My Favorite Recipe for Pompano Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce

Today, I cooked my first fish dish in sweet and sour sauce. The fish was pompano. My wife and I purchased the fish from Seafood City yesterday. This recipe is very easy and simple to follow. Try it!

Ingredients:

4 medium sized pompano fillet (from 2 whole medium sized fish). The whole fish(including the head) may be used if desired.
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
2 cups oil for frying
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 onion, diced
1 can ( 8 oz) pineapple chunks, juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoon white sugar
3 tablespoon ketchup
Garlic Salt to taste
1/2 cup water

Direction: Marinate the pompano fillet(or whole fish) in soy sauce for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat oil in deep-fryer or heavy sauce pan to 375 degrees F. Deep fry the fish until golden brown. Drain the pompano on paper and set aside.

Prepare the sauce as follows: Saute the onion, the red and green peppers and pineapple in a skillet for 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved pineapple juice, sugar, ketchup, water and the flour. Mixed and stir for about 2 minutes then add the garlic salt to taste. Cook until thickened, stirring occasionally. Add more flour if necessary.

Serve the fish with sauce on top with steam rice and papaya( pickled green papaya) achara. Bon Apetit!

Are You Over 80 years Old and still Blogging?

If you are, I would like to be friends with you. We have something in common. And at our age, to be able to blog and be active also in social media sites, it is a reason to celebrate. Everyone, young or old bloggers had a reason for blogging. I have already stated my own reasons in several of my blogs. But in case this is your first time to read my blogs, the main reason why I blog is because I love to write and second to advertise my small beach resort in Boac, Marinduque, Philippines.

The last summary of demographics (Age) of personal bloggers showed that gender wise, the percent between male and female is about the same with slightly higher female percentage(50.9% vs 49.1%). Majority of personal bloggers are from the US, followed by UK and Japan.

According to data published by sysomos.com, the most active bloggers are younger people who have grown up during the blogging "revolution", which started about twelve years ago. Bloggers in the 21-to-35 year-old demographic group account for 53.3% of the total blogging population. This group is followed by the generation just behind them - people 20-years-old or under are 20.2% of the blogging landscape. This group is closely followed by 36-to-50 year -olds (19.4%), while bloggers who are 51-years-old and older only account for 7.1%. There is no specific data on bloggers over 80 years or older. I would guess less than 0.5% is a probable number.

Thus if you are over 80 and still blogging you are a rare breed. I would like to be friends with you. You can reached me via my personal blog and autobiography at http://davidbkatague.blogspot.com or via my Facebook Account under David B Katague. I am looking forward to hear from you! Happy Blogging!

Beautiful Spring Day in Northern California

New Plantings in My Front Yard-Celebrating Spring!
Today is a beautiful and sunny day in Northern California. It reminded me of one of my favorite classical pieces-Spanish Romance. Today I have chosen two renditions of this piece for your enjoyment. The first one is the piano version and the second one the guitar interpretation of Jesse L. Which one is your favorite?

The Tango and Memories of My Father

Last November 30 was the 43rd anniversary of the death of my father, Dr David Javellana Jamili K(C)atague. The tango reminds me of him since the tango was his favorite dance. The following article is an excerpt from my blogs that I wrote three years ago.

When I was a teenager growing up in the 3rd class town of Barotac Viejo, Iloilo, Philippines, My father used to teach us (me and my cousins) how to dance the tango, paso doble, the rumba and the waltz. This music does reminds me of my teenager days. This is one of the many reasons, why my favorite TV shows today are Dancing with the Stars(DWTS) and So You Think You Can Dance(SYTYCD).

I hope you enjoy the following video(s) and related music as much as I do. If you do, please do not forget to click on my ads. Have a Great Day!


Do not forget to view the related videos in this set. I recommend the Tango with the La Cumparsita music. This music was the first tango music my father used to teach us. Pleasant memories indeed!

What Do You Know about Kurapia as a Ground Cover?

I have been doing some research on drought resistant ground covers suitable for growing here in Northern California. I have started changing my grass lawn to drought resistant ground covers.  Last week I have installed Hypericum calycinum( creeping St John Worth) on my side yard, but have not done anything thing in my front yard. I am looking into kurapia for my front yard. However, from what I heard it will be twice as expensive as the Hypericum ground cover. Do you have or know of someone with a kurapia lawn? I would like to know if the cost will be justified with its value and savings from lawn watering and moving. 

The following is some information about this drought resistant ground cover originally from Japan.
    
Kurapia [Phyla (Lippia) nodiflora (L.)E. Greene] is a low growing, herbaceous, perennial dicot groundcover belonging to the Verbanaceae or Verbena family. Although the species is either native or naturalized to California, Kurapia is a sterile, non-invasive, cultivar from Japan, which is propagated vegetatively by plugs or creeping stems (stolons) only. Kurapia’s dense canopy and deep root system provide excellent drought tolerance and soil stabilization even on steep slopes.It is also tolerant to a wide range of soil conditions including salinity, but generally prefers sandy, well-drained soils. Kurapia reaches a maximum height of 3 to 6 inches and produces numerous small, white flowers from spring to late summer. As a result, mowing is not required. However, regular mowing with a rotary or reel mower as low as 2 inches can be used to minimize flowering. Kurapia can tolerate partial shade and light traffic when maintained either non-mowed or mowed similar to a lawn; however, it is not recommended for use under intensive, concentrated traffic. 

Kurapia is adapted to climate zones of 7b and higher. In regions where average daily temperatures remain above 45 °F, Kurapia will stay evergreen; however, growth will gradually decrease and enter dormancy when average daily temperatures fall to around 38 °F and Kurapia has been known to survive temperatures as low as 13 °F. These temperatures are provided as estimates, as Kurapia greenness, dormancy, and survival will depend upon specific location and environmental factors. ( www.kurapia.com)

My New Landscaping Project

Last week, I decided to change my grass lawn for a drought resistant ground  cover. I did some research on ground covers that thrives well in our area. I decided on Hypericum calycinum commonly known as St John Worth or Aaron Beard.  Above is a photo of my lawn new planting.  I hope that in a years time it would look like the photo below. The culture of Hypericum is also  listed below.

 

Culture

Easily grown in average, medium, well-drained soil in full sun to part shade. Tolerates wide range of soils. Thrives on sandy soils in full sun. Less floriferous in part shade. Evergreen in warm winter climates. Usually dies to the ground or suffers some tip dieback in cold winter climates, but blooms on new growth and comes back nicely each spring. In areas where it does not die in winter, shear or mow plants in late winter or early spring every 2-3 years to renew and induce new growth. Spreads rapidly by underground stems and can spread aggressively in ideal growing conditions. Plant 18" apart for use as a ground cover.

Noteworthy Characteristics

A stoloniferous subshrub or shrublet, typically growing 12" (less frequently to 18") high and 24" wide, which is frequently planted as a ground cover. Features large, rose-like, 5-petaled, yellow flowers (2-3" diameter) having numerous, bushy stamens with reddish anthers. Flowers appear singly or in groups of 2-3 and cover the plant in summer. Oval to oblong, distinctively net-veined (from beneath) leaves (to 4" long) are rich green in sun but are a lighter, yellowish green in shade. Four-angled stems are both procumbent and ascending. Sometimes commonly called Aaron's beard or creeping St. John's wort. Plants of the genus Hypericum (some species have been used since ancient times in the treatment of wounds) were apparently gathered and burned to ward off evil spirits on the eve of St. John's Day, thus giving rise to the genus common name of St. John's wort.

Problems: No serious insect or disease problems.

Garden Uses: Ground cover, rock gardens, border fronts, naturalized plantings. Also good for stabilizing embankments or hillsides. Good for planting under trees where it competes well with shallow tree roots. Allan Armitage calls this "one of the finest ground covers available."