My angel, my cake!

I've been keeping a container full of unused egg whites in our fridge for weeks already (excess whites from making pastry cream and sponge cakes) and it's been bugging me. I am not one who will just throw away food, so I was really careful in storing them so they will not get rotten. I checked them almost everyday, smelling and looking at them closely, making sure that they will still be of good use one day. And now, they're gone (yehey!) and have been transformed to Cocoa Angel Food Cake which I'll be serving tonight at grandma's house. Angel cakes are sponge cakes that are fat-free (no butter or yolk) and very light and delicate. There are also no chemical leavening in the cake so they get their "height" from beaten egg whites. Enough on baking chemistry, and meet my dark angel- who saved the egg whites from getting thrown away! FYI, I got the recipe from "Joy of Cooking"- my favorite cookbook.

Toffee Glazed Cinnamon Rolls

I made cinnamon rolls today and they turned out heavenly! I got the recipe from "The Pioneer Woman Cooks" (who has a fantastic site, by the way) and her recipe is so easy and fool-proof. I've made cinnamon rolls before in Bread Class and I remember it was quite a task, but not Pioneer Woman's version. I'm officially hooked on making these again and again and again...

Trixie loves Snoopy

Well, she calls him "Doggie" and I did not push her to like Snoopy, honest! She happens to like Annie a lot (her favorite movie, and she loves singing "Tomorrow") and since Annie has Sandy, Trixie has Doggie.

Fish Be With You!

Fish be with you for the coming Chinese New Year! :) This is a creative way to serve mango pudding. I got the mold from a baking store in Singapore.

Spring Waltz

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

I just finished Spring Waltz- a 20-episode Korean television miniseries and I truly loved it. After spending weeks watching Spring Waltz, I'm just so glad I didn't waste all that time! I haven't seen such a touching love story for ages and this Koreanovela really moved me. Aside from the probability that my Mandarin improved a bit (I chose Mandarin as the Audio with imperfect English Subtitles), I am simply ecstatic. Spring Waltz is a beautiful, beautiful love story. The cinematography is breathtaking (shot in Austria and Korea), the soundtrack is heartwarming (mostly classical music), and the story is just wonderful (showing what true love is). The actors played a splendid job (you wouldn't think that most of them were models turned to actors), and I'm officially a fan of director Yoon Suk-ho (naks, may research pa akong ginawa!) The telenovela showed love in its simplest and purest form, the way love really is (with no Hollywood-style magic or special effects and no sex and violence). It reminded me that love is patient and kind, love is forgiving and self-less. Spring Waltz is truly unforgettable and one of the best!

Gambas

Here is my recipe for Gambas that I submitted to Mom Exchange :)

Gambas

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

300g medium sugpo, shelled, then sliced in half (slice through the back of the shrimp, see inserted photo of raw prawns)

Half clove of garlic, roughly chopped, about 1 Tbsp.

Pinch of salt, pepper and paprika

3 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. sweet chilli sauce from bottle

 

Procedure:

Saute garlic in oil until aromatic but not brown.

Add in the prawns.

While moving the prawns around the pan, add the salt, pepper and paprika.  (Add more to taste.)  At this stage, the prawns would be changing color and curling up nicely!

Add the water without lowering the fire.  Scrape off the bottom of the pan using the water to moisten everything that’s stuck there- this is important because all the nice flavors are there!

Add the sweet, chilli sauce.  Again, add more to suit your taste.  The more you put, the spicier it will be!

Serve at once.

 

Tip:  You can go fancy with this dish by serving it on a sizzling plate.  But then again, who would keep a sizzling plate at home? J

 

Check out Mom Exchange!

Everyone, do check out Mom Exchange :)  Just click on the link in my Multiply site.  My recipe for Gambas is now posted there.  More recipes coming!   

The Birth of a "Pie"

This week, I attempted to make Crema de Fruta, so Sunday night, I baked the sponge on a half sheet.  But the sponge base was quite low for a Crema de Fruta.  So, I ended up making Boston Cream Pie on Monday (which I will make again next time!)  I then decided to make another Sponge cake, but now, I baked it in a 10-inch round pan.  I wanted to try something different (instead of the original plan of making Crema de Fruta).  So I cut the round Sponge in half then I put Pastry Cream and strawberries in the middle, and I couldn't think of a name for it, So Brandon just called it "Strawberry Cake."  This afternoon, Brandon's aunt ordered for the "Strawberry Cake" but then I thought of a better presentation for it and so today, "Strawberry Cream Pie" was born!   I put the pastry cream on top of the round Sponge and decorated it with sliced strawberries, then I brushed sweet gel on top for that glossy shine.  Come to think of it, it is somewhat a version of Crema de Fruta, only without the the gelatin on top.  So meet my Strawberry Cream Pie, which is really a cake!  Instead of a pie crust, it's a cake base but it's just like a pie where you put some cream filling then top it with fruit.  :)

A Busy Day in the Kitchen

I had a very busy day today in the kitchen. I cooked Pomodorro Pasta for lunch, then made a Strawberry Cream Pie in the afternoon. For dinner, I tried Nigella Lawson's Slow-roasted Chicken. I hope I could have a day like this everyday! :)

Mom Exchange

http://mom.exchange.ph/

This is how they play together :)

While I was busy on the computer, Brandon played with Trixie. I read once that fathers can come up with some cool, fun stuff to do when they spend time with their kids- this video is testament to that! See how they played together and how Trixie was transformed to Spidergirl! :>

Beef Gyudon

We've been having chicken for two days already and it's time to have a beef break!  I cooked this Gyudon for dinner, to Brandon's delight :) 
I got the recipe from Recipe Zaar web-site, that I tweaked a bit to our liking.  I used Australian Beef Tenderloin instead of the usual sirloin or sukiyaki cut for Gyudon.

Ingredients:
Approximately 500g of Australian Beef Tenderloin, cut into cubes
1 whole white onion, cut into big strips
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup mirin
1/4 cup Kikkoman soy sauce

Procedure:
Combine water, mirin and soy sauce in a sauce pot and let it boil.
Add the onions, and cook until half-cooked.
Add the beef and cook for about 3 minutes or until medium well.  (Overcooking your beef will make it tough, so be careful.)
Put on top of hot rice and serve to your hungry husband!!! Hahaha!
 

I just love having a girl :)

This week is paradise for shopaholics in Manila.  It's super sale in almost all the shops and you could definitely get great buys from the stores (40- 70% off in Mango, Zara, Marks and Spencer, Debenhams to name a few!)  Yesterday, while Brandon was having his lasik, I took the fun opportunity to shop at Shangri-La, just me and Trixie.  Imagine, she just went with the flow while I shopped and she even went with me to the fitting room for countless times!  The exciting part is when we went to Debenhams to check out their clothes on sale for toddlers, and I saw her looking at the stuff, shopping as I did!  We even went to the children's fitting room where she tried on four tops, a skirt and a pair of pants without a single complaint from her!  She even took her beloved Crocs off to try on a pair of really dainty ballerina shoes (photo on the right) and she just walked all around the store, so happy wearing that damn expensive pair of shoes!  I was so surprised at her because it was very difficult for me to buy her shoes in the past- a lot of coaxing from me while getting a lot of tears from her.  But she was so so different yesterday.  We even had a snack at Cibo- just her and me, and she was so behaved that it was so stress-free for me (except when I had to pay for the this pair of shoes! haha!)  I happily realized that I'm so lucky to have a daughter that I can spend afternoons with at the mall, just like what I had with my mom and sister.  But more than just going to the mall, I can't wait to spend more special moments with Trixie as she grows up.  I am really lucky to be a mom; I'm really blessed to have Trixie as my daughter :) 

Kakanin Craze

I just found out that Trixie loves kakanin when we got a box of Dolor's Kakanin over the holidays. She just loves it. So when we go to my store, I usually buy her a piece. Yesterday, I decided to give making homemade kakanin a shot and we loved it. Here's my version of Bibingkang Malagkit (aka Rice Cake), recipe from Annie Pascual Guerrero's Cooking with Coconut Cookbook. One good thing about making your own desserts is that you have control over the amount of sugar you put in, so I tweaked her recipe a bit and even added langka in the topping to make it more flavorful :) More kakanin recipes coming because I'm hooked!

Trixie loves ice cream

I just couldn't resist taking this video of Trixie eating ice cream. She sure loves ice cream :)

Soy Chicken

I just cooked this for dinner, recipe courtesy of my baker friend Johanna See. The soy chicken was bursting with flavorful ginger and soy sauce, and everybody loved it. Thanks, Mommy Johanna, for a great recipe!

Funny Faces

Last night, we had loads of fun toying with my cellphone camera with its cool function of putting a frame for the photos. This set of photos is a sure keeper :) Have fun!

Mango Pudding

My first project for the new year is to concoct a new dessert for Savory. There has been some requests from customers to come up with a mango-based dessert, so I did some recipe testing for mango pudding. Here are some photos of the pudding, but there are more tests coming!

The Pursuit of Happyness

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

Okay, okay, this is an OLD movie already but I only got to watch it last night on original DVD :) I was deeply moved by the movie so I just had to write my raves about it. Will Smith did such an excellent performance. The movie was really heartwarming and beautiful, and it reminded me of the power of love, faith and hope.

Post-Christmas Kada Dinner

I made a special dinner menu in time for the holiday celebration and for Ian and Cathy's homecoming. Palaki na ng palaki ang barkada!

Barney Show in Manila

Trixie kept on bugging us to take her to the Barney show but alas! She didn't like it at all :( So we had to leave at the start of the show and just flush 2000 plus worth of tickets down the drain... Oh well, that's life.

Of Mommies and Babies

Mary, Larry and Leann came to visit last Christmas and we thought it would be a great photo op for us mommies with our babies. Next time, Leann and Trix will be good friends too and we'll take another photo which will be called "Of Mommies and Little Girls!"