I think I am getting addicted looming my way to this supposed to be for kids of eight and up. I have given away around four earlier works to my niece and to a friend. But wait, after a week of surfing the net for instructional videos, I am now in the intermediate stage…hahaha! I am just frustrated that there are no available colors that I like where my son buys our supplies.
Archive for May, 2014
Rainbow Loom Overload
Posted in art, arts and crafts, Rainbow Loom, Rainbow Loom bracelets, tagged arts and crafts, guilty pleasures, hobbies, Rainbow Loom, Rainbow Loom bracelets on May 30, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Between Having Fever And Making Chocolate Crinkles
Posted in baking, family life, food, journeys, life, Rainbow Loom, ramblings, recipes, tagged baking, Chocolate Crinkles, family life, food, life, thoughts and ramblings on May 25, 2014| 10 Comments »
Here I go again with the same thought every time I don’t get to post for a few days at WordPress, it is hard to start all over again. It seems as if the thoughts you have in your head vanishes like thin air when you are ready to share and ready to write about it.
I’ve been sick for four days last week, that kind of feeling when you can’t do anything but shut your eyes and wish the pain of a gargantuan headache will just disappear. It was further aggravated by the summer heat we are having at the moment and a fever that simply would not go away. I am not exaggerating. I’ve probably consumed gallons and gallons of water just to beat off the heat. I was still lucky and blessed though because last week, Mom, my sis-in-law and niece had a five-day short vacation with us so they did the cooking, cleaning the house and watering my plants while I was indisposed. My ten-year old niece was so attentive she could pass for a nurse. She is good at doing those relaxing massages that make you feel sleepy. She was seven when she last stayed with us during the summer and I am pleasantly surprised how she has grown to be a very responsible young kid. I wish they could have stayed a little longer.
It is hard to go back to your normal routine when your body is weak. I am taking things easy and that means the laundry is piling up, the carabao grass needs an immediate trim and our new puppy made a minced meat of my bromeliad, even my angel plants didn’t escape from his roving eyes. This afternoon, for the first time this summer, it rained hard in our area, enough maybe to save on that much precious water for at least two days.
In between bouts of headache and fever, I was able to show my niece how to bake Chocolate Crinkles. I can still see the joy on her face and the smiles when she tasted the batter and said “ang sarap” which means it is yummy. Since it was my first time to try the recipe, we have to go by the book, a step by step procedure that she could really understand. Surprisingly, they came out well, a good partner to the green tea our neighbor gave us when she learned that I was sick. It was crispy on the outside but chewy and soft to the bite. She made me promise to teach her how to bake more goodies when she comes over again to visit us.
I learned two more designs to my growing fascination for Rainbow Looms. It is quite hard (at least for me) to follow the instructional videos on YouTube which an eight-year old can easily do. My son bought more colors and they are really expensive. Maybe when I am well enough to sit in front of the computer, I will learn more.
She Waits
Posted in life, thoughts, tagged life, silence speaks, thoughts and ramblings on May 22, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Oh blessed, blessed rain
Renew the parched earth
And make my carabao grass
green again.
Creative Juice = Rainbow Loom
Posted in arts and crafts, crafts, guilty pleasures, photography, tagged arts and crafts, DIY crafts, family life, guilty pleasures, photography, Rainbow Loom, Rainbow Loom bracelets on May 16, 2014| 1 Comment »
The box is labeled 8 and up. So I say I am 8 going 50 plus plus.
Josef bought this for me yesterday from Toys Are Us. We saw it when we had lunch on Mother’s Day and I told him, “I wonder if I could make something like that” and he said, “If an eight-year old can do it, why can’t you?” But then it is so pricey for a DIY starter kit. I had fun sorting the colors last night and starting on my first Rainbow Loom bracelet.
I was pleasantly surprised when he came home with this lovely box and he said it is for me. Hey, anyone could start another craft which is, I understand, the craze for the last few months. I told him it looks complicated but when I read the manual, one can visit YouTube and take it from there. We spent the night sorting the different colors included in the kit and attempted my first fishtail bracelet using the enclosed shorter hook. A perfect stress buster if you ask me.

Rainbow Loom was created by Cheong Choon Ng, a Malaysian immigrant of Chinese descent who came to the United States in 1991.
Josef bought an additional plastic pack of rubber bands in purple color. My daughter is a purple girl – she loves everything purple. I showed her what we did last night and she said she is excited to try to make one.
Is It A Fruit Or A Vegetable?
Posted in family life, food, Philippine cuisine, Philippine fruits, photography, tagged Crisostomo - Ayala Fairview Terraces, Crisostomo Restaurant, desserts, food, guilty pleasures, Philippine cuisine, Philippines, photography, watermelon on May 14, 2014| 4 Comments »
Let us not talk about whether it is a fruit or a vegetable. All I know is that fruits grow on trees and vegetables are harvested on the ground just like pumpkin, cucumber and squash. If it is a fruit, it is a healthy and refreshing one but then you’ll wonder if it is also considered a vegetable.
Yesterday, son and I bought a large watermelon at P100/head. Watermelons are in season now and every summer you could enjoy them served as desserts, mixed with other veggies as salad, refreshing coolers or if you are enterprising enough you can mix them with jellies or you can make them into ice pops. I love them cold and plainly sliced. They are anti-oxidants and so rich in vitamin C.
This reminds me of a recipe I tasted last week when some friends and I dined at Crisostomo Restaurant at Ayala Fairview Terraces. It was my first time to visit this mall and dine at Crisostomo. All branches serve authentic Filipino recipes and all the recipes are named after some characters in Rizal’s book, Noli Me Tangere and some biblical characters too. Crisostomo must be Crisostomo Ibarra. One of the recipes we ordered was called Sinigang ni Eba and I was pleasantly surprised that they mixed it sliced watermelons. Oh boy, it was simply delicious. The blend of the tangy tomatoes and tamarind and the sweetness of the watermelons is just out of this world. Even their Laing (taro leaves cooked in coconut cream) was just as yummy. Would love to explore more of their recipes one of these days. Although, it is a bit pricey to dine there, you have lots of menu to choose from. Good ambience, friendly wait staff. They have a branch at Eastwood which is very near our place.
(note: second pic culled from the official website of crisostomo)
Sweet Sticky Rice
Posted in family life, food, tagged bucayo, desserts, family life, food, sweet sticky rice on May 13, 2014| 3 Comments »
It’s son’s day-off so we hied off to Cainta market early this morning to buy fresh produce. I always have a hard time choosing what kind of fish to buy nowadays since fish without scales are a no-no in my diet. The past days, I’ve dreamed of tasting a childhood favorite which we call onda-onday in our province. It is made of powdered glutinous rice cooked like palitaw. The only difference is in the toppings. The latter makes use of freshly grated coconut while this one is rolled in freshly cooked bucayo, matured grated coconut cooked slowly in panucha, a solidified molasses commonly used in preparing desserts. I cooked the glutinous rice in two cups of pure coconut milk then topped it with the fresh bucayo. Hmm…so yummy! Son says he remembers Mom who cooks different recipes for glutinous rice.
Celebrating Mother’s Day At Lugang Café
Posted in family, family life, food, guilty pleasures, life, Mother's Day 2014Lugang Cafe - Mega Fashion Mall, photography, recipes, silence speaks, tagged Chinese cuisine, family life, food, guilty pleasures, life, Lugang Cafe- SM Megamall, Mother's Day 2014, photography on May 10, 2014| 3 Comments »
The family celebrated Mother’s Day today, a day earlier than May 11. We decided to meet at SM Megamall for lunch. Another day worth-remembering. One thing that highlights the day is of course Nate’s presence. The moment he saw us, he let his dad undo the strap of his stroller and let Josef carry him along. There is a special affinity between the “magninong” (that’s a Tagalog word for godparent) even if they don’t see each other often. He can pronounce Nonna clearly now and I was so glad when he took my hand and planted a loud kiss on my face. Nissa said he learned new words in the three weeks that I haven’t seen him.
We opted to dine at the newly opened wing of SM Megamall. The Mega Fashion Hall is the new high-end extension of the mall. It houses several restaurants and other international clothing brands. The set-up is somehow similar to the Ayala Malls. Aside from the more popular Vikings, there is another branch of Lugang Café where we took our lunch. So it’s Chinese food for lunch. I took some shots but mostly of Nate banging a spoon and fork on the table and playing with the plastic green cup which they provided for him along with a green plastic plate and bowl. I had a good time watching him eat what was served on the table. He loved the Fried Beef Noodles and Fried Rice.
He is probably looking forward to going swimming tomorrow with his Dad’s side of the family. Enjoy Nate but be careful with the sun. I know how much you love to paddle your feet and splash water with your hands. Until we see each other again.
(Note: This is my 1,440th post…can’t believe it)
It’s Chocolate Brownies With A Twist
Posted in baking, family life, food, guilty pleasures, photography, tagged baking, Chocolate brownies with truffles, desserts, family life, guilty pleasures, photography, the joy of baking on May 6, 2014| 5 Comments »
It’s been a while and I felt quite lazy to sit in front of the computer and blog. This afternoon, I experimented on another dessert recipe culled from the net. I was looking for a simple recipe for chocolate brownies, something easy to do with a minimum of preparation and found this. As usual, I tweaked it a bit adding grated Belgian chocolate truffles on top instead of frosting. My son was all praise for it and said it taste more like a chocolate cake than a simple brownie mix. I smiled and said, “the one on top makes it so yummy” plus the unsweetened dark chocolate I used.
Look at how it looked when I finished baking it and topping it with truffles.
Here’s the recipe if you want to try it. You can double the amount of ingredients if you want a thicker slice.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar (since I used unsweetened chocolate, this is just enough)
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
Frosting:
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tbsp. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup confectioner’s sugar
Procedure:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and flour an 8-square inch baking pan. (I just greased it).
In a large saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter, remove from heat and stir in sugar, eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa powder, salt, 1/2 cup flour and baking powder. You don’t need to use a mixer, a spoon will do. Spread batter into prepared pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Garnish with grated chocolate truffles while still hot. Slice into squares when it is cool to the touch.
You must be logged in to post a comment.