Ugu Bigyan and My Love for Pottery

It was around 8 years ago when I first studied pottery in Eastwood and 5 years ago under Ugu Bigyan of Tiaong, Quezon. I have my own electric wheel which I got second hand but never touched it in about 4 years. I so miss doing pottery especially after today when my family dropped by Ugu's studio on a side trip from a brief vacation by the beach in San Pablo.


My own pottery creation with the help of Mr. Ugu Bigyan 5 years ago. Photo taken in Tiaong, Quezon by my hubby.

Setting up a home studio for pottery can be a bit challenging, given some space constraints. But hubby and I have been discussing about turning my existing utility area into a pottery studio this 2011. I am so excited!

Anyway, while waiting for that to happen, I'd just be very happy of the 3 new pottery art that we got today from Ugu.

Feeling Like a Top Chef this Noche Buena

When I was still single, I used to cook tomato-based Italian spaghetti for Noche Buena. As far as I can remember, I did that for about 5-8 years before I tied the knot. It's not really that special but I really loved my spaghetti. I barely cook that now because I now prefer oil-based pastas. This tradition stopped when I got married and spent Noche Buena at my in-laws, my mother-in-law being such a great cook. I just appreciated what was served before us.

This year was a different story. Hubby and I decided to have Noche Buena at our home with my parents, and I did the cooking! I felt like a Top Chef because I only had 2 hours to prepare the salad, 2 main courses, and a pasta dish. Our theme was something healthy (our next door neighbor though just kept on sending "sebo" and "ma-cholesterol" foods which spoiled our diet a bit. :D)

I made the oriental salad that I learned from raw food class, which was a hit to my hubby because of the kelp noodles. I was a bit disappointed though when the helpers threw the remaining dressing because the ingredients were quite expensive. Hubby just told me to move on-- it's Christmas!

The other courses were buffalo wings, which is one of my signature dishes. I use Frank's hot sauce and tried using margarine this time instead of butter for the coating. That was suggested by my neighbor Pia who's the master chef in our village. I still preferred the my butter version though, because it tasted closer to that of Friday's. The other course was grilled blue marlin with lemon butter sauce.


Buffalo wings (taken months ago)

Our pasta was simply tuna with olives and capers. That was a choice by my husband who really wanted something light.

I'm very very happy because my parents and hubby appreciated the dishes I made. I could have cooked turkey but hubby said we'll do that next year on thanksgiving. We were also trying to "be healthy" though the sauces that I used are not exactly the healthy kind.

Speaking of Top Chef, I'm so excited to watch Season 8, their All-Stars season. I know it's still on-going in the US, but we are just waiting for it to finish so hubby and I can do the watching marathon.



Merry Christmas everyone! Have a healthy year ahead!

Raw Food Diet, Anyone?

During the weekend, I attended a raw food diet workshop by Dahon Kusina. Mommy Denise Gonzales of Indigo Manila shared this type of diet with me while we were exchanging emails about activities that will nourish the mind and spirit. As followers of My Magic Wand may know, I experienced a series of health-related problems that displaced my usually high self-esteem.

According to Wikipedia, "Raw foodism (or rawism) is a lifestyle promoting the consumption of uncooked, unprocessed, and often organic foods as a large percentage of the diet." It has a lot of health benefits which I will no longer expound on here because my interest on raw foodism right now is limited to just adding another repertoire in our family weekly menu. By the way, I found out that I had high cholesterol and uric acid in my blood, hence the search for healthier foods.

Asha Peri, the initiator of this workshop is eating 90% raw already. I cannot contest her passion for the diet because of the many benefits that she has experienced since she started. She's been a vegetarian for about 8 years too.

Offhand, my husband and I are committing at least our breakfast to eat raw by starting on the green smoothie. Admittedly, the green smoothie is quite filling. It gets challenging though this season because we have been receiving a lot of yummy breads and cakes from friends. Choosing between green smoothie versus holiday feasts is a daunting task. We are committed as I have said. My hubby calls me a big nerd when I'm into something, so I am not sure how starting on this new food interest will lead me.

For beginners, I stopped drinking sodas for 5 years. I mostly drink just water, though I'm a coffee aficionado. My intake now though is just one cup a day due to my acid reflux. Ordinarily, I consume mostly vegetables, fish and poultry. My bad cholesterol and uric acid only started after I started experimenting on "sebo" foods in the kitchen (with paksiw na pata as my favorite!). During the past 3 weeks, it's mostly veggie, fruits, fish, and poultry for me. My meat "suki" got actually sad when I told her I will stop buying pork and beef from her.

Anyway, here were highlights of the workshop. I have been raving about it to friends. This Noche Buena, I will try the oriental salad, so hubby and I will be off to Healthy Options today to buy some of the ingredients.







Good luck to us and have a merry healthy Christmas to all!