Song for Solana 1

One of the hardest things a parent has to do is keep the little one entertained.

Lord, do they need A LOT of entertaining!

So I've written a couple of songs that I sing to her.  Here is my morning song for Sage.  Inspired by that bodily function that we both do first thing in the morning.  It has a fun, boppety bop tune that makes you move your head from side to side.

Hello Sage
It's a brand new day
It's a fresh new way 
to start

Hello Sage
Just open your eyes
Give mama a smize
then fart

This is what we do
in the morning just me and you
while papa's asleep
we both let it rip
it's musical art
we fart.

Before they had models, Brazil had Brigadeiro

One day at band camp… hehe.  Sorry.  I’ve always wanted to start a sentence with that line since American Pie so I couldn’t resist since this is a camp-ish story.  Except instead of band camp, it happened in our CISV camp in India.  And, unlike band camp, it doesn’t involve any sordid, perverse sexual experiment.  Although it is equally sinful and delicious. 

Brigadeiro is a yummy yummy chocolate yema-ish candy from Brazil.  Mariana, the sexy Brazilian junion councilor, prepared it for all of us when it Brazil day.  At CISV, each country gets to have a “day” when we learn about the culture, the history, and of course the food there. On our day, I fed them chicken adobo and taught them tong tong tong tong pakitong kitong complete with choreography.   

I digress.

Back to chocolate now.

After I tasted Brigadeiro, I knew I had to learn how to make it.  So I cornered Mariana in the kitchen soon after and demanded that she teach me.  The deliciousness of this candy is only trumped by the simplicity of how it is made.

3 simple ingredients.

3 simple steps.

4 simple syllables that will make you wish you had an extra mouth so you can have two spoonfuls at a time.

Say it with me now.

Brigadeiro.

Again, again.  Say it the way Brazilians do.  Or better yet, say it as if a hot Brazilian model were naked in front of you right now.

BRIGADEEIIIRRRROOOOOO.

God.  Sarap.

Ingredients:

1 can condensed milk

3 tbsps butter

3 tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder (dutch-processed please)

Mix all ingredients together in a saucepan, put over low heat and bring to a simmer while constinuously stirring. 

When the mixture has thickened, remove from heat.

Transfer to another container to cool.  Then chill in the fridge.

 

You can form it into balls after or you can eat it like ice cream like I do.

Enjoy =)

Sure I can live without salt. I can also live without love. But I won’t. *

Salt has gotten a lot of bad PR over the years.  It makes you bloat.  It increases your chances of getting hypertension.  It is harmful to your kidneys, your bladder, your heart, etc.  etc. etc.  Doctors warn us now to kick it like a bad habit, like smoking, or alcohol, or drugs. Imagine that?  someday salt will only be available in dark, dingy alleys peddled by smelly men who only have three teeth left.  Our children will rebel under the mantra of SEX, SALT AND ROCK AND ROLL! and we will tell them about the good old days when salt was abundant and life tasted good.

And yet, despite the rap, God bless our stubborn hearts, we continue to use it liberally on anything and everything.   A great testimony to the tenacity and gluttony of the human race. 

To say that salt makes food salty is obvious and, honestly, insulting both to salt and to the person who says it.  Because how could you, you who absent-mindedly toss a handful of it to season your simmering pot of kaldereta, you who profusely sweat over a pot full of nilaga consciously checking if it needs another pinch of it, how could you just use the most obvious word to describe salt.  I mean really, adding another consonant, that’s the best you can do!

As simple as salt is, it does so much more than make food salty.  It is responsible for bringing out the complexities of every flavor palette.  That’s why we use it for baking and for cocktails even.  It elevates the inherent flavor of food to a higher level.  It maximizes the potential of food.  It encourages them to be the best that they can be.  It’s like Oprah… but whiter and less preachy.

Now, because of culinary geniuses who have come before us, our choices have expanded immensely.  What used to be 

"rock or refined salt?” is now “Iodized? kosher? Sea salt?  Flavored sea salt? Or the God of all salts, Fleur de sel?” 

Save for Fleur de sel, I have tried cooking with all.  I like sea salt because it tastes a little more organic than your basic iodized salt.  I don’t know if its psychological but it does bring in the flavor of the ocean a little.  I’m not a big fan of flavored sea salt because sometimes I don’t need to add that hint of oregano and thyme that come with the salt to my dish.  I appreciate, however, that it comes in grinders like peppercorns but I really can live without it.  The little I have had of kosher has made me a fan.  Its not too salty, just right.   Unfortunately, I have not had enough of it to sing it praises just yet. 

Salt, of course, like other seasonings, is a matter of taste.  How much or how little you want it in a dish is absolutely a matter of preference.  The bottomline is though, you need salt.  Yes, just as much as you need love.   

*this was my first entry for SINGLE HUNGRY FEMALES, a blog I started with Deesj three years ago (and dapat gigi and jenni but they never wrote anything).  We gave up the URL and if you search for it now, you will be directed to a porn site which works as well.

SMASH

I've always wanted to be a writer.  Some time ago, I forget when, I specifically wanted to write a musicale.

I am currently cleaning my office computer cos we're finally getting new ones (wooooohoooooo) and I found this "lyrics" saved in one of my folders.  Feeling ko talaga pwede!

So this is how it ends

With me on the floor

At quarter to 4

With a phone in my hand

And my heart broken into 6 million pieces

And this is how it ends

From half the world away

In a smug, ice cold way

You said this stopped working

Cos we suddenly just stopped making sense

And you said it was just as hard for you

And you said that you were breaking as well

And you said that tonight was a night you’ve been dreading

But you knew it was coming

Since the day that you and I fell

In love

We always knew that it was not gonna be easy

It was complicated right from the start

So forgive me for being all angry and bitter

As I helplessly watch my world fall apart

It must be real nice to be able to walk away unscathed

From the one you called the love of your life

It must be real nice to be able to move on

Without a scar, with barely a scratch

With nothing but memories that will soon fade away anyway

WOTY: KINDNESS

This blog is 4 months overdue, the word is not.  I knew what my word would be a few months before giving birth. 

For me, sure.  But for my daughter most of all.  And I will ask the universe to send some your way too.  Because who doesn't need a little more kindness in their lives?