American Idol Finale Performance Review- Jessica Sanchez and Philip Philips

The entire season has almost come to an end and this is what people have been waiting for all over the world.  The American Idol finale consist of the two best contestants of this years American Idol season. There are three rounds of the finale and each of the contestants will perform different songs in every round. Jessica Sanchez gets to sing first and in the first round she performed  "I Have Nothing" by Whitney Houston and Philip Philips performed "Stand by Me" by Ben E. King. At the end of the first round the judges were asked who they thought had the superior performance of the first round. Randy answered first and he picked Jessica Sanchez and both of the other judges agreed.

Second round of the finale the contestant performed there favorite song Jessica sang "The Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli while Philip Philips sang "Movin Out" by Billy Joel. At the end of the second round judges were asked again for their opinion and they were split between who was best. Steven Tylor picked Jessica Sanchez and thinks that she did a really good job and was the best of the second round, just like what he thought in the previous round. Randy said that it was an even round between the two performers while Jennifer Lopez thinks that it was Philip Philips who got the second round.

Third round of the competition the two contestant sang their original songs. After Jessica Sanchez did her piece entitled "Change Nothing" the judges opinions did not quite like her performance, they feel that the song was just okay and they think that Jessica can do better and perform a song that fits her style. After Philip Philips performed his original song which entitled "Home" the judges give him a standing ovation and said that it was his best performance of the night and sang the song perfectly.

It's a tight game between both of the contestants. They both sang really well. They may have different types of music styles and selections, but they both did incredible performances in tonight's competition. Jessica Sanchez got the first round and Philip Philips got the favor on the third round. Its a battle of who will be the next American Idol and its all up in our hands the voting public.

Spicy Pork Dish with Coconut Milk

The following Spicy pork dish is now becoming one of my new favorites. It is not only yummy but it is also affordable and is suitable for a tight budget, while still leaving you feeling full. For all the people like me who are craving for spicy food, you might want to try the recipe below.

Ingredients:

• 1 jalapeno cut in strips
• 1 chunk of ginger peeled and cut into thin strips
• 1/2 of  one large red onion cut into strips
• 1/2 of one large green onion cut into strips
• 1 carrot peeled and cut into strips
• 3 gloves of garlic - sliced

• 1/2 lbs pork cut into strips 

• 1 1/2 cup of coconut milk - I used Chaokoh Thai coconut milk
• Ground Cayenne red pepper
• Salt
• black ground pepper
• 1 tbsp of olive oil
• 1/2 a cup water

Procedures:


1. Heat up pan or skillet with olive oil in medium-high heat.
2. Add pork in the pan and saute  pork for 10-15 minutes of until the pork is brown.
3. After the pork becomes brown add the rest of the ingredients; garlic,onions, red and green bell peppers, carrots and jalapeno.Mix it well and saute it for 10 minutes or until it become soft.
4.Add water and bring it to a boil.
5. Pour in the coconut milk in the pan and  add ground cayenne red pepper. Mix all the the ingredients well and bring it to a boil.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve it hot with rice on the side or with rice noodles mix in.

How to Make an Easy Cockle Clam Stew Recipe

                  

          Clam Stew is one of my favorite way of cooking  clams. It is not only tasty, but it is easy to make and not time consuming.  I live near the coast and I am living the life of it. It was a week of  nice low tide and I been missing eating clams so we decided to go clamming for four consecutive days. Four days of having clams is a few days of experimenting what dish should I make out of it.Clam stew is one of the dish that I came up doing, it is  made out of basic ingredients that I have in the kitchen and few clams that we get from clamming. 

Please see the ingredients below:




Ingredients:

• 8 cockle clams -  soak the clams in a bucket with a sea water and oatmeal for about 30 minutes to an hour, to make the clams spit the sand out
• 2 - 3 cups water - (adjustable) it depends of how many clams you have and how soupy you want it to be
• bokchoy
• salt
• pepper
• 1 red  jalapeño cut into strips (to add a little spice)
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• ginger - peeled and cut into thin round slices
• garlic - minched
• red onions

Procedure:

1. Heat up the saucepan, set the stove in medium heat temperature.
2. Add olive oil in a pan.
3. Add garlic,ginger and red onions in the pan with a hot olive oil and sautee it for a few minutes.
4. Pour the water in the pan and add the rest of the ingredients (bokchoy and  jalapeño) and bring it to  boil.
5. Wash the clams in a cold running water before adding it to the other ingredients.
6.  Put the clams  in the boiling water  for 3-5 minutes or until it opens.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste
8. Serve it hot.

Note: When the clam opens up that means it is done

That was the ingredients and procedure of how to make a clam stew. Pretty simple right? I hope this blog gives you an idea on making one of the healthy clam dish. Hope you find this helpful and feel free to add this on your dish list. Enjoy!

How to get the Plate Stuck in a Pot the Easiest Way

       

        One night I accidentally dropped the plastic plate inside a pot. The pot was in the sink waiting to be washed, soaking some food that was stuck after cooking. I used a knife, crab meat picker, fork and other pointed and thin kitchen utensils to try and get the plate out. The plate happens to be the same circumference as the pot and I definitely can’t get the dish out and it seems as if it has been suctioned very tightly into the pot.

        I tried so hard to remove the plate manually and it made me very frustrated because I can’t still get the thing out and I don't want to break the plate neither the pot.  I spend hours and hours figuring out a solution even looked online and everyone just suggested using soap and water and so I decided to finish my other house chores. I left the pot in the sink and I filled it up with soap and water with the hope that the plastic plate will float or at least it will loosen up for a bit and wiggle free. I came back after a few minutes and still can't get the plate out. I pour the water out and leave the pot on the sink upside down overnight. Expecting that the plate will fell off the time I wake up in the morning. Morning comes, and nothing seems to be different. I bang the back of the pot and the sides, and shake it upside down, but still the plate doesn't want to come out. 

         

Finally I came up with the best and easiest idea, I filled the pot with water a little above the plate and I put it in the freezer and let it sit there until the water froze. After the water froze, I get the pot out, put it in the sink upside down and run it with hot water. After just a couple minutes the plate fell out unharmed. The weight of the ice and the pull of gravity bring the plate down. I am so happy that finally I resolved the problem and neither of the pot or the plate breaks.

       If you are having the same problem as mine don’t freak yourself out, try the solution on the yellow paragraph and it will be just a piece of cake for you. I hope this blog can help you get your favoite plate unstuck from your big metal pot. Good Luck!

New Year's Day

                     

           

          Another year has passed, and in that year we all have encountered different   experiences. New Year is something we all look forward to, people are busy doing variety of things when it arrives. Some will prepare foods, organize parties, watch games and set up fireworks. Others just stay at their homes  and have little food to eat with their families.

           When New Year roll in people start to think of their list of New Year's Resolution and dive into the things that they did not fulfill yet. People have different intuition of what the New Year will be and some of it depends on every situation that we had face in the past year. We start to reminisce the things that we have accomplished in the past year and all the challenges that we've been through. For some people this New Year would be the year to correct there unhealthy way of living and become more productive in life, while others will try to continue the things that they started and progress.

      We all have variety of plans and ambitions that we like to establish but at the end of the day we can't decide our destiny. There is only one person, who will, and it is God and all we have to do is to live everyday like it’s our last and be thankful for whatever we had and will have.