Food glorious food!

I have never cooked so much in my life until now. For the housewarming party yesterday I made roast beef (medium rare), roast pork (with incredibly scrumptious crackling), glazed ham, embutido, quiches and potato/leaf salads. I also decorated the table with fresh fruits to give the presentation a bit of zing.
It was hard work doing all this cooking but it paid off because my visitors loved the house and the food! I received a lot of compliments on both. Hubby was ever so proud and so were his parents. I just wished my family and friends back in Manila were here to enjoy it too. I have to say I like my cooking too and I am definitely improving my baking skills with the success of my Christmas orange cake steeped in Grand Marnier (hehehe). Cooking with wine and alcohol is the only way I could enjoy the taste of these drinks. I am quite tired of cleaning the house too. I have had no rest since we broke up for Christmas at work. Tomorrow I will have a couple of my colleagues at work stay over—and more cooking for me!In an hour's time hubby and I will go to Peugeot to have my car MOT'd. At least I have a new set of tyres now so it should pass the blinking test!
After that we'll go to Tesco (again!) to buy a couple of things. We spent a huge sum of money on food this Christmas. That includes our Housewarming soiree. I also thought of posing in front of the table before the feast yesterday. I wanted to have a record of my cooking. I still couldn't believe I did it all by myself. In a way I feel a bit guilty with all this food around me. I could feed a small hamlet back in the Philippines with all this. However, I did manage to feed 14 hungry people (plus a dog) so I shouldn't complain. And there's plenty of leftovers too.

Christmas Dinner

Today is Boxing Day and I am posting my dinner table decor that we had for our Christmas dinner. I woke up quite early to make sure that the turkey would be ready for 2pm! Anyway, I think this year I finally cracked it--the turkey was done to perfection, the ham was fab and the veggies were terrific! Yes it was a success. My mother in law bequeath me her original dinner set given to her as part of her wedding present over 60 years ago. I thought of using them for this occasion instead of my own. She had the full set--complete with serving dishes. One day I will also bequeath these things to my favourite niece as she's interested in heritage. Whenever I come in possesion of a treasure (like this dinner setting) I feel a tiny bit sad that I do not have children-- or a daughter to pass these to. In this consumer world we live in, it is especially nice to have something that is handed down to you. This is one of those times.

Now all I have to worry about is the housewarming party. I have a lot of cooking to do! This is quite stressful!

Long for a rest

I woke up with a stinking headache…the kind that makes me want to throw up. I took a painkiller and prayed that it won’t develop to a full blown migraine. No, not this time of year please! I felt absolutely fragile during breakfast. As I drove to work--in complete darkness-- I felt a stabbing pain every time headlights hit my eyes. The pain is excruciating. Is it just me or headlamps nowadays are too bright? It didn’t help that idiots are allowed to drive. I almost got caught up in a head-on collision! This maniac overtook in a non overtaking lane in the city. His car lights obliterating my vision! I could just imagine the driver he overtook. There was a slight fracas --horns tooting and all. I got to work feeling really nauseous and headachy so I decided to take another pain killer. All I want to do now is to go back to bed, cover my eyes and sleep this damn pain off. It is a struggle staying awake. In a few hours we will be closing shop and I will have to take my car to Peugeot for its MOT and service. That means I will be home by three at the earliest! I am too drowsy for anything else!

A bit of fun

Your Brain's Pattern

Your mind is a firestorm - full of intensity and drama. Your thoughts may seem scattered to you most of the time... But they often seem strong and passionate to those around you. You are a natural influencer. The thoughts you share are very powerful and persuading.

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

How You Live Your Life

You have a good sense of self control and hate to show weakness. You say whatever is on your mind. Other people's reactions don't phase you. You prefer a variety of friends and tend to change friends quickly. Some of your past dreams have disappointed you, but you don't let it get you down.

How Do You Live Your Life?

Your Birthdate: June 17

You tend to find yourself lucky - both in business and in life. And while being wealthy is nice, you enjoy sharing your abundance with others. You put your luck to good use: you are very ambitious and goal oriented. Often times, you get over excited and take on more than you can manage. Your strength: Your ability to make your own luck Your weakness: Thinking you can do it all Your power color: Bronze Your power symbol: Half Moon Your power month: August

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Decisions, decisions

I can’t figure out this weather we’re having! Yesterday it was freezing, icy conditions. Today it is mild and we’re awash in brilliant sunshine. How I wish I was out there instead of working away in the office. I am having second thoughts about the chicken galantine. Maybe if I serve poached salmon, it would make a difference from the turkey and meat being served at Christmas. What to do, what to do…
The problem with salmon is I haven’t done it before but I could get a recipe. I do not have a fish kettle but perhaps we could find one before the 29th! I am sure there are lots in the kitchen shops in Sidmouth, Axminster or even Exeter. Maybe I should do a spot of shopping this lunch time.

***
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to “defrag” your brain like you would with PCs? I’ve been thinking about this because I have lots of trivial information stored in my brain occupying a lot of memory space. I could use that space for say number crunching or analysing. Take for instance the other day, my father in law casually asked where Santa Claus came from and like the idiot that I am I explained to him that Santa Claus was “an evolutionary creation, brought about by the fusion of two religious personages (St. Nicholas and Christkindlein, the Christ child) to become a fixed image which is now the paramount symbol of the secular Christmas celebration”. Later on the Coca Cola advertisements created the image of the current Santa. St Nicholas was actually from Turkey—long story but nevertheless this kind of useless information should be stored somewhere else in my brain.
I remember too many things and some of them I’d rather relegate to the dustbins of history. Why do I greedily hang on to information? Maybe I am a closet anorak. I wonder if I my personality will be different if I lost all my memory. Will I love the same people? Will I despise the same people? Will I be me? I read in one of my weekend mags about a Japanese inventor putting together the final touches of a life-like robot.

I mean this humanoid looks and speaks like a human being--complete with facial expressions and eye contact. He said that in a recent World exhibition, he had the robot man the reception booth and 77% of people didn’t even notice that “she” was a robot! Can you beat that? I find that very interesting--but rather spooky. The theory is people develop an emotional relationship with robots that look human. I find R2D2 and C3PO rather cute. But I’d ditch them for a robot that looks like Harrison Ford!

Beating the crowds

I finally did it! I finally succumbed to doing my groceries online. I really cannot bear to face the crowds at Tesco's especially this time of year and although hubby offered to meet me there at five o'clock today, the temptation of staying at home proved to be too hard to resist. Okay so the delivery charge was like £5.50 but considering the nearest Tesco to my house is a couple of miles away it may sound a bit much. However, the convenience (and the luxury) of not having to look for parking, no queueing, no nothing...just sitting here waiting for the delivery van to arrive. Heaven!
I can now concentrate on cleaning this house and finalising my schedule for next weekend. It is going to be a cookfest marathon for me. I have my in laws for Christmas Day and Boxing Day then we will host a housewarming party followed by an overnight sleep in of two of my colleagues at work on New Year's Eve. I have to prime myself. It's just this pesky neck and shoulder of mine. Ouch!

Oh what a night

Whoever said that you peak in your mid 20s then it’s downhill all the way may be right. Eons ago when I was younger, I could stay up all night and still manage to function the following day--no problem. Nowadays I can’t even stay up watching prime time telly without feeling hung over the next day!
Last night was no different. I made an exception this year to attend the office Christmas party. I wore my old reliable LBD (little black dress) and killer Italian heels. God knows when I wore this outfit last! There I was teetering around in my heels and trust me I had to watch my every step.
It also didn’t help that I was surrounded by young, unwrinkled, slender bodied females. What is the point of all the preening? None whatsoever in my opinion. The men varied sharply between my middle aged colleagues—ho-hum or super young virile just-out-of-university bucks. I should be at least 15 years younger to enjoy this event, but alas I am not. However, that didn’t mean I didn’t notice some good looking specimen of the opposite sex but my natural reservation stopped me from making “chit chat”. Crikey, give the young people space to enjoy themselves. The last thing they want is an old crone like me acting “cool”—yeah I could see that happening—not!

I was quite surprised that the event went very well, more than expected judging from the fact that people looked like they were enjoying themselves. As the night wore on, people started to shed their inhibitions. After dinner I was all ready to make an early getaway (it was 9.30pm by then) when we were led to the “disco” room. The venue was a bit naff but the music was good and people started dancing. This was the moment I dreaded. I haven’t danced for ages and I mean ages. During my misspent youth my pals and I practised our Saturday Night Fever moves. Ah, I remember the swing and the salsa. Those were wonderful days of innocence.
A couple of days ago one of the bucks asked if we could dance during the party and I said I no longer do disco dancing—only slow drag. I immediately regretted my statement because I gave an indication of my preferred dance. At the party last night he mentioned dancing again and I felt a mild panic. Surely I am old enough to be his mother! What about my reputation as the strict head of administration? Get over it Norrie, it’s just a dance not an affair, I thought. Anyway, as if the DJ knew what was going on in my mind he changed the music from bop to slow drag. I quickly grabbed my overcoat and car keys and made my way across the room to say goodbye to young buck. I thought it was good manners to at least acknowledge the earlier dance request but things just didn’t happen that way. The next thing I knew we were in the middle of the dance floor doing the swing and as if in the movies other dancers parted to make way for us. Can you just imagine it???? There we were dancing like we practised every move. People clapped after our little performance. I was so thankful it was dark away from the dance floor because I swear I was red as a beetroot. After that little performance I was grabbed by another young buck and we did some tango and salsa moves as well but not as intense as with the previous dance. I had to leave after the two dances because I was “taxi driver” for three people. It was 10.00pm by this time and my head was buzzing. Oh what a night!

I arrived home shortly after 11.00pm. It took me a long time to get to sleep. I was too stoked! I got in early this morning feeling quite tired and nursing a sore shoulder. I am afraid my dancing days are well and truly over. But the memory of that dance last night will stay with me for a long time.

A bone to pick

Damn! My mother in law just informed me that our local butcher does not debone chicken. That means I will have to do it myself! What a hassle. Good job I found some instructions on how to do it! I might as well give it a go.
I found some other blogsites dedicated to pinoy food, which is great especially when my well-thumbed pinoy cookbook fails to provide me with any inspiration. Sometimes I wonder why I think of food most of the time. I actually take great satisfaction in thinking about food. I even search the web for recipes. Am I sad or what? Wouldn’t it be great to be a food critic or just a food journalist? My dream job is to travel the world and taste various local delicacies--then critique them! I don’t want to go to posh restaurants. I’d like to sample real food from real people and not from some poncey establishment paying obscene prices.
Anyway, back to my dilemma--how to debone a large chicken?

Deck the halls

Hubby and I did a spot of Christmas shopping yesterday in Axminster. We bought my mother in law a pair of dangling opal earrings. Very nice (and expensive). I bought a really nice "bolero" type shrug/shawl embellished in beads and sequins. I need something delicate to wear over my little black dress for the office Christmas party. This is the first time I am attending a Christmas party since goodness knows when. Actually I bought this lovely black angora wool bolero from Marks and Spencer on Friday but I think I will take it back because the shawl I bought yesterday was super. It looked like it has always been part of the outfit.
I am also going to wear (for the first time since goodness knows when again) my killer Italian heels. I can almost feel my poor feet aching now.
I do not think I will do any dancing. My body cannot take any physical punishment on the dance floor. Do I sound decrepit? My neck is hurting again. The housework is never done! I baked my orange cake yesterday. This time it is spiked with lots of alcohol!

We have heavy fog today--bad for driving. I hope it isn't the same tomorrow. It'll be tough in the dark. I think we really need Christmas this time to year to perk us up. We decorated the house with wreaths of holly and gold baubles. It is quite Christmassy downstairs.
I am planning for my marathon cookfest over Christmas. I will attempt to make rellenong manok or chicken galantina. I hope my local butcher could debone the chicken for me, if only to save me time. I'd like to make that for the house warming on the 28th December. I am always homesick this time of year but not as bad as when I was living in Sydney. I like Christmas over here but I still miss the brash Filipino pasko. One thing I learned abroad...I learned to cook if nothing else. Of course it would be lovely to have someone cook delicious food for you but that's not the real world. I also hate to depend on anyone for anything.

I am so tired I think I'll go to bed for a quick nap. Yawn.

Christmas shopping panic

Hubby and I accompanied his parents to Exeter for a shopping trip. It was quite exhausting because they are very fussy about clothes. I walked around the shops including Marks and Spencer with my mother in law but she didn’t find any article of clothing she really fancied. We were at Exeter for five hours! At least we had a nice lunch at the Ship Inn. I like that pub, it serves good food. We left Exeter around 4.00pm. It was almost dark by then but we managed to show them the University grounds. I am quite proud of the campus. It is absolutely beautiful. They actually won awards for the gardens. Anyway, the trip exhausted me. Don’t get me wrong, I love shopping, I find it therapeutic. But looking after someone who does not like anything on offer is exhausting! There were moments when I felt utter frustration welling up. In the finish I advised them to check out the local shops near Axminster. They would cater to older people’s style.

Will I be the same when I reach their age? Will I be as fussy? I was thinking maybe by then I’ll be sitting in my veranda in the Philippines and shopping for clothes wouldn’t be as difficult. I vowed to be more involved with life. I would hate to be bored. For me retirement means doing the things I never had any time for. I’d be pursuing my interests (gardening, cooking, volunteering, etc) instead of worrying about line management and Monday mornings!

Whenever I start feeling down I think of my house. I do like my new house. It is not palatial or anything like that but I like the layout a lot. When I am in my sitting room (lounge) I look around and I say to myself, yes, I like this room. I cannot think of one area that I do not like. I am aware that I shouldn’t be too attached to material things but I am making an exception on this one.

Maybe I should be more detached, be more Zen like.

Okay moving on. I have ordered the organic turkey, top side beef, sausage meat (for stuffing), bacon rashers and pork loin for the Christmas festivities. I will be feeding a lot of people during the Christmas break and I need to stock up. My oven will be on double speed--I am psyching myself for the marathon cooking.

I will bake a couple of orange cakes instead of the heavy fruit cakes this weekend. Come to think of it I have to decorate the house this weekend too! Time is slowly ticking away and I haven’t even finished my Christmas shopping!

At the moment I seem to be sleep deprived. I think it has to do with the fact that I hardly see daylight. I leave my house in total darkness and I arrive in total darkness. That’s winter for you. Unfortunately, my internal alarm clock seems to go off at 4.30am! I do not need an alarm clock, never did because I always wake up before the alarm goes off. What I’d give for a really good sleep.

Hair-raising experience

I would like to share with you my hair-raising experience with snow and ice last week. Last Friday I woke up long before dawn to get ready for work. I felt quite cold and I thought it strange because we set the central heating on at 5:45am (for an hour) so I do not wake up to a cold house. I went downstairs to the kitchen to have my chocolate porridge breakfast and there I saw it outside my kitchen window—huge chunks of snowflakes coming down from the heavens!
At first I thought it was pretty cool but then I thought I had to drive through this and it looks like it was turning into a blizzard.
Foolishly, I still got ready for work (woollen overcoat, pink pashmina over dark trouser suit, velvet cap, knee-high boots, black leather gloves). When I got out of the house my car had about two inches of snow all over it. Our steep driveway was, by now, iced over. Like the proper fool (again) I was still determined to go to work. I started my car, heating full blast and experienced the first sign of trouble ahead—the car slid down the driveway because of the ice. We hadn’t had time to put grit and salt over it. I went through the lanes (slipping and sliding) hoping that the main A358 was gritted the night before. Nope! Then the blizzard came into full force. I couldn’t see where I was going and to make things really difficult, the winding road “disappeared” in a carpet of snow. By now I was feeling rather scared. I knew I did not have control of the car. Driving in icy roads is like skating—only with a powerful motor to propel you to kingdom come. I approached the ramp leading up to the A30. It was covered in thick snow. Everything seemed to happen suddenly. I couldn’t see very well in the blizzard and my tyres were spinning out of control. As I approached the incline, my car spun 180 degrees. I held my breath for an impact—Lorries do come down that way and with the icy conditions they would have been careening down my way. This was the point when I thought to myself—“I am not paid enough to risk my life!” I headed back home but it took me forever to get back as the landscape changed. I felt lost because I couldn’t recognise the road. What made it more dangerous were the twists and turns. I could have easily ended up in a ditch!
As I entered the single car lane leading to my house (a short cut) I turned to Yonder Mount and it happened again but this time with a lot of force. My car skidded and I hit the kerb with such force it took my breath away. Luckily, my little Peugeot survived the impact—I actually didn’t care because I just wanted to get back safely indoors.
This time I parked my car in our lay-by down the driveway. Our drive way so deep in snow and ice. I didn’t even bother checking any damage to my car. I couldn’t’ see it anyway because of the blizzard. I then struggled to get back to the house as it was a steep incline and my boots were slipping too. When I opened the front door, Hubbyand Sam were staring at me like I was a ghost. Actually Hubby said my face was a picture of fear. All I remembered saying was, “I am not going back there again!”
It snowed heavily after that and we watched the news—the A30 in Cornwall was locked in a grid overnight due to snow and accidents. Everywhere people were stranded. It was amazing! The snow was forecasted but the amount of snow that fell in a very short time was totally unexpected for the time of year. It was only a couple of days later when we found out that my front hubcap was missing and I dented the tyre rim. Fortunately we found the wheel trim on the other side of the road and saw the damage I did to the kerb—I cracked it. I can drive in pouring rain. I can drive in thick fog. These conditions I can do even in total darkness but one thing I learned is to trust your instincts and stay home during a blizzard and don’t drive in icy conditions!