tissues and eggplant.

here it goes again.

i'm currently grossly sick. dripping nostrils, sinus headache, fever, chills, achey and worst of all, no appetite. this is pretty much absurd considering i'm in the restaurant industry and tonight is the food tasting for a new menu i plan to launch next week. if only my friends with appetites bigger than life were around to taste, i would have no problems at all.

i'm blaming my sickness on my lack of sleep and my change in diet. my lenten sacrifice for this year is meat. all forms of animals with 4 legs and 2 legs, leaving me with the option of eating only those that have fins and grow in dirt. the first year i did this it was a pretty daunting task, but the succeeding years haven't been so bad. so those who are super carnivorous are probably wondering what i fill my stomach with through lent, so here goes my rundown:

• cucumbers and cherry tomatoes drenched in ranch dressing
• 4 cheese pizza (mozz, parm, fontina and blue) from this bar that serves alcohol with a side of weed, hold the weed, just give me the pizza
• shrimp fried rice
• lots and lots of sashimi
• relleno talong and rice with banana ketchup (don't hate, it's helllllla good)
• lots and lots of fruit with yogurt
• homemade pasta tossed with butter and parmesan or fresh pesto
• grilled cheese sandwiches
• $3 mac and cheese (it's super expensive here, but when i want it, i buy it)

that pretty much sums up my diet through lent. it's not gourmet, then again i don't really eat gourmet even when it's not lent, but i i eat what i want, and this is enough for me. what'd people give up for lent?

my heart is made of food.

the last month of life has been one crazy mix of events, some of which make sense, and some of which leave me saying, "huh?".

valentine's day just passed last week and even with an early start on my "search" for that special one to buy me flowers, dinner and a new pair of sally's, i ended my search early so i could focus on making sure everyone else's valentine's day dinner didn't suck. i'd like to think that my crew did a great job with it.

valentine's day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants. it's the one day where people spend money to enjoy time with the ones they love, the ones they want to love, and the ones they hope will love them. if not for love, they're probably just hoping for some booty.

i spent weeks pulling my hair out on what would be the perfect valentine's dinner. i tend to base my menu selections on the things i know my loved ones like to eat, and (if i didn't know already) asked many of them what would be an ideal valentine's day meal for them. this is my one chance to cook what i truly enjoy cooking and using flavor combinations that i would like, rather than what everyone else would like. i give myself this one day. consider it a valentine's day gift to myself considering the search came up with nothing. 90 people fed, full and feeling loved. awesome.

here's the rundown in amateur pictures of the featured items of the night:

dynamite oysters

roasted pork cheeks with garlic noodles

wagyu beef medallions with roasted red pepper coulis and shiromiso

this is what my crew looked like after a busy night of service.

p.s. i'm still thinking about my last meal. i'm getting closer to figuring it out, but it just gets more and more difficult every time i eat something amazing. patience, i'll get there.

julie and julia

new year, new start.

i write this as i watch julie and julia. i wish i had seen this movie so much sooner, but as usual, cebu opted to not show it in the theaters. bad move cebu, baaaaad move.

i have to say, this movie is inspiring. watch closely at how the characters respond to every bite of food they take. their facial expressions, their descriptions, their incredible appetites, and the way they can make all food look so amazingly unctuous makes me want to be best friends with them and invite them to dinner.

this movie is the perfect example that if you love what you do, it's not work. i feel like i can relate to this movie in more ways than one.

stay tuned. i'll be blogging much more often this year. i've rearranged my priorities.

bread, meat, cheese, hold the typhoon please.

now that i'm through with september, i'll start with october's festivities.  from my knowledge there weren't any big reservations or events in october except for my uncle's birthday party, and that wasn't supposed to happen until the 23rd.  i figured i'd have a good chunk of the month to get myself organized, find a house, figure out closet space, do a few dives and just take on everyday tasks.  i was completely sent into shambles when events started rolling in, and as usual, i took on more responsibility than i should have.

for those who may not know, the philippines was hit with typhoon ondoy in late september leaving millions homeless, hungry and lost.  my staff organized themselves, and offered to donate portions of their service charge towards the cause.  a few of our guests also joined the efforts.  and i threw myself into the efforts whole heartedly.   i'll do a post about this soon.

in the 2nd week of october my uncle asked me to help with something called 'world bread day'.  a local bakery was the principle sponsor so JEDCO, our family's mother company (distributor of imported meat, deli items and seafood), co sponsored as well since it was publicity through one of the major grocery stores.  at first it was just going to be the owner of the bakery who was going to do the preparation of all the food.  i had a meeting with her and she openly admit to me that she didn't know how to cook, only how to bake.  uhhhhhh...  yeah, so that's how i got thrown into the whole thing.  

there was no cost to the restaurant since all of the ingredients were donated by the grocery store, JEDCO and the bakery.  i simply threw together a few sandwiches and pasta salad in order to highlight the both the bread and deli items.  the produce, i didn't care about highlighting.    the organizer of the event was a dumbass and sent a text to everyone that she was sick, the day before the event and that she wouldn't be able to do anything anymore.  then, on the day of the event shows up to boast about what a great success the event was.  to this day, i still want to kick her.  oh!  AND after the event was over she and her mom went into the back preparation area with grocery store plastic bags in hand to bring food home.  these ladies tag teamed with one pouring the pasta salad and the other holding the bag, then took a quick shuffle step around one of my guys to take handfuls of jamon serrano, cheese and bread.  wow, you're so classy.  

here are some pictures from the event taken by a photographer hired by the grocery store:

kathy cheng of kate's bakeshop (the one who doesn't cook, she only bakes)

the socialites of cebu.  it's like that sesame street game, one of these things is not like the other

the spread

doggie yoga.

usually i let the dogs sleep in my room with me, but ever since i started waking up with my eyes swollen shut, i had to keep them outside.  they don't really love me, they just love my air conditioner.  this morning i didn't hear scratching on my door so i figured they were already out running around.

when i opened the door, this is what i found:

barack sleeping

now i can't figure out how barack's leg got all the way up to his head or where he tucked his other leg since i've never seen a dog in this position before.  i figured he could have been watching my aunt do her yoga video and opted to join in, got tired and just plopped down to sleep.  if i had a wider lens on my phone you would have seen johnny (bravo), our other dog, standing in front of barack just staring at him.  

dancing in september.

i've been horrible about the blogging.  september and october have been incredibly busy months for me, forcing me to push the blogging aside.  i guess it's the fact that by the end of the day i literally plop on any bed i can find, fully clothed, eyeliner still intact and sleep.  only to wake up 3 hours later and do it all over again.  lately i've had a love hate relationship with this lifestyle, but the make up sessions are amazing, so i'll take it.

since the last time i blogged was early september, i must use this entry to recap on the memorable events of september, with the most important, and only, being my birthday (of course).

i opted out of a big party considering i still have enough alcohol in my system from last year's party.  i kept it low key, but my staff really made it special for me this year, surprising me with a series of small cakes throughout the day and topping it all off with a big cake at the end of the night.  then they drew on our com (communication) board, wishing me a happy birthday.  i never realized how truly blessed this business is to have a staff like this. 

here are a few pictures from my phone:

i felt loved.

p.s.  as a birthday gift to myself, i bought myself a new pair of sally's.  they are beautiful.  

life keeps me from blogging.

wow.  i haven't blogged in almost a month.  sorry to my regulars.  i'll cook you dinner the next time i see you.

a few things have been going down in the last month.  here's a short run down:

1.  my mom made a surprise visit to cebu.  awesome.

2.  my back decided to give out.  i have a degenerative disc on my L3 or L4 (i don't remember which one).  not awesome.

3.  my head chef resigned.  this puts me back in the kitchen.  somewhat awesome.

4.  my grandma got pretty sick.  totally not awesome.  

here's a quick picture to make you all smile and say, "what the?!?!"  i'll just give you a little background information.  b money sent me this picture of her sister and cousin playing with sausage.  apparently there is an entire roll of film with sister, cousin and sausage.  ummmm....