My Baking Checklist (Most Recent on Top of List)

I recently moved to a new country where baking is a normal home activity. I tried it for several times now, and I enjoy every bit of it. So before I lose track of what I've done and how they turned out, I want to create a short narrative of how each of my experiments went. Hopefully I'll be able to see how I progress in this new hobby of mine. :)

March 24, 2018: Yema Cream Cheesecake

Made for M's birthday! :D

Recipe here.

March 10, 2018: Sticky Toffee Pudding

Made this as welcome dessert for my friend, Kim. Inspired by the Sticky Toffee Pudding dessert I had in Makars Gourmet Mash. My creation turned out great, though the sauce I made is not as thick as I was expecting. Oops, forgot to take a photo :D

Recipe here.

February 18, 2018: Nutella Stuffed Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

First attempt to make cupcakes and frost them. Definitely needs practice!

Recipe here.

December 2, 2017: Banoffee Pie

Another attempt in making banoffee pie!

Recipe here.

October 1, 2017: Chocolate Coffee Cheesecake

Decadently rich.

October 22, 2017: Date and Walnut Cake

A little bit on the dry side, but can definitely taste the walnut.

Recipe here.

September 3, 2017: Moist Date and Walnut Cake

More like Moist Raisin and Walnut cake. Too much raisins, I would say. So next time I do this, I'll just make half the batch with less raisins and sultanas and more walnut!

But the cake turned out great and Le Husband loves it.

Recipe here.

August 13, 2017: Banana Pudding Cheesecake

A simpler version of banana custard cheesecake; I am trying to learn how bananas react with cheesecake and if the combination is a hit or a miss. We immediately tried a slice (even though it is still not fully set), and I think we will enjoy a slice a night after dinner. :D

Recipe here.

August 6, 2017: Classic Pecan Pie

A warm pecan pie slice is one of our favourite desserts, and having one every night this week is a match made in heaven :D

Recipe here.

August 6, 2017: Fork Biscuits

This is called 'fork biscuits' because a fork is the only thing you need to decorate your easy-to-bake crunchy biscuits. Perfect pair to a warm cup of tea!

Recipe here.

July 9, 2017: Moist Carrot Cake

The first carrot cake I've made is to soggy because I used olive oil instead of plain simple vegetable oil. With this great recipe as guide, I was able to make a much better version of incredibly moist carrot cake!

Recipe here.

July 8, 2017: Salted Almond Brownies

Our favourite version (my third try!) of brownies by far--chewy, tasty and oh so goody! :)

Recipe here.

June 24, 2017: Banoffee Pie

We both enjoyed this one--the sweetness of the caramel, creaminess of the frosting, tartness of the banana, and yumminess of the chocolate all blend together.

Recipe here. 

May 20: Chocolate Crinkles

We did not enjoy my first try as it was so heavy on flour. Will try again next time, hopefully it'll turn out soft, chewy, and irresistible.
Recipe here.

May 6, 2017: Yema Cake

Oh, this tastes like a heavenly leche flan and both of us loved it. The cheese on top is a MUST as it balances out the sweetness of the icing. Yummy!

April 1, 2017: Banana Cake

This is a straightforward thing to create and one of my favourites.

Recipe here.

April 1, 2017: Chocolate Cake

This I made for my husband's 30th birthday. It was a good bake but turned out to be too sweet especially for me since I am NOT a fan of chocolate (I can just eat the dark ones, >60% cacao content). I personally have this rule that I won't bake another creation unless we finish what I just made, and this one is a tough cake to break. I think we had this for almost three weeks!

Recipe here.

February 14, 2017: Oreo Cheesecake

This is for the celebration of our first Valentine's day as husband and wife. Easy to make, but requires electric mixer to achieve best consistency of the cream cheese mixture. Thanks husband for my mixer! :)

Recipe here.

February 4, 2017: Oatmeal Cookies

I noticed that the husband was not interested in finishing his can of oatmeal so it's time to make some oatmeal cookies! They turned out not as chewy as I hoped they would be, but keeping them in an airtight container helped in retaining the little moist they have in them.

Recipe here.

January 14, 2017: Chocolate and Biscoff-filled Puff Pastries

In the desire to have a quick snack, I purchased a ready-to-bake puff pastry block and filled it with a teaspoonful of Reese's or Biscoff spread. I Googled how to roll a decent crescent pasty, but I still need practice :D. Turned out to be filling and tasty.

No recipe as this is almost from the counter. I just had to use my rolling pin, put in some spread, and roll it to whichever shape I want it to be.

Remembering Cory Monteith aka Finn Hudson

Last July 15, I was lightly browsing my Flipboard magazine when suddenly an article in BBC News UK informed me that Cory Monteith is found dead in his hotel room in Vancouver.

Dead.
Finn. Hudson. is. dead.

At first I cannot believe it, having watched few of the last episodes of Glee Season 4 the night before. I remember, in the story, Finn is away to study teaching in order to cool down the tension between him and Mr. Schue. His story with Rachel is unfinished, too. So there is really a lot to look forward to in the fifth season of the show.

But now Finn is dead. His voice will no longer be able to speak lines of script nor sing another wonderful song again.

I will miss him. I'm thankful that he left us a good compilation of his renditions to remember him by.

Rest in peace, Cory.

Rest in peace, Finn. Your gleek fans will always remember you as a true friend to Santana, Puck, Quinn, Brittany, and the rest of the group; a true brother to Kurt; and a true love to Rachel.

Remembering Finn Hudson in my workstation the day he died.

A Weekend Full of Binge Eating

Last June 29 to July 1, my family and I hosted a 3-day back-to-back-to-back Fiesta, House blessing, and my birthday celebration in our house. The whole family and some of my relatives were there to help in cooking all the dishes and entertaining the guests. So much food! I bet I gained around three pounds... Hahahaha.

DAY 1: Sts. Peter and Paul Fiesta and House Blessing

For this wonderful celebration, I am thankful to:

• My uncle Tiyo Juaning for cooking the viands served during the Fiesta proper (June 29). His Menudo and Chicken Kaldereta are so delicious that they bring back my childhood memories;
• My aunt and Tiyo Juaning's wife Tiya Apron for cooking the Grilled Boneless Bangus;
• My another aunt Darling for cooking the Chopseuy;
• My another aunt and godmother Ninang Honey for helping in the preparation of the ingredients. Happy birthday to you, too!
• My father Bolet and mother Lynda for making this celebration possible;
• My sister Sheryl and her husband Jette for cooking the Lumpiang Shanghai and Dynamite and helping me do the Corn Gelatin;
• My roommate and friend Hearty for helping me finish the Corn Gelatin; and
• My neighbors for sharing their food--Ate Edith for the Biko and Hot Tablea, Aling Clara for the Biko, Mommy Imelda for the Chopseuy with quail eggs, and Ate Agnes for the Lumpiang Sariwa.

We are also thankful to our parish priest Rev. Joseph Landero for doing the house blessing and celebrating with us. Thanks also to his companions from East Timor and Indonesia. :)

Right: Fr. Jolan, Left: Rev. from Indonesia

Rev. from East Timor

Here are some pictures!

that's me very happy. :D

DAY 2: My supposed-to-be birthday celebration but we were too tired to move

We were supposed to celebrate my birthday by cooking another set of dishes to be shared to our neighbors. But we were so tired to do anything so we just rested and ate all the foods left from yesterday's event.

We still have guests--Kuya Tone, Tiya Tata and Jen, and Lola Juanita--who came and celebrated the blessings with us. :)

DAY 3: My 25th Birthday Celebration

Well it's Monday, and I'm expected to come to work but my body is aching so badly when I woke up. So I texted our company clinic that I can't report to work. (And it's my birthday!)

So after sleeping for another three or so hours, I finally woke up and had a long chat with my sister. I think we missed each other so much and haven't really talked in a while. We just finished our conversation when our mother called us up asking for help in cooking that day's dishes.

Thank you to my family for sharing with me my 25 years of fruitful life! :)

Thank you to Tayni Mark for the shoes and Hearty for the power bank. Love the gifts! :)

And yey, I'm 25! :)

Time to think maturely. Time to open a savings account and save up money for later. Time to invest in my future because, I now admit, I'm not getting any younger.

And it's also the time to do the things listed in The 20 Things You Need to Accomplish in your 20s because I'm already halfway through the decade.

I'm officially away from my beloved for 3 to 6 months

Mark is assigned to San Jose, CA to immerse and train with our company's design team there for six months. He was informed about it last June 14, and since then everything has changed. We'll be away from each other, 11500kms or 7100mi to be exact, after 9 years of being together.

After sending him off at the airport and while taking the shuttle bus to work, I can't help but cry and recall how our relationship developed through these 9 years...

We've known each other since June 10, 2004 during our first day in the university. We were blocmates and attended the same set of classes except for Math (I had to take Math 14, while he is scheduled for Math 17). I can still remember our first class--ES 1 or Engineering Drawing--in our then old Melchor Hall (Engineering building). We were both Computer Engineering students that time, by the way.

He is the soft spoken one among the group, barely talking and just laughing at Ian's jokes. It never occurred to me that time that he will be my soul mate later in my life. I had an interest on another person that time, so I wasn't really paying attention to him. But he was nice, and we instantly became friends.

He didn't have the opportunity to have a girl non-family member friend (emphasis: a woman friend), with him being raised up in an all-male Catholic school (full of naughty boys). So it came to me as a surprise when he told me that I was his first girl friend (note the space bar). I can still remember him giving me birthday presents--a male parakeet and a stuffed toy--last July 2004. We met on June, and he immediately gave me something on July. This made me smile and freaked out because I really don't know if he has something more-than-a-friend feeling for me or whatever. But, being a pessimist that I am, I thought that I am only a friend. :)

Early in the sem, we spent time together during our breaks all the time. We walk around the campus or eat somewhere together with our other blocmates. This blog entry will be very lengthy if I share everything that happened. I can tell you one thing though--it has been a roller coaster ride just like everyone else's relationship story.

[picture: Boso-boso trip or any pre-relationship pic]

I can still remember how I severely hit a tree while driving his car...how we got estranged after that incident...how he confessed his feelings for me in my duck pin bowling class...how I accepted his love three months after at a coffee house while sipping my cold drink...how I became so happy after that...how happy we became despite all the ups and downs that come into our relationship.

So now, I must face this longing with a brave heart. I know that 6 months will just be a breeze, that he'll be back so soon I won't remember he was gone. But I guess I am just lonely because I won't be able to hug him whenever I feel like hugging him (I'm a total "hugger", I'm telling you). I won't be able to tell him stupid things immediately after thinking about it, and him answering with his weird humor right after I tell him something. I won't have him by my side, stroking my hair as we go up to eat and trying to trip me using his foot and tell me that it was just a rock that somebody forgot to remove.

But I will be okay. We'll be okay. He'll have his experience there as much as he can, and I'll be right here waiting for him to come back and hug me once again. :)

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Last June 22 we went out on our last Saturdate and ate at Cafe Mary Grace. So yummy!! :) A bit pricey, but it was delicious and worth it. We ordered grilled cheese roll for appetizer, beef tapa with kesong puti for sandwich, cream with mushroom for pasta, hot tsoknut and peachy lemon iced tea, and lemoni santi for dessert. Yummy! I looove the cheese roll. :)

Last Saturdate before he left. I'm looking forward to another Saturdate with you. :)

We had a goodbye coffee hangout with our dear friend Mark in SM Dasma. These two are really close, having been roomates for almost a year, and will surely miss the company of each other.

Me, Mark, and Mark.

Here's him getting a haircut the afternoon before his flight. I feel like a paparazzi. :D

Then, the night before he leaves, we went out for his last dinner here with his family. It was a happy occasion, and I'm really happy for him to have this tremendous opportunity. Here are some pictures with his family.

Top: His sister Kay, Mark
Bottom: His father Tito Medy, his mother Tita Kit, and his brother Michael

We ate at Yakimix SM Masinag.

With me in the picture! :)

Then after having our stomachs bloated, we went home to his house to pack up all his things. This is when it really dawned on me that he's leaving. I personally took care of packing his things up, feeling like his wife and all that. (so cheesy!)

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Then I'm again here in the bus, feeling a bit empty, ready to face the new phase of my life.

Oh, he texted that he's about to board the plane and I must call now. Another round of tears! T__T

Welcome back from Riyadh, Duday! :)

Duday is a Pediatric (if I remember it correctly) nurse in King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, KSA. She has been there for almost three years, since this is her third time to come home for a break. I'm really happy whenever she comes home, because that's the only reason we get together (given all our busy scheds and really, there is nothing to celebrate aside from that).

Yiyen, Duday, Tutang, and Mumay. Shopping at Trinoma.

This time we went to QC area--shopping at TriNoma then dinner at SM North EDSA. We indulged ourselves to the eat-all-you-can buffet of Vikings. A bit expensive, yes, but it's all worth the fun and unlimited food (and dessert!). Plus, it's my first time to dine at Vikings.

There are looooooooots of foods to try--from Filipino to Japanese to Chinese to Thai to Italian to American cuisine; from salads to hotpots to yakitori to seafoods; and the desserts! Oooh la la! Heaven. The taste is not really that breathtaking; it's more of the quantity of choices available in front of you.

There are also plenty of drinks available, though we only tried the juices (Twining's strawberry something, mango juice, four seasons, wintermelon, etc). There are beers and wines available at the bar, but we really didn't have the chance to inquire about the wines. Tsk tsk.

So from these wide array of choices, I only managed to stuff five plates down to my then very empty stomach--Japanese, seafood, American & salad, and two dessert plates. The taho was great! I didn't expect that a posh place like that offers one, but it was good to eat one that time. :)

So all in all, the dining was great. Seeing my friends was great. That day was great.

I'm so happy. :)

Happy Birthday, Nanay!

Happy 55th birthday, Nanay! :)

I wish you good health, happiness, and many lurve.

Edit:

Typhoon Emong hits Parañaque, Las Piñas, and Pasay, soaking me wet on my home yesterday. Power was also out in the village when I got there. Piles of dishes are waiting for me in the kitchen sink.

So to make this edit short, I wasn't able to take some pictures. :(

Happy birthday, Nanay! I love you! :)

The longest commute travel I've done in my life

happened last June 13, 2013. That's a Thursday.

I really love to travel to look at the sights around the metro, to relax and feel the wind that blows in my face, and to free up my mind from the stress of studies and work. Usually, I don't really mind the long travel, but this one is an exception. I was dead tired at the end of the day. I literally slumped to the first couch when I arrived home.

I want to document this because, as I've said, this is unusual for me. :) So here it is:

My travel revolved around three sites: Quezon City, Parañaque, and Cavite. Here's the hour-per-hour breakdown of that day.

0600H - 0638H : Travel from Marikina to UP Shopping Center
0638H - 0700H : Find a shop that offers book binding services to bind our thesis documents
0700H - 0730H : Travel from UP Shopping Center to MRT QAve
0730H - 0800H : Travel from MRT QAve to MRT Magallanes
0800H - 0830H : Travel from MRT Magallanes to Pque
0830H - 0900H : Take a bath, freshen up
0900H - 0920H : Travel from Pque to Alabang
0920H - 0930H : Wait for the public van to be filled up
0930H - 1030H : Travel from Alabang to Dasma
1030H - 1045H : Travel from Dasma to Manggahan
1045H - 1100H : Travel from Manggahan to Gateway
1100H - 1115H : Travel (Walk) from Gateway to company
1645H - 1930H : Travel from Gateway to Shaw
1930H - 2030H : Travel from Shaw to Pque

That's a total of 157kms for one day. Whew!

My tiring route.