Born on the month of JULY...

It almost sounded like "Born on the 4th of July". This is not a movie title though, it's in response to a meme passed to me by Mari of Life together starts and Bill of From the BoondocKs.

The meme's rules are very simple. Here's what to do:
1. Mention the person who tagged you and create a link back to them.
2. Copy-paste the traits for all the twelve months.
3. Pick your month of birth.
4. Highlight the traits that apply to you.
5. Tag 12 people and let them know by visiting their blogs and leaving a comment for them.
6. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve done it!


JULY: Fun to be with. Secretive. Difficult to fathom and to be understood. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Takes pride in oneself (of course!). Has reputation (I'd say I somehow have a good reputation, errr...). Easily consoled. Honest. Concerned about people’s feelings. Tactful. Friendly (I do consider myself friendly huh!). Approachable. Emotional temperamental and unpredictable. Moody and easily hurt. (these two are really true for me, Cancerian I am!) Witty and sparkly. Not revengeful. Forgiving but never forgets. Dislikes nonsensical and unnecessary things. Guides others physically and mentally. Sensitive and forms impressions carefully. Caring and loving. Treats others equally. Strong sense of sympathy. Wary and sharp. Judges people through observations. Hardworking. No difficulties in studying. Loves to be alone. Always broods about the past and the old friends. Likes to be quiet. Homely person. Waits for friends (this is really true, no matter how late my friends are on dates, I wait for them patiently). Never looks for friends. Not aggressive unless provoked. Prone to having stomach and dieting problems. Loves to be loved. Easily hurt but takes long to recover.

Now, I am passing this on to Hannah, Noeds, Sha, Ruel, Jhune, Jols, Blen, Maxi, Vida and Kem.

***

And here's the rest of the birth month list of traits...

JANUARY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Ambitious and serious. Loves to teach and be taught. Always looking at people’s flaws and weaknesses. Likes to criticize. Hardworking and productive. Smart, neat and organized. Sensitive and has deep thoughts. Knows how to make others happy. Quiet unless excited or tensed. Rather reserved. Highly attentive. Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds. Romantic but has difficulties expressing love. Loves children. Loyal. Has great social abilities yet easily jealous. Very stubborn and money cautious.

FEBRUARY: Abstract thoughts. Loves reality and abstract. Intelligent and clever. Changing personality. Attractive. Sexy. Temperamental. Quiet, shy and humble. Honest and loyal. Determined to reach goals. Loves freedom. Rebellious when restricted. Loves aggressiveness. Too sensitive and easily hurt. Gets angry really easily but does not show it. Dislikes unnecessary things. Loves making friends but rarely shows it. Daring and stubborn. Ambitious. Realizes dreams and hopes. Sharp. Loves entertainment and leisure. Romantic on the inside not outside. Superstitious and ludicrous. Spendthrift. Tries to learn to show emotions.

MARCH: Attractive personality. Sexy. Affectionate. Shy and reserved. Secretive. Naturally honest, generous and sympathetic. Loves peace and serenity. Sensitive to others. Loves to serve others. Easily angered. Trustworthy. Appreciative and returns kindness. Observant and assesses others. Revengeful. Loves to dream and fantasize. Loves traveling. Loves attention. Hasty decisions in choosing partners. Loves home decors. Musically talented. Loves special things. Moody.

APRIL: Active and dynamic. Decisive and hasty but tends to regret. Attractive and affectionate to oneself. Strong mentality. Loves attention. Diplomatic. Consoling, friendly and solves people’s problems. Brave and fearless. Adventurous. Loving and caring. Suave and generous. Emotional. Aggressive. Hasty. Good memory. Moving. Motivates oneself and others. Sickness usually of the head and chest. Sexy in a way that only their lover can see.

MAY: Stubborn and hard-hearted. Strong-willed and highly motivated. Sharp thoughts. Easily angered. Attracts others and loves attention. Deep feelings. Beautiful physically and mentally. Firm Standpoint. Needs no motivation. Easily consoled. Systematic (left brain). Loves to dream. Strong clairvoyance. Understanding. Sickness usually in the ear and neck. Good imagination. Good physical. Weak breathing. Loves literature and the arts. Loves traveling. Dislike being at home. Restless. Not having many children. Hardworking. High spirited. Spendthrift.

JUNE: Thinks far with vision. Easily influenced by kindness. Polite and soft-spoken. Having ideas. Sensitive. Active mind. Hesitating, tends to delay. Choosy and always wants the best. Temperamental. Funny and humorous. Loves to joke. Good debating skills. Talkative. Daydreamer. Friendly. Knows how to make friends. Able to show character. Easily hurt. Prone to getting colds. Loves to dress up. Easily bored. Fussy. Seldom shows emotions. Takes time to recover when hurt. Brand conscious. Executive. Stubborn.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts , music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

AUGUST: Loves to joke. Attractive. Suave and caring. Brave and fearless. Firm and has leadership qualities. Knows how to console others. Too generous and egoistic. Takes high pride in oneself. Thirsty for praises. Extraordinary spirit. Easily angered. Angry when provoked. Easily jealous. Observant. Careful and cautious. Thinks quickly. Independent thoughts. Loves to lead and to be led. Loves to dream. Talented in the arts, music and defense. Sensitive but not petty. Poor resistance against illnesses. Learns to relax. Hasty and trusty. Romantic. Loving and caring. Loves to make friends.

SEPTEMBER: Suave and compromising. Careful, cautious and organized. Likes to point out people’s mistakes. Likes to criticize. Stubborn. Quiet but able to talk well. Calm and cool. Kind and sympathetic. Concerned and detailed. Loyal but not always honest. Does work well. Very confident. Sensitive. Good memory. Clever and knowledgeable. Loves to look for information. Must control oneself when criticizing. Able to motivate oneself. Understanding. Fun to be around. Secretive. Loves leisure and traveling. Hardly shows emotions. Tends to bottle up feelings. Very choosy, especially in relationships. Systematic.

OCTOBER: Loves to chat. Loves those who loves them. Loves to take things at the center. Inner and physical beauty. Lies but doesn’t pretend. Gets angry often. Treats friends importantly. Always making friends. Easily hurt but recovers easily. Daydreamer. Opinionated. Does not care of what others think. Emotional. Decisive. Strong clairvoyance. Loves to travel, the arts and literature. Touchy and easily jealous. Concerned. Loves outdoors. Just and fair. Spendthrift. Easily influenced. Easily loses confidence. Loves children.

NOVEMBER: Has a lot of ideas. Difficult to fathom. Thinks forward. Unique and brilliant. Extraordinary ideas. Sharp thinking. Fine and strong clairvoyance. Can become good doctors. Dynamic in personality. Secretive. Inquisitive. Knows how to dig secrets. Always thinking. Less talkative but amiable. Brave and generous. Patient. Stubborn and hard-hearted. If there is a will, there is a way. Determined. Never give up. Hardly becomes angry unless provoked. Loves to be alone. Thinks differently from others. Sharp-minded. Motivates oneself. Does not appreciate praises. High-spirited. Well-built and tough. Deep love and emotions. Romantic. Uncertain in relationships. Homely. Hardworking. High abilities. Trustworthy. Honest and keeps secrets. Not able to control emotions. Unpredictable.

DECEMBER: Loyal and generous. Sexy. Patriotic. Active in games and interactions. Impatient and hasty. Ambitious. Influential in organizations. Fun to be with. Loves to socialize. Loves praises. Loves attention. Loves to be loved. Honest and trustworthy. Not pretending. Short tempered. Changing personality. Not egotistic. Take high pride in oneself. Hates restrictions. Loves to joke. Good sense of humor. Logical.

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Soupcon...

I am back online. I've been browsing here and there for quick check of latest posts but didn't really get the chance to leave marks on anyone's site as I didn't have the luxury of time. First week of December was quite hectic (huh???) - Somehow work demands were high at that time but on that weekend, we got the chance to take a nature trip in the mountains of Yangming on the first Saturday of the month. The family adventure story will follow soon. We were also able to set up our own Christmas tree (hurray!). However, 2nd Saturday was not a good one (sigh!). We brought Jade to the hospital and stayed there until Tuesday because of AGE (acute gastroenteritis) - details to follow soon too. She had her follow-up checkup this morning and we're glad she's better now and she can get back to her regular diet - that includes full milk strength. Tomorrow, we're set to attend a friend's party in Taipei City so we'll get the chance to go around Taipei 101 once again and see the huge Christmas tree installed somewhere around the Warner Village area before the party.

I have yet to do some quick Christmas shopping for the kids - Jade's friends and our friends' kids. No shopping plan for adults huh ??? I have yet to work on two memes (one from Lovelyn and same meme from Bill and Mari) and blog posts. Also, I saw Lovelyn published her 1st PPP article already, I have yet to work on mine otherwise all opportunities will be lost. Oh well, hang on for my stories everyone. Just wanted to let you know I'm still around.
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Postscript:
I'll list my comments to blog friends here:
Lovelyn, belated happy birthday to Dylan! What a nice party! I wish him good health and more blessings.
Bill/Mari, thanks for the tag. I'll work on that one of these days.
Joseans 92 online - thanks for the visit. I'll "chat" with you guys in multiply some time. Got a lot of catching up to do! See you around.
Mareng Jols - good to see Andi enjoying the colorful cupcake toppings. Wish we can bring Jade there.
To all - thanks for dropping by! Come again!

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Eyes on Barney

Seldom does Jade pay attention to TV shows. She’d ask for the television to be turned on, watches local cartoons or DVDs for few minutes and turn away from it to get back to play. But not until she came to love the Barney series we got on a CD bought back home. She can stand to watch one whole 30-minutes series without any interruption. She’d join the kids singing and dancing. She loved the “bunny hop hop hop” thing from the “animal friends’ series”. She’d even run towards the TV screen in an attempt to join the kids hugging Barney. One of the things she learned from it that we love is to kiss and hug mom and dad when she hears the “I love you” song.


One time, in a scene where the camera focus was shifted from Barney to the kids, somewhat getting him out from the picture, Jade cried out to look for him and even searched the side of the screen in an attempt to find Barney there. Dennis was the one who noticed it. Then when Barney showed back; she smiled and cheered. At times when our phone rings that required us to tone down the volume or to interrupt the show to hear the other line, she would protest with a cry. She’s learning words, actions and good stuffs from the Barney shows so we’re not stopping her to watch unless it gets to disrupt her eating habits.

Jade would sit watching for a while but when the singing and dancing start,

she'd leave her seat and join the fun

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What comes after deviating from the original recipe?

One of the advantages of keeping an e-group is that members get to exchanged ideas about any subject raised that interests anyone from the group. The subject could include family life, work, sentiments, rants, jokes, movies, men, women, travel experiences, kids and of course, recipes. The last subject gives me the highest interest especially if it is something that I can cook out from my kitchen. In one of my e-groups discussions, we talked about pasta recipes and some of the members mentioned about Fetuccini Alfredo. Since the dish name sounded complicated to me, I didn’t put much attention to it until after my last week’s search for an easy to prepare dish for dinner. With combinations of tiredness from my own dishes, riddance of take aways, excitement over a new recipe and short requirement for dish preparation, I googled what came out to be a delectable serving.

Google search took me to http://www.allrecipes.com/ where I looked for various recipes and ended up choosing from 2 pasta dishes. With quick preparation in mind, I opted for the “Broccoli Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo”. Original recipe is shown below but with limitations of supplies in the grocery store, I did my usual variation style which turned out to be "Broccoli Ham Spiral Alfredo" (My modifications are shown in italics).

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound dry fettuccine pasta (500gms spiral pasta)
1 cup fresh chopped broccoli
2 tablespoons butter
1 skinless, boneless chicken breast (4 regular ham slices)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup [2 regular cans cream of mushroom soup (Campbells)]
1/2 cup milk 375ml fresh milk
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


DIRECTIONS
1. Bring a large pot of salted water (and cooking oil) to a boil. Add fettuccini (spiral) pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente, adding broccoli for the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain.

2. Cut chicken breast meat (ham slices) into bite size pieces, trimming any fat off in the process. In a large skillet melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Add chicken (ham) and saute until well browned. Add soup, milk and cheese and stir all together. Add pasta/broccoli mixture and heat through. (I didn’t heat through the mixture anymore, I just mixed the sauce in the separate pan) Serve hot.

The ham being sauted

Cream of mushroom added

Fresh milk added and started to boil


Sauce, pasta and broccoli all added and ready to eat

Preparation time: 5minutes, cooking time: 15 minutes and there the dish is actually ready in just 20 minutes.

Over the weekend, I got curious as to how the dish got its name. Instead of getting the information I wanted, I ended up reading more and more variations of this famous dish. Only today did I eventually have the chance to know this famous pasta’s origin and true to my hunch, it got its name from the cook who invented it. And guess what led the cook to this dish? To please his pregnat wife! What a romantic act.

Source: Wikipedia
Fettuccine alfredo is a pasta dish made from fettuccine pasta tossed with Parmesan cheese, butter, and heavy cream. As the cheese melts, it thickens the liquids to form a smooth and rich coating on the pasta.

When butter was added both before and after fettuccine was put in the serving bowl, the butter was known as doppio burro (double butter). Di Lelio's original contribution was to double the amount of butter in the bowl before the fettuccine would be poured in, thus a triplo burro (triple butter) effect instead of double. And why did Alfredo double the amount of butter? His young wife was pregnant and was unable to keep any food down. Alfredo tried every dish he could imagine, but his variation on the fettuccine worked. When his wife began eating again, Alfredo added the new dish to his restaurants menu, but it was not perceived as being anything special until a couple of Hollywood movie stars stumbled across it a decade later.

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Birds power

Without much to blog about lately, I turned to searching for cute, funny and animated videos. High rating subjects constantly catch my attention. I find it amazing how people generate such form of entertainments. The embedded video is one of my favorites. I'd say a group shouldn't underestimate the power of an individual.


Video source title: For the birds



After watching this video, I made an assumption that one question that could possibly arise is "why don't birds get electrocuted when they sit on power lines?" Thus, I made an extra effort to refresh my memory and look for a supporting visual.

Illustration: Debrah Solomon

The answer to that question is simply said to be because they are not grounded thus not completing an electric circuit. Unless the birds touch another wire or grounded object, they are safe.

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Image upload issue in blogger - still an open bug!

I published my post “Basil and seafoods” on Sunday night and all images showed up well until the next day. However when I checked on the new comments come Tuesday, I noticed that only the “boxes with small x marks” were visible. I double checked it by clicking the refresh button several times but to my dismay, I didn’t see the pictures of basil and seafoods. As it was my third time to publish/re-publish that post, I no longer attempted to re-upload the images. I checked on the html codes and didn’t see anything unusual so what I did was to copy and paste the picture’s code in a new post to see if they appear but I didn’t succeed.

I searched blogger’s help sites but couldn’t find any related topics so I decided to report this issue to the related contacts by filling up the form. If anyone of you encountered this, please let me know if you have a fix.

On the other hand, I browsed the forum in google that discussed the image issues in blogger and bumped into this.


We are aware and currently working to fix the image uploading issue. This issue predominately causes the following error codes:
bX-6tnmaz
bX-ltlqzv

For updates and discussion of this issue, please visit this Hot Topic thread in the Blogger Help Group. — LATEST UPDATE ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2007
LABELS: images, outstanding

It reminded me of the same messages I seldom encountered when uploading images in my posts. I didn’t pay much attention on it then because re-uploading the images shortly after getting the error message worked for me. But the thing that struck me is that this issue has been detected and raised to blogger admin more than a month ago and a blogger employee said on October that a fix is imminent but I figured that issue still exists until now. There are users complaining but a fix doesn’t seem to be found yet.

Added to that, I still didn’t get any feedback on the complaint/concern I raised. I hope blogger admin can work on these problems as soon as possible.

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Basil and seafoods (updated)

I really love cooking and I’d say my median skills are results of observation, practice, experimentation and exploration. Recently, I discovered how the herb basil contributes to the aroma and savour of seafoods. Perfect is how my husband describes it.

I used to know and use only the dried basil leaves which are also part of the bottle of “Italian spices” I use mostly for pasta preparation. Then I figured that the taste I didn’t like much from fried chicken and squid tentacles sold in the night markets is actually fresh basil leaves added just few seconds before the goods are lifted up from the boiling oil for dripping. It is also the same herb usually added in the viands served in my workplace’s canteen.

One time, we had dinner in our friend’s place and she served us clams filled with herbs. From the smell of it, I told her that was the scent I avoid in foods but she told me it goes well with the clams. I really didn’t have to eat the leaves because the main purpose of having it added in the viand is just to make it smell even better - in other words, the basil leaves were the dish's seasoning. Setting aside the herbs, I spooned only the sauce and the clams and to my surprise, it tasted oh so good.

From there, I searched from the internet facts about basil leaves and realized that pesto is actually made from it, with the addition of pine nuts and olive oil. That made me even more excited leading me to looking for articles on how to make pesto. I found several writings about it which basically say the same thing but presented in different ways. Anyhow, I planned to make pesto by myself but didn’t have the food processor and realized our blender is too small to make a desirable amount. So until now, I still didn’t give it a try.

On the other hand, when I had the chance to prepare various seafood recipes after that “fishing” experience in Taoyuan, I bought a bag of fresh basil leaves and had them as one of the main ingredients in my cooking.

The first dish I cooked was a replica of the clams my friend prepared. The recipe is very simple – all I needed were chopped onions, pressed garlic cloves, small amount of oil, oyster sauce, clams and half-bag of the basil leaves. I sauted the first 2 ingredients, added the clams and oyster sauce and let it boil. Since the clams were soaked in water, there’s no need to add water. I covered the pan and let it boil for few minutes with the clam shells popping out here and there. When the sound lessened, I opened the pan and noting that most of the shells are opened, I added the basil leaves and covered the pan again and left it boiling for another few minutes. My allotted time is not really measured as I am used to estimations.

The second dish I cooked with basil leaves consisted of the crab legs as the main ingredient along with the same items listed earlier but this time, I also had an egg and flour in my preparation table. For ease of eating, I asked hubby to crash the shells with the “pounding” metal before cooking. That time, what I had in mind is the dish that we usually order in a seafood restaurant we visit on an occasional basis. It’s actually quite expensive so I thought of imitating it. I guess I was lucky to get it right on my first try. The crab legs were boiled separately first, a dash of salt to taste is added. After boiling, I set separated the crab legs from the broth and set aside the latter. I took another pan and sauted the onions and garlic on a small amount of oil (mine was olivenol oil) then added the crab meat. After several toss and turns, I added the oyster sauce and the broth and left it to boil while I beat the egg and mixed the flour with a small amount of water. I actually used flour because I didn’t have corn starch in my kitchen cabinet. The purpose of adding it anyway is to make the mixture a little sticky. Now when the boiling mixture matched my taste, I added the egg and mixed flour and stirred what’s on the pan. Then I added the basil leaves, covered the pan and let it simmer for few minutes. The scent of the herbs filled our small kitchen area and extended to the living room and bedroom which made us hungry right away. Good thing the rice is already cooked so after allowing the dish to simmer, it was time to get the serving bowl and lay the dish on the table. We set aside Jade’s porridge and decided to serve her plain rice with the crab meat either from mommy or daddy’s plate. Of course, compliments in forms of “wows” and “sarap” followed while we were feasting on this newly discovered viand recipe. I ate bare handed which made it even better for me to enjoy the meal.

I will still have to work on the pesto but the next thing I have know is where to find the pine nuts.

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