All spiced up!

If I had a new year's resolution list, it wouldn't include not blogging. Unfortunately, I really had very little to talk about the past weeks. For one thing, like many other households in Metro Manila, we (still) don't have LPG. We ran out of it early January. We did find a tank of cooking gas some time last month but it's defective. We've been cooking everything on an electric skillet for almost two months. Meralco must be very happy these days.

I haven't done much experimenting since the start of the year. I made Veenagoongang Vavoy a couple of times. Made my Fake Cheesecake for New Year's eve and for a friend's husband's new president's post-inauguration party. Last weekend, I made Porky Rolls -only this time they were flat because I now have an amazing plastic tenderizing thingie, AS SEEN ON TV!! (Well, not really.)

A couple of weeks ago, my mom thoughtfully bought me a recipe book while on a business trip in Singapore. What she missed considering, though, is the fact that most of the recipes call for ingredients which demand frustration as I am not likely going to get them here.

One thing that's been bugging me, even before that fateful day of the recipe book's arrival, is Garam Masala. I see it in a lot of Asian recipes. Wiki says:

Garam masala, the literal meaning of which is 'hot spice' (in the meaning of high temperature as opposed to spiciness), is a basic blend of ground spices to be used alone or with other seasonings. It is common in Indian cuisine.

Now, I luuuuv spices. So when a friend said he's going to Singapore, I thought I'd ask for a tiny jar of Garam Masala for future use. He got me this....







... as well as it's seven cousins!! Here's a family pic:



I'm sooo looking forward to cooking with these babies! Thanks, Dax!