Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: Coffee,Coffee, Buzz Buzz Buzz

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream: Coffee,Coffee, Buzz Buzz Buzz

I've been crazy about this lately. I still love Rocky Road flavor though but this one is really good too. I am not a coffee lover, but this ice cream flavor made me one.

If you like coffee, you will love this flavor! 

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Special Achara/Papaya Pickles

Delicious Achara/Papaya Pickles!

I've made Achara/Atsara/Papaya Pickles many times since I relocated to the US and it has always been perfect. I wish there were lots of Filipinos where I lived so that I can make a business out of this special side dish, like what my best friend Lalay and I used to do back home. Trust me, they sell like hot cakes!

The perfect Achara depends on the sweetness and sourness of the sauce and its ingredients. The recipe is here.

Ingredients:

2 big green papaya, grated

5-8 tablespoon salt for squeezing the juice of the  grated papaya

 2 carrots, julienned or grated

1 piece carrot, sliced like a medallion (please see photo above)

1 big piece ginger

6 pieces sweet peppers (red, yellow and orange)

1 regular size bitter melon/Ampalaya

1 regular size Singkamas

10 pieces string beans

1 small can pineapple chunks, cut them in a half

raisin ( I used golden raisin)

2 cups white vinegar

1 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon salt to taste

Instructions:

Salt the grated papaya then squeeze the juice. Discard the juice. Put the papaya into a big bowl. Boil vinegar (stir only when it boils) then add sugar,salt and vegetables when it is boiling. Pour into the papaya. Mixed thoroughly. Let cool and put them in a sterilized jar with tight lid. Refrigerate.

Note: You don't have to sterilize the jar if you don't sell them.

Please leave a comment if you have questions.

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Yummy Cheese Cupcakes

Cheese Cupcakes

I got this recipe from Kawaling Pinoy, and I have tried it 3 or 4 times already. It doesn't really rise good per photo above but it is really yummy. It says in the site that it is moist but after baking it is a little bit dry but when it is cool, let's say after an hour, it becomes soft.

This is not really the "perfect" cheese cupcake recipe for me but it is not really bad. Why don't you try it and tell me how it goes?

Thank you for visiting my site. Have a good one!

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups flour, sifted
8 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1/2 of 14 oz can)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 F

2) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

3) In a medium bowl, beat butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla extract using electric mixer

4) Pour in flour mixture in thirds adding 1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk in between (beginning and ending with the flour mixture)

5) Add in 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and blend well.

6) Put in muffin cups 3/4 cup full only.

7) Top with remaining grated cheddar cheese.

8) Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes (check your muffins after the 20-minute mark)

9) Remove from oven and top with more grated cheese if desired.

Stays moist for 1 week in room temperature covered in tight lid container.

Mexican Beef Tostadas and Sauces

Nope I did not make them, my Mexican friend Josefina did. I had them last week (for the nth time since we moved back to Round Mountain) and as usual, they were excellent!

Every time Josefina and her husband invite me and hubby for dinner,  we will not eat the whole day until dinner time, hahaha! That's how we love Josefina's Tostadas.

Just sharing! Thank you for dropping by at my site. Have a good one!

Pork Adobo

It was my first time to cook pork belly adobo because I've been using the  non-fatty cut of the meat when I make pork adobo. It turned out really good!

Pork belly is very fatty so make sure to eat this dish moderately, otherwise, hypertension will arise and will make you sick. 

The ingredients are Pork belly cut into desired size, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, water, and, lots of whole pepper corn. Mix them together. Cook in a moderate fire, when it boils, turn to low fire until the meat is tender. 

Thank you! Have a good one!

Paksiw Na Pirit o Tulingan

This viand is very common and just plain for others, but for me, being away from my homeland, it is like heaven already. 

I got the fish from MelVicky International  store in Reno for $2.99 per pack (4 pcs/pack). I usually make a paksiw out of it because I can just reheat it whenever I crave for a fish dish. 

Ingredients:

Pirit/Tulingan fish or any kind of fish

Vinegar

Garlic

Whole peppercorn

Ginger

Eggplant/bitter melon-optional

Salt and pepper

Procedure:

Wash and drain the fish thoroughly. Arrange in a pot. Put vinegar, garlic , ginger and whole peppercorn.  I used 1/2 cup of vinegar for 4 (small size) fish. Put salt and pepper to taste. Cook in a medium heat until it boils then turn the heat down for like 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Top it with eggplant or bitter melon if desired, 5 minutes before you turn off the fire. Make sure to salt the veggies when added. 

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Orange Flan

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar for caramelizing

8 eggs

2 cans condensed milk

2 cups orange juice

1 tbsp fresh orange zest

4 oz cream cheese softened, optional

Procedure:

Place sugar in deep pan and place over medium-high heat until sugar melts and turns into a light golden syrup. Immediately remove from heat and pour into a flan mold. Tilt mold until bottom is entirely coated.

Whisk the remaining ingredients until very smooth. Pour into prepared mold, cover with aluminum foil. 

Steam for 20-25 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Chill. To serve, turn out a platter.

To Janeth, Sandrin Nang Cecille, Liezl: 

Gamit nako fresh orange juice pero pwede siguro ug dili. Gitry nako ang cream cheese pero pareho ra man ug tilaw sa wala thats why its optional. Make sure nga dili over-cooked para it will melt in your mouth pgkaunon na. Mas maayo salaon before ibutang sa mold para smooth gyud pero pwede ra pod ug dili. 

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Fudgy Pecan Pie

I bought a bag of Pecan nuts from Costco last December so I have been making sweet treats out of them. I have made Pecan Sandies for nth time already and I wanted to try different recipes, hence, this pie was made.

I got the recipe from Taste of Home's Prize Winning Recipes booklet/brochure which I got 5 years ago.

My husband liked it very much so did I but I find it tedious to make so I am not sure if I am going to do it again. 

But I would like to share the recipe all the same :)

Since I start making pies, (from Orange Frosted Pie to Coconut Cream Pie) I always follow the ingredients and procedures but I've always ended up making 2 pies for the supposedly good for 1 pie crust- ingredient only. I can't seem to understand why. 

Anyway, below is the recipe. It's up to you if you will make 2 pies out of the recipe.

1- unbaked 9-inch pastry shells

1 package (4 ounces) German sweet chocolate

1/4 cup butter

1can big condensed milk

1/2cup water

2 eggs- beaten

1tsp vanilla extract

1/4tsp salt

1/2cup chopped pecans

Filling:

1cup cold milk

1 package (3.9 ounces) instant chocolate pudding mix

1cup whipped topping

Topping:

1 cup heavy whipped cream

1 tbsp confectioner's sugar

1teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure:

Line unpricked pastry shell with double thickness of heavy duty foil. Bake at 450 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove foil and set shell aside. Reduce heat to 375 degrees. 

In a heavy sauce pan, melt chocolate and

butter. Remove from the heat, stir in milk and water. Add a small amount of hot chocolate mixture to eggs; return all to the pan. Stir in vanilla and salt. Pour into shell; sprinkle with nuts. Cover edges with foil. Bake for 30 minutes or until a

knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely.

In a mixing bowl, beat milk and pudding mix until smooth. Fold in whipped topping. Spread over nut layer; cover and refrigerate.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Spread over pudding layer. Refrigerate until set, about 4 hours. Store in the refrigerator. Yield 6-8 servings.

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My Coconut Cream Pie

Presenting my husband's favorite pie!

He can't eat too much sweets anymore for health reasons but kept on asking me to make some for his friends. Geez. 

The first time I made this pie, I almost cried because it was an epic fail. Apparently, the cornstarch I used was stale. The following day I tried again but I used flour instead and hubby said it was perfect! That's when he started giving them away. He would buy pie crusts when he goes to the store, he doesn't want me to exert a lot of effort or maybe he just didn't like my home made pie crust, hahaha!

Anyway, I am sharing the recipe which I got online. It looks like it is not easy to make but trust me, it is very easy actually. 

Ingredients

1 pie crust recipe

For the Toasted Coconut Topping

½ cup flaked, sweetened coconut

For the Coconut Custard

1½ cups coconut milk

1½ cups half-and-half

5 egg yolks

¾ cup sugar

4 tablespoons cornstarch or 1/2 cup flour

1 tablespoon butter

¼ teaspoon salt

1½ cups flaked, sweetened coconut

1½ teaspoons vanilla

For the Whipped Topping

2 cups heavy whipping cream

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

Prepare pie crust according to blind-baking instructions of recipe.

For the Toasted Coconut Topping

Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Place into 350º F oven for 8-10 minutes until coconut has just begun to turn brown.

Set aside to cool.

For the Coconut Custard

Pour coconut milk and half-and-half into a liquid measuring cup. Add egg yolks and whisk together with milks. Set aside.

Add sugar and cornstarch to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. 

Whisk egg and milk mixture together once more and then slowly begin to add to the sugar and cornstarch, whisking together constantly.

Bring custard mixture to a boil. Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and continue to stir constantly.

Boil one minute.

Remove from heat and add butter, coconut, vanilla and salt.

Spread custard into pie crust. 

Cover lightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until set, about 30-45 minutes.

For the Whipped Topping

Add sugar and heavy whipping cream to large bowl. 

Whisk with an electric mixer just until stiff peaks form. 

Add vanilla and whisk just until combined.

Spread whipped cream on top of coconut custard. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, top with toasted coconut.

Serves: 6-8

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Pork Belly Adobo

 

I've been cooking a lot like crazy lately. That's most likely to happen when you are a home maker. The problem is, the husband doesn't eat everything I cook because he is not a fan of pork and he is actually not a fan of Filipino foods. It is fine with me though as long as he lets me cook whenever and whatever I want to cook. 

I just love Pork belly. And I buy more than how much I need because the store here in Round Mountain doesn't sell them, even in Winnemucca. I buy them from an Asian Store in Reno. I know it is very fatty but I eat it moderately. I usually cook it with different kinds of vegetable. And it takes me weeks to finish a batch of adobo because I would store it in the freezer and would reheat it when I crave something fatty.

The recipe is here MINUS the sprite.

Thanks for visiting. Please come back visit soon! Have a good one!

Tortang Talong

This was my breakfast yesterday and it was yummy! 

Thank you to my Pinay friend, Mary Rose for the eggplant. I was planning to use it in my fish paksiw but I craved for tortang talong today so I cook it with egg instead. You just grill the eggplant like what I did here in my Eggplant Salad, combine it with 2 beaten eggs, green onion, salt and pepper to taste then fry in a butter or oil. You may want to use white onion instead and may add up diced tomato.

I just bought Filipino eggplants from Seafood City, Sacramento, California last Tuesday and that's what I am going to use for my fish paksiw this week. Sounds like a plan!

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Boiled Ripe Plantain Banana

Boiled Plantain Banana

I remember someone brought a boiled unripe plantain banana in one of the Filipino potlucks last year in Winnemucca which I really liked. The taste was like "Karnaba" in the Philippines. So last Tuesday, I bought 3 pieces for me to try. The color of plantain when unripe is yellow and they are supposed to be ready when they turn black.  I wanted to cook them when they are still yellow.

Since I have not been feeling good lately, I was not able to cook them until they turn brownish but not yet ripe. I still boiled them all the same. And know what, the taste was indeed the same as boiled riped "Karnaba"! I love it! Hubby thought it was weird to boil banana, hehehe! I have only used plantain for Banana Turon.

If you like boiled Karnaba, ripe or unripe, you may want to try this!

Thank you for dropping by. Have a good one! 

My Asian Steamer

I have been looking for this kind of steamer for quite awhile now and thanks to my husband for buying it for me. Now I can comfortably make puto cheese, leche flan, Budbod Malagkit/Suman , etc., yay! Goodbye, rice cooker steamer!

This steamer is made in Thailand and hubby got it from Seafoods City, Sacramento, California for $27.49. 

I can't wait to make Orange flan for Ate Sol when I go to Winnemucca!

Thank you for dropping by! Have a good one!

Suka Pinakurat

My Pinay friend asked me to buy 2 bottles of suka pinakurat when hubby and I went to Seafoods city in Sacramento, California last week. I was curious how it looks like but a little bit disapppointed when the store had it out of stock. Apparently, suka pinakurat are sold like a hotcake!

Because I really wanted to see this suka, though I can Google it myself, we made a side trip to Melvicky International Store in Reno to check if they have it, and thank God they had 3 bottles left! And I was like, "Wow, $3.25 per bottle?!" The bottle is junior size only. I was really shocked! Then I thought, "Hmm... no wonder it is called Suka Pinakurat, hahaha!" Pinakurat is a Bisaya word from the root word "Kurat" which means, "astonish, shock, surprise" something like that, hehehe! 

I got a bottle because my friend wanted 2 so I tried it right away and I was "nakuratan" because it tasted not really good as I thought, not as good as Spiced Coconut (Tuba) Vinegar which only cost $2.99 for a senior size bottle. Please refer to the photo below.

I don't think I am going to get crazy about this Suka Pinakurat like my friend, hehehe! It is good but not really really good. It is overpriced. 

Thank you for dropping by. You have a good one!

Eggplant Salad

I just had this for lunch! Thank you, Lord God! That was superb! 

As you can see in the pics, that is how I prepared it. I used 1 tomato, a little fresh ginger bits, and green onions (you can use any kind of onion), a teaspoon of fish sauce (optional), vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Eggplants here in US are kinda chunky. One is actually enough for two already. But in this case, I ate it all :)

Thanks to Mary Rose for the eggplants. She gave me two but I will use the other one for my paksiw na isda later :)

Thank you for visiting my site. Have a great one!

Home Made Pickled Eggs

These are really good! Thanks to my new found Pinay friend Mary Rose! Nope, she did not make them, her White neighbor gave her 2 jars, she kept one and gave the other to me, ain't that sweet of her?

I've had this before when another friend Yuny, have had me tried one, courtesy of her white hubby. I liked it so much that everytime I buy a jar of dill-flavored cucumber pickles, I would reuse its water when empty, put 4 or 5 hard boiled eggs, after 2 weeks or so, voila! pickled eggs are ready!

The ones I am having now are made from the scratch but they are equally good! 

Try them!

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Homemade Lechon Pork Belly

Seems like the holiday is not over yet! 

My stepson Chad and his gorgeous wife dropped-by at my house on their way home to Arizona, plus my new found friend Pinay, Mary Rose, was also coming so I baked some goodies and made this lechon straight from my rotisserie oven. 

The lechon was just perfect! The skin was not shiny/oily because I did not baste it but it was crispy all the same and the meat tastes like really lechon in Pinas :) 

Delicious indeed! 

I bought the pork belly from a Filipino store in Reno and I want to come back for more :)

Ingredients:

4 or 5 lbs pork belly

salt and pepper

garlic powder

green onions

lemon grass/ tanglad

Dipping sauce:

soy sauce and sukang

pinakurat/kalamansi/ lemon

Procedure:

Wash the pork belly, pat with paper towel to dry. Season it with salt, pepper and garlic powder (generously) then put it in the refrigerator for 8 hours or over night.

Lay the pork belly flat then put green onion and lemon grass and make a log out it, truss with cooking twine then cook it in the rotisserie just like in the photo with a temp of 250F for an hour. Then crank the temperature up to 350F for 30 mins until done. 

I did not have lemon grass or tanglad (I will have some in my next cooking, that's for sure) so I only used stalks of green onions.

My cousin Jing from Aussie suggested to baste it with lemon juice and prick the skin to let the fat spread to make the lechon shiny and oily.

Serve with soy sauce, lemon, vinegar or catsup. I used soy sauce, lemon, vinegar, hot pepper :)

Thank you for dropping by! Have a good one!

Homemade Delights: Moist Chocolate Cake

Big thanks to my good friend Nathalie for the recipe (she bakes yummy cakes!) She got this recipe from her mother-in-law.

It makes the best homemade moist chocolate cake ever, trust me :)

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 3/4 0r 2 cups w. sugar ( she uses 1 3/4 cups all the time to cut sugar)

3/4 cup Hershey's cocoa

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs (large)

1 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 cups canola oil

1 1/2 tsp vanilla 

1 cup hot water (I used brewed coffee instead, read it from somewhere)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Grease and flour the 13x6 pan

3. Beat all dry ingredients

4. Add liquid ingredients except hot water and beat at medium speed

5. Add hot water then beat until well blended.

6. Bake for 35 minutes

Whipped Icing : Mocha / Chocolate flavor

Mix everything 

1 pint heavy whipping cream

1 T vanilla

1 T Espresso Coffee  or any instant coffee ( mix with 2 T hot water)

or 1/4cup Cocoa powder ( if u want choco flavor)

1/2 w. sugar ( add more as desired)

          

Beat until stiff and fluffy. Make sure the cake is not warm when frosting.