Wednesday Nuggets: Inspiring Bookshelves

I'm totally lusting over these beautiful bookshelves...

 Now you can read your bookshelf too!

 Loveleeeeee....

 Literally a "reading rainbow!"

 To be surrounded by books is pure love.

 A closet turned into a cozy reading nook

Perfect for a child's room

Oprah's library... *sigh*  Take a tour here.

While I cannot satisfy my bookshelf-lust just yet, I will give in to my book cravings. The Manila International Book Fair is just around the corner and I can't wait to go bonkers over the books! :)

10-Day Weekend Tidbits

Yup!  Mother Nature did not only bring forth heavy rains but also a 10-day long weekend for teachers like me (including the holidays).  I have to admit the rains did stress me out a bit - because I hate the rain to begin with - and also because of the perennial construction problem that our half-baked-made house succumbs to, resulting to "indoor flooding."

Anyway, I don't want to go through that because I have been going through that for two years now.  So!!!  Let me just show you a visual lowdown of how I spent my looooong weekend (apart from mopping floors).

Tidbit 1:  Went to Cool Beans Cafe (again!).  Their Kalinga roast coffee is perfect on a rainy day.  It was so strong, though, that I was up until 2 am the following morning!  I also devoured (half) a plate of their Creamy Bacon Mushroom Pasta while burying my nose in one of their library selections.

Tidbit 2:  I was able to practice my calligraphy.  I realize I have not blogged about me learning calligraphy.  It's a difficult endeavor to post as you will soon learn.  They say my left-handedness is an advantage but I'm still struggling with my strokes.

Tidbit 3:  Finished sewing a set of prototypes for Wicked Crafts's next offering.

Tidbit 4:  Had lunch with my family at Romulo Cafe.  Hon-some and I missed eating here and we were happy the food was still just as good as when we last dined here.

 Pinoy Nachos:  Kamote and taro chips topped with tomatoes and kesong puti and drizzled with cheese sauce

 Boneless Crispy Pata Binagoongan (we went easy on this one)

 Seafood Kare-Kare

 Escabecheng Lapu-lapu

Tidbit 5:  For the past two weeks, I have been juicing vegetables and fruits for Hon-some.  This week, I made a big batch of juice using celery, cucumber, and apples!

Was also able to catch up on my reading, do advanced stuff for work, personal projects, and more household chores. :)

The weekend that was.  :)

The One That's Coming Soon

 

Soon... :)

The One About the Parmesan Salmon Bake

Hon-some and I love the Parmesan-crusted Cream Dory at Cookbook Kitchen and he has been telling me to recreate it at home.  Well, now that we're on a health freak mode, fish has become a much-needed fare on our dinner table.  Hence, I was only too happy to oblige.

I did some tweaking on the recipe (because I don't know the recipe to begin with) so this is pretty much all my own.

First, I used salmon (instead of cream dory) and steamed it.  Since this dish will be baked, you can skip the steaming.  But I love the taste of steamed fish (it tastes fresher); plus, it doesn't take long to steam fish.

While the salmon is steaming, I sauteed garlic in butter - again, I eyeball my ingredients; I never measure - and added flour to make a roux.  Then I added chicken stock and half-and-half.  Add some freshly grated nutmeg and season with salt and pepper.  I added a handful of grated cheddar cheese to make it tasty.

After the salmon has been steamed, I flaked it and spread it onto a baking dish.  I covered the fish with the creamy sauce.  Then I topped the whole thing off with breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and cubes of butter.  I baked it in the over just until the topping formed a lovely crust.

I served it with buttered French beans. :)

Yummy!  Try it; you'll love it. :)

Weekend Tidbits

What a restful and yet very productive weekend!

Tidbit 1:  I made Parmesan Salmon Bake upon Hon-some's request.  We can never forget how good the Parmesan Fish is at Cookbook Kitchen so I made my own version.  Will share the recipe soon. :)

Tidbit 2:  Miss Gertie and I are getting along really well.  Shown is my first project we did together.  A simple project, really.  Just altered a skirt I bought a year ago.  Today, we will be working on a new project that will take Wicked Crafts to a somewhat new direction.  Can't wait to show you all what that is when all the kinks have been ironed out.

Tidbit 3:  The past two weeks have been challenging for Hon-some and me.  We value our health more than ever now.  So thankfully, my mom lent me her juicer and I discovered the joy of juicing!!!  Here's our power drink this week:  carrot, cucumber, and apples!

I don't normally enjoy the rain but my productivity level last weekend was at an all-time high, with all the tasks I have accomplished (including household chores).  So I have to thank the rain for that.  And with an extended weekend today, who knows how much more I can accomplish? :)

Staying in really is the new going out. :)

Have a great week ahead, lovelies!  Don't forget to read a good book, drink a cup of tea, and make something beautiful. :)

The One About Paper Pom Flowers

Paper pompom flowers are super easy to make that I don't understand why some crafters ask people to fork out at least a thousand pesos to teach them how to do it in workshops.  Sheeessshhh!

Anyway, I made a couple of these flowers as decorations for Mom Pop Up.  Want to learn how to make them (without spending, of course)?

 Start with a pile of 10-12 sheets of tissue paper.

 Then start folding from the bottom of the sheets.  I did about an inch to an inch and a half fold.

 It should come up to this.

Find the middle of the strip and tie a thin wire around the middle.  The ends of the wire, you twist it and form into a hole.  This is what you'll use to hang the pom flower.

Cut the top into a curve.

 Then start fanning it out.

 Begin to delicately - DELICATELY! - pull out each sheet of tissue paper to the middle of the strip...  

 Until the flower begins to poof up.

See?  Easy peasy!!!

Happy crafting! :)

Wednesday Nugget

It's good to remind myself of this every single day. :)

Happy midweek. :)

Weekend Tidbits

Tidbit 1:  Brought Hon-some's nephews to Cool Beans Cafe to load up the tummy and their brains :)  I wrote about Cool Beans here.

Best well-spent hour, if I may say, taking their picks from the graphic novels and children's books.

The grub:  S'mores cupcake and red velvet cookies for the kiddos.

And cream of pumpkin soup for me!

 My pick for the day

Then we hopped over the new milkshake place nearby (told you QC is the place to be!)...

 Vanilla and Speculoos Cookie Butter milkshakes!

Tidbit 2:  I joined What If Handmade's first Learning Exchange at Cordillera Coffee.  Charming coffee house.  I met fellow crafters and learned about the crafts they made.  More importantly, we talked about crossing over from being hobbyists to craft entrepreneurs.

The weekend that was.  Have a great week ahead, lovelies!

The One About Cool Beans Cafe

Some incredibly genius individual/s thought of putting together a cafe and a library in one cool hotspot (Maginhawa St. in Teachers Village) and made it a dream come true for bookworms like me. :)

The moment I stepped inside Cool Beans, one can already begin to appreciate the silence, so much so that I actually turned my phone to silent mode as a sign of respect to the customers who had their heads buried in books.

The cafe is small and only seats a few people.  Being there makes one want to linger for as long as time can be stretched and enjoy items from their menu or to browse and read the available literature.

The library is enough to satisfy various reading appetites:  there are fiction selections, comic books, Filipino literature, art books, home and design...

 ...and one shelf dedicated to National Geographic magazines (virtual high-five!)

They have rice meals, sandwiches, soup, pasta, and salads.  I love the fact that they serve Highland coffee.

My order:  Spanish sardines pesto pasta with Sagada iced coffee.  And my book pick from their library.

Their servings are quite big, mind you.

And so as I sat there and enjoyed my pasta lunch and book, I couldn't help but look at all the other people around.  Some were chatting in really low voices in between bites.  Some were studying.  And yet some were just like me -- happy to be surrounded by what I assume to be like-minded individuals and by volumes of the written word waiting to be cherished.  :)