Tuyo on a rainy afternoon after spending the whole morning cooking and baking.

Tuyo on a rainy afternoon is the best merienda!  And I love eating it with "kanin lamig" or left over rice.  I just ate it a few minutes ago.  By the time I remembered to take a picture, I have eaten several pieces already  hahaha  but still 1 lucky shot for my blog.

I cooked the whole morning and now I'm ready for our New Year's eve celebration tomorrow.  I already made 2 rolls of pork embutido.  I feel disappointed because my maid couldn't find leaf lard or "sinsal" in Guadalupe market, so mine are not as good as my Lola's. I used ground pork, ham, vienna sausage, pickle relish, olives, eggs, raisins and chorizo de bilbao.  I like to serve it cold like coldcuts rather than hot.

I also baked Sans Rival and made Leche Flan.  I used my Lola's recipe, very easy.  The flan is smooth and creamy!


Leche Flan

8 egg yolks
1 tall can Carnation evaporated milk
1 can Carnation condensed milk
1/2 t. vanilla
1/2 C. white sugar

Melt sugar in frying pan without stirring, just tilting and swirling the pan.  When golden in color, pour in a "llanera" or baking pan.  I melted the sugar directly in my 8 inch round baking pan.  Let it cool and harden for 5 minutes.

Beat eggyolks then gradually add the evaporated milk, then the condensed milk.  Add the vanilla and pour into prepared pan.  Cover with tin foil and steam for 1 hour over low heat.  Cool.  Serve chilled.

I also made the filling for the Molo soup and the stock.  I tried a few pieces and it turned out ok.

Molo Soup

Molo wrapper (preferrably from Ling Nam in Tomas Pinpin, Binondo)
1/4 K. ground pork
1/2 C. singkamas, chopped finely
1/4 K. shrimps, peeled, deveined and chopped
1 egg
1 T. flour
1 big white onion, chopped finely
1 head garlic, minced
10 C. chicken broth
1 Knorr chicken cube
salt and pepper
green onions
toasted garlic

Combine ground pork,  singkamas, shrimps, half of the onion and half of the garlic, egg and flour.  Season with patis, salt and pepper.  Wrap in molo wrappers.  You can freeze and just drop in simmering NOT boiling soup stock when ready to use.

Saute onions then the garlic in oil.  Add the chicken broth.  Season with patis, salt, pepper and knorr chicken cube.  Drop the dumplings in simmering soup stock.  Garnish with chopped spring oinons and toasted garlic.

I'm a little tired but at least I will be  less stressed on New Year's eve.  I also made Rellenong Bangus the other day, it's in the chiller already.  Tomorrow, Hermie will just grill the barbecue.  I don't know if I should buy hotdogs.  I know the kids don't like them much.  I definitely have to go to Market!Market! to buy puto to be eaten with the Pancit Molo soup.  Ate will make Lasagna.

I wish we all have a very Happy New Year!

Sizzling Noodles with Pork and Prawns at President Grand Palace

My most favorite Chinese noodles in Manila is Sizzling Noodles with Pork and Prawns at the President Grand Palace, Ongpin St., Manila.  I could finish a whole order by myself!  The noddles were fried and shaped like a basket then served on a sizzling plate, slathered in thick sauce with pork and prawns!  Promise!  I really, realy love this "Pancit".

Jing and Sherman treated Mariger, Mona and I for lunch.  Jing wanted her husband to taste the noodles which we ate a couple of years ago before they left for the UK.  

We also ordered the Spicy Fried Squid (very tender even if it was deep fried).

Yang Chow Fried Rice

and.... Roasted Chicken (which tasted like deep fried chicken but without the grease).

 
I can't wait to go back and eat the noodles again!

What I ate for Christmas!

I started celebrating Christmas early in December and I got the shock of my life when I weighed myself at the gym yesterday and discovered I gained 10 lbs. in one month! Terrible! Horrible! Unthinkable!  Delicious!!!!

I plan to follow my diet in January and go to the gym regularly.  Hmmmm ....  Why does that line seem so familiar? I love to eat... my family loves to eat... my friends love to eat.

I heard mass in Santa Rosa last night with Tita Portia and had a light pre-Christmas snack in her house.

It wasn't exactly Noche Buena because our celebration is always on Christmas day lunch. 

We had the usual ensaimada, Adelina's ham, Marca Pina quezo de bola, chicken salad and my famous  Hot Chocolate.  It took me weeks of research and several hits and misses before I got the taste that I wanted.  A perfect recipe all the time.  In the spirit of the holiday season ... I'm sharing my recipe of ....

Hot Chocolate - 1 cup

1 C. Fresh Milk
65 g. bittersweet chocolate, cut into cubes. ( You can buy from Chocolate Lover's, Baker's Depot or Cook's Exchange)

(Use a big stainless steel cooking pot because the milk tends to overflow when it starts to boil.)

Heat the milk until it is almost boiling,  Drop the chocolate pieces and stir slowly with a wire whisk until the chocolate is melted.  Continue whisking slowly until you get the consistency you like. 

*I let the chocolate cool in the pot for several hours and heat before serving, you will get hot chocolate that is smooth and thick.

I am so excited! I hope you try this recipe and everybody will want more!

We didn't wait for midnight but went to bed early.  I got myself a companion for the night.  Hahahahaha  a Male!!!!   I got my old wicker plant box, a couple of throw pillows, a flannel blanket and let wriggly sleep with me even if I am allergic to him.  I just took an antihistamine medicine so I won't get sick.  My baby looked so cute!  Like a real baby in a crib.

Eversince I can remember ... Christmas lunch has always been "Nilagang Manok" and Lechon.  I ordered again our little piglet from Ping Ping! 

I did not get dizzy this time and enjoyed my lunch... crunchy skin and ribs!  The soup was a bit salty because I made a mistake and added 2 T. rock salt instead of 1 T.

Every year, Tita Portia would always prepare a dessert and banana split buffet upstairs.

And then.... time to open the gifts!  We don't just give our gifts to each other .... we have to watch each and every one open his or her gift and it would take ages!  But that is Christmas for us.  I was fortunate to have captured on camera their delight when they opened their favorite gift.  We all got a lot of presents but will just post one picture each so I can introduce my family.

Renzo



Sophie



Gilly

Nicky



Lia



Ate Gina



Kuya Raul

Kuya Butch - Husband of Ate



Tita Portia

 When I heard mass last night, I greeted Jesus Merry Christmas and thanked Him for my family and friends.

Merry Christmas!!!

Tita Portia's Birth DAY Celebrations

Happy Birthday, PD!  When my nephew Nicky was still a toddler, my Tita Portia was trying to teach him to call her "PRETTY" but he couldn't say the word, so it came out PD instead.  So, since then, we all started calling her PD!

She invited a few of her friends as well as my Mom's friends, the friends we inherited from my Mom for a birthday lunch. 

The menu was very traditional. 

Baked Mussels

Lime sherbet

Roast Stuffed Turkey with Cranberry and fruit compote.

Baked Ham

Buttered vegetables and candied yam

Spinach Salad with crumbled blue cheese, pears, green apples, dried cranberries and candied walnuts with vinaigrette

For dessert, we had Walnut bars with Toffee sauce and vanilla ice cream and caramel cake from Costa Brava(gift from Tita Josie Yao)

For our dinner ... we reserved a table in Peking Garden, Greenbelt 5 and invited her close friend, Ruby.

We ordered a whole Peking Duck.... it was really YUM!!!! The skin was so crisp and the meat so moist and juicy!  The 3 of us polished off the whole bird!!!!

The second way was minced and served with lettuce.

We also ordered Hot and Sour soup

Steamed Pork Dumplings

and Fried Conpoy vegetables with bamboo pith and glazed cashews.

For dessert... we went to Ti Amo ... a gelato place in Greenbelt 5.

 I only ordered the small Orange ice cream. (Next time, will pair it with Dark Chocolate ice cream)

Tita Ruby ordered Dark Chocolate with Caramelized Fig ice cream.

Tita Portia had the Tropical surprise and Blueberry Cheesecake ice cream.

And then ..... I love shocking the seniors ... I brought them to the Starbucks/Cafe Havana/Seattle's Best area of Greenbelt 3.... hahaha just so they know what is happening over that side of the mall.  If you have been there at night ... then you know what I'm talking about. It's bound to make the seniors' eye grow big as saucers!

It was a good day not just for "PD" but for me as well .... the eating was non stop!!!!  No wonder, the lbs. just keep on adding up.

And it's not yet Christmas!!!!!

Christmas get together with my HS classmates

A few days ago, we had our HS Christmas get together in my house.  There were delicious food and drinks contributed by everybody: Cher, Catherine, Mona, Sarita, Serla, Jennifer, Lei, Jo, Marianne, Chen, Pinky, Tin and Bubbles.

We had ......

Lechon Kawali

Pancit Palabok

Pork Barbeque

Paksiw Lechon

Roasted Chicken from Chooks to Go

Fried Lumpiang Ubod

Palitaw

Arce Mango Ice cream

Mango Bravo from Conti's

Chocolate Mousse from Red Ribbon

Food for the Gods from Mary Grace

Several bottles of wine and soda

Everybody liked the Fried Ubod I made so I'm sharing the recipe.

Fried Lumpiang Ubod.

I let them try  my Food for the Gods, but was very stingy  hahahaha just gave them 1 each because I baked it for my doctor as my Christmas gift.  I'm not going to be modest, and will say it's the best!  Moist and chewy.

Food for the Gods (adapted from The Maya Kitchen cookbook)

1 C. butter
1 C. white sugar
1 C. dark brown sugar
3 eggs
1 1/4 C. flour
1 t. baking soda
1 t. baking powder
200 g. Iranian dates, chopped
1 C. walnuts, chopped

Remove butter from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking.  Combine flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Dredge dates with 1/2 cup of the flour mixture. Grease and line with greaseproof paper or GLAD bake  a 13 x 9 baking pan.  Pre-heat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter, add white and brown sugar... then the eggs one at a time.  Do NOT overbeat or else you will have a cake/brownie like texture.  Fold in the flour,  then the dates, fold in the walnuts last.

Bake at 350F for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300F.  Bake 30 minutes more.  Cool for 10 minutes then invert the pan onto a cooling rack, remove paper while still warm.  Slice after letting it cool for about an hour.  Wrap in foil so it will be moist.

Update: If I follow the baking time in the recipe above, the center always collapses so I experimented using different pans at 350F.

Use a 9x9 baking pan lined with Glad paper if you want a cakey version.
Use a 9x 13 pan for a bar type version.
Bake at 350F for 30 minutes.