Grateful Thoughts & a Short Film by Disney on Vday

This morning, I spent a few moments reflecting on how grateful I am to love and be loved by family and friends. Every Valentines Day, my thoughts are not just for my significant other but also for the special people who fill my life with love and joy. Wherever they are, I send positive and grateful thoughts out to them, not just today but everyday.

Here's my Hearts Day gift to you dear readers. A short film by Disney entitled "Paperman" which takes only six minutes of your time but will give you a smile that could last the whole day.  

This video made me remember how love can find you in the most unexpected times and how the universe makes a way for things to fall into place because some people are meant for each other. Ahhh Love, the most wonderful thing!

Have a fun Hearts Day! Live, love and be grateful! :) 

Sources: Wikipedia Youtube

Foodie Love In A Bottle of Gourmet Tuyo

Lent Season starts today, Ash Wednesday and as Catholics, we try to observe not eating meat on Ash Wednesday and every Friday for the next six weeks. While there are a lot of probable non-meat meals I can serve at home, the challenge is preparing them as I'm usually not up to cooking on Friday nights. While it is always easy to just eat out, I prefer that we minimize this during Lent Season as part of our sacrifice. 

My usual choices for meatless meals are a combination of seafood and vegetables. I also take this chance to sometimes cook Tuyo (dried salty fish), a kind of fish I grew up eating in the Philippines. The problem with cooking Tuyo is that it leaves a strong smell at home. We don't really mind the smell as we're used to it. However, we're careful to cause inconvenience in the building we live in. One can smell it in the corridors and the smell stays at home for a while even if you light scented candles and incense or spray air freshener. It is a hassle but it's all worth it especially you eat it with steamed rice and tomatoes or pair it up with Champorado (Chocolate Rice Porridge). Ohhh yum! It's one of my comfort food.

It seemed like an answered prayer when I chanced upon a bottle of Gourmet Tuyo at G&L Supermarket. I've read about bottled gourmet tuyos in the Philippines and I was hoping one day it would reach the shores of Sydney. And it finally did!  

Connie's Kitchen Gourmet Tuyo is heaven sent! Salty dried herring in olive oil all ready for eating. It has the right amount of saltiness and has no preservatives. It had a few pieces of red chili which added more flavour to the fish but it's surprisingly not spicy.

I prepared three side dishes to go with our Gourmet Tuyo when we had them for dinner few nights ago: Kimchi, Green Mango Salad and Spinach Salad and it was the perfect partner to all three.

My "first Tuyo love" will always be the fried Tuyo but this will do on days when I'm craving for Tuyo and wouldn't want to face the hassles of cooking it.

I hope G&L Supermarket will constantly have bottled Gourmet Tuyo available. This is a great alternative to cooking Tuyo at home as you just need to open that bottle and voila! You've got delicious Tuyo to enjoy with steamed rice or Champorado. 

Note: I discovered Connie's Gourmet Tuyo at G&L Supermarket located at 17-21 First Avenue, Blacktown NSW.

"Sweeten Thy Soul" (Dinner & Desserts with Girlfriends)

Ended the month of January on a happy note as the Husband and I met up with good friends Meds and Charyn for dinner. 

The plan was to try out this family restaurant in Westmead but it turned out that they were closed for the evening due to an event (oh well, maybe next time). So we trooped down to Parramatta to have dinner there instead. Thanks to Charyn's suggestion, we got to try mouthwatering pizzas, a comforting risotto and a decadent sticky date pudding at Restaurant 317.

I started off with a refreshing glass of Mojitos with lots of fresh lime wedges. It was so hot that day and this made it all better. 

Got ourselves a Cheese and Olive Starter Pizza made of Provolone Cheese and Olive Tapenade.

For our mains, we had the Margherita Pizza and Italian Sausage Pizza.

All of us enjoyed the Chicken Risotto in creamy sauce, mushroom and shallots. I loved this.

The pizzas and risotto were very filling but we can resist but order their Sticky Date Pudding. It's too sweet for my liking but since there were four of us that shared this, it wasn't overwhelming. It had a lovely butterscotch sauce and delicious vanilla gelato which made the sticky date pudding more enjoyable.

 A few steps away from Restaurant 317 is Chocolateria San Churro, one of my favourite dessert places in Australia. We came here to have a hot Spanish chocolates and some churros. Our Spanish chocolates that night: the original and thick Classic Spanish chocolate, the Madrid Mocha which had a shot of espresso (I recommend this to coffee lovers) and the nutty Avellana which has a hazelnut flavour.

"Sweeten thy Soul" is what you see in every cup at Chocolateria San Churro. Very fitting phrase to describe why it's important to me to be with loved ones. As good food nourishes the body, it is the people we love who feed our soul. :)


Restaurant 317
317 Church Street, Parramatta
Phone: 1300 317 317

Chocolateria San Churro
287 Church Street, Parramatta
Phone: 02 9633 1566

Style Musings: Finding a Fascinator

One of my fashion dreams came true last month as I found a simple and classy fascinator that went well with my black lace dress. 

A fascinator is a headpiece, a style of millinery. The word originally referred to a fine, lacy head covering akin to a shawl and made from woolor lace, but mostly feathers. In the modern usage, it refers to a woman's alternative to hat for formal attire; it is usually a large hair decoration on a band or clip with elaborate trimmings and decoration like a formal hat and it can incorporate a base to make it a miniature hat. (source)

I found this fascinator at French Connection during the end of year sales. I tried it on due to curiosity and when the Husband saw me, he complimented, "That looks good on you." I checked the price and it had a very huge discount so I took that as a sign and bought it.

Other reasons why I love my fascinator:

• Other than being simple and classy, it's very dainty. 
• It wasn't loud and too conspicuous. 
• It's something my petite frame can easily get away.
• It's a headband fascinator so it's very easy to wear.

A few tips:

• If you're buying a headband fascinator, make sure that it fits your head perfectly.
• If you want a fascinator that you can wear to more than one occasion, choose neutral colours such as black, white, beige, etc.
• In Australia, the best time to buy a fascinator is usually after Melbourne Cup season (or any horse race event), end of year sales or Boxing Day.