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Animetric Cooking
August 14, 2016October 2, 2016

Animetric tries to cook

So one blustery day in July, our cook and helper of over 10 years suddenly comes up to me crying. Her mother had passed away. She asked me if she could go to the province. I remember telling her of course, it’s your mom, you should go. I even gave her abuloy and asked her if she needed a salary advance. Then I asked when she was coming back. She said at most she would let the customary 40 days after death pass. I expected that she’d be gone for over a month.

Two weeks after she left I heard rumors from her relatives working for my aunts that she wasn’t ever coming back. Her mom was taking care of her nieces. They were just children and their mothers were working as domestic helpers abroad. She would be taking care of those children in her mom’s place.

I felt wronged somehow. We were very good to her. She didn’t really have limits when it came to days off. We let her use our internet connection. Bought her an ABS-CBN TV Box (I don’t remember what it’s called) too. Every time she asks for an advance, she gets it no questions asked. I provide for all toiletries — soap, shampoo, lotion, you name it. No deduction from her salary even if she goes over the 2 weeks vacation per year that’s allocated to her. I don’t care if her cellphone is on her ear virtually the entire day as long as she gets the job done. I even help her buy stuff from Lazada.

I’ve told her before that if ever she decides to leave, all that I ask is for her to help me find a replacement and to train the replacement. But no, she just left and then had people tell us she wasn’t coming back. To be fair, she did not ask for an advance prior to leaving.

So yeah, we don’t have a cook anymore. If you’ve been reading my blog you know that I DON’T COOK. It’s just not something that I do. I eat. That’s it. After she left, we always dined out or ordered food. After 3 weeks of doing that, we all started to feel sick. Nothing like necessity to force you to action. So I had no choice. I had to start cooking. I think I spent a day poring through various recipes online.

Animetric CookingOkay baby steps, for my first attempt at cooking, I warmed some lechon (Manilachon!) a friend gave me and roasted vegetables. I bought some carrots and baby potatoes from the supermarket, washed and sliced them, and drizzled olive oil over them. Then I sprinkled some salt, pepper, and rosemary. I tossed them all together and popped them in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Success! Everyone loved the veggies and they went so well with the yummy lechon.

Animetric CookingSince we can’t live on potatoes and carrots alone, I had to take it further. I googled some Korean recipes. I decided to make deconstructed bibimbap using sukiyaki cut beef (instead of ground beef) and shitake mushrooms. The recipe said shitake mushrooms can replace beef if you’re a vegetarian. I decided to combine both.

Animetric CookingI also made spinach banchan, which I surprisingly perfected on my first try. Wow, it tasted exactly like the spinach banchan served in Korean restaurants! It’s super easy to do to — just blanch spinach in boiling salted water (1 tbsp sea salt to 1 liter of water) for around 40 seconds or until wilted. Then dunk in cold water. Then toss in sesame oil, minced garlic, and sesame seeds. That’s it!

It was pretty much assemble-your-own-bibimbap night but I skipped making the beansprout, cucumber, and zucchini banchan. It was a hit thank goodness. Everyone was happy with my first full dinner cooking attempt.

Animetric CookingThe next day, I examined all the food items our cook left behind and made Baked Corned Beef Spaghetti. Seriously, since I let her do all the marketing and I don’t interfere in the kitchen, I had no idea what we had in stock.

Animetric CookingFor dinner, I decided to cook Tarragon Chicken with White Wine Sauce and Baked Mixed Parmesan Vegetables. I used a random bottle of Beringer I found in the cupboard. I found out later on from Marj that it’s not supposed to be used for cooking! No wonder it tasted a bit weird but still, they ate it and said it tasted nice and unique. The veggies were the star of dinner. They were really really good!

OMG I feel like I’ve done enough cooking in the past few days to offset all the years I spent not cooking. I googled everything from cleaning veggies to chopping onions to making saltwater for boiling pasta.

And so my friends, this is why I’m cooking now and why I will probably be cooking for a long time. XD

My daughter commented “You mean you could’ve actually cooked all this time???”. LOL. I guess she likes what she’s been eating these past few days.

 

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19 thoughts on “Animetric tries to cook”

  1. Meikah Ybañez-Delid says:
    August 14, 2016 at 10:31 pm

    I feel you Ro! That was how I felt when our househelp went for a 3-week vacation. I had to cook and even do the laundry. LOL It’s
    not that difficult actually… Kakatamad lang!

    Reply
    1. Rowena Wendy Lei says:
      August 15, 2016 at 9:12 am

      Waaah yun akin di na babalik XD

      Reply
  2. Bella says:
    August 15, 2016 at 8:34 am

    Not sure if you’ve come across this website but this is my go-to site when my mom or I run out of cooking ideas: casaveneracion.com. Your daughter might even want to try the baking recipes there one of these days. 🙂

    Reply
    1. Rowena Wendy Lei says:
      August 15, 2016 at 9:13 am

      Thanks I’ll check it out 😀

      Reply
  3. Denise says:
    August 15, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    Congrats, Ro!!! It always makes me happy when non-cooks finally do it. Now, take it to the next level – prepare homemade baon for your kids. Please! Hehe. And tag me so I can proudly share it with my readers. :*

    Reply
    1. animetric says:
      August 16, 2016 at 8:58 am

      Thanks! I agree, if I can do it anyone can wahahaha. XD

      Reply
  4. Angel Pelayo says:
    August 15, 2016 at 8:04 pm

    You’re doing great Rowena

    Reply
    1. animetric says:
      August 16, 2016 at 9:01 am

      Thanks Angel, means a lot especially coming from you! 😀

      Reply
  5. Badet Siazon says:
    August 15, 2016 at 10:28 pm

    New category in the blog, congrats on your new hat Ro! In fairness talaga, di obvious na first-timer ka. Fave ko panoorin sa YT si Panlasang Pinoy :p

    Reply
    1. animetric says:
      August 16, 2016 at 9:01 am

      OMG wahahahahaa I need to re-cook everything and pay closer attention kasi puro ako tancha so wala akong clear measurements. XD

      Reply
  6. Tina Villa says:
    August 16, 2016 at 7:33 am

    I am inspired to cook!

    Reply
    1. animetric says:
      August 16, 2016 at 9:02 am

      Go for it, promise if I can do it anyone can. XD

      Reply
  7. carla says:
    August 24, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    Wow ang galing mo naman! Hats off to you, from someone who’s also been in that situation =) Btw, May i share a tip with you? If I’m especially lazy or in a hurry, i use my good ol turbo broiler. Just look for some easy baked recipes for chicken, fish, salmon and veggies. Pop them in and they’re done =) Mas madali for you since you have a samsung oven.

    Reply
    1. animetric says:
      September 5, 2016 at 3:56 pm

      I’m the Google cook, I google everything from washing veggies to cutting onions XD

      Reply
  8. Russelle anne roque says:
    September 29, 2016 at 11:58 am

    So you google how to chop?! I didn’t even know there’s a tutorial for that! Now I have no more excuses!
    One of my main reasons why I don’t cook is because I don’t know how to chop/sloce things… but since you were able to google those, then I might give it a try na rin. Ikaw kaya idol ko, I always say, “si rowena nga hindi marunong magluto eh” lol

    Reply
    1. Rowena Wendy Lei says:
      September 29, 2016 at 12:04 pm

      Yes I googled how to chop everything because I really had zero knowledge haha XD

      Reply
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