Too bad, I don’t eat banana…

I read that supermarkets in Japan are struggling to meet consumer demand for bananas (sales of banana are up by 25% since the same period last year) as a fad diet sweeps the country. The jist is that you eat banana and have a glass of warm water every morning… it fuelled weight loss, regardless of what was eaten during the rest of the day. But nutrition experts have been skeptical, saying bananas do not directly trigger weight loss.

ECP is our new favorite get away. I love walking in the sand while Alvin loves taking pictures… and we both love playing UFO Catcher! It is also a great place for gatherings; there were so many activities to choose from… jogging, cycling, roller blades, camping, barbeque party and playing in the sand and in the mini carnival (the best ). Maybe next time, we should also bring our own cooked food instead of eating in a fancy restaurant. Cost cutting, huh! But we don’t want to have an additional luggage in tow… Hmmm… 

Sunset at ECP is very beautiful and relaxing… hopefully next time we’ll be able to witness the sun rising.   

We are currently looking for computer desks since we usually spend most of our time with our computers… Right now, we are just using laptop support from IKEA but Alvin prefers to have a workstation ArteStation at home. He’s not working as an IT consultant at home but as an artist/photographer/picture editor. Remember one of our bedrooms converted in to a photography studio?

For me, it is also a great idea since I am experiencing back pains after spending long hours in front of the computer… it’s also one reason why I wasn’t able to blog lately. For now, my assignment is to look for a good desk.

How about this one? I think this would look great in our bedroom… 

Lately, I’ve been too busy to update my blog. I am currently hooked to my baking experiments. Just the other day, I baked carrot cake and mango light cheesecake. Sorry, no pictures since I didn’t have the chance to decorate them… We consumed it already. No diet again. Should I consider alli? Hmmm…

I bought another cookbook and I can’t wait to try some of the recipes. I only have one problem, the unit of measurement is in grams.  I know; I can convert grams to cups… approximately. Take note: precision is an important factor to consider when baking. Right now, digital kitchen weighing scale (with at least one decimal place) is on top of my wish list. Aside from that, I am also eyeing WMF  Cookwares and Cuttleries, Corelle Tableware Set and a slow cooker… Last quarter, we were very fond of buying bedding sets. We even agreed that for our new house, we would buy a queen sized bed instead of a king sized as initially planned just to use the beddings that we bought. Pathetic!

Since Alvin got me an early Christmas gift… I am still pushing my luck to receive other Christmas gifts that will be beneficial for both of us! Those items are in my 2008 Christmas wishlist. I am starting to be domesticated, gosh!What do you think? 

I’m so busy…

• watching koreanovela
• baking
• cooking
• cleaning the house
• hibernating
• …
• …

Have a happy weekend!

Lolee is starting to drive again. Actually, she only needs some practice… lots of practice! Since the present car insurance is about to expire, my mom is looking for another insurance company. The present insurance company already sent a car insurance quote and my mom is somehow convinced… courtesy of Lolee.

Lolee’s favorite only route: house to South Supermarket which is about 15 minutes drive from our house. Now, I doubt it if she can be our personal driver in Manila (and I will be her personal traffic aid). Let’s just hope for the best…  

* Sorry Lolee, I only have this picture.

Last Saturday, Alvin joined the Canon Photo Marathon. It was a whole day event… Registration starts at 7:30AM and ends at almost 10:00PM. It was a long and tiring day for Alvin. But at least, he enjoyed the marathon… It was a new experience for him.

On the night before the event; Alvin packed his things: camera, two lenses, camera flash, spare battery, extra flash memory and cleaning kit. For the first time, I never had a hard time waking him up so early. Excited, huh!

On that day, three themes were given: CHANGE, DREAMS and FREEDOM. For each theme, three hours were given to submit the best captured image. Simple? I don’t think so…

Lola and Nay (figure Santa )  will be coming this November! I really need to clean our guest room, make iteneraries, prepare foods and bake some cakes for my mom… It’s been almost a year since Lola and I saw each other. Now, we’re both excited to shop!!! Nay, prepare your credit card!

Alvin and I were also looking forward for Christmas and New Year family gatherings in the Philippines. It will be our first Christmas in Manila since we got married… I already informed Lola that she will be our shopping buddy and personal driver! I just hope that by that time, she can drive very well. I think my mom really needs to update the auto insurance! Peace Lola!  

See you both!

Brazo de Mercedes is one of our favorite desserts. When Alvin was confined in St. Luke’s, it’s my everyday lunch dessert. I love it… even though it is really fattening.

I got my recipe idea from a food blogger and from my cook book but I alter the filling and the meringue. For the filling, I add lemon zest and lemon juice to reduce the sweetness. I remember my mom’s leche flan… so creamy and not too sweet because of lime juice. For the meringue, I add vanilla. At first, I was hesitant with this idea… I read before that in making meringue, extra care should be observed since it is very sensitive to water and oil. I did some research and here’s what I got: add the vanilla at the end of the beating process, as their natural oils can prevent the egg white from beating to stiff peaks. Lesson #1: Study and research before baking… Ingredients are quite expensive; there should be no room for error!

We love my brazo de mercedes; the filling is not too sweet and yummy! For now, I will not bake another brazo de mercedes… too fattening! Kaka-guilty kainin!

My finished product (not bad for a first timer ):

***
I want to enroll in culinary school but it will cost us Php 500, 000.00++ for me to have a diploma! Too much for a hobby… Just last year, I am about to enroll in another baking school… unfortunately classes were suspended due to salmonella poisoning in one of their bakeshop! Balatina! For now, I’ll just study on my own… Next assignment: Christmas log cake! Wish me luck!

* Brazo de Mercedes - similar to a rolled cake and is made from a sheet of meringue rolled around a custard filling.

The other day I baked pandesal (as requested by Alvin)… Pandesal ala Putok! Hard outside but soft inside; bigat sa tiyan! Anyway, I’ll try to find another good recipe… I’ll just keep you posted. Hopefully next time I’ll come up with a true pandesal.

* Pandesal - literally means ’salt bread’; refers to a small bread with a soft powdery texture.

* Putok - literally means ‘explode’; refers to a small hard bread roll whose cratered surface is glazed with sugar.