Pasta a la Julia

Nah! There’s no such thing as Pasta a la Julia. Unless of course, the famous Julia Child made something like that with considerable amount of humility and named it after her. I titled this post Pasta a la Julia because that’s the name I want to give to this “original recipe” I made today. Naks! Haha. Since my name is Julie, I somehow presumed that this title would be appropriate for this entry.

Im just kidding.

Anyways, I really want to consider this meal as “my” own recipe because I didn’t follow anything from internet or cookbook. For the first time, I cooked with my instinct. I just want to make something like Pollo al Gorgonzola, the pasta i ate in Spaghettim last week. It was with seared chicken breasts, onion, cream and mushrooms. I found half a cup of cream leftover inside the fridge, a can of champignon inside my cupboard and 2 chicken breasts inside the freezer. I was thinking, I could make “something” like Pollo al Gorgonzola today! Yehey!

Without so much ado, I made my own version without so much expectation, I must say, that I can really make a good pasta out of these things. But a little disclaimer: Any of you who will try this recipe at home and will not like it, I will not be the one to blame. OK? Though I can honestly say it was delicious, I cannot assure anyone that it’s very good. Again, this is a test recipe, do it at your own risk. Haha!

Ingredients:

350g Penne Pasta or any pasta you like
50 g. butter
1/2 cup all purpose cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 large chicken breasts; cubed
1 can champignon or about 1/2 cup button mushrooms; sliced
1 large onion; finely chopped
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
100 ml. white wine
Grated Parmesan

Ok, honestly I forgot to put wine. But I wan’t to include that in this recipe. If you don’t like alcohol then you can exclude it.

• Boil your pasta
• In a sauce pan, melt butter; fry onion until transparent
• dump in chicken breasts and fry for about 2 minutes
• dump in mushrooms and fry for another 2 minutes
• pour the wine (again, you can omit this if you want); let it boil until almost all the wine evaporated
• pour in chicken broth and let it simmer for a while
• add cream and all the dried herbs; lower your fire this time.
• salt and pepper to taste.
• Now by this time your pasta should be cooked (not overcooked); drain it and put it back to the pan
• Pour your chicken sauce over your pasta; dump in some parmesan cheese; mix well and cover for about 3 minutes. The pasta will actually absorb some of the sauce.
• After 3 minutes; mix it again and it’s ready to serve.
• Sprinkle some grated parmesan on top and you have Pasta a la Julia.

I am very much sure that there are thousands of recipes out there that are pretty much the same as this. But with all honesty, I didn’t make this based on any recipe. I know that once, I made chicken breast with tarragon and it’s almost the same as what I did today except of course this is pasta. 

DISCLAIMER: What I wrote here was from the core of my head and the tip of my tongue. Any recipe which is in any way completely the same with what I did is purely coincidental. Thank you.

So, I hope one of you will try this recipe and I really really love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a message. Enjoy!

Ex-Lovers to Friends?

I cannot say that I have a very solid expertise when it comes to Love and Relationships but these past few weeks I’ve encountered some funny questions ’round twitter and facebook. One of these is “Can ex-lovers be friends?” or “Is it okay to be friends with your ex after a break-up?”

I know a few individuals who actually went from being ex-lovers to friends. Both of them went through another heartache before they found each other again, talked, said sorry and decided to be friends. This can possibly happen since the painful memories back then was replaced by another memories with another person. It was a closed chapter and there’s no reason for them to even talk about it. (guys you know who you are, haha)

Yes, ex-lovers can be friends BUT NOT AFTER THE BREAK-UP. Yes, that should be in caps because it’s not in any way possible to be friends with your ex after your break up. Well I mean genuinely of course. Some can be civil, live with hi and hello and deal with few meet ups with common friends. There’s always a thin line between them, a boundary. You can’t split up and still spend the day talking on the phone, exchanging text messages or have a “friendly date”? I mean come on, if you happen to see ex-lovers doing this, then there’s still something more in them than being friends. Some settled for this set up for an obvious reason, they still can’t let go. They didn’t work out as a couple so they thought they will work out as friends. But friendship will never work out after the break up. This can lead to hoping for second chances, holding on to nothing and painful disappointment. If you both agreed to go separate ways, then it means SEPARATE WAYS. No more what ifs, no more if only.

To those who really genuinely propose a friendship after a break-up, I salute you. Sometimes it’s too painful to just say “yes, let’s be friends” especially if you are still in love with the person. But at the end of the day, you still can’t bear the idea of not having him/her in your life anymore. So to friendship you will settle with hopes that maybe, this will be the way to rekindle the lost interests and love and sooner or later you can have him/her back. This is not friendship with 100% pure “friendship” intentions.

Some proposed friendship for you to be his/her “friend with benefits”. These are the users. Beware of them. You can distinguish them because you can actually feel that they don’t love you from the very beginning. They just take you for granted, let you fall in love, have sex with you then dump you. The reason why they want to be friends with you is because you have something that they need. Not you nor your boring-unconditional-love but your stupidity. It’s as simple as 123. Beware of a person who broke up with you today and proposed friendship tomorrow. There’s a big big uncanny reason/s behind it. It’s either they want something inside the pockets of your pants or they want something under your pants.

Maybe there are genuine people in this world, I don’t know. I don’t want to be judgmental but i just can’t see the possibility. Maybe there are ex-couples who started out as friends, decided to bring it to a higher level, failed, moved on and went back to friendship. I mean, it could happen but not as abrupt as 2-3 days after break up. You always have to mete a certain time for healing before you can invest your emotions again for another kind of relationship. Either for friendship with your ex or another romantic relationship with another person.

just a thought

There were times when you can’t help but wonder if it’s possible to have love, as plain as the word, without complications and interruptions. Do you think it’s possible considering all the temptations, lies and betrayal that could possibly go in between and ruin the relationship? Sometimes it’s too difficult to believe anymore. Sometimes life can knock you down and it feels like you cannot get your knees up from the floor. But I believe, there will always be someone who will hold your hand and lift you up. The question is, would you dare to trust again despite of the pains and disappointments? All you can do is hope, more than anything, that someone out there will genuinely love you and will never ever dare to knock you down again. Because the next time you find yourself alone with scarred knees, I don’t think you will still be capable of trusting anybody including yourself.

Insecurity, Jealousy & Envy as I know it!

People live with so much insecurities and jealousy that they sometimes cannot contain themselves and they become so obvious despite of their denials.

Insecurities. I have that. Since I usually consider myself so underdog in anything. Physically I’m over the hill insecure of others. Spiritually, I have this self drama of God- is- punishing- me and stuffs like that. Mentally, I’m somehow secure with this. Maybe because I am surrounded most of the time with naive people so I’d like to think that I’m better than them. Or maybe I’m not. Because sometimes I feel that they know a lot and i know little. Insecurities always haunt me in disguise using people who are stronger, smarter and prettier than me. I always feel small.

Jealousy. I have this because of insecurity. Sometimes I become so selfish that I always want people to listen to what I am saying. And if they find someone else to listen to, I get jealous. So as to relationship. I’m always in doubt of the feelings of the person towards me. I always think that eventually he will find someone else better than me. Yes, because I’m insecure and sometimes I don’t believe that I’m capable of keeping someone forever. Jealousy usually occurs to me in expense of people who are very close to me. Family, boyfriend and friends. Maybe I’m just so paranoid. Maybe I’m just afraid that I’ll wake up one day and they don’t love me anymore. Maybe I’m just a drama queen. Maybe… i know there’s a possibility that it will happen…because I’m insecure.


Envy. I don’t know how you will define this. For me it’s a strong and very compelling word. If you will define it as potent as I know it, I’m sure I don’t have it. Envious people tend to do something more than just admiring the things that they don’t have and other people have. They develop hatred towards others and destroy them. Gossip! First step for them to project their hatred. They became identity criminals and spread wrong cue about others. Some are able to kill because of envy. It’s like counting the blessings of others instead of your own. They condone themselves and they spent their whole life hating someone. Maybe people are born without contentment. What they have is nothing and what others have is everything. For one man to understand envy is hard-won. Once in our lives we became so superficial and we wish. Wish to have what we don’t have. But some sticked on wishing. They didn’t even do something to get what they want. They even wish ill on someone only to get equal. And the most dangerous of them all are those who cannot admit to themselves that they are spiteful. They will not accept defeat. They will do everything to show the world that they are better than others. And for them to show this, they deface others while at the same time they destroy themselves too.

I don’t know if I’m capable of absorbing and hording envy inside me. I’m always happy for someone who get something and makes ’em happy. Why can’t we be happy if someone else is happy? For me insecurity is normal. It’s just a personal battle that one can win if he or she will try. Jealousy is part of loving. Sometimes it’s another form of love and fear of losing a love one. For me it adds spice to relationship and it helps you grow. But envy is heavy. It destroys you and at the same time weakens you. But there is only one counter force to get rid of this — SELF-VALUE. If you cannot appreciate and love yourself for what you have and for who you are, then you can never believe that you can be happy. You have to clear your life with bad experiences and memories. Then try to find your self-worth. Focus on building your emotional, spiritual and personal security. Life is not always about getting what we want. It’s about acceptance and contentment without compromising your capabilities as a person. Dream and make a goal. Get what you want. But never ever step on someone else toes. Because ENVY is tangible and in a shape of a boomerang. It will all come back to you… one day!