Manage Your Life
I always feel like 24 hours a day isn’t enough to do all the things you have to do. I mean, there’s the clothes to wash, iron, and fold; food to cook; house and car to clean; movies to watch; blogs to read; social networks to update; places to go to; friends to meet; errands to run; and of course, self to maintain and pamper. Whew! That was a long list =)
Truth is, I just wanted to list all the things I have to do so I won’t forget and I can plan ahead. You see, listing your tasks is a simple way organizing your life. You can use a pen and paper to do this, but you can also opt to take advantage of today’s technology.
Hubby and I opted for the latter in managing our medical, sports, and travel appointments. We chose Google Calendar because allows us to:
- View several calendars at once — upon approval, you will be able to immediately see your friend’s calendar. You can also view Philippine holidays and daily weather, etc.
- Invite people with Google accounts to appointments — once they accept, the appointment will also be added to their Google calendar; think online version of Microsoft Outlook
- Receive appointment reminder either through pop-up, email, or SMS
- Add tasks
- Sync with iPhone/iTouch via Internet (no need to attach the phone via USB)
- Create appointments via iPhone/iTouch
Note: Click the thumbnail to view the screenshot of my calendar in full size.
Actually, the best part of Google Calendar is… it’s free! So, isn’t Google hot?! I strongly recommend that you guys start managing your life by managing your appointments and tasks, this way, you are able to plan ahead and make use of time efficiently.
Dried Parsley
Are you always frustrated in trying to prolong the life of parsley just so you can use it on different recipes before it finally dies on your fridge? I always am! In fact, I even tried to put it on a container with water just so I could prolong its life… but to no avail. tsk
Anyway, I’m sharing a solution that I’ve watched from the heaven sent Martha when she guested Eleonora Scarpetta to cook Chicken Cacciatori. Here’s How:
- Get the freshest parsley you can find in the market.
- Wash carefully and dry with paper towel.
- Place on top of paper towels and wait for a while to let it air dry. Remember that the parsley needs to be very dry before putting it in the oven.
- Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees celcius for 10 minutes.
- Spread a baking sheet on top of the oven tray and place the parsley on top.
- Place the tray inside the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the parsley is crispy.
- Once done, get the tray and place the parsley on a strainer.
- Crush the parsley with your hands.
Honestly, the entire process is not easy but like Martha said, having parsley within your reach is just like having gold in your kitchen and I totally agree!
How to Clean a Squid
Manong magpupusit (squid vendor) was kind enough to show us how to clean a squid. I bet he only agreed to that because he didn’t want to clean the half kilo squid that we bought from him hmp!
1. First of all, remove the squid’s cuttlebone (transparent and plastic like part of the squid.)
2. From the squid’s head, remove the beak (round shape).
Video available here:
How to clean a squid from Kathryn Ong on Vimeo.
