0513 updateI found Pandan! well I didn’t buy it but a friend gave me her stash 🙂 She bought the leaves at Karama Fish Market.***This is my final work week to finish a Girly Cake for my friend. And in between finishing the cake I have strong craving for Buko (Coconut) Pandan dessert and Ube Cake. Pandan is one leaf that’s hard to get by here in Dubai. Oh so please help me find one 🙂 or a whole plant! and I promise to share my produce.
An empty refrigerator always make me smile. why? It means I have not wasted what we bought and I have actually managed to cook for three. Cooking for us three has always been a struggle, I always somehow have a whole lot of leftover which tends to be forgotten and disposed at the end of the week. Also for last week we do grocery shopping every two days cause I need the space for my cakes.Before C left for his basketball game I told him to buy takeOut for lunch, by 11am he still no call so I decided to make use of what’s available and darn yesterday’s dough is in the freezer bread was out of the menu. The only available ingredients: Tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, ampalaya (bitter melon), talong (eggplant), kalabasa (squash), okra and crispy chicken skin (chicharon). V asks what are you cooking mama? I want soup miso weed. As a kid I hated eating vegetables I remember being bullied by my cousins. They would put a whole chunk of veggies …
My friend G requested that I make a girly cake for her birthday, a shoe and bag cake. *gulp I got excited and scared I haven’t done anything like that and I have always refused friends request to make them some cute fondant cake. Sad to say i’m not artistic not like my mom and sister, I can’t for the life of me draw a straight line without a ruler. G insisted that she wants me and no one else to make the cake for her because she knows I can do it. A little voice inside me whispered “ofcourse we can do it” and so I told her to give me a day or two to decide but to not worry in case I wont be able to do the cake I have a friend who has been making fondant cakes. Searched the web for inspiration, tutorials, and read forums that would help and encourage me to make the cake. I told hubby C about it and he too was convincing me that I can …
I love mornings. I have my quiet time while preparing breakfast @ 5:30am. Enjoying the early morning music of boiling water for my coffee. Fresh brewed coffee makes me start my day with a smile on my face. C and I get to enjoy quality time eating breakfast. Talking about what his day will be and me asking and planning dinner with him. It’s just breakfast and we’re talking about what to eat for dinner. Today’s breakfast I prepared Garlic Fried Rice, Sunny-side-up Egg, and Ham. All fried in my trusty wok. Filipinos love a heavy breakfast and would almost always require an egg. We have a lot of “*silog” breakfast menu: TapSilog – beef tapa, LongSilog – longganisa (sweet pork sausage) , BangSilog (daing na bangus), HamSilog (ham). *”Silog” stands for Sinangag na Kanin (Fried Rice) and Itlog (Egg). If you have notice we use the first 3 letters of the main meat that goes along rice and egg. How do you crack your eggs? I used to crack my egg on the side of a bowl or …
First of all I’d like to say a big Thank You to Rajani of EatWriteThink for my new kitchen toy a Braun MultiQuick Cordless. If you want a chance to win one go visit MyCustardPie she’ll pick a winner on April 26. Rajani was also the one who invited me to be part of Famished Arabia, a group of food bloggers here in GCC. Such an angel! You can find links of fellow famished bloggers on my links. I attended my first activity last Friday a Group Photo share and learn session at Bakers and Spice which also was a host to a weekly Farmers Market which sells organic produce. When I told C about the session he was happy for me and I was too. Being a stay at home sometimes give me an overwhelming feeling of being stuck to just cleaning and cooking which leads to bad days that makes my hormones and emotions go wild. That’s why we are both happy that I have this new thing to keep my mind busy beside household …
Kutsinta is one famous kakanin (local dessert) in the Philippines. My Mama would always bring home different kinds of kakanin for us after visiting the palengke (fish market) every Sunday. The result of my first kutsinta was not perfect, it tastes good but it was a bit hard. Texture should be soft and firm. Friends who got to taste my first batch suggested to cook it at a lesser time (first batch was steamed for almost an hour). My mom’s bestfriend uses the plastic mold in making Kutsinta but Mama refused to let me use those and instead sent me muffin like tin cans similar to what she was using. Btw, see that stain on the second photo of my steamer made me sad because I just spent 1 hour scrubbing the whole oven. Above photo is my attempt to be creative. I even used C’s D80 to learn basic photography for an upcoming class. I spent more than hour editing photos in picnik a much more simply program compared to photoshop. Finished cooking the whole batch for 1 hour …
This easy chocolate cake recipe is a staple in our house. A keeper as it is also the same recipe I use when a client requests it for a fondant covered cake. Don’t skip the frosting as it is heaven sent!
There’s a cake on the table and V declares “It’s my birthday today!” My demanding little customer with Debbie Brown’s “50 Easy Party Cakes” sat on the carpet flipping pages deciding on the cake design he want. V: I know! I want a dinosaur cake. Can we make it now? I will help. M: I will try my best to make you one. V: You can do it Mama. Meet V’s dino cupcake 🙂 I’m using a new fondant recipe suggested by my friend Sandy. I just have a little problem with the fondant it easily breaks when shaped or rolled and it’s way too oily compared to the usual MMF. I’m asking help online hopefully I get advise on how to fix the problem. *** and btw we are not celebrating any birthday we just happen to have a cake coz it’s the time of the month that my hormones go crazy!
Cuddles and Crumbs 