Habanero Chili Turns Red

Update for October 7, 2012: Chili Fail :(

The habanero chili that's been corking (having cracks on the skin) for a while now. It's been said that the chilis that cork tends to be a lot hotter than the other ones from the same plant. It says that it's also a sign that it's ready to be picked, but then it was still bright green back then.

See the cracks? That's a sign of a very hot chili pepper. On the other side of this is the red tinge.

I've been tempted to pick them already, but it's a good thing that I waited because they're now starting to turn red! The flavor is supposed to be better than the green one. Good thing I waited! I'll probably have to wait another week or two until they get really red. :)

I noticed as well that the side that turned red faster was the one facing the sun. :) The weather here has been gloomy lately and I've been lucky to get enough bright sunlight.

I still don't know what to do with them. Some ideas were hot sauce, chop them up and put into vinegar, salsa... I'll be saving up the seeds as well to share with my friends. :)

Compare the bright green one from the one with the red tinge

To see the growing process of these habanero chilis, click here "My Habanero Chili Babies"

REALLY Quick Salad Dressing

I've been eating those Goolai Salads they sell in convenience stores for a while now. You know how big they are right?

I found that if I get the ones with the creamy dressing, I can't finish the salad. But if I get the vinagrette dressings, i can finish the whole thing!

I get tired of eating halfway through if it's the creamy dressing ("suya" in Tagalog). I also feel that it's a lot heavier in a not so good icky way.

So now, we have the caesar salad version at home. The dressing wasn't actually creamy, but it "feels/tastes" the same as the creamy ones like the ranch dressing. I wanted to give it a shot so i put in 1/4 (roughly 2 tablespoons)... i still found myself getting "suya".

How to: I grabbed some extra virgin olive oil, drizzled a bit. I added a splash of white vinegar (I used Datu Puti brand). I also added a little bit of chili-onion-infused vinegar (it's just vinegar that had chili and chopped onions mixed in). I tossed it all in.

It turned out well! My brother said it was refreshing. :)

There you have it! Vinegar + Olive Oil. REALLY quick salad dressing!

Misibis Bay Legazpi Trip

A bunch of us went on a trip to Misibis Bay in Legazpi City over the weekend. One of my friends got the deal from Deal Grocer and we tagged along.

I'd say overall that the "feel" of Misibis Bay resort is comparable to Anvaya Cove. Price-wise, i cant compare it because Anvaya involves membership-related costs and we also got Misibis for a good deal. For the purpose of comparison, I'll take a stab at sharing the highlights of the trip.

The view from our room

1) The hospitality of Misibis is tops. All of the staff is very warm and friendly. Their "good morning" is genuinely friendly. When you come out of the coaster, you're greeted by tribal dancers, cold towels, snacks, and fancy calamansi juice.

Ibalong Dancers

2) The non-motor activities are free and the people are eager to serve and help you out. We went snorkeling and we went on a sailboat trip around the island. We would have taken up more activities like windsurfing. The games are also free! We played some foosball and billiards.

The game room slash bar

3) The package comes with a free tour around Legazpi (i think this is optional). We went to Ligñon Hill to see the city from the top. We got to see the Mayon Volcano in the Cagsaua/Cagsawa Ruins, and we went to the Our Lady of the Gate Parish. Our tour ended in the Pili-Nuts and Legazpi Souveneir store. Our tourguide happened to be our snorkeling guide. :)

Mayon Volcano and Cagsawa Ruins

Saints, Jesus, and Mary in Our Lady of the Gate Parish

4) Our breakfast and dinner buffet comes with the package for the room! The food was good, especially the Filipino food and the grilled meat/fish. Stay away from the Roast Beef Pizza, though. It looks good, but it was tough to eat.

At the Spices Restaurant

The dinner table

5) The swimming pool with the bar connected to it with underwater stools was cool. I didnt get to try drinking in the pool, but looks like it's a lot of fun!

Overall, I really enjoyed the stay. 3 days has been too short, but if i stayed too long, I'd get too fat. :D

I'd definitely want to go back. There's a deal right now in Deal Grocer, but ill need to save up for it again!

From outside the front desk

Our room was at the top floor

The garden

Flower Close Up Shots in Legazpi

I like taking pictures with my iphone and i like using snapseed and instagram to fix it up. I a self-proclaimed "amateur photographer"!

These were all taken today in Legazpi City. :) I'll share some more later on.

How to: Creamy Eggs on Toast (Microwave)

In relation to my previous post here on Creamy Scrambled Eggs using a microwave, I'm posting here the steps in making it.

How to:

• Crack the egg into a bowl, put in the knob of butter. Prepare [but don't add!] your other things to add in. In my case, it was basil, bleu cheese, and a spring onion leaf.
• Put it in the microwave and nuke for 10 seconds. Take it out and mix. Continue with the 10-second-nuke-and-mix cycle. If the egg starts to become solid, keep mashing to get the lumpy mix.

• When the mixture becomes lumpy like below, add in the basil, cheese, chopped spring onion. Mix it around.
• Do another round of 10-second-nuking-and-mixing. Add salt and pepper. Check if you're happy with the consistency. If not, keep doing the 10-second-nuking-and-mixing. Just be careful to not overcook, as eggs tend to continue cooking with the residual heat after you've taken it out of the microwave.
• After that, put it on top of the bread. :) That's it!

Quick Dinner at Share Tea in Wilson

I asked a friend to drop me off in Share Tea at Wilson cor P. Guevara since my parents were on the way to pick me up to go see a doctor.

I was hungry so I bought the Classic Taiwanese Tea no pearls(Php 70 for the regular, 1st item on the menu) and the Spicy Fried Chicken (Php 75). I was happy with it. :) The chicken was soft and really hot.

They had FREE WIFI too!

Plant Starter Kits

My niece brought over a Strawberry Planting Starter Kit that her mom got from Hobbes and Landes (Dunecraft Brand, Imported from the US).

2 Saturdays ago, we started working on it. It came with a dried disc of oil where you just add 2 cups of water. There was also a packet with the seeds. The dried disc of potting soil expanded to fill out the dark green container that it came with.

My niece holding the plant starter kit

Later that evening, I had dinner with my friends in Wilcon Depot in Visayas Ave. I stumbled upon plant starter kits at 1/10th of the price! The brand is Kenko World, but they are located in the CDR-King Store. I'm not sure if the plant starter kits are produced locally or if it's imported from China.

I ended up buying 3 different kits: Mint, Coffee, and Lavender. I also bought a mini-teddy bear for 30 pesos for my niece! :) It came with a pack of sponge-like artificial soil.

(TL: All together with the bear, TR: Lavender with the metal pail, BL: Mint with the green container, BR: Coffee with the Brown Mug

So it's been more than a week already since I planted these. I left it outside. It should have started sprouting by now, but they havent. Probably, the rainy weather hasn't helped (?). The containers that came with the package didn't have drain holes (except for the mint). I don't know for sure.

So anyway, I've transferred them over indoors - maybe that would help.

I'll write more about it if anything happens (whether I throw it out or it sprouts). Maybe then, I'll be able to find out if I can have the same result with the Kenko World ones at 1/10th of the price!

Creamy Scrambled Eggs on Toast

Whenever I want a quick midnight snack and nobody's there to cook for me, my go-to snack has been scrambled eggs.

The inspiration for this is Gordon Ramsay's "Sublime Scrambled Eggs", where the eggs' consistency is creamier than the usual spongy and oily version.

So anyway, i just followed how it was made (but instead, in the microwave, stirring at every 10 seconds) and added in whatever else was available in the garden. Sometimes I use onion leaves, garlic leaves, or basil leaves. (Don't at salt at the beginning of the cooking process because it'll make it watery vs. creamy)

I top it off with freshly cracked black pepper... maybe cayenne if we have.

My Chili Babies

Just sharing pictures of my habanero chili plants. *proud*

We got the seeds around October 2011. It's been a challenge getting them to grow, with my lack of experience in planting. The growing process has been too long, because it took a year to get to this point when it should have been 4 months.

I didn't even know they were habaneros until I searched for chili pictures to compare with!

Getting these to grow has been fulfilling. There are only a few of them that have survived. Now, there are already 3 fruits (There's only 2 in the pictures).

They're supposed to turn red/orange before I pick them off. I've read that it takes quite a while. I can't wait to try these! :)

See the photos taken in July-Sept 2012:

The chili bloom

After getting pollinated, the petals should fall off (yes, the yellow thing is a pencil)

Then it starts to grow bigger (the white bubbles on the leaf is soap-bubbles)

...until it becomes about THIS big.

Tuna Sisig from Leftover Canned Tuna

Today, i stayed at home. My family left home for dinner so I made "Tuna Sisig" from my leftover lunch. I put quote-marks, because I'm not entirely sure if it qualifies as Tuna Sisig because it's different from the usual ones where there's mayo or what.

Since I used what was available, I like to think this version is kind of unique. Instead of mayo, I used honey mustard (but only in very small amounts). I also used a little bit of basil for its smell, I picked 3 big leaves from the garden.

Anyway, here's what it looks like...

Ingredients (Enough for 1-2 people):

• About 1 can of the hot and spicy tuna (I used about 3/4 of the can because i ate some for lunch)
• Oil from the tuna in the can
• 3-5 pieces of fresh basil leaves, cut into strips (YES, I had some. I like basil.)
• About a tsp of minced onions
• About a tsp of minced garlic
• A dash of soy sauce
• About half a tsp of honey mustard (because I didn't have mayo)
• 1 calamansi

Procedure:

1. Put the tuna in a pan, break it into smaller pieces. It'll start cooking in its own oil. Add some oil from the can if it looks dry.
2. Add the basil, onions, and garlic. Let it fry around.
3. Keep adding some of the oil from the tuna can and let the tuna bits brown. I like mine partially crunchy. 
4. When you're happy with the crunchiness level, add the honey mustard.
5. Serve it on a plate then squeeze the calamansi juice over it.

If you like it spicy, add some chopped chili or add hot sauce. Since the tuna I used was already spicy, I didn't need to add anything else. Don't limit yourself to what I've written here! Feel free to experiment and use whatever you like. :)