A super special delivery

When my sweet friend D offered to send me a sample basket of her organic produce, I expected, well , just a small sampling. Instead, I woke up to the super generous and colorful bounty you see in the photo above (there's a lot more in the basket you don't see: more potatoes, onions, kalamansi , another head of broccoli, another head of cauliflower, a zucchini and more tomatoes)! Don't they look gorgeous? It made me wish instantly that I didn't have to leave for work that day. I wanted to stay home and admire my lovely present and make delicious things with them. In an ideal world, that's how that special day would have played out, with the time to blog about each and every one of the dishes.

But in reality, I barely had time to arrange the veggies and shoot this photo before I grabbed some breakfast and dressed for work. Since that day though, we've enjoyed the freshness and all-natural goodness of these vegetables in simple dishes such as tortang talong, spanish omelettes, cauliflower au gratin, eggplant parmesan, steamed broccoli in oyster sauce, and tortilla de patata. The super crisp lettuce & juicy tomatoes I take with me to work for a nice lunch salad along with various other toppings, and all the carrots have already gone into the juicer with either oranges, grapefruit, celery and/or cucumber, melon, mango etc. (boy, do I love my fresh juice!!) :)

I'm really enjoying this stash! So much so that I've asked D to put me in her 'system', with an every-other-week order. I'm really loving how accessible all these locally-grown organic fruits (she'll be adding mangoes, papaya and bananas to the next batch:) ) and veggies are becoming, giving busy people like myself the opportunity to support local farmers.

I've also placed an order with another local organic farmer to try, the same one Joey ordered from and who was introduced to us by our dear friend, Katrina. (Thanks, Kat!:)) He delivered his produce this morning, looking just like Joey's in her photo, along with a dozen organic eggs, 2 papayas and one mabolo fruit. :) I can't wait to try everything!

Thank you, dear sweet D, for such a lovely and healthy present! :)

Boom-de-ah-da!

This has to be the best commercial ever made. I love it! And I love sharing the stuff I love, so here it is for those of you who haven't seen it yet. :)




Our world really is just awesome! :)

I love my Mother Earth *updated!*

Canvas Mother Earth Bags

Hello? Anybody out there? I hope you all haven't given up on me and left me alone. :( I'm a scaredy-cat. Sigh, but I don't blame you. I broke my promise, about being back to blogging, and about blogging on the road and I'm sorry. But I tried! Turns out, blogging on the road, is kinda like, well, doing a commentary on bungee jumping while you're airborne. Have you tried doing that? Neither have I but I bet it's difficult!

Anyway, instead of giving you a list of reasons why I've been gone so long, since I bet you can guess half of them, I'll show you one of the things that's been occupying my mind a lot and some of my time. In behalf of my amazing partners (Joey, Angela & K), I am thrilled and proud to introduce to you the Mother Earth Bags!

Mother Earth Bags made using recycled flour sacks

We've all heard the warnings, most of us have watched Al Gore's eye-opening presentation, so the last thing I'm going to do is preach to you. I have long wanted to do my share to help heal this beautiful planet we live in, for our sake and for those of our children and grandchildren to come. So while I'm making changes in baby steps towards that goal, I wanted to help others do the same. Hence the idea of offering very affordable and fun reusable shopping bags as an alternative to plastic ones.

The bags are expertly made by the hard-working women of The Livelihood Shoppe, a livelihood center that has been employing the underpriveleged women of Taguig for the past 21 years. So by purchasing and using these bags, you are not only being kind to our Mother Earth, you are also providing these women with jobs. Now how great is that?! :)

At the website, you can view the bags in slightly larger images, and find all other information such as product descriptions, pricing and details on how to order (unfortunately these are only available in Metro Manila at the moment until we figure out shipping arrangements to other places). Also on the site are some links and videos which I've included in case you like to know more about the gravity and magnitude of the dangers plastic imposes on our environment and eco-system.

Update!! : I'm both ecstatic and proud to announce that as of today, Oct. 15, Mother Earth Bags are now available at the EchoStore. I was a big fan of this store since it's inception, and to be part of it is simply thrilling! :) This is a one-stop shop for other Filipino-made, organic, environment-friendly, all-natural products made by indigenous communities and marginalized groups. It is the brainchild of Jeannie Javelosa, Chit Juan & Reena Francisco and was conceptualized to promote a sustainable lifestlyle while sustaining marginalized communities, showcasing Filipino excellence and giving small businesses like ours a place to market our products.

EchoStore shares shop space with Kape Isla and is located at the ground level of Serendra, facing Market! Market! with tel. no. at 901-3485.

http://mamaearth.multiply.com/

Love our Mother Earth, we only have one.

Hi, my name is Christine and I'm a delinquent blogger

I'm really so sorry for neglecting my blog for as long as I have (more than a month already!). But between work, 2 new projects outside work, a friend visiting from the US and other stuff, I haven't had as much free online time as I used to. I always get home too late or too tired to do more than check email or new photos or friends' updates on Facebook, if I even turn on my laptop at all. I know I'm the one missing out since I don't even get to visit my favorite blogs anymore. Sorry guys, I haven't forgotten you! In fact I miss your posts and I promise to be back for a visit real soon. :)

Another reason I've been extra-busy this past week is that I'm preparing for an upcoming month-long trip. The first half of the trip is a 2-week holiday that will have me visiting one of my favorite cities in the world once again (SF), and from where we kick-off our road-trip along the Pacific Northwest towards Vancouver (another favorite city), with stops along the Oregon Coast, Portland and Seattle along the way.

I'm so psyched about the trip, as you might imagine, because aside from the fact that I love roadtrips, I'l be visiting with my sister and her family in Vancouver!! The last time I did that was back in '96 when I lived with them for 3 months. Twelve years is just too too long, this is a long overdue trip. :)

I'm going to try something new, blogging on the road. I know, I know. You're probably thinking, yeah right! She can't even blog regularly at home. And I share your skepticism, trust me! So while I say I'm going to try, I'm not making any promises. I just think it would be a great idea to post while the experience is still fresh and I don't forget any important details. And most imporantly, I won't be so overwhelmed with processing all the photos and info when I get back home a month later. So wish me luck and have a little faith! :)

Also, if you have any recommendations for favorite places in SF, Portland, Vancouver, and also NY & VA ,where I may be going for work in the latter part of the trip, I'd very much appreciate it!

(I had meant to post about my trips to Xiamen and Dumaguete plus a few food posts before leaving, but because I didn't I'll have to save it for another time. To those of you who still take the time to visit my blog, thank you for being so patient with me! :) )

WS #39: Beer Party

Two WS entries in a row with nothing in between, ayayay I'm slacking again. I need to get cracking on my backlog of posts.

But for now, here's my entry for Weekend Snapshot #39, a photo of the brew we ordered for a beer-tasting party. It wasn't one of those formal beer-tasting events with the survey forms etc., just a group of fellow beer-loving friends sampling different varieties of imported beer. The beers come from select breweries in the US such as Ballast Point, Rogue Ales & Spirits and Gordon Biersch and include pilsners, abbey ales and wheat beers. I love beer and I miss the wide selection from the grocery shelves and from the bar taps while living in London, so I was thrilled about all this new beer suddenly available in the market.

So I sent out the tasting notes to friends from which they made their selections, called up the guy who brings it in (cousin of a good friend) to place our orders and picked it up the next day. Prepared some pica-pica that I thought would pair well with the beers (cheeses, chips with various dips, truffled popcorn, homemade trail mix, salchichon and salami, buffalo wings, spicy sausages, olives/pickle/sweet onion mix etc. plus more snacks brought by others), set-up my iTunes and proceeded to have a really great time. The party lasted 9 hours (from 5pm to 2am) and it reminded me of how often I used to entertain in the past and how much I enjoyed it and missed it.

So what were my favorite beers from my selection? They were the:

GB Hefeweizen - described as "Interesting flavor of creamy vanilla, banana, and zesty citrus balance, the sweetness of its earthy malts. A hint of whipped cream is thrown in for good measure. Mouth feel is smooth, creamy, medium-bodied thickness. "

Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar - "A nutty twist to a traditional European Brown Ale. Dark brown in color with a hazelnut aroma, a rich nutty flavor and a smooth malty finish. "

Rogue Mocha Porter - "Ruddy brown in color, a bittersweet balance of malt and hops with a light cream finish. "

Rogue Dead Guy Ale - "Deep reddish amber hue. Generous toasty malt aromas and earthy hops follow through on a moderately full-bodied palate with fruity accents and a long spicy hop finish. A delicious hybrid style with bock-like maltiness but ale-like hopping "

and the Rogues American Amber Ale - "Tawny in color, with a coffee aroma, tight head, and a delicate roasted malt accent. Generous use of hops and a smooth finish. "

For more info on the beers, check out the Global Beer Exchange website.

BTW, you can sample these beers at all the branches of Old Swiss Inn, Basilio's at the Fort, Myron's (both at the Power Plant and G5) , Elbert's Steakroom, and Good to Go Deli at Net One in the Fort.