painting again

In the last few days of my Vegas visit, I spent some time painting again.  It's been a long while since I put my brushes to a canvas, and it felt nice being reunited with my "old friends".  A perfect opportunity to go on Artist Mode opened up - my Mama needed artworks for her bare walls, and a fantabulous arts & crafts supplies store was within walking distance from her home.  As a pleasant plus, top-quality art materials are much cheaper in the U.S. than back home, so it was fun to go shopping for ready-made canvases and paints.  

My Ma showed me a photo that she wanted me to use as a peg, and after four days, voici:

20x23 acrylics on canvas by me.

This, beside a painting made by my sister, now hangs in Mama's kitchen wall.  It's not quite done, as I would've wanted to add more detail and create more depth, but I needed to do a lot of packing that week.  I thus needed to curb my obsessive horror-vacui impulse and settle for the above finished product.  

Even if it isn't exactly as I intended it to be - and though it was a rather stressful week that week with all the packing and last-minute stuff going on - there's this sense of satisfaction over painting again.  At my core I know I'm an artist, and making visually interesting things feels like home to me.

2012 was pretty good ^_^

As I've made it my personal tradition every January to make an inventory of the previous year, here goes my recollection of 2012.  All photos in this entry mine.

General climate of 2012
Hmmm.  Steady.  Not exactly ecstatic this year, but peaceful and content.
Quite a productive year; possibly the most productive I've been in a while.  The latter half was also rather restful.

The best decision I made 
Getting out of a stress-inducing situation.

The greatest joy
Taking a trip to the U.S. to see family and take a break from the madness that is Manila.

The greatest challenge
Same as last year - Not having as much money as I want / need..  ^_^  I suppose that's a constant for everyone.

Biggest success
The fact that I gained the most income I've had in a while.

Biggest fiasco
Oh.  The one in my opinion was precipitated by an external epalistic otherwise moral organic molecular unit that veritably contained non-foster information and supposedly good but otherwise careless intentions that were detrimental to for his own welfare as well as that of others.

Biggest blessing
Spending time alone and unattached.

The year's vice
Used books.  Just couldn't get enough.

Best discovery
The joy of string cheese.  ^_^
And the alarming rate at which a diet that consists heavily of fastfood accumulates unwanted pounds. 0_o  After all my supersizing caused me to become supersized myself, I vowed never to subsist on such evils again.

Best finds

• Neutrogena products unavailable in Manila.  
• The used books store in SM.
• Thrift stores in Vegas, where I was able to buy a ton of used books.  Paperbacks in great condition at 99 cents each (around PhP 40), hardbound editions at $1.99 (around PhP 80). 
• 1-cent used books on Amazon.com.  Wow.

Nicest place visited
the white beaches on Panglao Island, Bohol.

Worst loss 
Another church.  :/

Best loss
Six unwanted pounds.  :D  Hooray!

Biggest disappointment
The falling away of  friends and the failure (so far) to assimilate new ones.
And finding how someone who posed as a friend turned out not to be one after he decided he didn't need us after all

Ministry
Cut short and henceforth nonexistent.  Which isn't so bad, since it freed me up to take a long trip.

Spiritual principle for the year
God loves misfits and outcasts.

Most fun projects
The various cupcake experiments done with my sisters.
And the multitude of snowflakes for Mama's glass doors.

Greatest frustration
Being the young visionary who saw how giants could be slain, but being told by the older "experts" it can't be done, it shouldn't be done, and that I should know my place.  Puh-leez.

Greatest encouragement
Evidence of how much God has grown me in the past decade, and how I've been able to deal with personal issues.  Oh yes.  ^_^  It's a Praise the Lord moment.

Best reads
Nonfiction:
Wide Awake.  Erwin McManus.
The Case for Christ.  Lee Strobel.

Fiction:
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  Steig Larsson.

Best movies
2012 was a good year for movies, me thinks; but my faves for the year are
Les Miserables, 
The Hobbit, and
Life of Pi. 
(I'm so glad I wasn't in Manila when Les Miz came out.  Due to the yearly film fest, screening in the Phils was pushed to January, forcing avid moviegoers to wait three weeks.  Since I've been in  Nevada, I was able to see it day after Christmas. Woot, woot! )
(Coming to think of it, I watched all of my 2012 faves in Nevada.)

Fave TV series
Still Doctor Who.  Quite sad about the Ponds but very pleased with the new companion.
And I am Sherlocked. Frustrated that series 3 will be postponed.
I also discovered 2010's Outsourced and found it enjoyable.

Fave snack
Celery sticks and tomato juice.  Glad to go healthy.  ^_^
Last year it was red velvet cupcakes.  I've gotten sick of it since; maybe because I've been eating too much of it.

Fave gift received
A $50 gift card for clothes and accessories.  (Thanks Ate S. and Mr. W! You guys are big blessings!)

Fave people met
There wasn't much of a relationship formed due to the limited time, but the community group my sister and I joined (in LV) made quite an impression. Nice, smart people.   The couple that owned the house was a perky blonde and a half-Filipino dude.  There were also: a young lady who works with orphans, the Canadian girl who taught us how to make peppermint bark, a smart geek type, a sweet guy from Wisconsin, and the smiley guy with  the biceps.  I liked them all so much I  wished I could pack them in my bags.

Best new skill
Learning to cook kare-kare (Thanks, Tita Haidee!  We love you so much).

Prettiest thing I made
If it isn't this Christmas tree, it must be this Amethyst necklace that I'm pretty proud of:

Most worthwhile thing I've made

A non-churchy discipleship manual, the kind stripped of Christianese platitudes to help make Bible-truths more meaningful, but still heavily Biblical.

Fave photos taken

Panglao Island, Bohol.  February.

Estrellas de Mendoza, Laiya. Batangas.  March.

Aviation Nation, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.  November.

Worst month

June.

Best month
November.
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how to make peppermint bark

Cheers to a brilliant, easy, Christmassy gift idea that doubles as a dessert!    I've never tried making (or  eating) peppermint bark before, but I've recently become acquainted with it and I reckon it's a common holiday treat.  I learned this recipe from a girl named Allie, whom I've had the privilege of meeting during my short stay in Vegas.  

You Will Need:

8 oz semisweet chocolate
8 oz white chocolate
Candy canes or peppermint candy


How To Make Peppermint Bark:

STEP 1: Crush the candy canes (or peppermint candy).  Make about 1/3 cup of crushed candy, then set this aside.

Note:  The finer the candy bits are, the less they will stick to the chocolate later on, so you'd want to make the pieces rather coarse, not pulverized.  About the size of rice grains.  We used a kitchen knife today, but I think using a mortar-and-pestle is a smarter option.


STEP 2:  Melt the brown chocolate using a double boiler.  If you don't have a double boiler, improvise with two saucepans:  boil water in one saucepan, and put another pan on top of that one.  Place the chocolate in the top pan.  The steam from the bottom pan will rise to the top pan, melting the chocolate nicely.

It's important to use this double-boiling method so as not to scald the chocolate.  Burnt chocolate = gross = not good.

(Uh ...  I'm really no good at photo-documentation because I get distracted so easi... oh look, a teddy bear!  I'm so sorry I wasn't able to take shots of the other steps. *sheepish grin*  )


STEP 3:  Pour the melted chocolate in a cake pan. Spread with a spatula to make a nice, even first layer.

The size of the pan you use would depend on how thick you want your peppermint bark to be.  We wanted ours to be real thin, so we used a 10x12 pan to make quarter-inch-thick pieces.  A smaller pan of course will yield thicker layers.  A rectangular or square pan is ideal, but I suppose a round one will do if you're not the type of person to obsess over even-sized pieces.


STEP 4:  Stick the pan into the freezer until the chocolate hardens.

STEP 5:  Melt the white chocolate this time.  Pour the molten white chocolate over the hardened brown chocolate layer - and similarly, spread to make it even.  Let cool.

STEP 6:  Before the white chocolate hardens, sprinkle the crushed candy canes over it.  Let this sit in the freezer awhile to let it solidify completely.

STEP 7:  Slice into neat, even-sized 2-inch squares.

Okay, fine.  It isn't so easy to slice them neatly.  Irregular, uneven pieces are an excellent idea too.  You can tell your friends later that this adds character.  :)


Yields:6 to 8 regular servings, or
2 candy-lover servings


Prep time:1 hour (it depends on your freezer's capabilities, actually)

Serving Suggestions:

I think peppermint bark is pretty straightforward, but I imagine it would look good with green jellybean garnish and / or those edible sparkly thingies.
Several pieces in a clear candy bag tied with Christmassy ribbons would make nice giveaways.

* All photos in this entry are mine.
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a clever christmas tree idea

Photos mine.

I put together this "tree" for my Ma at her house.  It's a fun holiday craft idea inspired by something we saw on Pinterest. It's a brilliant space-saving idea if you live in a teeny apartment.  It's also something you can do with all your mismatched ornaments.  

The "branches" are actual branches sawed off a dead tree, held up by the powers of push-pins, thread, and a bit of imagination.  Nylon wire or hemp twine would be ideal, but I used beading floss in this one.

As with most of my craft projects, I chose to challenge myself by not buying anything, but using only what I had available.

You don't even need to hang actual Christmas ornaments.  You can use odds and ends you have around the house, then holiday-ify them with red (or gold, or green) ribbons.  If you  look closely, you'd notice I put a key chain in there  :)  I also used a glass pebble, a pine cone I picked up, a gift tag and a plastic something that I found on a cake.

Clever, huh?

tita haydee's kare-kare recipe

I'm so glad I learned something new yesterday. My wonderful new friend Tita Haydee taught me how to make kare-kare . She's not really my tita.  She's just a few years older than I am, but I call her "tita" because she's a friend of my mom's.

I always thought of kare-kare as an ultra-challenging dish to prepare, but Mrs. H showed me how to do it the easy way.  Since she's quite health conscious too, she gave me a few tips to make it "safer" for human consumption.


Ingredients: 

Beef, cut into cubes
Oxtail
String beans
Pechay
Eggplant
Kalabasa
One large onion
Garlic, 4 cloves
Achuete powder, 3-4 tbsps or one packet
Reduced fat peanut butter, 2 cups or 1 jar


You'll also need:
At least 2 large cooking pots
Strainer
Slotted soon


Procedure:

1.  Wash beef and oxtail  thoroughly under running water.

2. Place the beef in a pot, with enough water to cover it completely.  When it comes to a boil, remove from heat, drain and wash off the excess fat.  Repeat once more.

3.  Boil beef again until soft.  This may take 2-4 hours on the stovetop, or 30 minutes in a pressure cooker.

4.  Meanwhile, chop vegetables into bite-sized chunks.  Set aside.

5.  Take pot #2 and boil water.  Dunk vegetables briefly in boiling water to rinse out any impurities.  Set veggies aside and throw away the water.

6.  Boil the eggplant until tender.  Do the same with the kalabasa.  Set aside.

7.  Boil about 2 cups of water.  Stir in 2 cups of reduced fat peanut butter (or one whole jar) until melted.  It has to be reduced  fat peanut butter because  most other kinds tend to produce globs of oil. Pour this into a bowl and set aside.

8.  Sautee onions and garlic in oil in pot #2.  Stir in the achuete.  Pour in the molten peanut butter and stir until smooth.

9.  Check the meat pot now.  When the meat is completely tender, gradually stir in the peanut butter sauce, about a cupful at a time.

10.  Add the vegetables, put heat on low and let simmer for 2 minutes.  No too long because you want the veggies to be crunchy.