Art of Doing Nothing Lessons at Sonya’s Garden

It is so nice that there are activities prepared by Sonya’s Bed & Breakfast for their guests.  They do know that having their yummy food and touring their area will not take the whole 24 hours.  They offer the art of doing nothing lessons which is sooo cool!  Available lessons include basic gardening, compost making, plant propagation, flower arrangement, wreath making, cooking lessons, using herbs, firefly watching, walking, trekking & a coconut and fruit farm tour.

The lessons are free for checked-in guests.  We just have to choose one lesson upon check in.  We decided to choose the cooking lesson to be taken the next day.  Fortunately though, the flower arrangement lesson was done next so we were able to join that as well.

• Cooking Lessons

There were 2 pasta dishes that we had the pleasure of watching prepared, and easy instructions so that we would be able to do this at home as well.  The first dish that they taught us was the garlic herb fettuccine which was actually simple to make.  In this dish, you simply sauté the garlic in olive oil, then add the fettuccine pasta. Add the herbs, in this case, tarragon was the herb used. Salt to taste, and garnish with mango tomato chutney. Add a good amount of grated parmesan cheese, and this is a dish that people will be amazed about, and yet so simple to make. The best thing about this dish, especially at Sonya’s is that the herbs are grown right there, as well as the tomatoes too. Everything is fresh and organic which is always oh so healthy for you.

This dish, the penne pasta with spicy tuna according to the instructor of the cooking class is the favorite dish of Sonya herself. With that kind of endorsement, this dish must really be good, and tasting the final product is really proof that it is definitely delicious.

The dish is prepared like most any other pasta dish, by sautéing garlic in olive oil, then adding the onions. In this dish, fresh diced organic tomatoes were added too. As soon as the tomatoes were cooked just enough so that it lost its firmness, the spicy version of Century Tuna was added, including the sauce which contains the spices and the marinade of tuna. Then around two tablespoons of tomato paste was added to give the dish a full bodied tomato taste. To taste, black pepper was added, as well as a little sugar to balance out the tartness of the tomatoes. It’s good to remember that in any seafood or meat dish such as this, sugar is good substitute for MSG to bring out the taste too.

The penne pasta was added and then the fresh basil mixed in at the end. It’s always important to add the herb in the end so that the dish doesn’t become bitter, and that you can get the full taste of the herb. With fresh herbs, you need not cook it long.

Garnish with parmesan cheese, and you have a meal that you will definitely come back for, especially for pasta fans out there.

This is me with our instructor.  She’s very much an all around talent, she’s actually also our instructor for the flower arrangement lessons! We didn’t get to experience any other lessons, but she also informed us that she was also the one who taught the wreath making classes! Wow!

• Flower Arrangement Lesson

Sonya’s Garden is one of the popular destinations for weddings.  So it’s no surprise that they do their own flower arrangements.  We were taught first-hand how they do it.  So amazing!  They use the flowers in their own garden.  They actually have some stories about how they got some of the flowers hahaha!   Our instructor was telling us one time, that Island Rose, the company that I had wrote about a while back ago, used to be in a nearby location. Oftentimes they would throw away their old roses that weren’t going to be used for delivery. Our instructor said that she used to go into the waters where they dumped the roses in and gather them up and then arrange the flowers herself.  Now, that’s passion for flowers!   The picture below shows two of the finished products, while the videos below shows the whole process.  It’s amazing at just how much effort it actually takes to make these arrangements.   I can see why such arrangements can often cost a lot.   It really does take a lot of effort, as well as a good eye for decoration.

When you do check in at Sonya’s Bed & Breakfast, do not forget to avail of their art of nothing to do lessons.  It’s super worth it!  Truly enjoyable and we definitely learned a lot 🙂

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Sonya’s Bed & Breakfast
Buck Estate, Alfonso, Cavite 4123, Cavite, Philippines
+639285073301