So what’s the plan? We, the parents, schedule our dates around our kids’ play dates. It’s more like the other way around really. We schedule play dates around our occasional mommy and daddy only date.  And I tell you, it works like a charm. *wink*

And here’s how one of our couple friends thanked us for hosting a play date:

Yumm-eee! These were from Le Madeleine. It would have been unwise to be in one of ‘em blood testing dallas labs the following day. Haha! We have the sweetest, most thoughtful friends. Promise!

Our small family shared most of the calories, from the oist and chocolatey Sacher Torte to the tiramisu and the  fruit tart and the Napoleons.

Didn’t I say it was a win win plan? *wink*

Cheers, y’all!

Hubby celebrated his birthday on Thanksgiving week. He didn’t want a fondant birthday cake, bless his heart. He wanted either a cheesecake or tiramisu. I chose to make him a cheesecake. After all, almost always, we find ourselves at The Cheesecake Factory after celebratory dinners. I thought it would be nice to save ourselves some serious bucks. Ha! The big question was, what kind of cheesecake to make? I had a few options, Blueberry, Cappuccino and Fudge Truffle. I chose Fudge Truffle, that way, hubby gets his cheesecake and I get my chocolate fix. Win! Win! *wink*

I turned to my tried and tested Hershey’s recipe book for the recipe. For the chocolate cookie crust, I used Oreo cookies instead of the vanilla wafer cookies mixed with cocoa called for in the recipe book. It’s right to say then, that the cheesecake had an Oreo cookie crust.

INGREDIENTS:

OREO COOKIE CRUMB CRUST (recipe follows)

2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Chocolate Chips or HERSHEY’S Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (Note: By all means, please use your chocolate chips brand of choice!)
3  packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated milk)
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS:

1. Prepare Oreo Cookie Crumb Crust; set aside. Heat oven to 300°F.

2. Place chocolate chips in microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at medium (50%) for 1-1/2 minutes; stir. If necessary, microwave at medium an additional 15 seconds at a time, stirring after each heating, just until chips are melted when stirred.

3. Beat cream cheese in large bowl until fluffy. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add melted chips, eggs and vanilla; mix well. Pour into prepared crust.

4. Bake 1 hour and 5 minutes or until center is still a little bit jiggly. Remove from oven to wire rack. With knife, loosen cake from side of pan. Cool completely; remove side of pan. Refrigerate several hours before serving. Garnish as desired.

OREO COOKIE CRUMB CRUST: Stir together 1-1/2 cups Oreo cookie crumbs (about 2/3 of a packaged tray of Oreos), 1/3 cup HERSHEY’S Cocoa and 1/3 cup melted butter or margarine in medium bowl. Press firmly onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

You can find some very helpful tips, techniques and troubleshooting guide on the Hershey’s website.

We loved this cheesecake, specially my little girl! This is quite dense so go easy on the portions! This recipe is definitely a keeper. I haven’t made a cheesecake in a very long time. I’ve forgotten how simple (yet tricky!) it is to make. I am glad this one turned out to be a huge success. Yay!

Back to reality tomorrow. I hope y’all  had a wonderful Thanksgiving break as did we. I hope you’re all back safe and sound where you should be. :) Nobody wants to be bothered with rv repairs right smack in the middle of a vacation or a drive home (or to anywhere!).

Cheers, y’all and have a great week ahead!

Well, it was about time I baked some cookies. I can’t even remember the last time I made some! After a quick survey of my baking inventory, I realized I had everything I needed to make some Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies.  That should complete my Hershey’s Perfectly Chocolate Trio, the first two members being the cake and the frosting. *wink*

Here’s the recipe…

INGREDIENTS:

2-1/4 C  all-purpose flour
1/3 C (Hershey’s) cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 C (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 C granulated sugar
3/4 C packed light brown sugar
1 t vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 C Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Chips or Hershey’s Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 C chopped nuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla in large bowl on medium speed of mixer until creamy. Add eggs; beat well. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well. Stir in chocolate chips. Add nuts, if desired. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased cookie sheet.

3.  Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Cool slightly; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. About 5 dozen cookies.

I dropped rounded TABLESPOONs of cookie batter onto the baking sheet instead  of rounded teaspoons.  My recipe yield was 3 dozens, still a good number.

We loved how the cookies were just the right chocolatey sweetness.  They paired very well with either coffee or tea. These would make for very nice treats to bring to parties, picnics or even camping (just be sure to eat them in moderation to avoid rv travel emergency, if you get my drift. *wink*) I hope to try other cookie recipes in the next few weeks. *cross fingers*

Cheers, y’all! Mabuhay!

My daughter’s class had a Hawaiian sort of thing going for the last week of school. School ended last June 3, in case you’re wondering.  On their year end party, the class had a luau. The kids came to school in board shorts, floral dresses, sunglasses and flipflops. They all had leis and were just too cute!  I brought some cupcakes, of course! I had to somehow make up for the store-bought cupcakes I brought to school a few days before the year-end party. I have since forgiven myself…I think. :D

For the girls, I topped the cupcakes with little flowers, a starfish, an umbrella and a little brown sugar (for sand effect).

The umbrellas were really a last minute addition. I requested hubby to buy them for me at Party City.  I’m glad I added the umbrellas. I think they gave the cupcakes a more summer-y feel.  Plus, the kids loved them!

For the boys, I made fondant surfboards, which, unfortunately, did not dry/harden quickly enough.  That’s what I get for waiting until the morning of the party to make them! :P

Nevertheless, the kids (boys and girls alike!) loved them.  They all thanked me for the cupcakes, which they thought were awesome. I really love those kids! They always tell the truth! Haha! :D

I’ve been cooking and baking again these last couple of days, and with renewed vigor, too! :) I’m almost tempted to say that I’m inspired!  Well, I am! :)

Keep cool, y’all!  Mabuhay!

Teacher Appreciation Week at my daughter’s school was from May 2 to May 6.  On May 6th, the class celebrated their super awesome rockin’ teacher with a simple brownie party and a gift card bonanza of sorts. My little munchkin’s teacher very well deserved it.  We chose brownies over cupcakes because brownies happen to be one of the teacher’s favorite snacks.

For the first time in a very long time, DH helped a great deal with the brownie making. And by DH I don’t mean “dear hubby”.  I was referring to Duncan Hines, who else?  I baked 2 batches of brownies – fudge and milk chocolate.  So I used a brownie mix.  I did, however, make the perfectly chocolate chocolate frosting from scratch. Ha!

The darker brownies are the fudge ones, while the lighter colored ones are milk chocolate.

These brownies are huge at approximately 2.5in x 2.5in each. Instead of using (2) 9in x 13in pans, I used (2) 10in square pans, each of which yielded 16  ginormous pieces.  The kids couldn’t be happier with their larger than normal brownie snacks.

In making the brownies, I deviated just the tiny bit from the ingredients listed on the box. I used soy milk instead of water and melted butter instead of oil.  For  fudgier brownies, I used only 2 eggs instead of 3 (which will make for cake-like brownies).

I’ve almost forgotten just how convenient and easy it is to use boxed mixes.  I don’t think the kids cared at all that the brownies they were served weren’t made from scratch. Haha!  So yes, it’s ok to use boxed mixes.  At least that’s the thought that helped me sleep that night. Kidding! :D

You can find the recipe for the Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Frosting HERE.

Have a great weekend, y’all!  Cheers and mabuhay!

I believe the price tag on this was P200.00, close to $5.00.  The cake was fluffy and the flan, heavenly.  I’ve always been curious about leche flan cake and how it’s made.  It’s been years since I tasted flan on a cake.  Growing up, I remember buying a slice from one of the neighborhood bakeshops (bakeries as we call them!).

I have since successfully made my own Leche Flan Cake.  But that’s a separate blog entry altogether. I think I’m ready for thermogenic fat burners, what with all the sweets I’ve been consuming. Well, maybe not. :D

Mabuhay, y’all!

On that same weekend, we attended a super fun Valentine’s Party, our first.  I brought a cake to the party…

It took me about 10 minutes to decorate this cake, which was all the time hubby gave me as we were running late for the party.  Talk about pressure!  Thank goodness I was prepared.  I had decorations ready and waiting – heart-shaped marshmallows and Valentine M&Ms. ;)  The butterflies were extras from the 7th birthday cake that I made. Hee hee.  Good thing I was able to stop my daughter from eating all the butterflies!

Because we were in a hurry, I had to take photos using hubby’s IPhone.  No time for a proper cake-shoot.  Haha.  This is a two-layer cake, by the way, with a sinful custard filling and Italian meringue buttercream frosting. One layer is mocha chiffon and the other is chocolate chiffon.

oOo

My little girl decorated a heart-shaped 2-layer cake a couple of days ago with the help of her dad.  Hubby had to step up to the plate because I’ve been under the weather these last couple of days.

Because hubby and daughter were left to tend to this cake on their own, they had to use store-bought whipped topping. Hee hee.  Frosting the cake was the most stressful part for them and from the master bedroom, I could hear my daughter getting frustrated…really frustrated!  It didn’t help that my husband was making light of the situation by laughing at their (un)progress. Tsk tsk.  So I asked hubby to bring the cake upstairs and the tub of frosting so I could smooth out the kinks of their frosting job.  That made my daughter feel a lot better. :)

Here’s a photo that hubby took using his Hipstamatic for IPhone app…

Hubby told me the little girl was doing a great job with the border of the cake, having a pattern and all.  Suddenly, she went to town with the marshmallows and M&Ms when she got to decorating the middle of the cake.  Hahaha.  Anyway, this is a good exercise for her, specially since she’s entering a cake in next weekend’s cake show. *wink*

Aah, love month, one of the months when it’s hardest to burn belly fat.

Mabuhay and have a great weekend, y’all!  Stay away from the sickies!

My daughter is wide awake as well.  And we’re both hungry.  All I could think about is the Champorado with Belgian Chocolate and Raspberry Ice Cream, which I had for dessert and thoroughly enjoyed at The Stock Market in Bonifacio High Street…

This is the best champorado I’ve ever had in years.  Never mind that it’s the priciest, too!  I told myself, I’m never having champorado any other way again.  Like the art prints of the Louvre, this dessert made a lasting impression on me.

So I’m buying raspberry ice cream and belgian chocolate when I find myself at the supermarket, which should be real soon.  I’m glad I convinced hubby to have this dessert and share it with me.  He’s also glad he gave in to my gentle prodding. :)  The champorado was thick, just the way he likes it.

In addition to champorado, hubby and I shared another dessert, Suman sa Lihiya with Mango Ice Cream and Chocolate Sauce on the side…

How, tell me, can you go wrong with that combination?  You just can’t!  Yummm-eeeee!  Like the champorado, this is the priciest suman and ice cream I’ve ever had.  Talk about high-end panghimagas (dessert!). I have to learn to make suman and the lihiya.  And I will!  I just need to get my cooking mojo back.

Thank you to my girl friends from college, D, I and D who introduced us to these sinfully updated favorite Filipino snacks/desserts. *muah*

I’ve got so many personal cooking projects lined up.  I’m excited! ;)

Mabuhay!

The House of Silvanas’ silvanas are a delicious layer of buttercream sandwiched between two cashew-meringue wafers and coated with cookie crumbs.  It was love at first bite for my daughter who practically wanted the contents of the box all to herself.

Silvanas now come in a variety of flavors: Original (Regular Buttercream), Ube, Buko-Pandan, Mango, Mocha, Strawberry, and Chocolate.  I have yet to taste the other flavors but I’m thinking I may just be a little too partial to the original.

This is just the inspiration I need to finally cross out silvanas from my to-do list.  I hope to make this my first project for 2011, the first treats out of my oven.  *wink*

Thank you, cousin “R” for the yummy treats! *muah*

Mabuhay, y’all!

I am eating faster than I could post!  It’s been more than a week since I landed in the “Pearl of the Orient” and I take photos of almost everything I eat.  But so far, you’ve only seen two of them, halo-halo and taho.  Allow me to add to the list.

One of two popular Christmas staples, specially during the season of Simbang Gabi (dawn masses) is the bibingka.  They are available year-round in a  number of Filipino restaurants but during the Christmas season, stalls selling these native delicacies sprout like mushrooms, usually near churches.

I had my first dose of bibingka when we got back from Boracay via Bibingkinitan…

These, definitely, are not the best-tasting bibingka this country has to offer, but they’re the first ones I laid eyes on and they just called out to me like crazy.  Bibingkinitan is a combination of two words bibingka (rice cake) and balingkinitan (slender/skinny).  True enough, these bibingkas are mini and about a quarter of the size of a regular bibingka.

A bibingkinitan is worth Php20.00 a pop, Php120 for a box of 6.  I’m not crazy about them but they just might be good enough to satisfy your bibingka craving just a teeny tiny bit.

I had a much much better-tasting bibingka after tonight’s dinner.  Tell you about it in upcoming Pilipinas food trip posts. Promise. :)