January 2021 – Page 3 – Jellybeans in the City

What’s on HBO GO this January

Here are some great shows for your New Year streaming playlist! HBO GO opens the year with the hottest premieres from movie blockbusters to fresh installments of award-winning series that you can watch on-demand wherever you are and whenever you want. Check them out:

Tora-San, Wish You Were Here
Premieres Friday, 1 January at 10pm

Fifty years after Kiyoshi Atsumi’s wandering salesman first appeared on the big screen, the beloved long-running Tora-san film series comes to a close in this 50th and final instalment, exploring the lives of the ones he left behind. Hidetaka Yoshioka reprises his role as Tora-san’s nephew, Mitsuo.

1917
Premieres Saturday, 2 January

At the height of the First World War, two young British soldiers, Schofield and Blake, are given a seemingly impossible mission. In a race against time, they must cross enemy territory and deliver a message that will stop a deadly attack on hundreds of soldiers – Blake’s own brother among them. Directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes, this World War I epic stars Oscar winner Colin Firth, Oscar nominee Benedict Cumberbatch, Golden Globe winner Richard Madden and Golden Globe nominee Andrew Scott.

The Rook
Premieres Monday, 4 January
New episode premieres every subsequent Monday

This series tells the story of Myfanwy Thomas, a woman who wakes up in the rain beside London’s Millennium Bridge with no memory of who she is and no explanation for the circle of dead bodies splayed out around her. When she discovers that she’s a high ranking official in Britain’s last secret service for people with paranormal abilities, she’ll have to navigate the dangerous and complex world of the agency to uncover who wiped her memory – and why. Stars Emma Greenwell, Golden Globe nominee Joely Richardson and Olivia Munn.

Tiger
Premieres Monday, 11 January at 10am
Part two premieres at the same time the following Monday.

An HBO two-part documentary offering a revealing look at the rise, fall, and epic comeback of global icon Tiger Woods. The series paints an intimate picture of the prodigy whose dedication and obsession with the game of golf not only took his fame and success to new heights, but also down a dark, spiraling road that eventually led to a legendary sports comeback, culminated by his victory at the 2019 Masters.

C.B. Strike: Lethal White
Premieres Thursday, 21 January at 10am
New episode premieres every Thursday

Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger return in the brand-new second season of C.B. Strike, based on the best-selling crime novels written by Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

Euphoria: F*ck Anyone Who’s Not A Seablob
Premieres Monday, 25 January at 10am

In the second of two special episodes of the Emmy® winning HBO drama series Euphoria, we follow Jules (played by Hunter Schafer) over the Christmas holiday as she reflects on the year. Schafer also serves as co-executive producer on this episode, which she co-wrote with Euphoria creator Sam Levinson.

HBO Original Series as well as live channels are also available for streaming to SKYcable subscribers on HBO GO for as low as Php99/month. To subscribe, call your local SKY office or fill up this form.

Show details and images provided by HBO in a recent press release.

Disclosure: I work for SKY and part of my job is promoting its products and services, especially the content it provides to its subscribers. I consider being able to share my love for TV shows and movies and the experience of watching and talking about them with like-minded people some of the biggest perks of my job.

Recipe: Baked Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce

Just like that: 2020 is no more and we’re off to welcome a brand new year!

Guess what: I embraced 2021 with a new recipe for baked salmon for the fam’s Media Noche feast.

This past Christmas Eve, as I’ve done for several past Christmas Eves, I whipped up my tried-and-tested Cheesy Baked Salmon for our Noche Buena feast. It’s certainly a family favorite and even my friends have been trying it out for their own holiday feasts.

However, I opted to do something different for the fam’s Media Noche feast. This time around, at Hubby’s suggestion, I decided to go a ease up a bit on the cheese but go heavy on the butter. And the result is awesome.

So here it is: check out my recipe for Baked Salmon in Lemon Butter Sauce.

Ingredients:

1 salmon fillet (600 grams or more)
1/3 cup unsalted butter
5 cloves of garlic, finely minced
4 tablespoons lemon juice
8 thin slices of lemon
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
French beans and carrot strips, blanched and lightly stir-fried in butter

Procedure:

Thaw salmon and pat dry.

Rub half of the minced garlic over the fillets. Pour three-fourths of the lemon juice over the salmon, then set the fillet aside for ten minutes to allow the salmon to marinate.

Preheat the oven to 190 deg C (375 deg F).

Arrange the lemon slices at the bottom of an aluminum baking pan.

Remove the salmon from the marinade, scraping off excess garlic, and place the fillets skin-side down on a on top of the lemon slices. Set aside.

Place the butter in a microwave-safe bowl and place it in the microwave for one minute to melt the butter.

Whisk in the remaining one-fourth of the lemon juice, the honey and the remaining half of the minced garlic into the melted butter.

Season the fillets with salt (I used Himalayan sea salt from Goodness MNL for its health benefits but ordinary table salt will do) and freshly ground black pepper.

Spoon three-fourths of the butter mixture onto the salmon fillets and reserve the rest of the remaining mixture.

Cover the salmon with a sheet of aluminum foil then seal the fillets by crimping the ends together with the pan to produce an air-tight cover for the fillets.

Place the baking pan in the oven and allow the salmon to bake for 17 minutes.

Take out the baking sheet from the oven and remove the top cover. Spoon the remaining butter mixture over the salmon pieces then allow the salmon to broil for five to ten minutes until the salmon fillets turn golden.

Serve with the buttered French beans and carrot sticks.

I’m glad to note that this dish has my Hubby and kiddos’ seal of approval in terms of taste and texture. Hubby even prefers it to the Cheesy Baked Salmon.

My compromise is to go for the Cheesy Baked Salmon for Noche Buena as its richness will be well-suited for it being the central dish. For Media Noche, wherein it will be one of many dishes atop a traditionally overflowing table, the simpler buttery version will be more appropriate.

Try this recipe and let me know how it goes!

Looking for other easy-to-cook dishes to try out? Check out my other kitchen adventures:

My sparks of hope and joy for 2021

“A spark is a little thing, yet it may kindle the world.” – Martin Farquhar Tupper

2020 may have been characterized by one catastrophe after another, but those of us who made it through are now faced with the promise of better days ahead.

As we leave the disaster of a year that is 2020 behind, we bring with us the lessons thar we learned and the little things that got us through our darkest days to bolster us into the new year.

Here are the sparks of hope and joy that will continue to kindle in me the strength and courage as I continue to forge ahead.

Love of family

The quarantine which arose from the pandemic physically cut us off from almost everyone except our immediate family. Instead of catching up every evening on how each other’s day went at work or in school, we now spend the entire day together at home.

With the increase in time that I spent together with my family, I was able to discover new things about them: how Hubby polished up his cooking skills to be able to serve me the dishes that I’ve been craving for but can’t have because restaurants are closed, how my daughter #ExhibitA took the time to tutor her brother because I was too tired to do so, or how my son #ExhibitB did his best to adjust to learning from home despite his development issues.

I’m looking forward to discovering more to love about my family in the new year.

Constancy of friendship

Before the pandemic, busy work schedules and various responsibilities have already precluded frequent meetups with friends.

During the pandemic, the restrictions on mobility and the need for physical distancing made getting together with friends near impossible.

That doesn’t mean, however, that true pals will let those get in the way of friendship. There were those who were quick to send messages of concern and encouragement when my mother company was shut down, or those who immediately checked up on me and my family during the typhoons because they know I live in a flood-prone area. There were also friends sent tasty dishes and care packages to brighten my day.

These friendships bolster my confidence in facing the days ahead.

Innate goodness of people

With all the travails that 2020 brought, we Pinoys really went out of our way to help each other out. From contributing to #TulongTulongSaTaal and #PantawidNgPagibig, we helped to make vital supplies and essentials available to those who needed them most.

Abundance of blessings

Through all the dark times we’ve faced this year, there are slivers of sunshine that bring us moments of happiness and hope.

While the new work from home setup required quite a lot of adjustments for me and my coworkers, we were still able to function and be productive away from our office. The blended learning setup for my son enabled me to be more involved in his education, something that was very difficult when I worked in the office.

I was also gladdened to learn that many of my friends became entrepreneurs, providing products and services that became important because of the pandemic.

These are small blessings that when added up made life in 2020 bearable, and some moments even enjoyable.

As I leave the past behind, I carry these sparks of hope and joy into 2021.

I hope you keep your own sparks close to your heart and I wish you a better and happier new year.