helping

This past week, the world saw the devastation that Typhoon Haiyan brought to the central part of our country. I am grateful for all my friends from all over who took the time to ask me how I am and my family. We are okay. We had been spared by the wrath of the typhoon. But I cannot say the same thing for my fellow countrymen. Most of them lost everything, including loved ones (that's the hardest part), and it seems that relief couldn't get there fast enough because of logistics problems (and politicking).

I am just in awe though on how Filipinos respond to the call of the needy. In just less than a week, relief operations all over the country materialized, people volunteering their time to pack relief goods, people who have extra gave what they can. Everyone just moved to help the needy.

I am just proud that I am surrounded by friends who are giving more than they can. Our office has willingly given up our annual Christmas party and give the money to the victims; my Geol friends gave part of their travel fund to Red Cross and one of my friend's office will match that amount to give to the Red Cross; another friend of mine went around collecting goods to send to the people of Ilo-Ilo who were also affected. My sister and I collected clothes that are still good but are not being used anymore and we have given away most of our toys for the kids who needs these more now than ever.

Sending our love to the kids who suffered from Typhoon Yolanda

 
I just hope with the little we have, those who receives it feels the love that we are sending them.

*****

Some of the stories that have touched me this past week. Truly, every Filipino today is a hero:

A lady military personnel breastfeeding babies in the evacuation centers
People with vehicles shuttling people arriving from Tacloban to their relative's homes
Fellow UP alumni raising money to support UP dormers whose families were affected by the typhoon
Students abroad with less still giving cash to send to the relief aid

***** 

Lots of thanks going out to the countries and private sector who had been helping out. I just realized that the Philippine military has a long way to go in terms of improvement. We do not lack brave and honorable military servicemen. Our government lacks the vision and left the military to decay. Imagine, only three C130s servicing the whole country of almost 100M people and 7,107 islands. Well, that is just my opinion.

yolanda

It was only after I watched the news on TV that I saw the massive destruction brought by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) to the central area of the Philippines. Footages of gusty winds with its noise like a car being revved forever hurling stuff, taking away roofings, storrm surge coming into the city of Tacloban are being flashed on tv. I just can't imagine what the victims are feeling right now. It seems that most of them lost everything, and sadly, including their family members.

It is times like this that you feel helpless for other people. The same feeling when I heard my hometown being attacked by the rebel army.

new tumbler

A few days ago, I broke my one and only tumbler given to me by my friend two Christmases ago. I love it and I can't help but be sad because I can't use it anymore. So just to make up for it, I bought a new one from the same store. I love it but it will be able to replace the first one.

calamansi muffin

A friend requested that I make a calamansi muffin, which she really loves after tasting the one from Boracay. As I've never been to Boracay in years and that shop was not even around when I went there, I got curious. Also, I've tasted one before, made by a friend's sister, and it really tastes good. I looked up on the internet lots of calamansi recipe, until I found one which looks really good. It also says that they "hacked" the Boracay recipe into a 95% "hackurracy."

It was pretty simple to make although one needs to be prepared for crinkly fingers after squeezing a lot of calamansi. The calamansi muffin turned out well but it cracked on top unlike the picture shown in the original blog. It is also dense and as recommended, it should be enjoyed with coffee.

I also followed some suggestions online, and my friend, to glaze the top of the muffin. So I used powdered sugar and calamansi juice and made glaze out of it. It turned out well, too!

Note: To make sure that I don't burn my muffins, I make sure that I set the alarm at half the time it takes to bake these things and check or turn it around to even the baking process at both sides of the pan.

Thank you to Pepper.ph for the recipe!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 pcs eggs
• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup calamansi

Procedure

1. Mix together dry ingredients in a bowl: flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Mix together milk and calamansi in a bowl, set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
5. Add in milk mixture and flour mixture.
6. Mix until well blended, don’t over mix.
7. Scoop in non stick muffin pans.
8. Bake in preheated 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for 18-23 minutes.

home made pandesal

My first attempt at baking pandesal and they turned out so yummy!

Thank you to Ms. Connie for sharing her great recipe to first time bakers. View her recipe here.

something new

While doing my Christmas list, I thought of putting everything on excel file so I won't miss the number in my inventory of gifts once I assign these gifts to names. However, the task/equation I needed was out of my league so I asked an officemate to help me. Now, I learned a new thing in excel which I think is worth sharing :)

#-countif(range,"value") --> e.g., #ofgifts-(A1:D12,"gift1")

countif(range,"value") & "," & countif(range,"value") --> e.g., countif(A1:D12,"gift1") & "," & countif...

corn muffin time

I found this website with what looks like a very good recipe for corn bread. It just took me a while to bake it because I had a hard time looking for one of its ingredients - cornmeal. I went to the supermarket and all I found was corn starch which the product guy vehemently pointed to me was totally different from a corn meal. I went home to my hometown and while accompanying my mother to the market, looked for cornmeal, too, but there was none. A few weeks after, I finally found a shop that's selling it but I had to go back in a few weeks' time since they ran out of stock. Fortunately, there was some cornmeal by the time I went back. So here it is, my corn muffin.

It tasted good however, the inside was a bit soggy, owing to the fact that I did not put in fresh corn but instead, I put in a cream style corn. It was yummier but a little wet, and when it cooled, the muffin deflated. I am going to try this again with the kernel.

---- update 11 November ----

I made the muffin again but this one is less better than the first one. I think I put muffins in a too hot oven and the grainier corn bits in the corn meal did not cook well. Next time, I'm gonna make it perfect!

----

Thank you to Ms. Connie of Casa Veneracion website for the recipes!

darth vader in lego

How I love thee, Darth Vader Lego! I wish I can have you for my own.

@SM MOA

vintage mugs

Remember this Jollibee mug?

These had been with us since I can remember, bought home from Manila as pasalubong to us kids at home. Just seeing these still intact is a testament of how our mom takes care of all our stuff. Amazing!

christmas tree

After twenty-two years, we are finally retiring our well-loved Christmas tree.

I remember when our mom bought this tree. She picked me up at school after a weekend of Girl Scout event and there it was, the box that held the Christmas tree! So excited to set it up and see how it looked like. Now, it's time to retire her but I will always remember the happy Christmas moments we have with her.

Now, we have a new one that will light up our Christmas celebration at home.

peachy peachy mango pie

As requested by my friend, I tried making a peach mango pie, one of the best food inventions ever, in my opinion. She found a recipe on Rappler which she thinks is good and passed the recipe to me. It did look good so I found the time to make this one.

Don't you just love the color? I actually enjoyed doing the weaving of the pie cover and eventually learned something from it. As you can see, the strips are not uniform in size. It is because after flattening the dough to the size of the pie I just cut the dough in strips, thinking that the strips will be enough to cover the whole thing and still be able to make the weave pattern. Unfortunately, as I reached the middle part, I realized that the strips will not be enough so I cut in half the strips that were still to be used. Hence, the not uniform strips. Still, it looked good.

Another note is on the mango to be used. When I buy them, I prefer a certain look and it usually tends to be on the 'a bit sour' flavor. This is what happened here. The mango was still a tiny bit sour so the whole pie wasn't too sweet. If you prefer, buy those very ripe mangoes for a more sweet pie.

Thanks to Sam Likes It Hot article published on Rappler.


Pie Crust
  
2½ cups all-purpose flour + extra for dusting later 
1 T sugar 
1 t salt 
1 cup butter 
¾ cup cold water

{Note from Sam Oh:

The most important thing in making this pie crust is keeping everything cold from beginning to end so you’ll need to work fast.

But please don’t fret. If things start getting too warm for comfort, you can always pop everything back in the fridge and pick up later where you left off.}

Cut the butter into small cubes and keep it in the freezer for about 20 minutes. While waiting, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt in a big bowl (or in the food processor if using).

When the butter is ready, it can be added to the bowl. Using a pastry cutter, break up the butter into roughly the size of peas.

Add ½ cup of cold water into the bowl and mix with a spatula until you see the beginnings of a dough coming together.

The remaining ¼ cup of cold water can then be added gradually. You may not need all of the remaining cold water. When you see clumps of dough forming like this, you’re done. 

Form the dough into a mound using your hands. Halve the dough and wrap with cling wrap, flattening it as you do to form into discs. Rest in the fridge for an hour. This dough will keep in the refrigerator for a week in case you want to do this ahead of time. 

Filling 

4 halves canned peaches + about 2 T of the syrup 

2 large ripe mangoes 

3 T sugar 

3 heaping T flour

Slice the peaches and mangoes into small cubes and transfer them to a medium bowl. If you want to skin the mango halves whole, try this method using a glass.

Add syrup and sugar to the bowl and mix well. Before adding the flour, taste your filling. Aim to sweeten just to the left of too sweet – it will balance out with the crust when the pie is done.

The Pie

Preheat your oven to 190 C/375 F. Take out one of the dough discs from the fridge after the requisite one-hour resting period. Flour your rolling surface liberally. Have your pie dish nearby.

Flour the top of the dough and start rolling out to form a circle. Don’t be afraid of flour, the excess can always be tapped off.

Bring the rolled dough to the pie dish and flatten to fit. The excess dough on the sides of the dish can be left to hang for now.

Take out the second disc of dough and roll out. I attempted to lattice my top crust so I cut the dough into about ½-inch strips, poured my peach mango filling into my baking dish and followed this step-by-step guide (very helpful!).

When done, remove the excess dough leaving just enough to gather and seal around the sides of the pie dish.

Bake in the oven until golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let cool for about 20 minutes.

finally!

Finally! I have successfully defended my thesis today! THANK YOU, LORD!

After a bit of a scare early in the morning, fearing another repeat of my August schedule cancellation because of the heavy rains (classes had been suspended again in the city), cannot find my map for a while, and one of my examiners being late, we finally proceeded with my long awaited thesis defense.

The defense went well with teachers and students attending, aside from my panel. The presentation took around thirty minutes. It took another thirty or so minutes of open to the public Q&A, where there was a long discussion of my thesis results amongst my thesis panel. I could tell that they were excited so I think that was a success. There were a few questions that caught me unawares but over-all, it went well. After that, the audience were asked to leave the room and another set of questioning occurred but I cannot remember any of the questions because from then on, it was all a blur to me. I remembered my panel asking that I leave the room for their deliberation. It was a scary moment, waiting for my results.

Finally, my thesis panel chair called me, shook my hand, and congratulated me. When I entered the room again, my thesis panel was there, offering their hands and smiling, congratulating me.

I passed with flying colors.

Thank God.

I am finally done with school.

10th Day

There is still a reason to smile.

On this tenth day of trouble at home, I can see the hope of the people of my hometown to rebuild and to get past the atrocities that had been committed. Our mayor has pledged that all who were responsible must be made answerable to their crimes and this war will never again happen in our city. We will rebuild, we are stronger.

The last few days has shown the resilience of every Zamboangueno: from the hostages who risked all to escape, who stayed strong to live, and come back to tell their stories, to the evacuees who did not lose hope that there is help coming their way, to the volunteers who stayed awake to serve their fellows, and to the countless people who looked for ways to help even in their small, little ways.

We have shown the world what we can do. We will rebuild and we will be a stronger city.

Arriba, Zamboanga!

brownies

It finally sunk in, what they have been talking about for the longest time -- the secret to good brownies is the best chocolate.

Thank you, Ghirardelli Brownie Mix pack! :D

7th Day

Today is turning out to be a very chaotic day for me.

I woke up early with only one thing on my mind: how is our city? I right away checked on our class' 24-hr chat room vigil for news, only to find out that nothing has changed. Everything is still going crazy. I felt helpless so I decided to go to Church earlier than my usual time. I just hope that God would forgive me because even when I was there, I couldn't help but think of what's happening back home. My prayers were just full of plea for the safety of my family and the ceasing of war. Yeah, the story of the merciful father and his prodigal son; the lost coin and the lost sheep. It just reminds me that each one of us is precious in the eyes of the Lord but I hope that whoever brought trouble to my hometown and its people will pay for their crimes.

Later in the day, my couch was picked up to be fixed, my tablet open on RMN's coverage of the war in Zamboanga, me following the conversation and updates of my high school friends on Facebook, and the TV turned on for the UAAP Cheer Dance Competition.

I am confused but I need to be on top of these things.

Watching the competition took my mind off the horrible things that has been happening to us this past few days. It would have been better though had UP won but NU really had a great performance so a big congratulations to them. They deserve it. Yeah, one reason to smile today.

*****

How sad to see in the reports that because of the fighting, only a few had gone to Church early this morning. Most were afraid to go out, especially in the early hour of the morning. The Cathedral had looked so bare. I have not seen it like that before.

Thank You Brownies

I tried baking the Ghinardelli Brownie Mix that I bought from S&R last Thursday. I have promised not to bake anything before my thesis defense but I couldn't help it. I wanted to do something for my friends who helped me raised funds for the needy in our city right now, so I am baking them some brownies.

The one pack of brownie mix requires only a third of water, vegetable oil (which I substituted with butter), and water, and one egg. The mix came together very well and I baked it for about thirty, thirty-five minutes under a 325C pre-heated oven.

I made two batches: one with walnut on top and the other, plain. It turned out to be chewy, perfectly done brownies. How I love it! I hope my office friends will like them.

Day 6

My high school classmates are still working hard to provide help to those affected by this war. For those of us who are away from home are busy looking for funds. We want to feed the hungry evacuees and our soldiers. We want to provide them with basic necessities through hygiene kits. Little by little, we are helping each other so we can help them. It started with just our class but now, our whole batch is pitching in.

Some good things this war has brought us: our class became more close, we realize that we feel passionately about our civic duty and lastly for me, I realize that I more patriotic than I originally thought I am.

And today, I am hoping that we will wake up to a new tomorrow, a new beginning.

Day 5: Feeding the hungry

Doing our part in helping feed the hungry: evacuees, soldiers and policemen. We may be a small group but we are united and we love our hometown. We started small but help always come in (thank you, officemates!) and now, our fellow batchmates are pitching in. Guys, I'm so proud of you. To those delivering the goods, please be careful when you go out. May God listen to our prayers so that this will be over soon.

Day 4

Finally took up the gumption and went around the office to raise funds to feed the hungry of my hometown. My officemates' outpouring generosity and concern for our families, friends, fellow Zamboangueños, and the troops who protect them is overwhelming. Thank you. May this nightmare be over soon so we can live in the peace that we deserve.

1st Day

I did not go to work today.

My foot hurt and I could not walk so I decided to take a sick leave and put my feet up. I then fell asleep. After a few hours, I finally, really woke up. My foot was not getting any better so I stayed put. I checked my mails, I checked my FB.

I was surprised.

What is happening? My newsfeed had been running with stories about my hometown being attacked by rebels who wanted to raise their own flag in our city hall, our seat of governance, to show everyone of their independence from the country. Are they crazy? Who in their right mind would do that? We are all Filipinos and we live under one flag, one country. But there are those who are not satisfied. They want their own but when given the chance years back, wasn't able to bring prosperity to their land. Instead, the wealth that should have lifted their constituents was squandered. Now, they are raising havoc in my hometown. My hometown which has never become a member of their autonomy.

Am I just dreaming?

I am getting worried.

I called my parents. I cried like a baby.

I am so happy that they are well and continue to be well. They have not heard the gunshots that were reported earlier and where we live was still calm. I am appeased. Everything is just well.

Thank God.

But I can't help about the hostages they took to become human shields. My mind cannot grasp the idea that our city is now under siege.

*****

A funny comment I read on Facebook:

Quiere lang gale sila plakfole (flagpole), dona kita plakfole!

You see, the change of f to p and g to k is unique to chavacano speakers in my hometown. Wherever I am, the distinct sound of Chavacano can be heard even when they speak another language or dialect. It is a beautiful sound. It is the sound of home.

travel journal

looking back at my travel journal from 2011... :)

crossing the bridge

i finally got my wish!

K asked me the other day if i have ever been up the towers and when i said no and asked if i can (since i have no time to line up in the mornings like the tourists do), she told me to ask Sal if they can accommodate me. the following day, i asked sal and she told me that she can take me up there (and my boss, too!). wahoo! so today, i got this big, small treat. i felt like i was catherine zeta-jones on that petronas towers bridge...

thanks so much to my sweet, thoughtful friends. also happy to receive the food i've been looking for since i've arrived in kl - serunding. yummy! i kept looking for it but asking the wrong name. the first time i tasted this food, it was brought by my indonesian classmate's wife to stavanger last year. i thought they would have the same name here in kl but i was wrong. here, they call it serunding and now, K has just brought me some! yummy :)

 view of one of the towers from the viewing dome on the bridge connecting the two towers

friends in malaysia

tonight, i got to see a friend of mine from my petrad class last year. it is a blessing that i got to see kuala lumpur for the first time, see petronas twin towers and now this! after almost a year, here's a chance to catch up and form a more lasting friendship :)

the first stop was at K's house for dinner. she prepared a spicy chicken meal which i like very much (i choose home cooked meals anytime). after this, we were supposed to go to another classmate of ours' house for supper but because it is still the month of Ramadan, their prayers lasted longer and it was already late. i guess we are going to see each other another day, before i leave for manila. it's just funny how i was confused when K used the words dinner and supper in the same sentence. isn't that the same, i said, but apparently, since they are fasting, it is two separate meals. dinner is just after sun down and supper after evening prayers. now, isn't that a cool lesson? though i should have expected it since my friends in mindanao also fast during Ramadan.

before taking me back home, K also brought me to kl's Ikea as she remembered how much i wanted to visit the Ikea in Stavanger. how sweet of her. this shop is bigger than the one in stavanger but still has a lot of things to see. if i could just easily take home some of the stuff i've seen, i would! i didn't see a fire blanket, though. that one i would like to buy :)

so happy to see my friend right now and hopefully, i get to see her and Sal before i go home. and maybe go up the twin towers as well? :)

hello, petronas twin towers

at last, i've finally seen you up close and personal...

 

taken from my Samsung Galaxy Y. didn't know it could do this! so happy!

kl - first impression

If it's true what they say about the airport being a reflection of a country, or a city, then I'd say I like Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I like the idea of putting up a semi-forest within the airport even though the airport has a modernist feel to it. Then the roads leading to KLCC is so much better than in the Philippines. I wonder how my country cannot do this when they can afford to give senators and congresspeople 10B for "development" projects.

The next surprise was our hotel. Well, the guys up the management did not book a hotel for us - they booked an apartment. It's so cool. The bed is high and big, there's a kitchen, tv, iron, sala, office table, a shower and tub. Yummy!

Next, we got to have a short tour of the nearest mall to our apartments - the pavilion. We ate at a non-halal Chinese/dimsun place where the food tastes good, especially the vinegar used to dip the dimsun in (tastes like my favorite Ilocos vinegar or basi) and the surprisingly good tofu topped with what something like seaweed.

Last stop is our trip to the grocery for our food supply - Mercato. I absolutely loved it the first time I saw it. And they're products looks yummy and the produce fresh, some of which are new to me! Just couldn't take a picture though coz it might be frowned upon. Anyways, I love the store! Bought myself some grapes, pears (I miss this variety - used to eat them everyday at Stavanger), chocolate, bread and water :)

Just another reflection - walking towards the mall, I felt like I was just in Makati, I couldn't stop and gaze up the tall buildings (I saw the Petronas Towers, by the way). It's a new place, but it's also really Asian in feel. If given a chance, I can live here.

first outcrop

my first outcrop for the year and hopefully not my last...

this is said to be a cinder cone but what interested me more are the structures seen on the outcrop. the fault cuts across the whole length and height of the outcrop and can be seen from the displacements between beds. we even see normal faulting!

what is fun here though is to have shared this time with my friends from university who shares the same passion as mine. even their families are now looking at rocks with us! :)

photo credit: zoantharia

carabao's milk

I did not think that carabao's milk can be that good - until I tasted it.

Yummy. Proudly UP, proudly Filipino!

according to my friends who lived outside the city, especially those in the Katagalugan areas, they would pour this fresh carabao milk in newly cooked plain rice and sprinkle a little bit of salt. this mixture would make a yummy rice meal. i now wonder how it would taste like.

marriage and risk

In our lecture on risks last year --

INSTRUCTOR: In the petroleum industry, there are a lot of risks involved. It's like marriage, if you decide to commit, you know there will be a lot of risks that you would encounter. How many of you are married?

Almost half the class raised their hands including Maria who was seated in front, just beside where the instructor was standing. The instructor looked at her and said:

INSTRUCTOR: You, when you got married, what was the risk involved?
MARIA: I lost my money.

Hahahaha!

the chocolate chip cookies and one more surprise

So here I am on a baking high still. Yesterday, I decided to make empanada since I could not think of any other dessert that I want to make as of the moment. Empanada is one of the favorite pastries of many Filipinos, mine especially. Sometimes, I used to go out of the house just to buy empanada at the nearest store, which is about seven blocks from us. The better if it is fresh.

After mass, I decided to go to the mall to buy my utensils - shell moulder, rolling pin and brush - and my ingredients. I started making the dough around two in the afternoon before cooking the filling so I can let the dough sit for a while. Never did I imagine that making the empanadas would take so long! This is because I had to cut/square/mince all filling ingredients -- onion, garlic, potatoes, carrots, boiled chicken. It was an exhausting work but well worth the effort. When they came out, they truly looked like professional empanadas (except for the burnt underside hahaha). I was happy with what I had. When a couple of friends arrived to pick something up, the first thing they noticed was the very nice smell coming from the oven. That alone made me so happy! And they were lucky too, because they were the first ones who got the freshly baked empanadas, straight from the oven! Yey! :)

The chocolate chip cookies did not turn as chewy as I expected it would be but it was okay, too :) I would probably bring some of these at the office so they can comment on it. Hope they would like it :)

----- updated 9 November 2013 -----

Chicken Empanada (from My Bright Yellow Kitchen)

Filling

2 lbs coarsely chopped chicken (you can use chicken breast but thighs taste better)
2 tbsp cooking oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 piece medium-sized yellow onion, minced
2 gloves garlic, minced
1 medium potato, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 can cream of asparagus soup
1/2 cup green peas, optional
2 hard-boiled eggs cut into strips, optional

 

In a heated pan with cooking oil, saute garlic, onion & carrot until onions are soft and translucent.

Add chicken and stir fry until meat is cooked thru (about 5 minutes). 

Add cream of asparagus soup and potatoes and cook until vegetables are tender (about 10 minutes).

Add green peas and raisins and simmer for about 5 minutes.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Remove from heat. Set aside to cool or store in refrigerator overnight.
 
Dough

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter, cold
6 tbsp ice water
2 raw egg 

(Note: Original recipe calls for only 1 egg. I changed this to add another one to include in the mixing of dough to hold the ingredients together. The other egg will used later as egg wash - see instructions #16-18)

Tools you need: rolling pin, pastry blender (if you don't have one you can use bread knife/fork), pastry brush, round cookie cutter or dough press

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt then mix well.
2. Cut the cold butter into small thin pieces and drop them on the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients.
3. Using a fork, two bread knives, a pastry blender or your fingers, work the butter into the flour (i use both pastry blender and fingers).
4. Don't stop until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 
5. Add cold water one tablespoon at a time and mix all the ingredients thoroughly.
6. Keep mixing until a dough is formed.
7. Divide the dough into individual pieces by grabbing a piece from the whole mixture and rolling it in your hand until a pingpong-sized ball is formed. Do this until all the dough is consumed. Chill in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes or until ready to use.
8. On a floured surface and with floured hands, press the spherical dough with your palm to make it flat.
9. Use a floured rolling pin to flatten it fully while creating a round shape.  Make sure the flattened dough is wide enough to fit on your dough press or a round cookie cutter.
10. Pick the size you want for your empanada (i use medium mold)
11. Take the flattened/rolled dough and place it directly onto the "bowl" shaped, top side of the mold. Gently press and stretch out the dough into the bowl area and over the ridged edges.  Fill with about 1 tbsp of chicken filling and 2 small slices of hard-boiled egg on half of mold. (using your fingers or a small brush, you can also moisten the edges of the dough with a little water so that the dough will stick together better.  I'm too lazy to do this.)
12. Gently close it and apply light pressure.  Remove excess dough and use again when you have enough excess dough to shape a ball.
13. Gently open the mold.
14. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit
15. On a greased baking tray or lined with waxed paper,  arrange the sealed doughs.
16. Prepare the egg wash by cracking an egg and separating the  white from the yolk.
17. Beat the egg white lightly and mix about 1 teaspoon of water.
18. Brush each empanada with egg wash. 
19. Bake for 25 minutes.  
20. Remove from oven and allow to cool in tray for 5 minutes.
21. Transfer on a cooling rack. 

baking session 2

I am still on a baking high so I decided to bake two things over the weekend - brownies and cookies. Tonight, I made the mixture for these two but only the brownies mixture was put into the oven because the recipe for the chocolate chip cookies requires the dough to sit overnight. Here's my final product!

The top is the chocolate chip cookie dough that needs to sit overnight and the bottom picture is the baked brownies. Although the recipe (adapted from Jaime Oliver's website) did not say anything about marshmallows, I decided to put some on top so I could see how cooked the mixture is (if the marshmallows are black, then it is burnt! Hahaha). It turned out pretty well, so chocolatey but my only comment is, the brownies was too crumbly. Hoping I can perfect it next time so that there won't be too much crumbling of the mixture when baked :)

---- updated 9 November 2013 ----

Chocolate Chip Cookie (thanks to Sally's Baking Addiction)

2 1/4 cup all purpose flour, spoon and leveled
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar, loosely packed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips or chocolate chunks

Toss together the flour, baking soda, cornstarch and salt in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a medium size bowl, whisk the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar together until no brown sugar lumps remain. Whisk in the egg, then egg yolk. Finally, whisk in the vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix together with a large spoon or rubber spatula. The dough will be very soft. Fold in the chocolate chips. They may not stick to the dough becasue of the melted butter, but do your best to have them evenly dispersed among the dough. Cover the dough and chill for two hours, or up to 3 days. Chilling is mandatory.

Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow to slightly soften at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.

Roll the dough into balls, about 3 tbsp of dough each. The dough will be crumbly, but the warmth of your hands will allow the balls to stay intact. Roll the cookie dough balls to be taller rather than wide, to ensure the cookies will bake up to be thick. Put 8 balls of dough onto each cookie sheet. Press a few more chocolate chip/chunks on top of the dough balls for looks, if desired. Bake the cookies for 11 to 12 minutes. The cookies will look very soft and underbaked. Do not bake longer than 12 minutes. They will continue to bake on the cookie sheet. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for ten minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool completely.

----

Jamie Oliver's bloomin brilliant brownies

250 g unsalted butter
200 g good-quality dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken up
75 g dried sour cherries, optional
50 g chopped nuts, optional
80 g cocoa powder, sifted
65 g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder
360 g caster sugar
4 large free-range eggs
zest of optional 1 orange
250 ml creme fraiche, optional

note: since i am just starting and haven't learned how to convert from weight to volume, i just looked up online what's the nearest conversion to the recipe ingredients. the optional ingredients i left alone, walnuts for the nuts, and granulated sugar was substituted for the caster sugar.

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F gas 4. Line a 25cm square baking tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl over some simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate and mix until smooth. Add the cherries and nuts, if you're using them, and stir together.

In a separate bowl, mix together the cocoa powder, flour, baking powder and sugar, then add this to the chocolate, cherry and nut mixture. Stir together well. Beat the eggs and mix in until you have a silky consistency.

Pour your brownie mix into the baking tray, and place in the oven for around 25 minutes. You don't want to overcook them so, unlike cakes, you don't want a skewer to come out all clean. The brownies should be slightly springy on the outside but still gooey in the middle.

Allow to cool in the tray, then carefully transfer to a large chopping board and cut into chunky squares. These make a fantastic dessert served with a dollop of creme fraiche mixed with some orange zest.

note: since this was my first time to bake a brownie, i am not sure how to see if they're properly cooked so i placed some marshmallow on top so i could see if the top is already cooked or not. the marshmallow bit turned out well though, so i am happy about it.

fruit of our baking labor

Finally, I got to bake a simple dessert with my mom and cousin tonight! It looks so yummy, don't you think? We baked two things today, blueberry muffin and dayap cookies. I realized though that baking is a very expensive hobby and that is why, a blueberry muffin, for example, is expensive! Imagine, the recipe requires two pints of blueberries and one pint already costs P186! It also needs one cup of sour cream and that costs P85 already! That's one big revelation.

However, we were able to use free, local ingredients for the dayap cookies. Actually, the recipe for lemon crinkles calls for lemons but we substituted it with the local lime, dayap. What is really nice about this dayap is it is fresh, and it is free! My cousin and I went to harvest the dayap that is bearing fruit in front of our Aunt-Lola's house in the province (without her knowing it as she was too busy dancing during our cousin's wedding yesterday). I'm sure that is fine with her because I doubt they would use all of it nor they use it often. Anyways, after we baked the thing, it turned out to be a cookie. I guess, I overcooked it so instead of crinkles, it turned out to be cookies. The taste is not that bad, though. I would surely make another batch of this next time.

------ update on 9 November 2013 -----

Blueberry Muffin (courtesy of Barefoot Contessa, lifted from mehanskitchenblogspot.com)

1 1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature (I know, annoying, pull it out the night before) 1 1/2 c sugar 3 eggs, room temperature 1 1/2 t vanilla 1 c sour cream 1/4 c milk 2 1/2 c flour 2 t baking powder  1/2 t baking soda 1/2 t kosher salt 2 half pints blueberries 
Preheat oven to 350.  Line muffin pan (makes 16) In a stand mixer with the paddle, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy (5 minutes).  On low speed, add eggs, slowly, then vanilla, sour cream and milk.  In a separate bowl, sift flour, baking powder and baking soda (add salt after).  On low speed, add flour mixture until to batter until just mixed.  Remove bowl from stand and fold in blueberries. With ice cream scoop, generously pour into muffin liners to top.  Bake for 25 minutes.

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Lemon Crinkles (thanks goes to www.laurenslatest.com for this recipe!)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1tsp lemon zest (i substituted it with dayap zest)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice (again, dayap juice)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, zest and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte (not metly or shiny). Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

time to bake

A few days ago, I was surprised to receive an email from my friend asking if I was interested in "adopting" her oven. Their family moved to a new place and there was no space for their oven. She did not want to leave it behind nor sell it because it has a sentimental value to her - her husband gave this to her on their first Christmas together. I readily replied and told her I would be very happy to take in the oven and not an hour has passed that she emailed back, making sure that I understand that it is only a loan and I do not get to keep it. Hahaha. Funny, it really does have a sentimental value to her. I am just so glad that she thought of me because I have been wanting to try baking but I hesitate to buying my own oven. This way, my friend and I both solved our needs.

Can't wait to start baking and I am glad that the first time would be with my mom who is arriving tomorrow evening!

pasalubong!

How I love the Filipino tradition of pasalubong. If you are not familiar with this yet, this is bringing a little something for your loved ones when you arrived back home from a travel, or in some cases, after living in a different place for quite some time. The habit is a kind of sharing of what the place you had been to, is. Some bring home t-shirts, sweet delicacies, key chains, ref magnets, mugs, caps -- whatever that has something in it that identifies the place. However, this can also be the other way around. If a Pinoy is visiting friends in another place, they bring gifts for those people, just to share something from back home. I remember once, we brought a Jollibee bucket to our friends in Japan as pasalubong and a local coffee beans for friends in Ireland. You see, giving something can make everyone happy :)

So for now, I am the recipient of this nice tradition when my sister's friend arrived from a 6-week training in Washington, D.C. All these came from my sister and I am so happy! Feeling lots of love right now! :)

independence day

Maligayang araw ng pagkasarinlan, Pilipinas!

(Happy Indepedence Day, Philippines!)

The Philippine Flag in my office cubicle :)

dessert time

Made this tonight after arriving home. Needs to be refrigerated first.

salad education

I love salads but most often, I don't know what kind of greens I am eating! If I don't like the taste of it, I set it aside. Now I have found this, incomplete it may be, but at least it got nice pictures to go with what is presented.

Get to know your salad greens 

last days of summer

Went out to the University Park (Lagoon) today to enjoy the last few sunshiny days before the rainy season starts. Heaven :)

*****

Yesterday, I was also at the Academic Oval because I felt like walking. I tried running again but only covered about half a kilometer before I felt a discomfort in my ankle. Fortunately, no pain in my heels. Maybe I'd try walking more often.

choir loft chair

Engraving on a choir loft chair at San Agustin Church, Intramuros....

 

Interestingly, these chairs are hand-carved in the 17th century on molave hardwood. The church is of the baroque style, constructed during the Spanish Colonial Era, and had been named one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1993. Also, looking up on the ceiling of the church would give an impression of three-dimensional artwork, but is in fact a trompe-l'œil, an art technique that deceives the eye.

What's more interesting though is finding out that the tomb of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi is located on the east side of the altar! de Legazpi was the first governor-general of the Philippines and the founder of Manila, having made a peace pact with Rajah Sulaiman and Rajah Lakan Dula. He also ordered the construction of the walls of Intramuros which still stands today. Before settling in Manila, de Legazpi also made the famous blood compact with Datu Sikatuna in Tagbilaran, Bohol on 1565.

another beach moment

Another beach scene taken a couple of years ago when we were still young and more unafraid - just packed a bag and hopped on a bus. This year, I missed going to the beach on a good summer's day (and rainy season is almost starting). Definitely, next year, I won't miss it.

Pagudpud, Philippines

 

the beach is beckoning me...

Marinduque, Philippines

This picture was taken from a fieldwork back in 2005. So long ago but I can still remember the heat of the sun on my skin, the lovely cool water, the small boat vibrating, jumping as it cuts through the waves, white sands across the water, green coconut trees swaying with the cool wind. And of course, laughter with my classmates, feeling excited of what we would see just around the island, getting ready to jump on the water to reach our beloved outcrops. Yeah, missing those days.

after fieldwork

A slow walk on the beach after a very long, tiring fieldwork day when I was still in school. Missing those days.

in my mind

Two things at the back of mind all the time --

1. Middle East trip itinerary

2. US trip itinerary

I wonder when I can make this happen....

hometown island beach

Obviously not a really good picture (can't seem to find the whole album) but this beach is a small heaven - quiet, less people, and pink sand... :)

Sta. Cruz Island, Zamboanga City
Philippines
 

let's travel

A belated gift to my friend -- hope she likes it and gets to travel to her dream places... :) Hope this will inspire her :)

schokoladen

Missing Cologne and the Schokoladen Museum with its chocolate serving cacao tree in the Lindt factory and the many assorted chocolates at the shop. Yummy. Hope I can come back and spend more time here and try all the chocolates they have. :)

A Stork or a Stroke?

This entry was posted in my old blog and I decided to move it here to log all my travel adventures in one site. This entry was looking back at a trip that I made years ago, the second time I traveled to Cambridge, England for a Visiting Student Program. 

A friend of mine who's studying in Japan told me of her Japanese lessons and her two other classmates, a Russian and Bulgarian. She was telling me that this Bulgarian was lambasting (her words, not mine) the Russian and their communist dream. I wondered whether she understood what they were saying because I remembered one funny dinner conversation we had with a Bulgarian...

We were having dinner one night at one of the restaurants in town. The table was like a United Nations, a gathering of people of different nationalities and one of them was this nice Bulgarian who looks like Santa Claus. At one point during the dinner, he was really excited talking about his son being in the rowing team. He said:

"It was really exciting. The boats just bum-ped each other most of the time! They have to take the best route down the river so they just bum-ped the other boats!"

Unfortunately, I wasn't used to his English yet so it took me a long time to understand what bum-ped means! Actually, it only means BUMPED. The second was this:

"Really, my time in the Philippines, it was really different. In the province, you can see there are jeeps running around, like kinks of the road! Really, kinks of the road. They even just run through the rice they are drying!"

Hmmm.. kinks of the road? Oh well, he just meant that the jeeps acted like they were the KINGS of the road. The last funny thing I remembered was this:

English girl: "So tell us about your tradition that's happening tomorrow!"

"Oh yes! We wear blue ribbon (I think that was blue, or was it red?) and then we send it off to the stroke for ... (I forgot what for...)..."

"What's a stroke?"

"Oh it's a kind of a bird! With long beaks (at this point he was demonstrating the length of the beak with his hands from his mouth)... You don't have it here in your country!"

"Oh, is it white? Long beak? (In the background: Yes, you don't have it here!")
Oooh, you mean STORK (in the best British accent I heard)?"

"Yes, yes, yes! A STROKE!"

Wow, all I can say is, Amazing! That dinner was really great! I miss that guy!

Looking Back, part 2

This entry was posted in my old blog and I decided to move it here to log all my travel adventures in one site. This entry was looking back at a trip that I made years ago, the second time I traveled to Cambridge, England for a Visiting Student Program. 

London, England

What’s a trip to the UK if you don’t visit London, right? Right! So when we were there, E and I set a weekend to visit this beautiful city. This was also the best time to see our friends and for me to deliver B’s contact lens and gifts from the family. See, killing two birds with one stone! But before I could deliver the stuff I’m carrying, we sort of got lost first because apparently, there are two platform 9s in the Paddington station from the Tube. It’s just good that B knows her way around and was able to find us (same goes with E’s friend).

Pictures(cc): Statue of Queen Bordecis along the River Thames; the top of Big Ben (look how similar it is with the clock found in the entrance of Trinity College; a direction marker (what is this really called?) near the Big Ben; statue in front of Buckingham Palace.

Hmm… I’ve read somewhere that when a statue has horse with its two front legs up, that means the rider was victorious and if one leg is down, it means that the rider either injured or had fallen in the battle.

 

This is inside the London Aquarium. I was glad E insisted of going here because I wouldn’t have bothered to before. Now, I can say that I saw Bruce and Nemo up close with other interesting creatures (look at the green creature in the next picture). I just could not remember its name but for sure, it’s something from the eel family.

By the way, I would like to thank E for sharing these pictures since my analog camera was not working in very dim conditions.

Of course, the Museum of Natural Museum wasn’t to be missed, especially since B’s school is just nearby. The museum was wonderful -which reminds me, I should visit our own National Museum soon-, with bays going to pre-historic creatures such as dinosaurs with its skeleton reconstructions, dioramas, and discussion of mass extinction that removed them from the face of the Earth, There was also a wing dedicated only to minerals and ores. I was really amazed to see some minerals whose crystals are bigger than the half a fist size samples we have at our own laboratory classes. Too bad, I just couldn’t touch them. Ore samples that I only see in books came alive for me that day. Imagine, cubic gold nuggets, dendritic silver and gold deposits, copper, and even asteroids, in one big room! Now that I’ve written this, I remember that there are fossils and mineral samples lying along the hallways of the Earth Sciences in Cambridge.

Another experience E and I wouldn’t miss was a West End musical so on another night, we went to London to watch Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre. When we arrived at West End, we almost did not make it to the show because we got lost. There were a lot of theatres showing different plays and musicals. Since we were so desperate and running so late (we didn’t have tickets yet), I took up my courage and asked the first person I saw, who looked like a Londoner, where the theater was, only to be told, ‘Sorry, I don’t know. I’m actually from New York.’ What the heck! Nagtanong nga, sa maling tao pa talaga! The next people we asked were of no help either. As we kept on walking (thank God, it was in the right direction this time), the map copied began making sense and in the end, we finally found the theater with time to spare for a couple of pictures. I’d actually like to talk about the play but this is getting too long and might bore you already. Suffice it to say that the production was beautiful (there was even a cute guy playing in the orchestra hehehe). If you want to see pictures inside the theater, sorry, we don’t have any because it’s not allowed. But you can ask yung mga makukulit na Intsik na kasama naming nanood. Sinisita na sila, wala pa ring pakialam!Trigger happy sa camera Hehehe

On our way home to Cambridge after this weekend trip, we walked along the River Thames first to say 'good night and hope to see you again, London'. Below is the view of the Tower Bridge along the riverbank, Tower of London side. Again, thank you for the picture, E.

Looking Back, part 1

Cambridge, England

This entry was posted in my old blog and I decided to move it here to log all my travel adventures in one site. This entry was looking back at a trip that I made years ago, the second time I traveled to Cambridge, England for a Visiting Student Program. 

The picture above is of a college along the Queens Road (if I remember it right). I’ve always passed by this building everytime I go to the department but now, I couldn’t remember what it is called. As you can see, it has a great architecture, which I bet would date back since the 14th-15th century. Imagine, this place was founded around the 12th century, while our forefathers were still in their bahags and living a peaceful life until the Spanish discovered the Philippines in 1521. I love old buildings and this place is full of them. When I walked around the town, I just have to touch the walls and think at the same time, ‘wow! People who lived centuries before me also touched this wall, must have also slipped in the icy, wet road…’ I am very glad that I had the chance to visit and experience this place.

 

This is another entrance that I love in Cambridge because of its history. This is the Trinity College entrance. The story is that the statue of King Henry before was holding a scepter in his left hand and the globe with a cross on top on his right hand. But as the story goes, there came a time when ‘drunk’ students played a prank on this statue by the entrance and replaced the scepter with a leg of a stool. Hehehe… Anyway, this is also obviously an old building and you could even see the three coats of arms that is the symbol (or so) of the college. The clock design must also be standard before because this one looks almost the same with other clocks I’ve seen there, including that of the Big Ben.

The next picture is inside one of the two Catholic churches in town, and the nearest to where we were staying (meaning: probably a 20 minute walk). The design again, is very medieval with arches and ‘domal’ structure at the altar, heavy doors, simple wooden pews, exquisite wall carvings, and stained glass windows. How romantic but the one and only time Eden and I were able to get the schedule right and attend the mass, I was reminded that religion is really a big business enterprise. We went to mass to pray and listen to the word of God but what do we get during the Homily? Mostly a discussion of the church’s finances! We were pretty much disappointed so we consoled ourselves by drinking hot choco and checking our emails after the mass.

This next picture is a punting scene near the Bridge of Sighs. It is a big thing to learn how to punt or just to sit back in the punts during the summer although I think it is all year round, weather permitting. Lucky enough for me, I got to experience punting and even tried to go for one of their traditions where you reach up and go over a bridge and then jump back to the punt when it had finished crossing beneath the bridge. For the avid Amazing Race viewer, this scene might be familiar to you. This was one of the detours in one of the legs of the third season.



But what did we really do there? We did research. Unfortunately, I don’t have a picture of the department where we’ve done our respective researches. (Why didn’t we take a picture of it, anyway?!) But let me tell you, I was happy staying at their library with their almost complete set of journals that runs from floor to ceiling (since I am petite, I always get a kick going up and down their footstools and ladders just to get to the journals I need!), very big tables or small tables set against a window or a heater, extra fluorescent lamps, automatic lighting system, free internet, do-it-yourself photocopy system, borrow-it-yourself system, and most of all, the enter- whenever -you- like- with- your- own- key system. I wish we have something like that here in our own department. It would truly make research more enjoyable.

prambanan - a story

a rainy day in prambanan, central java

there was once a beautiful princess who turned down all her suitors. she didn't find any of them to her liking. one day, a prince saw her and immediately fell in love with her but the princess was cold and turned him down, too. she knew the prince was bad and didn't want for her husband. yet the prince was insistent. he asked her again and again and again to marry him until one day, just to stop him from asking her again, and because she was bored, she agreed to marry him in one condition. the condition was that he must build a thousand statues/temples before the sun rises.

with this challenge, the prince agreed and started to meditate. he was a powerful prince and soon after, he conjured the demons and asked them to help him build the thousand temples for his future bride, just until the sun rises. the demons agreed and they started working on it, carrying stones from far across the land, carving it and building it from ground.

the princess saw this and feared that the prince will finish the thousand temples in one night so she too, meditated. when the gods appeared, she asked that the prince be stopped from finishing the job. when asked why she didn't want to marry the prince, she said that he was bad and she didn't like him. the princess was persistent and the gods gave in, in one condition. she must, during the night, take all the hay from her village and before the sunrise, she must burn it all. so then, while the prince was working hard to create the temples, the princess started collecting hay and before the sunrise, set it to flame.

the flame grew big that at once, the demons saw this. they thought it was the sunrise and started going back to where they came from. the prince tried to stop them because he saw that it was only a fire but the demons cannot be stopped. they went and he was left alone. the sun rose and the prince had created nine hundred ninety nine statues.

the prince asked the princess why she did it and she told him because she didn't want to marry him. but the prince was so in love with the princess and didn't care for anyone to claim her. for him, she was his forever and to make that come true, he turned her to stone, his last, his thousandth statue. now then, princess, he said. you are truly mine. no one will own you except for me. and then he thought, but still, she is beautiful. one can come in the night and steal her from me. so the prince decided to cut her nose to make her ugly. that way, no one would want to claim her, either in flesh or in stone.

yet that was not the end of the story....

the prince told his father what he did. the king became angry and turned him into a water buffalo. his son wanted to be with the princess forever so he placed the princess' statue over the prince/animal's back and put them in one room. that way, they were together forever but forever they are alone for they were never married...

the stuppa

buddha once said to his student, when i die, you place me in a stuppa. what's a stuppa, the student replied. buddha then proceeded to explain in a graphical way what a stuppa is. first, you put my body seated on a lotus, you cover me in something like a rice bowl and you pin it to the ground with my cane. this story was told by my guide.

now there is a more spiritual explanation for a stuppa. for buddhists, it represents buddha's body, his speech and his mind but most especially his mind and every part that shows the path to enlightenment.

the giant

on my tour to central java, this image was a familiar sight. the tour guide then told me a story about him and how he came about to guard the gates of the gods...

this one was once a giant who wanted to become immortal. one day, in a party of gods and goddesses, the giant came dressed as a monk. he wanted to be immortal, you see, and in that gathering, the gods and goddesses would partake from the cup of immortal waters. the giant went and took the cup but someone recognized him for what he really was - a giant. someone recognized him and told a powerful god. as the giant was about to drink from the cup, the god came and cut him from the jaw down. until this day, the giant's head was placed in the gates without his jaws and his tongue going down to the side and steps of the entrance.