"Smorgasbord"

Date: 31 Oct, 2001


So what have I been doing this sem break? Nothing. Well sleeping actually. Trying to make up for all those sleepless nights in med school. I have also been helping out my parents with this case that they have. No, they are not doctors. Both are lawyers and well, I guess their blood runs thick in my veins. The case is very interesting and we were looking over the laws that could pin down this scoundrel. We were able to find the damning evidence last night and that was pretty exciting. The only downside in this is the fact that we have to go to court. My parents were hoping for an out of court settlement but this was the last resort….


Starbucks

I swore to myself that I wouldn’t be a coffee addict but God bless Starbucks’ frapuccino. Man, they are good. And what about their oatmeal cookies? It is a good thing I don’t live near starbucks otherwise osteoporosis would soon set in. Hmmm, I wonder if they are open today, october 31? I would have to get one today.

Painting

I plan to get a good oil painting book. I love to paint but I really need to be schooled at it. What to do with the linseed oil, how to clean the brushes, etc. etc. etc. Problem is, I can’t find a good painting book. I wonder if they have one in the U.S.? I hope so. I would have to ask one of my friends there to send me one…


Me, the chef

I love good food. Who doesn’t? But when it comes to cooking good food, I could scald water. My brother, whenever I cook, makes it a point to eat outside. He says poison control is too far and he may not make it. Last week, due to inevitable circumstances, I had to cook food. Now my cooking skills are limited to caramel custard (which I believe tastes great for even my brother likes it) and rice (granted that there is a rice cooker).

Cook books and I don’t mix well. The pictures they carry is much more edible than the food I cook. Anyhoo, I decided to serve steak for dinner and a couple of side dishes. The steak, miraculously, turned out to be great as well as the side dishes. My cousin couldn’t believe that she actually liked the food I served. My brother ate it and told me I got lucky. The highlight of that dinner was the soup.

Since Lea and Perrins sauce was not available, I decided to make my own gravy. One thing you have to know about me is the fact that I usually determine the missing ingredient by color. Gravies are milky brown so I guess there must be beef in it and some milk. And flour perhaps because gravies are thick. So I boiled a liter of water and put in some beef cubes. I decided that the “solution” needed to thicken because the gravies I see outside are thick. Unfortunately, we were out of cornstarch and flour. The only flour we had was cassava flour. Cassava flours, as indicated in the package, is used for both laundry and cooking. I hesitated using it since it said “laundry”, but I decided to use it anyway since it also said “cooking”. So I mixed in the cassava flour. And some milk. After about five minutes the “solution” was slightly thickened. I guess I placed too much water, and when I tasted it, it didn’t taste anything like gravy. It tasted like mushroom soup! Great mushroom soup, I might say. So I served it as soup. My family loved it, saying that it tasted like those soups being served in hotels. My brother got some and kept on laughing as I told him how it was done. My cousin took my gravy con soup recipe, planning to cook one herself. Our household help christened it as the laundry soup. :)