Rob's Cooking - October Edition

Looking like a hot mess and playing with my food

Rob's been fairly busy this month. This means the gourmet meals at home have been few and far between. I have been left to fend for myself. {Throws self to the ground} Don't worry about me. I'll think of something.

Seriously, as much as I love my husband's cooking, it's a little too rich for me to eat on a day to day. Also add that his cuisine while delicious is not conducive to weight loss. He can eat his own cooking all day. Rob, like most men, has the metabolism of an army of hummingbirds. Contrary to popular belief, I can cook...palatable meals. I won't be cooking at the Emmy's, but it's good enough for me and when he's really tired edible enough for Rob.

Here are some of what he's prepared in the last couple of weeks. These weren't all cooked on the same day.

Pork Tenderloin with Mandarin Orange & Cranberry Chutney
served with brown rice and yellow and green beans


Crostini with Manchego Cheese, Spanish Dry Chorizo, and Sundried Tomatos


Mediterranean Inspired Salad with Artichokes, Hearts of Palm, Roma Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives and Red Onions topped with Bulgarian Feta Cheese

Bresola Rolls stuffed with Field Greens, Pine Nuts and Blue Cheese

This month also marks the first time Rob has participated in a food competition. He assisted his co-worker Cheryl in her entry to 4th Annual Smokin' in the Park in Viejas, California.

Cheryl is the owner of Auntie Shoe's Bodacious BBQ. Rob was her prep cook and assistant. Smokin' in the Park was a fairly large event. There were 52 teams in the competition. Auntie Shoe's Bodacious BBQ took 21st overall. They placed 9th out of 52 in the Ribs category. In order to have the perfect pieces for the judges to taste, they made A LOT of barbecue. A good portion of the leftovers came home with Rob. It was good, but I have to say that I won't be having any barbecue anytime soon. We had enough leftovers to last us a week and that's after we shared some with our neighbors and friends. There is such a thing as too much smoky goodness.

Cheryl preps chicken for the judges




9th place ribs


18th Place Chicken

Thanksgiving is coming up. So let's hope my personal chef will be available to cook our Thanksgiving dinner;)

Rob's Birthday

Friday, September 5, 2008

Rob's 32nd Birthday fell on a Friday this year. Sadly, he had a rough work week. When he got home from work, he said he wanted to keep his celebration "low-key". Unlike me, Rob is not a big birthday person.

So, we started out with his favorite brew.

Then, we went out to our favorite hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant. Our buddy Kevin came along for the ride.

Sanamuluang Cafe
5170 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027

If you click on the photo of our feast, each dish is named.

CIMG1421, originally uploaded by RobisCooking.

Because we ate year old cake for our anniversary and felt cheated, I ordered this for Rob's Birthday.

Cupcake Collage, originally uploaded by RobisCooking

I custom ordered it from Leda's Bakeshop. They were delicious, but a teeny tiny bit pricey. Of course, we had to snap a few pictures with the oh-so-cute cupcakes.

I have Rob in the palm of my hands... MUHAHAHAHA

And then we decided to play with our food. We came up with this...

and this....

More visions from Rob's Bistro

This post is for LeeAnn who asked me to post more of Rob's cooking. Her request reminded me that I have been remiss in crediting my hubby for his culinary skills. Here are some photos of some meals he has prepared over the last month. Our meals DO NOT always look like this. I do not always eat everything on my plate. Sadly, I think Rob forgets that I am a small Filipino woman that doesn't need to eat THAT MUCH food. I have been working out, but I do not have the caloric needs of Michael Phelps.

Anyways... on with the show!

French Toast topped with Yogurt, Berries, and Granola served with Canadian Maple Syrup and Abuelita Mexican Chocolate Dip

(Thankfully, I was at the gym when the breakfast was served. I can't have this big of a breakfast)

Seared Albacore Tuna with Brown Rice and Mixed Green Salad

Cheese Tortellini with Artichokes, Peppers and Prosciutto

Tapas - Manchego Cheese with Spanish Chorizo, Marinated Mushrooms, Olives, Sundried Tomato and Artichocke Dip, and Crostini

Mushroom and Spinach Ravioli topped with fresh Sage from my herb garden

Broiled Chicken with Sun dried Tomato and Artichoke Topping, Grilled Artichoke, and Rice Pilaf

Shrimp Scampi with Bow-tie Pasta and Sun dried Tomatoes

Sad Dottie watches us from the living room.
She gets exiled from the kitchen whenever Rob cooks.
Don't feel too bad for her. She usually gets her own treats cooked for her.

Looking at all this pictures has made me full. I think I'm going to have crackers and fruit for dinner;)

Celebrating the One Year Mark

photo of Jalama Beach from Rockhoundblog

For our anniversary, we jetted out of town for a short little trip to Jalama Beach. Sorry kiddies. No pictures. I forgot to charge my camera battery. We had a good time nonetheless.

Upon our return to L.A. we had a small celebration.

First, Rob bought me these.

I have a fondness for button mums.

According to tradition, 1st Anniversary gift is paper. So, we bought these.

A handful of lotto scratchers. The only thing we won was a free ticket.

We purchased this print from husband and wife illustrator team Kozyndan.

It's the last print in a series of prints we've been collecting. We originally started buying the series because I love ukiyo-e prints. These are not your typical ukiyo-e prints because if you look really carefully, there are bunnies throughout the piece. The bunnies are small homage to the fact that I was born during lunar year of the Rabbit.

Lastly, we ordered a customized version of this print by Jennifer Ramos of MadebyGirl. Instead of the highlighted letters spelling "Love", it will spell "Anne and Rob".

Of course, Rob made dinner.

Bone-in Ribeye Steak with Roasted New Potatoes, Carrots and Asparagus

We opted to do one more traditional thing. We had year- old wedding cake for dessert.

This is what our delicious cake from Leda's Bakeshop looked like last year at our reception.

This is the slice that I vacuumed sealed in a Foodsaver bag

Here it is with the seal broken on the bag

I defrosted the cake in our refrigerator per instructions I found on the internet. Sadly, it still tasted horrendous. I suspect it may be because I waited a tad too long to vacuum seal and freeze a piece. Thankfully, there are no photos of us actually eating the cake. The faces we made while eating the cake would probably horrify people and scare small children. I ate one bite and called it a done deal. Rob was braver than me and ate a good couple of bites. We then used the sad wedding cake as an excuse to get ice cream.

This is how we celebrated our 1st anniversary. No big fanfare, no fancy gifts. Although, I told Rob that he still owned me a kickass trip to somewhere exotic;)

At the one year mark

Rob and I got hitched a year ago today. I can't believe a year has actually passed. I know that's a really cliche thing to say, but it's true. It's had its ups and downs, but we've survived....for now. Just kidding. I like to say that we've completed the first year of a life sentence.

Group Portrait with our family and honorary family

Marriage isn't always sunshine and roses. There are moments where I really wonder what in God's green earth I was thinking when I married Rob. However, there a lots of other moments where he makes me laugh hysterically like a madwoman. He understands me in the middle of my procrastination-driven tantrums and my creative process. That in and of itself deserves a prize. He also makes sure that I NEVER starve. (That's the beauty of marrying a man who cooks for a living.) What I love most is that he has so much personality and allows me to have one of my own. Not once do I feel like I should be anyone other than myself. We do our best to live with a sense of equality. We still have a lot to learn, but we're struggling together.

With all of it and despite some of it, I can't imagine my life without him.

Happy Anniversary, Stinkerpants (Rob)! May we have many more to come:)

For some laughs, here are some previously unseen polaroids from our wedding reception. Because our wedding was so small, the majority of our wedding guests are featured at least once in this set of polaroids. The only exceptions are my mom, dad, Aunt Fely, Cicely and Gary. I'm a little miffed that they didn't get around to sharing the Polaroid Love.