Hello, 2011 (One Week Late)

I wanted  to end 2010 by highlighting the good parts:

• I got a promotion at work. Yay! Let me tell you, the relief that comes with having health insurance again is indescribable. 
• I made a very big step towards the next part of my life. I can't elaborate on this, but you'll have to take it as it is.
• I completed 9 out of the 25 on my list: rock climbing (update to come soon! And by soon I mean, in the next month or so), drinking for my career (aka industry happy hour), shooting a rifle, treating myself to a spa day, learning CPR, testing my limit (and taunting my sanity) by forgoing coffee, donating blood, cooking, and joining a Filipino-American organization.

And now for 2011, I hope to regain some balance between my personal and professional life (maybe even resuscitate my social life), slowly restart my fitness routine and continue learning. But before that, I'm off to a trip to the Philippines tomorrow for some family time -- and squeezing in some traveling too. See you in 2 weeks!

What's in store for you for 2011?

#23: Cook a Filipino Meal Well: CHECK!

Let me just start by saying that I'm not completely new to cooking. Though serving up steak or a Thanksgiving turkey is out of the question for now (or probably for ever re: turkey), I've made my own alfredo sauce from scratch. I can make a mean veggie lasagna. And recently, I decided to make pies.

My  very first creation -- a lumpy apple pie. But a delicious lumpy apple pie.

My second pie was more aesthetically pleasing:  a sweet potato -- hand mashed, not the canned stuff -- pecan pie.

My cell phone camera doesn't do this justice.

Though for these pumpkin muffins I turned to the canned stuff.

But, aside from Italian food and seasonal baked goods, I haven't done anything ethnic. Sadly, the closest thing I've made that's Filipino is a cheesecake flan. (I'll take up a challenge if it means dessert.)

So that's why I needed to put #23 on this list. And finally...

It may look like it's swimming in oil, but there was 0 oil in this.

Filipino Cooking 101: Chicken Adobo -- recipe courtesy of the Food Network. (Their recipe was much simpler than Filipino cookbooks. Figures.) My very Filipino family loved it, so it passes the test. Next time I'll add those peppercorns because for an ethnic dish this wasn't at all spicy. But now, onto more complicated Filipino dishes!