Wanna do the tango?

Today is a bit of a scorcher. And glad I have these treats waiting in the freezer. They're really good, I kid you not!

And if you wanna taste them, come on over to my place and let's do the tango :). You can also make them yourself. Here's the recipe -

Boil 1cup of water and 1 cup of sugar until sugar is completely dissolved. Cool the syrup to room temperature.Mix the syrup with 1 cup table cream in the blender. Add mangoes. (I used 3 medium sized mangoes for this batch.) Blend all the ingredients. Pour them on the molds. Freeze for at least 4 hours. Enjoy and don't forget to share. They taste better when they're devoured with friends.

My love affair with white

I'm not exactly sure when I became smitten with white. I just know that my love for it grows everyday hahaha. I don't know about you, but there's just something calming in whites. I jokingly told a friend of mine that it's like a very supportive friend who doesn't mind just staying in the background and does everything it can to make the others look good. Weird analogy, I know.

Today, after brunch, I lingered on the breakfast nook and just stared at this. It's been quite a "roller-coaster" lately. Thankfully, this sight was quite cathartic for me. I'm weird that way.

Do you notice that small canvass (with splotches of orange) by the green vases btw? I painted that. I finally mustered the courage to bring out my art set and hold the paint brushes and just made a go of it. I'm loving it. But I need to enroll in an art class. I need to learn the techniques. I can't even draw a decent branch. Nevertheless, I am still loving it.

Baking is another cathartic activity for me. So when I'm not holding my paint brush and all the immediate chores are done, I bring out my mixer.

Lately, Chantilly cream is a staple in our fridge. Another white favourite hahaha. I regularly use it in most of my cakes the past months. It's quite versatile.

I made black forest for MDH's and MDK's birthdays this year. I used our all-time fave choco cake as the base. I used maraschino cherries, whipped up some Chantilly cream, put them altogether and voila -

I also use the cream for my cream rolls. I vary the fruit. I've used strawberry, a combo of pineapple and unsweetened coconut ( I call it pinacolada cream roll), and lately mangoes. They're all yumm. My friends can attest to that.

Oh Canada!

"I am young and old, rich and poor, free and enslaved, fleeing and seeking. I came from every part of the world, with family and alone, with nothing and everything. Two stories complete me – the story I came from and the story I started when I landed in Canada. These merge in the next generation into gratitude to a country which has made it possible for my children to have only one story – the Canadian story."

Eighteen years and 11 days ago was when I arrived in this beautiful country.

Between June 21st of 1994 and up to this day, so much has happened.

Sometime along those times, I have realized that Canada is now home to me.

The first month that I was here, I went to see places in Canada - the prairies, the rockies.... Banff and Lake Louise made a lasting impression on me. Majestic was what came to mind when I saw for the first time Canada's beauty.

 

We rented our first apartment in Ottawa. The first few years were not easy but we came to love this city and never left.

MDH went to grad school for his first masteral degree.

I gave birth. In between changing nappies and trying to be a supportive wife - I retrained myself, found a job with a major consulting firm, learned to cook, made new friends....

Late 90's was when I pledged allegiance to the queen :). I remember my French Canadian boss was teasing me about it. When I arrived from my oath-taking ceremony, I found a lovely card on my office desk, signed by my boss and the rest of my colleagues. I teared up when I read the card. But the one thing that stood out was what my boss said - Canada is fortunate to have me. In my heart, I feel very fortunate to have been given the chance to live and settle here. It's been a great country.

Thank you, Canada!

Happy birthday, Young Man!

MDK calls this choco cupcake "heaven-on-earth"

I made the birthday cupcake. This was MDK's special request for his birthday. And from his Popz, eggs benedict for breakfast. Very simple requests from this young man who means the world to us, really.

So yeah, MDK turns a year older today. And hopefully wiser as well ;). Afterall, he has, according to him (MDK), the best role model.

He has been a very good kid. And a constant source of joy for MDH and me. He's growing up to be like his Popz - loving, caring, considerate, and insightful. I couldn't ask for more, really, and I continue to pray that he'll grow up to be the man God wants him to be.

Lord, I pray that You would pour out Your Spirit upon our son this day and all the days of his life. May he never stray from what You have called him to be and do, or try something he is not. Deliver him from any plan to rob him of life, to steal away his uniqueness and giftedness.

May he not compromise the path You have prepared for him to walk, or destroy the person You created him to be. May he not be a follower of anyone but you, but may he be a leader of people into Your kingdom. Help him to grow in his understanding of his authority in You, while retaining a humble and submissive spirit. May the fruit of the Spirit which is love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control grow in him everyday.

May he find his identity in You and view himself as Your instrument. Give him a vision for his life and a sense of purpose of what You've called him to do. Amen.

Meet Molly

I really thought I was over her. I waited another month just to be sure that she's the one for this year. (She's been in my mind the past 3 years, believe it or not.)

And because I didn't want her to be "the one that got away," I decided not to wait for another year.

After a thousand and one visits to this  site and this site, I took the plunge.

She's mine now. I know it's going to be a long purse love-affair for Molly and me.

A Mum's Love

When the rain is blowin' in your face
And the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.

When the evening shadows and the stars appear
And there is no one there to dry your tears
I could hold you for a million years
To make you feel my love.
...
I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue
I'd go crawlin' down the avenue
No, there's nothin' that I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love.

~  Bob Dylan, 'Make You Feel My Love'

Picture taken inside the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington DC

If I had Bob Dylan's genius, this would have been the same song I will compose for this young man (MDK). Well, I'd probably change a line or two but not the message in each and every line. But a genius I am not so here I am, sharing a playlist (To Make You Feel My Love* ) of the song instead, sung by different singers (Jeremy Irons' cover included). Bob Dylan's rendition of his song is my favourite in the list of course. I am biased, I know.

* A new window will be opened when the link is clicked.


I have slowly become a Bob Dylan fan when MDK started listening to his songs. (MDK is a huge Bob Dylan fan btw.) As I discover his many compositions, I've grown to admire his poetry. I had very limited exposure to his songs until I slowly noticed that MDK started playing songs that have very eloquent messages. They happen to be mostly Bob Dylan's. I still haven't listened to most of his songs so my exposure to his songs is still very limited. However, my Bob Dylan playlist in Grooveshark is growing.

Some nights, MDK and MDH play music together, and among their favourites are Bob Dylan's (Queen Jane, A Hard Rains A Gonna Fall are some of them). It's always a delight, as mom and wife, to listen and watch them play together. A mini-performance of this song by "my boys" (MDK and MDH) would have been my special request for Mother's day but we will be out of town. There will be no breakfast in bed for me as well as we will be away from home so I'll just settle for the all-time best gift: a-hug-and-a-kiss.


This was intended to be an advanced Mother's day greeting to all the Moms who visit this site and not just a rah-rah post for Bob Dylan hahaha. So let me end my post with a prayer on behalf of all the  mothers (and fathers) out there and an ardent wish that you'll have a very meaningful celebration on this special day.

Lord, we submit ourselves to You. Help us to walk in righteousness and integrity before You. Teach us Your ways and enable us do what is pleasing in Your sight. May the beauty of Your Spirit be so evident in us that we will be godly role models. Give us the communication, teaching and nurturing skills that we must have. Make us the parents You want us to be. Amen.

My Time-out Corner

This is another corner in the house I can call my own.

If you've visited this site before, you'd probably noticed that I have quite a few corners in this house and each has a name. I have my FB corner, happy wall, etc etc. This one, I call it my time-out corner. And it's also my last-stop corner before I go to bed.

And because I'm a big fan of whites and greys, it has go to be a white dressing table of course. I've embellished the top by using some left-over drapery fabric from our previous home.

It turned out to be just the right fabric colour as it goes well with the furniture pieces and the wall paint we have in the room.


 It didn't take very long to put them all together. It was the search for the "perfect" mirror that took  forever. I scoured the whole of Ottawa and took a hundred trips to HomeSense before I found the one hahaha.

The room, overall, is still not fully done but it's getting there.

Re-arranging

Little did I know, we'd spend the next years together re-arranging things like priorities, expectations, etc, etc. It's never ending but I'm loving every moment of it. I have the most patient, persistent, kind, hard-working buddy.

*************

Above is our latest project. It's not fully done, but I'm happy the way it's turning out.

Paint is Stonington Grey by Benjamin Moore. Art works on the wall are mine. They're pics of our orchids in the bathroom. I told MDH, I'm getting a lot of mileage from these flowers. The blooms started showing up early October and they're still blooming up to now. They've gone through 3 seasons.

It took us 2 days to prep and paint the room. And some Advil of course.

Thanks, MDH!

Budget 2012

So Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty bought a pair of shoes worth $110 today (eve of the federal budget announcement). What sayeth thou of this? Modest spending? Modest cutbacks? I guess we'll find out tomorrow. Hopefully, there will be no other shoe to drop, no pun intended.

It's a long-time tradition for the Minister of Finance to go to a shoe store on the eve of the announcement. Last year, he didn't buy a new pair, instead he had an old pair resoled. Leaner times.

Well, if I were to start a tradition, I'd pick purse. What's yours?

Childhood, Heartaches, Do-overs

Warning: this is an incoherent post. I don't know how to elaborate on the title 'cause really, I just want to post some pics.

This week, I whipped up my most favourite tortes in the whole wide world. They're called "Torta Cebuano". I had scoured the internet for the recipe and was fortunate enough to have found it from this site. Thank you, Manang. (Manang means older sister in Filipino btw, in case you're wondering.)

Every bite of these tortes evoked some childhood memories, mostly happy ones. So it was such a delight to have finally found the one recipe that produces yummy tortes and taste almost the same as the ones I've grown to like.

And while I baked this week's batch, MDH played Adele's album ("21"). And you know how in almost every album, there's this one song that stands out. For this album, it was "Someone Like You." And if you knew me, you'd have guessed that I had it on repeat that night until I finished baking. Which made MDK wonder if the song means something to me hahaha. I told him, I am one of the lucky ones to have never experienced a major heartache and that's the whole truth and nothing but the truth :). I just like the song, is all.

So, the next day, I scoured the internet for the music sheet. Lo and behold, I found one. Love the world wide web, I tellya. That same night, MDK played it on the piano and we had our mini karaoke session.

This morning during brunch, while Adele's "21" was playing, MDK asked MDH, "so Papa, in a scale of 1 to Adele, how bad was your first heartache?" I love this kid's humour. Like father, like son.

After brunch, MDK asked another question. This time, it was a "what-if-kind" of question. And so I told him, "remember, almost always, there are no do-overs in life so I can't answer your hypothetical question. I guess we'll just have to do our best in a given situation and enjoy the ride." Which also reminds me of a quote that a dear friend posted on her FB wall: "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."