Hi, everyone!
Gosh! It has been too long since I last wrote a post. My apologies. So many things have happened in the past several weeks, both professionally and personally. And so, I haven’t had time to cook. Despite these changes, I’d like to think that my love for cooking remains constant.
I only got to cook today. I’ve just survived another round of cooking for New Year’s Eve — which is now ongoing, by the way. My dad’s clan is here at home. Potluck dinner. We were in charge of a few dishes — translated as me cooking a number of dishes. I made my caldereta alla osso buco. And then, I made pasta with three kinds of sauces: 1) carbonara (a perennial favorite); 2) basil pesto (I used pistachios instead of pine nuts as I love their kick); and 3) butter-tarragon-walnut sauce. The third is a sauce I’ve been dying to make for the longest time. It was a great hit. I hope to write about it very soon.
Anyway, I’ve temporarily escaped from the celebration downstairs to express my thanks to everyone — to the Lord, to loved ones, to all you dear friends, to the universe — for a great year. For me, I would have to say that this year is for the books with all the events in the past 365 days. I am indeed very grateful for the relationships, the lessons, memories, travels, challenges, developments, and of course, the great food trips.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned more in the past year, it’s fostering a sense of gratitude for things big and small. I realize that gratitude makes way for greater peace, happiness, and even blessings of different forms.
And so, as we are in the last 90 minutes of 2012, I would like to say thank you for everything. I am deeply grateful, and I am deeply humbled by this past year. I used to think (because of a movie) that being happy is seeing the world in rose-colored lenses. But now, I see the world as it is– without lenses, just my own two eyes, and now, my heart. It is seeing the world for all its blessings, and seeing obstacles as a source of future blessings.
Very soon, it will be 2013, and I am very excited. May the next year be filled with greater blessings for all of us. May we always be surrounded by the people we love, and as we all journey together, may we continue to place our happiness in the things that truly matter.
God bless! Happy New Year, dear friends!
Ralph
ps: I hope to cook more often in 2013, no matter how busy I get. 🙂