spiCes

This dish may not be in any way related to the French Tricolour where the term originated, neither is this a traditional Filipino dish.

The Tricolore was used during the revolution and has since become a symbol of liberty around the world. Other nations have also adopted the design.

This tricolor Pasta Carbonara was part of our pre-Valentine’s dinner spread. The recipe is also from that ABCNews segment where Rachael Ray cooked up a quick and delicious meal for that special day, together with the Lovebirds I also made. Pasta with its roots coming from Italy, now plays a big part in our very own Filipino cuisine. We have easily adapted and embraced this dish as it is almost always present in parties and gatherings.  Significantly so in the roster of meals from different fast food restaurants in the country as well such as Jollibee and its Pinoy version of the Spaghetti.  That proves to be true even with the Carbonara.

I only tweaked it a bit using this three-colored Fusilli, instead of the usual spaghetti.

Fusilli (also called pasta twirls) is a small, thick, corkscrew shaped pasta. The word fusilli means “little spindles” in Italian. Green, red, and magenta varieties of fusilli (or any pasta) are created by using spinach, beet, or printer juice, respectively, instead of water.

Recipe  will follow shortly over is now posted at momcooks.dadcooks.
is a weekly thematic FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY meme, PINOY style.

When we moved recently, we only transferred our existing service from the old place to the new one. Although our contract with the cable company together with our internet and phone service is going to expire in a few days this is just the perfect time to switch! We are thinking of taking advantage of those great direcTV deals. With their family plan, we can already enjoy 45 channels which is for me, too much already. But on the first three months, we also get free HBO with 7 channels, Starz and Showtime, with 12 and 9 channels respectively. Now that is awesome, right? Now if we get all of the special direcTV offers and bonuses plus an additional $23 discount a month! That comes with a free 4 room system and professional installation.

With direcTV we can even control the channels that the kids can and cannot watch and they boast of 90 HD channels that come with a free HD, DVR or HD DVR receiver upgrade for just another $9 a month. What I am most excited about is that now we have the option of getting Filipino channels in the future since TFC has partnered with direcTV. Just another something to look forward to, I say.

…my fresh white rose.

…bigay ni M noong nakaraang Vday. crisis eh. recession is in the air. iisa lang. i totally understand, no worries…

…S’s fresh pink rose.

kaya naman pala, may isa pa kasi siyang binibigyan…ang panganay nyang dalaginding…

…faux white orchid.

taken at my cousin’s house in CT.  ito nalang kaya? para hindi nalalanta?  mas matipid? hmmm…

Ano ang mas gusto mo? One fresh stem is totally fine with me, more so if it comes with a special envelope. An envelope that has gift cards in it! lol!
An entry to …BULAKLAK/FLOWER theme.

As previously seen in this chatterbox, I am now a rightful owner of the much sought after Kitchenaid Artisan stand mixer. It may not be in the exact shade that I was originally drooling on which is the empire red color, black on the other hand is next on my list… having a black and white themed kitchen with splashes of red. Now I am thinking…those splashes will come when I feel the need for additional attachments! Wouldn’t that be a cool idea? Hee! and probably an orange and yellow here and there as well…*grins*!

Call it basic, but I have test driven this baby with some delicious Frenchies, crepes that is and it works great! Now I am happy.
Those who are so into Ebay would attest to the fact that this is one of the fears that we have when we win in an auction at times, especially when we are talking hundreds of dollars involved. The item might not be as how we expect them to be. Although this is said to be in unused condition, it certainly lives up to the sellers ad and for more than half the original price?…I say, it is well worth the sweat! Literally, bidding and waiting for the last trickle of second until the bidding ends?…exhausting and adrenalin boosting! until I finally received a notice that I won! Whew!

An entry to , which turned out not so wordless, after all! hee!

I love Chipotle’s grilled beef burrito mostly when on the go since it satisfies my craving for rice while never really having to sit down and use spoon &/or fork. But I decided to post this French Crepes with a Pinoy twist…filled with fresh mango distinctively sweetened and flavored with  caramelized panutsa or brown sugar candy/palm sugar [some call it sinuklob]. Luckily, I love snacking on these [as is, like chocolate bars] that I have some more left. It took a while to chop them and finally caramelize for the mango filling as well as the little drizzling action going on there.

It actually woke me up this morning… the idea of making Mango Crepes for LaPiS a la Mango and Sticky Rice [biko/suman at mangga], that is.  Wondering how it would turn out, that at 7 am on a weekend I was already tossing and turning.  So I decided to get up, waited for M to get up himself to buy some sweet mangoes…and this! this, is the outcome! Eat with your eyes! hahaha!  It would’ve been perfect if I had some toasted coconuts, taste-wise…but I topped it with some more palm sugar shavings for presentation purposes, in lieu of the coconuts.

A wrap is a variant of a taco or burrito which includes traditional sandwich fillings wrapped in a soft flour tortilla, pita, lavash or other soft flat bread. It is not served on a deli, hoagie, or submarine type roll. The most popular wraps contain chicken, but beef and shrimp are also served. Typical toppings include shredded lettuce, diced tomato or pico de gallo, guacamole, sauteed mushrooms, bacon, grilled onions, cheese such as Cheddar, and some condiment, such as ranch or honey mustard dressing.
[Source:Wiki]

is a weekly themed FOOD PHOTOGRAPHY, Pinoy style!

I will be posting the complete recipe over at momcooks.dadcooks. is now up! in a little while…i wonder how long that is:].  nah, i will…promise! Btw, I feel it’s just appropriate to let you know that it is finally here, after having dragged you all in my long tele-novela entitled…Wanted: Perfect Mixer! lol! and after checking out the market for all sale around, at long last…I am a rightful owner of the much coveted gadget. This is the very first test drive I did with my new Kitchenaid Artisan Mixer! Happy, happy, joy, joy!

Packed with wholesome goodness, these Stroopwafels or Dutch Waffles in ordinary lingo are sent my way straight from Holland…together with the Holland cheeses, of course. I cannot thank tita thess ’nuff for these! they look so good that i did not wait another minute to try ‘em! after some photo shoots, that is :]…

…and you guessed it, even the cheese were popped open even before i can grab myself a bottle of wine and some crackers! and yep! all of it, and i mean all of it…now rummaged!

These delicious waffles are made from two thin layers of baked batter sweetened with a thin layer of caramelicious syrup filling right in the middle. This makes it good, not too sweet for my not-so-sweet-tooth! Perfect with a hot cup o’coffee…

The stiff batter for the waffles is made from flour, butter, brown sugar, yeast, milk, and eggs. Medium sized balls of batter are put on the waffle iron. When the waffle is baked, and while it is still warm, it is cut into two halves. The warm filling, made from syrup, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, is spread in between the waffle halves, which glues them together.
[source:wiki]

For a while now I have been in a dilemma whether to get another website with my own domain name. I have this inspiring idea on a new theme. The name is already perfect. The only missing point now is a spot in the world wide web. Now, this is another difficult task. That is, deciding on which web host to get. One that has all my personal needs and requirements and of course let’s not forget the price involved. Of course it is not only the amount we should be considering but also the quality of the webhosting service is very important. It has to be one hassle free service at an affordable personal and even business web hosting with no hidden fees whatsoever. Other things to be considered are features like unlimited hosting space, bandwidth, email, database and FTP accounts and unlimited domain names if possible. Good to know that I found the lowest in the market now starting at $4.95 a month.

from cheesecake to cheese cupcakes. doesn’t that mean something? we just lurrvvv our cheesecake here!:] after a slice at Outback for Vday, here I go again…whipped up my own semi-homemade cups. yummy, i tell yah! creamy, soft…with just the perfect sweetness. a little cup of heaven.

Haven’t we all heard about the buzz about the Realty market being on its current all time low? I’m sure you have too. This only means that it is the best time ever to delve into investing on properties. Majority of properties up for sale now are priced fairly low enough so much so that anyone who can afford it should really consider buying.  Personally, we have been thinking about this too especially now that we see a lot of potential houses that are up for sale in the area.  There will be a whole lot of deliberation and computations but it is just too good to let this opportunity pass.

Just look at these wonderful Arizona New Homes. They are well designed and newly colorized, have recently been upgraded and ready for you to move in the next day. This is a community of condominiums, town houses and single family houses that has a price range so affordable starting from $300,000.  I am talking about distinctive urban houses with grand porte cocheres and rotunda entrances, lakeside villas and golf course and mountain views  manicured in lush landscaped greens with commercial areas like shopping centers and master-planned pedestrain walkways and other public ammenities.  This is luxury living at its best.

…i was half anticipating the possibility of going on a date for Vday because i knew all along that the kids are invited to a swimming party that day. that said, i also knew that the protective mom in me cannot just let them swim by themselves. so we stayed.
until it was time for them to play games in the gym and eat. that’s a good couple of hours more to ourselves.

[kaya dito kami napadpad sa Outback Steakhouse, hindi kalayuan sa lugar kung saan ginanap ang party ng mga bata.]

…and we can’t help but order steaks! opkors:) at syempre pa, hindi matatapos ang tipanan na ito ng walang???…

DESSERT! matamis na dessert!

We still had less than half an hour until it’s time to pick up the kids, enough time to order a slice of Raspberry Cheesecake.
so there goes the slight chance that we got away even for a little while… a good couple of hours.

[pasensya na at sa sobrang excitement sa matamis na ito, hayan...blurry ang kuha, hehe. sarap eh!]

An entry to , na may temang…TIPANAN. DATE or dating place as this week’s theme…for a while there i thought i won’t have an entry. you know very well that DATES when you have little kids here in the US and some, are very PRECIOUS! and rare! something to be thankful for! and another thing to be thankful for are facial kits for microdermabrasion, when you need instant rejuvination when going on a date such as this!:)…
[kaya sisiguraduhin kong maging kaibigan ng mga bata ang nagdiwang ng kaarawan ng matagal tagal na panahon, sa gayon...tuwing araw ng mga PUSO, siguradong makakatakas kami! nyahahaha!!!]