mango butterscotch heaven!

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

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

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!

*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

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

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..

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!