I finished the first book (in a series of 6)only and now I know what the fuss is all about. Its really a great read! Im so addicted to it that I had to finish the tv series in 2 days.
and Im about to crack open my brand new comicbook that I got last month:
Found the comics at Forbidden planet then we ordered it online.
I love this cover
nice
cool
scanning the glossy artwork
I couldnt get around to finish the book although I already started reading before leaving the Philippines. When I first got here, I was too caught up with cooking, going out with the spouse and taking care of some important vital documents. So after 2 months here, I finally finished reading the first book.
I recently started on the second one. IMO its neat to read the book first before watching the series because it gives you a better grasp of the plot. Just the same, some people I know watched the series then later on read the book and said it at least gives them the visual on how the characters look like. The TV series is so amazing and Id say the producers really gave justice to how they depicted the book.
Im really glad "my sun and stars" got me the complete book series on my ereader and he also got me the comic set. Sweet=)
We whipped up something really easy a couple of days ago. The best part was we found a recipe right on the bag where the fish came from:
recipe on the bag
I followed the directions and modified it a bit. I served the fish with pasta. Boil pasta until al dente and remove from water. Drizzle olive oil on pasta before serving with fish.
flour, pepper, lemon zest and salt on the fish
garlic was not on the recipe but i later toasted this a bit with salt and pepper and added it to the lemon juice
Last Sunday it was very cold so we stayed at home and I made soup. My husband loves it and it seems a perfect dish to keep us warm. There is a standard recipe for this that you can find online but this is a staple when I was a kid so I know how to make it by heart.
You can find this link useful if you want to follow the step by step process of preparing Chicken sopas.
Recipe: Chicken Sopas
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1 medium sized onion, diced
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
32 ounces chicken broth (about 4 cups)
2 cups elbow macaroni
3/4 cup celery stalk, chopped
3/4 cup carrots, diced
3/4 cup cabbage; shredded
3/4 cup fresh or evaporated milk
1 cup water
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Directions:
Heat a cooking pot and put-in the butter. Allow the butter to melt.
Add onions and cook until the texture becomes soft.
Put-in the boneless chicken breasts and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.
Sprinkle some salt and ground black pepper and stir.
Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
Pour-in water and milk and wait to re-boil. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
Add the elbow macaroni and cook for 8 minutes while stirring once in a while.
Put-in the carrots and celery and simmer for 3 minutes.
Add the cabbage and cook for 2 minutes more.
Turn-off the heat and transfer to a serving plate.
Serve hot. Share and enjoy!
My own version: (I omitted the celery and cabbage because we only had carrots in the fridge)
Boil the chicken breast (set aside the broth once the chicken is cooked) Shred the chicken
In a pan, put some butter and a little olive oil.
Add garlic then onions
Add the shredded chicken and the red bell pepper
While doing 1-4, put minced ginger (about 2 tbsp) in the broth and add the elbow macaroni for approximately 8-10 minutes.
You may put the carrots, chicken mixture in the pot( fried in the pan with garlic, onion, red bell)before the macaroni is fully cooked. Season to taste.
Add milk and let it simmer for 10 minutes or less. You may turn off the heat once the macaroni is cooked.
Add freshly chopped scallion before serving
Boiled Chicken (if youre wondering why there is a drumstick there, it was meant to add flavor to the broth) Set aside the broth for the soup later
Garlic
Carrots
Ginger
Onions and scallions
Red bell pepper to give the soup a little kick
Elbow macaroni ( 2 cups for 2 hungry people)
butter
Broth from boiled breast chicken
Garlic and onion
Mix the shredded chicken with the garlic and onion
I had to transfer the broth to a bigger pot when I realized the 2 cups of elbow macaroni was a lot
Added the elbow macaroni to the broth and before it was almost cooked, Added the sauteed chicken (with garlic, onion, pepper, some of the scallions)
One thing I love about NY is how people seem to care so much about their pets. Ive seen a lot of pet supply stores big or small. In fact there are two stores just a few blocks away from where I live. The prices are a bit higher compared to Petco but its a nice place to go to if I do feel lazy to go all the way to Union Square. Not to mention that even the grocery store or pharmacy store have a bunch of pet stuff choices.
Even the park has a spot meant for dogs to run around and play at.
Then there is the section also at PETCO where they have cats for adoption
Here is Leo and Shawn
A little description about the two cute kittens
Other cats:
Ebony
looks like my Thumper
Thumper
Cat gym at Petco
King Oreo looking snappy
so cute!
Elton
reminds me of my cat Fishy
I love how they also have these cats in the store to win potential adopters over. I never saw anything like this in the Philippines or Singapore. I remember that store where I usually buy my cats their food in Antipolo. It was hot, dirty and the pets inside were up for sale. The animals look pitiful, scared and obviously suffering. Unfortunately sometimes I had to buy the cats their food from that pet supply store because it was the closest to where I live.
Over here it is paradise for pets like cats and dogs.
It was overwhelming to see so many choices for my cats. I wanted to get them new toys and bed and fancy food. But I have to put that off until we find another apartment bigger to accommodate me, my husband and our 5 cats. We also plan to get a small dog when that time comes. It is tempting to adopt one of the cats in the shelter but I already have 2 cats here and 3 more to join us within the year.
My friends tell me how lucky my cats are because me and my husband adopted them. I guess its true. We really love our baby girls and we intend to spoil them for as long as we can. From Singapore to Philippines and now to NYC, these cats have come a long way!
Thumper is from Bedok, Dapper is from Yishun Singapore (car seat courtesy of Mr Heng from Bedok)
If my 2 cats can talk Im sure they would say I love NYC! =)
