The first time was a big flop! I forgot whose recipe I followed but my banana cake didn’t turn out edible. I was so upset the last time I tried to make it that I kind of pushed it at the back of my mind. A few days ago I exchange links with a fellow [...]
I think this is my first time to join in the food trip friday meme. So here is my contribution, Pork Hock Soup but most Filipino know it as ” Nilagang Baboy” our dinner tonight. As always my MIL loved it and so did the kids. Dish is perfect on a cold rainy day like today.
The first time was a big flop! I forgot whose recipe I followed but my banana cake didn’t turn out edible. I was so upset the last time I tried to make it that I kind of pushed it at the back of my mind. A few days ago I exchange links with a fellow mom blogger and I saw that she had made ” banana bread”. She was gracious enough to give me the recipe right away. I had everything except for the pineapple. I could still have made the bread but I wanted to try it out with all the recipe. As luck would have it my sister had a simple banana cake recipe. With all the ingredients in hand I decided to try my hand at making a banana cake.
I could feel sweat pooping out from my forehead, I hadn’t even started yet I was already apprehensive about it. Baking is not really my forte. My sister was the baker and all around cook. My role was to clean up after her and eat the food,lol. Back to my cooking, I kept looking at the stove as my cake cooked. I saw it rise and so did my hope, lol. At last the timer wet off, it was the moment of truth. The toothpick I inserted came out clean and the cake actually looked good. Even though it was still hot I had to taste it. And boy is it delicious! I am suppose to be on a semi-diet but I could not help myself. I slaved and worried over my cake, the least I could do was taste it, lol…
Here is a picture of my warm snack.
Donkey Kong's Cake
Whats for dinner tonight? It was fish, crab cake, and more crab meat. Ralph got a package of Tilapia fish that he got at the store last Friday. Tonight he cooked baked fish in butter, seasoned with pepper, salt, bay seasoning and a splash of lemon juice. I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish but it was delish!! Even the kids love it. We also made mixed 
veggies that I stir fry. The crab cake was to salty, it was good but not really my type. I was more into eating the lump crab meat in the can. If you love crabs and don’t want the hassle of cracking and getting the measly meat it has, better spend the extra buck to buy the crab in a can, lol. I wasn’t too keen about eating crab from a can at first because I thought it was going to taste nasty. I was very surprised when I finally got a taste. I was delicious and so meaty. I got the lump crab meat. If you want more taste better get the jumbo crab meat, its expensive but totally worth it. Now how do I eat it? Well, I eat it as it is dipped in vinegar and eaten with white rice. Even my 3 years old daughter loves it and eats the way I do. So if you in the mood to eat crabs but don’t feel like going through all the trouble getting out the meat, go get yourself pasteurized crab meat. Get the Jumbo Crab Meat if you can afford it. Trust me you’ll love it.
Baking was never my thing. Cooking was not even something I wanted to get involved in. When I was still single and living with my mom and sister I was in charge of the clean up. My sister did most of the cooking, she is such a great and amazing cook. She always bugged me to learned how to cook most of the food we prepare but I would always brush her off. Sure I know how to cook but, not as good as her. Cooking takes time and energy. I didn’t understand the concept about slaving over the hot stove for many hours and the food gets consumed in just half the time. That all changed when I got married and came to live here in America. My MIL cooked for the first few months, she thought I didn’t know how to cook, lol. I eventually came to love cooking and appreciate what my sister did before.
As for Baking, that started when I got pregnant with our youngest. I was in a baking mood. I just wanted to bake and bake. I would call my sister Long Distance just to get recipes and for procedures. Not all of my baking came out the way it was suppose to but, I learned through trial and error. Now, I am into making cakes as well. Searching for the perfect moist chocolate cake is what I’m trying to find. I am on a journey to finding that elusive recipe. As for the picture here, that was the very first birthday cake I frosted and decorated. It was for my husband and daughters cake. I am a mediocre baker and a novice at that but that won’t stop me from learning and trying.. After all ” Practice Makes Perfect”.
This is what’s cooking on my frying pan today. Yup, its the whole kit and kaboodle of a fish. I like cooking my fish the way we do it back in my country. We just clean the inside, get rid of the gills and the scales as well and frying it whole. Why do I prefer the whole fish instead of the fillet? Well, it not that I prefer it over the fillet but, frying it whole reminds me that I am really eating a fish and that is what it looks like,lol. I have been wanting to eat fish as of late. And no I am not pregnant at least I don’t think so. I am just missing the comfort of Filipino food. My husband was gracious enough to get me fish while he was out doing errands. He came home with two separate kinds of fish. One was Tilapia and Porgie. The one in the picture is a Porgie Fish. According to Wikipedia, Porgie is the common name for any fish that belongs to the family Sparidae. They live in shallow temperature marine waters and are bottom-dwelling carnivores.
They are actually very good and cook well. I was happy as a rug bug when he handed it to me. I wasted no time rubbing salt on the fish before frying. A fish cooked like this is usually dipped in either vinegar or soy sauce. I prefer vinegar over soysauce, I like the the sourness since it bring out more of the flavor. None of my crew except for my youngest will eat fish cooked like that. What can I say, she is more Filipino than I thought. How do you cook your fish?
This was my first elaborately decorated cupcakes. I saw how to do it online and it seemed very easy and simple. I just had to try it. Before, I would just slap on a few frosting on top but I never made it look appealing to the eyes. Last Easter I made it for the kids for what is now our tradition Easter Egg Hunt. We started it about 2 years ago with just Kayla and our neighbor. The following year after that we invited her friends her age. I ask the parents to provide me at least 25 eggs. We already have a whole bunch of eggs but its better when you have a lot, more for the kids to find.So here is what you will need to make the Easter basket cupcakes:
The process is very simple. Just use any frosting you like. Once the frosting is done start putting sprinkles on and the jelly beans. As for the handle of the basket I cut the licorice sticks lengthwise coz it was to thick and just inserted each end into the cupcakes. I served the cupcakes after the egg hunt was done, the reaction I got was very positive. They thought it was so cute and tasted delicious. The just got the store bought frosting this time and the cake in the box. This was before I learned how to make my own buttercream frosting. Easter is coming soon and I have yet to find a cupcake design I can serve to my little guest of egg hunters. At least I still have more than enough time to scour the web or buy a book all about cupcakes. Will I be able to top myself this year? Who knows….So let’s start cooking , baking and shaking till we are done.
You finally found me! This is going to be my home for all my cooking, baking and anything related food wise. I am still doing a lot of tweaking so please bear with me. Come back for latest updates and food I have prepared.
