Water Kefir Drinks

I bought water kefir (pronounced keh-FEER, not Kiefer as in Kiefer Sutherland) grains to make naturally carbonated soda pop because I prefer the drinks not just with unprocessed sugar but also with low sugar content. Initially I was hesitant to try because I was worried I might get candida/yeast infection and other skin ailments from drinking it but I read that the grains don't have the same candida yeast and may actually help in its cure for those who suffer from it.

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Oven Cheese Fries

I love French-fried potatoes; frying not so much. Toaster oven to the rescue: oven fries with cheese, crispy bacon, and pickled jalapeño. Sooo yummy!

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Homemade Cola

I rarely drink colas and we rarely have them in the house, although once in a while I just have to have a bottle of ice cold Coke® whenever I'm eating Philippine noodles pancit guisado. I don't know why but for me pancit doesn't taste the same without it.

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Green Tea Marble Kasutera

I know I'm late for the Kasutera/Castella baking party. It seems every food blogger has baked this Japanese sponge cake. I finally gave in and baked one adding green tea powder to a third of the batter. The oil-free cake is surprisingly soft and moist, and not too sweet.

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Australian Meat Pies

I've bookmarked the recipe for these small Australian meat pies which I read about in a Filipino food blog, of all places, about 2 years ago. I'm not a meat pie enthusiast and never tried making them until a few days ago when I suddenly had the munchies for these meat pies. It must be the wintry weather. Haha!

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Ube

For the umpteenth time, I'm writing about ube,a variety of yam that's naturally colored purple. The root vegetable is used in the Philippines as an ingredient in sweet snacks and desserts. I have yet to see it added to savory dishes though.

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Oggi Dreams of Jiro's Tamagoyaki

Oh, I've been dreaming of Jiro style grilled omelet since I viewed the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi, many months ago. I looked for copy cat recipes online but didn't find any that looks like Jiro's but read that his recipe has mountain yam, shrimp called shiva ebi, sugar, salt, mirin, and a little soy sauce. In the movie an apprentice does preparation techniques for 10 years before he is allowed to try making tamagoyaki.

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