Fusilli with chicken and Gorgonzola cheese. It feels so wrong. Typhoon Yolanda

To go to the shopping malls fully decorated with Christmas trees, colourful lights and Santa Klaus. Christmas carols singing happily while there are thousands of dead bodies lined up in Tacloban, surrounded by rubbish after the horrendous natural disaster. Some filipinos believe that Yolanda was the nickname for "the end of the world".

It feels wrong to take my kids to Rockwell mall to see the beautiful big Nativity with figures that look like real people and animals. But it is true life keeps on. So I spent yesterday afternoon with Aure, Gab and baby Juanan walking around the shops, looking at the Christmas decorations and even enjoyed an  strawberry ice cream. 

I couldn't help it but wonder how unfair life is sometimes. My children were having a great time, excited to see the atmosphere in green and red and the toys they will ask Papa Noel to bring, if they have been good this year. On the other hand, not too far from us, many children were buried in blue plastic bags because the super typhoon took their lives. Not only that, not too far from us, many children are already dying of starvation. Their innocence has been evaporated and the tears remain on the angelical faces.

The feeling is so painful that saying it loudly is not enough to heal it. Helping is the answer.

I went to the hospital this morning again to change baby Juanan's cast. It was 7am and I was in the  room waiting for the procedure to start. I tried to think of what to cook for dinner, but my mind was in blank. The recipes didn't come, no ideas. The images of the destruction were stuck in my head, and they will for a long time. 

Finally I decided to go to the market and buy a few chicken breasts (I usually cook that way, first I get something that appeals to me, a nice fish or a piece of meat and then I look for a recipe or I just use my instinct). The cookbook of Gino D'Acampo has easy recipes, quick and simple. That's what I was looking for. I didn't want to cook a complicated meal. So I chose this recipe of pasta with creamy sauce that I remember having it in Canberra a couple of times and it was lovely. 

I have been so distracted today that I completely forgot to add salt to the pasta sauce and the boiling water. And I used Mascarpone because I couldn't get the Gorgonzola cheese. Big mistake.The pasta looks great in the photo, but tasteless in the mouth! It was so bland that Aure left the plate almost untouched. 

Baked beans for Nick tonight.

Recipe of Gino D'Acampo

• 2 tbp olive oil
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
• 200g Gorgonzola cheese
• 150ml cream 
• 50ml dry white wine
• a small bunch of parsley, leaves separated and chopped or 3 tbp freshly chopped chives
• fusilli pasta or fettuchine

1. Heat a heavy frying pan over medium heat and add some oil. Fry the chicken, little by little, without crowding the pan, until brown and cooked through. Add the Gorgonzola to the pan, lower the heat, stirring until melted, 2 minutes.
2. Pour in the cream and wine and continue to cook for a further minute. Mix in the chives or parsley and season with salt and pepper, plenty of pepper!. Set aside.
3. Meanwhile cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Keep one cup of the water. Drain and tip back into the same pan.
4. Pour in the creamy chicken sauce and stir everything together for 30 seconds to allow the sauce to coat the pasta evenly.
5. Serve immediately.

PS: You see, this blog is not about successful meals, it is about learning to cook and mistakes are part of it.

Buen provecho! if you use this recipe with the right cheese and seasoning...