Wedded Cooking Bliss

Marriage has changed a lot of things in my life and one that both my parents would be proud of is that I have now started to cook! Yes, I have always been a foodie with a bottomless appetite but before I got married I was just so lazy to even lift a finger in the kitchen. I didn't want the greasy and oily feeling in my hands, didn't want to smell like ginisa, I was scared to hold a knife and basically I just had a million excuses not to. Oh and have I mentioned washing the dishes? Hashtag: Sosy problems. 

Want me to cook? Laters, baby...

This I believe, has been a source of worry for my old-fashioned mom and dad as we were planning the wedding. Baka daw ibalik ako sa kanila if my in-laws find out I couldn't cook, much less, magsaing ng bigas. They panicked and staged a series of 'RUSH' cooking lessons with me watching while the helper cooked and you all know what happened then. Knowing we can practically order food from anywhere, I wasn't too worried and I didn't take those lessons seriously. But of course, I wanted to be honest and let Andrew know upfront and as long as he was okay with it, it didn't bother me anymore :) We reached an understanding wherein he would be very happy if I would at least 'attempt' to cook twice a month. Meaning, if the meal turned out to be a disaster then it wouldn't be too much waste of time and money.

Pressure much?

After the wedding and my move-in to our place in Tayuman, my cooking instincts were suddenly switched on! I started out with the dishes that were earmarked in my 5-year old cookbook (which I suddenly had the time to try. Hello Maggi and Del Monte Kitchenomics!) and sometimes I just happen to pick up something in the grocery with a promising recipe on its label and patola ko na rin yun! I don't know what really caused this but it could be because of these reasons:

a) Ganon talaga pag misis na...sabay pamewang, wearing 'daster' :)

b) I'm really a cooking ninja, but have craftily disguised myself as an eating ninja for the past 28 years!! Our family cooking genes had just kicked in! mwahahahahahaha!!!

c) Somebody gifted us with cooking pots and a stove so we better make use of it (Thank you Auntie Nene & Auntie Babyt for the Belgique pots, my mother-in-law for soo many cooking pots and paraphernalias and Patrick Tiu & family for our stove!)

d) There are times I really miss home and one way to cure this semi depressing-lonely-confusing phase is to recreate home through the meals I love from home!

e) The sheer happiness of (although belatedly) learning a very important life skill; and making my hubby, mommy, daddy, bro & extended family happy (sana!) with the dishes I serve them

Anyway, I really did not expect much because I can't count on experience (hello, wala nga eh!hehe) for this particular skill - but then again, I could actually count on my sense of smell and my foodie imagination to know which dishes would taste best. Naks! Okay, I guess watching Wolfgang Puck through the years wasn't bad either..

Surprisingly, my husband thinks I'm doing pretty good! Of course the Kiddie Master Chefs are still waaaay better but this is already heavy stuff for me (pagbigyan!). Now I'm thinking, what if I have started this earlier...hmmm...I might be writing a cookbook now instead of this blog post! :p

My cooking conquests...SOON! (L-R: Italian Pasta with tri-color fusili, choco pancakes, oven-baked cheesy potatoes with bacon bits, baked chicken with brocolli and biscuits)

Anyway, I am still undergoing the learning process but we'll go through it together as I hope to share with you successful dishes, techniques and my experiences in this blog. Please don't expect them to be restaurant-level (kumbaga sa Candy Crush, nasa level 67 pa lang ako out of 200+; this is true so please send me lives and extra moves! hahaha!) or to be budget-friendly (I have low EQ when it comes to grocery shopping and sige na nga, adding up what I place in the grocery cart) or picture-perfect (I'm using my phone's camera and usually I'm rushing between chopping and sauteing and making sure I follow the recipe 100%)...but what I can promise you is this: they will be family-friendly, yummy and quite easy for newlyweds who may be just as clueless as me in the kitchen.

Conquering your fears, learning a new skill, being able to lovingly feed your family --> and see them reach out for seconds or more...one of the best feelings!

Stay posted and happy cooking! :)

i can cook pala!

I spent most of my morning worrying on things I should do and things I should have done concerning my masters and my other extra-curricular activities. I know it's a bad thing to do to keep on worrying but sometimes it's the first thing one does upon realizing that your pending tasks are indeed worrisome. = )

For starters I was supposed to go the whole nine yards to survey (the S word!) moms from all over the Metro. It's good that I have 2 other very efficient and reliable groupmates (Hi Crissy and Don!!) but this task (survery close to 300 people) we had to divide among us three. I know I should have started the past weekend but physically, I just couldn't. But I'm all better now and am really raring to tick this off my to-do list - only to realize that I might have started too late. Looking at my assigned areas is enough to make one's head go loco loco!! Add to that the sheer number of respondents I have to accomplish!

1. Mandaluyong - got this covered since I'm from here
   
2. Manila - bf got this covered (thanks so much baby!! super life-saver..more on that later)
   
3. San Juan
4. Las Pinas
5. Muntinlupa
6. Pasig
7. Pateros
8. Quezon City

It was just so overwhelming for me, I guess that my mind went to panic mode!! In times like this, who ya gonna call?? I'm so glad that there are very generous and gracious friends who were more than willing to help a crazed and dazed girl!

Really it felt more like a test on how well you'll be able to manage logistics, time and your network. So instead of me having to go around like a headless chicken, thinking how to juggle all these activities, I stopped my panicked self, sat myself down and just really fixed my gameplan. So since photocopying is much cheaper in the UST area, bf got on to it. He'll take 20 and distribute to his classmates. My brother (also studying in UST) will bring home the rest for me and will also distribute some to his friends. Internet power was also maximized as I sent copies to my former officemates and classmates. As Bo Sanchez said, if you just bite-size things and plan ahead, everything seems more manageable - indeed I agree!

But before I calmed down to that level, I paced the house like crazy thinking and worrying of all those to-do list that I simply had to go out and do something! And then I remembered the episode on Quickfire (a QTV-11 production) where they made a simple (read: easy to cook like I can make this on my own) and seemingly delectable dish (EVOO fried chicken breast fillet, with taco salsa, cheddar cheese, buttered corn) which I intended to make this weekend. But it can't wait anymore so off I went to Pure Gold (just a Php 8.00 jeepney ride away) and bought the stuff needed. Despite the possibility of rain, I went anyway.

Not a pro in the kitchen department but I think I did a pretty good job cooking it. The second version tasted better - and everyone in the household gave a thumbs up! I'm so happy! = ) This is the first time I realized that cooking has its calming, soothing effect too! And the happiness grows once you see everyone enjoy the food!

THE VERDICT:
1. Mom: Do this again on saturday and I'll give some to Tita Rica for her to try
2. Dad: Uno!

With a fuller tummy, and a less-tense me..now I can concentrate on my next immediate task:

preparing for my pathology presentation for sunday!!
will write more about this by sunday! gosh i'm excited! (wheee!!)

and my second immediate task:

my (masters) presentation on developing marketing strat!

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so no to panic-stricken, downtrodden, tense spirits and YES to cooking, eating and enjoying!