Turning Chicken

A well meaning friend, let’s call her C, comes up to me after morning mass and tells me that she was castigated by a mutual friend (let’s call her D).


Apparently, D was upset that she was not informed about a little gathering we had a few days ago. Since I was charged with informing the group, C asked if I had sent out the text invite to D. I immediately said yes!

Not wanting to upset my morning, I changed the subject. After we went out separate ways, I could not help feeling uneasy about the whole thing. Did my text fail to reach D?

Upon checking my celphone’s sent folder, I could no longer retrieve the messages I sent out four days ago as my unit could only save the last 15 messages.

My first thought was to just ignore this little incident. D has been known to be moody so I brush her actions. But somehow the nagging thought that I might have hurt D would not go away. Pride is an awful thing to have and can make a strong person turn chicken and run the other way. I did not want to start the year by becoming a chicken.

After morning mass today, I decided to greet D as she was leaving the church. I tried to catch her eye, but she seemed bent on looking the other way.

Oh well, I guess she still had issues with me. Then again, maybe she had to hurry home and I was making unfair assumptions.

In time, I hope I build enough courage to walk up to her and clear the air. Life is too short to let pride stand in the way of friendship. Besides, I don’t want to be a chicken.

xxxoooxxxoooxxxoooxxx

On the last night in London, my sister and I were deciding what and where to eat. Passing several restaurants in a nearby mall, we decided to try out the chicken at Nando’s. Top on the menu was Peri-peri chicken—a spicy dish with roots in both Portugal and Africa. I was so taken by the delicious flavor that I made up my mind to make it at home.

After reading up on the many peri-peri recipes on the internet, I ended up trying out the recipe offered by Antony Worrall Thompson found on the BBC website as reference. And I must say that it hit the spot.


Here’s one chicken dish that you can be proud of and will surely have your friends come running to get a bite.


Piri-piri Chicken (adapted from AWT’s recipe)

Brine 6 pieces of chicken legs and thighs (about 1 kilo) in a measure of ¼ c salt and enough water to cover the chicken. Leave in the fridge overnight or at least 4 hours.

Peri-Peri Marinade

Place all of the following ingredients into a pan and simmer for about 2-3 minutes. 1 bell pepper (roasted, charred skin peeled off, sliced) – I roast my pepper directly on the flames of my gas burner.

1 serrano pepper (chili espada—the one you use for sinigang—also roasted, charred skin peeled off and sliced. If you want more heat, you can use more pepper or the hotter variety of pepper)

1 T chopped garlic
1 t salt
½ t dried oregano (or 1 t fresh oregano)
½ t paprika
¼ c olive oil
3 T lemoncito or lemon juice

An Untangled Life

O Oh! I put my foot in my mouth today and complicated what could have been a simple situation. I had made someone dear to me angry.

For a while, I simply brushed the uncomfortable feeling with this thought: “It’s not important. Besides, it will blow over and things will be normal and dandy again.” Well, it did not blow over and a heavy feeling settled in.

To quiet the voice in my head, I decided to put out my box of beads and figured that some “alone” time would bring things back to normal. I remember how stringing some beads together had a therapeutic effect.



Oh dear! I seem to have made a mess of the nylon thread and could not begin any beading project until I could unravel the tangle.



I first thought of cutting up all the tangles but stopped myself after I realize that I would end up with useless bits of thread. Slowly I started to pull the thread here and then take it under and over and around a spool. In a little while there was order and a light turned on in my mind.

Ah Hah! There was a lesson to be learned. Like the tangled thread, I realized that my false pride has made a mess of things. So, taking a deep breath, I untangled the pride off me and came clean by admitting my mistake.

There! I felt so much better.



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Do you like how beads can be strung together and become something pretty and even functional? Let me share with you what I finally created after that Ah Hah moment (an expression I am borrowing from Oprah).



A beaded keychain (Tadah!!)—with some imagination and patience, you too can take up this hobby and claim its therapeutic benefits.