Mini Donuts!!

Krispy Kreme certainly knows how to make people in my office happy! Look at what we got before!

Surprise!!! Look at all these yummy donuts! The insides were filled!

Krispy Kreme’s Chocolate Kreme Cakes

Okay, so I was in a meeting last Monday. And I receive a call from our admin assistant, “Ms Jen, may box po kayo ng Krispy Kreme dito.”

And I texted her back: “Gusto niyo lang kumain no?? “

Winner!

Thanks to one of our Ninangs at our wedding, I cooked Hainanese Chicken.

And since I put it on Facebook, a lot of people have asked for the recipe. That’s actually a first, really, because, as a lot of those people know, I.don’t.cook. Yep, that’s because my mom is a great cook…didn’t feel the need to learn anymore. (Until our cook left. Long story.)

Anyways, going back to the recipe–let me just say that it was easy peasy. Honest. (Wonder if it’s those “survival” instincts kicking in, considering again, I.don’t.cook…but.now.I.need.to.)

Of Ice Cream

Last night, S felt like he wanted ice cream.  Old fashioned ice cream.

We had recently visited

Verbena

S and I spent Friday night at Tagaytay.

He had a meeting Saturday morning and since the boys were sick, we didn’t take them anymore (yay, time for both of us!). We left Manila not too late in the afternoon to make sure we don’t get stuck in traffic (it’s a b**ch getting caught in traffic between the Alabang viaduct and somewhere near Mamplasan!).

We had dinner at Verbena in Discovery Country Suites, Tagaytay.

Here are some of the pictures I took with the help of our new SB-400 and Picasa’s “I’m Feeling Lucky” function—

Cooking During Holy Week

(X post from MomEx)

Nope, this is not about what to cook because of abstinence, it’s more like because the cook’s out.

Every year during Holy Week (or at least it feels like it), the cook goes on leave. Previous years, I got away with watching my in laws (mostly my father-in-law) cook our meals. Last year, I recall getting tense wondering what I could contribute, and for the first time, I made spinach mushroom cheese squares (which I can share next time).

I’m so proud to say that for the past two days, I’ve been cooking! On Monday, I made white adobo! (Forgot to take a picture of it, but I figure that I should have lessened the sugar in that one!) And on Tuesday, I made this…

What is it, you say? It’s PASTA. That’s it, JUST pasta. Hahahahaha! I sauteed garlic in some olive oil, threw in a can of crushed tomatoes, put in salt, crushed peppercorns, hot chili, rosemary. Made that boil and simmer and dunked in the (whole wheat) pasta.

Well, it looked better than it tasted but my FIL says I should never apologize for my cooking (hahahahahaha!). Tomorrow, I will do Hainanese Chicken. Let’s see if that turns out good!

PS — I did get lots of praise for this dish from one of the persons that matters the most to me—my son. He not only ate this that dinner, he ate it for lunch AND dinner the next day!

Creamy Spinach Dip

I just wanted to share with you this wonderful gift I got from a friend. It’s a creamy spinach dip that comes with melba toast. It was soooo good that even P ate some! (That’s good news because he doesn’t regularly eat his veggies.)

My friend, Amelia, makes these herself! You pop the dip into the microwave to heat it a bit, and put it on the melba toast.

Let me tell you why I love it so much. GARLIC! It had garlic. It was sooo nice and cheesy, and had garlic. It was fabulous!

If you guys are already salivating, call Amelia to order a box! 09175295121.

Here’s another picture of the box, only because we all ate up what was inside first, and forgot to take pictures! =P

Too Good To Be Healthy Banana Walnut Bread

Yes, that’s the name, believe it or not, and it lives up to its name!!! I had some over the weekend and had a slice more than my share!!

Maybs Ti, a friend of ours, has ventured into this home biz in her search for something healthy for her family.

Each loaf is about 7″ (L) x 3.5″ (W) x 2.5″ (H).

It’s baked with 100% whole wheat flour, fortified with wheat germ and mildly sweetened with real honey. It’s definitely made with real bananas — none of that artificial banana flavoring.

For Christmas, they’re selling it in a neat little package,

and all you have to do is write on the gift tag and they’re ready to give away. They’re sold at PhP165 each. If you want to order 10 or more at a time, you can get it at PhP160 each. For people who just want to devour the bread quickly, you can purchase it in saran wrap (as in the first picture), for PhP150 only.

To ensure guaranteed freshness, please place your orders at least 24 hours before they are to be picked up at Maybs’ house.

Contact Maybs at 726 2030 or 0917 5200208. Tell her Jen sent you! =)

I cooked!

Nita, our cook, left for home yesterday to check on her ailing mom. Needless to say, we had to think about what to cook for mealtimes. =) I’m always so dyahe to my in-laws because I don’t really cook. My FIL does and my MIL sometimes does.

I told S on Sunday night that I’d like to attempt to contribute one dish for Monday night. All night that night and all day yesterday, I was looking for a recipe that had the following criteria: easy to cook, so easy that no mistakes can be made, and of course, delicious.

In the end, I decided to make Chinese Beefsteak, recipe courtesy of one of my Mom’s friends. I went to get 1kg of beef that’s been cut up like tapa. I marinated it and let it sit for around 30 or so minutes.

I cooked (with the help of the girls in the house) and made the sauce. I tasted it and…okay, so it tasted weird. Note that it didn’t taste BAD, just strange since it seemed like beef tapa smothered in Worcestershire sauce. I must have poured too much Lea and Perrins.

I mentioned this to my FIL and he said that it’s okay, try again next time. But he ate a slice or two. I don’t recall if my MIL said anything but she had a slice. S had three, which is good! And what makes it a winner is the fact that P ate an entire plateful!

Because of that, I’m going to try and cook again! =)

Shabu!

Since I got sick, I had been longing for hot soup. I actually had only one place in mind: Gloria Maris Hot Pot. Finally, I got what I wished for last night.

We had their sate soup, and ordered taro (for me!), lobster balls (for me!), meat balls, sliced lamb and mushrooms (for him!). The sauce S made for me was, as usual, incredibly good. Lots of garlic (antibacterial kahit na bad breath…figured it’ll be good for my cough!), lots of green onion, lots of everything else. YUM!!!

I wanna go back!!!