My beloved Philippines (Pilipinas kong mahal)

The travel fairies (are there such things?) are on my side this summer. Not only did we get to celebrate our anniversary in Paris for a week, an opportunity came for me to visit my sister and nephews in the Philippines.

Travel to the Philippines requires at least 22 hours, which felt very long as I traveled by myself this time. I am not the most patient person so you can just imagine the tosses and turns I did on the plane and in lobbies during layovers. I had watched 5 movies, 3 documentaries and several sitcoms. It didn't help that I found it extremely difficult to fall asleep. The longest time that I had dozed off while on board was 2 hours, I think. And that was just on my way to the Philippines! Double that to account for the additional 22 hour (at least) travel coming back.

BUT the wonderful time I had with my nephews, some family members and old-time friends more than made up for the very long travel. Add to that the beautiful, familiar sights. Okay, this part, I will let some of my photos do the talking because I will not be able to aptly describe them through words.


This was my first "breakfast" inside Manila's domestic airport while waiting for the early flight to my final destination (that was another 4 hours of wait plus airtime right there). I would have wanted a traditional Filipino breakfast (TFB) but I couldn't find any close to my boarding gate and I was already extremely exhausted to scour for TFB. I thought there will be plenty of that coming.

I took these pics shortly before we land which was around 7 am. This was the last leg of my airplane ride. After that was another 2 hour drive to a special place I call "my first home".

On the way to my sister's place coming from the airport, we stopped at this seafood place where they cook fresh catch of the morning/day. It's by the sea and so not only did I get a sumptuous fresh seafood brunch (with tropical fruits on the side), I got treated to this magnificent view.

I stayed with my sister and her family during my visit. The house was where I grew up and is my first home. While it is now my sister's (and her family's) home and some parts of the house have changed thru the years, some nooks and crannies of the house feel and look the same and make me feel quite nostalgic.

Sam, a new addition to the household. He wasn't around in my previous visit.

On the second day of my visit, I watched a part of the annual city Kaliga festival. It's a thanksgiving celebration and a way for the city to commemorate and honour its early settlers and ancestors.

I like this boy. He gamely posed to everyone's delight. He exhibits the residents' joie de vivre attitude to life in general.

The sight of lush, green mountains is very common. Coconut by-products are some of the region's merchandise and you can see why from this pic.

If the sight and sound of the seawater relax you, there are beaches along the China sea or Pacific ocean (depending on which side of the coast you're at) that are always there waiting for you to be drawn in by their peaceful charm.

On days when the sun is out, walking along the beach, fishing, or maybe just goofing around with friends is enough to while away a weekend afternoon.

I took this shot while waiting for our lunch

Every visit to the Philippines, specifically Manila, is not complete without paying homage to our (MDH's and my) beloved university. It's where MDH and I met and where we met some of the wonderful, smart, funny, and loving friends we've kept over the years.

And what's a visit to Manila without some shopping. Well, it was mostly window shopping for me, but shopping nevertheless. I couldn't put these items down when I spotted them inside a shop called 'Kultura'. It's a very ingenious way of recycling old newspapers and magazine prints. I shouldn't be surprised, really. Afterall, Filipinos are known for their ingenuity and creativity.

Chocolate high

All the chocolate goodness that you are about to see came from our kitchen. I made most of them except the last one.  I took all the pics with one of my fave lenses, the Nikon macro 105 mm. And the song is by India Arie.

You see, when I grow up, I wanna be a chocolatière. And a photographer too. The singing, I don't think I can pull it off so I leave that to India Arie.

Amusez-vous!

I used a template for the piped garnish. I enjoyed making these pretty little things

I don't mean to be decadent
I might sound like a hedonist
But the simplest way I can put it
You become a habit
The more I consume, the more I gotta have it
Ain't no such thing as too much
If you gave me everything it'd never be enough yeah
My black coffee with sugar no cream in the morning
You're my super double caffeine dream yeah

I used Belgian chocolate for these.

Your precious darkness got me so
Strung out and lovin' the way that you
Got me so wide open, my baby doll
Jonesin' and fienin' under my skin
My nerves are screamin' when you're not here
See baby I need ya sugar
You're so delicious

Both white and milk choco have pistachios and cranberries.

There is somethin' about your love
That makes me just want to open up
Your flavor is the sweetest thing in life
I'm addicted to your chocolate high

Cake pops. They're made of gooey brownies inside. Instant hit.

I be trippin' in so many ways if I
Go a single day without a taste of your love
The finest cuisine of today's world
Five stars, oh you're so gourmet

These are white choco with candied orange peels. I made the candied peels.

I crave you, I want you
Every cell in my body needs you
Tasty like hershey's and nestle
You're rich like godiva

It's this year's birthday cupcake for MDK

There is somethin' about your love

That makes me just want to open up

Your flavor is the sweetest thing in life

I'm addicted to your chocolate high

Cause I want you, and I know that you want me

So let's stay close like we supposed to be

And just get high off our own supply

I'm addicted to your chocolate high

My boys brought home a box of See's chocolates from Omaha, Nebraska. It's what I got while they got to attend their first AGM with Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger :)

Your flavor is

The sweetest thing in life

And I don't ever want to come down

I'm addicted to your chocolate high

Oh yeah

Happy, happy

It doesn't take much to make me happy. Don't ask MDH though, he'll tell you otherwise hahaha. For some odd reason, he thinks I'm high maintenance.


A happy day for me is having the time to linger in our kitchen, try out some recipes while listening to our fave songs or listening to my boys' jokes and getting the big okay for the new recipes from them. And then take some food shots just like the one below.

I made these Linzer Cookies

Another happy day for me is having an unplanned trip and not have to worry about the details. Something like we did last Sunday....

We went for a quick trip to Montreal over the long weekend. It was just MDH and me. And this time, we agreed not to plan ahead the places we'd go other than our first stop which was at St Joseph's Oratory. Oftentimes, the planning thing stresses me out which I thought would be counter-productive and undermine the reason for this quick trip.

So where did we end up going? Everywhere but the places we've been to many times in our previous visits especially the "must-see" touristy spots. It's where we usually bring first-time visitors on the few occasions when we play "tour guides." We made 3 discoveries (well, not exactly our discoveries because I kind of sourced the info from here):

1. The Underground shopping - I don't know why we didn't learn about this. Apparently anyone who likes to shop for clothes and stuff knows about this place. I didn't so I guess I don't qualify in the 'anyone who likes to shop...' category. After an hour of walking inside, I wanted to get out. There was hardly any store that I wanted to linger in. But I didn't get out empty handed. I got a $9.00 scarf. Quite a bargain if you ask me.

2. Habitat 67 - I love how the units are strategically stacked on top of each other and managed to have sufficient number of windows for each unit.

One side of the building faces the St Lawrence River (where the big ships are moored). The downtown city skyline can be seen from that side as well, so overall, it's not too bad a sight for anyone on that side.

3. The sculptures in Rene Levesque Park - We didn't get to see all 22 sculptures because by the time we got there, it was already raining and it was just too wet to walk around. MDH was kind enough to hold a big umbrella so I can still take a few pictures.

4. Pâtisserie de Gascogne - We had the most delicious chocolatine (also known as pain au chocolat) and a piece of almond pastry here. We brought some pieces for MDK to sample.

5. Les Touilleurs - What can I say, it's a candy store for someone who loves kitchen gadgets. Of course, I didn't get out empty handed.

My loot: a smaller and lighter rolling pin; small loaf pans; sets of teardrop and flower cookie cutters in different sizes; candy thermometer (my old one broke when I made peanut brittle last week); dough cutter; and shortbread cutter

The following day, I took out my new cookie cutters for a spin and made some Linzer cookies. The cookies turned out pretty and tasty. And like usual, here's the recipe in case you want to try it out at home -

 Ingredients:
 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
 1 1/2 cups icing sugar, sifted, plus extra for dusting
 4 large egg yolks
 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
 3/4 cup ground almonds
 3 cups cake and pastry flour
 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
 1/4 teaspoon salt
 Jam
   
Directions:
1. Beat the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks and then add the lemon zest, vanilla and almond extract. Beat in the ground almonds.

2. In a separate bowl, sift the flour with the baking powder and salt and add this to the butter mixture, stirring until blended. Shape the dough into 2 discs (the dough will be soft), wrap and chill until firm, at least an hour.

3. Preheat the oven to 375 F and line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.

4. Knead the cookie dough a little to soften it (this will help prevent the dough from cracking when rolled). Roll out the first disc on a lightly floured surface and cut out cookies using a 2-inch teardrop or flower cutter and place these on one baking tray (the dough can be re-rolled). Roll out the second disc, cut out cookies using the same cutter, then cut a hole in the centre of each of these using a cutter a 1/2-inch smaller and place on the second tray. Repeat with any remaining dough, keeping track so you have the same number of tops and bottoms.

5. Bake the cookies for about 15 minutes, letting the cookies without holes remain in the oven an extra 2 minutes. Cool the cookies on the tray before filling.

6. Sift icing sugar over the cookies with the holes. Stir the jam to soften and spread a teaspoonful of it over the bottom of the base cookie. Gently press a dusted cookie on top and continue to fill the others.

Let them set for about an hour before storing in an airtight container.

Waiting for that sunshine to come

Those sunshiny days have been quite elusive lately.

And so while waiting for it to come, I decided to do the thing that makes me happy - whip up something in the kitchen, take a photo of it, and share.

This recipe makes 24 2-inch mini squares. Muffin pans can also be used in place of the square tins.

Ingredients:

Chiffon Cake
2 1/4 Cups flour
1/2 Cup sugar
3 Tsp baking powder
1/2 Cup oil
7 Egg yolks
3/4 Cup water
1 Tsp vanilla
7 Egg whites
1 Tsp cream of tartar
1 1/2 Cups sugar

Glaze
1 Cup sugar
1/3 Cup lemon juice
1/3 Cup sugar

Directions:

Chiffon Cake
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift together flour, sugar and baking powder in a bowl. Add the oil, egg yolks, water and vanilla. Blend well until the mixture is smooth.
3. Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks form. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff but not dry.
4. Fold in the egg yolk mixture.
5. Pour into the tins and bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until the mini cakes turn golden brown. Cool the cake before drizzling with the lemon glaze.

Lemon Glaze
1. Heat the sugar and lemon in a sauce pan until the mixture starts to simmer and sugar has melted. Set aside and
let it cool to room temperature.
2. Once the sugar and lemon mixture is at room temperature, pour the additional sugar.

To assemble:
Drizzle the mini cakes with the glaze. You can use lemon candies and silver or white dragées for the garnish.

Nice to have these with tea or coffee. Even better to be had in a company of someone who knows just the magic word to say or act to do to make you see those happy rays of sunshine once again.

Today's Show and Tell: Home Office

Today, I am going to show you MDH's office/study at home. But before we delve into that, let me show you our respective work areas during the past weeks that I stayed home. Some days, MDH worked from home to keep me company.

I like the contrasts in how the two areas are being setup

I had temporarily converted my dresser into my work area as it is conveniently located close to the bed. On normal days, I mainly work in the kitchen, the chef's desk as my work and play (more like play) area. MDH works in the study, his home office. He rarely works from home now, but on occasions when he has to, he's in the study. Door is oftentimes closed as it can get noisy in there especially when he is in teleconferences.

I don't think I've shown this part of our home. If I have, feel free to scroll down quickly and skip the pic below :).

When you are standing in the main hallway or in the kitchen, you get a glimpse of the desk (and MDH if he's inside working) in the study. It's also a favourite hangout of the kids (mostly teenagers now) when they're not in the basement or in the loft during get-togethers at our place. I think they listen to music, watch movies from the computer, surf the net and do other stuff that teens like to do while their parents are also having fun hanging out :). So yeah, on some nights, you see it packed with kids.

Inside, the furniture pieces are strategically placed on the sides. It's not a huge area, so there's not a lot of floor space to work with. We originally placed the desk by the window so MDH can have the view outside. However, that decision was scrapped as the very first thing you'd notice are the hideous wires dangling under the table. Not a pretty sight. So we have it facing the wall (with the world map on it). Better placement, I think.

There is a small cabinet on the corner wall where we put our "everyday" stuff and things that need to be sorted out to put in their more permanent spots (e.g. camera bag and tripod are going down the basement when they are not in use). Real estate is prime in the study, not so much in our unfinished basement (I'm still dreaming to have it finished btw ;)). So whatever's not used goes to either the basement or onto the "donate" bin. We've learned not to hoard and hold on to stuff we don't use.

These are the shelves we installed in the study. They're from Ikea, the Billy series.  We have similar bookshelves in the loft but in white.

The study is still a work in progress just like the other rooms in the house. For one, I want to change the wall paint. But that will have to wait I guess as the laundry and deck are on top of our projects this year. We'll see. For now, we're happy with the way it is.

Old and dignified

I'm not too sure about feeling 'dignified', but 'old' is 'definitely how I feel (sometimes).  Getting old with dignity, that's something I'd aspire for.

Time flies fast. It's almost 5 weeks now that I've stayed home, trying to heal from the surgery. I had a long list of things that I planned to do while I stay home. I like to multitask, that is if you call recovery a task as well :). Even if I don't wholeheartedly admit at times, I'm a planner. Well not the MDH-kind, but a planner still.


But life's a tease sometimes, it likes to throw me curve balls. The kind I can't plan for. And worse, the kind that throws me off and will probably take a bit of time for me to find my balance again. I'll just have to trust and hope that sometime, somehow I'll find it. I may end up scratched, bruised and worn but I know those are the stuff that add character so... with open arms I'll calmly try to catch them.

This has been my work area the past weeks

Curve balls aside, I still managed to cross-out some items in my list. I've "worked" mostly inside our bedroom. Thank goodness for a speedy wifi and a very attentive and caring nurse (a.k.a. MDH), it didn't feel like I've been confined at home for the longest time. Not only did I "work", I was able to do some reservations/inquiries for our upcoming trip and a bit of (online) shopping as well. I even finished a 12 X 24 inch acrylic painting which I plan to put in our loft. Not too bad, eh?

12 X 24 inch acrylic painting, inspiration of which is a picture of a Tuscany landscape

I've decided to cut short my leave and go back to work next week. I feel I'm ready to get back into the swing of things. I'm looking forward to it, actually.

“There is no time for cut-and-dried monotony. There is time for work. And time for love. That leaves no other time.” ~ CC

I've lived to tell the tale

... so tell I must. But first, let me share a pic of my piece of cake which I made from my fave kitchen.

It's moist with just the right hint of cinnamon and the tropical flavour of pineapple bits in it. It is best to leave it overnight in the fridge for the flavour to intensify a bit. Have it with a cup of tea, coffee, or whatever your palate prefers.

Okay, so on to the tale....

I had a procedure done last week. It's a bit major, which requires 6 weeks for me to fully recover physically. I am off work while I try to recover, not that I do anything physical in the office. Unless you consider series of meetings to be physical enough hahaha. But the way things are going, I don't think I will need the full 6 weeks. Let's see.

I was my surgeon's first patient for the day. I was told she had 3 that day. Truth be told, I was not too anxious about the surgery. I know it's something done to hundreds of thousands of patients a year. But on the day of the surgery, while I was on the "holding dock" waiting for that moment when they'd put me to lalaland, anxiety took over. During the wait, 3 people (a nurse and 2 resident doctors) had re-assured me they'll take care of me. I prayed.

The sight and voice of my surgeon calmed me down. They then asked me to walk to the operating room. All I could remember was seeing this vast stark room with a bed in the middle. There must be around 10 people in that room wearing blue coats. When I lied down, my surgeon briefed me of what's about to happen and that I will hear them talk about me. It will be all about me.

When they started hooking me up to some instrument, I remember one resident doctor offered me her hand to hold. After several pokes (no not the kind you get in FB-land) and a painful one on my back, off to lalaland I went. I went to the hospital that morning ready for that happy thought I'd bring with me to the lalaland.

one of the stops during our cruise to the Bahamas

I was told ahead that the surgery will last for 3 hours. I don't know how long I was in the recovery room before I woke up to the sound of 2 nurses talking about their vacation to some beautiful beaches. It may be something scripted but to be honest, I was just grateful I woke up. Then I realized I was still hooked up to some metal thingie-majiggs: IV on my left wrist, oxygen on my nose, BP monitor on my right arm. Before I doze off again, every some minutes, the sphygmomanometer magically tightened my arm and then annoyingly beeped. Apparently it did that to alarm the nurses because my BP was quite high. The nurse came, checked on my BP reading, did something (I didn't know what). That must have taken place for hours. All I could remember were the annoying beeps. Then someone was wheeled in, placed right beside the empty bed next to mine. She was hysterical. I was a bit annoyed. Not to her hysterics but to the constant beeps. I couldn't wait to be out of the recovery room, see MDH, and be in the privacy of my hospital room and let nature and my body took their course to recovery-land.

Later that day, my surgeon came to check up on me and told me everything went very smoothly during the procedure. She's the expert, I'm the patient. Everything she said that day were very re-assuring.

Before the anesthesia wore out, I was given some painkillers. And that was the start of the biggest scare of my life. In an attempt to do some short walks, my nurse let me sat down on a chair and waited a bit. After a few minutes of sitting there, I felt weird. It was as if what's left of the energy in me was sucked out and very strangely, everything faded away. I asked MDH to keep talking as I could barely hear what he said. He sang me a song while waiting for the nurses to come. It felt like I was inside a fridge, or out there in the snow and not have anything on to protect me from the cold. One of the nurses (there were 3 of them that time) told me to breathe in... breathe out... and to imagine I was in a beach and surrounded by the warm breeze. I felt the warmth, not from the breeze but from the warm blanket they put around me. I heard one of the nurses blurted out "it's not looking good." I really thought I was a goner that day. Thankfully, here I am, in the comforts of our home, in front of this "fruit." MDH has been working from home to keep me company and has been generous with his TLCs ;). I can't ask for more.

An apple a day drives the doctor away.... I got this fruit on Valentine's day btw.

I'm hoping I will be able to recover as quickly as possible. One of the things the nurses told me to do before I had my procedure was to take a high-protein snack the night before. Apparently, this helps. What also helps is pain management. The quicker I try to get into my regular activities, the quicker the healing is. It is important to alleviate (if not eliminate) the pain so it does not discourage/stop me from trying to get back to my normal routine. I stopped taking "that" painkiller. Instead I'm taking Tylenol One. It's been good.

I have so many things I want to do while I try to recover at home.  One of them is to plan our three-week trip to Europe this summer. And maybe write some more in this blog. We'll see.

These adorable mice in our kitchen

Just a few more days before Christmas, and here I am still baking in our kitchen. I'm not complaining, really. After all, it's one of my happy places. I just wish I have someone who does all the washing for me while I bake. You know those cooking shows in TV where celebrity chefs cook stuff and the kitchen remains spotlessly clean? I want that hahaha. A girl can dream, right?

These cute little mice are this year's new addition to my Christmas goodies. These ones don't require baking. Gather some Kisses, maraschino cherries, and some red and green round candies and assemble them. Voila!

I'm planning to serve this on new year's eve right beside the cheese tray.

Last week, almost everyday after work, I made some French macarons. I did 4 batches with Swiss meringue buttercream fillings and added the following flavours: pistachio, coconut-pineapple, strawberry, and chocolate with walnuts and sea salt.

I'm taking my sweet time working in the kitchen this season. I didn't have to worry about the decorations as I started way early, second weekend of November, believe it or not. I spent three days putting them up, taking them down, putting them up again. I didn't want my decors to look overly done so I did a lot of "editing" hahaha.

Here's a 25-cent tour of my heavily edited Christmas decorations btw -

Main hallway

This is MDH's fave corner when he does serious thinking :)

Corner of MDH's office/study

Traditional red and green on the display in our kitchen cabs. The Christmas balls on the windows are new additions this year.

From the kitchen overlooking the Christmas tree in our living room. I've used burlap instead of the standard wired ribbon around the tree. All LED lights, of course.

My fave kitchen in the whole wide world -

Sugar and spice

... makes Christmas nice.

Well, not exactly true. But I ran out of ideas for this post's title so that will do for now.

We have an on-going bake-athon at the office. Every morning, freshly baked goods are brought and sold. It's a fundraising event. I was this Monday's volunteer baker and I brought one of my all-time favourite cookies - cranberry-cream cheese cookies. Well, the original recipe didn't have cranberries. I just added them to make the cookies look festive.

I've had some nice feedback and some of my colleagues had asked for the recipe. So I thought of posting it here in case you my lovelies, are interested. It's a very simple recipe I think anyone can do it. Here goes ...

 ½ cup butter or margarine
 ½ cup sugar
¼ lb (125 g) cream cheese
1 egg, beaten
2 cups flour
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

1.) Cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Add the cream cheese and the egg.
2.) Add sifted dry ingredients.
3.) Shape into rolls and wrap in waxed paper. Chill and then slice thinly and place on a greased cookie sheet.
4.) Bake in a 350 F (180 C) oven for 10 minutes.


Like I mentioned earlier, I added the dried cranberries (about half a cup) to make the cookies look Christmas-y. I guess you can add any dried fruit that you like.

Enjoy!

It's a piece of cake

It's been awhile, I know. Life has taken over. Memories are made, significant milestones happen, some lessons learned, little achievements celebrated, life continues. Amidst all these, I constantly remind myself that: I am planted, not buried, so move I must no matter how uncomfortable it is at times. It's how growth happens.  Maybe one day I'll be able to write about them here and hopefully share some lessons learned and be able to say "That was a piece of cake."

And speaking of cake....

Piece of cake with a side of tea. Yumm.

 
Let me share this recipe I tried in our kitchen. It's your classic pound cake with a twist. Milk is replaced with sour milk (lemon juice plus milk). I love the tartness of the lemon. I also added some  raspberry jam and significantly reduced the amount of sugar specified in the original recipe.

So, without further ado....


Ingredients:
    1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    1 1/4 cups white sugar
    1/2 cup butter
    1/2 cup milk with lemon juice
    3 eggs
    1 pinch baking soda

Directions:
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch square pan.
    2. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the sour milk and eggs.
    3. Add flour and pinch of soda, mix well.
    4. Pour into the pan.
    5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean.

I like my piece of cake with a cup of tea. How do you like yours?