The first time I tried an open-faced tuna melt was at Sugarhouse in the late 90s. I had lunch with my mom one Saturday, and she taught me all about the dish. I believe back then, it was called Pan y Tomato. That's how I remember calling it. I think they still have the tuna melt sandwich, but not open-faced though.

Looking at the sandwich back then, I knew how easy it was to make. It contained tuna spread on bread, quick-melt cheese, and a slice of tomato. I have made different versions of it before because it's really just so easy to make. If you are sick of the regular tuna sandwich, kick it up a notch by adding some cheese and leaving it open.

I was really lazy to write an entry for today. I was feeling rather down because I just didn't have anything to do today. It's a Sunday. Sundays are usually spent with family, or going to the mall and having a stroll, visiting grandparents, etc. But this Sunday feels like just like any other day during enhanced community quarantine.

To torture myself further, I spent an hour watching fan-made YouTube videos dedicated to the frontliners fighting the Covid-19 virus head on. I watched most of them on repeat, and just spent that whole hour ugly-crying.

The night before I made this, I had a dream that I was devouring a tall stack of pancakes. I love pancakes, whether plain or with syrup it doesn't matter. When making pancakes at home, my favorite pancake mix is Maya's Quick n' Easy Pancakes. Aside from it being easy AF to make, it's hella good. Coz come on... Why make one from scratch when you can have one by just adding water.

But when I went down stairs to make the family a batch for breakfast, we ran out. I didn't have a choice to make some from scratch, but I didn't have any baking powder left in our pantry. Without it, the pancakes will be flat like crepes, and I didn't have that kind of strength in me for that kind of stress.

So I opted to make some french toast. Probably the next best thing to pancakes. It's not as easy as just adding water, but it's something you can make with ingredients that you most probably already have in your pantry.

10 Years married, 14 years together in total. I think that's saying something. I've always known that Raul and I would last forever, but as the saying goes -nothing in this life is certain but death and taxes. So we do our best to sustain a marriage, one that we can call happy. Our marriage is far from perfect, it takes a lot to strengthen ours but in the end, it's worth fighting for.

For today's prompt: "In the past 10 years, what have I learned about my marriage? What would I like to change?"

In light of the Covid-19 lockdown and the enforced quarantine we are all in, I have decided to re-launch my #TMMKitchen / #TheKitchenBaby (TKB) series. I used to cook a lot when I was still working as a freelance, and post the dishes I would make in my "The Kitchen Baby" recipe site (circa 2012) because cooking was therapy for me. Just simple and yet delicious recipes that does not require a lot of ingredients!

Since I am on the road to trying to find my calm, I feel that I have to put my culinary degree to good use.

"The Kitchen Baby" blog by The Makeup Maven

Yesterday I was craving for pasta. Ok, I'll be honest, it wasn't just yesterday. Carbs is like one of the most basic food group for me so I have been craving for pasta since I was born.

So for today, why not try my Spanish Sardines Pasta for lunch? I made this yesterday and took photos so that I can share with you this recipe today. If not the easiest, it's the fastest recipe you can prepare and cook if you want carbs ASAFP.

If you are a fan of Spanish Sardines, then you would really love this recipe. I have tried several Spanish Sardines pastas in the past, and I have learned that the simpler the better. I will keep this recipe as simple as possible. But if you're feeling fancy and want to get a bit more creative with your dish, you can just toss in like sliced black olives, chili flakes, or even cherry tomatoes.

INGREDIENTS (Yield: 2pax)

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsps Salted Butter
• Half a head of garlic chopped (you can use less if you don't like it garlicky)
• 1 Tbsp Dried Basil (optional)
• 4 pcs Spanish Sardines (you can use any brand that you like)
• 115g uncooked pasta (cook your noodles according to the instructions)

2. Mince your Spanish Sardines. You can actually use more if you want, but for me, 4 pieces is enough. Set aside.

3. Use a non-stick skillet. It's not really a requirement for this dish, but a non-stick skillet just avoids the garlic from sticking to the bottom and burn. It will make your pasta taste like burnt garlic. Set your fire to low.

4. Add your olive oil and salted butter.

5. Just before the butter fully melts, add your garlic and saute. Don't let the garlic burn!

6. Keep stirring. When it's gotten some color, add your minced sardines and keep sauteing.

7. I love basil! I would have used fresh basil, but dried basil will do. Dried basil is easier to store and you won't be wasting any not like when you use fresh. Also, we will be using only a small amount of basil, and using fresh ones tend to have a lot of leftover. Mix the ingredients well. If you want to get fancy, you can add your tomatoes, olives, or chili flakes in this step.

8. Toss in your cooked pasta, and season with salt and pepper. Toss until all the noodles have been all been coated.

9. Serve with your choice of cheese. For us? We love Parmesan Cheese. I would have preferred to put Parmigiano Reggiano, but I didn't have any on-hand.

When I saw today's prompt, I didn't think that it would trigger any reflections. I have a couple of big boxes at the back of my closet filled with old diaries, planners, college course cards, love letters, an old mass intention for Axl Rose, and yes, photos of 2-year old me up until the end of the film camera era.

Today was a bit better. After the heart-to-heart talk I had with myself via blog post yesterday, I woke up with a new sense of hope and purpose. Although the clock was moving at a snail's pace, I found myself more productive than I have ever been since we started working from home.

On the parenting side of things though, I did not nail it today. I found myself losing my shit with the kids when they just wouldn't calm the F down at 7:30 in the morning. They were fighting over what looked to me like a broken piece of plastic that used to belong to a toy. After the problem had been resolved by a bribe of homemade Jell-O for breakfast (and some screaming on my part), I made my morning coffee and tried to let it go.

In the spirit of using reflection as a way to cope with stress and anxiety, I decided to try this whole "Prompts in Reflection" method -just one of the many, many, many things I learned from my vibrant young friends from work. For those of you who want to try, this is what Google said about what prompting in reflection is:

Search Results

I work in retail. I am a professional makeup artist turned art director in the E-commerce department of a retail giant.

Every time I have to do my makeup outside the house, I have to bring makeup that are multi-purpose so that I do not have to bring a whole lot of products. For example, a duo blush that has a contour powder, a highlighter and a blush. I had an event after bringing my kids to the doctor for a checkup so I had to pack some makeup to do my makeup in a public restroom at the mall so I looked at my makeup stash for some products.

I featured Eye of Horus during Eyebrow Week Part 1, but that was their newly launched Ultimate Brow Define Pencils, and they have included this in their collection since then. They sent me these somewhere between now and just after that was launched and completely forgot about these. I wanted to include these because this one is a good brow product too! Specially for brow-ginners!

Eye of Horus Dual Brow Perfect, PhP 990 each

#toolsofthetrade

An online seller I frequent for makeup tools like sponges, brushes, brush cleaners, etc., gifted me with The Original MakeUp Eraser. I have heard about this from a lot of makeup gurus online and they swear by it.

A lot of people also have been looking for alternative makeup cleansers that are more earth friendly, hence this washable MakeUp Eraser. It claims to remove makeup with just water!

The Original MakeUp Eraser

#tressviernes

Ever since I became a makeup artist in 2004, I wanted to sport blonde hair. Maintaining blonde hair is a lot of work, and costs a lot of money.

The after-care products themselves cost a lot of money and not a lot of them are available here too back then.

Nekkid Blonde Hair Don't Care Shampoo PhP 300 | Conditioner PhP 350 SET PhP 600