tokwa!

I decided it was time to make (my version of) tokwa't baboy.

Direct Translation: Tofu and Pig (Pork)

For the tofu, I sliced them thin, painted it thinly with olive oil, sprinkled it with rock salt and parsley.  It went to the oven at 180C.  

I waited.

Patiently.  At first.      

baking in progress

I am guilty of hovering over the oven window, watching things bubble, turn brown, soften, rise.  I love watching the magic happen.

My husband always reminds me that I don't have to do that.  Things will cook.  And he is right, but it is exciting for me.   Watching.

Not productive, but I had time :)

golden

The pork dish was simple.  Using all the standard ingredients for tokwa't baboy like onion, soy sauce, vinegar and black pepper, I something similar to a chunky stew.  I thickened the sauce with some corn starch.

ebony and ivory (of some sort)

My husband and I ate this with brown rice.  Lots.

hummus me

 It is funny how my Mom and I prepared similar dishes for New Year's Eve.

---

Hummus.  Somewhat.

naked

I don't have a food processor or a mixer.  No special gadget to make the task easier.  With that, I anticipated that mine will be chunkier, but that's cool!  I am all about the taste.

facade

I did take the extra step of taking out the skin.  

That took longer than I anticipated, taking out the skin.  It would be worth the effort through.  Plastic texture is definitely unacceptable!  

Did I mention, I didn't even have a masher?  (I think I'd get one, together with a new apple corer.)

hardwork

I knew at the beginning that it won't be the traditional hummus, and in fact purists would definitely hate this.  

I wanted to clear ingredients I have, so I decided to put in some sour cream.

Of course, Cumin remained to be the star of the show.  I also added Paprika.  The other ingredients were typical hummus players.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  

alien

In the end, I had a silky somewhat chunky bread dip.  

Not too easy, but A LOT less work compared to mashed potato.  Somehow, I think I have not gotten over how troublesome mashed potato preparation could be.

party ready

…is all around

I had met Gela years before, but it isn't until 2013 that I had a chance to really spend time with her and get to know her.

Incidentally, 2013 was a big year for her--in the sense that there were a lot of changes in her life.  It was an exciting and fruitful year for Gela and my husband and I are very happy to have been part of her journey.

It is double the happiness for us that unknowingly, we are able to share what joy we have to people around us :)

Happy new year! 

CAKE that!

cake cutters

I loved our wedding cake for lots of reasons.  Let me count the ways.

1. Simplicity :)   

2. All cake!

3. Butter, Chocolate, Carrot.  Three layers, three flavours.

4.  Toothsome fondant

---

When asked what cake I wanted my immediate answers were "delicious" and "simple".  

I went further to say "maybe the most simple cake you ever made", talking to the baker.

It came out like a dream.  

It was matte all over with satin effect liners for every layer.  There were two white flowers on top, two smaller ones on middle layer and three even smaller ones at the bottom.

Off white on white.  I love the very subtle contrast.