Papa's Chinese Pata Tim Recipe

We are used to having Pata Tim the way our Lola Neneng used to make -- Spanish style with tomato sauce, 

sausages, prunes, pickles, potatoes and carrots. 

Luckly, Lola was able to pass on to Papa her Pata recipe. It has been an all time favorite dish during family reunions and special occasions.

However, there are times when we crave for Chinese Pata Tim.

This is one of Papa's "chamba" recipes. He likes to experiment with different recipes and just like me, he eyeballs the ingredients instead of measuring. Sometimes he gets the recipe right but ends up forgetting the proportions of the ingredients. Call it a "senior citizen moment".

Fortunatey, this time he remembered.  

Ingredients:

1 whole leg of pork (preferably the front)

 4 cups of water, 1/2 cup soy sauce

1cup oyster sauce (Papa prefers the brand Mama Sita)

2 cups pineapple juice

2 to 3 pcs star anise

peppper corns

cornstarch

oil for frying

Procedure:

In a pan, fry pork leg until the color just turns brown (do not fry all the way through) and set aside. In a pressure cooker, combine the water, soy sauce, oyster sauce, pineapple juice, star anise, the desired amount of pepper corns and the pork leg. Let it simmer for about 30 to 45 minutes (depending on the desired tenderness). After simmering, set aside pork leg and put on a serving dish. With the pressure cooker now opened and at about medium to low heat, add cornstarch to the sauce to thicken it (usually a teaspoon or more depending on the desired thickness). Pour sauce over pork leg. Garnish with steamed Chinese pechay.

Reusing Empty Yogurt Cups as Popsicle Molds

Several months ago I found a couple popsicle molds sold at Saizen.  

I was instantly attracted to this really cute, pastel colored one that

I couldn't resist getting it. Honestly, that was my only resason why i bought it.

We have been re-using empty yogurt cups as popsicle molds (among other things) for quite some time. There was a time when our little guy had been consuming quite alot of yogurt per day that we have already collected hundreds of yogurts cups!  

Anyway, to use as a mold all you'll need are the following:

several empty yogurt cups

popsicle sticks

foil

Fill your mold with any substance you wish

(such as buko juice or calamansi juice).

Cover with a small piece of foil.

Cut a slit throught the center of the foil to hold your popsicle stick in place.

Freeze your popsicles for at least 8 hours.

Enjoy!

Some News...

A couple of months ago I received an email from one of the editors of Yahoo! PH. They saw my blog and asked if I would be interested in being a contributing writer for the lifestyle section of their new site Yahoo!She.
I was naturally thrilled...and equally terrified!

I have been into crafting since literally forever but who knew that this little blog of mine would catch the attention of the guys from Yahoo more so ask me to write articles about my crafts for them???!

Well, needless to say, I said yes (duh?). Anyway, here's the link to my recent article. It's been some time already but I also still want to share my the first one that I wrote.

Happy long weekend, everyone!

DIY Chain Bracelet

This is a simple and super easy

project that you can make for yourself 

(early mother's day present?).

It will only take you a few minutes to make and will only cost you a couple of pesos!

All you'll need are the following:

Chain links

Ribbon

I prefer gross grain ribbon but you could use

whatever kind you like.

The size or width of the ribbon should also more or less match the size of the links of your chain.

Pliers

Scissors

Step 1: Cut chain to desired lenght by prying open the links using your pliers.

Step 2: Insert ribbon through the first link and knot.

Leave a few inches and cut.

Step 3: Thread ribbon through the rest of the links

Step 4: Make another knot on the last link leaving a few inches before cutting

Step 5: Tie around your wrist and adjust lenght of ribbon ends

Make more than one in several colors so you have the option of mixing and (mis)matching!

Chicken and Squash Maccaroni Casserole

The idea for this recipe came to me when I started introducing different food flavors to my then 6 month old baby. I used to prepare and freeze several batches of different varieties of mashed vegetables for Alonzo when he started eating solids. This allowed me to save precious time from doing all the prep work and cooking before each of his meals. This also allowed me to easily experiment with the different vegetable combinations.  While preparing his mac and cheese I decided to add a couple tablespoons of frozen mashed squash. Perfect combination for the little guy! He loves cheese. He also loves squash. In fact, he loves squash enough to give him carotemia! Not only does the squash give the dish a lovely, cheesy, golden color but wouldn't you also agree that this is also a great way to sneak in more veggies to your usual meals? This recipe is therefore intended not for my toddler but for my picky, carnivorous hubby! 

Ingredients

100 grams macaroni

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken breast fillets

1 tsp butter

1 cup milk

1 tetra pack all purpose cream

1 cup grated cheese

1 cup mixed vegetables

1/2 cup mashed squash

Procedure

Cook macaroni until al dente. Set aside.

In a low heat saucepan, combine butter, milk, cream and 1/2 cup cheese. stir continuously until thickened. Turn off heat.

Add chicken and mashed squash. Add in cooked macaroni and pour onto a baking dish.

Top with remainig cheese and bake until cheese turns golden brown.

Knitted Finger Puppet and St. Michael's Palyhouse

It was Alonzo's last day at St. Michael's Playhouse last Saturday.

We've been on the parent-child program since June last year and

hubby and I decided that we'll be taking a temporary break this summer. We'll be back on June.

Anyway, as a parting gift Alonzo received this hand made, knitted finger puppet from teacher Josie.

S-U-P-E-R  C-U-T-E!

I have to admit that I am a frustrated knitter

(and crocheter, for that matter). 

I can only knit long strands, as in a scarf and can hardly crochet if my life depended on it. 

Anyway,  St. Michael's Playhouse will be having a basic crochet,  doll-making and moving storybook workshop for adults and other fun activities for the kids this summer.

Check it out!