Before I got married, I didn't know how to cook. It was always Mom who cooks good food for us. But when I got married and moved here in the U.S., I know that I need to learn how to cook. It was very difficult at first. Oftentimes, I had to call Mom just to ask for instructions on how to cook even simple meals. Spending so much time on the internet have helped me as well. I've found good recipes from friends' blogs and other famous food and recipe websites. Eventually, I didn't just learn how to cook but I started to enjoy doing it. I still don't consider myself good at it though but the willingness and interest to learn is there, unlike before. I guess it's an improvement and I'm quite proud of it. I'm happy with hubby because he eats whatever I serve. He's not picky at all. He appreciates me cooking and he always tells me I'm such a good cook even if I know I'm not, haha! He loves chicken and pork adobo, lumpia, pansit, bola-bola, bistek, pork giniling, tortang baboy, to name a few of his favorites. Lately, I've been cooking a lot of Filipino foods, hehe! There's always leftovers since it's just the two of us in the house so he would bring some leftovers to work. The nosy co-workers couldn't help themselves from getting curious on what food he's eating, lol! One time he brought some chicken adobo and one of the guys said something about the color of the chicken ain't right, haha! Du'h! Adobo has soy sauce, man! I wish I could have hubby bring some dried fish and dried squid to work to see how they would react to the smell, haha! Well, it's not gonna happen though. Hubby couldn't even stand the sight of my stinky little friends.

I was inspired to cook "ginaling" after I saw it from a friend's blog.

Bam-i..yum..yum

This was my 3rd time to make "Bola-Bola" and I was pretty happy with how it tasted this time around. See, sometimes in cooking, it's just a matter of trial and error, haha!

Pork Steak courtesy of my Mama. Red bell pepper is what's supposed to be used for this recipe but I found none in the fridge so I used green instead. See, in cooking, you can also improvise sometimes, haha! It didn't come out bad so no harm done here.

Now, Brussel Sprouts is definitely not Filipino-ish, but one night I made it as a side dish as we get tired of eating meat all the time. I wish I had put some bacon with it but anyway, I love the buttery taste and hubby said it's good for the health.

How about you? What kinds of food do you cook at home? Do you crave for Pinoy foods too?

I love chocolates! Who doesn't? If not for the fear of getting diabetic and growing big, I’m pretty certain that most people would like to make chocolates as part of their daily food calorie intake. Actually, me and hubby are tryyying…to shed off some pounds for our future wedding in the Philippines. Ironically, we still include chocolates in our regular grocery check list, du’h! We both particularly like dark chocolates with almonds in it. It’s something that we munch on while we watch tv or use the computer. I know that we need to cut back on this habit because it’s unhealthy but you know what, I’ve seen a show one time that featured Dra. Vicky Belo, the doctor of the stars back in my country. She looks healthy, sexy, and young and I could not believe it that she’s a chocoholic as well. I mean she has this huge and seemingly infinite supply of gourmet chocolates and she said she would eat at least one bar a day. So it got me thinking maybe there are specific kinds of chocolates that are not that bad for us after all. I’ve heard that Dark Chocolate Cordial Cherries are good so I’m gonna order it online and probably give it to Jeff as part of my Vday presents for him. One would think that all gourmet candies are pricey but surprisingly, this one is only sold for $11.79. Not bad for a gourmet chocolate, isn’t it?