gratitude

more than a month after my 32nd birthday.  i guess it's never too late to say thank you for being blessed.  they say you should not be sad for what you do not have, instead you should be happy for what you do have. :)

gestures, effort, material gifts from friends and family - for all of these, i am grateful.  i feel loved.  i feel special.  above all, i am thankful for the gift of 32 years of good health and good life.  a song comes to mind - something about life being borrowed from God, about you and me being presents, about not ever wanting to be born, but nevertheless being grateful that we are gifted with life.

dear jan,
thank you for the books.  i haven't started reading them yet.  soon i will!  i had a good laugh when i saw the excel bible.  hahaha!  very fitting for us who excel in excel (thus the need for a guide hehe).  i especially loved the greeting card/artwork!  i'm 100% sure it won't fade or get crumpled.  it's laminated!  ikaw na ang pinakabonggang gumawa ng greeting cards!  i love it!  thank you for the generosity.  i will forever be thankful for the gift of friendship.

dear april,

thank you for my midnight birthday cake, despite having a hectic life juggling motherhood and livelihood (naks).  i loved the frosting.  it tastes so sinful.  i believe that sinful = good in terms of baking.  hehehe.  special mention to keyla for putting the freckles (aka sprinkles).  cheers to more years of baking!

here's the sugod gang on the eve of my birthday.  they came bearing good cake.  keyla did the honors of blowing the candle. 

dear chef aldzwen,

thank you for the sumptuous dinner!  you never fail!  you should start building a restaurant!  menu was taco salad and chicken quesadillas.  ariba!  thanks for the mexican dinner.  i loved it!  i know there's a beef ban in this house, but because it's my birthday, beef galore :) food was great!

mike arrived on the evening of the 17th.  he brought birthday presents and a mountain of imported goods from the philippines.  his suitcase could pass for a sari-sari caravan :p

dear mike,

thank you for celebrating my birthday with me.  thank you for the watch.  i love the color.  one day, we'll buy the "his" version of this "hers" watch :) thank you for the pasalubongs.  century tuna, purefoods corned beef, tj hotdog, chiz whiz, boy bawang, bangus belly, tang, magic sarap, etc.  ang dami! yehey! 

dear ate yogi,
thank you for the pearl earrings.  i love the simplicity of little pearls.  they don't sparkle like gold or diamonds, but they look elegant and simple.

dear mama,
thank you for the blouses.  you are very good in size estimation :)  i have new blouses and dresses! yey!

dear UBS teammates,

thank you very much for this cake :) thank you for the video that you prepared. thank you for sharing 5 years of my work life :)

dear Father,

for all of these, and more, thank you! thank you for always giving me the promise of a better tomorrow.  i am looking forward to more years of love and life. help me to fulfill your plans. 

love,

your daughter

lola's favorite dish

lolas nowadays are so groovy and trendy they're like barkadas with their apos. you get to have a lolo/lola + a kakuchaba in your kalokohan. that's cool, i know, but i am proud to say that i grew up with a traditional lola.

she's the type of lola who got stern when you didn't take your afternoon nap. she knew how to wash clothes. i mean the serious, clean wash. kusot nang todo, bilad sa araw, tatlong banlaw, may almerol pa, at stiff like hell after ng plantsa. she believed that washing machine isn't washing the clothes; it's simply twirling the clothes around.

she told me tales of her childhood, how she survived the war, and how she was deprived of education. God is fair. while she lacked academic skills, she was gifted with embroidery skills, and she used this to make a living. they made pillow cases, bed sheets, dresses pretty by manually sewing designs on them.

she knew how to read and write, do simple math, pray the rosary, and she knew how to run her household. it was enough to keep her going when she started a family with lolo, who worked in restaurants as a cashier.

lola knew her house and her kitchen. pamatay ang mechado! at lahat na ng filipino dishes na hinahanap-hanap ng panlasa mo.

but this is what i really want to share. despite her excellence in the kitchen, lola had a simple heart. her favorite dish was bunga ng malunggay na isasawsaw sa bagoong isda. lolo used to tell her, "bakit ba masayang masaya ka kapag yan ang ulam?" wow lolo! medyo bitter pag happy si lola?! hahaha

pic 1:
i was at the clinic while waiting for the doctor. medyo dyaheng mag-abang na may bunga ng malunggay na katabi hahaha. sabi nga ni lola, "wala kang ka glamor glamor!"

pic 2:
caths sporting a pink pouch and plastic bag with bunga ng malunggay. sabi nga ni lola, "wala kang ka glamor glamor!"

pic 3:
bunga ng malunggay, onions, tomatoes, malunggay leaves, some
bagoong, patis. boil and eat while hot. yan ang glamor!

parking (like malling, but in parks hehehe)

we have a new hobby!!!  we're visiting SG parks during weekends!  well, if our bodies are not too weak.

for a while, amidst a (seemingly) financial crisis, we thought that the only way to live is to stay at home during weekends, cook, do chores, watch tv, surf the internet, read books.  it's not like i don't want to do these!  i would wholeheartedly choose these over gala.  you knoooow... your preferences change as you age, and i wouldn't trade pagbubulok inside the house over anything else.

lately, we realized that not everyone in this house is aging.  while 3 adults are contented doing nothing, there's one little sponge who's so willing to explore the world.  keyla doesn't deserve to be treated like an adult, does she?  hehehe.

we've been to pasir ris park for a number of times.  it's about 20 minutes from home, and it has everything you need.  a jogging/biking lane, picnic sites, beach, playgrounds.  we love sitting by the beach.  one sunday, april and i decided to jog from our home to the park.  kuya and keyla rode a bike.  ayun.  sinaktan ako ng katawan.  hahaha walang practice.

last week, we went to punggol park.  i wasn't too thrilled with the experience.  there's not much you could do, and there are mosquitoes.  i am a mosquito indicator.  there's a big body of water at the heart of the park, playgrounds, and a jogging lane.

yesterday, we decided to go to sentosa.  because of a secret walk 2 weeks ago, we discovered the sentosa boardwalk.  it's about a half km relaxed, scenic walk from vivo city to sentosa.  it was also because of this secret walk that i discovered that scenic walks involve pictorials every 10 minutes or so. hekhekhekhekhek!

entrance to sentosa is just 1SGD.  you really can't go wrong!  you'll get to see the universal studios, resorts world, sentosa attractions on your way to the beach.  keyla didn't enjoy the walk so much because she's on her stroller. we unleashed her at the palawan beach and did she have a grand time!  she ended up "swimming" at the beach hehehe.  kami na ang tourists!

it was a fun day.  i realized that there's much more you can do in sentosa than just touring visiting friends/relatives at turista rates!  there's also life in sentosa for non tourists woohoo!

finally! chocolate cupcakes!

oh wow!  finally!  here's something that's not red velvet :)  kuya said that he will only eat chocolate cupcakes if they have chocolate filling.  wow, demanding!

i have tried one chocolate cupcake recipe before, but it tasted plain and milo-ish.  tipong sapilitan na kainin at lunukin.  aguy!  

i've searched and searched for a recipe that doesn't use butter.  i don't know.  there's something repulsive about butter.  maybe i'm thinking it's not healthy?  pero grabe nga naman ang sarap ng butter! i opt to use recipes that call for oil (canola or vegetable).  but who am i kidding?  is there ever a healthy cupcake recipe?  i think oil isn't healthy too.  neither are sugar and eggs.

i also prefer to use cake flour.  no special reason.  it's just the available flour at home :p

this recipe is supposed to have a cream marshmallow-like filling.  i used chocolate ganache instead.  and instead of heavy cream, i used evap.  hehe ang daming instead.  ako na kaya ang sumulat ng recipe??!?!?  hahaha. 

ok naman :) i think it tasted like swiss rolls.  there's chocolate ganache filling and topping na rin.  sayang naman ang ganache na natira.  ayus!  

julie's

and again, red velvet with cream cheese frosting and melted chocolates on top.  this set is supposed to be a welcome present for julie and jana, but julie had to extend her leave.  not a problem.  inubos na lang namin sa office.  hehe. 

these are soufflé cups.  the design is cute.  pink with white polka dots.  it's a great cupcake holder, but not so much if you don't have spoon.  unlike cupcake paper liners, it's very difficult to peel these off.  maybe because it's not meant to be peeled off. 

father's day cupcakes

red velvet cupcakes for the nth time.  patawad.  it's the only edible cupcake i know.  

we don't like vanilla.  i haven't found a good chocolate cupcake recipe yet.  so it's red velvet all the way.  white frosting is cream cheese.  since kuya loves chocolates, i used melted chocolate chips for the decors.  next time, i'll try the colored chocolate chips :) para mas colorful :)

mamon with keso

this is the 3rd time i tried this mamon recipe.  i read that you can use this as the base for krema de fruta. the recipe is crazy with egg whites.  i learned that the fluff is made of egg whites in general hehe.  so that's why it's so ampaw, it's just egg white bubbles :p and sugar.

if you make mamon, surely you can make leche flan with all the egg yolks you'll have. 

i remember my second attempt was a disaster.  i didn't know how to fold then.  so i just dumped all the flour in the egg white bubbles, mixy mixy nang onti, ayun.  marami pa palang flour lumps.  when we sliced the mamon (cake form sya noon) surprise, surprise!  raw flour lumps, pampagana!  hahaha.

the third trial was edible :) complete with cheese.  just don't expect it to make you full because it's just air, sugar, egg whites, and flour.