Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies

There was a birthday celebration at the office last week and the catering was just super. As expected, birthday cakes abounded as gifts but everybody raved at the caramel cake from Estrel's.

I craved for it since then. So this afternoon after my trip to the salon, we headed to Scout Tobias, Quezon City with all the intention of buying a cake.

But to my disappointment, there was no cake available anymore at Estrel's. Everything on display were pre-ordered and all their buffer stocks for the day were already sold out. It was only around two in the afternoon mind you.


Hubby and daughter at Estrel's Caramel Cakes bakeshop.

Estrel's Caramel Cakes along Scout Tobias, Quezon City.

My daughter settled for the chocolate chip walnut cookies on the shelf so we bought some. And it was a good thing we did! Delicious. Not overly sweet, not too hard. The taste of the chocolate cookie and the walnut are distinct and they complement each other. This cookie is at par, if not better, than Mrs. Fields.

These cookies saved our afternoon craving for some good snack. :D

For some more weekend snapshots, you may visit here.

Not So Fine Print

I think this will qualify for today's Photo Hunt theme - unique or funny sign. This was taken at Salt and Pepper restaurant. It's not everyday that one encounters table napkins with text prints like this which makes it unique. Nice idea from their marketing people.

Other unique or funny signs here at Photo Hunt.

Suede

It's the 80s once again, at least in Manila. Or haven't you noticed? With some dash of the 90s if I may add.

The concerts held recently were like a blast from the past. We had Swing Out Sisters, Duran Duran and even Toto. We also had Incubus and Maroon 5 though they are from the early part of 2000.

In the Philippines we saw a come backing matinee idol from the 80s, Gabby Concepcion. Boy, he's still as handsome as ever. No Dingdong Dantes nor Piolo Pascual can overshadow a dashing middle aged man in the person of Gabby. (Kill me now for posting something like this.) :D

Last night and tonight I find myself browsing on video clips of the 80s and 90s music. I searched for The Lotus Eaters' The First Picture of You. Eeewww, the barber's cut. Doesn't look good on a man after all. I feasted on The Style Council's Ever Changing Moods, Boy Who Cried Wolf and You're the Best Thing. Paul Weller's reed thin. Like a several pounds lighter Adrian Brody. It's his music and his voice which made me like him to bits.

I searched for Echo and the Bunnymen's People are Strange. Bolshoi's Away...Gene Loves Jezebel's Desire...etcetera.

They're all coming back to me now.

I particularly missed R.E.M. I watched Losing My Religion over at YouTube. Those weird steps made me grin.

This is a mommy blog I know but can't help but post here Suede's Beautiful Ones. Embedding was disabled so you may click the link if you care to watch the band. They don't make music like this anymore. I have not watched music videos like this in recent years. Simple but gets one's attention. Or maybe I haven't been watching much.

I do not promote anything toxic but the music video was crude yet powerful. Watching Brett Anderson (lead singer of Suede) reminds of me a local music icon, Rico Blanco. Maybe it's just me but they sort of move the same. I've watched Blanco live and I could say Bamboo is a whole lot better. I digress.

This mommy has to sleep now...after a dose of The Smiths.

Banana Smoothie

My daughter likes watching and listening to Nat and Alex Wolf of The Naked Brothers Band. This band became popular through the tweens channel, Nickelodeon. I have asked and have researched why the band is named such, that story will come in other posts.

One of the brothers' favorite is banana smoothie. Seeing the banana in our kitchen, my daughter had this brilliant idea of making us some banana smoothie last Saturday just after lunch.

Get the chopping board. Take a picture of the banana for posterity.

Slice them using the spatula.

Put them in the blender with one teaspoon of vanilla, 4-oz milk and some ice. Blend for a minute.

Voila...banana smoothie in seven minutes or thereabouts. I have to make a quick check if we are doing the right thing. Just to be sure since this Mommy is not an expert on anything about the kitchen (but tries really hard).

Successful with the banana smoothie according to my dear daughter. :)

Pebbles

I thought I don't have anything to post for Photo Hunt today. Until the pebbles in one of my flower vases came to mind. With a little help from my daughter, we layed out my entry for today's PH - thirteen. Here it goes. Count the pebbles out of the glass vase.

For other thirteens, you may visit the other photo hunt participants here.

State of the Buns

It's been quite a while since I had buns for breakfast. Buns...let me just call them rolls, round rolls. It's usually oatmeal or wheat bread or garlic rice with fried fish (tuyo) and egg. Daughter and hubby still had their oatmeal. Hubby's firm with his diet regimen. I craved for some peanut butter this morning so I asked hubby to buy a pack of rolls for me from the neighborhood bakery. A pack usually contains six pieces. Three would be enough for me. I can eat the rest in the afternoon.....Or so I thought.

I was surprised to see at how small these rolls have become. The normal size usually takes four to five bites. They come in the same size. But these rolls you see come in different sizes. The smallest is like an inch only. And the rest? Two bites max. But the price did not change. No price roll back dear.


Latest news flash says basic commodities will be in abundance in the market to avoid unnecessary panic. But the price of flour (along with noodles and canned goods) have increased by as much as 17% too. Looking at the rolls in front of me, they have decreased by as much as 50%. Is the shrinking size of a roll a good reference of the state of a nation? Tell me.

Tatsulok

Ngayon ang ikalawang linggo ng Litratong Pinoy (LP) at ito ang unang entry ko. Alam kong masaya ang photo meme na ito dahil mga kapwa Pinoy ang mga kasali. Hindi ako sigurado pero ito yata ang unang photo meme na exclusive lamang sa mga Pinoy o sa mga marunong magsulat sa wikang Pilipino. :)

Ang tema ngayon ay Tatlo ang Sulok or tatsulok. Pauwi ng bahay galing opisina, tinanong ko ang hubby ko kung ano ang pwedeng entry. Suggestion n'ya ay bumili kami ng Toblerone. Palusot pa, gusto lang ng Toblerone eh. :D Toblerone, 'yung imported na tsokolate na korteng tatsulok. At ipinaliwanag ko pa ha. Anyway, nag-agree naman ako. Pero pagbukas ko ng computer ko pag-uwi ng bahay, narealize ko bukas na nga pala ang LP para sa linggong ito. At kailangan ko nang mag-post ngayon dahil ako ay nasa trabaho bukas at hindi maaasikaso ito. Ang bumili at magpicture pa kaya ng Toblerone.

Medyo naghanap pa ako ng tatsulok dito sa bahay. Napatingin ako sa maliit na pumpkin toy ng anak ko. Itong pumpkin na ito ay nakalagay kung hindi sa doorknob (sige nga ano sa Pilipino ang doorknob...ah, pihitan ng pinto...), o sa ibabaw ng shelf ng anak ko sa kanyang kwarto. Parang nagsisilbing gwardiya sa kanyang mga CDs, DSLite, music player at iba pang knick-knacks abubot.

Tamang-tama, makulay ito at tatsulok ang mata at ilong. Magaling, magaling. Nakakatuwa palang titigan ang laruang ito.

Kung nais sumali at bisitahin ang iba pang lumahok sa LP ngayong linggo, tingnan lamang sa site na ito. Bukas ng gabi ako bibisita sa mga iba pang LP participants. :)

Fruity Dinner

We did our grocery in the afternoon and as always, every first week of the month I buy the latest issue of Yummy Magazine. I was browsing the magazine while going around the supermarket. I fancied the Chunky Chicken Salad recipe so I picked up all the ingredients for it. That's how amateur I am. I need a reference even for a simple dish. We had an impromptu chicken salad for dinner.

One thing that made me decide to prepare this already is the salad greens. Though they're packed and has shelf-life, I'm afraid they will get wilted in no time if I keep them in the refrigerator.



Here's the complete recipe lifted from Yummy magazine (I don't know why Yummy Mag has no website. They only have this.):
1/2 kilo chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 piece red apple, cubed
1 piece green apple, cubed
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup roasted walnut
1/4 kilo seedless grapes

For the dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup all-purpose cream
2 teaspoons all-in-one seasoning granules
salt, sugar, pepper to taste
grated cheddar cheese as garnish

This makes six to eight servings. Very easy to prepare as the ingredients only has to be combined. No sweat. It was really filling.

We had the salad together with papaya and some more apples. I believe we will often have dinners like this.




You may want to see what others has for their weekend snapshots. :)

Glass

It's been almost two weeks since the last time I posted an entry here. There were a lot of activities at work and there was an important family matter we needed to attend to the past week. All is good.

I missed blogging and blog hopping. I welcome the long weekend. It's a holiday on Monday in commemoration of Araw ng Kagitingan (Day of Valor) in honor of the heroes of Bataan and Corregidor.

My first post after a semi-hiatus is an entry to Photo Hunt, all about glass. I have these pictures since last year when we went to Baguio's Botanical Garden. These glasses were part of the artwork of the members of the Baguio National Arts Club. I am just not sure what they are, what they represent but they look good. I guess my pictures do not justify how they really look. Anyhow, these are my entries for this week's PH theme.