Kairos

I just wanted to give a shout-out to Ramielle Malubay, the Filipina contestant who made it to top 24 (so far) on American Idol season 7. She did well tonight and I'm bursting with pride... I do hope she goes all the way! Represent, sistah! I'm rooting for you! ...........Iwagayway ang bandilang Pilipino!

First of all, many thanks to my friend Conni for the information below. This is very important not just to me but to all the women out there. Are you doing a self-breast exam monthly, and seeing your OBGYN for a check-up yearly? After age 40 you should start getting screened for a mammogram and if you have a history of breast cancer (or any type of cancer for that matter), should be earlier than 40. Every time a woman gets her period, there are hormonal changes that occur in our body, our breasts swell up and when we don't get pregnant, of course the body's immune system does this wonderful thing of getting rid of that dead tissue in our breasts . But when our body doesn't all get rid of it due to some factors like diet (caffeine, bad fats, etc), stress (that's why we must exercise), then we get these calcified or dead tissues and some might form into lumps or cysts. A friend of Conni's shared with her an interesting story about her friend's sister, who after ...

It has been a while since I gave you an update about my father. So on this day of HEA R TS, I felt that it is just but fitting for me to share with you the greatest burden that I have in my heart – my father. My father has just gone to another doctor, a Vascular specialist. It's been four months (Oct 2007) since his heel/ankle operation (debridement) and still, the wounds on both his feet have not healed at all. He still has the incessant, throbbing pain from his wound, and it has now affected his entire leg. My father has been taking pain medications (along with his other medicines) since the operation, and they are no longer working on him. Night time for my father has become an ordeal to go through. The pain is so bad that he cannot sleep a wink anymore. It seemed that the Orthopedic doctor whom he was seeing was not doing the right thing as there barely is an improvement on his wound and pain. And so, a friend (a nurse, actually) suggested for him to consult this vascular surge...

Two posts ago I told you that I like to cook. And then my post before this is about a dinner that I prepared at home. Need I say more? Lately, I’ve been checking out different food blogs, many are that of professional chefies and others are amateur cooks like myself. This gave me an inspiration. Since we cook a lot at home, why not start my own food blog? So, I thought that I should document my, or rather our – my hubby and I’s - own culinary adventures at home. A friend of mine blogged about brain plasticity (or neuroplasticity -the lifelong ability of the brain to reorganize neural pathways based on new experiences) and that one of the ways to keep your mind rejuvinated or sharp is to take up a new hobby or interest. (Note: people who don't learn new things make their brain rigid). So this is my way of stimulating my own brain. By blogging about the food that I cook, I will have to challenge myself to be more creative while continuing to learn each time about something that I tru...

I've been planning to try this recipe from Rachel Ray which is a knock-off of the Morrocan chicken tagine. I bought the dry ingredients last week but never had the time to cook. As you can see, tonight's the night. I did it! You might not like this dish if you've not tried Middle-eastern, Mediterranean or Arabic food before. This dish has so many contrasting flavors going on such as the sweetness from the dried fruit, the tanginess from the olives, the spices from cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon and smoked paprika. Your first bite might seem strange but as the flavors marry in your mouth, the food actually tastes better. I served the dish on a bed of couscous (ground semolina pasta, a staple of North African /Middle Eastern countries) as the recipe suggested. If you want to try this recipe, check this link -- middle eastern chicken . The only change I made is adding a pinch of red pepper flakes for a little kick. I used apricots for the dried fruit because I wanted a mil...