Chocolate Crinkles

I remember back in highschool, one of the famous snacks are chocolate crinkles. Many years ago, they sell this sweet treat for P2.00. I was having one of those nostalgic moments and I thought maybe I should try baking this yummy treat.

I always thought that it might be difficult to make but this is absolutely easy and it took less than half an hour to make. It also helped when my girlfriend's sister suggested to give this a try since I was also in the mood to try something new.

Here is the finished product. It is soft, chewy and absolutely to die for. Here is the product I used. Enjoy!

Filipino style Chocolate Crinkles

Ingredients:

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar


Procedure:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together cocoa, white sugar, and vegetable oil. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; stir into the cocoa mixture. Cover dough, and chill for at least 4 hour. I kept my dough in the fridge overnight.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into one inch balls. I like to use 1 tbsp measuring scoop for this recipe. Coat each ball in confectioners' sugar before placing onto prepared cookie sheets.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Let stand on the cookie sheet for a minute before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Hamonado

Majority in our family decided to give up rice as a sacrifice starting Ash wednesday until Black Saturday. It is quite a challenge because being Filipino meant eating rice for breakfast, lunch, merienda and dinner. Choosing this as a sacrifice pushed me to becoming more adventurous in cooking. One of my target is to cook Hamonado.

I remember eating hamonado during special occassions only. For me it is very similar to Fiesta Ham we always have during christmas. The only difference is that hamonado doesn't have the smoked taste. It was actually the last minute when I decided to try cooking this dish. I had all the ingredients so I gave it a try.

I will be completely honest. I usually cheat when I cook. I use Mama Sita mixes when necessary. With this dish, I used the Tocino Marinade for the meat. Since I only had 3 hours to prepare and cook this dish, I needed to come up with a plan to make this work. For those who are abroad, I think this is the best way to cook this dish easy and fast.

The first step is to marinate the meat. I used pork butt. I love this part of the meat because there is fat in between the meat which will make your hamonado tender and juicy. I marinated the meat with salt and pepper plus the Tocino Mix for an hour. Since I was in a rush, I combined the meat with 2 cans of pineapple, soysauce, and a cup of brown sugar then boiled the marinade and meat for an hour. While waiting I preheated the oven at 450 degrees. After boiling for an hour,remove the meat and pineapply slices and put in a roasting pan. Continue simmering the marinade until thick. You can add cornstarch diluted in water to thicken the sauce. Once it's done, pour the sauce on the meat then put in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes until the meat starts to brown.

Here is the finished product. It is easy , fast and super delish! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mom!

It was my mom's birthday last thursday so she asked me to cook something we could all share on that day. Being the official cook of the family I took charge and did all the cooking. I decided to cook Balamban liempo, Pancit Malabon, Fresh lumpia,Buttered Sugpo and Baked tahong. It was my first time to try cooking the Balamban liempo and i'm proud because it was a success. Everybody loved it! It reminded me of Chic boy liempo. With the rest of the food, I used my tried and tested recipes. If you want my recipe let me know but for now, let's all have some food porn. These photos doesn't give justice on how beautiful and yummy they are.

Enjoy!

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Today, I cooked a "chamba" recipe. I am definitely a better cook than a baker. I made this without following a recipe. I just trusted my tastebuds. Hahaha! It was a success and I will definitely make this again.

Enjoy!

On Positivity

Don't you just hate it when people flood their Facebook and Twitter account just to announce to the world trying to "teach" them something when in reality it is just a load of BS? I see this everyday and sometimes it really annoys me. You want to know why? Because it is so easy to become a positive person when everything is in favor to you. When you get what you want all the time. But let me tell you this, your true character shows when things are not going your way and yet you maintain to see the positive things in your life.

Gratefulness is the most important attitude to live a positive life. If you always complain and you always demand and never get satisfied with what you have, you can never be grateful. If you constantly crave for attention and always feel the need to have what your friends have, then you can't be a positive person. Don't get me wrong, I am not trying to judge you. I just dont like it when people put up a front to make themselves look good to other people but in reality they are the biggest inconsiderate and selfish person ever existed(i'm just exaggerating of course). You see, your true attitude shows when you are around your family. You can trick your friends, classmates or coworkers but you can never trick your family. That sense of comfort knowing that regardless of your true character your family will have no choice but to live with it.

Here is the difficult part, how long are you going to pretend you are something you are not? When are you going to start to take responsibility to your own actions? When are you going to learn to put others first before your selfish demands? And most of all, when you you going to practice what you've been trying to tell to people?

Money, shows what kind of person you truly are. Ask yourself, what do I do with this blessing? Do I share it or do I use it exclusively to buy my personal wants and desires?Do I use it to help others who I know are in need or do I keep it because it is only mine to enjoy? Do I save it so that in the future if my family will need it I can share it? Am I sensitive to the needs of my parents, siblings or friends? These are the questions you need to ask yourself to know how much money manipulate you.

Back when I was in college, I only had P100 allowance everyday. I commute from Marikina to Morayta and I dont have packed lunch. During that time, riding an fx would cost P20 from Marikina to Cubao and another P20 from Cubao to Morayta. Imagine how I managed to save up with that amount of allowance. I thank my parents for making us understand the value of hardwork. Acquiring things on our own and not relying on asking money from them. I learned how to be creative and "madiskarte" that's why when I need something, I sold some of my artwork. I draw for people then get paid doing their projects, recycle some of my art materials and I only took the jeepney when I know is necessary. In fact, until now I love riding the jeepney. Observing people is amazing! Because of this kind of lifestyle my college life introduced me to my "Malulupit" friends, people who I know are loyal and true. We aren't the most popular group but we help each other be the best that we can be.

I never experienced feeling envious around my wealthy classmates back in highschool. I wanted them to appreciate me for my sense of humour, creativity, and my crazy personality. Im so happy that despite the lack of financial resources, I found amazing friends who are wealthy but disregard their material wealth and values friendship more. Experiencing these made me appreciate the little things. We didnt care if not everyone has the latest celllphone model. We didnt care if not everyone can afford to go to the movies. We didnt care if we wore the same outfit gazillion times. We didn't care because we are after the friendship, nothing else.

This is the reason why I feel bad for some youth of today. Their image mattered more than finding people who truly care for them. They crave to fit in when they can stand out. They need constant reassurance that they are important. This is why a lot of them grow up being bitchy ,demanding and selfish. It is because they don't understand the value of hardwork because everything are just given to them. They don't make an effort to study hard because even of they don't they still get what they want. They blame their parents for not achieving their dreams because they can't financially support them. They blame all the bad things in their life to others instead of making a choice to change their priority. Success lies within ourselves. And until we learn how to get things through hardwork, that is the only time you will learn to appreciate the beauty of life.

I guess the lesson here is before we say anything we need to make sure that we live by it. Because flooding in such social networking sites would mean nothing if we don't change Inside.Positivity comes from within, it resonates from the goodness of your heart. Though it is impossible to make a radical change in our life, how about we start small steps. Ask yourself, what did I do or what am I willing to do today that could benefit others and not myself? How can I give back? How can I make a positive change in someone's life?

You need to go

“you don’t ever feel guilty about removing toxic people from your life.

It doesn’t matter whether someone is a relative, romantic interest, employer, childhood friend, or a new acquaintance – you don’t have to make room for people who cause you pain or make you feel small.

It’s one thing if a person owns up to their behavior and makes an effort to change. But if a person disregard your feelings, ignores your boundaries and continues to treat you in a harmful way, they need to go.“

- Daniell Koepe

Review: Les Miserables (and how its story relates to someone I know)

 I just finished watching Les Miserables and I became compelled to write a blog post about it. It is a beautiful story about how love and compassion can change a person. The setting of the story evolved in 19th century France where Jean Valjean a man who is released from prison breaks his parole to give his life another chance while trying to escape the ruthless Javert. For the sake of those who haven't watched it, I will not be talking about the details in the movie. Besides, the lesson of the story is just as important as the movie itself.

"Always trust in the goodness of every person you meet." I was taught this lesson by someone who is very close to my heart. She taught me how to be compassionate and accepting. Yes, I admit that I used to only see things in black and white. Simply because I was given a gift of analyzing and knowing things even before it happens. Because of that, I grew up afraid and paranoid, always second guessing the intentions of everyone around me. Always expecting the worst in people. But it helped me prepare for any challenges that will come my way. Well, there was not a lot of challenges simply because I was always afraid of the risk and I can also forsee the outcome. But 6 years ago, my life changed because of this person. Especially when the turning point of my life happened a year ago. When I learned how to trust in people, I also learned how to let go and live.

We all go through that point in our life that changed us. The effect can be something positive or negative. Sometimes, because of our experiences in life, it molds us into who we are now. Situations whether it is good or bad has a huge effect on a person's character. Take Jean Valjean as an example. He was forced into slavery because he stole bread for his sister's hungry children. In the eyes of the law, he was a thief and will always be a thief. But in the eyes of his sister and children, he was a saint for he sacrificed his life so he can save them. During his time in prison, he grew angry and revengeful. He lost his trust in the goodness of man. Then came the turning point of his life. When no one wanted him, he found acceptance and love in the Lord. All that he needed was to feel that despite his awful past, he is given unconditional love, trust and forgiveness. Since then, he learned to be sensitive to the needs of others. He may not changed everybody's life but he sure made an impact to each person he helps. His act of charity is not entirely about giving financial support but also by giving encouragement and hope.

I saw a part of Jean Valjean in my very special friend. Sure, she did not have a very blissful past and made a lot of mistakes, but I know for sure that her future will be everything she could ever hope for. Simply because she embraced the lessons and not the heartache of her past. To her, the past is not important because the future is still spotless. I truly believe that whatever you give, it is also you receive. Maybe not according to how we want it, but how it should be for our own benefit. Sometimes, the things we think are good for us are the ones that will destroy us. Though we are in control of our future, we have no control on the people around us. All that we need to do is just trust in the goodness of everyone. This is exactly how she lives her life. That no matter how many times other people disappoint her, she loves them unconditionally anyway. She gives so much love and compassion to other people, not even considering if they will be willing to give it back to her. There is a huge part of her that if you only take time to know, you will be amazed on how beautiful this person is. How I wish, they can see her the way I do. Maybe they will start appreciating her more and be grateful because she is a part of their life. If they only know how much she is willing to do for them maybe they will be more kind to her.

At the end of the day, just like in the story, the quality of life you live is not based on how much success and wealth you acquired. It is not measured by accomplishments or fame. It is about how much love, compassion and trust you gave to others. It is about how you can change a man through your mercy and acceptance. Realize that all the material things in our life, we can lose them so easily. There is no point holding on to them. Instead, use them to change someone's life and trust in their goodness. Invest in building strong relationship with your family because it is true, family by blood or by love should always help and accept each other. "And remember the truth that once was spoken;  To love another person is to see the face of God."