Saturday, May 15, 2010

Chocolate Coated Polvoron

I've tasted some of those before and lately, I've wondered if I could make my own.

Polvoron is a common treat for the Filipinos and one that those living overseas surely miss. An old favorite of mine is that of Goldilocks. No matter how I tried to copy the taste before, I never got it right. I ended up making my own without measurements and recipes... just toasting and mixing and molding and wrapping. :)
It's been like years since I've made these candies and I totally forgot already how to. The only things I can remember about it is adding dried fish to it as an investigatory project in high school. That earned us a decent 3rd place in the competition. I've been craving for it for days already, that's why I googled a recipe and made them last night. I then used the remains of  my chocolate bar and used Ate Claire's techinique in coating cake balls. :) Sadly though, I ran out of chocolate so I only had a few finished products. 

Here are the finished products. 

decent looking, huh. 
i know there are already a lot of commercial versions of this in the market,
but nothing beats home-cooked goodness. :)

right?
still have to ask my critics about their comments on the taste.
at times, me and my sister don't trust our tastebuds anymore. :D

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Pesto Pasta and Mango Island Cliff Cake

Right now, there are only three people left in the house. Me, my sister and my Papa. Sadly, my grandfather passed away the night of the election day and so my mom and cousin left for Leyte to attend to the wake and funeral. My brothers are far away too so the house is almost empty with my sister off to training at a pharmacy and me and my papa barely talking. 

So last night, to liven up a bit, I made a pasta dish for dinner. I just googled how to make pesto to add to my white sauce. The white sauce recipe by the way was taught to me by my late friend, Char. I feel like she was with me all the while. She made the best carbonara I've ever tasted. Now she's gone and I can't taste it anymore. I feel that however much I try, mine will always be second best to hers. I've been missing her a lot lately as many many memories keep rushing back into my mind. Add the fact that her boyfriend who now works faraway is here and seeing him is like feeling that she's just around too. I tweaked the recipe a bit with basil, which by the way might be one of my favorite ingredients from now on. It just adds oomph to the food you make and if used properly adds to the market value of your meal. It makes food taste expensive. That's in my opinion, of course.

Here it is. 
Sorry for the poor quality photo. 
My mom brought my camera with her to Leyte so I had to use my phone.

I didn't succeed making the real pesto. I just improvised and ended up using it still. haha:D

Today, I went out of my chocolate comfort zone and went for microwave mango cake. :) I used the leftover mango we had from mothers day. I also wanted to mimic the one written about in the previous post. It wasn't a flop this time. haha Oh just the whip cream. I still have to practice. It looks like an island cliff... a mango island cliff. :D

There you go.
A Mango Island Cliff Cake surrounded by a sea of cream. :P

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Mother's Day Mango Cake

In honor of my Mama who raised us well through all these years, here's for you.

i'm sorry if you find it hard reading the writings. 
it says "Happy Mothers Day Ma!"

This is my first try on Whipped Cream Frosting and it turned out really yummy. The mango cake looked like cassava cake too maybe because of the puree. :) Anyhoo... here.


And if you wanna see my Mama cutting it, here it is. 


We LOVE you MAMA! 
<3

Dizzying Boat Rides


The past few days have been fun for me as I went places and did boat rides for three straight days. I still feel dizzy. 
Day 1. Thursday, May 6.
           We were off to Cebu so early in the morning to prepare for my granny's check-up. After that I had to accompany her as she went to places to fix  some papers and stuff. It's a good thing we had a good car courtesy of an aunt who lives there whom I just met. I absolutely love her because she's so accommodating. Life was less stressful to me because she made sure we were comfortable and well fed always. We had lunch at her place and  I didn't take photos to avoid being offensive. For snacks, we went to the Metro Cafe in Ayala which I didn't know existed until the time we went there. It was located in the basement so it's really kinda hard to find. Choco Freeze was really yummy. Still, no photos. After that, we had dinner at T.G.I. Friday's. We had Friday's Three-for-all, Cajun Shrimp and Chicken Pasta, and whatever else... hehe I can't remember anymore. I had mashed potatoes and Strawberry Slush. 

three-for-all

i don't know what this was called. 

the pasta
my slush. 
wasn't really very impressed with the taste. wished there were more ice.

Day 2. Friday, May 7. 
           Early in the morning, we went to the doctor's clinic and had my Lola checked. After that we headed over to Aunt's place and stayed there for a while. We also had lunch there. Then they dropped me and my cousin, JC to Robinson's so they can go somewhere else and we can also go to his school to know the results of his applications. Story short, he got accepted. After that, he dropped me off to the business park so I can go to Ayala while waiting for my Lola to come back. I really was excited to go home already because my tummy wasn't in a very good mood for the past few days. The day before too, I had chest pains. It was awful.  Thought I'd have a heart attack already. Thank God, I survived. When my Lola got back, we went straight to the pier and ended up running to the terminal because the traffic was really really heavy. We rode a boat once again and were seated in the front most so you can just imagine how it felt when the boat met the waves. It makes me dizzy thinking about it.

Day 3. Saturday, May 8...
...is my favorite boat ride of all. It's the day of our college classmates reunion and it was uber fun. We went island hopping. First to Balicasag Island, and then to Virgin Island. Despite the heat, it was fun hanging out, catching up, rekindling old friendships, reminiscing memories. You might wanna see some photos. 



The box of Squash Muffins topped with Chocolate was my contribution to the affair. 
Yummy looking lechon, huh? 



The waves on that boat ride are the ones I'd love to meet again soon. 
Oooooh I love it! <3

Monday, May 3, 2010

Welcome, May! :D

It's been quite a long time since I last posted. That's because I didn't do a lot of baking until recently and internet connection was down again. 

Remember the cousin I've mentioned about before, the one who's coming home? Yup, he's here alright. :D He arrived on the 30th of April and I couldn't be happier. May in our place is the 'fiesta month' when there are feasts held almost every day in the different towns of our island province. And so he's here while waiting for the call from the school he wants to attend to; and also to participate in some of the festivities. 

I made him some cake balls. Sadly, he found it a little lacking... in butter. Then I realized, oh yeah, I used the mug cake recipe which calls for vegetable oil instead of butter for the cake. I also didn't use up a lot of buttercream so that's how he found it. He also said he was on a diet that's why he didn't eat much. 

So here goes. 






And here's something I was busy with last night. :) It's for a priest so....


I'm looking forward to something happening[I mean aside from mother's day, of course.] this weekend... 
so keep posted! :D