A Real Food Blog

Today I was talking with parents regarding my career and a possible change in route (this early). It was a pretty sneaky ninja attack since I told them that I've already laid out some action to progress my plan and I was just waiting for the favorable results. In short, I wasn't just thinking of doing it, I have done something about it. 

Of course, as usual, they have always trusted my guts and instincts ergo very little reason not to support my cause. I just promised them a couple of things that would buy me time before I make the move and I was very certain that I could get the spot. What this is, I'm sure to update you when it's already final. 

So during the course of the conversation I tricked my mom and my dad into thinking that I wanted to take a degree in culinary. Hahaha :) OF COURSE NOT. As a not-so-recently transformed foodie and cooking enthusiast,  I wanted to channel the cravings and weight gain into something more adventurous and suffice it to say, beneficial. 

I want to take short course in main entree, desserts and baking. (On top of teach at my alma mater. This were the justifications that I used when I told my parents about wanting to leave my current job. I won't be the full career woman/entrepreneur/teacher/government worker that I intend to be if I stay.)

When I do take up these short courses, I want to open up a small store that specializes in comfort food, like a coffee shop or a tea shop with snacks and desserts. As cliche as it may sound (and saturated in the market) I have to argue that there is a shortage of these places in the south especially near residential areas. A lot of commercial food establishments are available, why not homey coffee shops? In order to go to coffee shops you have to be in the mall areas or the business districts that sometimes, it defeats the purpose of wanting to be in an ambient surrounding so you can use the peace and quiet to be productive with work, or catch up with good friends. 

I know it's a long way to go and it's a stellar-ly ambitious dream. By the time I might have the resources to go through with this, all residential areas might have staple little coffee shops and my dream will be history. But it's worth a shot. After all, my love for food will always be there and I will never ever give it up as one of my passions. 

In the meantime, I could use the practice to explore and to hone my skills, develop the tastebuds and think like food lovers with adventurous palates. I want to start the ritual of cooking meals at home on weekends and trying out new places on weekdays. It will be pretty costly for my weekday routine and it will be definitely a hit or miss but the weekend habit will be a breeze. My mom hates cooking on weekends that's why we eat out. It's her only time to rest so it will be my pleasure to be of service to the family on Saturdays and Sundays. 

I've tried to start the food blog on several attempts but to no avail. I would get carried away experimenting with the recipes that I forget to document everything that I did. Plus, my kitchen and dining area have really bad lighting so I can't count on them for scrumptiously appealing photographs of my hard work. 

First order for my food blog: find a list of blogs to emulate. From there, it will be easy breezy. Next will be shows to get inspiration from, cookbooks as well as dining areas. These will all contribute to what will be the next food blog for a foodie wannabe like me. 

Next to my dream of wanting to be in the food business, I also wanted to have my own cooking show in TLC, Lifestyle or AFC. Since I'm sure that this is never (or too far off) to happen, this career in food blogging will be the next big thing. It's the most convenient way to document gastronomic experiences while being able to share it with other people. 

My love for food, it will never ever die. 

What's Food For You

Anyone who knows me can attest my love for food. In fact, I can almost eat just about anything (yes, anything mind you) for as long as it doesn't border the too exotic. You can just take a look at my almost obese figure and understand how a 5-foot tall girl can store tons of food in her system. As a full-fledged night creature, I go to sleep every night excited to wake up because I look forward to having breakfast in the morning. That's how pressingly I love food. 


But I don't just love food. In my college years, I developed a knack for cooking. That, which was triggered and gradually stirred by no less than cooking shows in Lifestyle Network, Travel and Living, Asian Food Channel and the like. From Barefoot Contessa to Giada de Laurentis to Wolfgang Puck to Jamie Oliver to Bruce Lim to whomever shows I flip through. I didn't always have time to work on my technique and come up with a variety of concoctions to have people try and critique but I always had my share of practice come holidays (3 years running, or that which I could remember). I become the resident chef who prepares an entire meal for a party of 4, festive enough to last post-holiday dinners with leftovers and remakes of the recipes I was able to pull off. 


On my first year as the cook, I focused on the easy, no-brainer pasta. I remember making my first ever puttanesca, coupled with a main entree of buttered shrimp and a dessert of the passe mango float. You could say that I was a chef on a whim, pretending to be inventive and a pretentious chef who knows nothing about combination or the appeal to the palate. But the pasta ended up being too salty because I overused the anchovies and from there it was history. 


Second year as the cook, I planned on a Greek/Persian Christmas platter with salads and gyro stuff when I discovered the wonders of the yogurt shawarma sauce. I ended up doing roastbeef sandwiches (this got an A-grade) and kebabs (B+) which were then complemented by my mom's sweet roast chicken. 


Last year, I took my cooking skills up a notch by trying some heavy gourmet meal. I cooked sundried tomato pasta, steak with asparagus and potato gratin. My friends and I would always have these in reunions and it was about time to bring it to my family. (Sorry for the poor lighting of the photos)

 Pasta with sundried tomatoes and chili flakes 

Tenderloin steak with asparagus and potato gratin

Now to take this a step further, my parents, friends and I have recently become 'foodies' on a quest. Not so much critique food for a living but to extensively scavenge the streets of Manila and the tourist destinations that we go to for the best they have to offer. With the advent of Instagram and Twitter, that host the wild evidence of weight gain and food pornography, I can easily share snapshots of the restaurants I visit. The combinations that I taste and leave lasting impressions then become an inspiration and instruments to the next cuisine experiment that I will venture. 

So, with this I will now begin to embark on a new culinary adventure. I'm toying with the idea of doing food business as a sideline (seeing that my business Caja has been put on hold indefinitely). My first trial will be tentententen: MOCHI BALLS. Googled the recipe and it's selling like pancakes in night and weekend markets, plus it looks very easy to make (or I hope so). I'm giving it a try this summer and will offer it to my friends and officemates so they can enjoy the heat with a cool and delectable dessert. 

Updates on that soon. 

Toodles! :)