evil and demented little cooker girl

happy new year

2012-01-30T03:22:00.000-08:00

sooooooooo late. i am so late.

new year's eve is my son's birthday!

hello 2012!
its another year to make life brighter. and as i enter another timeline ( NOT facebook timeline, NO ) i wish to have more fun memories with my son and more adventures. i have been making a lot of progress especially on my photography and what i want 2012 to be.

i was supposed to fly out of the country when the new year came in, but it's not happening. i guess it is not yet the right time to leave my son and make more money outside the Philippines. i was really expecting to gather more culinary experience and to explore a different culture and connect to the world. i felt sad but hey, isn't it more fun in the Philippines?!

gaining new friends is one other thing that moves our life. one of my closest friends, pretty much exposed me to who is behind Lokal Soul, Manila Surfers Association and making surfing trips happen. i won't forget my first ever surfing trip to Bagasbas in Daet, Camarines Norte. 10 hours drive, been there twice. I would definitely pay another visit this summer, bring the best gang and get some unforgettable waves.

this is Cemento!

recently was my first surfing trip for 2012, we went to Baler, Aurora. that's my second time to surf over there and was able to explore another spot which they call Cemento. the superb waves that day wasn't for me. i just took some satisfying shots off my camera.

more surfing trips this year. and probably a mountain hike for me. and out of the country expeditions. to the best gang members, you know who you are.

to know more about MSA (local surfers group that shares the finest stoke)
and LOKALSOUL (local surfing blog delight) just click their links away!

MSA
LOKALSOUL

RIP LX3

2011-11-18T00:10:00.001-08:00

i feel guilty of its death.
damn beer spilled on it.
it was at Baler, Aurora, my recent trip to experience the surf and music festival.
and its final snaps are here.

rest in peace my good karma kamera.

i am unhappy. i am sorry for being so clumsy.

30 SECONDS TO MARS

2011-08-24T04:47:00.000-07:00

Into The Wild Tour, Live in Manila, July 29, 2011

i missed some good bands who have reached Manila skies and showed us their stuff. like stone temple pilots, john mayer, etc.

first reason i cannot watch is, time, and second is money. i know some were worth the wait or surprisingly making a show here. among all the bands, 30 seconds to mars was the most exciting to see, because i knew it was jared leto's band.

i didn't think twice. but since i was pretty busy with this project i have been working on, and that the execution of the project was the day before the concert, i was still held up if i should buy a ticket or not.

i bought the ticket on the day of the concert.

the venue was just across our home. i would even hear the whole concert from here, but definitely won't see it.

kara is a fan, a close friend of mine and we both decided to go together.

and then it began to rain. NON-STOP. we were drenched. we didn't care. everybody didn't care.

i still got some pretty takes from my lovely good karma kamera, LX-3. and i get see jared leto's lovely, ever so dreamy eyes.

thanks to the rain and to jared, tomo and shannon and the whole crew of 30 seconds to mars.

i still can't believe i was at a concert like that, again.

one band i would really like to see who is already disbanded: SMASHING PUMPKINS

one band i would really like to see now here in the philippines: DAVE MATTHEWS BAND

IPA

2011-06-16T11:33:00.000-07:00

These were my two entries for Invisible Photographer Asia's Street Photography Contest.

Tried. But nobody from the Philippines got in.

I absolutely agree those 20 finalists deserved it!

Compared to my entries.

My friend said my captions are amazing. Well, that's what he said.

Better luck next time!

First Entry:

Actually this shot was taken by my friend/mentor

Using my LX-3, he accompanied me when I visited my grandmother in our old neighborhood.

"SAKLA"

This man often witness what is happening at this local card game here in our neighborhood. Every night of his old life, wishing to get some fortune. I'm clueless if he is the 'sakla' operator or just a by-stander or a player.

That is the street corner where people gather up regularly, just to get some luck. They wrap up when the sun is already shining towards their weary eyes.

The practice of gambling at a wake has been part of our culture. Sometimes, authorities don't bother breaking these 'sakla' games because the proceeds go to the mourning family to help pay for the burial.

Malabon City, Metro Manila, Philippines

Taken: May 25, 2011 from my LX3

Second Entry:

This shot was taken by me. I joined our first ever photowalk for 2011 of my group in Flickr, Flickristasindios.

"FREE FALL"

This is an activity which a person, or this kid has fallen off a boat into the water, although this is not an emergency situation. The kids of Manila, find leisure in their free time by getting a free fall. A big plunge, despite the dirty river. As long as they can have fun and dive in different forms possible.

Manila, Philippines

Taken: January 9, 2011 from my 5DMarkII

5 months passed

2011-05-17T23:21:00.000-07:00

Due to my laziness, I forgot to update and check my blog since December 2010. My grandfather recently passed away and I haven't really been paying attention to everything around me.

Real statement: I am such an addict in micro blogging in my Tumblr and on Facebook.

I should go back to writing. I have a new "mentor", that's what I call him nowadays. He's been supportive in terms of my photography and the way I see things. I can't still say he's a gift from heaven, however I am learning a lot from him. Thank you, you know who you are.

I should be writing about the best group there is in the entire universe. I started writing on paper, though I should be writing it here. I'll make one entry about that. The history where it all started.

Recently, we started shooting my tattoo artist, Butch Rosca, about his works and life. We are going to be working on his AVP soon. I can't wait to work and practice my skills in editing and making story board and writing.

Although it's a bit wrong timing, because I have no help. I am a slave at my own home and there will be a big adjustment for my son because he's transferring now to a bigger school that will paved his way until high school. I don't think I will be transferring him anymore. That would be another orientation. I want consistency.

There were so many trips, shoots, and happy endings for the past 5 months. Now it's time to get serious, i guess. I will be more active in here, bringing back the habit. A better habit.

I am so grateful for the half year of my 2011. I have met a lot of people, establishing myself in photography, intensifying my portfolio,and just grabbing the opportunities that makes me exceptionally happy.

Should I say countless writings coming soon?

To sum it all up in photos what happened during the past 5 months...

my official flyer

2010-12-05T02:01:00.000-08:00

finale!

thanks so much brian sergio

my way

2010-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

so i am out of the restaurant world.

and now to a bridge back to the music scene.

currently shooting for a few bands and currently doing album layout for KALAYO. you should check their gigs here.

my first ever produced video, 'ULAN' by JOHNOY DANAO got more than 10,000 hits on YOUTUBE.

the second one is coming soon. watch out for that.

it's been fun! exciting! crazy!

especially when best friends are around.

thank you for the happy trips!

THE food styling book of all time

2010-08-08T00:49:00.000-07:00

i finally got the book i needed for my passion!:)

thanks tita ganda for giving me this book!

thank you thank you thank you!!!

worth buying!

miss Delores Custer has shared everything from all her experiences!:)

now i have to read this by heart, cover to cover.

here goes my first street

2010-06-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

i was bored. and it was monday. got nothing to do besides take care of my son and do housechores. i was, surprisingly, invited by a great photojournalist. and so i went. took a jeep. arrived at the church. witnessed his passion on what he does best. i said to myself, am i really here? i don't even think i was worthy to be with him that day. i look up to this man for years. he enouraged me to take shots. and so i did.

thank you.

thank you for opening me to this candid activity.

i was like a little child having her first ever field trip.

so it's not only food i take or make. but also this.

another interesting kind of photography to explore.

more street to come.

i can't wait.

resigned. reworked. relive. rest.

2010-06-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

here i go again. trying hard to put something in here. i have been lazy, like a zombie.

well, i've been busy with so many things. being a single mom is hard work but worth it.

i resigned my assisting job in the culinary school i have graduated from. it has been rewarding for me to work with the best chefs in the country and students who have tremendously appreciated what i helped them and to those who became my close friends and played an important role in my stay at the school. even if i torture them. hahaha! i had fun and will surely miss the school.

but it is time for me to move on and get it on with my career. i really want to be in a real kitchen. honestly, i have no ultimate kitchen work experience yet. and i have been passed on for so many years, not that i'm saying i wasted time, but this is the time now for me to get it. culinary arts is at its peak here in the country and everybody is so into it. and so the search is on. i have been dreaming about this.

me, alessa (student), noreen(student), chef sean(my brah!)

anyways, i am still currently doing food styling and even photography.

my breakfast banana split

i have been recently developing recipes for a website. i hope you can check it out, Anchor Recipes, its been pleasant working with them. and i can't believe that for the first time, it gave me a boost on my confidence that random people, i don't even know, appreciated my recipes. i am very thankful for that. if you can also check out my portfolio site, which isn't that ready yet, Isi's Online Portfolio, but most of my work are at my Flickr.

and since i am back working at home, my spices and flavoring extracts are selling again. i'm starting getting food orders too, for small groups.

resting and being fulltime with my son has been a delightful experience once again. researching and browsing new things over the net and an addict on plants vs. zombies is my past time for now.

hoping by july, i will gain kitchen work, back to where i belong.

i can't wait to cook for alot of people.

Cooliris Photo Wall

2010-03-07T06:43:00.001-08:00

burfday month

2010-02-18T17:29:00.000-08:00

it's been fun to shoot with this big client of mine, i have been doing food styling as a side job. yesterday was a success, all 30 dishes were shot. and they were good to eat too. i am not the old school food stylist who uses motor oil or other artificial products. it's been very rewarding also to see my previous work put up on a poster and print ads. and it's worth it also being paid to do this. hehehe

i can't post what i did, but i will soon. or maybe you can see them in major supermarkets or magazines and on their website. will feature that soon.

***

february 6th. i had a big blast for my burfday. i don't really celebrate my burfday but this year was different. everybody came. the people who loves me truly. thanks to everybody who made me feel happy on my birthday.

february 7th. i treated my family out for dinner. then after i had videoke with my friends and they brought me to a place i never been to. not going to tell where! hahahaha! after 27 years of my life, my eyes were devirginized!

february 8th. my real birthday. it was a monday, so i was at work, ordinary day to work but some of my students surprised me, one gave me a balloon, so sweet of her. and a group of students came up to me and gave me a strawberry cake with a candle on it. so so sooooo sweet of them! thank you for making me feel special.

good family, good friends, good life, feel the love. (naxxx! yiheeee!)

***

tomorrow, after 4 years of not being able to go out of town, i will finally indulge myself. my girlfriends and i will be going to zambales. we have been planning this for a very long time. it was supposed to be my burfday get away. the first plan was calaguas, an island in camarines norte, but we decided to go to a nearer destination. calaguas will come next. maybe at a later part of the summer season. i can't wait to go! i can't wait to shoot nature at its best!

see you all soon! i'm so excited!

2010

2010-01-20T01:16:00.000-08:00

OMG

the last time i blogged was october 2009. i feel sorry for myself. i secluded myself from my own blog.

anyways, it's been so busy at work and it's been time consuming. december was a hell month of non stop working, non stop christmas parties and our christmas hongkong trip and my son's 4th birthday.

i have so much to say, but i am so lazy to type.

ok, first off, i am still working for ISCAHM, my used to be culinary school. and i have been there for almost 9 months. still taking care of my son, who just turned four years old. and still entertaining customers from my seven spice shop. i have been jogging after work. and i have been hanging out with my best friend(godmother of my son) more often than before. i also have been catching up with old friends and its been good.

year 2010, is i think a deciding year for me to find a better place to work, to find more clients for my food styling/food photography and to be able to gain more culinary experience.

i want to share more of my photography here. the later part of 2009, i have been hanging out with a few good photographers from this flickr group called, flickristaindios. they have been very nice and supportive not only of how i am in my food photography, but also for the food i bring to our get togethers.

i actually started on black and white photography, and i have been wanting to go to a photography class, and i think black and white photography class is what i have been waiting for. i haven't gone to any class except my friend, ricky ladia's food lighting workshop. and i have been his food stylist for the past three workshops and it's been great.

i got a big break from a big client. i will be doing food styling for a big client. which i never done before. and i hope this will bring in more experience and exposure for me and my work. and this will be a year long shooting of food and styling of food. and i am very thankful for this.

i need to travel this year. i want to travel this year. and i hope i can.

thanks for those who are still checking out my blog even if lazy-me haven't updated this for the last few months of 2009.

let's see what's more of evil & demented little cooker girl this 2010.

family book

2009-10-25T06:50:00.000-07:00

its been awhile. quite busy at work. and its been a hell of a ride what i am going through right now.

you don't know how big deal this is.

while the philippines was having that storm/flooding dilemna , i also had my own storm.

i am picking up my broken pieces and just moving on one day at a time.

my work is my therapy now. i love my work, (yeah right!) quite ironic actually. haha

anyways, my uncle who is a great photographer has been publishing photo books. and i just really have to blog about this because this is a first. and i am proud of it. our own family book. and i am so happy and so so sooooooooo honored to have this book right now in our home.

here is a link http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/638218

OUR SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

-PHOTOGRAPHIC LOOK AT THE TAGAYTAY COLLECTIONS OF THE LAUREANO'S-

i am just amazed how he compiled this book. i kept on browsing it today. it was such fun to see highlights of our house (first ever) at tagaytay city.

i am just too proud.
loving more my family. even if i am going through alot right now, i get to realize how much they love me.

thanks mom, thanks dad.

most important thing now is my son's well-being.
:)

PLEASE HELP ONDOY VICTIMS

2009-09-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

i just really need to do this
in my own little way

we have been gathering our clothes that can be donated
especially my son's baby clothes way back
these can really help all those babies

i am so sad about what happend in our country

please help

here is a MAP of where HELP IS NEEDED
you can check this out for more information

thank you
and God bless us all

the seminar

2009-07-27T06:39:00.000-07:00

whoa. it's been more than a month i haven't wrote anything in here. and i will be almost three months at work. i am actually having fun torturing students, especially now a new batch of students just came in.

the only thing i am tired of is the food. we always have the same routine of menu every year. and every after short course run, there's going to be another batch of students, and they will just be doing the same course. but some of my chefs add a new recipe, but we never mess up with the school standards.

anyways, last saturday was a day off, and i got an opportunity of attending the food styling seminar by Delores Custer. it was a fun and very informative seminar. i have learned and added so much tips from what i know about food styling.

and this coming august, will be my third time to style food for Ricky Ladia's food lighting workshop.
for all those who are interested, please do call Totally Creative Graphics Studio.

today was pretty easy day, got no work because of the President's station of the nation address.
i made pancakes for breakfast. i made brownies to bring tomorrow at work to share. and i made cream of pumpkin soup for dinner.

will share more foodies soon. and i hope you will still get to check and standby my blog.
:)

oh, here are some pralines at our chocolate room for the school's restaurant
enjoy!

one month passed

2009-06-18T00:11:00.001-07:00

its been more than a month that i haven't updated this. my crazy schedule and being preoccupied at my new job has stopped me going online unlike before when i was a stay at home.

its tiring but fulfilling. i mean, being able to gain work experience, sharing all the knowledge i know to the students and generally running the culinary school. doing paperworks like market list, purchase orders, recipes, etc.

being able to refresh my memory and gain more kitchen knowledge. if i got free time, i even go to our pastry kitchen and gather some more tips. as you all know, i am rubbing elbows with famous chefs, namely, Chef Ernie Babaran, Chef Norbert Gandler and Chef Uli Willimann.

these are my bosses and they've been givign me good feedback and i hope it stays that way. i am just doing my part in order to give and help in running the school the way they want it to be. i am just doing my job, that's all that matters. and i just want whatever compensation they're giving me is worth it.

i am not the only faculty assistant at school, we are a team. when i started, both of these guys have been great in assisting me and helping me adjust in all the systems and standards of the school. and i have adjusted well. and i hope i won't disappoint them too.

i haven't really took a lot of food photos at school, but i try.
:)

another thing, today is my son's first day in school. it was fun. as usual, didn't have a hard time on him. i got the day off since its a milestone today. very important day for all of us. he loves it. and ever since we enrolled him, he's been very excited about it.
so far, so good.

i just miss my days of being a stay at home... yet today is much more fulfilling.
i am just worried what will be next for us...

mama day bake day

2009-05-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

somebody ordered a cake from me today. it was supposed to be a two layer cake, with fresh strawberries filling and more whipped cream, then again, she ended up getting one layer.

so i made the other layer for my mom.

and it also had whipped cream that i now want to eat when i watch a dvd later. fresh strawberries. and those ladyfingers.

upon writing this, they're munching munching it all away.

since i have a cake "debt" to my mom, her previous birthday, i told her not to eat the cake i made for her, it was only for display, that wasn't a good birthday cake. harharhar
and so now this is the payment.

i also made a few loaves of banana walnut and banana chocochip and chewy cookies with white choco, choco chips, and walnuts too.

happy mama day to all
:)

my last weekend...

2009-05-08T02:43:00.000-07:00

...to be a stay at home mom
:(

i will be working starting monday at my previous school.
this assistant job was offered to me three years ago, after i gave birth and it came back.
as i have planned, when my child goes to school, this coming june he will be in nursery, i will go back to work.

and i am going to back to the workforce now.

i'll miss a lot. especially my child. but this is all for him.

i'll miss blogging and being online. but i will surely update here.

thanks to all who has been there for me for the past 3 years, and up to now supporting me and loving me
:) to all the new friendships i got along the way and the mothers i met.

advanced happy mothers day to me and to my mom, to my grandmom, and to all my aunts, to all mothers out there!

the cookies we love and the new chocolate craze

2009-05-08T01:51:00.000-07:00

godivaaaaaaaa!!!!! i want godivaaaaaaaa!!!!

hongkong has been the number one place my mom and my dad goes to everytime they got the time. we used to get our supplies for our business there, when it was still under the british government, and now we still do, since we still got contacts there. of course, my mom knows all the good shops and good eats.

throughout the years my mom has been bringing goodies back home. and one of them is millie's cookies. and these bread stuff from this bakery called regina's. and of course royce and this chocolate that my mom and i jokingly quarrel because we don't want to give it back to her. this little can of godiva chocolate pearls. and they're pearls all right. it's like i will finish this little can in no time. hahahaha! but i have to take it one at a time, or else, i will be craving for this every single day. i actually don't know what to do when they're all gone. and my mom only got two little cans.

millie's cookies is so so so so heavenly good! chewy chewy chewy cookies! just how i love cookies! been saving these cookies beside my bed hahahahahaa!

millie's cookies also got the yummiest huge muffins that we love too! you know that you are getting the best of your money from these goodies! my mom dreams that i can do the same cookies from my oven. let me try that soon. and i hope i can achieve it!

love their cookie packaging!

these are the only favorite cookies we got! the 3 favorites!

double chocolate
raspberry & white (these are my fave!!!!)
toffee choco

millie's cookies may be found at the hongkong airport.

Millie’s Cookies

7E161 Level 7

Passenger Terminal Building

HK International Airport

royce chocolates, regina's and a few more other bakeries that got so much goodies can be found at ocean terminal, even bread talk has a big stall there now.

the goodies from regina's

this is the only thing i love about hongkong. shopping and food tripping!!!
i hope we can go back again. and i am craving for jade garden's rice toppings!!!
the suckling pig and that asado! (bbq roasted pork)!
:)

my third sunday sale & the sponge cake

2009-05-05T21:25:00.000-07:00

baked goods! lemon bars, cookies,blueberry muffins, brownies with walnuts

bagoong alamang (shrimp paste), rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish)

third sunday sale-we sold a lot! :)
see you all again this coming sunday! the 4th sale! we might sell some filipino dishes

--------
i am very proud of my sponge cake. i finally found a recipe who loves me!!!! i have been using different recipes. and testing and testing and testing. and now this. looks good eh?

the second sunday sale

2009-04-30T06:14:00.000-07:00

what i offered were mini pavlovas, my fruit tarts, mini cookies, mini orange poppy seed muffins, banana muffins and apple cinnamon muffins. also our tinapang bangus (smoked fish) and that rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish).

it wasn't as good as the first sunday sale, but i got new customers. i guess it wasn't that good because not much people passed by. but then again, it didn't rain at all. thank God for that!

this past week has been very busy and very overwhelming for me.

this coming May is going to be the busiest month for me this early part of the year. i got some orders this May and i have been getting alot of inquiries.

this monday i have an interview with my most favorite chef.
tuesday, i might be doing a big wedding dessert buffet which hasn't confirmed yet.
wednesday, i might be doing more than fifty chocolate cupcakes for a birthday of a friend.
friday, i have to bring my son at this summer workshop which will run on all fridays of May then after the workshop, i have to get going to my speaking test of IELTS.
the next day, saturday will be the written exam of IELTS.
and of course, i have every weekend for my sunday sale up to June.

a busy week ahead of me. and busy busy busy May. i am excited and ovewhelmed but fulfilling.
:)
thanks to all who are helping me out and supporting my little shop.

my first sunday sale

2009-04-23T18:06:00.000-07:00

*ready to decorate and ready for packing

here are some photos from my first sunday sale. it was held inside our village. philam homes, quezon city. never did this ever. but i have been invited to be in these types of events. and since this year is my year. i opted to finally join one and it was a good start to showcase my products here in the village.

*our mini booth

it was a good sale. was giving out flyers and upselling. (that is what i learned from the call center, my first ever job back in 2003, i was talking to people from USA, i was an inbound rep for a telephone company) and the contract for this booth sale is every sunday up to june of this year.

at least i get to look something forward to every weekend. and every weekend i get to offer more and more products i can do good inside my kitchen. not only my common goods,but i will also offer some other stuff i can sell. i can actually sell anything.

last sunday my friend was with me, selling her earth friendly bags. i got one for myself too. that was her payment for me since she shared a space in my booth. the rent is pretty cheap so we can always get more profit after the expenses made.

i also sell tinapang bangus (big smoked milkfish) and rellenong bangus (stuffed milkfish delicacy here in the philippines) and maybe i might sell some hot food and hot sandwiches.

i also sell my herbs and spices and tea and Nielsen-Massey products if you like to get them.

let us see how it goes every sunday.

to those who are in the metro, please try to find time to visit me at sta. rita parish, philam homes, quezon city from 8am to 1pm and from 4pm to 8pm go hear mass in our church too. every sunday up to june 7th.

thanks so much for those who has been supporting seven spice shop and black cow goodies
:)

before the first ever..

2009-04-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

first ever sunday sale, i was super busy preparing and finding time to really plan out what i will be doing to my booth.

i recently got in touch with our church's office and inquired how can my friend and i get a booth to sell some products. and there is a contract up to june that we will be selling every sunday. we can sell whatever we like. let me talk about the sunday sale later.

let's talk about what i have been cooking and doing. we ate at Max's recently. and that restaurant is such a feel good place. simple yet they have the best pinoy fried chicken that we all love.
my son and i joined my aunt who is from the US to eat our lunch there.

then i made honey buns. i got the recipe from happy home baker, it was ok, but then again, i wasn't really feeling it. i should do more breads soon. i should find time to focus on making bread.

we had kare kare (ox stew with vegetables and peanut sauce) also. with my uncle's bagoong (shrimp paste) very very good. nice home cooked meal.

than i bought sisig (grilled pig's face sauteed in onions and garlic and spices). don esteban's. it's a little joint along west avenue, quezon city. i have been wanting to taste their food. because their from lucban, quezon. and the sisig was very fine, crunchy fine. good buy for 120 pesos. and so many of it was served. that was really a fine lunch yesterday.

black cow goodies

2009-04-15T04:58:00.000-07:00

this is my new baby. seven spice shop's new partner. since i am home based and a homebaker. i finally decided to launch a soft opening of my black cow goodies.

why black cow? i didn't want to use brown cow because that is a drink. i even saw a recipe for black cow drink which is similar to brown cow, and i think its better. rootbeer, chocolate syrup and ice cream. yummeeehhh! at first i wanted to call it, black cow pastries, but it doesn't really match. a chef friend told me, just use goodies instead. and so i did.

i didn't want to use seven spice shop for my baked goodies since that is only exclusive in supplying herbs and spices and teas and extracts and flavorings and cake stands.

so i made another affiliate, hence, now born, black cow goodies.

i made another site too for it and multiply has been a very good tool for marketing.
http://blackcowgoodies.multiply.com

i made the logo just yesterday. and got a few feedbacks which is better. and that is the better logo. i am still waiting for my artist friend to finish all the logos i am asking from him. and hopefully before he comes back here in manila, it will be done. hehehehe!

i am offering 7 goodies, for now.

panna cottas, brownies, assorted cookies, letter cookies, fruit tarts, cheesecake pops, banana muffins.

it very heartwarming too that i am welcomed and got great homebaker friends to motivate me more to pursue this homebaking business.

thanks to all who greeted me and for continuing supporting seven spice shop.

and this sunday, a friend of mine and i will get a booth beside our church. this will be my first to really market my stuff out loud to the public. and alot of people goes to our church. i hope many will taste and buy my black cow goodies!

:) say MOOOOOOO for lots of goodies!

lunch today

2009-04-14T05:25:00.000-07:00

i posted this at my multiply site
:) asking everybody, ano ulam? (what's your food?)

this is very pinoy.

ginisang munggo (sauteed mongo beans) with pork, i added crunchy bacon too, onions, garlic, and chili leaves. i didn't add tomatoes anymore, since it is super summer hot season here, i'd rather not. might spoil.

and sopas (soup and/or chicken noodle soup) i didn't have any chorizo around, so i used the pepperoni i got, garlic, onions, boiled chicken meat, carrots, celery, zucchini (usually there's cabbage but i didn't have that too) and chicken stock which i made from scratch.

enjoy
:) my son loved it

black saturday lunch and joy ride and easter sunday dinner

2009-04-12T19:05:00.000-07:00

*mango torte?

*corn jicama salad

*pesto potato salad

last black saturday lunch, i had a few friends who are my neighbors too over at our house, who were planning to practice driving. we had this sausage pasta that my friend made, i made corn jicama salad and mango torte.

then we practiced driving. well i didn't hahaha. then we had this super duper delicious fish balls that is being sold here in the grocery of our village. nothing can compare!
:)

that wasn't the only highlight of the driving day, but also we all wanted to jog because we saw this ubod ng gwapo guy who jogs around the park. hahahahah we were all laughing our heads off! because one of my friends, was like, bibili na talaga ako ng running shoes! (i need to buy running shoes now!!! hahahaha! well as of today, we will start to jog around, maybe in the afternoon.

------

easter sunday, super busy because of my dinner with my old high school buddies and one came from canada. so i prepared chorizo parmesan spaghetti, my pesto potato salad that i really really loved! and the salmon fritata :) i also gave them a dose of my cheesecake pops and the mango torte too. one of my friends brought along embotido (pork roulade-some cold appetizer dish which is also my fave)
:)

super duper fun! i am glad my friends enjoyed the dinner. they said it was like eating in a resto.
i should do this again. gives me lots of happy-ness.

more food photos here

*today's lunch is the yummy kare kare {ox stew with eggplants, green beans, and has ground peanuts, annatto seeds and the famous accompaniment, bagoong (shrimp paste)}

holy thursday bread making

2009-04-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

baked goodies today were bacon twists, cheesecake pops and pizza!

:) i really like the outcome today with the help of charlene and anna, it was so much fun when friends are around to help, all of us three are homebakers and moms. these two are my closest friends in our homebaker's group, filipina homebakers online.

also today, my high school buddies arrived too, so i thought today was just going to be a plain, boring day, but it wasn't. friends surprising you a visit is one of the things i really love. my friends love me. hehehe and of course i love them too, so they had the pizza, the bacon twists and the cheesecake pops. and also the menudo(pork stew with potatoes, carrots, pickles, tomato sauce) and rice.

i also loved how the pizza came out and big portions of those bacon twists. thanks to happy home baking. we tested her recipes.

and also to foodbeam, for the recipe of cheesecake pops, i lessen the sugar so it wouldn't be that sweet.
those were a hit to the kids and to the non-kids. hahaha!
:)

i am glad to have friends over. and thanks to them for being here with me, brightening up my boring holy thursday.

super easy choco chips

2009-04-07T10:31:00.000-07:00

baked goodie of the day. choco chip cookies. which is super simple. i didn't even use the mixer. just my penguin spatula. aiming that it would be chewy, but it turned out chewy and little crunchy on the sides. you know what i mean. hehehe

tomorrow i might make vanilla cheesecake pops. looks like easy to make. i need to buy lollipop sticks tomorrow. or maybe i'll just use the coffee stirrers here. hehehe

mom's 50th

2009-04-05T23:10:00.000-07:00

so here goes.

saturday night. i was in so much pain and let's say i was baking in hell. the victoria sponge cake of nigella, that i tested weeks ago, just didn't turn out right. but i did manage to make it into a cake. and i am proud of my swiss buttercream since it's not that sweet. my friend anna, made the B topper (my mom's name starts with a B) and the number 50 numbers. its not that wow looking cake. and i am not a cake maker. i really am not. so i'm just going to stick with the cookies and bars and desserts.
ehehehe

sunday morning. the big bash. never expected it would be so fun and chaotic as well. hahaha so many guests arrived, since we don't really do these kind of parties, but we invited everyone. it was my mom's 50th birthday and my folks' house warming party of our fairly new space.

after lunch i started with the potato gratin, my husband was incharge of the roast beef and port wine sauce and eventually, he was the one who baked the potato gratin. i just did the sauce and the assembly of it. but it was hell good.

the desserts that i did were the fruit tarts, namely the lime custard tart with strawberry on top and the cream cheese tart with grapes on top. these were fairly delicious. and of course my panna cottas with candied orange, orange wedges that was submerge in gin and my hazelnut brittle for toppings.

most guests even brought more cakes and tamales and other desserts.

i wish i could have taken more photos, i wasn't able to take a photo of my potato gratin, the cooked roast beef, my panna cottas and the other dishes which were provided by my friend, the caterer.
i was super busy catching up with old friends and family friends and relatives that i haven't seen for a long time.

the fruit tarts were all gone (that was around 100, i think). i still have a few panna cottas left (because i think i made 150 of those) and the cake i made, i threw it away. (it hurts) hahaha!

anyways, i am super tired. but it was all worth it. to be able to just spend the whole day with people i cherish most, my family and my friends.
:)

*i won't be doing this again. but maybe on my son's birthday.

now i can concentrate back by improving my baked goods and will be making bread soon. i wanna sell some now. plus i want to make a cake again.

one typical pinoy dish

2009-03-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

sarciadong manok. (tomato sauce-chicken)

chicken cooked in onions, tomatoes. with fried potatoes and peppers (oops i forgot to put those peppers) hahaha!

i got tired chopping so much onions, so i ended up electrically chopping the tomatoes. hahaha! it was crunch time, almost lunch time when i did our food. and the good thing about it, my son was just in the same kitchen, playing with the garlic cloves. that was his babysitter, the garlic cloves.

my son loves tomato based dishes and we do too.

tomorrow will be sinigang na baboy (sour tamarind broth-pork) which my little brother requested.
i have to buy fresh tamarind tomorrow for the broth.
:) we don't use those ready to use cubes you know.

mom's cookie giveaway

2009-03-28T23:51:00.000-07:00

to start this, i will show the nigella lawson's victoria sponge i tested for my mom's 50th birthday cake this sunday. i made it yesterday, half recipe only. and boy, it gave me confidence to make more cakes. but really, i don't like character cakes and celebration cakes. i am more into the classy stuff, gourmet type of cakes, especially cheesecakes and nigella's recipes. and quick breads, and bars and cookies.

i still can't believe that i am baking now. and baking a cake. a sponge cake. this was very easy to make. and is good enough. i will be making three more of these. and the cake i decided to make is a square. three layer, with swiss buttercream frosting and maybe some strawberry buttercream filling. will be doing this on saturday everning. my friend, anna, will be providing me the number 50 and a letter B made out of fondant to be put on top of the cake. i don't like to mold and i don't really know how. hehehe. the color of the cake would be goldish brown, if i can achieve that. and i might just put gold dragees around the cake and outline it with dots. :) i can imagine it now. today i finished, well with my son's help, we finished 50 pieces of letter B cookies.

almost half of the cookies were decorated by my son. and he was so proud. when my mom arrived today, he said, "close your eyes, tadaaaaah!!! happy birthday!!!" hehehe! so cute!
and so that is done. and time to pack it and with a gold ribbon to seal the plastic.

i hope my mom's guests will love it.

the helper

my work

his work

before decorating the B cookies

next things to do are the toppings for the panna cotta, mini tart shells for the fruit tart and choco mousse tart, potato gratin and marinade the roast beef, the gravy and so much more. these are the things i need to do this whole week.

and so help me God. i need a dishwasher.

what's in my oven?

2009-03-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

ok i wasn't able to blog about my event last weekend, march 21st. it was my homebakers' group meet up for the first quarter of 2009. it was called baked photography day. because i decided to share food photography tips and food styling. i invited my friend, master ricky ladia, and even red posion to join. there were lots of food and lots of stuff to do. he thought us so many and was even down on their knees asking how to adjust the settings of their cameras. after that we shoot some baked goods, obviously my pannacotta, my pavlova and my thumbprint cookies. there were others too who shared some of their goodies. like these cupcakes and this cheesecake. and this choco caramel cake.

and i was so heartwarming for everyone who tasted my pavlova and panna cotta and thumbprint cookies, and their feedback was everything was so good. and they had so much to learn from the photography workshop. and that they enjoyed the meetup.

it was a fun filled day! i will always remember it.

this coming may, it will be our anniversary meetup. another member is organizing it. can't wait for that one. what will i share to them? can you suggest? maybe bread?

***

this has been my photos inside my oven

today i tried to test the lemon pound cake recipe. and i didn't like what happend to it. so i threw it away. hehe!

and then i made lemon sugar cookies, cut it into a letter B (my mom's name starts with a B), because this will be the give away to the guests on my mom's upcoming 50th birthday. april 5th. same birthday as the president of the philippines. my son and i will decorate these, as soon as i get 50 plus cookies cooled and ready for decorating. my son will enjoy that!
:)

also not only the B cookies, i still have to make tiny fruit tarts, tiny choco mousse tarts, and maybe tiny pavlovas and panna cottas. also different toppings for the panna cotta. and cutout fruit platter or maybe skewer them, that would look nicer.

i need to make potato gratin too for the roast beef. and i will be roasting the beef. and the gravy and herbed butter. a close friend will cater the other foods to be shared on my mom's bday. we are expecting all our relatives and friends to come over. we don't really plan parties. this will be a big one.
and i hope they'll like my food and the effort i will be putting on this.

the things...

2009-03-21T10:28:00.000-07:00

...i have done for the past week, since my laptop charger broke down.

and today i am borrowing my brother's charger.

i am so tired and its 1:30am already.

will talk about what happened yesterday,march 21st.

will sleep this off.

thanks for looking!
:)

brownie after 3 years

2009-03-16T08:27:00.000-07:00

i am super duper happy to announce this.

ok here is the first baked goodie i made after three years of not baking anything. well i did bake for awhile, but not everyday. i made this last friday night.

semi sweet choco chip brownies
it was a hit, i brought it home to tagaytay over the weekend to let my folks and our relatives to taste it.

but i still got 4 left here which i will be eating tomorrow with ice cream!!!

the first thing came out of my oven is a brownie
:) yipeeeeeeeee

today i made another baked goodie again
let's see what those are... tomorrow

its getting kinda addictive now...
not really, too early to tell hehehehe!

my son's heavenly snack

2009-03-10T06:15:00.000-07:00

just sharing our dessert for the past days

cookies and cream ice cream

two bananas

and strawberry syrup

:)

and he really really loves it! who wouldn't?

moved and my kitchen showcase

2009-03-10T06:02:00.000-07:00

*display kitchen

*dirty kitchen

i haven't been online for awhile. was just using my celphone to check my mails. anyways, even if i posted that my online shop is closed until further notice, clients and inquiries kept on coming in. such blessings.

and so now i am back. got my laptop charger and our dsl connection today. and finally i can blog blog blog and edit edit edit all my price lists and my site. seven spice shop is up and running again even if i still have so much to do.

i finally moved in. and i still do not have a nanny. which is kinda frustrating because each day i have to clean the house, take care of my kid and walk the dogs, and cook breakfast, lunch and dinner. me, the husband and my son are the ones staying here at my folks. my folks are still moving their stuff. they haven't settled in.

i kinda run this household. i am responsible for this house. anyways, i just wanna share our new space, of course my favorite spot, the kitchen. i took a photo of it before i put all my stuff. i'll take a photo by today to see how dirty it is now hehehehehe!

i already posted my oven before. and now this. and some parts of the house.
thanks to everyone who has been supporting me along the way, especially my folks.
:)

from this day on, i have been really busy organizing and cleaning. plus getting my act together and getting ready to bake again. i can't wait. a lot has been waiting for the time i can share my stuff from my kitchen.
and now i can finally do it.

about finding work in a hotel, i might work soon in a hotel somewhere in manila. hopefully by the end of march, and before that happens, i should have a nanny by then.

haaaaaaaaaaaaaay. so much to do.

for all my clients, thanks for supporting seven spice shop more!
:)

continuation of decorating weekend

2009-03-10T05:54:00.000-07:00

here is the link of my flickr where the photos of the wilton classes i took (course 1 and 2) here in manila.

http://flickr.com/photos/isipanini/sets/72157614984062693/

the continuation of the decorating weekend.

sorry it took so long because i was moving. finally we got internet connection. but i still have to get my desktop at my grandparents' house.

:)

decorating weekend

2009-02-24T05:26:00.000-08:00

last weekend, i finally took the cake decorating class of wilton. i joined chef jesuit (a great cake decorator from tacloban and owns sugarnspice) to take the course 1 and course 2 of wilton. our instructor is chef jackie ang-po. she is very smart and witty and we all got so much to learn from her. straight to the point, hands-on, cake decorating class.

saturday, was the first day. half day was half of course 1 and the other half day was half of course 2.
saturday was dreadful, tiring, and we all went home so late. literally the mall was about to close. it was information overload. at first we were all relaxed and even writing notes on our booklets. even taking photos of each and every action, then at the end of the day, we didn't even bother to do those anymore but just finish what we has to be done. i never expected the sandwiches prepared for us. obviously that is included in the payment. and also nobody told us during on saturday that there was a 10% discount for wilton products for students over that weekend. but anyways, some did try to use the 10% today, including me. hehehe!

it was a friendly group. my seatmate and partner is meimei, and she is very nice. and we were even coded as the gumamela (its a type of flower here in the philippines) girls. hahahahaha we were both piping, using the reverse side of the tip.

among all the flowers we did, we all had a hard time making roses. i am embarrased by this. i need alot of practice in making the roses. i am not that good. but it is very important. i think if i perfect the roses, i can make all the other types of flowers. but i am good at the other flowers.

we also did colorflow, which i need to master. i like it. we made colorflow birds.

so for the first ever decorated cake i did, after 3 years is the rainbow cake. i had a hard time writing because my hands were sore. and the icing wasn't very nice anymore. i can do better than this.

sunday, we made alot but less pressure, since we know alot from saturday's session. it helped us alot. we made two cakes today, one is with the bouquet of roses and the other is the flower basket with those colorflow birds we did yesterday. all the flowers we did yesterday, was arrange on this cake.

we also made clowns which is very easy and fun to do.

and other basic borders which we used on each cakes.

at least today, we were on schedule and it wasn't that tiring. but then again, we all got caught up by the basketweave decor. hehehe i thought i am not going to be able to drive home tonight. my right hand is so tired. but it was worth it. all worth it.

for some reason, we all had to take a photo of our cake with chef jackie and ourselves holding the cake. and then she handed over our certificates.

i have a little background in cake decorating, but i never knew that these two courses can help me so much and opened my hands to more precise decorating actions. and chef jackie really helped us and she got alot of tips to share. we all adore her.

and this is the reason why i wasn't able to go to the baker's fair. i will wait for another two years for that.

i don't think i want to get the course 3 and course 4. i am not fond of making fondants and wedding cakes.

:) it was nice to meet new friends in the class.
and it was a blast.

will post photos soon. i haven't uploaded them.

*still moving

new one, old ones

2009-02-18T16:34:00.000-08:00

new one
old ones

we finally tested all the stoves and ovens in the house. there was a bit problem. the gas line, we think the gas is having a hard time to go in the dirty kitchen as well as inside the house. we have to get that checked. but all in all, the iginitions in all the stoves and oven are perfectly working well.

i like the microwave oven as well, got a lot fo functions.

i tested the old ones, and they're still doing well.

but my electric grill in the oven and the oven itself, is still dirty (haven't cleaned it for a while since i haven't been using it for almost 2 years)
when i turned on the electric grill, it kinda smoked alot. i have to get it cleaned and checked.

the new one is all gas. unlike my old one which has an electric grill. its pretty sturdy and i am happy to get a bigger one so i can do what i love to do.
:)

our display kitchen is black and white. the dirty kitchen is all stainless.
you can say it will be a very good working place.

thank you so much to my folks. they said the new oven is their gift for me
:)
happy happy

*still in the process of moving in...still unsettled.

such a lousy birthday

2009-02-08T18:14:00.000-08:00

today was my birthday. very lousy. well almost the whole day was bad. and i don't want to go through with it.

then again, my family, my mom, my dad, my younger brother and my son went to Aresi. we missed that place after closing down years ago. (my husband isn't present, due to work)

we had very good iced teas, i got myself a carbonara, and their special pizza with everything in it. for appetizer we got the shrimp and chips, which had a nice tartar sauce with it. for dessert we had the vanilla panna cotta, which we all loved.

after that, we got frozen yogurt at FYI with little marsmallows and fresh strawberries. my son loved it.

i wasn't able to take much photos, since i was so busy eating and just wanting the day to end.

best part of the day was for all the people who greeted me, and my son sang happy birthday song to me. he even asked me where's my cake. i told him, i don't have a cake unlike him, we always have cake on his birthday. whatver he likes.

now i'm 26 years living in this cruel world.
thanks so much to those who greeted me. you are loved. at least i know alot of people who cherish me and remembers my birthday.
:)

Aresi is located at 2nd floor of Il Terrazzo (beside it is my fave Banapple)
35 Tomas Morato corner Scout Madrinan, Quezon City
(Across Burgoo and beside the Belo Medical Center)

Featured Homebaker of the Week: Isi Kesner

2009-02-08T18:03:00.000-08:00

we have this feature homebaker of the week. and our president, has been wanting to feature me, but i didn't want to, because i haven't baked for a very long time. anyways, finally, i decided to give in and she featured me at the start of the year, 2009. good way to start the year.

here is the link of my feature, to know more about me

Name: Isi Laureano Kesner

Home Bakeshop/Home-based Shop: Seven Spice Shop

Status: Hitched!

Profession: Mother, Seven Spice Shop owner

Location: QC

Baking Level: gusto kong maging ka-level si Nick Malgieri (i want to be on nick malgieri's level)

Years of baking: not counting!

How did you go into baking?

My family and relatives (father's side) have been in the baking business for so many years. My lolo used to have a panaderia (not yet been born during this time). There used to be four or five bakeshops that were put up by the family. we still have two existing bakeshops, one here in Malabon (owned by an aunt) and one in California (owned by my lolo's sister).

Every time we have a family gathering, they always held it at the bakeshop in Malabon. So we kids always get to hang out inside the bakery and do whatever we want, like watch their workers decorate cakes, make icings (while we dip our fingers and taste all the icings), get decorated cookies, or sugar flowers and then me and my cousins will get all sugar high and hyper.

And that every time there is a birthday in the family, my aunt will give us free birthday cakes and free desserts that come along with it.

We grew up eating all the produce in that bakeshop.

So I guess I got into baking because of my lolo and because of being brought up in a family who loves to cook and bake.

Nanay(grandma), my son, Tatay(grandpa) (2008)

What was your first baking experience and how did it go?

Natuto akong magbake nung maliit pa ako (I learned how to bake when i was around grade 2) nung mga panahon na malakas pa lolo ko at memorize pa niya mga panadero skills niya( when my lolo was still strong and got the skills). Unang batter ko, pancake batter (my first batter was pancake batter, considered baking?) Tinuro ng lolo ko kung paano gumawa ng pancake ng hindi gumagamit ng pancake mix.(my lolo taught me how to make my first ever pancake batter from scratch)

Then my real first experience was making blueberry muffins. It went ok naman. then choco chip cookies, that were too thin and chewy and gooey.

One time my lolo missed his panadero skills, he taught me how to bake pandesal. That didn't went well for the first try, ang tigas sobra nung pandesal. We used to have this little convection oven. That's where we bake.

Your site's name is so wonderful to say, "Seven Spice Shop". Lots of alliteration. Lots of 'S'es. How did you come up with this name?

It is named after my son. My son's name is Anselmo Seven. Before he was born, I actually already came up with Seven Spice, just thinking that I want a business name that is easy to remember, just like my name. Then when I went to register, kailangan may shop daw sa end ng name. hence, Seven Spice Shop, at sobrang simple lang pagkagawa ng logo ko. (when i went to register my shop, i have to put shop at the end of the name, and my logo is super simple, i need to pimp it up soon)

You also used to carry in your site the phrase "Evil and Demented Little Cooker Girl." How did you arrive at this adjective? Is it self-descriptive?!

I used to have livejournal. That was my first ever blog. I started that when my cousin invited me and showed me how to do a blog. That was way back in high school. I wasn't thinking that time, maybe because I was so fond of dark things and dark, evil, vampire, fantasy books to add it all up, so I ended up putting a title to my blog as evil and demented little girl. I ended that blog when I was studying in ISCAHM. Somebody broke into my blog, so I had to delete it. and after 3 years of not blogging, I started a new one in blogger, http://littlecookergirl.blogspot.com, ayun, since certified cook na ako, evil and demented little cooker girl. Cooker because one of my chef's kid told me he wants to be a cooker when he grows up. well I want to be a cooker too! hehe J

Let's talk more about you. I know you are a chef and yet you don't claim to be one. What made you decide to be a chef and what did you learn from ISCAHM?

I don't claim to be one, because nowadays being a chef is so overrated. I love the profession, I have the passion for it, but I am not like the other people just 'cause it’s so "in", just 'cause you studied in a prestigious school or know so much about culinary concepts and techniques, or just 'cause you got a chef's uniform and hat, doesn't mean you are one. I think you can call yourself a chef, based on the experience you got. Being a chef is like being a doctor, you have to learn and learn for so many years and cook so many dishes and maybe cook around the world.

After graduating from a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration in 2003, I worked in a call center for a year. Then I went to the US, and my aunts and relatives over there really had the time to tour me in different foodie grounds. We did so many foodie trips and wine tastings, I even went to have a tour at CIA in their campus in California. I knew about FCI too in New York, I guess it was a calling for me to go, I was considering to go to FCI, but it's too expensive. When I came back here, that was 2004, a friend of mine finished a short course from ISCAHM, and she told me that they are offering a one year course in culinary or pastry. So I went to their campus, and enrolled immediately. knowing I would be a first batch and my chef instructors are Europeans, I was confident that I will get a good experience. And I did.

What I learned from ISCAHM is to know every product knowledge and know cooking methods and techniques and to use our creativity. It's culinary arts, and I think to be a culinary artist, you need to be creative all the way.

I graduated with 2^nd honors and I was best in practical during our final exams.

I took up the pastry short course in 2007.

With my head chefs (graduation day 2005)

You hail from a family of cooks and bakers. Does this intimidate you or does it make you strive more to create a niche for yourself?

Not really. I think everybody has their own style and differences and I think I can strive to be better in the kitchen. I really aspire to be a pastry chef someday.

Just what is Seven Spice Shop? It sells a lot of varied things from cupcake towers, cupcake toppers, SEKEM teas (yum!) and yes, spices, to services like food styling... What do you envision it to be?

When I was studying at ISCAHM, I knew the herbs and spices that my aunt gives me from Egypt had potential. Some of the herbs and spices I sell are not readily available here and due to the culinary world booming here in our country, I kind of abused it. hehe :)

Also being pregnant and being married unexpectedly, I had to find something to earn a little. The different nuts added in to my product list. Then the cake stands, the Sekem teas have been added along the way. I guess every product I have in my shop has potential.

Since I will be moving in a permanent space soon, I will be going back to baking and share more what I can do in the kitchen.

My herb and spice set card

Speaking of food styling... You are apprentice to Ricky Ladia, the great food photographer. How did you become a food stylist? When did you take fancy in photography in general or in food photography in particular?

I have been taking photos when I was a kid. My dad had it as a hobby. We love taking pictures. I always take photos of everything. I remember when I went to US for the first time with my dad, we had a box full of films to be developed.

I started taking food photography and got into it when I was studying in ISCAHM. We were encouraged to take photos and some of our chefs gave us tips on how to style our dishes. When I started joining in photography forums, I became known of my food photos. And Master Ricky somewhat believe in my skills. And so he built me up and gave me little projects along the way. I learned by reading and researching and just plain looking at very good food photographers’ works over the internet. I wish to get food styling course in FCI. If you want to see more of my works, here is master ricky’s site http://kardo.multiply.com/photos/album/18/Food_Photography_Workshop_2_wave2_

My foodie set card

You are also a stay-at-home mom to Anselmo. What made you decide to take this very challenging yet fulfilling role in your life?

I wanted to work so badly. but I can't trust anybody but me to take care of my son. So for the past 3 years I have been with him, and at the same time running seven spice shop. And I am happy, tired, worried and just giving him the best everyday life we both could have.

When you are not baking for others, what do you like baking and eating for yourself?

I love to eat. I love Asian dishes. Thai or Vietnamese. I love pizza. I still love making pancakes.

What are the challenges of being a homebaker?

When you don't have enough time because you have other priorities to attend to. another is when you are not complete with the things you need right away. Another is, I may just be doing a couple of baked goods, with the less equipment and materials I have.

I don’t think everybody can do every baked good, I believe we have to specialize into something and give better quality and freshly baked products to the consumers. The most challenging is maybe when nobody orders from you. hehehe J

Despite the fact that you are part of Admin and are one of the first members of FHO, you've refused time and time again my offer to be featured homebaker. Why is this so? And what made you finally agree to being featured? :)

I wasn't ready to answer your questions. I needed to establish myself and my Seven Spice shop. I am not that experienced like everybody else that I look up to in the baking world. I finally agreed kasi nahihiya na ako sa iyo Niks. Hahahaha J I think 2009 will be my year, ika nga ni Beng sa akin.

What are your plans for 2009, both as a person and as a budding entrepreneur?

Despite of all the good and bad things that happened along the way, I know for a fact that I can solve and learn from it the best way I can. as a person, I think I will be able to do more this year. I am in the process of planning my way to build the future of my son and more growth to Seven Spice Shop, share more recipes in my blog and more food photography and hopefully grab a food styling job for a magazine.

Share with us some New Year's Resolutions in the Year of The Ox.

Despite the economic meltdown, I will be brave in bringing in more products to my shop.

Think happy thoughts!

Grab every opportunity, since I have been declining orders related to baked goods.

Baking Tips you can share with fellow FHO members?

It’s cool to be accurate (maraming tamad) as this will avoid mistakes and creation of bad baked goodies. It’s better to waste nothing. use your leftovers and make them into a different dish.

If we are talking about recipes, it doesn’t mean it would work for you because it worked for me. Home bakers have different techniques and own styles and favorite recipes. get reliable sources from the internet or from experts, it will save you money.

Read and research and learn from food blogs.

Always taste what you are cooking or baking before serving.

foodie paint

2009-01-30T07:57:00.001-08:00

*Bangbang

*George Flegel

*Frans Snyders

*Andy Warhol

i was just browsing art awhile ago. and i thought of about food paintings. and i like andy warhol.

i remember, we have a painter in our family. his surname is serna. i never really knew him, he passed on before i was born. he was an inlaw of of my grandfather. nobody really captured his greatness in painting. but he sure got a lot. i have seen so many paintings from some of our relatives houses. even in our house. when i was little, we grew up looking at this big painting of filipino fruits in our dining area. it was just like the first painting i posted (by bangbang)

my aunt from iloilo got that painting and displayed at her house. i think they restored it. its a huge painting with that very big brown old frame with it. i have to take a photo of that when i go back to iloilo, so you all could see it. i think that painting is older than me. maybe around 1920s, more or less.

at our space in tagaytay, my folks got some paintings by angel cacnio, he hails from malabon and i know he is a friend of our relative (serna) i admire his works, more on the filipino culture, family, lifestyle.

anyways, i just remember how we ate right in front of that filipino fruits' painting. little lizards always hid at the back of that painting.

i think his wife still has every painting he did. some are displayed, some aren't.

yes we can..erm...i think

2009-01-30T07:46:00.000-08:00

when i was 9, the first time i went to united states, and went straight to my aunt's (my mom's sister) who has been living in maryland for more than a decade already. she didn't have a child then but only a husband, and she got this freezer at her basement, and it was full of ice cream. ben & jerry's!

it was love at first sight.

i got fat after that two month vacation with my dad. all we did was eat eat eat eat eat. and i can finish one flavor, one sitting, while i watch tv.

still for the past visits, i never fail to try a new flavor. now its actually available here. but its kinda expensive. i saw at rustan's supermarket in gateway, cubao.

i stumble upon this site today, scoopalicious. and saw this post. funny. yes, pecan! i remember i did watch the whole cycle of events during inaguration day of obama.

its so patriotic. hahaha!
:)

sweet stuff all day!

2009-01-24T23:03:00.000-08:00

*isi, nikka, charlene, kate, anna, pj

ok so far i haven't really decided what to talk about in this blog. i have just been posting my old food photos at foodbuzz and kind of bored and getting fat. hahahaha! due to this blog, you would see why i am getting fat and lazy.

today, i finally get to blog some stuff i got from my good homebaker friends. we met up yesterday at tiendesitas (i really like this place, full of stores and full of foodies and delicacies all over the philippines, its a one stop shop with really everything. more like, organized place to buy stuff from the philippines)

so it was me, kate, charlene, nikka and anna and pj. with my son and nikka's daughter. you could say this is like the first admin meet up for 2009 of FHO (our homebaker's group)we had late lunch and kate was good enough to bring our orders, well, her hand-me-downs of baking equipment since she will be migrating to singapore soon. my son and i arrived first, because i came from my previous culinary school, and got some recommendation letters from our chefs. we had our first sweet bite there, our pastry chef gave my son a chocolate cupcake.

*my son and nikka's daughter

kate arrived after my son and i had our lunch. she gave us a box of chocolate cupcakes again with chocolate frosting on top! my son just couldn't get his hands of it, so when i opened it, he just kept on picking the icing. it was good (i ate one last night) too sweet for me, though. kate, i am sorry i wasn't able to take anymore photos of your cupcakes because my grandfolks and my brother ate it all last night!!! they didn't even bother to leave one for my son! hahahah!

charlene arrived next and she surprised me with an eco-friendly bag with a box of butterscotch bars inside! yay! i was so excited! i kept that bag already from the others hehehehe! you know how i love butterscotch. i ate one last night and surprised me again, it had choco chips in it. super delicious, sweet bites.

*charlene's gift of butterscotch goodness

nikka arrived and then anna and pj to our surprise came in a little after. it was a fun day, full of stories about baking and just about food!
:)
i gave them ube from good sheperd tagaytay. i like the good sheperd there than the one at baguio. the ube at tagaytay is like ice cream. i heart their ube goodness!

so after all the talking, pj and i saw the stall of tita lynn's flavored suman (glutinous rice cake wrapped in banana or palm leaves, a native delicacy) i love love love love this suman when my mom brought home a few last month. i actually love suman, even the ones from antipolo, the one wrapped in palm leaves which we even fry.

*tita lynn's flavored suman

i bought some home yesterday and i ate some for breakfast. i love the langka (jackfruit) and the coco mas flavors.

and i saw this jar today on the table. coco jam! super good to spread on a hot pandesal (dinner roll of the philippines hahahah!) i think my mom brought this home.

award day tuesday!

2009-01-19T19:22:00.000-08:00

miss so cal pastry chef has awarded me this lemonade stand crown award today!

so happy tuesday!

thank you so so so much miss so cal pastry chef!!!

so now i have to pass this award to my favorite blogs i love love love~ (for this 2009)!

namely,
dunkin cookin the semi-homemade way

trav's gone gluten free!

tangled noodle

creative confectionery

bytes from texas: one longhorn's adventures

happy home baking

my food, my recipe

no special effects

our awesome planet

maman and gourmand

cake artisan

happy awarding tuesday!
:) well for me, at least.

jason berwick

2009-01-10T23:22:00.000-08:00

*beetroot linguine*by jason berwick

when i first joined flickr, jason berwick was the first one i encountered. since i am into food photography, he has been one in a million food photographers i really, really, really admire.

i even had a few emails with him, i am such a fan.

he had shown me so much creativity and openess in food photography. he maybe far away but he has been touching my eyes in such awe because of how he treats food styling at its best.

i never seen some of his ingredients in his photos in real life. since he came back from not posting alot to share in flickr, i was so surprised about these pink pine nuts. i have never seen pink pine nute in my entire life! also the beetroot linguini, that's so cool!

*pink pine nuts*by jason berwick

i hope he compiles every photo he got in one book, and i will definitely buy that book! if only he accepts apprenticeship, i would gladly to join in, just so i will get all his tips in food photography. hehehe! he is a chef too, by the way.

foodbuzzzzzz

2009-01-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

and so i became a featured publisher!

yay!

so happy!

a good way to start the year!

more and more foodies to come
:)

so i guess i will be requesting (or demanding hehe!) to vote for me
and join in foodbuzz! really great site to learn so much about food from all the food bloggers around the world!

thanks FOODBUZZ!
:)

cakespy's happy gifts!

2009-01-06T23:20:00.000-08:00

miss jessie of cakespy very thoughtfully and whole heartedly gave me freebies that came along with these paintings.

i am such a happy girl when my folks finally came home from the US, and brought home these stuff for me. since it is expensive to let it ship here in manila. so instead i let miss jessie send it over at my aunt's house in US.

i was so surprised that miss jessie even gave me gifts and a lovely note.

i think i am the first here in manila to get cakespy's merchandise. hehehe! i hope cakespy will get more fans from here. i mean, alot are into baking cuppies nowadays.

miss jessie, i love love love these super duper cute paintings and of course the bookmark, and the two greeting cards and that lovely note you sent me.

thank you so much! one of the best xmas gift of 2008!
:) second was the new laptop.

*hmmm... me think i should get the cakespy apron too....next time!!!

my son's 3rd birthday/new year's eve/happy 2009!!!

2008-12-31T02:12:00.000-08:00

i got sick, december 29th, ranting i shouldn't be sick today,not when i need to do so many things for my son's bday, so i started drinking the sekem flu tea (like four times, hot, so my colds and flu will be gone before my son's bday) i went to my favorite market, "suki market" and bought everything i need. i even got a haircut that day just so i will look good for the new year hehehe!
i marinated the beef that night. i wasn't able to sleep well that night.

december 30th, the day before my son's bday, i prepared everything. as in everything. pre cut the ingredients for the salad, the garlic sauce, the lemon butter sauce, the cucumber raita, the marination mixture for my seafood, and cut all the vegetables needed to make the kebabs. that night, i finished doing all the beef kebabs. i was still sick, so i just managed to do what i think is enough for my son's bday.

december 31st, i woke up so early today just so i can get the freshest shrimps and lapu lapu fish for the seafood kebabs. filleted the fish and took off all the skin and head of the shrimps and made them into kebabs and put in the marination. i actually got time to take a bath and even rest, since i was still struggling with my nose. i started grilling around 11am. since my target was lunchtime. some of my relatives were early to get in here, and my uncle bought one whole lechon (this is one of the best, promise. i grew up eating this lechon being cook right before our eyes at this house nearby, it comes with the best lechon sauce too!) my uncle was the one who cut and serve the lechon. i managed to finished grilling when everybody got here. i really enjoyed the outcome of the kebabs, was really really delicious!(that was everybody's feedback) i was really happy with my garlic sauce too and the salad really went well with the rest of the food.

so my menu was only rice, lechon, seafood and beef kebabs, and the greek salad. i was trying to be greek hehe!

our dessert was the wall-e cake.

i can't imagine he's 3 now.
next year again...

:) this is my only time to show my wonders in cooking a cuisine, every birthday of my son. i don't really have enough time to make these everyday (besides i only get my budget for making alot of food during the holidays)

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY 2009!

we got a lot of food, so this will also be our new year's eve foodies. hehehe!
ok, now i have to rest, before all the fireworks take off later around the neighborhood...

mango butterscotch heaven!

2008-12-15T20:02:00.000-08:00

yes! its true! i am in butterscotch heaven!

i went to guimaras for the first time when i was in college with a couple of friends and my family. it was our first time to go on a vacation in the visayas region and we have relatives in iloilo, so we decided to go to guimaras as well. my dad has a friend over there too. and we all know guimaras is the place where we can get the best mangoes in the whole universe! i will always remember our trip there! and we have been there twice and we will always remember the food trips we had there! such fun and luck we had! i recommend guimaras to be one of the best places to unwind and to stay for a long, quiet, get away. and that is where i first tasted mango butterscotch. and i remember i only got one box of it. it was made by a monastery there we visited, they got this store full of mango goodies. from mango wine and dried mangoes and other goodies made from their famous mangoes.

from that point on, i was in search of other mango butterscotch makers. and i discovered miss joyce aragon's mango butterscotch at one of the baker's dozen events at rockwell mall in makati.

its like i have been eating these for the past month, i have been craving and craving, and i can't stop eating it!!! i am getting huge!!! due to this holiday season plus discovering these best treats in town! miss joyce's butterscotch wonders are in variety as well, she also got cashew and choco oatmeal butterscotch. very reasonable prices! so chewy and soft and i really love the sweetness and saltiness in these little bites. i really can't get enough of it. sorry, they really are my favorite!

to know more about miss joyce's products
please visit her multiply site Joyce's Homemade Foods http://joycearagonfoods.multiply.com/
contact her at this number (632) 853-0129

tienda isabel

2008-12-15T19:28:00.000-08:00

Tin has become a homebaker friend since i met her when she ordered toppers from me. and when i came over at her little store in her house at San Juan, it was a big treat! i met her cute daughter too, Isabel, hence the name of her bake shop.

it was nice of her to let me taste newly baked buttercake and shavings from the chocolate banana cakes and first time to try the miniature fudge brownies, that kids truly love like popcorn.
again, i went to her store again to deliver cakestands she ordered from me, and i got some baked christmas goodies i wanted to try. of course i got the fudge brownies and the apple walnut loaf and the banana walnut loaf.

i like the banana walnut loaf compared to the apple walnut. i guess i am really a banana cake fan. the fudge brownies of course is a hit here at home, to my grandfolks and to my son.
i really like how Tin manages her shop and her baked goods. i think she is one fine home baker that i know. good luck to you Tin and more baked goodies for you!

if you like to try her products and also she cam make very wonderful celebration cakes. please visit her multiply site Tienda Isabel http://tiendaisabel.multiply.com/
contact number is (632)723-8292
her little shop is along wilson street, san juan. very near greenhills.

cookie cutters and the upcoming holidays

2008-12-15T04:17:00.000-08:00

i finally got them all! my first online shopping spree! cookie cutters from singapore and from japan!
thanks so much to wasabees from singapore and dewi from japan.

i have been giving myself gifts for the past week.

i even got "the modern baker" by my master baker idol nick malgieri!

its definitely happy happy happy holidays for me!

i am already at my grandfolks, and i will be cooking for christmas and for new year's eve (that is my son's 3rd birthday too!)

we can't wait for our 3rd year of being a toddler to start!

i thank everybody who has been supporting me, and seven spice shop. my online shop really kicked in some surprises before december. and i am very, very thankful for all the blessings. i found new homebaker friends too, been blessed with alot of opportunities that have been accepted and also been declined. and to top it all off, we will be moving in to a new, permanent home soon!

God is good.

2009 will be our year. i got a lot of plans in store! i can't wait!
:)

HAPPY HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL!

FHO BAKESALE!

2008-11-27T14:44:00.000-08:00

*as a member of FHO, i am promoting this to share the love this christmas season. i am sorry but i won't be able to go at our event due to a family event at tagaytay. wish i could man our booth and go to whitecross and bilibid. but i will be donating gift baskets to the two beneficiaries. this will be an on going project of our group. we will be doing this every year in order to give our love to others. we are a group not only gives love and passion about baking and cooking but also in giving and supporting and helping those in need.*

*to mercedes of petite patisserie, thank you very much for organizing this event for us! really really glad you are a part of FHO!*

PLEASE SUPPORT!!! thank you!!!

Filipina Homebakers Online (FHO) invites you to our FHO Bakesale for the Benefit of Bilibid Prison and White Cross Orphanage!We will have a booth at the Ateneo Alumni Grand Homecoming on Saturday, December 6, 2008 from 6pm-2am. Venue is at the Ateneo High School Covered Courts. A huge variety of pastries specially baked by FHO members will be available for sale!

Christmas cupcakes, bars, cookies and specialty pastries await ! We will be beside Gloria Jean's Coffee and Cello's Doughnuts. Please join us in putting faith into action by buying our baked goods or donating cash. Your donation will be an early Christmas Gift to the Prisoners of Bilibid (the Juvenile and Elderly inmates), the Maximum Security Prison Baking School and the orphans of White Cross ! The FHO Bake sale is proudly sponsored by Liberty Mills (Gold Medal Flour, Maya Cake Flour, Maya Hotcakes and Mixes) and the Maya Kitchen Culinary Arts Center.

The theme of the Ateneo Alumni Grand Homecoming is “ Ang Maglingkod nang Buong Dangal at Galing”.(AMDG - Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam - For the Greater Glory of God"-Ateneo's Creed ! ) Truly, we are one with the theme of baking for God's greater glory - by making the best pastries for the Ateneo Alumni, the children of White Cross Orphanage and the prisoners of Bilibid.!

All proceeds of the FHO Bake sale will go Bilibid Prison (JVP) and White Cross Orphanage. Baked goodies set aside by FHO will be distributed on December 7 to both White Cross and Bilbid Prison.

Bilibid Prison is an apostolate of the JVP (Jesuit Volunteers of the Philippines) and the Chaplain of Bilibid is Fr. Jonjee Sumpaico, SJ. They have a baking school inside the compound of the Maximum Security Prison . Half of the cash proceeds generated by the FHO bake sale, together with several cases of Gold Medal Flour/Maya Cake Flour and assorted baking mixes donated by Liberty Mills will be donated to the Baking School. The pastries baked by FHO members will be given to the Juvenile inmates and the Elderly in Bilibid.

White Cross (Santolan Road, QC) was first conceived as a child welfare institution catering to the children of parents with tuberculosis and has now blossomed through the years. The humble efforts of a group of civic minded citizens and the undying dedication of the Daughters of Charity are now implanted in the lives of thousands. The continuous growth and increasing number of beneficiaries are living testimonies to all of these

"We have assumed an undertaking which is indeed superior to our strength. We were brave because to a great extent we were ignorant to the magnitude of our undertaking. But this is the work of God. We may not succeed, but White Cross cannot fail."

These were the words of Mrs. Victoria Lopez de Araneta, founder and president of White Cross, on the Formal Inauguration of the institution on September 10, 1938. FHO will echo those inspiring words by putting them into action: donating pastries and half of the proceeds of the FHO bake sale to White Cross which will benefit their numerous programs which support the depressed communities in Santolan,Q.C..

Filipina Homebakers Online is composed of 61 talented Filipinas who bake from home. We have a website devoted to a forum on anything baking related under the sun. We also have quarterly meet-ups which include costing, baking demos and good-natured FUN as part of our activities. Through FHO we have fostered wonderful friendships and a strong sisterhood. We put our hearts into each and every cup of flour and sugar that we add to our baked goodies, in the same way that we put our hearts into our group. Our oath is : “We vow to be KIND and COMPASSIONATE, HONEST, RESPECTFUL, TRUSTWORTHY and FRIENDLY towards fellow FHO members and to our clients, so help us God”.

We enjoin you to support our FHO Bake sale and make it a success! Please contact: Maria Mercedes Camacho (Pastry Chef) at 09178961215 (email: des.camacho@yahoo.com) for cash donations and for any questions regarding the FHO Bake sale.

Please watch Q11's Fit and Fab on Tuesday, Dec 2, 7:25pm (Replay on Sunday 11:00pm) where the FHO bakesale together with Petite Patisserie(owned by Mercedes) will be featured!

Link to Filipina Homebakers Online (FHO):
http://www.filipinahomebakers.multiply.com/

Link to the Ateneo Alumni Grand Homecoming Website :
http://www.ateneo.edu/index.php?p=2484

Links to JVP and White Cross:

http://www.dot.com.ph/whitecross/http://www.jvpfi.org/donate.shtml

leche flans & my dad as the cook

2008-10-27T08:36:00.000-07:00

i am sure most of us grew up eating leche flan. my dad used to make up to 6 to 10 oval pans, when i was little. i shake the milk cans and grate the lime zest and just mix everything with the egg yolks, (my dad separates the egg yolks from the egg whites)

every christmas season we do this. well except for now, things have changed, but my dad still loves to cook. nowadays he just grill or make the nicest fresh juices, etc. my dad also makes the best bbq sauce, sushi and other japanese rolls. he still makes very good breakfast and fried rice. but since he is getting tired, getting old each day, he sometimes doesn't have time to do these things anymore. that is why i do these things now for them. they expect me to cook everytime we have a get together at tagaytay especially if they got visitors.

i think creme brulee and leche flan are somewhat similar. creme brulee is French word for "burnt cream", it is a dessert consisting of a rich custard base topped with a layer of hard caramel, created by burning sugar with a blowtorch. It is usually served cold in individual ramekins.
its similar because its both custard. difference is creme brulee has a layer of hard caramel top, and leche flan doesn't have that hard layer, our leche flan has the brown soft layer on top because of the brown sugar syrup put in the bottom of the oval pan and then cooled, and then put the custard, covered with foil and then cooked in a rice cooker with water. that is how we do it in the olden days. we didn't have an oven working before. majority of filipinos are stove top cookers. :) leche flan or creme caramel as they also call it (because of this "culinary fever" as i heard on the tv when a chef was being interviewed HAHA!)

anyways here is the recipe of creme brulee

2 large lemons
3 cups heavy cream
About 10 tablespoons light brown sugar or turbinado sugar (its similar to brown sugar but its pale and are large crystals)
6 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

special equipment: 8 (4-oz) flameproof ramekins; a small blowtorch

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325F.

Finely grate 2 tablespoons zest from lemons into cream in a 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan. Stir in 7 tablespoons turbinado sugar and a pinch of salt. Heat mixture over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until almost boiling, then remove from heat.

Lightly beat yolks in a bowl, then gradually whisk in hot cream. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a quart-size glass measure and stir in vanilla and 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice. Divide among ramekins.

Arrange ramekins in a roasting pan and bake in a water bath until custards are just set around edge but centers wobble when pan is gently shaken, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool custards in water bath 20 minutes, then remove from pan and chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. (Custards will set completely as they chill.) Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar evenly over each custard, then move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth close to sugar until sugar is caramelized. Let stand until caramel is hardened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Custards can be chilled, covered with a sheet of plastic wrap after 4 hours, up to 2 days. Very gently blot with paper towels before sprinkling with sugar and caramelizing.

ikatlong banat exhibit

2008-10-20T18:00:00.000-07:00

my first entry for an exhibit, organized by flickr philippines. i may not know too well most of the people from flickr philippines, but i met some of the key people before. i am little bit active in the forums but the members have been very supportive and very warm :)

this was the photo i entered since i ate this last 08.08.08 and that was the theme of the exhibit.

i won't forget this, because when i ate this cake, it caused me one tooth. good thing its a molar. i can still smile perfectly hahaha

:) thank you for the admin and members who organized and set up the exhibit. i wasn't able to go, though the venue is just our neighbor. i went there with my husband and son, last friday. and i wasn't able to go to the last night when it was awarding time. my friend, JM won. congrats dude!!!

this week in pinoycentric..

2008-10-05T00:55:00.000-07:00

not this week! :)

for years i have been a member of flickr. and a member of several groups. and one is pinoycentric. i have been submitting and sharing my photos to pinoycentric and after a year, this is the only time i came across this...

http://pinoycentric.com/2007/09/21/this-week-in-pinoycentric-22/

ahahaha! that is my ensaymada photo i took when i was studying. i was only using a cybershot then. the photo was featured september 21st of 2007! ahahahaha! and its already october 2008!

thank you so much pinoycentric!

and i am sorry if i haven't visited that much before, and its really funny that only after a year i came across this!

more power to you guys! thanks so much again

:) will do visit more and submit more photos in the group!

maybe in the future...i will get one of my food photos in a cover of a magazine! my dream!

singing bee from anna bananna's online bakeshop

2008-09-11T01:09:00.000-07:00

one of my closest FHO member, well became a friend who i can call anytime haha, is anna. she owns anna bananna's online bakeshop in multiply.

she brought at our last meet up her super showbuzzzzz, as in aired at singing bee show in abs-cbn, her singing bee cupcakes! pretty cool and cute eh?

she gave me two pieces already since i told her i want souvenir of the cupcake itself! i even told her, good thing she's already my friend before she became famous because of her singing bee cupcakes! hahahaha!

and then at our second FHO meet up recently, i won the singing contest! as if i have a good voice! that videoke is lying! i got a 90! hahahaha! i sang rainy days and mondays by the carpenters. but then i gave out the other 5 singing bee cupcakes to fellow FHO members, i just got the best one among them. since i already got two from anna.

anna is a genius! she knows alot of baking tips and baking stuff i don't even know. she used to be a resource person, and now she has become our resource person for practical tips in baking in our group. not only she can do these inspired singing bee cupcakes but alot more, from cupcakes, to cakes, to cookies, and more baked goodies to choose from. visit her online bakeshop at multiply please!

thanks so much anna for this! hopefully we will become business partners int he near future! nax!

anna bananna's online bakeshop
by Anna Alconaba 09204721137
annabananna72.multiply.com

her best sellers:
Better Than Sex Brownies
Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Chocolate Banana Cake with chocolate glaze
Chunky Banana Streusel cake

chipper cupcakes

2008-09-11T00:17:00.000-07:00

since i have been a principal member of FHO-Filipina Homebakers Online group in multiply. (well, just today i am part of the admin group! YEY!) i have tasted so many baked goods and so many good food from fellow filipinas around the metro, and from other provinces too. and some of them are really really really good at it.

during our first ever meet up, i finally met PJ, she actually was the first one i met online thru Flickr. she emailed me back about her wonderful cupcake creations. and from there, she then invited me to be part of her upcoming group in multiply, which is now FHO.

PJ is the owner of chipper cupcakes. and it was during our first meet up that we tasted her chai cupcakes. and it was the best one among all the baked goods i got to take home that day! and i even ordered for more. i was once disappointed when she forgot to bring my order when we met due to her cake stand order she made from me. but then again, as she promised, she brought 6 pieces of those chai cupcakes for me at our second meet up which was held recently. and up to now i am still munching those six chai cupcakes slowly. i still got two pieces in the ref. and it is still so yummy!

it is so light and the cream cheese topping really matches with the chai cake. PJ got so much to offer and not only these chai cupcakes are in store for you. better check out her sites.

my son loves it too. well, whatever i eat, he eats too. so i really eat healthy so my son would eat like me. but then again, craving for too much sweets like these, i really can't resist! PJ's chai cupcakes are one of my favorite finds since i saw it!

chipper cupcakes
a different cupcake experience by PJ Mariano 09178667128
chippercupcakes.i.ph
chippercupcakes.multiply.com
chipper.cupcakes@gmail.com

caesar

2008-08-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

to my close friend anna who's been wanting to know how to make ceasar salad dressing

anna, i forgot about the mustard! hahahaha

this recipe can make almost 1 liter of ceasar salad dressing. you can half the recipe if you want.

4 pieces of fresh egg yolks
15 ml worchestershire sauce
30 g dijon mustard
2 pieces of fresh lemon
100 ml vinegar
50 g anchovies ( i used the canned ones, in olive oil)
30 g fresh, peeled and minced garlic
700 ml olive oil

salt (but i use parmesan cheese) and pepper

i crushed first the anchovies until its like a paste in a big bowl, then add mustard, garlic, egg yolks, worchestershire sauce. combine properly.

add the vinegar, lemon juice.

incorporate olive oil in a thin stream, whisking with the paste until it becomes like a fainted yellow dressing.

season with parmesan cheese and pepper, if you want you can put tabasco.

blend romaine lettuce or mixed greens with garlic croutons and more parmesan cheese. maybe some grilled chicken or beef or fish.

you can do alot of mixed salads and add up this ceasar salad dressing.
if you do not like to whisk, try doing it in a blender or food processor.

:) enjoy

royce, like the rolls-royce of the chocolate world

2008-08-20T22:07:00.001-07:00

mom just bought this home and i have been craving this royce chocolates up to now! i love the milk chocolate and the white chocolate ones. i haven't opened this other bar, the one the left,maybe tonight i will feast! the second photo is called the nama chocolate, it melts in your mouth, that is why when you buy it, especially if they know you will bring it home, they put it in a silver padded bag, with a pack of dry ice inside, so it would not melt. and when you put it in your mouth, it melts so good! very very very yummy!!!!!!

just like how i crave for millie's cookies!
these cookies and muffins are so great!!! originally from UK, now they got a branch at the hongkong airport. royce chocolates are from japan, now they got a kiosk at the hongkong airport too. so much goodies to see and eat and buy at hongkong.

so if you ever go to hongkong...that's the nearest country to us where we can find these... try to get a bar of chocolate, some cookies and muffins...and i bet you'll be buying more. don't mind the weight dearies! i don't!

i just love good sweets...like these.

public enemies

2008-08-20T20:27:00.000-07:00

i can't wait for this film to get out. of course, starring my number one crush, mister johnny depp. and oh wow, christian bale is in it too. lotsa goodies to see out there in the coming year in the film industry.

i love the classics.

i have been watching james dean's films and elizabeth taylor's films. and i so love rebel without a cause. such a teeny bopper film, popcorn movie it is.

i hate when james dean smiles, he kinda looks unreal and funny looking. if there was film about him, i want james franco to be in it. he looks like james dean.

i wanna watch james franco new comedy film, pineapple rush i think. oh no, its pineapple express! hehe!

but since i have been bored, i just can't seem to finish this film, i have been watching it over and over again, but can't finish. titled, smart people, starring by dennis quiad, sarah jessica parker and ellen paige (i like her alot, she's good at juno) let me finish it now.

i also watched wanted (james mcavoy is kinda cute), hancock (well, not really into it, it kinda reminded me of my ob-gyn back in the states, since his surname was doctor hancock, hahaha! for real) and adam sandler's zohan. (that was pretty funny, gay funny)

let me eat my lunch now, while watching, smart people, again.

seven spice shop story

2008-08-13T03:09:00.000-07:00

i have relatives from egypt. but never been there. i wish i could visit back when i graduated from high school, but never did.

since i became so interested in the culinary world, i always ask them to bring home spices since i know egypt carry alot of different spices and herbs and tea from their surrounding countries. i actually love egypt's location, its in north africa and down south of europe. i mean its in between africa and europe continents. gets?

anyways, since then, every june and december, when my relatives go back here, they will bring me some stock of spices, herbs and tea. when i studied at the culinary school, i was even giving away some of my spices since i would want to share it to my classmates. i became so interested in it, so our handout about herbs and spices was my favourite read.

i talked to my aunt who lives there, and decided that i want to supply herbs and spices in households, to culinary students, and to culinary schools and restaurants. and then i listed all the herbs and spices that i think would be marketable here in the metro. i even added nuts and that SEKEM tea boxes. those tea have medicinal purposes and 100% organically grown, 100% natural. and we have been using that for ages now.

i started this when i came back from US, my son was 2 months old then. and i kept on thinking what my shop's name is. i decided it would be seven spice shop. seven, being our favourite number and my son's middle name is seven. i named it after him. recently i made the simpliest logo i could think of. i stock my supplies at the basement of my folks' house at tagaytay. that's where i keep them, in air tight, big pail containers, dry and cool and no direct sunlight. typical storage for herbs and spices. and it would last for almost 2 years or so.

i renovated my used-to-be-personal-multiply site into my seven spice online shop.

and i have been getting quite few orders. i even added up wooden cupcake stands which are made to order. and also the SEKEM tea, i would want people who loves tea, to use it, also for those who wants to try organic, natural, medicinal methods, by drinking this tea. they got a lot of choices, for hepatic, calm, laxative, cough, flu, fever, rheume, etc.

i am happy at least in some little way i earn a little bit for my family, especially to my son. this is the only thing i can do, since by choice, i am a stay at home mom who will find her own space soon and find a better environment for my son and for my little home based business.

thank you very much for supporting my little shop. i really appreciate the help of my family and relatives and friends and the clients who are continuing to order from me and will soon be ordering from seven spice shop. in some way you are helping alot for my son's savings.

future plans? i would want to bake alot of goodies that i could supply and sell, not cupcakes though, there are a lot of cupcake creators out there and to cook more for my family and friends since we all love to eat good healthy food.

i would want to have a sevenspiceshop.com in the future. a friend of mine will be helping me with this soon. and perk up my online shop.

i also would want to have a little supply store for cooks and bakers with a little deli and little restaurant since i am a little cooker. hehehehe!

vegetables and fruits

2008-08-10T20:00:00.001-07:00

let me start this blog about how i started feeding my only son with solid food.

from breastfeeding for almost 7 months, i finally decided to stop since it hurts so bad, since my son was early to have his first tooth. so it was time to introduce solid foods to him.

i remember i started it with plain mashed potatoes. then i boiled carrots, peas, sweet potato (the orange color one) and squash. sometimes i mashed it all together or just one mashed vegetable at a time. i also started to feed him, mashed fruits, from pears, apples, papaya, grapes too.

then i started boiling meat, like chicken breast and thin slices of beef or pork and of course fish. and i processed it with some boiled mashed vegetables. the fish, i fry it and just get the white meat. i put little stock too.

i started making plain congee. and i put meat and vegetable in it.

my son loves vegetables and fruits, well anything i serve to him. but he loves to eat when there's vegetable or fruit in it. i make it to a point that everyday we have soup, since it takes so much time for him to chew his meal (rice and meat dish) is it doesn't have any soup in it.

this year was the only time i introduced him to candies, like those gummy bears stuff. but he has been getting ice cream, chocolates and sweets from cakes and pastries ever since.

now he also eats bread with dips like olive oil and balsamic vinegar, tomato concasse (plain diced tomatoes) he eats pasta and pizza. we sometimes eat at fast food restaurants too. we eat whatever, he likes any fish dish. he loves condiments too, like ketchup and barbeque sauce. cheeses and salads and other dishes a big person can eat. my son is only 2 1/2 years old.

i am not that strict with what he eats, since i know he eats with good choices. i could never believe my son would eat vegetables and fruits in the easiest way, unlike other kids who don't like it. i know many parents out there are having a hard time feeding their kids with fruits and vegetables. my parents had a hard time when i was little. i never ate any vegetable way back. i will always take out even the tiniest vegetable i could see from my plate. and i don't like pork fat, unless its crispy fried. heehee! my husband too don't like vegetables when he was younger. so we are grateful our son didn't get that attitude from us about food.

he loves to eat. i sometimes think he's a vegetarian or something. well gotta respect his choices. he is his own person.

i can't wait to cook more for him when he gets older. i hope he would be as adventurous as we are when we eat. nowadays, i love to eat whatever. and i love to taste new kinds of dishes out there.

i guess you gotta start your child young to eat nutritous food. i think its the parents' way on how to feed and what to prepare and cook for their children matters most and also the parents' food habits. i think you just gotta respect your child's choices. and hope when he gets older he or she would change his food habits. just like what happend to me, i love to eat vegetables and fruits now my parents are happy hahahaha! but i still got my sweet tooth. still crave for the sweets all the time but not that much anymore. well not really. hahahaha! i still reserve space for dessert!
:)

restarting

2008-08-03T22:20:00.000-07:00

since i haven't moved out of this place (most of you know where i am living right now and my situation here) i still don't know what to put in my new blog.

there is so much to say and so much to do. ok this is what i will do first. since i can't cook and bake here, i would be sharing my previous cooking i experienced doing back at school. this was actually the reason why i started to talk about food. when i turned myself around into studying about culinary arts and a little bit of pastry arts, i never stopped taking photos of our work everyday in the kitchen. i got tons of photos and some of these were even used at the school for reference since i was a pioneer student, first ever batch to graduate the one year culinary course. i was using a sony cybershot 3.2 megapixels camera then. wasn't even fond of having a digital slr. and then i took shots of everything we did, even if the dish is not even finished or plated yet. i had fun and my being of a food fotographer began in my hands and in my eyes. my classmates even copied some of my photos since they are fond of it.

that cybershot almost got stolen. it was actually stolen for a few hours, then we saw it in the girl's bathroom, on top of the lockers. that was hilarious. i actually laughed and laughed when i saw it, since maybe the person who stole it, got a smack in his or her face, thinking, "i almost got her camera". up to now, i still don't know who took it. stupid really. i was not the only one who has been a victim of this back at school. now, my brother uses that camera. and i have another point and shoot camera and a digital slr. finally got one and i have been using that. but since i don't carry it often, i always use my point and shoot for getting recent food shots for my flickr account.

now let me choose what dish i should talk about and let me start my food blogging soon... heehee!

rebirth

2008-08-01T04:32:00.000-07:00

first ever entry to the rebirth of evil and demented little cooker girl.

i used to have a livejournal. but it got hacked. somewhat somebody found out my password and read everything, even the private ones.

anyways, i am back. well sort of. kind of starting the rebirth of the evil and demented little me.

i got so much to share and so much to cook and so much to bake and so much to take photos of, and so much to offer to help, inspire and just basically put happy and maybe sad thoughts inside our little home, from my little kitchen and from my everyday life.

thank you for checking and lurking once in awhile.

:)