FOOD: I Ain't No Chicken

...but Max's got a chockful of them!

Yesterday, I had a little brush in with death as I dared face the challenge of stuffing my face (and my arteries) with dead poultry, come hell or atherosclerosis, all for the price of P165 and endless fried chicken quarters. Today was the day I took on Max's Chicken-All-You-Can.

It all happened so fast. One minute, I was staring at those creepily smiling waiters in the flyers...


...the next minute, I was listening to my officemates' horror stories that somehow reminded me of episodes of "I Shouldn't Be Alive" (Discovery Channel) or "I'm Alive" (Animal Planet) - repetitive (heck, even the titles scream unoriginal!) but nonetheless capable of inducing paranoia. And, days after - just because it did not happen as fast as you might have reckoned it to be - I was on my way to meet up with a couple of college friends who expressed desire, masochistic at that, to beat their own officemates' records. Fresh from a rather long commute, I stepped out to the world and into the restaurant smelling like the armpits of a hundred MRT passengers after a day's work of baking under the sun. I was ready.

One by one, the chicken quarters menacingly came in and I gorged each with my fork and butter knife, making sure that I kept poised for action. Three quarters in, I was feeling the effects of livestock slowly churning in my digestive system and pushing me to give up. It didn't help, either, that the conversation turned to dysmenorrhoea and circumcision (my friends are just the most awesome, aren't they?) but I was determined to finish. One whole chicken down and four more quarters before I break my officemates' and each of my friends' officemates' record of eight chicken quarters, the bad news came. A friend of a friend of a friend (a chain of relationships which transposes to our own claim to fame) downed 21 chicken quarters. I was doomed. And utterly way behind the chicken glutton race.

Five quarters in, I managed to arrest a gag reflex and, with dismay, I set down my fork, stared at my seemingly bloody spoils - chicken bones piled up and stained with Jufran banana catsup - and let out a huge sigh. World, I do not deserve your praise for consuming just one whole chicken and then some.

I flushed everything down with a coco-pineapple fruit shake (aka, pina colada minus the alcohol) and went on with my life. Tomorrow's another day.

(Times like this makes me want to wish to high heavens for a camera... I can almost hear Dani saying "Pic or not true!". Will wait for my friends' photos. Teehee!)

Photo Credits:
[.]Chicken all You Can flyer by Max's

Creative Block

We've all had our share of creative blocks and it's quite the hassle when you're on a strict timeline. Sad to say, I've had a rather major one last night which stretched out to around 3 pm this afternoon, that after giving up on the possibility of an all-nighter even if I went to bed at around 4 am. I was working on a mock campaign for a famous brand of flipflops (as you may gather from the post before this) on hours on end when I hit a creative block. But, I have to admit that my creative block turned out to be fortunate, at least for me and Emily who've had enjoyed a lot of my unblocking activities.

I came across this article (via Lifehacker) where several creatives have shared their ways of overcoming creative block and, after having had read through the whole thing, I couldn't believe that I share the same tactic as one of them.

Minutes after I hit a brain fart, I turned on my speakers full blast with pop screaming at my ears at no end. Lulled me to sleep for the better part of it so it wasn't really that much help. This morning, however, I wrestled with the laptop again to come up with the awesomest mock campaign ever. But, sleepy mornings always have their way so I stood up and mindlessly ambled towards the fridge. It was then when I caught myself preparing for yet another episode of experimental cooking.

Again, the first target was the box of strawberries that filled Emily's fridge. I just couldn't get my mind out of why she purchased such a huge stash but never have the time or energy to prepare them according to her liking? I'm off to the rescue then! So for breakfast, we had strawberry pancakes, thanks to the left-over pancake mix from last time's cookfest.

I went back to my laptop soon after but was still stumped. That meant cheesy marble potatoes! But, with all those in my belly, I knew there's no way I'm not doing dessert. Being the desperate person that I am, I hit the fridge once more only to find apples and, uhm, more strawberries. Oh, and beer! And what's an experimental cook going to do with those? Try to whip something out of all of those, of course!

And, whip something I did, though I have no idea what that something would look like, let alone be named like because Supercook was of no use to me that time. But, lo and behold, I managed to come up with a dish that delighted Emily for the most part (and filled her room with a pungent smell of Red Horse beer). Topping it off with vanilla ice cream buried in the inner crags of Emily's fridge, I was able to come up with ala mode! Whoever said that beer and ice cream does not go together must not have discovered this gem of a dish!

Who's saying I have creative block now? I think, for the most part, we never really do run out of creativity. We never exhaust our capacity to be creative. It's just that when we do try to focus it on only one thing for long periods of time, we level the task down to routine and, well, we all know what happens next. So, what do you do? Simple. Break the routine and you'll be back to doing awesome tasks in no time!

Speaking of awesome, I shall post photos and recipes of my newly-discovered dessert within the week so stay tuned!

Photo Credits:
[.] Buildingblock.eu

Cuckoo Cooking

What with all the basil leaves and the strawberries we had from a friend's produce-hoarding gig in Baguio, we decided to hold a simple cooking get-together of some sort so we'd be able to make sure that our stash don't go to waste. Having a little close to nothing to pool together, we settled for the easy way out and threw in a few of those that have been lying in our own cupboards and food containers maximizing their shelf lives but not too much as to go beyond it. I, for one, am a fan of experimental cooking so I had a blast trying to concoct stuff out of what was available, though I'm not pretty sure if most of what I came up with were as wild as other experimental cooks out there dare to do. But, at any rate, it was settled: pesto pasta with tuna, deep-fried oreos, strawberries, and strawberry-banana milkshake. (Click on each dish to view the recipe)

But, certainly, with two photographers and four camwhores in the pack, we're never too busy for vain shots. At 397 MB's worth of pictures clogging up my system with 70.45% (yes, I computed that, seriously!) of total photos dedicated for camwhoring, it turned out to be more of a photoshoot and less of a cookfest. Vanity rocks!

Emily, photographer extraordinaire, setting up the tripod

(Supposedly) washing the dishes

But, of course, no photoshoot is ever complete without the telenovela/emo pose. Hoho! Care to suggest a title for the picture below?

Pesto Wars

Today turned out to be simply yummy for me as I tried honing my experimental cooking skills in the kitchen the entire day today. What with half a kilo of fresh basil leaves, half a kilo of fresh marble potatoes, a huge head of fresh iceberg lettuce, and a bag of fresh strawberries (emphasis on fresh!) I had no choice but to make something out of them before it all spoils. Apparently, a friend of mine who went to Baguio had a blast buying fresh fruits and vegetables given the really cheap price tag attached to it. I'm not one to complain, though. It's fresh, healthy, and would allow me a more diverse menu for the week. Best of all, it's free! Provided, of course, that I drop by said friend's place and cook her up a meal or two of whatever I manage to whip up in my own kitchen. Fair deal, I say. Thanks, Emily!

Today's specials were: my version of a fresh garden pasta, marble potato salad, and strawberry milk. I bet this would have been better if I knew a bit of French and if I had one of these babies to snap photos with:


But, then again, words are all I have. For now. So, sit back and relax as I'll run you through with the menu.

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Vegetarian Pasta
1 part onions, coarsely chopped
1 part basil leaves, finely chopped
1 part tomatoes, sliced to strips
2 parts iceberg lettuce, coarsely chopped
Olive oil
Penne

Pre-heat 2 tbsps. of olive oil. Add onions and sautee until almost caramelized.
Add tomatoes and wait until soft but not mushy.
Throw in iceberg lettuce, followed by penne and basil leaves.
Mix then serve immediately.

It is essential to note that the lettuce should still be crisp (not wilted and soggy) by the time you serve it. Not only does it add color to your pasta but it also helps maintain that fresh vibe you want to exude out of it. Plus, wilted lettuce leaves taste bitter and you would not want too much of that, would you? Also, as you might have noticed, I used a generous amount of onions as it contributes to both the sweetness and the bite of the meal, more than enough to scrimp on seasonings or eliminate it altogether. But, sure enough, no one's stopping you. Same goes for meat. Of course, if you want more meat into your pasta, you may actually add some, though you might want to rethink the name soon after. For my first attempt, I added diced crabsticks and it turned out real great!

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Marble Potato Salad
1 part butter
1 part cornstarch
3 parts quickmelt (cheddar) cheese, shredded
4 parts milk
1 part onions, coarsely chopped
1 part basil leaves, finely chopped
Lots of marble potatoes, boiled then halved

Melt butter in pan then follow with cornstarch and milk. Mix thoroughly until cornstarch is melted and let simmer until liquid thickens.
Carefully add shredded quickmelt cheese and mix until dissolved.
Throw in onions, basil leaves, and marble potatoes. Lightly season with sugar, salt, and pepper.
Mix then serve immediately.

Following my roommate's advice, I usually mix pre-heated olive oil while I melt my butter as to prevent it from being burned. I served this to my roommate and my landlady and they were all praises! I have to say that I enjoyed it as well.

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Strawberry Milk
2 parts milk
1 part strawberries, diced then crushed

Mix both ingredients then throw in microwave at High for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Serve.

This is my own take on the more popular sliced strawberries and cream medley. I wanted something warm today for a little pick-me-up drink so I figured it would do. It was not what I expected - it tasted like strawberry tea with milk - but I loved it, nonetheless!

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I would have wanted to go for pesto pasta and a strawberry milkshake today but having no food processor or blender at my place, I knew I needed to be more creative. My roommate and my landlady being the judges of my work, I have to say that these would actually pass as food in my books! Yay!

Photo Credits:
[.] Cutting Basil by Michelle Meiklejohn
[.] Canon EOS 7D by The Digital Newsroom