Sexy Nomad also a Domestic Goddess??!!

We let our helper go last Tuesday. She has been with us for almost 6 years now and though she was trustworthy enough to not steal from us (considering that most of our precious stuff , including money, are just lying everywhere inside the house), we just couldn’t handle her mediocrity, laziness and constant loaning of money anymore. Actually, loaning money wouldn’t be a problem if we can see her doing a great job. But after all the hassles and stress she caused us, the many dresses she burned, & stained, the mountain of laundry she always left unwashed (to think that she only washes for us and we even bought her the latest Samsung Silver Nano washing machine with automatic water shut off where she would only have to put in the clothes and after an hour,  the clothes have already been washed, rinsed, dried and the only thing left to do is to hang the clothes)  & the numerous glasses & plates she broke, Peter and I decided that we would be happier and more peaceful if we let her go. The complacent services she offered were no longer valued and we figured that we’d be happier if we do the chores ourselves, since we frequently end up doing them ourselves anyway. That’s the challenge, I guess, when you work for someone like me. I consider myself a neat  freak, very O.C. and meticulous. She’s lucky she lasted that long. Blame it to my penchant for “pagtitimpi”. But the moment I reached my boiling point, I  just let Peter handle it. Otherwise, I’d most probably blow up and say things I will regret later on. I’m not much of a diplomat so yeah, when it was time to tell her to leave, I let Peter do all the work while I just waited in my room until she was gone. Oh well. That’s life.

True enough, since she’s been gone, Peter and I felt relieved and even more relaxed despite the many chores we have to share. Isn’t that ironic? It’s a wonderful irony so I don’t really mind. So aside from cleaning the house and washing the dishes (which I love to do since I was a little kid), for some reason, I just started cooking. I didn’t even ask Peter to teach me or consult with any recipe book. I just look at what’s in the pantry and in the fridge and voila — I’m cooking… or preparing food at least. I never told anyone this before but when I was a little kid, aside from climbing trees and picking fruits, I also used to cook leaves in tin cans with boiling water. What I did was cleaned an empty can of sardines, filled it with water, made fire with stones and paper and a bit of kerosene, then placed the tin can on top of the fire surrounded by stones. When the water boiled, I placed the leaves and “cooked” them. My so-called penchant for cooking started like that. I was between 6 years old.

When I was 11, my Dad taught me how to cook sinigang. I got it right the first time around. But since I found it boring, I turned into other more exciting hobbies instead like painting, drawing, biking, climbing the roof top and looking at boys. Hahaha! Oh, I also learned how to bake back in high school and I used to bake cakes for my bfs back then.

Anyway,  these days, it’s only when Peter is sick that I try to cook food. But now, the magic started to kick in again. I don’t know if it will last but it’s good to know that I still have it. The past two weeks, I’ve just been preparing easy stuff like rice, tcheesy pancakes, toasted pita bread, with cream cheese and salmon spread, fruit platters, healthy veggie soups, etc. But recently, I was able to make my own chicken adobo recipe and honestly, it tasted way better than what our helper used to cook for us. I think the tuna chunks, sliced baby potatoes and dash of rosemary, basil and sage did the trick! But not only that, I was also able to make my own red pasta! I used fussili for the pasta and real ham squares, mushrooms, tomato paste, dash of rosemary, basil & sage for the sauce, and topped it with shredded edam cheese. I served it with a glass of blackberry wine and voila — a nice gourmet pasta meal right at home. I wonder what I’ll cook next… Let’s wait and see. For now, I gotta run and do the laundry. ^_^