Month: June 2011

The moon is broken

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Luckily, we had a good view of Mr. Moon last night. Excitedly we told Vierte to observe the moon till it disappear. As expected when we said it would disappear he replied with “Ma it’s not sunny. The moon will stay cause it’s sleeping time”   Checking Mr. Moon every 10-15 minutes and showing him photos taken he then notice that  indeed it was getting smaller. Last night’s lunar eclipse is said to be second longest in century. Vierte kept telling us that the moon is broken because the cow ate the moon.

Emirati Recipe: Lamb Makhtoum

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Ginger over at gingerAndscotch started a cooking local project you can read more about it here. A fabulous idea right! What better way to appreciate the culture where we live if we don’t at least try their dish. If I can’t speak Arabic might as well learn to cook local dish. Even before being part of FIA I have been reading Emiratican Kitchen and have bookmarked her recipe for Chicken Makhtoum. She noted on her post that lamb would be a delicious substitute to chicken. When I told C that we’re having a local dish for dinner he immediately inquired if I prepared an emergency backup meal in case they won’t like it. Nope I don’t have any backup and they can order take out. I already know that Little V liked the lamb dish because he was beside me all the time tasting and checking if it’s yummy or not. He liked it so much that asked for rice and sauce for snack. Recipe Source: Emiratican Kitchen Ya Salam Cooking Emirati Recipe: Lamb Makhtoum …

Palitaw: Ube Coconut Rice Balls

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I’ve been reading friends status on how delicious mochi balls are. Which started my craving for some but couldn’t find any here. Take a look how Food Librarian made some mochi balls here. Yumyum!I think mochi balls are quite similar to a favorite Kakanin called Palitaw only shaped like a ball with some filling. I had some glutinous rice flour and ube haleya and decided to make some for our merienda (snack). WhenAdoboMetFeijoada made some using Sweet Purple Potato here. Palitaw: Ube Coconut Rice Balls 2 cups glutinous rice flour1 cup lukewarm water1 cup coconut flakesube haleyaBefore preparing rice balls, boil some water on a medium saucepan. Stir half cup of water on your glutinous rice flour adding a little bit more of water from the remaining half cup till dough comes together. Firm but pliable. Flatten a tablespoon of dough into a circle then fill with ube haleya. Gather sides and pinch to seal. Slowly roll between your palms to make a ball.Drop a few ball in our boiling water. After a minute or two rice balls …

Our Little Garden

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We are a family of farmer’s.  That is a reply I would always get whenever I ask my Lola about our family. One of the gifts that she treasured the most is plants. Lola would show off each tree we planted to guests along with some stories about us her apo’s (grandchildren). Oh how I miss her so much.  My mama also has a green thumb, she would change plants in our little garden almost every 3 months and neighbors would admire how she managed to grow beautiful flowers. Some friends would give her a sad orchid (no flowers) and somehow after a few months she would manage to make them grow happy blooming with colorful flowers.  And so secretly I’m hoping to have a farmer’s heart from my Papa’s side and a green thumb from my Mama. I started with a bunch of bamboo house plant which sadly only stayed with us for a year. My husband encouraged me to grow some herbs and bought me a pack of basil and chili seeds that …

a short trip to outerspace

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Went to MICC this afternoon to watch a sneak preview of Barney’s OuterSpace adventure show to be held this weekend here in Dubai. I’ve been joining competition to hopefully win us tickets and surprise little V.  We arrived around 5 in the afternoon and the floor was packed with moms and kids waiting for every little one’s purple friend. Luckily V and I found a good spot and took our place (sitting on the floor) singing along to familiar Barney songs. After 10 minutes V started asking where Barney is now and how long does he need to wait. 20 minutes…30 minutes…still no purple dinosaur in sight.  Some parents have been finding ways to squeeze their little one in the crowd, giving instructions (well more of shouting) to go walk till they reach the front. Which I think is just st***d! The little girl politely saying “excuse me” and looking back to her mom asking “it’s ok here?”, mom replies “Go to the front” (another mom beside me translated for us). Why would you ask …