BlueRaine

New Life

2011-07-14T23:14:00.000-07:00

I have been away for a long long time. Where did I go? I went to motherhood -- still there as a matter of fact and never want to leave anymore.
Now I have learned a lot of lessons -- some nice, some amazing, some wonderful, some embarrassing, some so-so -- and I hope to tell you about them someday. I have not been blogging since I found out I was pregnant. Lost interest temporarily. I was so excited to do it (being a pregnant lady) properly that I lost interest in a lot of things -- including my real daytime job. I was so busy googling and reading about how to take care of myself and my baby that I suddenly became an encyclopedia for pregnancy. When I gave birth I thought I was going to go back to my 'regular' life but, no, I took care of my baby (still am!) 24/7. I read a lot and became literate in breastfeeding and a lot of other things involved in taking care of a baby. Hubby often teased me that I actually have two doctors -- by pretty OB-Gyne and Dr. Google. Oh yeah, Dr. Google is really good.
I am so thankful that I have another aspect in my life. Motherhood is certainly so -- ummm -- enlightening and a baby is always a wonder. I would be so happy to share these beautiful aspects of my life to you. There are so many hardships (my gosh, there really are a lot of bumps on the road) but the joys far outnumber those bumps.
So...we are back in business -- love life and be happy :)

Jewelry

2010-02-09T22:43:00.000-08:00

I like wearing jewelry. I seem to feel naked whenever I go out of the house without wearing at least one. Jewelry or accessories, for that matter, can supplement what we are wearing. It can be made of of some precious metals, gemstones and even shells. Their normal uses really are for display, because we think they look good on us and they go well with what we are wearing, to represent something, or maybe for protection (like crucifix and amulet).

I do not buy much jewelry. What I have is either borrowed from my mother or given to me. by some friends I do not have preferences. As long as something looks nice and interesting to me and I do not look funny wearing it, then I like it.

These are my necklaces. Some are in real gold and some diamonds, some are just fashion jewelry.

I love those little bag and shoe charms. Can you see that little bikini top?

my crucifix pendants.

A gift from a friend.

Some crystal bracelets.

Here are some things I keep in mind when it comes to wearing jewelry:

1> Always remember that a woman should wear her jewelry.

The jewelry should not wear her. Do not be overwhelmed by what you are wearing.

Be sure that if you wear something, especially those big and bold ones, you are confident enough to carry it.

Do not fiddle with it, do not look unsure. Be confident.

2> Don’t wear a bunch of big pieces at once. Avoid mixing bold necklace, bold bracelets and bold earrings all at the same time.

It can really be too much.

3> Do not wear large jewelry if you are wearing an outfit with big or bold prints. Please don't.

Porky and Veggie

2010-01-28T21:48:00.000-08:00

Last night, my long lost cousin Ngets (I like to call her that), showed up in my office. She said she was hungry and invited me to go out and eat -- her treat. She wanted me to choose the restaurant and I readily said Bigby's. Ngets usually is very thrifty but she gets her extravagant episodes every now and then, especially when food is involved.

Bigby's is not what I call cheap. And I do not think it's expensive too. The yummy yummy yummy food are reasonably priced, considering the serving size, the taste, and of course, the great service.

It was only 5:30 in the afternoon but Ngets wanted a heavy meal. She let me choose from the menu. She trusts me that much. Anyway, I decided to become cute and ordered a salad for us to share. Turned out, she likes salad greens and she loved the romaine lettuce, croutons, mangoes and grapes combination. It was sprinkled with lots of grated parmesan cheese and had this one big scoop of chicken-mayo combi on top.

For the heavies, I ordered a platter of grilled baby back ribs, porkchop and pork belly. The melt-in-your-mouth meat was heaven!

There are a lot of grilled pork recipes -- terriyaki, honey-garlic, etc... They are all delicious. But I think what makes a difference is the juiciness of the meat. In our cooking class (look ma! I learned something!) we were taught to pan-fry the meat first after marinating and before grilling or baking to lock in the taste and the juiciness of the meat.

With all those delicious recipes, my absolute all-time favorite marinade for grilled pork will always be a combination of these: soy sauce with a twist of lemon, garlic (the more the better) and black pepper (the more the better!).

Till the next food foodtrip.

Little Helpers

2010-01-27T23:30:00.000-08:00

I arrived at the office before 8 o'clock today. Before everyone else. I enjoyed the solitude for a while but eventually got bored.

***I then looked at the things in my workplace to cheer me up.***

My precious key to the comfort room

(we are very protective with our cr :-p)

this girly camel that stands on my desk.

It was given to me by my friend who works at Sharja, UAE.

Here's more:

My nativity, my little Colosseum and the girly camel.

the purse which holds my make-up.

I do some quick touch-ups in between client consultations.

my Nine West coin purse.

Love the color. Love blue.

the pair of slippers i keep under my desk

to make my feet feel relaxed even for 5 minutes

(my fave pair high heels can be a torture).

my ever reliable dual-sim phone.

and something that can help me when I go out to have lunch with my girlfriends!

How I Can Save Money

2010-01-26T21:19:00.000-08:00

Last year, I was bugging hubby to look for another job. I knew he was unhappy were he was. Everyday I got a load of complaints about his boss, about their system, about his salary, yak yak yak... So I told him pointblank that he was dragging me down the "half-empty" lane and that he had to do something about it.

So, now, we are blessed because he really did looked for another job and got accepted. He resigned from his "rotten" job (he said that, not me) and moved on to a government agency with a "happier" and stressed-free atmosphere. Along with that blessing is the "unfortunate" waiting period before he can receive his salary. For some reason, it may be put on hold for at least two months. On the third month, he can get three months worth of salary, but still, there is that dismal waiting period. While I am willing to bring home the bacon for the time being, we do have to be try being more frugal.

sigh.

I looked around for some advice on how to do that and came up with the following resolutions:

1. Now is the best time to go on a diet.

Nope, I did not say starve. Diet. A good and healthy diet by eating more vegetables. I think I can save a lot if we do meatless at least three days a week and go veggie. Vegetables are low in calories and fat and, as a result, help us control weight effectively. They are a good source of dietary fiber and provide us with extra energy. Aside from that, vegetables contains beneficial antioxidants that help reduce the risk of cancer, stroke and heart disease. And, fortunately, vegetables are not very expensive here in our place.

2. Save on coffee!

I am an absolute coffee addict, lover, fan, dependent... and I have made my husband a coffee-lover too. So we do spend a lot on coffee and in coffee shops. So now here's my great plan: stop ordering coffee to go. Instead, we will just make coffee at home. I am sure I can still unearth my reliable coffee maker which I think is more than willing to help. Also, in case, we have to hang out at coffee shops to meet friends, I will not order expensive coffee anymore. A simple americano or latte will do. I never liked those mountainous cream they put on those expensive mixes anyway. A simple black coffee or a latte will be heaven enough.

3. Do not go grocery shopping when hungry.

This I can attest to: our shopping bill is bigger whenever I go shopping hungry. I see potato chips, chocolates and expensive sausages clearly. Whenever hungry, I get more of those things and, thus, the bill skyrocket.

4. Avoid impulse buying.

I have been trying to practice this for a time now. I think I have been successful but there are just some days when a shiny, pricey, beautiful thing would catch me weak. But I promise to be stronger now. Whenever I see something I am interested in, waiting would be a good thing. I have agonized over a very expensive pair of clogs once. I postponed buying it three times until I was not interested anymore. Desires do wear out.

5. Become homebuddies!

This is perfect right? If we are not in the mall, we cannot shop. If we do not go out at night, we cannot buy expensive drinks. Better stay at home, eat our veggies and watch TV.

Oddly, the thought of being frugal for at least two months excites me. I can finally watch those DVDs I have borrowed. I can finally try that pasta Alfredo recipe I have discovered and -- the most beautiful thing at all -- hubby can get his three-month worth of salary soon.

Tips For Credit Card Users

2010-01-20T21:25:00.001-08:00

Anytime now, I would be receiving the monthly billing statement of my credit card. I have to say that I am a bit nervous because I used my magical card a lot during christmas season. Oh, I know I was not irresponsible. But there were just so many things I had to buy last month, like gifts for a lot of people (I have already trimmed my list several times).

    I have been a credit card holder for 3 years now. In those 3 years, I have certainly learned a lot. Some of these I learned the hard way. A big outstanding balance was my punishment. The following are some of them:

1. Know the important dates in your credit card.
    These are the cut-off date, statement date, due date and card expiration date. These crucial dates can be seen in your credit card statement. Before purchasing, I advise you to pause for a moment and think if what you are about to purchase is within the cut-off date or not, when would it fall due and if you think you have enough funds to pay for it by the time due date comes . As to the expiration date, some stores refuse to accept your card if your car is about to expire and you want to apply deferred payment.

2. Pay the full outstanding balance on your statement.
    Avoid paying interest or the so-called finance charge on your credit purchases by paying the full outstanding balance on your statement and not just the minimum payment required by the due date. Remember that interest-free periods do not apply except if you pay off in full. If you fail to do this, you will be charged interest on your outstanding balance and therefore forfeiting the interest-free period on your past purchases. Moreover, you must pay the balance off in full before you will get any interest-free period on your current and future purchases.

3. Credit cards have annual fees.
    Some banks offer to waive the annual fee on your first year or if you spend enough on your card each year, or if you are a valued client of the bank. Thus, unless you are sure that your card is exempt from annual fees, then this must be taken into consideration because annual fees can be a big amount, depending on what type of card you have. Further, this is also one good reason why carrying more than one credit card is not advisable.

4. Do not be fooled by the offer on cash advances on your card.
    The interest rates on credit card accounts do not apply to cash advances. Aside from the interest rates, some cards also impose a service charge whenever you apply the cash advance feature on your card.

5. Remember that incidents of internet banking fraud are rising.
    Be wary when using your card in the internet. Deal only with established and reputable merchants and be careful when sending out your credit card details.

    These are only some of the things that must be kept in mind when you have a credit card. Credit cards can indeed be very convenient and can make our lives easier. However, we must also be responsible and not unmindful of the risks associated with having them.

Best Beach Food

2009-12-07T03:24:00.000-08:00

Yep, I know it's Christmas season and you are probably wondering why I am writing about the best food to bring to the beach.

Firstly, I live in a tropical country and my place is about 10 minutes from the beach. We have gazzilions of beach resorts and they are often venues for company and family outings. We can go to the beach all year round without risk of freezing. And yes, christmas parties and get-aways can be done at the beach. In fact, so far, I have 3 beach parties lined up for this month.

Now, I have searched and asked several people about the best food you can bring and eat at the beach. Here is a list of those:

1. Sandwiches (hey, what kind?)

2. Grilled Fish

3. Chips - corn, potato and tortilla

4. Hotdogs!

5. Fruits - watermelon, mangoes and bananas

6. Salads

7. Grilled Pork

8. Ice Cream

9. Coke

Of course I added the last one. It's one of the things I cannot live without, I think.

This coming weeked would be our get-together with some of my friends. We plan on going to a newly opened beach resort not too far from where I live. I have tasked myself to bring the sandwiches and, in order to apply my new kitchen skills, I will make them myself. Here is a recipe I have learned in class and planning to make for our beach party.

CLUB SANDWICH

Ingredients:

2 slices bacon
1 chicken breast

3 slices bread, toasted

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

2 leaves iceberg lettuce
1 slice tomato

1 slice cucumber

1 egg, scrambled

Ok, I will be honest, this is not strictly the recipe I got from class. I have added in some extras to make it the best and the most filling club sandwich in the world. lol.

Directions:

1. Cook bacon over medium heat in a heavy skillet until evenly brown. Drain on paper towels. Do the same with the chicken breast. Toast bread slices. I suggest you do this in a pan instead of using a bread toaster so that the bread would not be too hard and too toasted.

2. Spread each slice of bread with mayonnaise. On one slice of toast, place the chicken, lettuce and tomato. Cover with a slice of toast, then over that, place the bacon, egg, lettuce and the cucumber . Top with last slice of toast

Think that would be good enough? Of course there is no hard and fast rule in making sandwiches. One can use his imagination on what to add in his sandwich. In my own recipe, I just made sure that the ingredients I love finding in a sandwich are there. Bacon, egg...all of the above enumerated, actually. I am already excited about my beach party. I will make sure to make a lot of sandwiches as sea air tend to give me a big appetite.

Betcha By Golly Béchamel Sauce

2009-11-25T00:13:00.000-08:00

Another thing I learned in my Commercial Cookery class is Béchamel Sauce. The ingredients were enumerated and the method of cooking was taught. But being the inquisitive me, I asked myself (no, not the chef) what is Béchamel Sauce for anyway? I have seen it somewhere, in menus, I guess, but I cannot pinpoint on what dish. I asked my buddy in class and she asked me the same question. So, I resolved to do some research when I get home after class.

First of, here is the recipe for the freaking Béchamel Sauce:
           Ingredients:
           1/4 cup unsalted butter
           1/4 cup all-purpose flour
           2 cups milk
           1 small onion
           3 cloves
           1 bay leaf
           salt
           pepper
           cayenne or nutmeg, or both

          Instructions:
          Heat butter in a sauce pan, add flour and simmer briefly. When a roux is created, add hot milk to it while stirring vigorously with a whisk. Bring to boil, slowly, stirring continuously. Add onion, bay leaf and clove and simmer for about 30 minutes or until smooth and thickened. Strain sauce with a fine-mesh strainer. Lastly, add salt, white pepper and cayenne to taste.
          This makes about 2 cups.

Before I continue, I think I should explain what a roux is. A roux is base for sauce: a mixture of flour and fat--like butter!-- that is cooked briefly and used as the thickening base of a sauce or soup.

Now, next question. How do we use bechamel sauce? Do we use it for dipping? As dressing? Or do we eat it as it is?

Béchamel is one of the "mother sauces" in French cuisine. It is a basic white sauce that can be used as the base of many other sauces. For example, when melted cheese or mustard is added, it can be used as topping for cooked meat, vegetables or pasta. Here are the some of the sauces that has Bechamel Sauce as base and with additional ingredients added:

          Mornay Sauce - gruyere cheese is added
          Creme Sauce - cream is substituted to milk
          Soubise Sauce -with diced onions sweated in butter
          Alfredo Sauce - parmesan cheese is added

In class, we used our bechamel sauce to create Alfredo Sauce for our freshly made Fettuccini. Our chef said that the classic Alfredo Sauce is supposed to be plain, but, just to make the pasta not too bland, bacon bits were added. When I showed off my cooking skills at home, I did not have any bacon so, I added canned tuna flakes instead. It was a success!

Desserts and Rum Balls

2009-10-10T19:07:00.000-07:00

According to many, dessert is a course that should come at the end of a meal. However, what is available for dessert can oftentimes be the factor in considering where to eat and even what to eat for our main course.

Last night, my husband and I decided to eat someplace special. So, armed with my VIP card, we headed to one of the pioneer hotels in the city. The restaurant was not full so I was glad of the promise of a quiet but sumptuous dinner. The appetizers and the main course were good, taken with some light piano music and light-hearted conversation, but I was secretly excited about dessert. After all the flavorful dishes, I ordered for strong brewed coffee and headed to the dessert table.

Admittedly, the dessert table was not too big but the cakes on display looked promising. My plate was small but it was heaped with petit fours and a rum ball. I was hesitant to take a rum ball because I had never been a fan. I tried making some about two years ago and it was not a success. I made it too soggy and the rum taste was too strong that it overpowered everything else. But the rum balls last night looked so cute and perfect that I bravely took one. And another one. And another one. It was perfect with my brewed coffee. As my husband looked at me gobble up the rum balls with amusement, I resolved to make it one of favorite desserts.

Rum balls are like a truffles, sweet, and flavored with chocolate and, yes, rum. It is usually a no-bake delicacy, made by stirring together wafer crumbs, confectioners sugar, pecans (if you want), unsweetened cocoa, flavored by some light or dark rum and held together to become small balls by corn syrup. It is supposed to be a popular christmas snack in countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Denmark, Austria and Hungary. However, Americans have come up with a variety of rum ball recipes.

Commercial Cookery, here I come!

2009-10-08T20:15:00.000-07:00

Life has gently but firmly prodded me to try something new this time. I have been accepted as a scholar and I am going to study a short course in one of the schools here in our city for free. That short course would be COMMERCIAL COOKERY, or COMMERCIAL COOKING.

Now I say that this is new because this is far far far different from my current job. I have done some cooking in our house and my family said it tastes alright. But then, my family has always been very supportive and it is a no-no in our house to say hurtful words against each other.

Anyway, back to Commercial Cookery class. Now that I am in, I would probably try my best to finish and do well in class. My first problem is that I want to keep my "real" job a secret. I mean, we are all scholars in class so we pay for nothing. I feel a little guilty about this. I mean, based on my almost nil bank account, I really should be a scholar but people might not understand if they know what I do for a living. My classmates are out-of-school youths, single moms and young people who are hoping to work abroad. As for me, I just want to try this out and see if I would progress as a cook--or a chef. I mean, I like eating out and new dishes excite me so why not own a restaurant, eh? There are times when I wish I have predicted that culinary arts would be a big thing but, when I was entering college (which was eons ago), the only courses I knew are accounting, engineering and masscom.

Tonight would be our third meeting. The first meeting was dedicated to learning how to use Microsoft Word, Excel and Powerpoint (hello, as if my heart does not palpitate if I am away from my laptop for hours). The second meeting was about "Practice Career Professionalism". Things like social development skills and ten commandments of good communication were discussed. Tonight, there would be a quiz about that and, crazy me, I am actually feeling nervous!

I wonder how long it would be before we discuss about food, recipes and food-tasting. I am actually excited to wear my red apron (with a robot print that was a gift to me from my nephews) and use my mother's most treasured (yeah, it took me a while to un-earth it from her hiding place) 8-inch chef's knife.

Gotta go. I still have to memorize the Principles of Human Relations for our quiz tonight. Soon, I hope I would be able to post photos of me and my classmates wearing toques and photos of the food we prepared. But as of now, I have to learn how to have career professionalism first.

Sticking With Mylot

2009-09-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Just a year ago, I heard someone talking about earning through the internet. I wanted to try it...hey, a little earning here and there would not hurt, right?

I googled and came across Mylot. I clicked on the website, got curious and signed in even before understanding what the website is about. Mylot is actually a forums website where you can post discussions about almost anything under the sun. In turn, people from different parts of the world can reply by sharing their own opinions or simply share experiences. Of course, they say that the best part is being paid for each post that you make.

Now, a year after, I can say that I am sticking with Mylot. Oh, I have not been paid hundreds of dollars yet. But I have proven that Mylot is a legitimate site and that it grows stronger as time passes. My monthly earning is credited to my paypal account automatically once I reach my minimum payout of $10 at the end of the month. Crediting of earnings only happen once a month but there is absolutely no need to request for payment nor write the administration for a follow-up on the payment. Very convenient, indeed.

But what really makes me stick with the site is not the earnings. The $10 to $15 a month is peanuts as compared to what other internet savvy people are earning on line. What is great about Mylot is that it is actually a community of people talking about their interests, sharing their opinions and even helping each other out. I think that everyone is nice without being condescending. Friendships are actually created with Mylot.

If you want to check it out, just click on this link:
http://www.mylot.com/?ref=Rainegurl