Ube Reminds Me of Home (Purple Yam)

I made ube or purple yam fondant cupcakes the other day. I have sweet memories of ube since it is always available mixed in desserts in my country. I think what makes it popular is its attractive color most of all it's sweet simple taste. I thought I did a good job and a pat on the back for braving myself to try something new, something I've never done myself before and that is making ube cupcake. I thought it's interesting to note that of all root crops purple yam has the most amount of protein although it has high content of carbohydrates. It also has amounts of other vitamins & minerals like potassium, magnesium, Vitamin A, niacin and folate.

Belated Happy Birthday

In between moving from South Carolina to Maryland, in between packing and unpacking I finally found a time prefect for baking a birthday cake for my darling sweet daughter Heaven. This was my first attempt to make a doll cake out of fondant but I was happy of the result. Even the birthday girl was really happy too. Belated happy birthday dear.

Hey I'm Back

After many months of not blogging I'm finally back to my blogging mood. I realize it's not easy to sit down, think and concentrate when you have too many things going on in your mind. I did not stop from making food. Every single day is a chance to whip up something good for my family. We went to the asian market yesterday to buy some ingredients for making filipino food. At home either you eat filipino food or nothing. Sometimes when I'm busy hubby make food for the family which is a relief. So here's my latest food biko/malagkit/sweet rice and fried milkfish/bangus.

Working Here

Thanks for the guest post by Donn Schroeder

I love working here but because it’s such a small firm we don’t have tons of extra money to upgrade our systems or generally buy anything that’s going to help us do our jobs easier. I think it’s important to note that I try hard not to be too in my boss’s face about stuff like that because I know I’m much younger and I’m really conscious about overstepping my boundaries. For example, the other day I gently tried to get him to go to smallbusiness.xo.com to check out some faster internet options but he didn’t seem to understand…I backed off and decided to revisit the issue at a better time so he wouldn’t just write it off completely. I love my boss, I really do, but sometimes he can be tempermental (at best) and I think it’s great that I know when to deal with him and when to just leave him alone. I know that’s not exactly professional but it’s his company and he can act whatever way he wants to, to be totally honest!

My Cakes: My Canvass

I love decorating cakes. I'm new at this but I am loving it. I decided to create a video of the cakes I made. It's so funny that my kids knew how to create a video before I did. Yes I am keeping up with technology which sounds funny. I have made butter cream icing cake and fondant cake. Butter cream icing tastes better but I find fondant interesting, neat and nicer. I also tried making cake pops and cupcakes. These are my canvass for arts. I hope you enjoyed watching them.

Earn Degree Online

Guest written by our friend Sergio Chaney

I need a better paying job something fierce. I’ve been stuck in this dead-end-job for 3 years now, and I can tell I’m not going anywhere. I feel like a little rat on a wheel, running and running, but not getting anywhere. I gotta get off this wheel. It’s hard in this economy, though. No one is hiring, especially not someone like me who doesn’t have a degree. I’d love to get a degree, but the closest community college is 3 hours away. We can’t move, and that it not a realistic commute. I saw a commercial on tv about getting a degree online. I’m not sure how that would work, exactly, but if I could do that, that would be fantastic. I am going to look into getting satellitestarinternet %keyword% like my buddies have, and see about getting a degree online. I wonder what degrees you can even get online? I have no idea, and frankly, I don’t care. So many applications ask for your educational background and I am sick of just saying “high school.”

Sharing Cupcakes

My first time making fondant cupcakes was on the finals for our clinicals last February 21. We had a so called "party" as a way to end it. It was really fun. The fun part was making my fondant cupcakes that no one knew was my very first attempt to make one. Everyone loved it I'm so glad. I sure would want to make some again maybe in my upcoming birthday.
My teacher gave me a good review/evaluation. She was so impressed with my talk/report. Overall I got 95 yay me! Not bad right.
We went to Chili's for some drinks after the party to celebrate.

Marilyn's Costume Up For Auction

Guest post from: Natalie Walter

So we have great direct tv packages and now my morning routine doesn’t include drinking coffee and reading the paper, but is drinking coffee and watching the “Today Show” in the mornings. This morning I was watching the show and they had a really cool exhibit that they were showing. It was highlighting a Marilyn Monroe auction that was coinciding with the release of “My week with Marilyn”, starring Michelle Williams. Some of the things in the auction were really awesome. They included a green velvet dress, a pink suit that she wore in “Some like it Hot”, and letters that she had written to her family as Norma Jean, before she was Marilyn. My favorite item though was a Cleopatra costume. It was literally a metallic bra and underwear with a headpiece, but I did not know that she campaigned to get the iconic role of Cleopatra that was given to Elizabeth Taylor. They even had a picture of Marilyn wearing the costume. The estimated that it would sell from anywhere between two hundred and three hundred thousand dollars. That is one expensive costume!

Dining at Indian Palace Restaurant

We dine out once week. It's a treat for me and my family for eating from scratch almost everyday. Now that I have learned couponing I never get out to eat without a coupon at hand. Thank you www.restaurant.com for the great coupons I got from your site. You surely made hubby happy and contented. Yes hubby loves using coupons as much as I do.
Last weekend we went to Indian Palace. It's in South Pleasantburg not far from my school. I have never been there so we got lost locating the place. Blame it to the great Tomtom gps who gives us bad directions but we sure glad we called the restaurant and we were able to locate it. We had a great dinner for half the price. When I went home I sure did took the survey with a full tummy. It's great food Indian Palace. Thank you.

Coffee Break

Guest written by our friend Jamie Gross

I had just crashed into the chair after dinner and cleanup when the phone rang. It was my friend from down the street wondering if I was interested in making a coffee run with her to our local spot for a little dessert. I said of course, and I slipped into my sweats and headed out the door. The little place was hopping with business filled with coffee and dessert connoisseurs alike. The aroma alone was intoxicating and before I knew it, I had a large java in one hand, and lemon pound cake in the other. We settled into a corner booth close to where the Expert Satellite tv was on some nostalgic channel. We watched for a few minutes while enjoying our goodies then proceeded to catch up on each other’s lives. The coffee and the conversation were smooth and satisfying and we leisurely made our way home to begin the evening rush of homework, baths, and laundry. That’s when I realized I was glad I ordered the large coffee, I was going to need it.

My Second Fondant Cake

Hey everyone how are you doing? I want to share the second fondant I made not long ago. It is a Hello Kitty cake. Someone wanted to order me one so I decided to see and practice if I could really make one and I am so glad of the result. My kids thought its awesome. I hope you like it too.

Sticking With Pumpkin Orange For My Fall Decor

Guest post written by Kate Eller

I've been told so many times before that my skin tone just can't pull off pumpkin orange and I know it. I don't know why I've kept trying to wear it over the years when I clearly can't. Well now I'm just going to stick with using the color to decorate my house for the fall season instead.

That way I can pull off being surrounded by this wonderful color without worrying about how it personally looks on me. I was online looking at my wireless internet service not too long ago getting ideas when I just decided to go all out and use that color as an accent during the fall season. I was able to find all types of shades of it too!

I've incorporated pumpkin orange decor in most, if not all, of the rooms of my house. I even bought some hand towels in that shade to hang up in our guest bathroom on the first floor of our house. Then of course there are some actual pumpkin accent pieces. I prefer the fake kind that doesn't rot to the real thing.

My First Fondant Cake

I successfully decorated my first fondant cake with the help of my son James. I realize fondant is not easy to do but I admit I did love the result of what we made. James helped me knead the fondant and put the decoration on top of the cake. I think he finds it fun too. I can see my future chef here. I gathered the materials and ingredients. It took a little while to do that since I did not make a list of it. I don't know why I didn't. I wanted to attend a cake decorating class this October in AC Moore but it was already full so I might as well try next time just out of curiosity's sake.
I made chocolate and yellow cake and put some icing butter in the middle. I made pastel colored flowers, leaves and stems as decor. It came out really awesome.

Japanese Food

It poured the whole day yesterday but it didn't stop us from eating out. We had dinner at the Wasabi Japanese restaurant. We don't usually go out on midweek but hubby said since my daughter is out to eat then we too can eat. I'm so happy that I get to choose where to eat. It's awesome food. I ordered the Deluxe Chef Sushi and seaweed salad. Hubby and James got hibachi rice and chicken. I love Japanese food.

Enlarge your house with glue

Roasting Veges for Dinner

Whipping up dinner in a spur of the moment always happen to me. Yesterday I made some roasted cod fish and broccoli. It turned out really good. The kids who don't love broccoli started eating some and they confirmed that yes it taste better than plain ones. Today I decided to roasted come chicken thighs that we bought at bi-lo for 69cents per pound last night. I added some peppers, carrots, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. It even turned out better today than yesterday. We are trying to stay away from fried foods. I think roasting is a healthier option.

Baked Chicken

I made some baked chicken for dinner last night. Hubby loved it so it must have been good. He brought some of it for lunch today. Here are the ingredients:
1lb chicken cut into strips
1 small onion bulb sliced
1/2 cup red pepper cut into strips
3 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 cup broccoli
1/2 cup cauliflower
1/2 cup carrots sliced
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup water
1 can mushroom condensed soup
1 can chicken condensed soup

Cooking Directions:
1. Boil chicken strips for 30mins or until tender and set aside.
2. Heat up pan and saute garlic, onion and red pepper.
3. Place the chicken strips and the vegetables.
4. Then place the mushroom and chicken condensed soup.
5. Mix and bring to boil.
6. Put in a pyrex bowl and bake for 300 degrees for 20-25 mins.
7. Sprinkle shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top and put back into the oven for 10 minutes more.
8. Take out and cool for 10 minutes then serve. Enjoy!

Diet and Exercise

In my twenties I weighed around 98lbs can you believe that? I was so skinny. I look like stick and bones. Then when I had kids the baby fats never dissolved from my body. Now I weigh 150. Arghh... Will I ever loose weight again? So much for this fats I have to take it off. I have kids and I want to live longer to see them.

In my journey to losing weight I decided to have vegetable salad everyday. Lately I discovered that I love romaine lettuce so I bought two bags. This will be good for the whole week since I will make the salad good for four persons. I also bought some broccoli, red pepper, cranberry raisins and carrots. I also bought some mangoes to throw in to my salad. It is such a struggle to lose weight when it is not your way of life. Everyone in the family has to be involved. Slowly but surely I am getting there. I have my diet tracker on my phone on what I eat and the amount of calories I lose every time I exercise. Diet and exercise are married together and they are a perfect complement to each other. One without the other is not a good option. They are a perfect couple. And then I realize that I should be a vegetarian but it seem like a hard option yet I do wish someday I will be a vegetarian.;-) Im so used to eating food with some meat in it. I grew up eating vegetable but usually it's being cooked and made into soup. I am glad I am slowly learning how to eat raw vegetables which contains more vitamins and minerals. I also wanted to eat as much fruits as I can since it's a healthier option so I decided to get a blender. I make shakes for everyone and the kids love it. Strawberry banana shake, peach mango shake to name a few. I exercise an hour almost everyday and I keep track of the calories I take off. Lately I started sleeping early so I can wake up earlier to be able to exercise early in the morning. I feel better when I exercise early in the morning and that is what hubby is doing too. It is when I exercise that I get conscious with what I eat because it is not easy taking the calories off. That is why morning exercise is a way to go for me. How about you what motivates you to live healthy?

Credit Card for Household Bills

This guest post from Edgardo Rosa

My parents write checks for all of their bills. They have a credit card, but only use it for emergencies and buying things on-line. I think that the move to usinhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifg credit cards for rewards and paying everything on-line is a generational thing. I recently got a new service on the internet that uses company websites and pulls all of your bills onto one website. When it is time to pay your bills every month on-line, everything is in one place. I accidently left my credit card bill at my parent’s house the other day. My dad called me and sounded concern. He asked, “Why did you pay your bills , gas, and electricity bill with a credit card?” He was concerned that I was out of money. I tried to explain that I was not using my credit card because I had no money, but that I got two percent cash back if I used my credit card to pay household bills. I explained that I paid it off each month. He still did not understand the concept. So all I could do was to just assure him that I was fine and that I would let him know if I needed any money.

Anniversary Dinner

We celebrated our 4th anniversary yesterday with a dinner. I chose Blue Fish Grill. We almost gave up looking for the place but good thing we didn't. It was located off the hi way making it a little bit hard to find. We found the pretty cool place. We had greek salad, rockefeller oysters, one appetizer he set on fire for us.;-) I had grilled mahi-mahi and for hubby he had stuffed salmon. They were really both to die for.
Great ambiance for the celebration. This calls for a martini darlin'.;-)