Steimatzky – 2011 Goal Done!

Steimatzky Dizengoff Center, Tel-Aviv

I heart books as much as I heart Food. I go for young-adult, adult-contemporary or mere Dan Brown-ish kind of books. I don’t really fancy romance and the likes. My major dream is to have a library of books at home. It’s a joy to see books arranged in shelves in different colors and sizes. To be a book club member is one of my main goals this year. And yesterday, I got my membership card from Steimatzky. (Steimatzky — a known bookstore here in Israel)

my membership card. Yey!

Earlier this year, I was fervently trying to have a library card or a book club membership. But I was pretty sure as well that it will cost a lot of money. Not until yesterday when I went to Steimatzky and found The Hunter Games Trilogy books. I’ve read the prologue online and i was enchanted and started looking for these books since then. 

The original price of one is 59.99 NIS but for Steimatzky members, it will only cost 29.99 NIS. I took the first book and was ready to pay for it when they told me that it will only cost 29.99 for bookstore club members. I asked how much it will cost me if I’ll enroll myself. They told me it’s 30NIS for a year of membership. Wahooooooo! That was the happiest moment ever! Haha! 

I immediately took the other two books. Also for 29.99 each. I paid for the 3 books plus my 30 NIS membership and went home with a big big smile on my face. Fany was so happy for me. She knows that I love books and a 30NIS membership was a steal. I am so happy and I’m sure I’ll have sleepless nights with these babies in the next few weeks. 

The first book from the trilogy.

I can’t give you any review right now because I am still on the first few pages of the first book. But i promised to make a review as soon as I finish. All i know is that the book is about a teenage girl who joined a reality TV show called Hunger Games with only one rule: To kill or get killed. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world in a country called Panem. I have a thing on women warriors and survivors. I always imagine myself being one. Haha. 

I always believe that buying books is not a total waste of money. It’s an investment actually. It pays to read and it pays to learn. It’s good to have a Nook or Kindle but the smell of the papers makes the book more appealing to read. I love to flip the pages. I can feel the excitement when I do it. So as much as there are bookstores selling books in pages, I will continue to read. 

So guys, if you are interested, you can visit any Steimatzky Bookstores all over Israel and enroll yourself for membership. It’s super worth it. You can have lots of books for half the price. For 30NIS, you will enjoy a year of huge discounts. Believe me, it’s worth it!

The iSavta’s Succor to Filipino Caregivers

One of the main problems of caregivers here in Israel is the endless and stressful hunt for employers. As much as we want to find a better job, sometimes we don’t have a choice but to settle for what the recruitment agencies are giving us. It hits me like slavery in a very discrete way. While some of the agencies let us choose the employer on our own, some are selling us like slaves and before we could say no, we were already employed to someone we didn’t even meet face to face.

Salary is also one of the problems. Until now, after all the laws was implemented, we still have no definite amount to follow. Though Kavla Oved published certain calculations, still the agencies refused to follow and came up with their own computation. While Israelis are known to be frugal, there are also a huge number of them who are willing to pay more. But agencies tend to meddle and caregivers are always torn between them. The countless problems with migrant workers here in Israel are quite exasperating not only for us but also to the employers who needs us. It always ends up in disagreement between employers and caregivers and it’s always the caregiver who suffers.

Because of these dilemmas, the Isavta.co.il was born. The website aims to help the caregivers to find a good employer and a job that is suitable for them. The site actually features important details and information about the employers as well as the caregivers. When you sign up, you have to fill up forms with general information about you.  The employers also need to sign up. Once they do,  they have the freedom to choose from a lot of available caregiver members of the site and they have the possibility to contact them. This goes the same to the caregivers. They can access the address, telephone numbers of the prospective employers whom they can choose without restraint from any recruitment agency. Furthermore, the site also disclose the possible salary they offer as well as their status and even the languages they prefer to speak. In this way, the Hebrew-only speaking employers will be filtered by the English-only speaking caregivers. This will help both the employers and caregivers to easily find what they need.

So if you happen to read this post, and you are here in Israel, looking for a job, feel free to visit www.iSavta.co.il and sign up. Then check the job openings and have the pleasure of choosing the job which you think is best for you. You can contact the employers directly through their telephone numbers, meet them, empress them and have a job. Easy.

On the other hand, the people behind iSavta are actively participating in events and projects for Filipino caregivers around Israel. They are now the proud sponsor of Miss Philippines-Israel which will be held on November 12, 2011 in Duhl Auditorium in Tel-Aviv. There will be raffle draws and huge prices from iSavta but only exclusive for the site members. All you need to do is sign up and vote for your favorite candidate and you will have a chance to win these exciting prices.

If you have a talent for writing, iSavta also gives you the opportunity to publish and share your thoughts through their blog page. There you can read the funny, sad and memorable experiences of caregivers here in Israel as well as some important tips on life, love, finances and savings.

It’s so nice to know that despite of all the selfishness and extreme greed in this world, there are still people out there who wants to lend a helping hand. Thanks to Ariel who cordially gave me the permission to feature iSavta. I’m just overwhelmed with his effort to help us Filipinos and all the caregivers here in Israel.

You can also like their page on Facebook. iSavta Facebook Page.

Spicy Chicken Wings

The plan was to make a Homemade Buffalo Wings, but because I didn’t have the time to buy the Frank sauce and other things, I decided to make this Spicy Chicken Wings which is by far, better than Buffalo Wings. (in my opinion of course).

Actually, you can use a wide variety of sauces, herbs and spices to cook chicken wings. The best combination for me is this recipe that i will share to you. Again, this is my personal choice and I’m sure, some of you prefers something else.

So here’s what you need just in case you want to try it:

• 10-15 chicken wings; cut into 3 parts.

this is how your wings should look like. Honestly, i love the wing tip. It ‘s crunchy and you can actually eat the bones. But because I was thinking about blogging this recipe, I decided to cut it. Some cut the whole tip but I can’t. I still want to leave a tiny winy toot to eat. haha!

• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 tsp. Tabasco sauce

1. Wash and cut and your wings and dry in a paper towel
2. Mix flour, garlic powder, paprika, salt, pepper and cayenne.
3. Mix chicken wings and spices in a plastic bag or zip lock. Refrigerate for about an hour.
4. Line baking pan with foil and smear with butter
5. Mix melted butter and tabasco sauce.
6. Dip chicken wings one by one and arrange in baking pan.
7. Bake in preheated 400F oven for about 40-45 minutes.
8. Serve hot and crispy.

I don’t know exactly where I found this recipe. Most probably in foodwishes.com since cayenne is one of Chef John’s fave ingredients. I was looking for this recipe in his blog but I didn’t find it. But all the credit goes to whoever the original recipe came from. Now, if you want your wings to be more spicy, then add more of the spicy ingredients. Enjoy!

Pork Stir-Fry with Noodles: The Leftovers!

Busy day with Fany because of tight schedules with doctors and doctors and doctors. We’re both fed up with all these schedules day after day. It was 1pm when we reached home and we’re both hungry. Nothing on the fridge except the cheesecake I made the other day. So I have to come up with something easy and delicious for lunch. I found veggies inside the fridge, about a quarter kilo of pork tenderloin inside the freezer and a pack of egg noodles and then I know I’m good to go. Sometimes leftovers were not meant to go to waste. You can always find something yummy to make using these ingredients. 

This recipe is supposed to be with i think 10 or more main ingredients. But since I have to make something out of my more or less 5, I will only share what I did. Most of the ingredients are vegetables so you can just add the veggies you like to make this recipe more fancy.

about 200g broccoli florets

1 pack (250g) egg noodles; soaked in hot water

1 yellow bell pepper; cut into strips

1 red bell pepper; cut into strips

2 carrots; peeled and cut into strips

1/4 kilo pork tenderloin; cut into strips

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. chicken powder

50 ml. boiling water

1 onion; finely chopped

3 cloves garlic; finely chopped

2 tbsp. sesame oil or olive oil

lemon

• Marinate your pork with soy sauce.
• Fry onion and garlic in oil until transparent.
• Stir in your pork with soy sauce for about 3 minutes.
• Add 50 ml. of hot water plus sugar and chicken powder
• Stir in noodles.
• salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes you don’t need salt because soy sauce and chicken powder is enough.
• Toss for about 3 minutes until noodles is done.
• Toss in vegetables for about 2 minutes. Don’t overcook vegetables.
• Serve with lemon wedges.

I’ll try to cook Pansit from Philippines next time using Vermicelli Sotanghon and chicken liver. For now, enjoy this buzzer beater Stir-Fry Noodles. Enjoy ♥♥♥

New Digital Camera! Yey!

For a month, I’ve been wanting to buy a cheap digital camera to carry everyday. Since I am now into this blogging thing (which I really enjoy doing), I want a camera that I can just slip into my bag and ready for any on the spot photoshoot anytime. I want to have fab photos for my blog all the time but my phone’s 5mp cannot give me a decent picture unless I will edit the whole thing in Picasa. My DSLR is quite heavy for everyday and not very convenient for stolen shots and all so I prefer to use it for my home cooking which you can view in the Food/Recipe Page.

My sister and I found this cute blue-ish 14mp Olympus VG-120 camera. I really wanted to take the Pentax 12mp because it looks slick with its black and white color but I think with the same price, Olympus has a better build quality and lens. Plus, its 14mp with 5x zoom, wider screen and with free 2g memory card. 

Here’s the complete specs:

14.0 megapixels CCD (1/2.3″) • max.1920×1080(16:9)/4288×3216(4:3) pixels • 5x optical zoom (26-130mm, 1:2.8-1:6.5) • 4x digital zoom • digital image stabilizer • 3.0″ TFT colour display (230400 pixels) • built-in flash • PictBridge • Video function: AVI (max.1280×720(16:9)/640×480(4:3)@30 fps with sound) • Audio: WAV • Light sensitivity (ISO): 80-1600 • 49MB built-in memory • SD card slot (SDHC compatible) • Connectors: USB 2.0 (charging function), audio/video (out) • Li-Ion battery (LI-70B) • Dimensions (WxHxD): 96x57x19mm • Weight: 120g

Not bad for a compact camera. ♥

I don’t want something expensive since I only need this for a hobby and not for anything else. The original price was 690 shekels and because its Rosha Shana (New Year), they gave us a very big discount. They offered it for 590 shekels but in the end, they gave it to me for 550 shekels including other accessories. Aliw!

I’m a gadget/tech freak I know. But what makes me happy IS what makes me happy. =)

MAC Me Over!

MAC Cosmetics’ new branch is finally open in Dizengoff Center . My sister was waiting for it since last month and to her excitement, she purchased some fab cosmetics today.

I’m not familiar with make-ups and face glitters so I really thought it would be too expensive. But I was really surprised that MAC has fair prizes  and they have really good stuffs.

First of all, I was looking for a lip balm with SPF. Mac didn’t disappoint me. Since lip balm is the only thing I can put on, I was so ecstatic to know that it only costs 89 shekels. I didn’t buy but my sister did. I was still thinking if it’s worth my 89 shekels.. hahaha.

Lip Balm with SPF15. I must buy one for me too!

The fab lipstick she bought. Satin Lipstick Rouge A Levres; Captive

The friendly salesladies. ♥

and salesmen ♥♥

Fab Fab Store! I’m starting to like make-ups na! Haha!

My sissy with her happy face mumbling about going back to buy those concealers and mascara. When? pretty soon I’m sure! 

Simple Cheese Cake

The downside of making a cheesecake is the “crack” after baking it. That’s why some people prefers to make a no-bake cheesecake to avoid the hassle. But since I am not a cook-to-sell foodie, I don’t really dwell much on the presentation. I am more on the taste and consistency. That explains why I posted this picture instead of the whole cake. Yes, as much as I want to avoid the “crack”, my cheese cake ended up with a big zigzag slit across the top. Oh well, no biggie. Besides, you can decorate the top with icing or whipped cream to cover the crack.

What I love about this cheesecake is it’s consistency and of course the taste. The golden crust on top gives a bit of a rough texture that blends well with the smoothness of the cake. It’s not so sweet and quite easy to make. Not as complicated as the Chocolate Cheesecake I made before.

So here’s how:

Ingredients:

• 200g Petit Beurre or Graham Cracker with 50g melted butter (in this recipe I used chocolate petie beurre)
• 750g  9% cheese
• 1 box/can sour cream
• 5 tbsp. plain flour
• 5 eggs; separated
• 1 and 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• another 50g. melted butter

• Crumb your petit beurre or graham together with your melted butter.
• Press it evenly into the base of your 26cm. springform pan and let it sit inside the freezer for later.

• Preheat your oven to 200C.
• Beat the egg whites with 3/4 cup sugar until smooth and stiff; set aside

• In another bowl, mix the egg yolks, sugar, flour, cheese, sour cream, vanilla extract and lemon juice; Mix thoroughly until smooth.

• Mix it carefully with your eggwhites; mix slowly not to knock out the air from the eggwhites.
• Now wrap your springform pan with plastic food wrapper

• Finally cover it with aluminum foil. This will prevent the water in going inside your cake.

• Pour the mixture into the springform pan with your graham. Tap it a bit to make the mixture even and fill the air spaces on the sides or below.
• Put your springform pan in another large deep baking pan and pour 1 liter of boiling water on the bigger pan.

• Put it in a 200C preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
• Lower the temperature to 160C and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until your cake tester will turn out clean.
• Turn off the oven and let the cake rest inside for another 1 hour and 30 minutes.
• Chill inside the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Wish I could post the Chocolate Cheesecake soon. I hope you’ll try this recipe at home. Feel free to ask any questions via the comment box. Enjoy!

Baked Hash Brown; The Jollibee Craze

People around twitter and blogosphere was raving about the new Hash Brown Burger from Jollibee and I don’t know what’s so special about it. As for my non-Filipino readers, Jollibee is a fast food chain in the Philippines similar to McDonald’s. 

Since it’s impossible for me to find Jollibee anywhere in Israel, I decided to make my own Baked Hash Brown Patties! Why not? It’s so easy to make with so little ingredients. Well, it’s not as fancy as Jollibee’s but who cares? I’m not selling it to 100 million Filipinos, it’s just another cure for a 10am craving.

And since I want it less fat and less fuss, I followed this recipe from liketocook.com. 

Ingredients:

• about half a kilo potatoes; peeled and coarsely grated
• 1 medium onion; finely chopped
• 50g. melted butter
• salt and pepper

Here’s How:

• Peel potatoes and grate; Rinse with cold water and squeeze hard to take out all the liquids. Some squeeze it with a tea towel or cheese cloth. But I made it with my hands and it was good enough.
• In a bowl, mix all the ingredients.
• Form into patties and put inside the freezer for about 30 minutes. The butter will solidify again you will have a formed patties. Freezing it will also make your hash brown crispier.

my hash brown patties ready for the oven

• Prepare a baking pan smeared with oil or butter. Arrange your patties and bake uncovered in a 350F preheated oven for about 30 minutes. It depends on how big your patties are. Test with fork. It should be crispy outside and soft inside. I baked mine 10 minutes and flip it for another 10 minutes.
• If you want to fry it then fry each side for about 3-5 minutes. 

There are many ways to make hash browns. Some adds cheese and cream and garlic. But I want it simple and less fat. Carbo-overload from potatoes is enough for me to enjoy this crispy, almost fat free hash browns straight from my tiny kitchen. Happy Weekend! Enjoy!

Garlic Chicken (Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic)

This recipe is from Chef John (foodwishes.com) and this is the 3rd time I made this recipe. I want to share this to everyone especially to Garlic lovers out there. This has exactly 20 cloves of garlic. According to Chef John, the original recipe has 40 cloves of garlic but for us who just want to have some fair garlicky day, the 20 cloves will be enough. 

One thing I hate about dressed chicken here in Israel is it has a lot of unplucked feathers. Ugghhh! In the Philippines, we submerge the whole dead chicken into a pot of boiling water for about 30-40 seconds and clean it. Very easy and very clean. Here it’s not allowed since it will not be kosher if you’ll clean it that way. The chicken from the supermarket are machine-cleaned and there are still a lot of unplucked feathers especially at the tip of chicken legs and wings. 

look how disgusting to see these feathers. I spent about 20 minutes just to clean my 10 chicken legs

Ingredients:

• 10 pcs. Chicken Legs (or you can use 1 whole chicken cut into serving pieces)
• 1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
• 1/3 cup olive oil (Chef John use 2/3 cup with his whole chicken)
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

My 10 pieces chicken legs

• First up, you have to make a couple of deep slashes all the way to the bone in 2 sides of your chicken legs. (picture above)

• Then you have to puree your 20 cloves of garlic with a blender or food processor together with your olive oil, red wine vinegar, and dried herbs; blend it to make a smoothie puree.

• Pour the marinade into your chicken legs in a large bowl and soak well. Make sure the puree will get into the slashes; Cover it will plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight. Well i think 5-6 hours will be enough. Or you can prepare this in the morning and it will be good for dinner.

• Preheat your oven to 425F. Spread out your chicken in your baking pan which is covered with foil and smeared with a little olive oil. Generously salt and pepper your chicken and bake it for about 40-45 minutes.
• When it’s done, transfer it into a large serving plate and top it with Italian Parsley. It counteracts garlic breath. 

For a Filipino like me, nothing can beat a Garlic Chicken and Rice Combo! No, don’t make garlic rice. It will be an overkill. Instead, eat it with regular rice and some Pickles or Green Salad.

It’s a shame to throw away the garlic glaze from the chicken. I actually used some of it as my green salad dressing. It’s unbelievably and sinfully delicious that I can even eat rice with this and nothing else. 

Hope you’ll give it a try. Enjoy!

Pro Health, Pro Garlic

I love garlic. As a Filipino who typically loves “ginisa” of anything, Garlic is part of every Filipino dishes along with red onions. But Garlic is considered not only as a cooking spice but also widely recognized as antibiotics and remedy for various diseases. 

First of all, Garlic has high nutritional value. It contains Vitamin A, B, and C, Niacin, Calcium, Iron and Phosphorus. It has Allicin, a substance that inhibits or destroys certain types of bacteria and fungi. It is believed to be more effective than penicillin and tetracycline. Garlic is also responsible for normalization of body functions such as blood pressure and stimulates the immune system. Garlic acts as a heart relaxant; regulates the cardiac rhythm, helping to avoid arrhythmia. This is beneficial for people who has accelerated heart rates and other heart diseases. It also acts as lung decongestant helping to loosen the harmful and infectious secretions in bronchial tubes. It has also iron which helps people with hyperthyroidism. The other benefits of garlic includes regulating the blood sugar for people with diabetes, helps against vaginal infections and even believed to cure HIV.

Garlic is also beneficial in combating cancer cells. Studies shows that in various places where people consumed much of garlic for traditional cuisine, there have been lower prevalence of cancer. It significantly removes toxins in the body. It has sulfuric substances which has a strong impact on liver’s detoxification enzymes; the enzymes that the liver reduces and removes toxins. 

Those are the health benefits of Garlic according to 4 different articles I’ve read from the internet. 

Did you know why I blogged about Garlic? Because I will post a delicious garlic-ky and yummy recipe later. I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed it about an hour ago during lunch. Stay tuned!