If you think giving up dairy products is a chore, well, bite your tongue. Dairy-free and cheese-free living is pretty rad when you know how to make plant-based alternatives to things like milk, cream, and cheese. Good stuff all around – catch “Life is better without dairy and cheese” cooking class this Saturday in Alabang. On the menu: pumpkin soup ever so creamy, zucchini napoleon with soy ricotta, pasta with alfredo sauce, and a mango trifle. Bonus: homemade seitan cutlets. Sign up!
***Note: I wrote this post last night when it was still rainy and wet out. Hmmm. Seems like the sun decided to ruin bad weather. Anyway, what is written is quite timely and should prepare you for the next rainy day.***
With the weather at a breezy 25 Celsius and with damp everywhere, it’s no surprise that people are slowly succumbing to coughing fits, sore throats, high fevers and sick everything. One of my brothers is on his third sickness spell in a little less than two months. Another brother is starting to develop something and yet another one just got out of a 5-day sick weekend. Eeek! With germs and bacteria lurking about (and we all know, bacteria loves dampness), we need to reinforce our immune system with the proper tools to combat almost-sicknesses and for general health maintenance. It’s easy to slack off, eat without a health conscience, and depend on Paracetamol. But it’s downright awesome, I must say, to not get sick and be out and about.
Not to toot my own horn, but I LOVE this kind of weather where it’s rainy, windy, damp. On a rainy day, you can find me merrily making bread from scratch or baking a pie. You’ll also find me cooking up a cauldron of soup. Maybe I should’ve been British, eh?
I’ve been pretty lucky to not catch anything nasty yet. The last time I got sick was January of 2010 when I was caught by surprise by a New York winter that no Filipino should ever want to experience. EVER. Imagine bagyo-caliber wind + negative Celsius + zero humidity. This really happened. Now imagine a Pinoy, used to 95% humidity and 35 Celsius, in that situation. Yipee! Being sick, cold, and alone is fun.
Snow ain't all that when you're about to catch hypothermia.
Anyway, I digress. I’d like to share a few tricks on immunity protection, if you don’t mind. Continue reading →
Oh, poor tarragon. For one reason or another, you always get lime-lighted out by Ms. Popularity Basil and Ms. Love-me-or-hate-me Cilantro. Even Ms. I’m-easygoing Thyme gets more love than you. Maybe your floral taste stumps cooks into not knowing what to do with you. And bakers, they don’t show you any love either. Mint, such a dessert herb limelight whore you are (harsh words, but it’s true).
