romantic candelit dinner

My hubby thinks I am crazy and I drive him nuts.  And I cannot disagree.  I love him, he loves me. Every word whispered, every giggle, every caress, kisses, hugs, every moment, everything, is treasured.  And last Sunday, he surprised me with this:

Romantic Candlelit dinner at home. – slices of Prosciutto (wild boar), French bread and olive oil with herbs dip, Manchego Cheese, Classic Vermont Cheddar Cheese (sharp), Old Amsterdam and Jam Jar (Sweet Shiraz, 2011).

Prosciutto is a dry-cured ham, sliced and served uncooked.  A pig’s or wild boar’s ham is cleaned, salted, washed, drained with all the blood and hung in room temperature for up to 18 months depending on the size of the ham.

Olive oil dip is mixed with oregano, garlic, black pepper, balsamic vinegar.

Manchego cheese (officially Queso Manchego) is a cheese pressed in barrel-shaped mould, traditionally in plaited esparto grass baskets, which leaves a distinctive zig-zag pattern (known as pleita) on the rind. Manchego Cheese has been granted Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status by the European Union. To be designated as Queso Manchego, the cheese must satisfy the following requirements:

• It must have been produced in an area that is restricted to designated parts of the provinces of Albacete, Ciudad Real, Cuenca, and Toledo that lie within the La Mancha region.
• It can only be made with the whole milk of sheep of the Manchega breed that are raised on registered farms within the designated area.
• The cheese must have been aged for a minimum of 60 days (30 days for cheeses weighing up to 1.5 kg) and a maximum of two years.
• The cheese must be produced by pressing in a cylindrical mould that has a maximum height of 12 cm and a maximum diameter of 22 cm.

Cheddar Cheese on the other hand is widely used and has no Protected Designation of Origin (PDO). Vermont Cheddar is a white, semi-hard, cheese made from any raw or pasteurized cultered milk. To be considered cheddar – the cheese from the milk of cows must go through the “cheddaring process” which is the repeated flipping and stacking of curd slabs until the desired acidity level is reached.

Old Amsterdam is made from cow’s milk, named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, but its name is not PDO protected.

Jam Jar, a South African wine, suits the need of the consumers who are seeking for quality sweet wine. It is best served slightly chilled.

I am in love, and these are the things we do for love.

Source: en.wikipedia.org

Cheesecake Recipe

1 (6 grams) pack gelatine
½ cup white sugar
1 cup boiling water
8-12 ounce cream cheese, softened
8 ounce sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 graham pie crust (9-inch)
1 egg (optional)

Mix gelatine and sugar in small bowl. Add boiling water, stir for 5 minutes until gelatine is completely dissolved. Set aside.

Beat cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla in a bowl until creamy. Slowly add gelatine mixture. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or until thickened, stirring every 15 minutes. Pour into pie crust.  For a brownish crust, brush with beaten egg and bake in a 375 oven degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Refrigerate for 3 hours. Serve with fruit toppings. I used diced fresh raspberries.

Asheville, North Carolina

A four-hour drive from home and we found ourselves exploring Asheville, a city located northwest of North Carolina. After a quick stop at the city’s visitor center, we decided to visit a regional brewery. If you love beer, or just wanted to learn more about brewery, or in my case just wanted to see someone rejoice while feasting on beer samples, then this is the place. Highland Brewing Company is my hubby’s paradise. They offer free 45 mins to an hour tour and free tasting (!) – Monday-Saturday 4pm. For more information about the tour, visit their site at http://www.highlandbrewing.com/.

A walk around downtown Asheville exudes a hippie impression, reminding me of the days when life is all fun and everything is cool. Had I continued skim boarding and pursued my dreadlocks, I am sure to fit in. We also passed along a beautiful church and took a snap of it.

It was nearly sunset and we had a play to catch. Presented in an outdoor theatre in a park downtown Asheville, Shakesperean plays are featured all summer long. “Much Ado About Nothing” as you enjoy it under the stars was awesome. The production was never mediocre, the actors and actresses were excellent at their craft, the audience was great and simply the fact that it was held outdoor where fireflies were out and the actors and actresses interact with the audience (and my hubby was holding my hand)  was just perfect. When you visit Asheville, you sure would not want to miss this!

con todo mi ser

a mi jonathan sellers,

para mi, tu eres el mas dulce cancion que juega muy bien todos los dias. cada linea habla de amor y esperanza y cada nota de la felicidad .

te amo con todo mi ser,

tu eflida

Lonely Strings

Strike not once
not twice
but forever

for you, of you

this melody conquering the horizons
crying out to heavens
my sonata defeating time

another’s
yours sings of another’s

this harmony
these notes
eternal, boundless

these strings strike not once
not twice
but forever…

in silence.

** 10december2005

stargazer

is it still fragrant
is it still true?
did cupid his arrow take,
for yours in mine’s sake?
we were miles apart,
did love have reason to stay,
or the miles from our hearts drive your love away
in your heart in mine
has love has lost its rhyme
or was it not love
just a thing to be forgotten through time
we once had the courage to speak of love
is it something we had or we have
our hearts now to others belong
but questions we have
because of our unfinished song.

** ccb. 2003

a letter from a dreamer

i wish light will shed unto this
blinded heart of mine,
Apollo will strike this strings for this
song out of rhyme,
indeed melodies resonate always,
sands are kissed by the mighty seas,
but beloved
as this supreme hands move love
in our being,
he might have forgotten strands
for this destiny of mine.
passionate thee, you have always
been my shining star in my
wide open sky.

** 09december2004

a reply to my madrigal of woven solitude

Songs resonate twice
for forlorn souls
If it does not, we become
melancholic souls forever
Destiny and fate do not
design souls to be forlorn forever
Immortals in their holy plans
craft one soul to complement ours
one heart to make each one of our hearts whole.

Melodies resonate twice
for blind ears, blind hearts and
lost souls.
This is the strength of love
And wonder of passion

And beauty of amor

Songs resonate twice

And so does love
And so does every beautiful
thing in this mortal world.

Melodies are formed from the
strains of Apollo’s lyre not once
but twice for Happiness and Hope
to frolick in all mortal’s heart.

Seas kiss the sands not once
but forever every second,
Seas and sands embrace each other’s warmth.

Songs resonate twice.
Diana’s moon shines not once but always:
Every single night it serenade lovers and immortals alike.

If songs resonate once, do we have love?
Do we have hearts? And fulfilled souls?
And passion, and kisses?

Songs do not resonate twice,
They resonate always
Forever

And so does love.

*** this lovely poem was a response of my good friend knight geronimo to my poem entitled “madrigal of my woven solitude”. photo shown is the actual handwritten poem beside mine. december, 2004

Someday

When can i not only paint my name on the sand
but sail across vast oceans?

When can i not only stroll through green meadows
where fragrant poises freely grow,
but present to my mother dear a pretty rose
which certainly care and love it shows.

When can i not only whisper my wishes on a star,
carving dreams from afar
not only fascinated by its beauty and charm
and fancying to hold it tightly in my arms.

Perhaps, someday,
i might
print my name on the sand
and never let the wind blow it and be gone;

Maybe someday,
i may
present my dear ma special poises
oh, im gonna give her bunch of roses
for i know care and love it shows.

Hoping someday
i will
to the angels ill say my prayer
and they’ll gonna whisper to my Father
“a child dreaming of a bright someday,
everything will be good and day”

*** a poem i wrote probably around september of 1999. i was lucky enough to have this published in our school paper.

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madrigal of my woven solitude

will the song resonate twice
for this faithful warrior,
wounded
shield beaten, sword broken
alone a shadow standing
blooded in the midst of the battleground?

this drifter without a home
spare this dreamer,
this dreamer who gave away all

will the song resonate twice?
for this wing broken
for this lullabye out of rhyme
this painter who owns none but the sky.

will the song resonate twice
for this heart who deeply loves
this sincere beating
this solitary affection?

for this soul forgotten…

will the song resonate twice?

**December 01, 2004

even heroes bleed

do you know what is so sad about pushing someone away?

it makes that person think she is not welcomed, that a day gone by is fine without her. And for each moment that you care less, she grows comfort in that little corner she calls silence. For her every effort unnoticed, she feels it is never enough, that it can never be enough for the other to see. And slowly her every thought unheard becomes silent wishes on lonely nights, of a someday that you too can see through her, deep beneath her brown eyes.

She loves you. And she can leave everything for you. She loves you. And she wishes you love her too.

summer rain

Growing up in a tropical country, I only know two seasons : wet and dry. I cannot even tell the weather temperature by numbers. I just know it is hot when a glass of water is finished in a blink, and cold when I start to dig up for my sweaters. And because growing up means having to spend my every day at school, I began to construct my own little paradise in my head. That time of the year when I do not have to face books and when days of the week become rather insignificant.

Summer. That time of the year when everyday simply becomes a wonderful memory. When waking up is no longer a struggle and dressing up sounds fun. When the beach seems to be just a stone’s throw away. When friends are welcome to share a sunshine.

There is summer. Then comes summer rain.

Just when you thought it would be sunshine all throughout, you start to hear thunder. Raindrops seem heavier than the usual and the little sound of your footstep on a wet grass becomes a little piece of miracle.

Do you know what is so good with summer rain? It teaches us the wonder of life. That you have to smile while there is sunshine, but you need to dance in every rain.

There is summer. Then comes summer rain.

on nights like this

tonight is no different from the others. i still open the same news site and read the same media buzz. i still listen to the defeaning silence of my room and the occasional passing of strangers outside.

but tonight, this very moment, i miss you a lot. i miss you a lot it hurts. i miss you a lot it feels like a big empty hole in me. i miss you a lot that on nights like this, i wish to close my eyes and forget my lonely existence. on nights like this, i just wish to fall into a sweet dream hoping to find you there.

on nights like this, i wish falling stars are real. because if i were to whisper a name, ill softly say yours,..