Celebrating Birthdays, Friendship and More!

Volcano cake for Lance's 8th Birthday

Again, busy as a bee mode! After recovering from my illness, I had this drive to try new recipes. I had to make up for my cranky mood the past few weeks. I was pumped up and tried Beef Bulgogi and Crispy Pork Belly with Asian Five Spice. Hubby made yummy Beef Teriyaki as well. Finally tried making egg tarts too as taught by my friend Jocelyn.

the marinade

marinating the beef

Beef Bulgogi

spicing up the pork belly

fried to perfection

best Beef Teriyaki ever!

egg tarts

Aside from the new recipes, our week was completed with our old favorites. Kare-Kare, Monggo with Pechay, Imbaliktad and Sweet Pork Adobo.

Kare-Kare: Pork Hocks & Beef  Stew in peanut based sauce

Green Mung beans with Bokchoy

Beef Stir fry in Vinegar

Sweet Pork Adobo

It was also a week of belated birthday celebrations. We held Lance's 8th birthday at home. I made my favorite recipes for Pancit Canton, Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken and I decided last minute (again!) to make a birthday cake. I settled for a Volcano cake since I am no great baker and volcanoes don't have to be pretty at all. The whole family helped in doing the cake and it turned out volcano like I think. We had hotdogs, pizza, chips and popcorn for the kids.

Happy 8th Birthday Lance!

toppings for the pancit

looks plain but yummy with my not so secret ingredients :)

my new favorite--baked sweet and sour chicken

Lastly but not the least, me and my good friend Meanne's belated birthday party!!! It was a night of delicious food, laughs, friendship and great company. For a second, I thought it was our other friend Ate fe's birthday too! Her loud voice and jolly mood can sure brighten up anyone's day hehe! Thank you Meanne for hosting a great party, loved the Bibingka, Roast Chicken, Squid, Shrimps etc. Everything was sooo good!

a table full of nothing but delicious food!

BURP! :D

My Favorite Month with Our Favorite Food

Here are some yummy goodness on our table for the month of January. Some oldies but goodies and a few experiments along the way.

First dish is Beef Mechado, it is simply beef stew cooked in tomato sauce. In my case, I used canned tomatoes, bay leaf, soy sauce, lemon juice and one secret ingredient :)

Mechado

Next is pork hocks cooked in vinegar and soy sauce. To make it kinda melt in your mouth, I transferred it to the slow cooker after an hour of boiling in the pot. Yummy with fish sauce of course!

Paksiw na Pata

Good thing I saw a bag of dried taro leaves at the Asian supermarket. I have been craving for Laing (taro leaves cooked in coconut milk) and fried fish. Absolutely yummy!

Laing

fried galunggong

It was Lance's 8th birthday on the 15th. I decided to make marble cupcakes for my boy to bring to school. I didn't get to taste them but he said they are more delicious than the cupcakes his classmate brought the next day haha!

Lance's birthday cupcakes

My hubby was pestering me the other day to taste the bleu cheese. I couldn't since I couldn't get past the smell. I don't think he liked it that much so he asked me to find another use for the cheese so I googled recipes. Found one, tweaked the recipe and it turned out soooo GOOD!

chicken breast wrapped in bacon stuffed with bleu cheese and bacon bits

Lastly, I tried this Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken recipe. This is my surprise for hubby since he did put up a lot this weekend. I hope he likes it, it really looks good and it smells divine as well.

baked sweet and sour chicken

Hopefully I will feel a lot better in the next days or so. I can't wait to start cooking both new and old recipes again! :D

♪♫♪ Happy Birthday to Me ♪♫♪

thanks dad and kids for my birthday breakfast :)

My 34th birthday came and went. Unfortunately, I was too sick to enjoy it. The moment I woke up I knew I had to go to the emergency room. I couldn't deal with the pain and swelling anymore and I just want some antibiotics ASAP. Of course a trip to the ER is far from being a wonderful experience, the waiting part is always terrible but I got my antibiotics anyway.

I have never cared how I celebrate my birthday, with or without a celebration is no big deal to me. To be honest, I feel like it is just any normal day. A sign I think, that my youth has drifted away. Gone are the days that I look forward to this special day. Wow, I feel OLD!

Thank goodness for the kids' birthdays though. I share their excitement which helps me feel YOUNG again! I am only 34, too young for midlife crisis, right? I feel like I'm going through something haha! I blame my illness, the CULPRIT! I don't get sick often, so to be sick at this time of the year really really set me off.

Thanks to hubby for putting up with my crankiness and for making it special. Thank you kids for the birthday cheer. Thank you friends and family who remembered ♥♥♥

Long Weekend 2012

Hubby just had his birthday a few days ago and it seemed like my own. We spent it quietly, no party and just some family time, watched Avengers, window shopped, shopped (for real) and slept haha! We should have gone on a road trip but we weren't able to plan the long weekend properly, blame it to laziness or being preoccupied with lotsa stuff lately, both hubby and I.

Happy Birthday B!

Post birthday lunch Sizzling pork belly

Still, it was an amazing weekend, nothing beats some family time and some retail therapy. We got some sizzling plates, silicone bakeware, etc. So hubby's birthday dinner was yummy sizzling steak!

silicone molds for my puto

bought cheap juice .07/can

I gave hubby a birthday gift, birthday gifts I mean and used coupons of course :D

my gifts to hubby: TEN Febreze car clips :)

Post Bday Weekend

1st stop: We had brunch at Burger King, ate the usual Whopper, poutine for Lance and the kid's meal along with the toys of course.
2nd stop: The kids went sledding at Sugar Bowl. I went down once but after seeing an injured adult, I didn't feel like sledding again, instead, I focused more on the kids giving them nonstop instructions to hold on tightly to their sleds.

3rd stop: The kids went golfing!
4th stop: The movies! We finally watched a movie as a whole family for the first time ever.
5th stop: Walmart for some window shopping but ended up buying a few things. Lance and his Bakugan toys, Lei's shopping cart, my kitchen stuff, new lamp, etc. and we managed to get a free family portrait!
Last stop: HOME! Made a super fast 5 spice pork stir fry served over eggplants and jasmine rice.

This was indeed a super fun weekend spent with my loved ones. Started with some fast food and ended with a home cooked meal.

Thank--FULL!

A recap of the past week:

October 31, the kids had their first trick or treat experience. They had so much fun and couldn't get over how much fun Halloween was. After Halloween, almost all the treats were 50% off not to mention discounts on the costumes and decorations as well. I guess there goes the trick? or is that the treat?

November 1, we got our most awaited and important document!!! Yahooo!

November 3, it's Leila's 3rd birthday!!! It was also Lance's special day in school so Lei spent the afternoon in school playing, playing and playing! I bought cupcakes, hot dogs and marshmallows. Her party wasn't until Friday so we just had to greet her until Friday.

November 5, PARTY DAY!!! It was Lei's 3rd birthday party and Baby Rain's 1st month. I cooked spaghetti, BBQ, fried chicken, crispy pata, inihaw na bangus. There was also kare-kare, dinuguan, papaitan, shanghai and pancit prepared by Milet and Arni. There were 3 kinds of cakes, cassava and brownies. Great party even without alcohol!

November 6, we woke up late around 11am, ate some leftovers and decided to go to Calgary to visit the Lego store. Lance was so excited since he is crazy about Lego Star Wars. Sensing that this trip was for Lance, Lei said, "Happy Birthday Kuya!" He just picked out a couple of Lego Star Wars characters and a key chain for Daddy.

Ended the week by putting up the Christmas tree and wrapping presents. After the Halloween and birthday, now they can't wait for Christmas!