February 16, 2009

Last week, my kitchen was transformed into a bakeshop of sorts as it was bustling with activities.  It started on the night of February 7th when  I baked a Honey Cake with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting for a male friend’s birthday.  This is the boxed up cake…

The following night, I baked another birthday cake, this time for a female friend’s birthday.  I made her a Luscious Chocolate Cake with Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting.  Here’s the cake ready for delivery…

These next two photos were not taken on a weekend but the photographed goodies were received on a weekend anyway, so I guess they still count as weekend snapshots.  Hahaha!

These are Blondies (Blonde Brownies) that my daughter gave her teachers for Valentine’s Day…

There are 14 pieces inside the Valentine-themed tubs.  And these are the little Valentine packages I sent my friends…

There are 8 pieces of Blondies in each box.

I was baking practically every night last week, one would think I was taking horse supplements instead of regular vitamins!  Hahaha!  I can take it easy this week, now that Valentine’s Day is over and it’s a few more weeks ’til another friend celebrates a birthday. 

Have a wonderful week ahead, y’all!

February 11, 2009

Binabati ko kayong lahat ng…

(I wish to greet all of you…)

(…Happy Valentine’s Day!)

Marahil ay may romantiko na kayong mga plano para sa inyong mga iniirog  sa darating na Sabado.  Hangad kong maging masaya ang inyong pagdiriwang ng Araw ng mga Puso.

(I’m guessing most of you already made some plans for a romantic day or evening with your beloved.  I wish you all have a “hearty” celebration.  Easy on the wine!  Be sure you’re still able to walk in linear motion and fit to drive at the end of the evening.  Enjoy!)

Isa pang lahok para sa Litratong Pinoy: Goody Bag Para sa Araw ng mga Puso

Mabuhay!

February 8, 2009

Winters are mild here in Texas and last January 28, we experienced a freeze, which rarely happens.  Roads were slick with ice, which caused a number of vehicular accidents and which prompted some school districts to suspend classes.  In some areas, the start of classes was moved to 10am instead of the usual 7:45am.

I, for my part, was pleasantly surprised with what I saw when I took a peek out of our window.  The leaves seemed to have been laminated in ice!  Let me show you…

Frozen water droplets on leaves

This photo and the one above it were taken at the little patch of grassed land in front of our house.

This one was taken at the back of our house.

The leaves were frozen to a crisp.

I peeled the ice off some leaves.  I love how the details of the leaves were transfered to the ice.

Here’s another one.

And this, my handful of readers, is our neighbors downspout. 

Anything left outside overnight would have frozen. Even Hamilton watches!  This icey day was so much different from the flurries  we experienced in the earlier part of winter.

I haven’t done a tag for some time now.  Over at Facebook, I’ve been tagged about 5 times to write 25 random things about me.  Truth be told, I was surprised that memes found their way to FB!  I decided to just do the tag here.  Here goes nothing:

1.  I don’t like cats.  It’s nothing personal.

2.  I can play the piano.

3.  I can speak German.  I actually earned a Zertifikat Deutsch, a certificate of German as a second language.  Unfortunately, I seriously lack practice.

4.  I took an Italian language course, too.  That was before I turned 17.

5.  I find metaphysical science fascinating.

6.  I attended a seminar on Basic ESP and Intuition under Jaime Licauco and realized I have a talent for “remote viewing”.    I wasn’t successful in spoon bending though.

7.  I’m blessed to have been able to visit 16 countries, some of which I was able to visit more than once.  It was my Mom who literally showed me the world.

8.  I’m a self-confessed mommy’s girl.   I. Want. My. Mommy!  Now!!

9.  I can make a knot with a cherry stem using my tongue.

10.  I have three active blogs.

11.  It annoys me when people say “Bora” for Boracay.

12.  I love sushi.

13.  I was a girl scout all four years of high school.  No Citizen’s Army Training (CAT) for me.  Ha!

14.  I used to say “Jap” for “Japanese” with reckless abandon, until hubby pointed out that the Japanese find that offensive.

15.  I cry easily…tv dramas, weddings, good-byes, etc.

16.  I hate good-byes.

17.  I love Target.

18.  I type at a fairly decent speed…85 words per minute, with fingers properly positioned on the keyboard and without having to look at the keys.

19.  I love to bake.

20.  I love taking pictures.

21.  I’m not a morning person, but have no choice but to be one.  Ugh!

22.  I am longing for a Philippine vacation.

23.  I’ve made friends, albeit virtually, with a good number of people.

24.  My all time favorite movie is Silence of the Lambs.

25.  I have no clue what Nikon rifle scopes are.

There. Done.

February 4, 2009

Mahilig ako sa tsokolate.  Isa sa aking pinaka espesyal na karanasan kung panghimagas ang pag-uusapan ay nang matikman ko ang  Chocolate Sack ng Truluck’s, isang kainan na kilala sa mga pagkaing lamang-dagat.

(I.Love.Chocolate.  One of my most memorable dessert experiences is when I tasted Truluck’s famous dessert, the Chocolate Sack.)

Ang panghimagas na ito, na animo’y sako at kahugis at kasing laki ng isang brown paper bag ay gawa sa Hershey’s milk chocolate.  Ang loob nito ay puno ng dilaw na sponge cake, mga blueberries, strawberries at  cream cheese frosting.

(The “sack” is Hershey’s milk chocolate and inside, it is filled with yellow sponge cake, lots of blueberries, lots of strawberries, and cream cheese frosting.)

Hinayaan ako ng aming server na kumuha muna  ng kumuha ng litrato dahil pagkatapos noon, hiniwa na niya ang sako.

(Our server gave me all the time in the world to take photos of the sack.  After I was satisfied with the amount of photos I got, he went ahead to cut the dessert.)

May kakapalan ang tsokolate at ang paraan lamang para makain ito ay ang paghiwa gamit ang isang matalas na kutsilyo.

(The chocolate was thick and the only way for us to be able to eat is to have it cut into pieces using a sharp knife.)

Matapos mahiwa ang tsokolate at ang mga laman nito sa loob, binuhusan pa ng chocolate syrup!

(After all the slicing, chocolate was drizzled on the already chocolatey goodness of a heavenly dessert…)

Ayan, handa nang pagsaluhan!  Iniuwi namin ang kalahati ng panghimagas na ito!   Hindi kaya ng aming kapangyarihang ubusin lahat kahit apat kaming nagsalu-salo sa pagkain nito.

(Tadaa!  Now all ready for the taking!  We took home about half of the dessert. It was just impossible to finish it all even if there were four of us feasting on it.)

I wonder if there’s a restaurant along the North Carolina Outer Banks rentals serving a similar dessert. Just a thought.

Isa pang lahok para sa Litratong Pinoy (Another Litratong Pinoy entry):  Cocoa Crinkle Cookies

Mabuhay!

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