Travelog: Thebaghag wannabe = chef wannabe?!


Finally, my San Francisco post!
I am currently staying at my inlaw’s house at their invitation- our first time as a whole family to stay with them since DH and I got married, as well as the kids’ first time to live in their SF place. We haven’t really been out to malls yet. My inlaws have a very different orientation when it comes to being on vacation in San Francisco. Whereas in my side of the family, we love eating out all the time, my inlaws prefer to stay in and eat in. I love eating out (got used to it), but I have to go with the flow because I left my own car in my folks’ home (which is a good 45 minutes away from my inlaws’ place), and DH rented a van for us here with the inlaws. I must admit to feeling disappointed initially, but I realized soon enough (which is great, so I’m not a killjoy haha) that it’s not so bad eating in–  because the markets in SF have great selections of veggies and meat! I could get by cooking *and eating what  I cook* here 😉 And the best part? Cooking in a “cold” kitchen 🙂 It’s literally “no sweat” to cook!!

Soo what have we been doing here of late?

Yesterday was a day at Best Buy, where DH channeled his inner kid and got himself a PS3. Don’t ask me what that is– all I know is, it’s some kind of a game console. DH obviously never grew up *muwahahaha*. But then I never grew up either I am in my second childhood with my love for all things Sanrio. 😉 So I ain’t complaining (or he’ll point to my 5 drawer stack of Sanrio goodies) *gulp*

After Best Buy, we went to Costco. While I would have normally enjoyed such a trip, I didn’t this time. Because the whole place was just full of people. And there were some angry holiday shoppers! I didn’t want to be in a place with a lot of negativity. So I just kept my fingers crossed that we don’t stay too long. My DKs got disappointed with Costco because my inlaws had promised them toys and there weren’t really any (though there were a lot of books) *hehehe inlaws realized they can’t promise anything to the kids because the kids remember!!*. We didn’t spend too long a time there in the end because DH got very cranky about not wanting to be there too long (kids were restless) *I know, DH is b*tchy??? tsk,  hahahaha (time of the month, DH? Or wait, shucks, did my biatchiness rub off on him?  Muwahaha)*
Aprés Costco, I had to go and pick up my family– all 10 of them *woohoo!* at the airport and bring them to our family’s place, which was SOOOO cold (like 2 deg C!! It even snowed just 2 weeks ago– a rarity since it NEVER snowed there! Too bad I wasn’t there to see it!).  I secretly kinda hoped I was  going to stay with them for a few days on this trip, because as you peeps probably know by now, I always have the time of my life *like we go crazy, be total bums, and wake up late etc* with my famille 🙂 My inlaws have been real great this trip, but of course I don’t want them to know what a lazy bum I can be when I’m on vacay *hahahaha because I AM a lazy bum!!*. So I’ve been on my best behavior *hehehe I wake up at a decent hour hahaha* 🙂
Speaking of being on best behavior, I did the good deed by cooking *wooohoooo!!!* Yes! I was able to cook for my kids and my inlaws! Last night, after having picked up my siblings from the airport to the house, we all went together to Safeway to buy groceries! My DM bought me a huge loot from the groceries *thanks Mom!!!*, so this morning, I was able to indulge in my other favorite pastime– cooking!
*yeah yeah, I know, you’re all shocked that I cook… I can cook, but I didn’t say I’m good hahaha*
So this morning, I was able to make some pasta. I was too busy chopping, sauteeing, and preparing the noodles that I actually forgot to take photos every step of the way. I will remind myself to ask DH next time (DH was still sleeping when I began to cook :D)
I made a creamy parmesan and basil sauce over rotini pasta with ground turkey and sauteed fresh mushrooms. (Sorry this doesn’t look too appetizing– hehe pasta was photographed while inside the pot)
The thing with cream sauce (I realized this later), it dries up real fast and well, the pasta doesn’t stay as creamy. *hehehe oh well* I bought the cream sauce off the grocery shelf, then just sauteed mushrooms, ground turkey with garlic, and mixed the cream sauce.
Oh, and I also made a tomato, basil, sauteéd mushrooms mixture for some bruschetta 🙂

I can’t give you my exact measurements (because it was all based on something I once saw on the Food Network hahaha), but this was what I did:
In a pan, add 1 tbsp butter and a drizzle of evoo (extra virgin olive oil). Sauté the garlic and add the chopped fresh mushrooms til they soften. Set aside the mushroom liquid/ butter sauce, and allow the “wilted” mushrooms with garlic to sit in room temp (until they cool). Dice tomatoes (take out the seeds). Chop basil leaves (without the stems). Mix together the cooled mushrooms, diced tomatoes, basil leaves. Add the evoo and sprinkle some salt and freshly ground pepper (optional) over the mixture to taste. Ta- dah! You now have yourself that mixture for pasta topping or for your bruschetta 🙂
And here’s our meal of the day– yes, I cooked for everyone 😉 *beams*

Hopefully we get to go out today to a new place of interest 🙂 That’s all I have for now. I’ve actually been tweeting on a more regular basis, so if you wish to follow me on twitter, do add me 🙂 My twitter ID is thebaghag 😉 *natch! hehehe*
x
Mrs. T

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  1. that looks superb mrs t!!! and your in-laws are exactly like mine too! when we check into a fancy place, my MIL will bring the whole caboodle (as in everything but the kitchen sink) and cook for us there. unlike you, i don’t cook though. but like you, i’m always on my best behavior with them! heehee! when i’m with my own family, ahhh… it’s i-can-put-up-my-feet-like-a-senorita time. but i can NEVER do that around my in-laws 🙂

  2. The creamy parmesan and basil sauce over rotini looks good. Where did you get the recipe from? Was that from Food Network too? Yum!

  3. @ Anon: Only the basil tomato mixture was from the food network 😀 The rotini sauce was store- bought, but I just sauteed mushrooms and ground turkey, seasoned them, and then mixed it to the sauce, allowing it to heat, before mixing in the pasta 🙂

  4. I’m also not a good cook but I try my best to whip out some good food.
    I look for recipes on the internet, ask my chef friend for tips and marketmanila.com 😉

  5. hi, mrs. T! me & my hubby make creamy pasta all the time. the trick is to put in more cream so it won’t dry up like that, & then serve it immediately.
    also, try to add on roquefort cheese, it’s more yummy!

  6. @ Appledumplings: I read marketmanila.com every so often too 😀 I also love scouring the net for recipes. I did that to make homemade eggnog one time hahahaha 😀

    @R: ooooh roquefort cheese. I love it, but I think it may be a little too heavy for the kids 🙂 I also tried boursin cheese before hehehehe. And thanks for the tip about the cream! Should I let the pasta swim in the cream though??

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