "Happy Mother's Day"!

"O ---live, my hair"

I finally found the right shampoo for my hair, including it's matching conditioner and hair mask. It makes my hair grow, even in a part of the scalp that I thought was permanently damaged due to regular application of hair spray in the eighties and nineties. Actually I've given up on the semi-bald patch, and to remedy it, I changed the side where my hair parts in front. 

Earlier on, I've kept changing my shampoo every time I go to the supermarket for my bimonthly purchases; I just can't get the right shampoo after I stopped using the imported ones.  One day, I needed something from Watson's, and as I browsed through their hair care section,  looking for avocado, for I've tried it earlier; not for my hair though but for my face, and I thought avocado treatment would do great things for my hair as well.  But then, this olive shampoo caught my eye and I thought it maybe good because it's "oil" and I recall when I was a little girl, I saw a lot of people putting coconut oil on their hair and they had thick and shiny hair. It may just work as well. 

So I bought a bottle and I noticed that it is big compared to the popular advertised ones and it will even turn out cheaper. I tried it without a thought following experts' advise that it is good to rotate shampoos regularly. 

After three weeks, I noticed that I had baby hair in places I can see from the mirror. Still later when I was due for a trim, I asked my hairdresser: "why did you put bangs when I specified that bangs bothers me, the hair gets into my face and blur my vision?".  She also knew I abhor bangs. She assured me: "I never put bangs, you see...", while inspecting my hair, "you have baby hair all over". 

"Use this shampoo",  I told my husband after I came back from the saloon,  "and let's see if it will work for you as well", and true to my experience, he had baby hair in three weeks!  His hairdresser said: 

"While people your age already have falling hair, or some maybe bald already, here you are with growing hair." 

After that I went back to purchase the matching conditioner and hair mask. I thought that while we still have the chance to keep our hair longer and enjoy it, then I guess we have to take advantage and keep using olive. But I was still  very curious, I couldn't help but google the benefits of olive when used for the hair and I found this link I want to share with you. 

http://www.oliveoilexcellence.com/article/benefits-of-using-olive-oil-on-hair/

Now you will ask me,  "why still buy the commercial shampoo when you already have the treatment in your kitchen?"

"You see, if I use plain olive oil, I still need to shampoo to remove the characteristic smell, so it is inconvenient, still, after reading the link again, I maybe able to save on the conditioner."

Why don't you try it?  Let me know. 

Happy Lotion Day!

Today as I took stock of my lotions, I didn't realize that I have so many. I believe I just started using three of or four of them. Come to think of it, I didn't even buy any of them, not one.  

These Curel lotions came from my sister who resides in the US. She knows that it is the only lotion that works for my feet. I've tried every brand,  local or otherwise but they're not as good, especially for my soles and heels. My sister takes care that I don't run out,  so she gives me whenever possible.  Curel brand is only available in the US and Canada, not in any Asian country; I tried looking around for it here, in Bangkok and I couldn't find one, not even in Singapore.

My two sisters-in-law in Vancouver, (I call them that but they are actually the wives of my husband's brothers, though they are like real sisters to me) always send me as well when someone comes home for vacation or whenever they send a Christmas package. 

To date , I still have two bottles full and I'm halfway down on the big one, but I don't worry, my sister will do something about it if I run out. 

What I'm especially happy about today is this hand cream with Shea butter by Victoria Secret.  My sister suggested that I choose this from the bagful of around 40 tubes of lotion and spray colognes she brought home in October when she came for the wedding together with chocolates that we  all love. 

 So I got it together with the cucumber-melon handdibac, an anti-bacterial, moisturizing lotion from Bath and BodyWorks.  My granddaughter chose the cherry blossom with glitters lotion of the same brand and a Victoria secret cologne spray. Everyone was asked to choose two, but my granddaughter requested for one more to give her cousin who is of the same age as she.

I meant to try the Shea butter lotion earlier but I never got on to it. I tried it today though and I was amazed how light it felt on my hands.  I applied a pea-size amount and rubbed my hands together a few times, it became so smooth and silky, even a bit shiny and smells good too;  I felt like I did not put lotion at all, yet my hands are smooth. 

In as much as I love the scents of practically all other Victoria Secret lotions, especially "honeysuckle belle", I think I love the Shea butter the best. 

Thanks a lot little sis. 

Getting Older Is All About Family And Friends

Early this week, we went to a jolly party.  It was held at one of the leading bistros, housed in a popular hotel in town. The celebrant turned 70, so you can guess the age of the attending majority.  I was telling the two ladies at my table: "this party is made more exciting, because in children's parties, the games come first, in this one, the first part is dinner." They both agreed, old folks have dinner early. 

The celebrant, I'm calling Brad, (don't get too excited, he's not Brad Pitt, though maybe they have a similarity, just maybe...I guess it's their names) because I'm reluctant to mention his real name. I learned that he belongs to a big clan from a city south of the metro.  Folks in that place carry a distinct native accent but these guys were educated in universities in town so they don't speak that way.

 Before their presentation, one of the cousins said:

 "when we were invited to this party, there was one condition; we were asked to perform a number." 

They presented three songs, actually  (I heard they had even rehearsed);  they were very active and lively, oblivious of the hundred people watching them sing and dance; just like the siblings-and-their-spouses group who were just as uninhibited as the former group.  Most of the renditions carried the tune of popular songs,  adapted to suit their childhood memories growing up; with lots of happy, funny incidents retold through the lyrics. 

Not to be outdone, his wife's siblings sang as well, I guess, that was also the condition to merit an invitation, haha!  They were challenged by Brad's golf and tennis buddies who turned out to be quite shy afteall except the one leading the group who was exactly the opposite. 

Brad's only sister interviewed their Mom about his childhood; she retold one interesting incident that happened during the Japanese occupation. 

"One day as my Mom was walking home from church, carrying Brad who was about one or two years old at the time, a Japanese soldier came forward and snatched the boy", his sister started.....

"My mom was so scared as she followed the soldier up the stairs into a home and found a Japanese officer who had Brad on his lap.  Still fearful, my Mom did not speak and the Japanese officer said: 

'He looks so much like my son I left in Japan, who I miss so much', 

At that time, Brad's complexion must  resemble a Japanese boy".

 

Brad's 5-year-old granddaughter however, stole the show!  She sang "Let It Go" from the movie, Frozen, hitting all the high notes with her great voice, gaining a strong applause with a lot of ahhh's and ohhh's  from the audience. It was followed by a  duet of a Filipino ballad sang with her Mom who has an equally amazing voice. Wow! This family can carry a tune with so much enthusiasm, confidence and no inhibitions. I wondered, how someone who doesn't sing feel if married to anyone of them 

 

The climax was a surprise!  A message from Brad's daughter, who resides abroad came on the speakers while a picture of her and her husband was flashed on the screen. Brad was just standing near my husband's back at the time and maybe due to too much emotion he tried so much to control, he gripped my husband's shoulders as he listened.  I saw that he shed a tear or two when it was finally over.  It was a great message actually, and my husband recalled the part where the daughter thank him for the good things she took after him;  one of which is of being punctual, a trait that her husband appreciates. 

The cake came next and the candles were blown.   A surprise gift from his wife was presented with a request for him to open. It contained a toy gun that lighted up, producing a sound as he pulled the trigger.  "I've been wanting a toy gun like this since I was little but we couldn't afford it, now, at last, I got one".

The party was given as a surprise from his wife, but like any secret, the more people who knew about it, it does not stay a secret. "I'll sing for you tonight, grandpa", his granddaughter told him; "and there is a party", the 5-year-old continued. That's how he learned about it.  "What surprised me was there are a lot of people and to think that they closed this joint exclusively for my birthday!", Brad said

He thank everyone for coming,  "I never had a birthday party as big as this; ang dami palang nagmamahal sa akin ( I am loved by many))",  he said. He thanked the persons who made the party possible, primarily his sister-in-law and brother-in-law.

"Thank your wife", shouted the aggressive golf-tennis buddy. 

"You just wait, let's save the best for last", he patiently replied. 

Afterwards, when we started socializing again, we were entertained by a young band mimicking the Beatles.  There was dancing while others circulated, talking to friends and more picture taking. We sang along, we know the lyrics, that's our time, remember? 

Finally, like any good thing, it had to end. I was happy to bring home the party favor, a "loot bag" adorned with a stone.  Inside I found 5 golden almond-shape stones. I was at a loss what that might be or mean; maybe I'm missing something;  but I'm sure it is  significant to the celebrant. I was flattered to have been invited.