WELCOME TO CHATEAU DU MER BEACH RESORT

If this is your first time in my site, welcome! Chateau Du Mer is a beach house and a Conference Hall. The beach house could now accommodate 10 guests, six in the main floor and four in the first floor( air conditioned room). In addition, you can now reserve your vacation dates ahead and pay the rental fees via PayPal. I hope to see you soon in Marinduque- Home of the Morions and Heart of the Philippines. The photo above was taken during our first Garden Wedding ceremony at The Chateau Du Mer Gardens. I have also posted my favorite Filipino and American dishes and recipes in this site. Some of the photos and videos on this site, I do not own, but I have no intention on the infringement of your copyrights!

Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands

Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands
View of Marinduque Mainland from Tres Reyes Islands-Click on photo to link to Marinduque Awaits You

Monday, March 18, 2024

St Patricks Dinner- A Gastronomic Success

From Left to Right: Doris Rosen, ME, Peggy Yamada( new Resident) and Patty Healy 

Last Saturday,  March 16 was our Special St Patricks Dinner featuring Corned Beef and Cabbage, with Boiled Potatoes, Carrots and Horse Radish.  The photo above is My Dinner Table, with Doris Rosen, Patty Healy and Newcomer Peggy Yamada.   I wore my light green short sleeve Polo Barong.  
The Irish Soda Bread was out of this world. I had 2 scopes of Pistachio Ice cream. The ice cream matches the color of my shirt. A few of the residents were wearing green outfits for the occasion. 
The only missing in the Dinner is Green Beer. Here are some photos I took for your viewing pleasure.













   

St. Patrick's Day Foods
  • Colcannon. Colcannon, or Irish mashed potatoes, is a traditional Irish dish that has been consumed in the country for generations. ... 
  • Irish Soda Bread. ... 
  • Fried Cabbage. ... 
  • Corned Beef and Cabbage. ... 
  • Shepherd's Pie. ... 
  • Irish Stew. ... 
  • Irish Apple Tart. ... 


The above are the typical St Patricks Day Foods.  
S

Sunday, March 17, 2024

What is Grief? A Hole Ripped through the Fabric of Your Being

This is what grief is. A hole ripped through the very fabric of your being. The hole eventually heals along the jagged edges that remain. It may even shrink in size. But that hole will always be there.
A piece of you always missing. For where there is deep grief, there was great love.Don’t be ashamed of your grief. Don’t judge it. Don’t suppress it. Don’t rush it. Rather, acknowledge it.
Lean into it. Listen to it. Feel it. Sit with it. Sit with the pain. And remember the love.This is where the healing will begin.

The five stages – denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance – are often talked about as if they happen in order, moving from one stage to the other. You might hear people say things like 'Oh I've moved on from denial and now I think I'm entering the angry stage'. But this isn't often the case.

t's common for the grief process to take a year or longer. Grief most often gets less intense over time, but the sense of loss can last for decades. Certain events, mementos or memories can bring back strong emotions, that usually last for a short time.






Do you Know what is Acrostic Poetry ? Here are Some Examples!


Marsha Kefer send me today an acrostic poem she wrote with my name DAVID. She titled it Ode to DAVID
ODE  TO   DAVID

D   is for his DANCING shoes

A   Is for his positive ATTITUDE

V   Is for his VARIATION of the word clogs

I     Is for his INTERESTING and INFORMATIVE blogs

D   Is for the Philippine restaurants he loves to DINE

Oh, I wish there was another letter to complete this rhyme!

Thanks a Million, Marsha for this poem. It is a variation of a true acrostic poem as follows: 

D edicated Blogger since 2008

         A ccomplished Scientist with FDA.

V enturous in his taste buds

I nteresting posts in his blogs

D elightful company in everyday.  


K nowledgeable of Philippine history
A ppreciative of God's Grace and Blessings
T hankful for loving and thoughtful relatives
A bundance of friends here at THD.
G rateful for long life and good health
U nbeatable in Hong Kong Mahjong on Thursdays

E lation for winning bridge on Mondays and Fridays.     

Acrostic poetry- Poetry that certain letters, usually the first in each line form a word or message when read in a sequence. 


Chareau Du Mer- My Second Home in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines. An acrostic Poem written by Victor Viscara (RIP).  Here's my previous posting on the 15 styles of poetry for your information.  

https://chateaudumer.blogspot.com/2012/11/fifteen-styles-of-poetry-that-i-know.html

And Here's a tribute to my two Cats-Batman and Robin

Here are two of my favorites Acrostic Poems:


 Here's an original Poem by Me Inspired By Marsha's Ode to David

The above poem is acrostic, but not majestic, 
Very simple, and very truthful.
Inspired by Marsha, Ode to David,
Made my day and felt very much beloved!

I can write I can sing and I can dance,
What else do you want me to do?
I try my best to make my blogs interesting,
A hard daily grind, but worth achieving!

Your comments, verbal or written are welcome,
Hoping to hear from you in the days to come. 
Thank you THD Readers and Relatives,
 Time of my life to remain Positive!

Thank You to All My Readers all over the World,
 Last year I achieved the over a million page views threshold. 

Its Spring Time- Happy Hour Last Friday was Outdoors

The THD Court Yard in Bloom with Cyclamen and other Spring Flowers 

 Last Friday was the first this year that our Happy Hour was held outdoors.  It was a perfect sunny day at 72F with no wind. It was also an advance celebration of St Patricks Day. Besides the standard hors d'oeuvre and drinks, We have special cocktail - The Mint Martini. It was served by our new bartender Tom. This was my first time to have this cocktail. It was delicious and plan on partaking it again.  

When does spring begin? For some, it’s the second Sunday in March, when we turn our clocks forward by an hour in the United States. For others, it’s when they first realize they’ve finished dinner and it’s still light out, or when the first crocuses poke up through the snow. Is it when you can go outside without a jacket and not feel a chill? When you pack away the down bedding and down jackets for another year? In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox will officially take place this Tuesday, March 19, at 11:06 p.m. Eastern. The spring equinox  is the time at which the sun crosses the plane of the equator towards the relevant hemisphere, making day and night of equal length

I took some pictures of the flowers blooming in the THD Court Yard after the Happy Hour. I am delighted to share it with you. 






Marsha Kefer, my Cha Cha Dance Partner in front of the Blooming Camelia after the Happy Hour.  



Saturday, March 16, 2024

A Big year for Cabbage- Kimchi and Caraflex

Found in my Inbox Recently from the New York Times-The World of Cabbage

In a world in which it’s hard for a vegetable to get a break, cabbage is winning.

Cabbage has been a global culinary workhorse for centuries. (China grows the most; Russia eats the most.) It has fed generations of American immigrants. But now, a vegetable that can make your house smell like a 19th-century tenement has become the darling of the culinary crowd. A purple ( red) Cabbage, a variety I loved. 

In the words of my mother-in-law: Cabbage, who knew?

Like so many American food trends, fancy cabbage dishes first started turning up in restaurants on the coasts a few years ago. But they are fast spreading across the country. One chef has compared this cabbage mania to the hoopla over bacon in the 1990s.

In Denver, Sap Sua sprinkles a charred cabbage wedge with anchovy breadcrumbs. Cabbage is bathed in brown-butter hollandaise at Gigi’s Italian Kitchen in Atlanta. At Good Hot Fish in Asheville, N.C., shredded green cabbage stars in a pancake punched up with sorghum hot sauce.

For a story in The Times, I spoke with farmers, chefs and food critics and ate cabbage in three cities, seeking to understand how the vegetable earned this moment in the spotlight. In today’s newsletter, I’ll explain what I found.

Kimchi and Caraflex💥

An oval plate with a quartered cabbage dish and a knife and fork on a napkin.
A cabbage dish at Chi Spacca in Los Angeles.  Michelle Groskopf for The New York Times

The trajectory of a food trend in the United States can sometimes be easy to trace. A French chef introduces the heavily salted butter caramels of Brittany to the elite of the American food world, pastry chefs at expensive restaurants start to play with the idea, and before you know it, you’re ordering a salted caramel cold brew from Dunkin’.

But tracking down Cabbage Zero, the one that started the current cruciferous renaissance, is not as easy as tipping a hat to Roy Choi for wrapping kimchi and bulgogi in a corn tortilla, thus kicking off the Korean taco craze.

Kimchi, whose main ingredient is cabbage, has helped the cause. Its meteoric rise among cooks and diners who weren’t raised in Korean households has been buoyed by the interest in all things fermented and gut-friendly (much to the chagrin of some purists, who hate what they refer to as “hipster kimchi”). There was even a spike in sauerkraut and kimchi sales when people thought fermented cabbage might ward off Covid.

Cabbage can also thank brussels sprouts, the gateway Brassica that worked its way onto menus after the chef David Chang started pan roasting it with bacon at Momofuku Noodle Bar in 2004.

None of this would be happening without farmers, of course. A decade or so ago, farmers who sell largely to restaurants began to grow more specialty cabbages, like the small, tender Caraflex, often called the conehead or arrowhead because of its pointy tip.

Chefs looking to create dishes for a new, plant-forward world discovered that coneheads looked gorgeous when quartered and sauced on a plate, and were easy to braise, roast or char.

The Ornamental Purple Cabbage in My Garden

The trend is still going strong. Leaves of purple cabbage are enlisted to swaddle mapo tofu at Poltergeist, the current culinary fascination in Los Angeles. At Superiority Burger in New York City, cabbage is gently enrobing sticky rice studded with tofu and braised mushrooms.

Of course, most of the cabbage Americans eat is still in the form of coleslaw or, to a lesser degree, sauerkraut. And the Department of Agriculture notes that the amount of cabbage Americans eat measured per capita is about six pounds. In 2000, it was closer to nine.

Still, among the food-forward, cabbage fever is rising.

“I think 2024 is going to be a really exciting year in cabbage,” the celebrity farmer Lee Jones, of the Chef’s Garden in Huron, Ohio, predicted.

💥It's Caraflex cabbage, a sweeter Bantam variety with lettuce-like crunch that has recently found favor among chefs and farmers alike. The immediately recognizable coneheaded cabbage tends to be harvested at just a pound or so, though these narrow romaine-heart-size heads can easily grow much larger.Continue reading the main story


  

Here's our St Patrick's Dinner Menu featuring Corned Beef and Cabbage with Boiled Potatoes, Carrots and Horseradish. Looking forward to the Pistachio ice cream for dessert ( 2 scopes). Enjoy Everyone!


Lastly, my apology if you find this posting boring and irrelevant. I guarantee you my next posting will be more interesting and informative.


Friday, March 15, 2024

New Residents,The Faroe Islands and St Patrick's Day

Last month, I estimated that at least 8 new residents have moved to THD with only one or two have move out.  I was the Greeter of Jay Pollack and also of John and Carol Larimore. Today, I see some new faces with names such as Len, Peggy, Linda, Sheila and Cheryl.  My personal welcome to the New Residents! 

I had breakfast with one of five mentioned new residents the other day. The new resident thought I have Chinese Ancestry. I was surprise, because for the last 9 months of my residency here I have been flaunting my Filipino heritage and ancestry. 

Speaking of Filipino Heritage, this June will be Filipino Heritage Month. I have been lobbying our Activity Directors to schedule The Philippines in our Travel Adventure Series Taste of the Country for this June. 

Last January we had Japan, February we had Italy, This Month of March we have Southern France. Next Month April we will have Taste of the Faroe Islands.   What do you know about the Faroe Islands? I did some search, and here's what I learned.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean, connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. Hikers and bird-watchers are drawn to the islands’ mountains, valleys and grassy heathland, and steep coastal cliffs that harbor thousands of seabirds.   

The forgotten Faroes are just a short flight from the UK, yet they’re way off the standard traveller’s radar. Adrift in the frothing swells of the north Atlantic, this mysterious 18-piece jigsaw puzzle of islands is at once ancient and very modern. Multicoloured cottages and grass-roofed wooden churches add focus to the grandly stark, treeless moorlands. Timeless networks of cairn-marked footpaths crisscross craggy layer-cake mountains. But even the tiniest once-inaccessible hamlets are now linked by a remarkable series of road-tunnels. And even as you bob around the dramatic fjords on a 70-year-old wooden sloop, your mobile phone is never likely to lose its signal.


I am looking forward for our April Travel Adventure Series Featuring the Faroe Islands. 

Meanwhile Here's the Menu for Our St Patrick's Day Celebration

Looking forward to the Corned Beef and Cabbage and the Pistachio Ice Cream

Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick, is a religious and cultural holiday held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick, the foremost patron saint of Ireland.
Patrick's Day conjures images of shamrocks, leprechauns, the color green, and other symbols associated with the patron saint of Ireland.


Watch out for next posting on Cabbage-Kimchi and Caraflex  


    

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Thirteen Best Filipino Restaurants in San Francisco and East Bay

A few of my co-residents here at THD have inquired where they can enjoy Filipino Food after reading my blogs on the ten top ten filipino dishes. I have informed them of the fast food Filipino foods Pinoy Places ( informal) in Concord, Pittsburg, San Ramon and Pacheco and other East Bay Communities.    

filipino food near me

However, for a more formal setting, that is sit-down lunches and dinners, Here are the 13 best restaurants in San Francisco and East Bay. 

https://sf.eater.com/maps/best-filipino-restaurants-food-san-francisco-bay-area-east-bay-oakland

I have not been to any one of the 13 restaurants listed recently, but I have patronized the Ima's Restaurant in Sea Food City, Concord. I love the cooking of Ima's -a turo- turo place inside the SeaFood City Mall in Concord ( across the Veranda Shopping Mall).  

So if you are in the Concord Area try Ima's. There are other Pinoy Restaurants in the Mall- Jollibee, Grill City, Goldilocks ( a bakery) and a Grocery store. You can purchase any Filipino Goodies/Groceries in SeaFood City, Concord.   

https://shopconcord.seafoodcity.com/

The FOB Kitchen in Oakland has been mentioned by Trip Adviser to be an excellent place for Filipino Food. Here's their menu for your information. You could order via DoorDash. 

https://www.doordash.com/store/fob-kitchen-oakland-845590/

Meanwhile here are some photos of my favorite Pinoy Dishes of My Childhood Years



 


The Party or Fiesta Dishes are Lechon, Paella, Chicken and or Milk Fish Relleno and Leche flan for Dessert. 

Meanwhile Here's my Quote of the Day: 

Blogging is hard because of the grind required to stay interesting and relevant. 
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