cooking up a storm

it was just past eight when i texted atej to take the tapa out of the freezer, pork or beef it didn't matter. i wanted to cook myself a hot meal soon as i arrived, not so much for the food, as for the comfort of cooking one's self, something, well, food.

who knew i would come to this? just a few days before the trip to the mountains, my cousins' eyes almost fell off watching me unwrap a thawed chicken, place it in a baking dish, and pop it into the oven. me who only knew enough to push around some tinned food in some oil with some onions, garlic, and sometimes, tomatoes. gisa, it's called.

the day after i arrived, the menu was:
breakfast: mess of hot and spicy tuna, omelet/scrambled eggs, loads of onions, tomatoes and garlic
lunch: steamed kangkong leaves
dinner: chicken-cabbage soup, fried little fish

yesterday:
breakfast: tortang talong, squid uga, pinakas

and today:
breakfast: homemade yogurt with bananas, honey, and muesli
lunch: leftover chicken pineapple fried rice, leftover uga
dinner: pasta with beef strips in a yet-to-be created white sauce :D

one-step above just "gisa the can", but you know, it's the cooking act itself, even the slicing of onions into paper thin strips.

so therapeutic.