I celebrated my 27th birthday last January 3 with my loved ones over a simple lunch and dinner at home, since my dad had to go to work and my baby brother had to go to school. I knew that Mark was coming over for lunch and so I asked him what he wanted to have. Without any hesitations, he immediately replied "Kare-kare!". Haha!

Kare-kare is a Philippine stew made from peanut sauce with a variety of vegetables and meat which usually comes from oxtail, beef, and sometimes ox offal or ox tripe. Meat variants may also include goat meat or chicken, but I grew up eating Kare-kare made from beef and pork tenderloins. It is best eaten with shrimp paste (bagoong) over a hot steamed rice.

I first tried to cook Kare-kare back in college (using the recipe that I learned from my dad) when I was the acting chef at home that time since my parents were in the US. And as a first timer, my Kare-kare was a hit!

I already knew that Mark would answer Kare-kare since it's his most favorite dish. It's also my mom's favorite so I decided to cook it for my birthday lunch. :) And on my second time to cook Kare-kare, my family, especially my Mom and Mark, loved it so I decided to share with you guys this simple yet delectable recipe. :D

Kare-kare

Wishing everyone a blessed and prosperous year ahead!

Happy New Year!!!

kriskamarie   sweetnothings.kriskamarie
kriskamarie   kriskamarie

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!! :)

Filipino-Style Spaghetti

Okay, my backlogs are still piling up, I know, but here's one which I can finally cross out from the list. :p

A few weeks back, Mark and I decided to have dinner first before going to the wake of our friend. I fetched Mark from work and then we headed to the Ayala Triangle Gardens for dinner.

Mark was already watching his food intake since he's preparing for an upcoming bodybuilding competition, so after rummaging the Ayala Triangle for restaurants and their menus, we both agreed to dine at Wee Nam Kee. Steamed, boiled, or grilled chicken and fish are the usual dishes that Mark eat when he's on a diet so he got one order each of the restaurant's steamed chicken and fish.

Marks first order was the Chicken Rice. You can have it roasted, steamed, cooked with soy sauce, or try a combination. It also comes in personal set, quarter, half, and whole sizes. I am not a fan of steamed food, and it's my first time to try Hainanese chicken, and I must say that this dish is okay. The meat was cooked well and I liked that it didn't have that stench of raw chicken. The chicken chunks were laid in a bed of sauce (which somehow had the taste of soy sauce and a little lemony/citrus taste) with cucumber slices. The sauce had just the right amount of saltiness which is perfect for Mark's diet.

Steamed Chicken Rice (Medium-Half) - Php 488.00

The dish is also served with chicken soup. It's actually a chicken stock seasoned with pepper and spring onions, which I must say was so good. Being the restaurant's signature dish, the Chicken Rice I think was a good choice since Mark enjoyed this dish and finished it all in no time. :p

Yup! That's what I became yesterday. Well actually it was just for about an hour haha! I don't know what got into me last night, but when I knew that my mom was up for some party with her girl friends, I volunteered to do her makeup. :p Here are what I used for my mom's makeup. The eyeshadow and blush on palettes are my mom's and the rest are mine.


I am not an expert when it comes to makeups and I don't actually come close to being one. An everyday makeup for me would just consist of bb cream, powder, eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss (some lipstick when I'm heading to parties/events) and I'm good to go. So I actually wasn't sure what my mom's look would end up with haha! I just tried to recall and apply what I've read in magazines before. :p