Momma Bear's Eats: STEAK

One of the things I love to eat the most is steak. I have always associated steak with special occasions that are celebrated at home. We used to have steak almost every Saturday dinner or Sunday lunch (or so I thought, my brother says otherwise). I have no idea where we purchased our steaks and how much they cost, all I know is that they were imported from the States. This holiday season was very much about steaks, more than lechon.

This is wagyu from Seryna, a restaurant in Tokyo Town in Makati. You cook it youself in a mini griller of sorts. It has no seasonings whatsoever but the meat is as tender as can be. Not for the faint hearted or the health conscious because as you can see it is surrounded by fat.

This is USDA Prime Bone in Ribeye from Mamou in Serendra. We ate there for my father in law's birthday and it was awesome! The steak was cooked just the way we wanted it to be, medium rare. We got the bigger size to share. We also chose creamed spinach and mashed potatoes as our sidings. The creamed spinach was sucky and I didn't even bother to try the potatoes. I got to eat the steak rice and it was tasty. The steak is cooked in oil, which somehow crosses the line from unhealthy to are you really going to eat that?!, but I did. Worth every penny.

On new year's eve its potluck at the compound so everyone brings something, this year one of my husband's aunts decided to bring steak. This is a picture of the meats raw. Almost 2in thick and about to be grilled. I ate 2 pcs, since they were cut in half, that just amounts to 1 steak. She got the meat from Alternative Foods, which is where we get our steaks, the ones we eat at home. The ones in the picture are USDA choice wc costs around 800/kilo. We get CAB (certified angus beef) for the house. Below is a picture of our homecooked steaks.

We decided to make the steak meal a bit more special by making creamed spinach and sprinkling the steak with truffle salt and truffle oil. The flavors work so well together.

Cars, cars and more cars

Since we started bringing you out more you've been entranced wih cars. Your Ninong Ba bought you one for christmas and you saw it today. Its too heavy for you to start riding so you just played around with it a little.


Here we went to powerplant mall and met up with your favorite friend uncle tof and achie. You rode in the car thingy that moves around. You were ecstatic. 1 ride costs 50pesos and lasts for only a minute. You rode 4x and loved every second of it.


You also love going out. You ask me to bring you to the grocery almost everyday so today gwama said we can use the car and so we went to sm but instead of going to the grocery we wet to the amusement place there and i let you ride the car. It costs only 5pesos per minute. What a price difference fr powerplant mall!


and an even cheaper option is to go to the grocery and let you ride in the pushcart with a car in the front.

My big bear

You just turned two a few days ago and you were so tired u just slept thru half of the day. I cant say it enough, so i'll say it again and again... I love you. I love you. I love you. You're becoming sweeter and smarter everyday. You do or say things that make me laugh. I wake up every morning smiling bec i hear your voice from downstairs. You are also growing up so fast and still so curious about so many things. Today you were trying to figure out how to put on your daddy's watch. The other day you were holding coins and started saying 'quatro, sinko, sais' I was dumbstruck. I see it in your face when your trying to learn a new word I said or when im explaining something to you. Everyday I pray for God to keep you safe all the time. Goodnight my baby bear. You are my constellation of stars that keeps me in awe.

Happy Birthday Bear!

People say your so big already and we too are often amazed at how fast and big you've grown...
But look at how small you really are from our perspective!

We decided to have brunch at Manila Penninsula to celebrate your birthday. We couldn't eat lunch because that was during your nap time. You fell asleep in the car on the ride home and didn't want to go back to sleep anymore. We opened your birthday gifts and played in the room until you ate dinner and went to sleep at around 6pm. You slept soundly until 6:30 the next day.

Here you are looking at the menu

My lil bear in her tutu skirt.

Our Family Picture (missing shobe bear)

With Gwama on the 2nd floor.

With Gwakong looking at the christmas tree

Eating gwakong's food.

Riding on the luggage cart.

Bear's 2nd christmas

Gift giving in the house. Giving some sibling loving to your shobe.

Kayla Bear in the Hospital

You've been having a low fever on and off for the past 3 days. Our pedia said that we'll do some tests on the 4th day. On the 3rd night, we were out and I got a phone call from your gwama telling me to go home bec you had a high fever of 39.2. We rushed home and you weren't as hot. We started to relax but I decided to sleep in your room that night to be sure. I opened the door and there you were carried by your yaya near the night light and you were making a sound that was heart wrenching. I immediately called your daddy and we all rushed to the hospital. You were turning blue and you kept groaning quietly. We got to the hospital and they got your blood to be tested. We checked in to be sure and waited for the results. You had an infection. They put in a wee bag to catch your pee, it might be UTI. After 10 bags or more we were able to catch enough pee to be tested. That morning at 6am they call me up in the room and tell me that you do have UTI. I am so so so sad and feel terribly guilty. They're going to stick an IV so they can give you medication through it, it will be more effective and will work faster. They are more aggressive in their treatment because you are so small. I cry with you as they poke and prod you with the needle. 2 of your veins pop as the doctor fails in putting it in properly. On her 3rd try she gets it in. You are already half asleep bec you were so tired from all the crying. That afternoon you slept soundly, you slept so long and so quietly for the 1st time in weeks. We all thought your teeth was coming out thats why you werent able to sleep well at home. I knew the medication was working already because you were able to pee alot and slept again so quietly through the night.

I am so sorry for letting this happen to you. For all the pain you must have been in and me not being able to figure it out. I'm sorry that I didn't take your sleeplessness more seriously and as a warning sign for something going on in your body. We went to the hospital on Dec 21 and came out on the 24th, those 4 days were the worst of my life. Holding you in the car on the way to the hospital, I really thought that was it. I look at you now and I am grateful that you are well. I love you my Kaylabear. I want to squeeze you in my arms and keep you there forever.


Here you are playing with Jollibee in your bassinet.


Here's a picture of your arms all wrapped up.

My poor baby :(

Your Best Friends

Daddy's sister is your favorite friend. You call her achie bec she doesn't want to be called auntie. You look for her every week and she visits you at least once a week. you play together and seeing her makes you very very happy. Her boyfriend is your Uncle Tof and he comes to visit you too. They are your favorite friends. They spoil you and give you gifts all the time. You love them and talk about them almost everyday.


Here you are with Uncle Tof feeding you soup.


With Achie in Jollibee Powerplant.


With Achie sitting on her lap playing with her cellphone.



With both of them after we finished putting together the playground.


They gave you a Little Tikes play ground for your birthday and christmas gift. This is by far the biggest gift you've ever gotten.

Sa-la-mi

You saw Achie (your auntie) eating salami and you tasted it. You also saw gwakong eating it. Now you really love the stuff, you've started chewing your food and this is one of the few things you choose to chew and swallow. Here's a picture of you eating one as i wrap the salami gift package.

Flowergirl 2nd Time

Daddy's friend Dar is getting married to Tring and they got you as their flowergirl. You cried when the seamstress got your measurements.


You almost cried when you were going to fit your dress but didn't because you were distracted by how big it was. At the wedding you cried because you were afraid of your Ninong Kiyo and as usual you were nagging us to go home already. We didnt even dream that you would walk down the aisle on your own. We knew for sure you wouldnt, so we didn't even try. Maybe next time.


Here you are with the other flowergirl Adrianna. You were both trying to grab each other's flower pots.


Here you are playing with daddy.

Its Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

We put up the christmas tree today for you so we can start buying gifts and putting them there. You loved helping out by giving us the branches. You loved it even more that night when we turned on the lights.
Our christmas tree.

Here we are at Powerplant mall.

Kayla Bear: 3 Mos

Can you get any cuter than this? Your arms look like sausages! You are so cute and so quiet. So calm and so sweet. You smile when you see me, the 1st time you did that I actually burst into tears. You recognize us now and you make the cutest sounds. Its like you already want to talk to us. You fall asleep so easily, I just put you in my sling and there you go falling asleep. You have the softest skin and the sweetest smell. I want to squeeze you so hard but I stop myself because for sure you're going to get angry. You make the funniest face when your achie makes noise and you're asleep, you give her the evil eye and then try and go back to sleep.

M and M's

Its hard for us to be able to take a picture of you two together because its so hard to take pictures and watch 2 kids at the same time. But I love seeing you both looking at each other in wonder.

Achi Bear showing some love.

Shobe bear giving Achie the evil look.

Changes 1year 11 Months

Dearest Bear,

your daddy and i have noticed that you have these little quirks that last for around a month. The last one was entering our room and running to get the remote control and then playing Barney on the dvd player. I think that phase has just ended. Before that was when you'd be afraid of everything, from the clouds to the dark, to the funny man on elmo. I wonder what's going to be your next new thing?

We're starting to think you're a genius, either that or we're dumber than average because we're now starting to have a hard time tricking you. Today your yaya is hiding in the maid's room bec she's leaving tomorrow. You asked me "San si Ate?" I was thinking of an answer when you said "Ate merly" so that it would be clear to be which ate you were looking for. I said "nasa baba" you said "alis si ate". I find out from you that the maid and replacement told you that your ate left already. She's going back to her family and so Mae, gwama's maid is going to be your new yaya. you've known her all your life so being with her is okay with you but from time to time you look for your old yaya. Things weren't so hard today, Vic and Mae were experts at distracting you. Tonight i held you in my arms and rocked you, I loved every minute of it. I recently read an article saying that we don't realize "moments" are happening when theyre happening. Well, tonight i think i did. I love you my little monkey bear. Goodnight, sweet dreams and know that mommy is always here for you.

Momma Bear's Eats: Godiva Chocolate Bars and Candies

My dad loves chocolates almost as much as I do. He also loves going to Duty Free, after coming home from HK he tells me about these buy1take1 deals on Godiva chocolate bars in Duty Free, of course I tell him I want to get some too.

I love Dark Chocolate more than milk chocolate. I like that it's bitter and sweet at the same time.. I guess thats what they mean when they say its bittersweet.


Here's a picture of my loot. I ate 4 candies when I got them. Not by choice but because Maxine was the delivery girl of the loot and she wanted to open them and feed them to me. So I ate the 4 she opened up. 1 had caramel filling. That's all I remember because the rest is a Maxiebear blur.

Momma Bear's Eats: Godiva Truffles Desserts

My family went to HK for my brother's graduation. I saw online that there's a new limited edition truffle from Godiva. So I asked them to buy it for me. There are 6 new flavors and I have 2 of each.



The 6 kinds and their prices.

Kayla Bear: 2 Mos

Here you are trying to eat your arms.

You are such an easy baby to take care of. You sleep alot, eat alot and smile alot. One other thing you do alot is put anything you can in your mouth. You try and chew on your bibs, my shoulders, your arms and anything that comes near your mouth. I love you my growing lil kaylabear :)

On our way to the hospital

My Baby siopao

Halloween

This year it took me a long time to decide what costume to get for Maxine. There were so many mediocre things in the market. Until I found the one! It was a costume from Old Navy but we weren't sure it would reach manila in time. My husband's cousin said it would and so we purchased the costume and waited. The day of trick or treating was coming up and the costume was still nowhere to be found, we lost hope because it was only 4days away and we needed to purchase a costume. We went out and got one we didn't really like. 3 days before trick or treat the costume finally arrived! Here she was wearing it :)

1 Year 10 Months

I cut your hair 2 days ago while you were busy watching Barney and cutting paper. You look so adorable with your bangs mommy just wants to squeeze you and pinch your cheeks. Im happy you didnt cry, you knew i was cutting your hair but you were okay with it. We also started changing your meals. The other night you had spaghetti for dinner and the day after that you had shrimps with rice. You get so excited when you see your rice, its so cute

Here you are with your new hair!
:)

Pate and Then Some

We stopped going to school because you kept crying when I left the room and the next level, I couldn't accompany you anymore. So I decided to give you activities here at home. Here you are doing some arts and crafts.

This picture is actually sort of real and fake at the same time. You didnt really eat the Piknik. But I thought it would make for a funny picture.

Your most favorite thing in the world, PATE. Your Gwama let you eat pate from HK months ago and we have been trying to find a replacement here in Manila but somehow you know the difference and refuse to eat the local ones. Your Achie got you alot when she went to HK and here you are eating some.

Eating eggnog cookies.

Eating yanyan without the dip.