Pregnancy Cravings

It's 2:48 am here in Algonquin, Illinois, and I lie here obsessing over things that I cannot have.  This time, it's a slice of cherry pie with a nice flaky and buttery crust.  But wait, I don't even like cherry pie.  I NEVER even think about cherry pie - I  neither love nor hate it.  So why was I jarred from slumber because of this desire for freaking cherry pie?!
 

One word. Pregnancy. Or maybe two words. Pregnancy Hormones. 


I decided to start blogging again, just as a way to deal with my strange new eating habits and desires.  I haven't gotten emotional about much so far, but I do cry over food.  Literally.  I cried during my third week of pregnancy because I wanted a tuna melt also around 2 am and couldn't have one. Just burst into ugly tears.  So Glenn made me some toast. 


Hopefully, through this blog, I can capture our excitement, apprehension, and food cravings and appreciate everyday of this pregnancy experience.

P.S. I just started week 14.

Byebye MOMO.

Last week, while visiting us here in the IL, my father-in-law informed me that they closed one of my favorite restaurants in Manila, Momo Cafe (owned by the same proprietors of Mr. Jones, another favorite restaurant).  I was crushed.  Almost everyday, I would meander downstairs from the 34th floor, pop into Momo's  just to stuff my face, do work, and go on the internet.  They served mostly "American style food," which I found comforting when missing home. I can't even bring myself to discuss all the things I love about Momo Cafe, it's just too sudden, too new, too raw - these feelings.  Maybe in the future, I can reminisce without this empty feeling and tell you more about it.  Until then, here are some lovely photos of their delicious comfort food.

 Nutella and bananas French Toast.  Oh, I could just cry like a baby right now.

Steak sandwich. But what you should really take note of is the cute paper they served the sandwich on. I loved their logo.

Yes, they gave you Chocnut at the end of your meal (I'm allergic, but I know everyone gets excited about it).

Ugghhhh, I hate goodbyes.

The Deceiving Deliciousness of Rhubarb

I've never eaten rhubarb before. I found that the actual word rhubarb sounded intimidating and therefore, in some weird twisted logic, thought that it couldn't possibly taste good.  Also, look at it -

How can that be baked in a sweet yummy pastry? It looks like dyed celery!

But I was wrong, oh, so wrong!

The Downtown Bakery & Creamery of Healdsburg, California showed me the way.

This bakery is famous for their strawberry rhubarb galette - wonderful, buttery crusty cake.  Sometimes I find fruit pastries overloaded with sugar so it's difficult to taste the natural flavors of the fruit (in this case fruit and root), but this was definitely not the case at the Downtown Bakery & Creamery.
So now I've changed my ways! I will eat rhubarb any day! Hooray!

Here are some gratuitous pictures of their other baked goodies:

Yuuuuummmmm

   

I'm back... sort of.

I can't believe how infrequently I update this blog.  Quite honestly, I just haven't been in the mood to write in a very long time - not only in terms of blogging, but also my dissertation (which I haven't started yet - technically, I'm still in the research phase).  So, I'm hoping that through blogging, I'll find the creative and intellectual flow to start writing chapter drafts.

In terms of food and eating, I really have a lot to share.  Since my last post, I've tried lots of new types of foods and restaurants.  Unfortunately, as a result, I've gained a lot of weight.  Now, I'm going on this sugar/glucose/starch detox, forcing me to be creative in my eating habits.  I mean, just because I'm trying to lose weight, doesn't mean that food can't taste good.  Am I right or am I right?

In the next few posts (hopefully, there will be immediate posts) you'll be seeing all the delicious foods that ultimately brought me this much closer to diabetes (runs in my fam... but I swear, at the time these dishes seemed worth it) and what I'm currently eating to get back on a healthy track.

Once, this detox is over and I start to crave sugar and starches less, I can make healthier choices, whether that be lo-carb/lean meals or portion control.   I've done it before, so I'm thinking I can do it again. Right?!?

Why I love going to the province.

Warning: If you are a pig lover, you might not want to look at the lechon.

These pictures are from our family trip to Northern Samar last August.  But I felt like posting them up because I'm so excited to do some research there next week!

I can only hope I'll get a fraction of the good food I ate during my last trip.  Fresh seafood and fresh lechon by the beach. MmmMmMmMm.

Late Night Cravings

I always find myself having the strangest cravings right when I'm supposed to go to bed.  This is annoying for two reasons: 1) It's impossible to actually purchase what I'm craving at this time and place. 2) Even if I could have whatever it is I'm fixated on eating, I can't eat it because it's late and you're not supposed to eat late at night - or else, the fat will continue to stick in places you don't want it to.

Anyhoo, randomly, I find myself fantasizing about the doughnut sundae (with warm freshly made doughnuts of course) from First (Palazzo Hotel, Las Vegas).

I was lucky enough to have this instead of a birthday cake last fall. MmmMMmM. I can only hope that I'll dream of eating this tonight.

Birthdays and Cupcakes: Happy 28th Marie and Joy!!

I love these two girls (Joy top, Marie bottom).  And they came up often as a subject of discussion at dinner with Nikky and Toy.  After talking about them so much, I realized how much I miss them both and how sad I was to have missed their birthdays.  So to make for it, I decided to write about one of our lunch and cupcake outings last summer.

They took me this amazing cafe in Long Beach, La Creperie Cafe.

I loved the Bohemian Parisian ambience.

But I think I loved the garlic fries even more.

The crepes were absolutely delicious.  Filled and topped with fresh ingredients that somehow didn't ruin the actual texture of the crepe.

Afterwards, Marie, Joy, and I walked to this delightful bakery called Frosted.  It was just so cute, cartoony, and well... delightful!

(If I could tag photos on blogs, I would tag this cupcake as Brian.)

I ended up getting six different cupcakes to take to a Laker Playoff Game party at my cousins.  I shared with them on one condition: they had to let me have a bite of each cupcake.  Each bite was amazing.  The cake itself was fluffy and moist. The icing was light and not too sweet, just the way I like my frosting.

So to my lovely twin friends, Happy 28th Birthday!! I love you both!!