They say you can always talk about the weather when chatting with strangers because it’s the one thing we all have in common. But you know what else is a great universal topic of conversation? Three things: bread, cheese and bacon.
It would be useful for parties in situations where you’re talking to a stranger and you’ve run out of things to say. Just pick up a piece of bread at the appetizer table and say something like, “Man, if there’s one thing I can’t live without, it’s some good bread and cheese.” I can only imagine their eyes will light up in agreement and they might even say, “And bacon!” Then you will be friends for life! Unless of course the person is vegan, allergic or obviously lame. [...]
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I found this little nubbin when I pulled out the center portion of the red bell pepper for our fajita dinner tonight. You would think it was kind of adorable because it’s like a mama pepper with a baby pepper inside. But it’s strangely the exact opposite. It’s just creepy and alien-like. The boyfriend proclaimed it was the big pepper’s parasitic twin. I agree. Just don’t google image search it.
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To the tiny community of people who read this blog,
Sorry for my absence! The combination of tiredness, cases of the blues (maybe it’s the summer heat!), dental surgery and eating bad food over the weekend has really thrown me into a very fuzzy mood. I couldn’t even enjoy a really good episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in San Francisco because my nausea was preventing me from ogling the delicious food.
The good news is I’m feeling better. I’ll be back soon but I had to check in and say hello. HELLO!
-Sheila
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“The bacon jam is coming today, I know it! It should only take two days to arrive from Seattle. I thought I saw the mail truck in front of the building but there’s no package at the front door? Have you checked the mail? Did you see a note outside our mailbox?”
I was like an excited puppy waiting anxiously for a doggy treat the day that my jar of Bacon Jam from Skillet Street Food was supposed to be delivered. I had everything planned out days in advance. All the ingredients for the hamburger were ready for dinner and I just needed was for the star of the show to arrive. To my relief (and my boyfriend’s), it finally showed up. Phew!
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When I first discovered guacamole at a young age, I was repulsed. Avocado mixed with tomatoes? And you scoop it up with tortilla chips? Ew. It’s not supposed to be salty. Growing up in the Philippines until I was 7-years-old, I only knew avocado as a sweet ingredient. It was a special treat when my mom brought home some pricey avocados from the store because I knew she would be making her special dessert. I would watch her scoop the avocado meat into a bowl, throw in a bit of sugar and cover the whole thing in cold Carnation evaporated milk. My family would gobble it up fast and fight over who got the last bit of avocado infused milk left over in the bowl.
Recently while sitting at the doctor’s office, flipping through my third magazine, my eyes lit up when I saw a recipe for Coconut Avocado Ice Cream. Ooh! I’ve had avocado shakes before but never ice cream. Plus the addition of coconut would be an interesting spin on my favorite Filipino dessert. I immediately pulled out my camera and snapped a picture of the recipe. [...]
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Penguin or Grimace?
Posted on July 16, 2009.
On my visit to Trader Joe’s, I couldn’t resist picking up a bag of gummies shaped like penguins. I got lured in by the cute cartoon on the packaging with the cool blue color. Maybe it was some subconscious need to get away from the summer heat.
They’re a little different from gummy bears because the penguin’s little round bellies are made up of a flavored gel that oozes out when you bite into it.
But you know something? They don’t really look like penguins. They look more like Ronald McDonald’s friend, Grimace.
Don’t you think?
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Recipe | Leftover egg yolks means Creme Brulee!
Posted on July 8, 2009.
Even though a dozen large eggs cost about $1.50, throwing more than four yolks down the sink makes me cringe with guilt. When I was making batches and batches of macaroons for Father’s Day, I was left with nine egg yolks. I looked at them as if they were little abandoned orphans who needed to be saved from the dark hole that leads to the InSinkErator. Luckily for these cute, yellow buttons I always have the perfect home for them- whisked into the sweet, decadent goodness of creme brulee. [...]
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Lindemans Pêche Lambic: a truly sweet beer
Posted on July 1, 2009.
I would like to conduct an experiment where I would invite a group of women for brunch who believe that drinking beer is “unladylike”. I would bring out a bottle of Lindemans Pêche Lambic, peel off its golden foil cover, flip off the bottle cap, unscrew the cork and let it make it a gentle “pop”! They will think, “Ooh! Mimosas! My favorite brunch drink.” But there’s no orange juice, I tell them, because this is a peach flavored bubbly that is sweet on its own.
The women take dainty sips, “How lovely! It’s so light and fruity! What is this delightful drink?” they say. I bring the bottle over, point to the label and casually say, “Oh, it’s a Belgium Lambic ale. You know, BEER.” Then I take a swig from the bottle and throw out an evil laugh. Suckers! Who’s so ladylike now, huh?
Yes, I would drink this beer for brunch. Just like these imaginary uptight ladies, I didn’t know there was such a thing as beer that is truly sweet and mild. It doesn’t even have a heaviness that you would expect so you could get away with small polite burps. The presence of the fruity peach taste is comparable to a wine cooler but in beer form. This is a great alternative to moscato or port wine to pair with desserts. I can easily drink this anytime because it’s practically juice. Delicious, buzz inducing juice.
Lindemans Lambic beer also comes in apple (pomme) and raspberry (framboise) flavor but peach is my personal favorite. I get mine at Trader Joe’s. You should get some and try my fantasy experiment. I’d love to know what happens!
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Recipe | Chocolate Macaroons
Posted on June 24, 2009.
I think my dad and possibly five other people in the world might say that their favorite American candy bar is Hershey’s Mounds. Remember those dark chocolate-covered coconut bars? Surprisingly, they still exist. My dad will happily eat any coconut confection you give to him, unless you pour white chocolate all over it, which would cause him to cringe in horror. For Father’s Day I wanted to make my dad a coconut-y treat and what else could I choose but the classic Coconut Macaroon.
Perhaps my dad is just getting older and his palette has changed, but he has recently developed a low threshold for anything sugary. The man who used to pack soda in his lunch bag everyday for work suddenly realized that it’s too sweet. Oh well, more for me! [...]
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Recipe | The Manly Steak Sandwich. Grr.
Posted on June 18, 2009.
Why is it a manly sandwich you ask? Only because I stumbled upon the recipe in Esquire magazine’s website flanked between a picture of some half-naked woman and Scarlett Johansson giving me a come hither look. Maybe it’s another one of those subliminal messages telling you that this sandwich will attract the ladies. You could say it worked because that sandwich sure got me! Oh, that was bad.
I had one piece of rib-eye steak in the freezer and I was in one of those moods where the idea of eating it plain just felt… too meaty. But for some reason a steak sandwich sounded less heavy and more like a well-rounded meal. A quick Google search led me to Lee Hefter’s steak sandwich and as the executive chef at Cut steakhouse, I figured the man must know how to do it right. It’s also one of his favorite sandwiches so of course I had to try it out for myself.
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