2011, Here we come!

I know I've been a bit remiss in writing. I was so busy launching my etsy store, filling Christmas orders for my chocolate bark, and preparing for winter in Virginia!

As my first year here in the US comes to a close, I'm amazed at everything that has transpired this year.

Of course the first thing that comes to mind is that this is the year we got married! And I moved to the US!

It's been an exciting time full of new things, new places, new people, and I learned so much as well. I've come to love living in California and I am super excited about the New Year ahead, with all it's possibilities.

But yet, the hardest thing of all, was leaving home and moving away from family. I sorely miss them and I think about them every day but I know that it's part of life and I have more than one place to call home now. I once read somewhere that home is where your family is and I am blessed to have had my family grow exponentially.

We do have so much planned for next year though, including not just one, but two trips back to the Philippines! Hooray for that! And January already looks like it's going to be jam-packed and time is GOING TO FLY. Just thinking about it boggles the mind!

So here's to another year full of exciting possibilities, wonderful moments, and beautiful memories. Here's to a Happy 2011 and beyond!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

Hello, Whimsy! Holiday Rush

I have been so busy preparing packages and cards for the holidays I've barely had any time to blog! So I thought I'd just catch you up with the packages I've been preparing. Some of these are special orders, some are gifts for family friends. These are photos of the stuff I've been doing on my new design blog, hello, whimsy!

Special Delivery: Chocolate Bark Gift Box

A Gift Box Full of Chocolate Pockets!

Chocolate Bark Gift Tin

Full of Pretty Chocolate Pockets

Another Chocolate Gift Tin

Full of Chocolate Bark in Assorted Flavors

So that's what this busy elf has been up to! Working with lots of new chocolate bark flavors too, like White Chocolate & Macadamia, Milk Chocolate & Macadamia, and Dark Chocolate with Walnuts. And lots of candy making and gift-wrapping in the works!

Can you believe it's 14 days to Christmas?!

Dreaming of Dumaguete

Growing up, we would always travel during vacations and special family occasions. When I was a kid, I would wonder how come we had to go away and leave my friends (it seemed to be always when we had something especially fun planned.) But these trips also had awesome perks. I got to spend time with relatives especially cousins, and I got to see the beautiful places where my parents grew up.

Photo from Explore Dumaguete!

One of these places near and dear to my heart, is Dumaguete city. It was only a 45 minute plane ride, five hour boat ride, or six hour drive away and it was always a wonderful adventure. This city, smaller than my hometown of Cebu often offered a welcome respite to the big city. My cousins and I were free to explore by bicycle, buy lip-staining bubble gum from the neighborhood sari-sari store, and play as much as we wanted.

My family would go to the beach, experience dolphin watching on a pumpboat, and eat wonderful seafood.

The Dumaguete I remember from my childhood is of  course, different from the Dumaguete I know now, but not in a bad way. We still go to the beach, go swimming in Forest Camp, and eat. Now Dumaguete has even more wonderful restaurants and eateries, such as Sans Rival (yes, they do serve amazing melt in your mouth sans rival and melt in your mouth goodies, the wonderful Cafe Antonio situated in a Spanish ancestral home, and my favorite, Pastaaang Lami-ah where my aunt serves scrumptious home cooked barbecue with java rice and the most amazing cassava cake to die for. Just thinking about all this food makes my mouth water.

If you asked me what makes Dumaguete special, I would say it was it's the historic, home town, yet near nature feel. Dumaguete is a university town, with lots of schools and Silliman Unviversity being it's main one. There are lots of students, lots of open spaces, and lots of history. But Dumaguete is also near nature, such as the Forest Camp Mountain resort and Apo Island.

Apo Island should deserve an entry in itself. It's a wonderful little island off the coat of Negros. Half of the island has a little cove with a beautiful beach and the other half is wonderful for snorkeling and diving as Apo Island is a marine sanctuary. It's one of the best diving spots in the Philippines, I've heard. My family has had some unforgettable vacations there. 

I could go on and on about Dumaguete but I think I'll leave that to the tourism pros. For more information on Dumaguete, please visit Explore Dumaguete. It's a wonderful website which gives off the awesome Dumaguete vibe. Simple yet still vibrant and rich.

I am however dreaming of going back to Antulang Beach resort and going horseback riding and snorkeling. My husband's all for it as his family is from Dumaguete too! Isn't that sweet?

Unexpected Encounters

Today was marked by unexpected encounters.

The first one was with the DMV lady at window 14. I've come to her window several times, as this was the second time I had to take my driving test. She is always so warm and cheerful, an unexpected change as I know the DMV work environment has not been very upbeat lately, (most likely due to being understaffed as gauged from the terribly long lines and 45 day waits for appointments.)

So today, lady at window 14 merrily wished me luck on my exam, reassuring me that I would pass this time.

My second encounter was with the man who gave me the driving test. Apparently my appointment was not on his schedule (which understandably would have irritated him) but he gave me a driving test anyway. I was already thinking that was enough to merit another failure or at least an unhappy tester!

But instead of being irritated, he was very patient and calm. In between giving me instructions, we carried on a quick conversation starting from was this the car I regularly drove. I told him yes, it was a sort of wedding present from my husband for when I found a job because I had just moved here from the Philippines.

He asked me what my husband did and I gave my standard reply. "He's a chocolate scientist! He does research and development for a chocolate company." He was certainly amused by my reply! He said that he'd heard of similar jobs but had never actually known anyone who had such a job. He asked what I did and I told him I was a teach. "An English teacher?" he asked me, and I said yes. He wasn't surprised.

When we a certain corner, I pointed out that that was where I made my critical error on my last driving test, his reply was " Not this time."

Once parked, he took a few minutes to write some notes before informing me that I had passed! Woohoo! California highways, here I come!

Before I could calm down from my excitement, he thanked me! He said it had been a delight and that he had enjoyed talking to me. Apparently he's had some rough encounters with other drivers and I would figure that his job isn't the easiest thing on earth. I can only imagine some of the people he's had to deal with. Then he sent me off to get my license and wished me luck on the job hunt.

Now I know these encounters may seem ordinary to some but in a world where people are always in a hurry to move on, it's wonderful to come across people who stop and take the time to make a difference in your day. Whether it be sincere words of encouragement or an unexpected conversation, these exchanges are memorable. And in the DMV nonetheless!

So I took my temporary license and skipped home to show it off to my husband. And now I think I've got a letter to write to the DMV, commending those two people for wonderful service and uncalled-for -friendliness in an unexpected place.

On Giving Thanks

My family celebrates Thanksgiving in the Philippines, it's a great reason to cook up a huge turkey and have friends over. That was something I truly missed this year.

But Gerard and I were lucky enough to spend Thanksgiving with some members of his family and their extended family. For the weekend, we took a quick trip down to L.A. and got to see the lovely sights of Redondo Beach.

Our contribution to dinner was of course... dessert! Truly a Gerard & Maita collaboration, teamwork at it's best. (It's great having a chef on call to help you with baking goodies!) Please excuse my not so great photos. (Perhaps there is still a DSLR in my distant future somewhere!)

Chocolate Oreo Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting. 

There's a whole bag of double stuffed Oreos in that thing!

Chocolate Chip Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting.

The fabulous Thanksgiving spread.

The chef carving the turkey.

Family and Extended Family

Aside from the copious amounts of food, Thanksgiving of course was also a time to reflect and remember the many blessings we have. Life often seems difficult and its easy to forget we have so much to be thankful for. Health, Family, Friends, to name a few. And technology! Because it allows me to not feel so far away from home.

Thank you Auntie Nell, Louise, Billy, and Miguel for having us!

Chocolate Calligraphy

This month's issue of Real Simple had me drooling and whining and wanting to try out new recipes. The recipes aren't up on their website yet so no photos but I've been dreaming of a hazelnut ganache tart with sea salt and double chocolate profiteroles. I'll let you know how those go!

In the meantime, this quote in the magazine caught my eye:

I wrote it our for Gerard to put in his office. I did it with sepia ink on parchment paper and I think it sums up how we feel about chocolate pretty well.

On the Rescue of the Chilean Miners

I've been glued to the news, along with the rest of the world, watching the rescue of the 33 miners who have been trapped underground, in Chile, since August 5. After 69 days of being trapped underground with no sunlight, they're being hoisted one by one, to the surface. Remarkably, the men seem to be in good spirits (as what I've seen from the news) and I feel this rescue to be nothing short of a miracle.

Photo from the Los Angeles Times

And while I watch this, I can't help but think of the strength of the human spirit and the suffering we are capable of enduring. The rescuers, along with these men, serve as inspiration and reminder that together, we are capable of doing anything.

My friend tells me that at the Chilean Embassy in Washington D.C., there's a big screen rigged up for people to watch the rescue and quite a crowd has gathered. Though I may not be a Chilean national, I'm still a human being and I can't help but feel the triumph and joy, that these men are being saved.

Enough things go bad in this world. Enough disasters, enough lives taken, enough natural resources destroyed. But sometimes, sometimes, something like this happens to really remind us how truly lucky we are to be alive.

The Ziploc Bag Obsession

I am obsessed with Ziploc bags. Obsessed, I tell you. Obsessed enough to buy 152 gallon Ziploc bags in one day.

Image from costco.com

Ok, so it was at Costco. And I'll tell you my reasons/uses justifying why I bought all those Ziploc bags.

1. Food Storage. Stated in my previous budgeting entry #1, we wrap meat in foil before placing it in Ziploc bags for storing in the freezer. We also label the bags with the item and date we placed it in. Also good for storing leftovers.

2. Making Crumbs. Sometimes a recipe calls for crushed wafers, crushed oreos or graham cracker crumbs. I place the wafers or cookies in a Ziploc bag and bash the hell out of them with a wine bottle. It's quite fun actually!

3. Marinating Meat. We marinate meat in Ziploc bags with a bowl underneath for catching leaks. Bowl and ziploc bag stay in the fridge. Enough said.

4. Keeping Cookie Dough. Scoop out the cookie dough in the amount that you need (i.e. 1 round tablespoons) and freeze in shape. Next time you want some fresh baked cookies, take the frozen scoops and pop them in the oven. (We always want fresh baked cookies.)

5. Electronic Accessories Storage. You know all those cables/manuals/whatever that came with your new laptop/camera/phone? I like to place all the accessories from one item in one bag and I label it Macbook/Canon G11/iPhone or whatever electronic item it came with. That way they don't end up a tangled, unknown mess in the bottom drawer.

6. Replacement Piping Bags. We never buy piping bags for the fancy frosting work my husband does on my cupcakes. He just places the frosting in a Ziploc bag and snips of a tip of one corner! Presto! Instant piping bag! (He also attaches the fancy frosting tips on the bag but I think you could probably do without them.)

7. Toiletry Kits. We all probably have two or three fancy toiletry kits stashed away in our closets but nothing beats the simplicity of a Ziploc bag (not to mention the protection from exploding shampoo bottles or leaking lotions.)

8. Cushioning Breakables. When I don't have any of those packing plastic bubbles or bubble wrap, I inflate these with a straw and use them as packing material. Would still use bubble wrap and packing peanuts for extra fragile stuff though.

9. Sorting Pantyhose. Mocha, brown, nude, black, knee length, calf length, etc. Stick the label on the Ziploc bag before stuffing the pantyhose in. That way you know what's inside. 

10. Kids Stuff. WHEN we have kids, I foresee many possible uses for these bags. Storing outfits, toys on the go, diapers, art materials, etc. I've even read these make great instant diaper changing pads. Just cut the bag open and voila!

11. Instant Ice Packs. Before we bought one of those ice packs mainly for cooler use, we'd fill a Ziploc bag with ice and and stick it in the cooler. Also good for injuries.

12. Screws and Odds and Ends. Store extra screws in labeled Ziploc bags. When taking apart furniture, keep all the screws for one piece (i.e. sofa) in one bag. We then like to tape the bag to the disassembled sofa. Or you can just mark the bags and keep them all together. This is great for moving.

And... that's all I've got. For now. With the 152 bags and at least 11 uses (I don't have kids yet,) I figure I won't have to buy any Ziploc bags for at least a year!

Learning How to Budget. Entry # 2

The next most important thing I've learned to do in order to save money:

2. Use your RESOURCES.

Resources like what you may ask? Well, for starters, there's the internet of course. These days, we never make any major purchases without checking the web. We can find lower prices, product reviews, and what's the best value for our money. We also scour sites like Craigslist and Ebay for deals on things we may not necessarily want brand new and we get to buy them at the fraction of the cost. Through Craigslist, Gerard was able to buy a matching side table to our current Ikea one, at less then half the price of it brand new.

If you look at my previous posts, you'll find my entry about Swagbucks. Through Swagbucks, you earn virtual money that translates to real money through purchasing items or gift cards. So far, I've earned a $25 Gift Certificate to Restaurant.com and two $5 Gift Card for Amazon. And all I had to do was switch search engines!

Related to my previous food budgeting entry, I've also learned to maximize the web when it comes to cooking. I love allrecipes.com which allows you  to plug in what ingredients they have and it'll show you recipes you can use with your available ingredients.

And since its just the two of us for now, we usually split recipes in half or else we'd end up with way too much food! This is especially true when I'm baking. After all, what are we going to do with two dozen cupcakes? I like to refer to this recipe adjuster which allows me to adjust recipes/cut them in half to suit our needs.

I also like to devote a few minutes of each day researching on the web on ways to save money. I've come across so many fun blogs by other women who write about ways to save and it's been fun reading all their different entries and ideas. I love that they spark my creativity and encourage me to try new things.

The internet has a plethora of resources on how to save and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. But in the month or so that I've made it my mission, we've managed to stay in budget and put a little something aside (most especially for our upcoming Vegas trip!)

And what other resources are there aside from the internet? Well, there's the local library, thrift stores, garage sales, Costco, you name it! From everything I've learned, doing a little research and thinking outside the box is a great way to kick start simple money saving habits.

What's your favorite money saving tip?I might just make money saving tips a regular topic!

Photo from http://i82.photobucket.com/albums/j278/scorpiad/Teen%20Diaries/saving-money.jpg

Awesome Oreo Cupcakes

Ok so I'm still working on the budgeting entry #2 and trying to figure out the best way to organize all the budgeting tips I've learned. But in the meantime, here's what I think are the best cupcakes I've made so far! I call them the Awesome Oreo Cupcakes.

I started off with the ever dependable Hershey's Chocolate Cake Recipe found here. But before pouring the batter into the baking cups, I carefully twisted some Oreos in half and placed a cookie with frosting in each baking cup. 

For the frosting, I used a tweaked version of the Cupcake Project's Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting found here. But instead of adding cocoa powder, I added the crushed other half of the Oreos (the ones with no creamy center) and added them to the mix. (We don't have a rolling pin so I had to make do by placing the Oreos in a zip bag and running them over with a bottle of wine.)

I still have to learn the fine art of piping frosting but luckily I was able to convince my husband to frost them for me. He used to be a pastry chef after all!

After the first taste, we both agreed that the cupcakes tasted very reminiscent of cookies and cream. The Oreo in the cupcake became a sort of fudgy crust and the frosting had chunks of cookies which added a nice crunch. Success!

Now if only we had cookies and cream ice cream to top them off with instead of frosting, then we could call them the Ultimate Oreo Cupcakes! Mmmmmm...

And now, back to regular programming.

Learning to Budget Entry #1

On my fourth month here, I'm thinking about the practical things I've learned. Especially about living in the US.

I think the biggest lessons I've learned in the practical aspect, has been about money. Budgeting has become an important part of my day. It's been a challenge but also it's also been fun in its own way because it forces me to be creative. Out of all the things I've learned, here are the ones that have made the biggest impact on our spending/saving habits.

1. The most important change we've made:

  

Eating at Home versus Eating Out

We have color coded chopping boards. Green is for vegetables.

We eat at home 90% of the time now. Wherein we used to eat out about 60% of the time because we felt that buying all those ingredients and cooking for two would be more expensive and more time and energy consuming than eating out. But I've learned how to plan out meals (I may not be as ambitious as those who plan a whole weeks worth of meals) but I roughly plan out most of our dinners a day or two in advance. I usually base this on what we have at hand or around something we want to eat (like seafood or pasta.) And when we cook, we usually make enough for a few meals so that we have a stash of food good for another lunch or two.

We've also slowly built up our ingredients collection so that it's easy for us to change up things in a pinch. Bread crumbs, spices and seasonings, soups, and marinades have become some of our kitchen staples. And of course, our trusty crock pot and rice cooker now have permanent places on the counter.

Maximizing our freezer is another habit that I've picked up. Whenever we buy meat, usually in "bulk" (not crazy huge portions as we're still only two) we portion them out into servings already before wrapping them in foil and placing them in storage zip bags. For example, we'll buy eight pieces of chicken and portion them out into two servings. So we'll pack four pieces of chicken per bag, with the contents and date stored written on the bag for easy reference.

If I want to cook chicken tomorrow, all I have to do is place one of the allocated storage bags in the fridge to defrost today. Aside from meat, we've also got bagels, yogurt, pizza, basil, and more stored in the freezer. Yes, most of the time it really is cheaper to buy in "bulk" than in smaller quantities. All you have to do is store your perishable items well.

Grilled Steak and Asparagus

Some of the best meals we've ever had, we cook ourselves. We've had barbecue pork ribs, dungeness crab with lemon butter sauce, truffle macaroni and cheese, grilled steak, and more, all at the fraction of what it would cost eaten at a restaurant. (Being married to a chef helps of course.)  Not that we don't eat out anymore, we still do occasionally (you can't beat Japanese restaurants or the variety of food at the farmer's market) but we've learned the value and pros of eating at home.

Dungeness Crab with Seasoned Butter Sauce

And I'm very glad that we have, because I am really enjoying cooking now.

Budgeting Entry #2 in the next post.

P.S. Can I just say that I've become a huge fan of frozen vegetables in steam packs? All you have to do is microwave them and season them yourself upon serving. And at $1.50 a bag, very affordable and pretty good (for vegetables. I'm not a big vegetable fan.)

Safeway Steam Pack Vegetable Mix

The Chocolate Festival at Ghirardelli Square

A few weeks ago, I got a coupon for 50% for 15 tastings at the Annual Chocolate Festival at the Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco. It was a no brainer, we immediately bought the tickets and looked forward to a day full of chocolate in the city.

We got really excited looking at all the different vendors they had, especially Ciao Bella Gelato among others. So on Sept. 11, bright and early, we headed into the city. (Well not too early as we like to sleep in a little on Saturdays and have brunch.) Upon our arrival at our Ghirardelli Square, imagine our dismay at the humongous crowd we saw, with super long snaky lines of people all waiting for their tastings! 

View from afar. I know it doesn't look that packed but wait til you get inside.

These people are mostly waiting in line.

We figured we didn't really want to wait too long for a tiny taste of chocolate so we chose a few that we wanted to try. We got to try pistachio caramel popcorn, a bite of bread, a tiny chocolate pancake, freeze dried fruit, a brownie bite, and I think.... that's about it.

Bread bites, I believe.

We did sit down to watch an R&D guy from Ghirardelli explain how chocolate is made but we didn't stay for very long.

Almond Spiced Popcorn

Sure, we would have wanted to try the chocolate martinis, chocolate infused teas, or mini Ghirardelli sundaes but we felt the portion in ratio to the wait in line just didn't cut it. But it was fun looking at all the different stuff they had on the menu!

And it was nice to spend a day out exploring San Francisco which we ended by having dinner in Chinatown. I know we would have enjoyed it so much more if there hadn't been such a huge crowd and a minimum ten minute wait to get a small bite of something that would fit in the palm of my hand. But at $20 per 15 tastings, I guess the value was ok. (We got ours for $10 though plus we got one more free for paying with visa, thanks to Living Social.) It was an experience in itself, but not something we're looking to repeat next year. 

Maybe the San Francisco Chocolate Salon would be less stressful more up our alley?

Swagbucks Searches

Since I spend so much time at home and in front of my computer, I've found a lot of interesting and fun things you can do online.

One of my favorite recent discoveries is SWAGBUCKS. (You'll see my new Swagbucks banner on the right.)

And what is it exactly? It's a search engine/rewards program that awards virtual or "swag" bucks to its users which you can redeem for a whole lot of stuff like clothes, school supplies, electronics, and my favorite, gift cards! The easiest way to earn "Swagbucks" is by using its search engine, instead of Google or Yahoo. Think about it. Google and Yahoo earn so much money from its users but do they share the wealth? Swagbucks does! You don't always earn with every search but you can get awarded anywhere from 6 to 11 Swagbucks at any given time.

And if you want to earn more, they've got free offers you can complete, surveys you can answer, videos to watch, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I've also found the Swagbucks toolbar to be especially useful, and I often earn just for using it!

Now I'm normally very wary of websites like these but Swagbucks doesnt require any credit card information. All you have to do is register for an account on their site. So far, I've only been using it for two weeks but I've already redeemed a $25 gift card for restaurant.com. And I only need a few more swagbucks before I can get a $5 Amazon Gift Card. Gift cards for Paypal and Barnes and Noble are a bit pricier but with a little patience I'm sure I can snag one.

Why not give Swagbucks a try. After all, what do you have to lose?

Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes! Yes, seriously!

After weeks of toying with the idea, I finally got around to making... Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes! 

When I tell people about Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes, most of them give me mixed reactions like "it sounds like a good idea in theory but I don't know...". Prompted by the fact that I've been super curious about them and that we had a lot of leftover buttercream frosting, I finally got around to trying my own version.

I started off with Hershey's Chocolate Cake Recipe (the same one you get off the box of Hershey's Cocoa Powder) because it's the chocolate cake recipe my chef husband swears by. But of course, our cocoa powder is Barry Callebaut, not Hershey's.

Here's the part that may make you raise some an eyebrow. After frying some 6 strips of bacon, I saved the drippings and substituted it for half of the vegetable oil required in the chocolate cake recipe. Then I chopped up the bacon and mixed it in the batter before baking. I ended up with over two dozen cupcakes (I knew I should have cut the recipe in half.) I don't know how Gerard and I are going to finish two dozen cupcakes!

After frosting the cupcakes with the leftover buttercream frosting, I added some caramelized bacon chips and a sprinkling of salt. Voila! Chocolate Bacon Cupcakes!

Cake-wise, I honestly think this may have been the best chocolate "cake" that I have ever made. It was soft, and moist, and it tasted so good, I could have eaten it without frosting! But the whole point of the bacon is to give you a "sweet and salty" experience all at once and I can say that this cupcake attained that goal. The cake and the frosting weren't overly sweet and the salt and bacon had just the right touch of saltiness. All in all, I'd say my experiment was a success. 

Now to find people to share it with because we're too tempted to finish all two dozen cupcakes by ourselves...

My Truffle Addiction

Gerard and I have been on the lookout for affordable truffle salt and we finally found some at the Sur la Table in Walnut Creek. During our last conversation, my friend Melissa had told me about truffle mac and cheese so that's what we decided to have for dinner since we didn't really feel like cooking anything too complicated anyway.

Now we're not big on making things from scratch, but making things better. So at Safeway, we found triple rich mac and cheese and my chef husband sauteed some mushrooms and prosciutto to mix in, which he topped off with bread crumbs and the truffle salt before popping in the oven for a few minutes.

So there you have it. Semi-home made truffle mac and cheese which didn't even make it to the next day. 

Warning: extremely addictive

The truffle salt added this really rich, unique flavor to the mac and cheese. The flavor is so addicting, I've taken to just having a taste of the salt every now and then. But I've stopped now that my lips feel dry and cracked from too much sodium. 

Visions of truffle salt enhanced dishes are swarming through my head... definitely can't wait to try it with some fresh french fries and popcorn too.

Easy Peasy Chocolate Nut Clusters

I love chocolate covered nuts. I love chocolate covered many things.

Today, I had a craving for nut clusters, something akin to my mom's favorite See's almonds in chocolate so I decided to make a few pieces. I mostly try to make things in small batches so they won't go to waste or so we won't tire of them too easily.

Ever since my husband taught me how to microwave melt chocolate (stop every thirty seconds and stir after) it's been super easy to make chocolate covered things.

For my nut clusters, I started with:

1/3 Cup Chopped Chocolate (I use Callebaut, of course. This time it was a dark chocolate.)

1/4 Cup Chopped Pistachios

And that's it!

I microwave melted the chocolate and it only took 2 30-second intervals to fully melt it so a minute total. For large quantities of chocolate I'd definitely go with the double boiler method but for this, the microwave worked perfectly.

I mixed in the chopped pistachios and spooned the mix onto my trusty Silpat atop a baking tray for three perfectly sized Chocolate Pistachio Clusters. (I told you I liked things in small quantities.) 

Then I put the tray in the fridge for a few minutes just to let the chocolate harden again.

There you go, super simple! For larger quantities, just double or triple the recipe, and you don't even need to be exact with the chocolate/nut ratio. You can even change up the nuts for variety, try peanuts, almonds, macadamia nuts whatever! Next time, I even want to make an almond nut cluster with dried cranberries.

I wish we had some of those individual candy liners to spoon the mixture on to but I'm definitely thinking to get some for when we make these as Christmas gifts. I'm determined to give home made chocolate gift boxes this year. 

So that was my chocolate craving. For now. I'll probably have another Chocolate Marshamallow Tart after dinner. 

Puff Pastry Possibilities

I've recently discovered puff pastry, so easy yet so versatile!

I wanted to do something different with leftovers aside from reheating and serving so this is where puff pastry first came into mind. I had some leftover pork belly, mushrooms, and gravy so I sauteed them all together to use as filling for these babies.

Since the pastries were already pre-made, all I had to do was throw these little flat discs of dough into the oven and watch them rise and turn a perfect shade of yummy, flaky, golden brown. I cut out the top and inside as instructed and filled the pastries with my pork filling, which did make for a very yummy lunch.

While putting away the box (I'd only baked half of the pastries) I came across their website, www.puffpastry.com, which lead me to a myriad of interesting and easy recipes. Since I was craving dessert (when am I NOT craving dessert) I checked out their dessert section and came across even more ingenious, easy, CHOCOLATE recipes. 

I really really wanted to make the chocolate ravioli, but I didn't have the right type of puff pastry or the heavy cream on hand. So I chose to make Chocolate Marshmallow Tarts instead as I already had everything in our pantry.

It was super easy, just spoon some chocolate pudding into the puff pastry, and top with marshmallows or marshmallow creme. The recipe calls for broiling to brown/melt the marshmallows but lucky for me, my husband has a creme brulee blow torch. Oh what fun!

There you have it. Super easy dessert in under five minutes (aside from baking the puff pastry.) And it was so filling, I only ate half of it. I don't know how often that happens, probably cause I was still full from lunch in the first place. Puff pastry is actually very filling!

I'll definitely have to try the Chocolate Ravioli recipe next time. Ooh the puff pastry possibilities...

Shutter Happiness

I've been in and out of photo ruts lately, part of the reason why I decided to sell my dslr and shift to a compact camera, the Canon g11 (which I now absolutely love). And yet again, I find myself lacking inspiration and wanting to do more.

So here's another attempt to keep me snapping away. I've started a photo blog on tumblr, and my goal is to snap at least one photo a day. I do love being shutter happy. Please check out Shutter Happiness at http://shutterhappiness.tumblr.com or click on the link on top.

Enjoy!

Dollar Store Stuff

I love shopping at dollar stores for various odds and ends and my husband will attest to that. I think it has a lot to do with my Filipina side that still mentally converts everything into pesos.

I'd recently put up a cork board at my desk so I needed some cute magnets to go with it so we made a quick stop at the dollar store and came out with a few odds and ends:

1. Cute Magnets

2. 8 Pack Disposable Shower Caps (which can double as shoe bags a la Real Simple)

Photo from Real Simple Website

3. Scotch Brown Postal Wrapping Paper (which I'm going to use a gift wrap. Will just jazz it up a bit like in the photo below. I love plain brown paper. There's so much you can do with it!)

Photo from http://www.holidash.com

  All for the grand total of... ta da! Three dollars plus tax! Told you I loved the dollar store.

Doesn't my cork board look great? I love how it brightens up and adders personality to my workspace. Now to find more photos for those magnets...