November 22, 2008

It’s the second weekend in a row. The previous week, my colleagues from work came over to scrap at our place. This weekend, some of my PS friends drove over from all over the Metro for a weekend crop. Lee, Donna, Cookie and Nina met early for the hour drive to our Kawit abode. Bjay, who also lives in what I now call my hometown, met them at the Island Cove so they could drive together to our place. CV, Candy and Pia who were part of the original Cavite weekend croppers (early this year) didn’t make it as they had obligations this weekend.

We’ve been planning this for ages and I was happy and excited that it finally pushed through. Lee initially “required” everyone to finish at least three layouts so they have something to show their hubbies when they get back home. I already told her it’s impossible for me since I am not much of a group scrapper. I just enjoy the company and chit chat but it’s unlikely that I will be able to do anything. I guess I’m exempted. I’m the host afterall.

Anyway, we made ATCs and swapped at the end of the day. Bjay got mine and I got hers. 😀 As predicted, I wasn’t able to finish anything, save for the ATC. I worked on the mini that I started the night before at Mitch’s store (Visual Creations) but I didn’t progress much. Sigh.

Of course, our crop session won’t be complete without food. I cooked lunch and merienda/early dinner. For lunch, we had rellenong bangus (I ordered from our suki), laing (the bestseller), oven-grilled liempo, cucumber and squid salad (same one I served the previous week). I was surprised they liked the laing. I love anything with coconut cream so laing is a regular fare at home. It’s fairly easy to prepare too! I just skipped the fresh shrimps this time as Bjay is allergic – I substituted with shrimp cubes which still caused a mild reaction. Anyway, they’ve been asking so here’s the recipe.

Saute garlic (crushed), onions (1 small minced), ginger (1 small sliced), chopped red chilis (if like me, you like it hot), 1 green finger chili (for the fragrance and flavor). Add meat/and or shrimps. For the meat, you can use ground pork (just a handful) or boiled liempo cut into small pieces). Add patis for flavor. If not using shrimp, you may want to add 1 Knorr shrimp cube. Add a cup of coconut cream and let boil. Add one pack of dried gabi leaves (I buy mine at Landmark). When leaves are wilted and the mixture is already dry, add another cup of coconut cream. Simmer until the mixture is a bit dry and oily. I also like adding dried squid (when I have stock at home) and bagoong alamang instead of shrimp cubes and patis. Total cooking time is less than 30 minutes. By the way, I use coconut cream so the laing is not watery.

I use the same recipe to cook ginataang langka, ginataang sitaw at kalabasa (with prawns or crabs!), ginataang puso ng saging, etc. So you see, I really love gata!

For our merienda/early dinner, I cooked penne in putanesca sauce. I paired it with bruschetta with fresh homemade pesto, chopped tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. I love bruschetta!

After the gang left, I worked on my mini again. I was able to finish around 11pm. I am really an introvert! I just can’t get the creative juices flowing when I’m surrounded with happy chatter.

But I had so much fun! I’d like to do it again. Hopefully over the holiday break.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to take a single decent photo. I actually just took photos of the ATCs. However, when I checked them out a few minutes ago, I realized they are horrible! So, just head over to http://cookieaguilar.blogspot.com/2008/11/scrappin-in-cavite.html’s, Bjay‘s and Lee‘s blogs to see their own account and view some photos.

Til next time!

Written by Alby Laran

    1 Comment

  1. Lee i. December 2, 2008 at 4:06 pm Reply

    Yey! the recipe is here. Let's see if I can impress my MIL with my pitiful attempts. Otherwise, in the next scrap party at your place, I will be sure to bring laing home. Hahaha. We really had fun Alby, hope we can do it again soon. Wag kang magsasawa. :-)

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