Love Cake's New URL

Hello my dear readers, Love Cake has moved to www.ourlovecake.com. See you there! :)

Soul Pancake: What does Love look like to YOU?

 ( Go get your tissue box). LOVED this video. <3

I Fondly Remember the Disgusting Smell of Sugar Crisps cereal...

Did you enjoy the Super Bowl this year? I have never been a huge  TV sports fan but I thoroughly enjoyed watching it this time around. I am normally one of those who watch the big game to discover the new commercials. The only ad that truly caught my attention this year, was the Budweiser commercial featuring the heartwarming story of the horse who recognized his first owner. It shook my childhood memories and reminded me of a long lost furry friend I once had...

The next morning, I went on a wild goose chase all over the house to find two old Polaroids. I am not sure if I kept them in an album that I left at my parent's house up in Canada, or if they moved with me and are still buried somewhere in the unopened moving boxes since this past summer...I still haven't found them, but I will keep looking.

These two photos were the only ones I had of happy kiddie me holding my puppy named Chico. Back when I was four or five, we lived in a triplex apartment complex with my parents, brother, grandmother, two uncles and an aunt in Longueuil city. While we didn't seem to be crammed enough, one of my uncles brought home two German Sheppard pups. They named them Chico and Mino.

I barely had any toys growing up. These puppies were the best thing I ever got to play with. Chico was my favorite pup. He had a little mole on his left cheek and had the softest look on his eyes, as if he worried whether I was ok. He had this compassionate head tilt and and a soft, constantly concerned frown where his brows would be, if he had any. I found so much comfort in him and we bonded so greatly.

Barely a few weeks later, on a school morning, I woke up and realized in horror that both puppies were gone. My parents decided we were overly crowded in the apartment and that they required too much attention.  I wished they warned me ahead so I could hug Chico goodbye. I was so sad but I wasn't allowed to display my anger and sadness to anyone. Because I was only a child, I was ordered to just accept their decision and move on. And so I did.

I did a pretty good job at letting him go. But whenever someone poured themselves a bowl of disgusting Sugar Crisp cereal, I was reminded of Chico. I started hating that cereal a little less since Chico was gone as they reminded me of him. With his bionic dog ears, he would run up to the kitchen before they even had time to finish pouring their milk. I hated the smell of those cereal, which reminded me of roasted coffee beans, back then. Now, I'm sure I would get a little teary if I smelled them again.

Many years later, while I was working at my parent's store, the one in the Villeray neighborhood, a huge German Sheppard dog ran into the store, followed by a middle-age man. The dog ran without hesitating around the counter and jumped on me and licked me. This wasn't uncommon though, and most dogs would do that whenever they came into the store. Perhaps my father would give them treats. But this dog was different. He was persistent and kept on kissing my hands and thighs with his snout, and stared right at me. And then, I saw a mole on his right cheek. " Could it be you, my Chico?". I quickly chased that thought and was too shy to ask his owner anything. When they left, the dog dragged his paws and didn't seem to want to leave and his owner whistled and said " Come on Chico! Let's go buddy!". It was such a happy and sad moment at the same time. I am almost 100% certain it was him....

Finding your own carb :)

A while back, a dear friend asked me how I knew he was the one....

People are so afraid of carbs nowadays. They ruin your sweet, skinny, lean look. People are so afraid of relationships too. They ache your heart. I wish people wouldn't fear carbs so much. I think if you've had issues with carbs, you just need to learn to juggle with portions and allow room for other food categories on your plate. Easier said than done, I know. I don't think running away from carbs completely is healthy as it makes you backlash and splurge into an unhealthy decadent dessert to overcompensate for the lack of solid and healthy carbs.

I surely love my jasmine rice. Yes, I am feeding the Asian stereotype. Well, in my case, it is true that I can barely skip a day or two without rice. I quickly realized that Komar was my jasmine rice, vital for my overal sanity.

I knew it was him when I realized I couldn't spend a day without him from the moment we met.  I couldn't tell whether it was love or passion or just attraction at first. All I knew was that I could not imagine a day breathing without knowing he was o. k and happy somewhere ( back then, he was in D.C while I was still up in Montreal). We cared about each other, as simple as that. He always made sure I felt and knew how much he cared about me. We didn't need to play mind games or try to decode each other. Our feelings were pure and backed with clear actions. No promises were spoken in vain. We were together, as committed to one another.

I wanted to be the best friend and support I could be for him and I could feel he felt the same way too. When we JUST met each other, we connected in a very special way and I wasn't afraid of being vulnerable with him. I wanted him to be happy and he as well for me. I gave him my heart and he kept it pumping since.

I knew he was my rice. He makes my heart and soul feel satiated and content, yet I always want and need more. I discovered very quickly that he was my jasmine rice. He brings me comfort in a way no one else can. He is addictive yet, never sickening and I enjoy every instant with him. He is so flexible that I can garnish his life with any craziness I want and it would pair well with him. Even when we argue, I still feel so much love in his frustration, because he's fighting hard to make his point come across simply because he cares THAT much. Otherwise, you wouldn't hear a peep coming out of him. ( yes, quiet guy). :P

He keeps my heart and soul healthy, full and happy. I met several wrong carbs, and used to chase after "ice cream parfait" men. There are plenty of banana splits, brownies and hot fudge sundaes out there, all very attractive and yummy. But I could never digest that every single day. And after the first sugar rush, you crash very fast into reality and routine.

Once you find someone who could be your potato, bread, pasta or rice and you know they feel as nourished the same way with you, then I think that is how you know....

Fancy Truffles

Oh those fancy truffles. They fascinate me, whenever I walk by them, locked in a glass box  displayed on rice grains or some kind of hay, for fine appreciative gourmet palates. If they weren't labeled properly, they could easily pass for a pile of poop that can cost up to $2,000 per pound..

I strangely had too many occurrences of people seeing me as poop when I was in fact...a person? :P

For a very short period of time ( not short enough for me, in retrospect), back in college, I was "seeing" this guy who simply refused to acknowledge who I was. ( "Who are you???" I can hear you ask that after reading this. Well, definitely NOT JUST what he thought I was. lol). He could not get pass my ethnicity because he sort of had an Asian girl fetish. I'm not saying that it was all he was into, but he seemed to have a bucket list of things and people to conquer before he died and "Asian girl" must have been on that list. It did not matter what I liked and was passionate about. He would treat me the way he thought and expected all stereotypical Asian girls should think and behave. He didn't even see a tiny bit of my personality, which amazes me since I'm not the quiet and shy kind of person. I made our platonic back and forth last longer than it should just out of curiosity and boredom, I presume. At that age, I was so hungry about learning and discovering myself, and despite the fact that I knew it was clearly going to end absolutely nowhere decent, I still hung out with him to try to understand what was going on in his head. It was obviously a waste of time since in the end, all he was was a complete delusional manipulator. He treated me like poop while I had more layers to me ( clothing AND in the multi-dimension meta sort of speech). I could have been explored at a higher level of curiosity, like those fancy truffles. But it was easier for him to just believe I was easy poop for him to check off his list. I'm not saying I'm fancy like those truffles, but I have definitely more than meets the eye. All this guy cared about what my squinty "not so squinty" eyes. Thankfully I didn't give him any satisfaction so unless he scored an Asian girl after me, that little box on his list is still unchecked. *DEEP SIGH*.

Another example was back when I was working at my parent's convenience store. Our customers just assumed that my family was probably struggling, stranded in long retail hours. They made so many assumptions ( let me specify that it was a very rough neighborhood). They assumed we weren't educated or were poor (we weren't rich, but definitely not poor). They assumed that I would spend my entire life stuck in that store and would take over later on and never go to College. They clearly did not know my family history and why we were doing what we were doing, which we had no interest in sharing with them anyways. The few who discovered we lived in a nice family single home in the suburbs, while both my brother and I attended private schools since our early ages seemed in ultimate shock. It's also funny how many assume that immigrants move to America by choice to pursue the American Dream. My family were living the Asian dream before it all went to hell...They were forced to flee their country and start back from square one and rebuild themselves.

All of these situations above, I could see why that dude and our customers would treat me and family that way, based on sad stereotypes. But my last example is what shockes me the most.

I had this friend who lived near our house and I thought we were getting pretty close. Her self-confidence has always been the lowest but I never thought she wanted to become my friend thinking I was like her. (I am not judging people with low self-esteem, just acknowledging how it could become a problem, but I believe being a very confident person overall).  I hear "misery loves company" but that is accurate if misery accurately identified another misery. In our case, I think she has mistaken me with a another potential sad person who could relate to her. I did care about her though a lot, back then, and really wished her confidence level would boost up. She was a good friend for most times, despite strange things she would say and do at times. But here is what happened last year, when it all went down:

Last year, I got very ill. And my husband just found out the very same week that his company was laying of hundreds of employees and his departement would be affected. They gave him four months to seek elsewhere for a new job, after working there for eleven years. I went and sought comfort in my friend and shared with her all my worries and mentioned dramatically how I didn't want to become homeless. We only had one income, and I was expecting another baby on the way. A good friend would have said "Don't talk silly. Hubby will find a job since his resume is so rock solid" or "You guys will be fine" out of comfort or encouragement. Instead this is what she responded to me "Oh Davine, I would still come visit you if you were homeless" Oh, how generous of you, I thought. < insert sarcasm here>. She said and did plenty of other strange things, but I am not going to detail it all on this single post...

And then, our lives turned around miraculously and my health problems became quickly part of the past. My dear hubby landed on his feet and found a new and even more stimulating job, as we discovered he was underpaid this entire time. So it was a blessing in disguise and we built a new house and moved into a lovely new neighborhood. I have not heard from this friend since. A little bit in the beginning, when we just moved. She made flaky plans that always fell through. But now, she is gone completely. I'm not sure if this case was a poop vs truffle situation, but she clearly couldn't handle going from the person who would come visit me, without a home,  to the one realizing we were ok finally and are actually at our happiest now. I could almost feel her being bitter about it, when I thought she would be happy for us, as a real friend should.

I will not complain about being perceived as poop though. Better than the other way around where people could think I'm truffle but finally decide I'm poop....

Heart Shaped Carrots Tutorial

Something cute I saw on Pinterest... It's the little touches that make a meal special. ♥

Preventing Flu Using Onions...

This leaves me dubious. A friend posted this thread on Facebook and it caught my attention, considering we're right in the middle of flu season and all...

I'm not sure I am willing to risk my house stinking like onions, but what the heck...If it DOES keep the germs away, then, why not? Here's the article that was published on his wall:

ONIONS! I had never heard this!!!
PLEASE READ TO THE END: IMPORTANT

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor that visited the many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu...
Many of the farmers and their families had contracted it and many died.

The doctor came upon this one farmer and to his surprise, everyone was very healthy. When the doctor asked what the farmer was doing that was different the wife replied that she had placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home, (probably only two rooms back then). The doctor couldn't believe it and asked if he could have one of the onions and place it under the microscope. She gave him one and when he did this, he did find the flu virus in the onion. It obviously absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.

Now, I heard this story from my hairdresser. She said that several years ago, many of her employees were coming down with the flu, and so were many of her customers. The next year she placed several bowls with onions around in her shop. To her surprise, none of her staff got sick. It must work. Try it and see what happens. We did it last year and we never got the flu.

Now there is a P. S. to this for I sent it to a friend in Oregon who regularly contributes material to me on health issues. She replied with this most interesting experience about onions:

Thanks for the reminder. I don't know about the farmer's story...but, I do know that I contacted pneumonia, and, needless to say, I was very ill... I came across an article that said to cut both ends off an onion put it into an empty jar, and place the jar next to the sick patient at night. It said the onion would be black in the morning from the germs...sure enough it happened just like that...the onion was a mess and I began to feel better.

Another thing I read in the article was that onions and garlic placed around the room saved many from the black plague years ago. They have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.

This is the other note. Lots of times when we have stomach problems we don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that are to blame. Onions absorb bacteria is the reason they are so good at preventing us from getting colds and flu and is the very reason we shouldn't eat an onion that has been sitting for a time after it has been cut open.

LEFT OVER ONIONS ARE POISONOUS

I had the wonderful privilege of touring Mullins Food Products, Makers of mayonnaise. Questions about food poisoning came up, and I wanted to share what I learned from a chemist.

Ed, who was our tour guide, is a food chemistry whiz. During the tour, someone asked if we really needed to worry about mayonnaise. People are always worried that mayonnaise will spoil. Ed's answer will surprise you. Ed said that all commercially-made mayo is completely safe.

"It doesn't even have to be refrigerated. No harm in refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary." He explained that the pH in mayonnaise is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment. He then talked about the summer picnic, with the bowl of potato salad sitting on the table, and how everyone blames the mayonnaise when someone gets sick.

Ed says that, when food poisoning is reported, the first thing the officials look for is when the 'victim' last ate ONIONS and where those onions came from (in the potato salad?). Ed says it's not the mayonnaise (as long as it's not homemade mayo) that spoils in the outdoors. It's probably the ONIONS, and if not the onions, it's the POTATOES.

He explained onions are a huge magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. You should never plan to keep a portion of a sliced onion.. He says it's not even safe if you put it in a zip-lock bag and put it in your refrigerator.

It's already contaminated enough just by being cut open and out for a bit, that it can be a danger to you (and doubly watch out for those onions you put in your hotdogs at the baseball park!). Ed says if you take the leftover onion and cook it like crazy you'll probably be okay, but if you slice that leftover onion and put on your sandwich, you're asking for trouble. Both the onions and the moist potato in a potato salad, will attract and grow bacteria faster than any commercial mayonnaise will even begin to break down.

Also, dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.

Please remember it is dangerous to cut an onion and try to use it to cook the next day, it becomes highly poisonous for even a single night and creates toxic bacteria which may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.

Please pass this on to all you love and care about.
— with Adonain Danny Rivera.