Foot and Fire

A TASSEOGRAPHY FOR HER By Gerlie M. Uy  She drinks coffee everyday, placing her stained cup in a different spot each time. Her stained cups, different each day, stay between the keyboard and the mouse, along the dusty books in the old bookshelf, among the stacks of recent and old papers, all waiting to be washed. Everywhere. I won't tell you more about her garden, or her closet or the house she calls home. But I can tell you that just by looking at her stained cups, this woman has so much in her lap -- unfulfilled desires and untended relationships. She goes in and out of her daily tasks like someone who has done it a million times, without a feeling of happiness or even dread. Just disinterest. She drank her coffee a million times, perhaps to tick her brain and kick her system. But she remains disinterested. Just by reading her life through her stained cups, I can tell that all she needs is to wash her stained cups one by one. A TASSEOGRAPHY FOR H

200 pcs Deseeded Whole Chilis Carrots, cut into strips 1.5 liters vinegar (coconut) 500ml pineapple juice salt and cracked peppercorns garlic, chopped onion, chopped ginger, chopped 500 gms sugar Turmeric powder (optional) *** Arrange chilis and carrots in sterilized jars. In a wok, put vinegar, pineapple juice, sugar and the spices. Bring to boil for about 15-20 minutes. Pour boiling vinegar in each jar. Seal. Refrigerate when cooled down. Serve as appetizer. (If you have no jar, put all chilis and carrots in the vinegar and cover with lid. Let cool and transfer to plastic container. Refrigerate to prolong shelf life) ***

Step 1. Slice hard tofu  Step 2. sprinkle with salt and cracked peppercorns and dried herbs (or pesto).  Step 3. Wrap individually in the lumpia wrapper.  Step 4. Deep fry in oil and serve crisp and hot! *** ***

The sun is the king of colors.  Here are the photos of sunrise and sunset behind the Campomanes Bay  which I took during our stay last June...  It was never too late to capture the summer...  *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

Summer was about to end because it was already June when we visited Sipalay City. Well, blooms need no further introduction. They are simply pretty to stare, gaze, watch... Here are the flowers/plants in Sipalay City which I captured after the usual afternoon rain... Get delighted my friends... *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** *** ***

There are many ways to enjoy your prepared pesto. One can put it in a cooked pasta together with cheese or Alfredo cream and spread it on a soda crackers. I topped a tablespoon of pesto on my scrambled eggs. I also put a tablespoon of it in my noodle soup. Please check my No-Frill Pesto in a previous post. Tell me more, how I can enjoy a pesto!!! Just drop a note in the comment box. ***

100g basil  1/2cup almonds  3 cloves garlic  1/2 cup olive oil  salt and pepper...  Put all ingredients a small portion at a time in a blender. And blend. *** *** Don't forget to patronize Fresh Start Organic Culinary Herbs... *** *** ***

The Karsts lining the Campomanes Bay is verdant unlike the ones I saw in Halong Bay, Vietnam and Coron and El Nido, Palawan... One can't appreciate the karsts immediately because they appear to be a forest except for a few bald area as photographed above... Of course, this is a good news because greens still grow in the rocky mountain... We left our home base temporarily for a boat tour. We went to Obong Cave in Hinobaan first which took us 45 minutes by small boat. We passed by many areas, including the "Pulo" which is the first stop for most boat tours. The photo below is the pulo and the next two photos  are the shots of an opening from end to end. I observed that there is still a live portion of the rock in the "cave." One tourist touched it, a no-no action because it has the tendency to die after being in contact with human sweat, skin and human bacteria. There should be a warning of sort. Tour-guiding is not yet a commodity here. Lastly, I should neve