By J, on December 6th, 2009
It’s my first time, alright to try and bake Bundt Cake. Hence, I’m hopeful that you will forgive the sloppy glaze. I used Bittersweet chocolate for the glaze and I must say that it tasted divine.
I have to be honest, laziness is starting to creep in with regards to baking. The reason? A teeny weeny belly bulge is really starting to form, and I’m cognizant about the possible long term effects. If I allow myself to ‘balloon’ I’m afraid I will be resorting to taking weight loss pills because I’m so non-committal when it comes to a regular exercise regimen. As it is, I’m stuck with just once a week indoor walking (Leslie Sansone video) with weights, and at most once a week for an hour at the gym. Not even my husband’s passion for fitness is rubbing on me. While you may know by now that he loves to eat, he also loves to spend a lot of hours at the gym. This is something that I can’t do, so I have to just take it slow with my food and sweets intake.
I never thought I will start to consider limiting myself with food. I thought that I’m just meant to be lean and skinny forever. I guess, I have to accept that as I get older, my metabolism is really slowing down.
By J, on December 4th, 2009
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in New York. Take a look at the giant Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center: the world’s most famous Christmas tree.
Awesome, isn’t it?
I wanted to watch the live telecast on TV of the annual Christmas tree lighting last Wednesday night ( December 2) but I couldn’t even manage to have my eyes open because of a nasty headache. It was a real brutal headache which I seldom get. As expected, it turned out that my blood pressure was elevated at 150/90. Once in a while, I go through bouts of HBP especially when I get riled up. I’m well now, and I just need to take everything in stride. With two consecutive sleepless nights, I now need to get myself an affective under eye cream.
Going back to the tree at the Rockefeller Center, the tree lighting ceremony this year was unusual because the ice skating rink was covered with carpeting to allow onlookers the chance to stand closer to where the action is. It was again another star studded occasion with celebrity guests that included Michael Buble, Aretha Franklin, Alicia Keys, Barry Mannilow, The Roots, Shakira, and The Radio City Rockettes.
This year’s tree by the way, is a 76-foot Norway spruce, about 70 years old and it was the pride of Maria Corti’s back yard in Easton, Connecticut. It’s decorated with 30,000 multicolored lights and topped with a Swarovski crystal star twinkling with 700 energy-efficient bulbs. It will be lit until Jan. 7 2010.
I have enough time to go and see the tree for myself and personally snap pics of the tree. I have been doing this consistently for eleven years. There’s no way I’m going to miss it.
By J, on November 28th, 2009
One afternoon when I was lazy to bake, I forced myself into baking an Angel Food Cake. I’m very much aware of the fact that whether I iced it or not it will still be eaten. My husband likes it anyway it’s made. Without much time on my hand, I tried my luck and just iced it with Callebaut Semi-sweet Dark chocolate.
It sure looks scary and yes, I baked this on Halloween day. Needless to say, that this was another awesome concoction.
By J, on November 25th, 2009
I have vaguely written on my other blog about some people that are close to my heart who have been having medical problems lately, and yes, it seem like there is simply no end in sight. When something like these happen in our family, we have the tendency to question why, oh why. More often than not, we are unable to obtain the reason and or answer at all.
I’m so thankful that none of the current issues our family is facing right now includes any kind of drug rehab. But then again, sometimes I personally think that drug rehab is easier to contend with than recurring or continuous treatments on certain serious medical ailments.
Nothing can be worse, though, than losing another man that is close to my heart. Yes, the youngest of the family of my Dad, my Uncle (he’s been the closest to me among my other Uncles on my Dad’s side), recently passed away due to massive stroke. It’s only been a year and four months(exactly the day after his own birthday) since my Dad bade us goodbye, and here we are again suffering another loss. It’s been a fact that my Dad’s family die of either stroke or heart attack. Nothing can be more brutal than losing my Dad abruptly without warnings at all. The same feeling has been enveloping me once again these past few days with the passing of my Uncle because of the same nature of the cause of death.
Since June of this year, I have been really swamped with not so good news about my Mom’s health too, among others actually. We almost lost her because her kidneys shut down from over medication without proper nutrition. I’m sharing this with you just to stress the fact that when taking medications, it is really important to follow directions. Yes, she was taking her pills as directed alright, but not to a tee. When the direction indicates to take the pill with meals or on a full stomach, it better be. This caused the kidneys of my Mom to shut down. After the death of my Dad (July of last year), my Mom struggled with her poor appetite. This was later exacerbated when my Mom’s cook took a vacation and was away for two and a half weeks and she had to make-do with the cooking of one of her house helps. As expected, her appetite even went downhill further, to the point that she would just eat a miniscule amount of food, which is obviously not enough to bring nutrition to her system.
One day in June this year, she collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, and was confined for almost three weeks at a local hospital in our area. When she was strong enough to be airlifted to Manila, we deem fit to bring her there, because we wanted her to be under the care of one of the noted Nephrologist in the country. She’s currently in Manila and now undergoes dialysis twice a week. Her prognosis is good but as of this time it’s not that great.
We pray for her complete recovery but at the same time me and my siblings are also trying hard to be realistic.
By J, on November 23rd, 2009
One of the great buys that I have recently acquired is this Bare Minerals 20 piece Eyecolor Collection:
When I spotted these, with all the different awesome colors that I can play around with, I knew I was not going to let it go.
Yes, I don’t head out that much, as most of the time I’m just tinkering around the house and surfing the net or reading up on motorhome towing and the like, but I’m still a ‘kikay’ by heart no matter what. For a stay at home wife like me, I have more than enough cosmetics, skin care, hair accessories and what nots in my vanity. I just love having them even if they are rarely used.
Now, imagine experimenting with all these colors. The possibilities are endless. Which one do you like?
By J, on November 21st, 2009
Now, Manhattanites can bulk up, Costco style. Finally, the store at 116th Street off the FDR opened last November 12 boasting more than 105,000 square feet of selling floor with a selection of more than 3,500 products.
A friend of mine shared her experience at this Costco location, as she was there at the opening day. She was really surprised to see a wall of Chanel Classic Flap handbags retailing at $1,999.99 and Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 (Monogram Canvass) at $589.99. Apart from that, a massive wall of Ugg Ultra short boots(at $124.99) can’t be missed. I haven’t in my lifetime encountered a display of Chanel or Louis Vuitton in any of the Costco locations that I have been to. I assume that the Costco Merchandisers and Buyers strategically stocked the Manhattan location with luxury items because of the area.
The presence of Costco in Manhattan will now test the creativity of the city dwellers how they will store their 40 pounds bags of Kirkland dog food, 3 pounds of almonds, those 5 liter olive oil, those massive cases of San Pellegrino and all the items that are super sized. If you have been to a standard studio apartment in Manhattan, you will surely know what I’m talking about.
However, for those that have the luxury of space, this new location is a relief. They no longer have to go to Brooklyn, Queens or Jersey to satisfy their bulk-buy needs. This will also definitely mean it will be less crowded to the Costco warehouse that we go to.
By J, on November 20th, 2009
Nothing can be easier than this. As the name implies, no baking required.
I’m such a sucker for recipe. If you asked me where I got this recipe from, it’s none other than from the box of Nabisco Graham Crackers. I have been meaning to try it, and made up my mind to make it one Friday afternoon a few weeks ago. I was in a rush to head out to the nearest UPS drop off to send my friend in California the spa filters that she requested me to send her. And since it was late in the day already I wanted to make something easy and not time consuming.
I was done in no time. Needless to say, the 4 hour refrigeration time to chill it properly was met just in time for late night dessert. It was really yummy with green tea.
By J, on November 14th, 2009
Black Friday is two weeks away but I’m already well into my own shopping holiday. I can’t even wait for Cyber Monday anymore because I fear that I won’t be able to snag the specific merchandise that I want if I wait for the day. With two days of bad weather here, I have been confined in the house and canceled appointments and errands.
I haven’t shopped without abandon in awhile and the two days of online shopping really created a dent on someone else’s (the husband, who else?) bank account. Since I also had my cooking holiday (I didn’t cook food for dinner for a week), I had all the time in the world and kept adding stuff to my shopping carts into the wee hours of the morning. And that explains why I have dark eye circles now; something that I haven’t seen in ages. Two days of hitting the sack at 3:00 a.m. proved to be a disaster, but I can’t complain since I have enjoyed shopping immensely.
I’m not done yet. But I’m not sure about hitting the malls and stores on Black Friday. If you know me, I’m a perennial late riser, so I will not really stand a chance with those big savings on Black Friday. They are good only for those who have the patience and endurance to wake up early and be ready to storm the crowds. God bless them! To be honest with you, of the almost 11 years that I have been living here, I haven’t had the chance to hit the stores on Black Friday. Simply not for me, but if it was midnight madness sale, you can be sure to count me in. The time does make a big difference. I’m a night owl, that’s why.
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