As I’ve mentioned before, I love photography.  I also love my mother.  So to honor her on this special day, I decided to put the two together and submitted a photo to Pictory for their theme, “Sorry, Mom.”  I was lucky enough to get my photograph chosen!  Take a look at the showcase to see mine, all the other photographs, and to read the compelling stories that go with them.

To all the moms out there, thank you for sharing your love to the world.

To my own, I love you.

Two posts ago, I talked about paying my taxes. Now, I’ll be talking about what I ate before I paid my taxes. Again, I hit up Midtown Lunch for the area’s possibilities because although I ate yummy oxtail the last time, I wanted something new, and I found…

Where: El Camioncito Truck – 31st St. and 7th Ave.

Occasion: It was 2:30, I just got my tax documents and before sending them out, needed sustenance

Atmosphere: A bright, warm day.  Perfect for standing next to the blue and white truck, manned by two friendly men, both helpful and attentive.  Oh, and it wasn’t too bad having people enjoy watching me enjoying eating.  Slightly weird, but I think I brought them more business.

Dish: Tacos (Carnitas and Chorizo) – $2 each

As much as I love sitting down and slowly relishing a meal, it’s such great fun eating street food, and food from a truck definitely falls under that category.  They’re fast, cheap, and you can watch them prepare your dish.  One guy, sporting a white t-shirt and a huge grin on his face, asked me for my choice of fare.  I picked the Tacos de Carnitas and another taco with his favorite meat.  (I am a big fan of asking for the chef’s or server’s recommendations.)  And so I got the Tacos de Chorizo as well.  In the white styrofoam box he handed me, the two tacos sat side by side.  With two soft tortillas and hefty servings of meat to a taco, they were topped with salsa and guacamole, just like I requested.

carnitas on the left, sausage on the right

I bit into the chorizo first.  There was an enjoyable spice and flavor, but it proved slightly fatty for my taste.  I usually delight in fatty foodstuffs, but it was the chewy kind, one that I don’t enjoy as much.  Three bites in, I decided to alternate it with the carnitas.  The pieces of pork were grilled and lightly crunchy, and had a bit of smokiness.  It could’ve been more tender though, and perhaps it was because I ate it after the spicy sausage, it tasted just a tad underseasoned.  The additional sauces on top definitely added a nice touch – freshness from the guacamole, a little spiciness from the salsa.  I could have been full from just one taco, actually. All in all, however, not bad.  I’d go back again, just like the many lunchers grabbing (mostly carnitas) tacos to go, and try the rest of their offerings.

Verdict: YUMMY

With today’s celebration of Earth Day, (HAPPY EARTH DAY, EVERYONE!), the effort continues, and here are two happenings that would be a lot of fun to be part of:

Food industry royalty Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich are inviting everyone to eat at one of their Certified Green Restaurants®, which showcase farmer’s market driven menus and a no-bottled-water policy.  Where better to honor our planet than at one of their eateries?

If you can’t find a date to take to one of those restaurants, no problem! Earth Day Speed Dating could be your solution.  You get 10-12 eight-minute dates, (over drinks…lots of drinks) and the bonus is, you know these people care about the earth, making them decent human beings at the very least.

Too bad I’ll be working.  But no matter.  It’s all about little efforts to live a greener lifestyle, not just on Earth Day.  So let’s live green, people! Everybody just do your part – conserve, reuse, recycle, and be more conscious of how your actions affect the planet and its creatures – and everybody wins.

For more on Earth Day:

]]> http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/2010/04/22/lets-live-green-people/feed/ 0 K B&B Earth Day Speed Dating Earth Day http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/trooper-of-a-tax-lady/ http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/trooper-of-a-tax-lady/#comments Wed, 21 Apr 2010 06:51:28 +0000 K http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/?p=742 ]]>

At the Post Office, parting with my tax documents

2009 taxes…done! A week after the fact and I’m still celebrating.  I can’t even explain how much aggravation paying the IRS has caused me in the past 6 months.  Sure, some of it was my fault.  Okay, fully my fault.  But what happened was, I was on a four month vacation (visiting my dear parents and childhood friends, mind you) during 2008 tax settlement time last year, so I owed about 10 Masa omakase dinners’ worth of dues.  Awful, huh? Instead of enjoying Ohmi Beef Tataki and Toro with Caviar, I had to fork over taxes, ridiculously high late fees, and more fees for not paying quarterly when I was supposed to.  Ugh! How was I supposed to know?!?  Then, a month later, I was told I had to pay my quarterly payments for 2009.  Exhausting!  This time around, my trooper of a tax lady, extremely sick with something serious (probably tax-season stress) met with me on the 15th and handed me my papers, explaining stuff with a strained voice, but a surprisingly chipper mood.  I just love her! She always comes through for me, even when I make things difficult like turning in my documents in to her only a week before. (I know, I know, I’m horrible!) But it’s all done, and I sent it on time, albeit totally last minute.  And now, it’s time to celebrate… until I’ve got to pay up again.

I think the person that wrote this has more to worry about than QLC.  Like spelling, for example.  Grammar too.  Make that writing, in general. Oh, that’s sad.

Usually occurs sometime in your twenties, a few years out of school and still feel as though you’re waiting for you’re life to begin.

For most people it will be arround twenty five years of age (give or take a year or two) as this tends to be when you’re way of thinking is starting to change beyond that of a high school or college student. Most people realise they’ve reached this age if they talk to teens online and realise their way of thinking/talking/interacting etc is considerably diffrent and/or they’re starting to refer to teens as ‘kids’.

It’s an age where a lot people start developing a more realistic outlook in life and start feeling that if they haven’t accomplished certain things in life they thought they would by then that they may never (Even though this isn’t true and they still have a long time to attain their goals and dreams).

This tends to be the age where regets about decitions made in High School, College etc start becomming more appart. The classes one didn’t take, or could have tried harder in, the teams one didn’t try out for, and wished they had and so forth can sometimes cause a lot of regret and even resentment of those that are doing things one wishes they’d done.

Some people will respond to a quarter life crisis by rushing into various landmark type goals in life (ie, getting married, moving out from your parents house, getting your first house, getting your first real job, having kids).

This could be because their friends have accomplished one or more of these things and they’re worried their falling behind them.

It may also be because they’re afraid that if they don’t accomplish these things by the time their 28 or so, they may never.

Others respond to it by growing depressed and blamming others for their pervieved failures in life.

People tend to move beyond this life crisis when they realise that, a lot of people feel the same way and/or are in the exact same position, so they have plently of company (misery loves company) and/or start to realise that perhaps some of their hopes and dreams were a tad bit unrealistic and that they’re just getting a reality check. Once one realises that life hasen’t neccessarily let them down and that their hopes and dreams were just that, hopes and dreams, but the reality has simply granted them a more down to Earth/realistic life, they’ll accept it and hopefully be happy for what they have and stop lamenting over what they never could realistically have achieved in life.

Person1: What’s wrong man?

Person2: Sorry, I’m just kinda depressed. I’m 26 years old yet I feel like I should have been way more then I am by now.

Person1: I hear ya man, welcome to your quarter life crisis.

–Guest for Urban Dictionary -

FYI – “Urban Dictionary is the dictionary you wrote. Define your world.”

Where: Carribean Kitchen – One Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10001 (between 33rd & 34th St. in an alley between 7 & 8th Avenues)

Occasion: I had to go meet with my tax person.  (Ugh! Yes, it’s that time of the year again, and it sucks!)  Since our meeting time of 2:00pm was right around when my fullness from oatmeal usually wore off, I planned to grab some late lunch right after.  Then, I’d have enough time to do a bit of shopping before heading off to work.  Perfect. So, I consulted Midtown Lunch to guide me to a cheap satisfying meal around Macy’s (close to where my tax person’s office is).  I put in the location, and voilà, it gave me Carribean Kitchen.

Atmosphere: Just as described, it was located in a sort of alleyway.  There it was a few feet from where I turned the corner, sharing a space with Bruce Burger, another fast food joint.

Dish: Oxtail Lunch Special – $8.50

Yes, it was fast food, but man, it tasted home cooked.  I got the oxtail and requested extra gravy on my rice (just like Lunch’er Danny suggested), and I could not have been more satisfied.  My $8.50 meal included rice, plantains, and amazingly flavorful chunks of oxtail that were fall-off-the-bone tender (not like Lunch’er Danny described).

It was such a sunny day out that instead of eating it in the Carribean Kitchen/Bruce Burger’s crowded indoor area, I headed back to the alleyway, where seating could be found.  I snagged myself a spot, prepared my napkins for the mess I was going to make with all that sauce, and devoured my food (half of which I couldn’t finish and ended up as another meal).  It was completely enjoyable, and despite wanting to call friends to tell them of this great lunch I was having, I couldn’t break away from the rhythm of food from plate to mouth, plate to mouth, plate to mouth.  (It was actually tupperware, but plate just sounded better.)  And you know what?  I couldn’t even be bothered by the hopping of a pigeon around my feet trying to score some morsels, the whipping  of my hair all over the place from the strong wind, and the incessant soundtrack of a crazy woman a few feet away from me, wailing profanities over a former lover.  If anything, it made me smile.  Another day in New York…a good day and a great lunch.

Verdict: YUMMY

I don’t know if it’s because I served a lot of idiots at work today (sometimes, I just HATE people). Or maybe because I HATE men (highly likely). Or perhaps because I wanted to sleep easy tonight.  But I decided, I wanted to get drunk.  Not wasted, just…you know…feeling nice to unwind after a hard day.  Obviously, I’m not that plastered if I can every write this blog and have everything spelled correctly, but I am tipsy, I assure you.

I’m not one for whiskey shots.  Boys (and my roommate Michelle) with whom I usually drink, have them. But I like girly ones, like buttery nipples (very desserty) or lemon drops (nice and sweet) or even Jäger (it took me a while, now I like ‘em).  Recently though, I found the answer: PICKLE JUICE.  And so now, I man up and drink Jamesons with the guys…and when they’re not looking, finish with some pickle juice. Haha!

(This great photo of the pickle juice is by Amanda Formaro.  Check out her blog post about how versatile pickle juice is.)

Anyway, not all bars have them.I’m lucky I can easily get pickle backs being that my bar serves burgers with pickles, and so we have pickle juice.  But seriously.  Chasing whiskey shots with pickle juice makes the taste and burn go away. That’s dangerous, because I can have a million and not even realize I’m slowly getting obliterated.  Once, I got annihilated doing 8 shots of fighting cock bourbon (pickle-juice-less) in a couple of hours. Let’s just say my friend Prem had to hold my hair up.  If only I had known of pickle juice then.  Actually, the outcome would’ve probably been the same.  I just wouldn’t have felt awful in the process.  Now I know better.  Bring on the shots!

]]> http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/slowly-getting-obliterated/feed/ 2 K jameson_whiskey picklejuice fighting cock http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/kiwi-pedophile/ http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/kiwi-pedophile/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 09:06:56 +0000 K http://klgvillanueva.wordpress.com/?p=661 ]]>

Sitting on our kitchen counter yesterday were baby kiwis.  No, I don’t mean those flightless hatchlings and I certainly don’t mean infants from New Zealand. (Although, I have been known to joke once or twice about kidnapping and/or eating newly borns…*nervous laughter*…I was just kidding, people!…I’m not sick like that!)

The baby kiwis I’m talking about are the cute, pre-pubescent (read: fuzzless) versions of the brown-on-the-outside, green-on-the-inside, sweet-sometimes-sour fruit.

Reminiscent of Philippine sineguelas in appearance, they’re slightly tender when squeezed.  And when you bite into them, it’s quite a surprise how these little ones share the adult version’s look and flavor, but pack more sweetness and  juiciness.  They’re delightful to eat, but they do leave a funny feeling on your tongue for a bit, the way bananas do sometimes (sort of like a waxy coating).

My friend Whitney (who is responsible for discovering these at Rossman’s) was amused by my excitement as I carefully examined and tasted them.  Then, as I proceeded to arrange and photograph them, he dubbed me a kiwi pedophile, exploiting them in their young age.  Ugh! Gross, Whit! Now that’s sick!

I’ve complained about how I can’t eat this meat, I can’t eat that meat…all because of Lent.  But now, Christ has risen, and the veil of meatlessness has been lifted.  Come Easter, this was the first thing I ate:

Crispy Pata – crunchy skin, buttery fat, tender and juicy pork meat.

This is one of my favorite Filipino dishes EVER! It’s exactly what I wanted to taste first after a month and a half of torturous waiting.  A million thanks to Tita Maybel (Michelle’s mom), currently visiting, just in time to make this for her birthday, and my Easter Day reward.

I felt appropriately reborn. It tasted so new… meat, like it’s the first time. I might abstain again, just for a moment like this… I said MIGHT.

Tita Gloria and Tito Manny in action

A huge part of my culinary adventures since moving to NY seven years ago, is the Orden family – Tito Manny, Tita Gloria, Vina and Corinna.  We’re related on my father’s side, and my bond with them started and continues to grow over birthday dinners, artist dinners, Thanksgiving dinners, Chinatown dinners, Christmas dinners…you get the idea.  And these dinners are quite the experience.  Anyone who’s meant anything to me I’ve tried to bring to these seasonal events because the company is charming (I mentioned we’re related, right?) and the discussions are exciting – from Picasso’s newest exhibits, to Tiger Woods’ sexcapades, to the gender-classified automated subway announcements (Why is it a female voice declares the pleasant stuff such as “This is Atlantic Avenue,” while the male voice is selected for all the menacing warnings – “Stand clear of the closing doors, please!”?).  The best part though, are the homemade dishes, where recipes are invented and reinvented each time.

They used to have a successful restaurant back in the Philippines.  Although the Ordens are no longer in the food industry, their move to the US years ago didn’t mean letting go of their passion in the kitchen.  Their kitchen, by the way, is adorable.  It’s modest in size, but warm and bright, packed with gadgets, spices, and cookware I’ve never used before.  I love helping out because I get to try out the tools (like when I made perfectly fluffly mashed potatoes with shallots, I had to use a potato ricer or actually, I think it was a food mill.  I think everyone should have either, if not both, because they’re awesome!) They have their own recipes, or use others, tweaked to add the Orden touch.  Any outstanding ones (mostly everything) will be “added to the vault!”

Click to view slideshow.

Last Holy Saturday was my Aunt Gloria’s birthday and Andrew’s (Vina’s boyfriend) belated celebration.  The menu for the night, included the following:

1) Salad with mixed greens, mangoes, jicama, pickled onions, and a rice wine vinegar dressing (c/o Corinna)

2) Mussels in a slightly spicy broth (with saffron)

3) I couldn’t have any of this due to lent – Chicken and Chorizo Paella (with Arborio rice, snowpeas, string beans, mushrooms, seafood stock, herbs, and saffron)

4) Seafood Paella (same as above, but with squid, shrimp, clams and lobster)

5) 2-layered chocolate cake with a dark cherry compote in between, and fresh whipped cream on top and all around (super secret family recipe, so I can’t divulge more than that.)

6) The smooth, Bolla Italian Pinot Noir with a slightly sweet flavor and notes of berries and cherries, was a great accompaniment (provided by my worldly Tito Romie, as was tonight’s special ingredient, Barcelonian saffron).

Happy Birthday!

Let’s just say, by the end of this, I couldn’t breathe.  That’s basically how all these events tend to conclude.  My mouth was gloriously satisfied, my stomach was struggling to keep from bursting, my body was fighting off the urge to fall into a food coma.  Thank God there’s a 40 minute train ride back to the city from their place in Yonkers. Nap time.

FYI – In the Philippines, “Tito” means Uncle, “Tita” means Aunt.