HOW MOOKIE GOT A LIFE

        ARMED with her PDA, IPOD and HEELS MOOKIE GET A LIFE.

PDA

IPOD

HEELS

  What would you feel if your family is forcing you to marry someone you do not love? What will you do if feel that you do not have a life?

          How Mookie Got a Life is an inspiring book about a rich girl disowned by her rich, loving, well known and smothering family, because of breaking up with her good looking, rich, cheating, and immature boyfriend, the son of a business tycoon, Miguel Agguire. Maria Anastasia Katerina Maximilliana Sandoval decided that it is time to finally get a life. She quit her boring job as a sitcom writer, get a new haircut, learn to drink beer and start to wear jeans, sneakers and t-shirts instead of her mango top or marcjacobs dress and heels. Mookie slowly start to build a new personality, and a new social circle. She started to hang out with new friends and office mates and with boys namely khalil and a hard core environmentalist named Tubig Ulan Kawagi Dela Costa. Volunteering for a cause and climbing a mountain, Mookie realized that the one she was looking for is just beside her.



FOODS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK

     RAVIOLI

Ingredients

• 1 pound cheese ravioli
• 6 ounces thinly sliced pancetta, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus extra for seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus extra for seasoning
• 3 cups arugula
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the ravioli and cook for 7 to 9 minutes until tender. Drain.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the pancetta and cook stirring frequently, until crispy, about 8 minutes. Remove to paper towels to drain. Add the tomatoes, olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook for 2 minutes until tender. Add the arugula and 1/4 cup basil and cook until wilted, about 30 seconds. Stir in the butter and melt. Add the ravioli and cooked pancetta and toss until coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer the ravioli to a large serving bowl.Garnish with the remaining basil and serve.

 

TURTLE CAKE

Ingredients:

• 1 devil's food cake mix
• 1/4 cup powdered dark cocoa
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 (14-ounce) bag caramels, wrappers removed
• 3 Tablespoons evaporated milk (not sweetened condensed) or cream
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided use
• 1-1/4 cup chopped pecans, divided use

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with nonstick foil.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, water, vegetable oil, and eggs. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Pour half of the mixture into the prepared baking pan and bake for 15 minutes. Reserve the remaining cake batter.

Meanwhile, place caramels and evaporated milk in a heavy saucepan. Heat, while stirring, until mixture is smooth. Remove from heat.

Pour the warm caramel mixture evenly over the baked cake layer. Sprinkle with 1 cup of thechocolate chips and 1 cup of the chopped pecans. Top with remaining half of cake batter. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/4 cup chopped pecans.

Return the turtle cake to the oven and bake an additional 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate before lifting out of the pan to cut and serve.

Yield: 24 to 36 servings, depending on cut size 

TOMATO SOUP

Ingredients

8 to 10 tomatoes , cut into quarters
1 onion , roughly chopped
4 to 5 garlic (lehsun) cloves
salt to taste
4 tsp butter

For The Garnish1 toasted bread , cut into small cubes
chopped coriander (dhania)

Method

1. Boil 4 cups of water in the pressure cooker and add the tomatoes, onions, garlic and salt. Mix well.
2. Cook on a medium flame for 10 minutes, or for 2 to 3 whistles.
3. Allow the steam to escape before opening the lid and allow it to cool.
4. Blend into a smnooth puree using a hand blender and strain.
5. Transfer the soup in the cooker or a deep pan and boil it again.
6. Add the butter and mix well.
7. Serve hot garnished with bread slices and coriander.

CLAM CHOWDER

Ingredients

• 3 ounces salt pork, finely diced
• 1 1/2 cups small diced yellow onion
• 6 cups small diced baking potatoes, like russets
• 2 cups milk
• 1 (6.5 ounce) can clams, drained, juice reserved
• 12 Little Neck clams
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• Chopped fresh parsley, for garnish
• Sour cream, for garnish
• Grape tomatoes, halved, for garnish

Directions

In a heavy-bottomed saucepot, render the salt pork until just crisp. Remove and discard. Sweat the onion in the pork fat until tender. Add the potatoes and cover with milk. Bring to a boil and let simmer until potatoes are soft. Season with salt and pepper.

In a separate pot, fitted with a steamer basket, bring the reserved clam juice to a boil. Add clams and cover. Steam for three minutes until all clams are open. Remove the clams as they open and transfer to a bowl. Add the steaming juices to the pot with the chowder. Using a stick blender puree to desired consistency. Adjust seasonings.

Finely chop the drained canned clams. Fold into the chowder. Serve with steamed clams, parsley, sour cream and grape tomatoes, as garnish.

Apple Cobbler Recipe

Note: we like our cobblers and pies fairly tart; you can easily add more sugar to the filling if you like it a bit sweeter than what we have here.

INGREDIENTS

Filling ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sugar (or more, up to 1/2 cup, to taste)
• 1 1/2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 Tbsp (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
• 3 lbs. tart apples (such as granny smith), peeled, cored, and sliced (about 6 large apples)
• 3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Crust ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
• 2 Tbsp coarsely chopped crystallized ginger
• Zest of one orange
• 1 cup heavy cream, plus more for glaze

METHOD

 
 

1 Filling directions: Melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Stir in apple slices, lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and flour. Cover partially and cook until just tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in vanilla. Transfer to buttered 10" pie dish. (This recipe has the crust only on the top).

 
 

2 Crust directions: In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in ginger. Stir orange zest into cream; then, using a fork, stir cream into flour until the doug holds together. Gather dough into a ball; knead briefly then roll out to a little larger than pie dish. Transfer to dish; trim off excess. Score the center so the steam can escape while baking. Brush with cream.

 

3 Bake 10 minutes in a 450º oven. Reduce heat to 375º and bake 20-25 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream.

Yield: Serves 6-8

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

This is one of our all-time favorite recipes! I saved it from a newsgroup or forum posting years ago, but was recently told it was from the cookbook, "The Sugar Reef Carribean Cookbook," by Devra Dedeaux. 

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12 minutes
Marinate: 1 hour 
Total Time: 1 hour 32 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon ground allspice
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground sage
• 3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder or fresh
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 lime juice
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper (habanero)
• 3 green onions -- finely chopped
• 1 cup onion -- finely chopped
• 4 to 6 chicken breasts

Instructions:
"JERK: This method of cooking pork and chicken dates back to the Carib-Arawak Indians who inhabited Jamaica. After capturing an animal and thoroughly cleaning and gutting it, the Indians placed it in a deep pit lined with stones and covered with green wood, which, when burned, would smoke heavily and add to the flavor. But first, the carcass was "jerked" with a sharp object to make holes, which were stuffed with a variety of spices. The holes also allowed heat to escape without loss of moisture.
The results were superb. The meat was not only wonderfully spiced, but moist and tender." (Note: Sugar Reef is a restaurant in Manhattan) Seed and finely chop Scotch Bonnet pepper. Trim chicken of fat. In a large bowl, combine the allspice, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, garlic powder and sugar. With a wire whisk, slowly add the olive oil, say sauce, vinegar, orange juice, and lime juice.
Add the Scotch Bonnet pepper, onion, and mix well. Add the chicken breasts, cover and marinate for at least 1 hour, longer if possible.
Preheat an outdoor grill.
Remove the breasts from the marinade and grill for 6 minutes on each side or until fully cooked. While grilling, baste with the marinade. Bring the leftover marinade to a boil and serve on the side for dipping.