tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-266393382024-03-07T16:50:57.298+08:00Food FixesHappily Cooking Away In My Tiny KitchenDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-62353444624583514352007-12-10T17:20:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:20.555+08:00Los Angeles, CA After a whirlwind NYC trip, we finally landed in Long Beach to see my bro and his family before heading back home. It was nice to finally spend time together, albeit too short really. We just had our final 4 days in LA. The plane ride was made significant by Jetblue - my super favorite of all the airlines we took coast-to-coast. Leather seats! Individual TV screens! Videocasts by Mark Bittman! Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-41352798922784298902007-11-21T20:19:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:21.169+08:00New York, New York After a 9hour pleasant Amtrak ride, we arrive at about 10pm at the Penn Station (Madison Square) in the heart of Manhattan. Oh what a glorious feeling to finally be in the city I have always wanted to visit! Needless to say, we got out of the station into the street with me grinning from ear to ear.New York is what I expected and more. We spent 6 days in the city, yet felt like we just did a Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-73005267655630376782007-11-12T16:39:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:22.221+08:00Buffalo/Niagara, NY Heading East this time, we made a quick layover in Atlanta Georgia, before heading on to our next destination - Niagara Falls! Landing in Buffalo, we took a 30 minute bus ride to the town of Niagara passing thru the city of Buffalo. Perhaps because it was a Sunday, I found Buffallo to be such a quiet city - I just cant beleive this is just a few hours away from NYC! Anyway, it was off to one ofDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-89042037382745986682007-10-31T14:22:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:22.857+08:00Half Moon Bay, South of SFI can never leave California without making a quick post on Half Moon Bay, a delightful little town 30 miles south of San Francisco where we were taken by our hosts on our last day before flying east. After a scenic drive along the Pacific Coast when we actually slept from the exhaustion of the night before, we passed some pumpkin patches, a first for me! Apparently a pumpkin festival is in the Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-71831985248513540022007-10-18T17:14:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:24.453+08:00San Francisco Of all the places we visited, San Francisco is perhaps the place where it would be so ideal to settle if we ever do decide to go that road. I can't get over how pretty the whole city is, just driving around is just so appealingly pleasant.We were spoiled from Day1, as we were gifted with lots of different cheeses (aged cheddar, blue cheese, triple cream!) by Em's cousin who happens to be a Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-52369649298213159882007-10-16T18:17:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:25.015+08:00Four States, 8 Airports, 10 lbs OverweightOur vacation started with a smooth landing in Los Angeles, and what follows are memories both Em and I are still giddy about. Three weeks of walking, eating, sightseeing can leave one's pockets bleeding, but it was so worth it we are already planning next year's trip, with the Little Bee this time around.LA is great, but for now we are staying for just a night before heading to Las Vegas where Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-73304669979204906532007-07-23T17:27:00.001+08:002008-12-13T11:13:25.164+08:00Spaghetti with Meatballs A few food reminds so much of comfort and home to most people than spaghetti. It is a kiddie party favorite, a comfort to eat when you just want to lounge around, a great comfortingly familiar dish to share with your girlfriends and a festive lunch to share on a Sunday with your family. From a simply bolognese, we slowly gravitated to large meatballs - which is great since as simple as it is Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-61115334154632217852007-07-17T17:47:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:25.300+08:00Banana Chocolate Chip MuffinConsidering that bananas are so abundant here, I've never really ventured much into incorporating it in my baked goods. Oftentimes, I just become too obssessed with securing harder-to-find ingredients or taking advantage of seasonal fruits that I overloook this always-reliable fruit! Silly me, coz bananas are so versatile, yummy and so flexi you can use it in almost everything! Banana shake? Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-35757985101063911182007-07-06T18:08:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:25.445+08:00MEME: 7 Random Things About Me! I have been tagged by the lovely Stella of Sweet Temptations for this MEME. I am most flattered, but I gotta tell you - I have not made too much friends yet in the blogosphere that I feel weird about tagging anyone. So anyone who wants to do their own, please do so! I tag everyone, haha! When I saw Stella's tag, I was both excited and giddy! I knew this would not be easy, at the same time I knewDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-35990677452434148332007-06-20T13:14:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:26.089+08:00Banana Bread With Chocolate Chips & Cinnamon Sugar Here is another recipe which I immediately baked when I got home from work after reading another favorite blogger wax poetics about it. Reading her blog almost seems like reading poetry, I love it! Sometimes when Im at work and I'd get a chance to have a sneak peek at some food blogs, I get a strong craving to go home and immediately try the recipes! This is one of those moments, and I literallyDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-7690777474747206722007-06-13T16:54:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:26.533+08:00Homemade Pesto, Inspired By A Fellow BloggerThe title says it all, when I saw that one of my favorite bloggers got inspired by her boss to make homemade pesto, I just had to try it too! Stella's blog is such a delight to read, her words so fresh and you could see through her amiable personality right through her blog! And if that wasnt enough, she lives in beach paradise Mauritius!Please head on over to her mouthwatering pesto recipe, Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-52830189252497489042007-06-05T17:51:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:26.635+08:00A Happy Third BdayI cant believe my dear nephew is 3 years old! He successfully passed the terrible two stage - without being terrible! Seriously he's the most mild-mannered kid I've ever encountered. Because he's so blessed with very generous godparents, and even more generous grandparents, I've decided to skip the whole toy gifts and bake him his birthday cake instead! Im sure he cant appreciate it now, but whenDeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-15186047879658537372007-05-29T13:57:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:26.795+08:00Lemon SquaresI know, I know, I have abandoned this blog for so very long. Sigh, so much things to do and so little time. Not to say though that I have completely been out of the kitchen, Ive been doing some random knick-knacks once in a while, when time permits.. On one particular Saturday when everyone was home, particularly Em who had a bad case of chicken pox and thus couldn't go out for two weeks (what Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-80389900585900281192007-04-12T08:05:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:26.908+08:00Mango Preserves What to give my brother who so generously sent me my much-coveted Valrhona and Ghirardelli chocolates? He only has one request, pickled mangoes! My brother lives in the US, and so miss the flavors of this tropical country especially some old family recipes and hometown speciaties. He is my source of anything that can be had expensively here in Manila such as my MAC lipsticks, Baby Gaps for the Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-31694409642799832552007-03-19T17:05:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:26.918+08:00The Apple Pie That Won The Judges OverMy sister is an avid magazine collector having started with fashion magazines and after she got married, have been obsessed with interior-design magazines. My love for mags like House Beautiful and Better Homes and Gardens actually stemmed from her and before I knew it, I had my own little collection that I keep reading and salivating back to whenever I get the itch to redesign the rooms in the Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-76769144180827818082007-03-07T17:46:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:27.011+08:00Bread Pudding With Chocolate Chips After a particularly hectic, stressful week, all I just wanted to do was savor every minute of the weekend either by lounging around, visiting family, and baking a particularly easy dessert. The whole saturday afternoon went by with me just in front of the tv and doing absolutely nothing - a rarity these days and I just wanted to relish every moment of it! But alas, my baking crave still crept Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-31682307594219202802007-03-05T17:24:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:27.218+08:00Sweet and Sour Chicken With CarrotsPreparing for Sunday lunch is always a delight, it's the only time I know the whole family is complete thereby making sure EVERYONE is bound to eat what I cook. That way, when you cook up a great meal, you get tons of compliments! What's cooking anyway, if no one is around to savor what you labored so lovingly for? Browsing through my back issues of Gourmet magazine, I chanced upon this recipe Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-75158387503068535822007-02-15T12:51:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:27.461+08:00Super Strawberry Jam Jams are not a childhood favorite. I must admit I was more partial and still am to peanut butter, nutella, even chiz whiz. The famed strawberry jams of Baguio, the only place where it can be grown in the Philippines, are much sought after. Even I hoard it even though it takes us months and months to finish it in the house. Although I occasionally indulge in it, I find it a bit too cloyingly Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-27978473882273789992007-02-13T15:40:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:28.232+08:00Blueberry CheesecakeMy very first cheesecake! With blueberries to boot. It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! And I really cant say that enough. Im quite picky when eating cheesecakes, and I can tell if ingredients were scrimped if it has jelly-like consistensies (substituting cream cheese to gelatine?) For me, its the real deal or none at all, most especially where cheesecakes are concerned.This recipe is such a Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-83136849399517877852007-02-07T08:26:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:28.358+08:00Blueberry MuffinsWith the blueberries waiting to be used in the ref, I excitedly put out my copy of the sexy Nigella Lawson's How To Be A Domestic Goddess and chose between making a trifle or a muffin. The muffin won over as I lacked some of the ingredients of the trifle. These were great, and a good start for this Nigella-wannabe. As my copy is fairly new, this is the very first recipe from the book that I Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-61785941076176084792007-02-05T14:10:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:28.521+08:00BlueberriesThe weather has been pretty balmy the past two weeks, it has been very pleasant outdoors at about 20 degrees temp instead of our usual 32. Nights are so comfy and we always find it hard to wake up in the morning as our pillows are so irresistibly huggable! Strawberries from up north are finding its way to the markets, but I was still amazed to see blueberries on sale! This is really the first Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-1170323309420202942007-02-01T17:44:00.000+08:002007-02-01T17:54:39.996+08:00A Sight To Behold I did not just conquer a mountain, I saw the SIGHTS... It was the most amazing experience especially when shared with a loved one. The hurdles were plenty and the sacrifices abound, but the sights and the experience were unforgettable. Hey, I am now a mountaineer :)Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-1170308441907824412007-02-01T13:18:00.000+08:002008-12-13T11:13:28.687+08:00Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies In an attempt to produce more baked goods over the holidays for gifts, I reached for the first interesting recipe I saw which seemed easy and quite different. The tiny little word 'flourless' appealed to me in this recipe as well as the fact that peanut butter remains to be a favorite. I should tell you though, that (horrors!) I was not in my best of moods when I baked these, you know those few Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-1169201083212598872007-01-19T17:39:00.000+08:002007-02-01T13:57:38.630+08:00Bittersweet Chocolate TartsI have made this chocolate tart once with much success, and was determined to let my whole brood taste it. So I thought, what better occasion than our Christmas dinner? The key here is a good quality chocolate, because really for this particular one - the chocolate rules! The crust is however also a delight and provides a nice complement. And even though there are no nuts in the crust, it has a Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26639338.post-1169082870012339362007-01-18T08:58:00.001+08:002007-01-18T09:14:30.013+08:00Can I Really Finally Get Through?The Taiwan earthquake has left me with a whole lot of entries from Christmas and New Year. Can I really now blog after the Dec26 quake disrupted my internet connection? Sigh, its been a frustrating ride, and Im sure glad its now back (crossing fingers ;) It has also been a busy January so far, with start-of-year engagements at work and a mountain conquered. Yes, a huge, huge mountain. ;)Deehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06889682092369385255noreply@blogger.com0