Wednesday, March 25, 2015

rumors

Another Filipino fast-food chain has been rumored to be opening its branch in Muscat. I hope its true I've been missing their Burger Steak - so bad that I tried to replicate it last weekend.

Darlene cooked this: Burger Steak


Honestly, my version didn't taste like anything like it however, my family did liked it specially my dad. My brother said it was like a "healthier" version since its not processed food, no MSG and probably less salt.

Although, when it tingles my taste buds it didn't transfer me back to those good old days, but I'm making new memories instead.

Not bad, not bad at all.  

Sunday, March 15, 2015

Florencia's Arroz Caldo


Darlene cooked this: Arroz Caldo

I named this Arroz Caldo after my paternal grandmother, Florencia. Although, its no different from other Arroz Caldo recipes, I like a little back story of it.

One weekend morning, my dad came back from the market with a smile on his face. He bought a beef tripe. I was disgusted simply because of the smell - the tripe wasn't dressed as I was told. Honestly, I never knew about tripe until that morning. My dad spent the rest of the morning dressing the tripe. Afternoon came, he asked me to help him cook Arroz Caldo using the tripe.

That's when he told me a story of of grandmother. I never met her or seen any pictures of her as she was long gone even before I was born but, she was often described to me as a statuesque mestiza. Dad told me when he was a child, Florencia often prepared big batches of this and take it  to the nearby cockpit, along with a table, some chairs, bowls, some cutlery and him. With a makeshift restaurant, she sold bowls of porridge to the hungry bystanders and it was his job to keep a flow of clean bowls.

Over the years, I made Arroz Caldo so many times. Every time I do, I made it with a lot of care and patience - seriously, lots of care that it would take me at least an hour an half to cook it (not including the prep time). Each time I cook this, I try to replicate the porridge I had that afternoon.

For me, its not just a bowl of Arroz Caldo, its my dad's memory and mine in a bowl.

Darlene Cooked this: Arroz Caldo





Sunday, March 1, 2015

blue on blue

Darlene made this: V Neck Flutter Dress


This is the dress I made for myself for a wedding held recently. I used Burdastyle V Neck Flutter Dress for the bodice using velvet fabric. I graded down the pattern by 2 sizes and followed their tutorial to shortened it.

I drafted my own pattern for the skirt and used cotton sateen fabric.

Darlene's V Neck Flutter Dress - Back

Darlene's V Neck Flutter Dress - Front


Last year, I only wore 1 particular silhouette in different variations like: in black and white, with peplum, and with draped bodice. So I thought this year, I try to make dresses of different silhouette to see which one suits me best.

Happy sewing...!