Sweet Delights I Love To Make

I said goodbye to 2013 and welcomed 2014 with some sweet treats. Since I got the baking materials my parents gifted me with for my birthday, my kitchen's been very busy. Thank God for the line of occasions including the Holiday Season, I was able to use those to practice my baking skills. For Christmas, I made some chocolate and red velvet cupcakes with butter cream and cream cheese frosting. Well, my mom requested it to add as desserts. Before Christmas, I made more cupcakes for my little boy's Christmas party.

The only problem I encountered with these cuppies was the frosting. I wasn't able to buy the pastry tip I've always wanted. I've been a frequent visitor of a known pastry shop near our place, it's just that most of their customers were also looking for the very same tips I needed. Anyway, I settled for what I had at hand. So far, the frosting for the chocolate cuppies went okay, but the cream cheese topping for my red velvet looked terrible. Feels like I'm not totally connected while doing the frosting since I know I'm not using the right tip.

Aside from cupcakes, I was also into making chocolate crinkles and fudge brownies. 2 pastries that my kids love. And recently... Cheesecakes!

I've always wanted to learn how to make this rich and yummy cake. I'm proud to say that I was very successful on my first try using easy techniques. It's not as perfect, but as soon as I got a slice... ooohhh, mouth-watering! And yes, I also made one for my husband's birthday... I'll post about it soon...

Beer on Tap at T.G.I Friday's

For the past month, I have been in & out of T.G.I Friday's BGC with my husband and relatives. 2014 started right for everyone. We made a pack with my husband's cousin and his wife to go out more often, hangout and unwind from a busy week. It's something new I enjoy lately. I look forward to weekends because I share fun times with our family, it's amazing to be able to spend some time- off on a regular basis, especially now, that our kids are getting more independent.

There's nothing way better than having a bottle or 2 of some cold beer. Beer on Tap San Mig Liter Mug was introduced to me by my husband and his cousin. Thought I' ll never get to experience it because I got overwhelmed of the size first time I saw it. But finally, I was able to give it a try.  It's so refreshing, perfect after a busy and productive week.

Saturday before my husband's birthday, we went out for a drink. Again, at T.G.I Friday's. We love Friday's particularly T.G.I Friday's BGC, for their fast service, friendly staff and form of entertainment to guests. Look for David, he's very loyal, attends to our every request since our first visit.

An order of a Liter Mug is at Php195

The beer remains cold and fresh for hours. Love it!

We love pairing it anything with Nachos!

Just over the weekend, we spent Chinese New Year and an extension of my husband's birthday celebration with our relatives. We left our boys at my mom's then drove all the way to Friday's BGC to meet up with the best people to spend time with.

Record holder is our dear cousin at 3 1/2 Liter Mugs. My husband at 2 and yours truly at 1 1/2 but still looking forward to my 2nd mug. Cheers!

Tagaytay Bound First Day of 2014

First day of 2014, the girls decided to head out of town. Braved the 2 hour slow traffic to Tagaytay and another 30 minutes to 1 hour just to get to our choice of destination. We just thought that a dinner in a cool place, away from Manila was perfect to open the new year.

Just the other day, I shared a post on my other blog on how I spend quality time with my sisters and my mom them being my best friends too. Here's one instance when we just go for something unplanned. It just so happen that we're all okay with the idea, my family slept over at my parents' house in celebration of the New Year. The following day, us girls were still in celebration mode, and so we went up to Tagaytay. We borrowed our dad's car so my husband and kids can tag along as well.

Even for frequent Tagaytay visitors like us, we never fail to have an order of the famous Bulalo which is a native dish at this part of the Philippines. Bulalo is a beef viand particularly made of beef shanks and marrow bones slow- cooked for hours until meat is tender. The soup of the Bulalo matches the cold weather in Tagaytay. Aside from Bulalo, we also ordered Kilawin na Tanigue, Eggplant Salad (Ensaladang Talong), Beef Kaldereta and Pork BBQ. My husband thought of ordering some beer to go with these Filipino dishes but we decided to save it after dinner.

The nice view of the Taal Volcano made our trip worth it. After our delicious dinner, we decided to head somewhere we can have some more drinks. Coffee for my mom, beer for me and my husband and some non alcoholic beverage for my sisters. As we relax in preparation for the long traffic back home, part of our conversation went around sites where one can buy non alcoholic wine online. My husband and I loves to explore and taste new things when it comes to beverages. Well, mostly alcoholic but non alcoholic are worth trying as well. The topic alone warmed up our evening, it was just too cold in Tagaytay.