July baked goods

I missed baking. So this July, we've been baking at least once a week at home. :)

Started off with regular fudge brownies baked by my sister. Using White King instant brownie mix. Sarap! It was moist, soft & fudgy. :9 The week after, I tried making cheesecake brownies, but they ended up a failure. :( My fault actually, I didn't read the recipe beforehand. The brownie mix I got was only half the amount required in the recipe, and I still used the full amount of cheesecake topping mixture. They ended up too moist, with the brownie section not being cooked through. Taste-wise, masarap naman. :) I was luckier the following week when I made strawberry crumb bars (using a blueberry crumb bars recipe but substituting stuff). The strawberry crumb bars were good, though they probably would have tasted better if fresh strawberries were used. Lastly, I made Nutella cupcakes for my birthday. :) We didn't have enough Nutella though so half the batch just had half the amount of Nutella--and to augment this, I dropped in some peanut m&ms into the kulang-ng-Nutella cupcakes. I overbaked the cupcakes so they ended up dry. :( Lesson learned. Oh well. (Pero masarap pa rin naman sila ha. Can't go wrong with Nutella.)

I've been collecting recipes for next month's baking sessions. Excited to try them out already and post about them too. :)

anniversary

Fifth anniversary today! -- of our first official date. :) (Ronjie & I had lunch & dinner a couple of times before, but I didn't consider them dates.) And after 5 years, we've been married a year already, with baby on the way. It's been wonderful. Thank you, Lord. :)

Anyway, on our first wedding anniversary 7 months ago (delayed blog post again :D), we were blessed to both be in Manila, together, to celebrate. We went to mass in the same church where we first met and were married in and got a special blessing from the presiding priest after. :)

Our Lady of Pentecost Church, near Katipunan Ave., Q.C.

Then dinner date in a nearby Chinese restaurant. ♥
We had been looking for a Chinese restaurant in Japan which served Peking duck (Beijing duck?) but couldn't find any. So we told ourselves we'd have our Peking duck fix when we vacation in Manila for the holidays, and we did! Hah!

We ordered some dim sum and half a Peking duck, which we requested to be served 3 ways (a tip which I got from here). Before, I only knew of Peking duck served 2 ways.

the soup made with duck bones, etc. was really flavorful

Took home the leftover soup, and still enjoyed it for the next couple of days.

We were so full after dinner and couldn't think of anything else to do but head straight back home, where we quietly spent the rest of the night just lounging. :D Already looking forward to our second wedding anniversary in 5 months' time. This time we'll be celebrating with our son (who's coming in a few weeks). Yay!

strawberry crumb bars

Back in Japan, I came across this recipe for blueberry crumb bars while surfing the net. They looked so yummy, I told myself I'd make them someday. Bookmarked the site, blueberry crumb bars for baking once I get to Manila. (We didn't have an oven in our Japan apartment.)

I couldn't find fresh or frozen blueberries here so I settled for canned strawberry pie filling. (Hmm... next time I make this I'll use fresh strawberries naman.)

Followed the instructions step-by-step. :)

before

after

After an hour or so of baking + overnight chilling, I have yummy ready-to-eat strawberry crumb bars! :9 Found them a bit too sweet though, but it was fine. :)

nomnomnom

15 July 2012

I'm done with my May blog backlog! (June, not yet, but getting there... :D) Spending the whole of today at home, except for mass later, to rest and recharge in the hopes of fighting this cold I just got. (I hate being sick. :/)

Sharing a couple of stuff from thingsweforget and Garfield, before they start piling up in my post-in-blog folder:

twf 894

Garfield 120713

I'm baking this today! But with major substitutions: strawberries for blueberries & canned for fresh. Let's see how it'll end up. Stay tuned! :D

Garfield 120703