Kare Kare is a Filipino peanut flavored stew and... was one of my Dad's favorite dishes. My Mom & Grandma usually made this with oxtails but... you can also just use regular stew meet if that suits your tastes (you won't have to wrestle with the bones as much :-).

Ingredients

2 lbs oxtail (or real stew meat if you prefer)

2 eggplants sliced (1/4 inch slices)

5 long string beans, cut into 1.5 inch pieces

3 cloves garlic minced

1 medium sized onion chopped

3 tablespoons oil

1/2 cup soy sauce

5 cups water

1/2 cup peanut butter

Directions:

In a skillet, saute the garlic and onions in hot oil until they start to get brown

Add the oxtails to the skillet and saute for another 10 mins

In a large pot, bring the water and soy sauce to a boil

Add the skillet contents to the large pot, bring back to a boil, then simmer for 60 minutes

Add the string beans and eggplant to the pot, bring back to a boil, then simmer for another 15 mins

Stir in the peanut butter and simmer for another 15 minutes

hardcore Filipinos usually eat this with a little bagoong (shrimp paste)... and... sometimes they add tripe (uhg, pig stomach lining... has the texture of chewy fat... but hey, to each their own...)

That's it! Enjoy!

Halloween at the Disney Parks

Halloween at the Disney parks is big. Both Walt Disney World and Disneyland go all out to make Halloween "not so scary", but still exciting, for everyone...

The following is Walt Disney World's commercial for Halloween:

and here's a fast forward vid showing the Magic Kingdom getting prepared with the fall decorations:

WDW holds a Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party every year:

The WDW halloween parade is pretty trippy and is called "boo to you":

And WDW also has a "Villains Mix & Mingle" show:

haha... if you plan a WDW trip for Nov 1st 2010 through Nov 9th 2010, you can go to both Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party!

The Disneyland Halloween commercial keeps with last year's cool and funny take on a "disney villain" theme:

Last year in October, my wife's niece (Tina!) celebrated her birthday at Disneyland. This was the first time we were able to experience Disneyland during the Halloween season and we were awed by how decked out the park was. It was also cool seeing a bunch of little munchkins running around in costume (some in Marvel Mickey get-ups, cuz Disney happened to have aquired Marvel last year)...

It was really cool what they did to the Haunted Mansion, decking it out in a Nightmare Before Christmas theme:

another attraction that they tweaked for Halloween was space mountain (ghost galaxy):

Halloween Screams, their Halloween fireworks show, was just plain awesome... but... it was really really packed so... you had to get there early, to get a good spot with a clear view of cinderella's castle:

and here's Disneyland's "Halloween Time" vid, that sums it all up:

updated: here are some new vids from this year's disney related halloween activities:

Disneyland's happy haunts tour:

Disney Entrance and Main Street Giant Pumpkins (Go Giants! #WorldSeries):

How to carve pumpkins like the Disney Parks:

what follows is random (haha) and has nothing to do with kare kare or halloween at the disney parks...

RT @RehgallgMij Truths For Mature Humans

1. I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your computer history if you die.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the heck are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.
15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lite than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Bad Part of Town" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

23. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time!

24. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important. (Ladies.....Quit Laughing.)