Bones

I had studied the bones of a shark, a cat and a human being in undergraduate and graduate school.  But not of a bird.  This might be some type of a vulture.  But I can't find an image in google that can tell me its exact species.

So it's a type of bird that either starved to death or became prey in the wild (hmmm.... isn't that the gist of the animal kingdom in general: eat or be eaten?).

Finding this somewhat reminded me that there was a transient moment in my childhood that I wanted to be an archaeologist - when I can discover an extinct species and then name it with just about anything that fancies me (perhaps the origins of minzski).

Actually, I technically did not find this.  B did.  Ha!


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Road trip to northern Michigan, October 16, 2010 

Pusa*

That's Keiva trying to claim her spot on my bed.

And I thought I was a dog person.  I am still a dog person (Dogs Rule!).  But I also love cats (especially this one - and hello to Gus and Mudball who are both in Timbuktu).  Perhaps my personality is even more cat-like!

I can just see B nodding in agreement...

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*Cat

My Mother's Recipe

It has been over two months when I suddenly remembered my mom's spare ribs that she makes once in a while.  I was trying to make a to-do list in my head on what Filipino recipe I should learn (I am embarrassed to admit that I only started cooking Filipino dishes when I got here in the States; and that I can probably whip up more Italian dishes than Filipino).  Spare ribs came into mind.  And I can't even recall the last time I had my mother's version.  I asked my sister if she knew the recipe and what I got was: "What ribs?".

Then my sister found the recipe.  A handwritten one!

And me being me, I did not follow the recipe to the letter.  Ha!  After I browned the ribs, I had some leftover wine that I used to scrape off the browned bits at the bottom of the pan.  I could have just placed the eventual sauce the recipe had asked for.  But when I cook, I have to do something else to make it mine (i.e., I add some red pepper flakes when I make adobo!).  And I almost always garnish (fresh parsley!).  A side of roasted sweet potatoes and baby carrots with crystallized ginger accompanied the ribs.  Oh, and left-over rice.

And I was glad there's a willing guinea pig to taste my experiment!

But I still miss my mom....

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Dinner with B this Saturday (with Keiva).