It's a Beautiful World

A photo of my mom (lady in black with fan) with the then President Ramon Magsaysay ( tall gentleman on right) at the Malacanang Palace with the Delegation to Malacanang, Adult and Vocational Classes, L.W.V.P. - 4th Congressional District , Manila, Philippines, Circa 1956. The Adult Vocational Classes L.W.V.P. - 4th Congressional District in Manila was one of the administration's programs to help adult women learn a skill to do business.. My Aunt Julie Pobre (on the farthest right with a big smile) and my mom, Cristeta Soriano Abad, were heading the the mission of helping adult women learn home economics, specifically cooking and sewing classes, and other arts and crafts.

...and I'm not ready. The cold is settling in, an indication of the weather's transition to its' next cycle. The leaves are now turning red and gold, and will soon fall. It's autumn.. Much of tonight's dinner conversation was about this coming friday's dinner menu. My son announced that he has some friends coming and my daughter seconded with her intention to invite some of her friends to join in to celebrate halloween. It's halloween already? Can someone tell me where all the time went? All I know is I have to buy bags and bags of candies for the children who come every year, clean the house, organize my office and my bedroom, catch up with my blogs, go for my medical appointments, buy my medicines, cook dinner, wash the plates, bring my car for oil change, talk to my customer, check my emails, open mails and packages, call my sister to thank her for the birthday gift she sent to me, check on my Facebook pages, clear the pile on my desk, bring my car t

Samantha's Christmas School Artwork 2007 Who has time to drink a glass of wine? Preparing the lobsters for dinner.. This is so late but I would like to share them with you. Last christmas holiday, we had family visiting from Manila and I was really busy. My son, Romulo III wanted to eat lobsters for dinner so we went to the asian store and bought some. The NY- cut striploin steaks were bought from Molly Stone's. Sorry I couldn't take pics of the finished products because I was cooking and serving them. The steaks and the lobsters were almost cooking at the same time but I had to cut each lobster in the middle and crack its claws and legs before serving. As a dip, I made lemon butter sauce with a dash of freshly ground pepper and salt. The steak was cooked medium -well, not because they wanted them that way, but I guess I was not quick enough to get them out of the grill pan in time. They had no complaints. My divided attent

If you're interested to learn about Opera, here's a quick and funny way to learn it ~  All the Great Operas in 10 Minutes by Kim Thompson.

Every year, we gather around our table with friends and family feasting over delightful meals specially prepared for Thanksgiving Day. To me, Thanksgiving Day is a day for thanking God for all the blessings we have received.  Good health, good family, good friends, good business, good food, etc. and all the other blessings (jobs, shelter, clothing, etc.) that we, in our busy life, have neglected to realize the impact they make on the quality of our life at present. Thanksgiving Prayer "Lord, we thank you for this gathering of friends and family in your presence today, for the gift of life and for good health, for the good food on the table, for more work and stable jobs, for peace and unity in the family and among countries, for the conversion of sinners, for the safety of our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the other parts of the world where they get deployed, for a better economy, for the healing of the sick and those in pain, for humility and acceptance of who we are,