BEEF IN GUINNESS

St. Patrick's Day must be the most fun saint's feast day that I know. The celebration is so global that everywhere in the world joins in the merrymaking. A good amount of Irish grub and tipple is consumed on this day.

COTTAGE PIE

We have been extremely lucky to have mild weather since the start of the winter. 11° C on Christmas is nothing short of a miracle. Alas, as we all now know, good things don't last. The cold snap has descended and I'm feeling the cold right to my bones.

TIRAMISU BRIOCHE AND BUTTER PUDDING

This weekend until Tuesday next week, the whole of Great Britain is celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Queen Elizabeth has been the reigning queen for 60 years. Although her face and persona has been regarded as an icon for being the queen, much is to be admired of her personal self Elizabeth. 

No one can come up close to the queen but glimpses of her life has always been shown in film and put to writing. Despite the formality and elegance that her duty calls upon, there still is a sweet, warm person that comes to the front in her unguarded moments. She still is, after all, a wife, mother and grandma. She was part of a normal (albeit royal), loving family until her father reluctantly became king after her Uncle Edward abdicated the throne. A further twist of fate, the early demise of her father, made her a young queen at the young age of 25. How many people on earth would have a life story to compare to that?

FISH STRIPS AND BAKED POTATO CHIPS

Growing up in a predominantly Catholic country, the Philippines, I have always been aware of the practice of abstaining from meat during the Fridays of Lent. Back home, there are a lot of meat free dishes that are customarily lined up for Lent. Sometimes there is so much food made "in lieu" of meat that we end up feasting instead of fasting.