Bake me a christmas log cake: would you dare?

Somewhere in the woods I discovered...

When I was fifteen years old, I remember receiving an english cookbook for international cuisine as a birthday present from my Auntie. As I glance over this book, the page that really struck me was the one with a Christmas Log Cake. It was the first time I saw it and the log looks so real that it was hard for me to imagine that it was indeed a cake. After our first unforgettable encounter, many Christmasses passed but I never saw it again. I have almost forgotten about this cake until one Christmas when my husband wanting to create a "french christmas ambiance" at our apartment in Tokyo, baked a "bûche de Noël" as he called it. And that happy moment of my first encounter with this log cake came back again.

When I have learned that the December's challenge of Daring Baker's community (hosted by lovely Lis and Yvonne) is to make this Yuletide Cake Log, I was really excited. I have never baked this cake before and now here is my chance to do it. After I received the recipe and all the instructions and decided to make this cake, I knew I was up to a big challenge. Well for so many reasons. First annoying thing was that I had a problem with my oven. I noticed lately that it's not been heating up regularly. I was so worried to ask my husband to help me check-out on this because I was afraid he will notice the big burnt stain I made last week (he he he). Of course I know it's pardonnable but it would be hard for me to ask him to repair too at the same time the electric beater I just broke when I stupidly played with it massing my bread dough. Oops, he he he. I know, people call me names most often; "machine-breaker" or "ms clumsy girl" that's me. I won't deny it but I am really capable of messing things up anywhere specially in the kitchen. Another challenging part of preparing this log cake was finding the ingredients. Remember that the recipe is in english and I need to find their French equivalent in our groceries without forgetting the metric system calculations that I also need to do. Baking this cake log was like a mission "almost" impossible.

A lovely log but not like all of them...

But like all fairy tale stories it ended with a happy note. My neighbor happily lent me her oven and some kitchen utensils, and thank God I found a user friendly online English to Metric converter (I bookmarked it already for future use). So what was the verdict? Presentation and appeal wise the jury were all smitten. My log cake fooled their eyes. They swear it looked like a "real" log which was part of my plan. They were awed too by the "marzipan" mushrooms that adorned my log. As I served my jury with a slice of my cake, my heart was beating so fast. Will my french jury like the "buttercream" frosting? For most often they use "chocolate ganache with very few or no butter at all. Immediately after the first bite my husband, my in-laws and our neighbor gave me their thumb's up sign. But a five approval out of my six jury, I was unsatisfied . But eventually the five year old daughter of our neighbor finished her part. She went towards me, and said "can I have another slice please" with a big smile on her face. It was indeed a landslide success. I was really happy even though my "third encounter" with this cake didn't lasted that long. Well as a proof, I didn't even had a time to take a picture of it sliced but nonetheless I am glad for I am now a Proud Daring Baker!!

for this one is edible.......

and these mushrooms, are they poisonous?
would you dare?




A simple message from my kitchen to yours
A Merry Christmas and A Prosperous New Year to all!!

La Dolche Vita: Tiramisu with nutella and dulche de leche

I can't believe how time flies so fast. Just a couple of days ago, my daughter just turned 4 months old. In few days time it will be Christmas soon. In matter of weeks we need to get used to writing 2008. By tomorrow my husband and I will be celebrating our fifth year wedding anniversary. In a few months time I will be visiting my family in Philippines to whom I havent seen for three years now. I am sure to see many of my nieces and nephew who have grown up few inches more. And my parents with always the same smile but probably with lesser hair or much gray hair since the last time I saw them. At the moment I only feel excitement and gratitude. For this year may have passed so fast before my eyes but filled with so much blessings.

And to enjoy a much sweeter time there is nothing else better than a cold tiramisu. This is my version of the famous Italian dessert express way without raw eggs. I was so tempted to try the Dulche de Leche recipe of Gloria, so I didnt hesitated in adding them up in my recipe.

Tiramisu Nutella with dulche de leche ma façon

about a dozen of ladyfingers, 1 cup of espresso, 60 g of sugar, 1 pint heavy cream, about 8 ounces of Mascarpone cheese, 1 tsp of vanilla extract, some nutella or any chocolate spread, dulche de leche

In a bowl, at medium speed, beat mascarpone with heavy cream and the sugar until soft peaks form. Beat in 1 Tbsp of vanilla, until stiff then put in the fridge. In a small bowl pour the espresso coffee then dip one by one the lady fingers. Arrange this dipped lady finger on your individual verrine. Put a layer of cold mascarpone, then a spoon of chocolate nutella then a spoon of dulche de leche. Repeat this procedure twice, the last layer should be a layer of mascarpone. Keep them covered in fridge for a minimum of 5 hours. Sprinkle it with some cocoa powder before serving.

Count my fingers..

Time is like a Tiramisu, there is never enough!

For my french readers, the french version of this tiramisu recipe is here: http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/verrine-tiramisu-au-nutella-et-confiture-lait

Sunday brunch what's on the menu : Chicken liver & Fig Bruschetta, Rosemary-lardon & Black olive Fougasse

Rosemary, lardon & black olives Fougasse

Last Saturday night I received a phone call from my mom-in law requesting me to come over to their place to help her organize the upcoming Christmas family gathering. Contrary to most norm, my mom-in law and I blend well together. I would say all my french and provençal cuisine inpirations I owe it to her. She hails from a family gourmet, that have secret recipes handed down from generations to generations. Her mom or "Mamie" as we often call her have killer recipes for all the fabulous traditional french desserts and pattisseries. Chez Mamie everything is "fait à la maison". For someone who is passionate in cooking and an amateur gourmet like me, I'm truly lucky to be surrounded by talented people like them. Well, we have finally decided where to organize the two-day celebration. Since there will be fifty guests (adults and children) we scratched the original plan of doing it in family's chalet in the Alpes because it's impossible we fit all together. We decided to do it instead in the family's ancestral farmhouse in the heart of Provence, that has been fully restored and converted into a Hostel. It is a beautiful 4 story house that dates back Middle ages that "gossip says" was owned by the friend of the royalty. The scenery is much impressive during the summer because it is surrounded by an immense plantation of lavander, sunflower and grapes. After hours of discussions we have finally agreed on the menu, what wines and champagne to serve and the desserts that needs to be prepared.

Rosemary's aroma

Bloody red Raddichio

After this tedious discussions on "what to eat and how to serve them" (hey don't you think we are really gourmet) I volunteered to prepare a "brunch" for everybody. I was excited because she has a bigger kitchen and she has a garden full of fruits and herbes that I could use for the menu I planned to prepare.

Chicken liver & Fig Bruschetta

1 baguette sliced
30 g of butter
3 tbsps of honey
3 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of sliced raddicchio
2 ounces of chicken liver
2 tbsps of herbes de provence (thymes and rosemary)
6 fresh figs ( you can use dried fig too)

Beat the butter together with honey. Spread over this mixture over sliced bread and grill until brown. Brown over a skillet pan the chicken liver with olive oil and herbes de provence. Top each toasted bread with raddicio, sliced fig and chicken liver.

Rosemary, lardon (bacon) & black olives Fougasse

Fougasse is a typical Provençal bread eaten with a hearty salad. It is similar to Italian focaccia.

300 g of flour
1 tbsps of yeast
5 g of salt
some water
7 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil
1 cup of lardon or chopped bacon
1 cup of black olives
3 tbsps of fresh rosemary

The night before, prepare the dough. In a bowl mix the flour with salt and add little by little the water. Dissolve the yeast in about 2 tbsps of warm water. Add this diluted yeast on the flour mixture and work on the dough until it becomes elastic. Cover with a humid towel and let the dough rise. After the first rise, you can add some olive oil and work again on the dough. The next day add the rest of the ingredients and form a big ball and flatten it with you palm. Cut 4 incisions on the dough as if its an ear of a wheat. Bake it for 10 minutes at 220° on a pre-heated oven.

Oh there's a mouse in the kitchen!

Chocolate Mousse: A Prelude to Mr. Dhanggit's Birthday Dinner: a story of a surprise disaster

December has always been a busy month in our household. My mom's birthday, then comes mine, then my sister's, then our wedding anniversary and then my husband's birthday. All that in December without counting Christmas and New Year's eve. My husband's birthday comes few days before Christmas and I guess it is always frustrating for him that his special day is more often overshadowed by this upcoming holiday. Imagine the frustration to receive just one gift for two occasions or a birthday celebration that is drowned in the Christmas party celebration. That is how I suppose he sees it when he was a kid. That is the reason why ever since I met my husband, no matter what, I always see to it that this day turns a very special day for him. Unfortunately though, everytime I plan out something big or great for him I feel like my "misfortune" angel is always around to mess things up. There was one time I made some hand-made painted T-shirts for him to show off the artistic "genes" I got from my "papush" (FYI: my dad used to be a well known Comics illustrator and painter) but during the drying part, there comes my cousin who seated on them accidentally. The beautiful creations I painted transformed into abstract drawing that even Picasso will not recognize.
The list is really long but the most memorable one I could think of (for this one is really monumental) dates back year 2000. My husband loves snorkelling and beaches so much that I decided to offer him a one week trip to Boracay Island . I have plenty of friends working in the tourism industry so this task was never hard for me. I decided to take a ferry boat for both of us (that is I think about 18 hours of travelling time from Manila) over airplane so that we could profit of a slow phase travelling. I already planified everything in my head: we will have breakfast at the beachside, full day snorkelling and swimming and a romantic dinner at night. I thought, I will surprise him by waking him up with a birthday cake on my hand on his birthday. That would be a lovely day to start all those activities. Since I was really busy with all these plus Christmas preparations I thought I better call up my bestfriend to help me out on this. It's not like she is doing me a favor for the first time for we have been complice so many times already. Let say she is just returning back the favor. I called her up to ask her to buy me a cake. Flavor is not important but it should be a cake that's strong enough to survive our travelling time plus mercury high temperature. I know I was being demanding but she eagerly accepted it. I told her before I put down the phone, anything "except choco-mousse cake". And she replied, "no problem". The next day she was waiting for us 8am at the Pier with the cakebox hidden in a plastic bag. She smiled and told me "mission accomplished". I was so happy and so excited for this trip that I organized. I don't know why in the 18 hours of travelling in the ferry I never even peeped into that cake box that my friend gave me. I hid it immediately because I want everything to be a "surprise". Everything went as planned. We arrived late at night in the island, we checked-in at our resort and slept because we were really tired. The next day, I barely slept. I was really excited I was already up by 5 am. I was so eager to do my "surprise happy birthday stint" for my darling. So I took out immediately the cake box from the plastic bag hidden in the mini fridge and opened it. Much to my dismay, there was nothing in the box but a sort of a chocolate liquid. That doesn't look appetizing at all but looks like more of a (pardon my word) "vomit. I cried but I couldn't make it loud for I don't want to wake him up. But my emotions are much stronger and I finally blurted into tears. Evidently, this woke up my husband. When he realised the reason why I was crying, he laugh so hard and find the entire situation funny and cute. He said it wasn't that important what matters for him is me and that we are together everything else is just a garnishing...."wow" I was really touched. I was only able to get in touch with my friend after our one week trip because it was still hard to get a signal back then. She was so excited and asked me how did it went. I asked her why on earth of all the cake that existed she bought me a "choco-mousse cake". You know what she told me. She said "I forgot all the instructions you gave me but I clearly remember choco-mousse cake, its the only thing I remember.." In case you are wondering we are still best of friends, I just dont ask her to buy me cake anymore.

And did I mention that there was a typhoon too in the island during our vacation.. As my husband's birthday approaches I'm keeping my fingers cross.

Chocolate Mousse

200 g of Dark chocolate 3 large eggs separated white from yolk 10 g of unsalted butter 1 cup cold heavy cream 2 tbps of sugar Whip the cream then put in the fridge. Melt the chocolate with the butter in bain marie, stirring constantly until it smoothen. Cut the fire, beat the egg whites then add the sugar and continue beating until they are foamy gently until its foamy. Add sugar and continue beating. Add the yolks in the chocolate mixture. Fold in the whipped cream in the chocolate-yolk mixture. Gently incorporate the beaten egg whites. Put in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours.

For my french readers, you can find the french version of this mousse au chocolat recipe here:
http://www.lesfoodies.com/hilda/recette/mousse-au-chocolat

Chocolate Honey Spice Cake: Mardigras and Carnival of goodies

It has always been my dream to move my hips and to dance the "samba" in the grand carnival of Rio in Brazil. But I never had the opportunity. For getting reservations has always been arduous, be it for hotel or airplane tickets during this period. The only carnivals I was lucky enough to experience was the famous Sinulog Festival of Cebu in Philippines and the Tenjin Matsuri of Osaka in Japan. The non-stop dancing on the street, the festive mood and people's jolly faces are truly intoxicating. I am not really of a dancer but it is the jubilant ambiance of any Mardigras that brings me to seventh heaven. Funny or not, I feel the same ecstasy come Christmas. Chocolates and candied fruits are the stars of the event. Their ordinary look metamorphose into something grandiose exclusive for this occasion. The table is suddenly transformed into colorful streets of Rio and the parade of the yummy goodies begins.

Let me start with my Chocolate Honey Spice Cake nibblets garnished with "orange confit"



Followed by my home-made candied organic oranges (orange confit)



and how a simple chocolate bar could be transformed into something fantastic like this....



Dark Chocolate bar heavy laden with nuts and candied oranges



Well, all we need now is just a cup of hot tea and off we go with our "samba" mood!


Chocolate Honey Spice Cake
250 g of flour, 125 g of honey, 125 g of sugar, 1 tsp of four spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg,clove), 5 tbsp of milk, 5 tbsp of water, 2 tbsp of cacao, 1 tsp of baking powder, some salt and 30 g of butter

Warm up the milk with the water and dissolve the sugar and honey. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, cacao, salt and spices. Mix little by littly the milk-honey-sugar mixture. Blend well. Butter a baking dish and cook slowly for 1 hour over 180 degrees. Once cook you can make the shape you want with the help of cookie cutter. You can garnish it with chocolate ganache and some orange confite.

Orange confit
2 organically grown oranges, 300 g of sugar, 1 cup of water

Take off gently the orange peel with the help of a sharp knife. Blanch for two minutes in a boiling water the orange peel. Do this operation about two times. Slice diagonally the oranges and start preparing the syrup. In a casserolle, mix the sugar with the water and let it boil. Add all the sliced oranges and boil for 5 minutes. Let it macerate on this syrup for 24 hours in the fridge. The next day strain the oranges and let it dry completely.

Dark Chocolate Bar

200 g of chocolate bar, 2 tbps of mixed chopped nuts (pistachio, hazelnuts and almonds), 2 tbsp of orange confit

Melt the chocolate in bain marie and pour it over a chocolate bar mold. Garnish it with the nuts and candied oranges. Let it harden.

Tropical Santa cookies: Tropical winter delights..

Finally I'm back! After a "short" chilly escapade in Alpes for my birthday celebration I was lucky enough to go back home without any broken or twisted ankle. Snowboarding is not really my cup of coffee but the sensation it gives me everytime I'm sliding and I'm on air is really exceptional. I think I smashed my face twice on the fluffy ground but I was happy, I feel like I'm child again. I had so much fun and energy that I felt the need to release them in the kitchen. With the meager ingredients that I found in the kitchen and with the "frigorifique" scenery we had, I thought why not tropical winter delights?

So here are my contributions to Eat Christmas Cookie Event and Another Bite of Dessert Blog Party

Tropical Santa Cookies

Almond-ginger-lime cookies with mango frosting and coconut flakes

100 g of butter, half a cup of sugar, 1 cup of almond powder, 1 egg, 1 cup of flour, 1 tsp of ginger powder, zeste of 1 lime, juice of 1 lime

for decoration:
half a cup of mango purée, 2 egg yolks, 40 g of sugar, 25 cl of milk, 2 tsp of cornstarch, 4 egg whites, 40 g of sugar icing

3 tbsp of dessicated coconut, smarties candies, candied watermelon for the mouth

Directions: Cream butter, sugar, almonds and egg. Add the flour and the rest of ingredients. Mix well and form the shape desired. Bake at 175 degrees for 17 to 20 minutes. Decorate once the cookies are cold. For the mango custard creme, beat the yolk with the purée and sugar. Mix little by little the warm milk. Add the cornstarch and cook slowly over medium fire in a casserole until it thickens. Beat the egg whites until it becomes stiff. Add the sugar and continue to beat. Cover the cookies with the white egg-sugar mixture and place the smarties as the eyes, nose and lips of Santa Clause. The mango creme becomes the santa's hat and the coconut flakes as his beard.

Tropical Sweet Miniatures
Exotic fruit tart with mango creme custard

for the pastry dough: 200 g of flour, 100 g of butter, 100 g of sugar, 1 egg yolk

Mix all the ingredients and form a ball. Butter tarlettes baking dishes and unroll the pastry. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.

for the mango creme custard: 1 cup of mango purée, 4 egg yolks, 60 g of sugar, 1 tsp of vanilla, 50 cl of milk

Cream the egg yolks with sugar and mango. Add the vanilla. Mix little by little warm milk. Put back in the casserole and cook over medium fire until it thickens. Pour the mango creme custard over the tart and decorate it with cut fresh exotique fruits.

Red Pomegranate Lassi

1 red pomegranate, 4 tbsp of honey, 150 g of creamy yoghurt

In an electric blender mix all the ingredients.

Matcha Mint Cupcake: I "mint" it, this is how it happened!

Thirty years ago (and +) on this very day when Philippines was still under a dictatorship, a woman who was on her 9th month pregnancy panicked when her water bag broke at 12 midnight. For it was only a couple of months ago when Marshall Law was enforced and curfew hour was set among citizens. Anyone caught defying this law will surely be put in jail. His husband although aware of this, didn't had any second thought in carrying her wife and off they go. The entire street was totally dark and empty. He was standing there desperately with her wife when all of a sudden there was a jeepney coming towards them. The driver was on his way home trying to beat the fixed curfew hour too but could not resist at the sight of a pregnant woman suffering. He proposed to drive them to the nearest hospital (around 30 kilometers away). That very same night I had my three heroes: my mom for her courage, my dad for being there and that "jeepney driver". Yup, today is my birthday!

Nothing beats a good cupcake on special day like this. And so, here is my entry for the Cupcake Hero's December edition that demands for mint as an ingredient: Matcha & Mint Fairy Cake with Red Fruits and Royal Icing .
Here are the ingredients:
1 tsp of green tea "matcha", 1 tsp of dried mint leaves, 1 tsp of dried orange and lemon peel, 60 g of sugar, 120 g of flour, half a tsp of baking powder, 1 egg, 50 g of butter, 1/4 cup of milk, 80 g of red fruits

and for the royal icing frost: 2 large egg whites, 2 tsp of lemon juice, 200 g of icing sugar
In an electric blender mix up the green tea, the mint leaves and the dried citrus peel. In a bowl mixed up all the ingredients and bake in cupcake papers for 20 minutes at 180 degrees. The top it up with royal icing frosting.

Gone nuts: Meme, & my new kitchen

I have been out lately and almost gone "nuts" with all the prep for the upcoming holidays. You might have noticed too my new kitchen. I really wanted to renovate into something fresh and yet classique mine. And so I thought better start it at least virtually. And with this new kitchen I thought it would be the best time to the "meme" I have been tagged to give you a "peep" about the real person behind this blog. Anyways, thankd you for tagging me twice Susan of Well Seasoned Cook and Oggi of I can do that for this meme.

(Ps. I will be using the photo above for this month's Click Photo Event on the theme Nuts.)


What were you cooking/baking 10 years ago?
Ten years ago we were based In Tokyo, so I was basically discovering, cooking and eating lots of Japanese food. Basically eating with chopsticks everyday. Well not everyday most of the time.

What were you cooking/baking one year ago?
Last year I discovered an avant-gardiste french chef "Thierry Marx". Since then on I wanted to adopt his style of cooking: lots of mix and match of flavor and very creative way of presenting them. But so far I still need a lot to learn.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Gummybears (my all time favorite)
2. Pop-corn caramel ( I share it with my husband. But he is so scared to eat with me, coz I eat like machine gun for him..hehehe)
3. Marshmallows (we love to barbeque it)
4. Salty Japanese snacks (with sesame, soy sauce,spices, etc)
5. Pistachio nuts

Five recipes you know by heart:

1. Ratatouille (First recipe I've learn from my husband)
2. Quiche Lorraine (Second Recipe he thought me)
3. Tarte tatin (This I 've learn myself)
4. Chicken teriyaki (I learn from the Japanese cooking shows)
5. Menudo (I learn from my Mom)

Five culinary luxuries you would indulge in if you were a millionaire:

1. Spend a lot of money in having a very big and fully equipped kitchen that has a perfect view of a garden with a swimming pool. So in case of emergency it would be easy to plunge into the pool.
2. Travel once a week to different countries to collect spices and other culinary utensils.
3. Build a big "personal" library close to my kitchen that will gather all the best cooking book of all times. Written in all languages.
4. Have a wine cellar that will house more than 5000 bottles of wine.
5. To have a personal "all-around" assistant in my kitchen. I need somebody to take care all of these don't I?

Five foods you love to cook/bake:

1. Ratatouille: I always cook, let say once a week. Specially during summer when zucchini, tomatoes and eggplants are at season
2. Cakes: I use different kinds of fruits and nuts. I bake 3 times a week.
3. Crepe: very easy to make and I never go wrong. I prepare this when I run out of time to cook something or when receiving guests at home. I often organise "crepe party".
4. Anything that has coconut milk. I love to experiment dishes using coconut milk: like risotto with cream of coconut or creme brulée purely with coco milk.
5. Anything with chocolate

Five foods you cannot/will not eat: (I know Susan would love to know my answer)
1. Balut: just click here to know.
2. Japanese Natto: these are fermented soy beans that Japanese love to eat in the morning.
3. Sea weeds: like Nori (the one we use to wrap sushi for example). I dont like the smell.
4. The tentacles of big octopus


Five favorite culinary toys:
Unfortunately, I don't have any.

Five dishes on your "last meal" menu:
1. Jambon Serrano with a slice of pear and parmesan cheese over a cereal bread.
2. Fresh pasta with white sauce of sautéed gambas drizzled with wine.
3. Roasted stuffed chicken.
4. Roasted apples over a slice of honey spice cake and vanilla ice cream
5. Cheesecake brownies.

Five happy food memories:
1. The first dinner date ever prepared by my husband. (Ratatouille, roasted chicken rosemary and creme puffs)

2. The best "peking duck" and "dimsum" I've ever eaten in my life during our trip to China in a restaurant really hidded. The restaurant was so booked that they made us eat in the kitchen. Since we were foreigner they were so happy to tour us around that big house converted into a restaurant.
3. The best "noodle soup" I've eaten in my life in floating market in Thailand.
4. The best "gellatto" in the world are in San Giminiano Italy.
5. All the kitchen disasters of my father and my sister. My sister is so clumsy in the kitchen she has plenty but just to give you idea. Just listen to this: an asian that eats rice 3 times a day forget to put water when she cooked the rice. He hehehe. My father is good cook but loves to experiment. Sometimes he has mistaken flour for sugar or vinegar for some kerosene. He hehe but he is good cook when he is not in a hurry.

Well I am passing this meme off to: Dessie of Maybahay, Cynthia of Taste like home, Gloria of Canela's Kitchen, K& S of Our Adventures of Japan , Kevin of Closet Cooking, Ruy of Married life, Asha of Aroma . But none of them should feel obligated to participate. And if anyone else wants in on this, have at it.

Banana Chocolate Crepe: When Romeo Proposed to Juliet: the art of making Banana Crepe with Chocolate Sauce

Marriage Proposal Blog Carnival

(This is based on a true story. Characters and names where changed to protect the shy blogger)

Before the beginning

It was during the late summer of 1994 when Juliet and her classmates were invited (punished) by their university professor at his place to help correct some school papers piled-up in his desk. His place was located in the suburb outside Manila, a lovely place with lots of tall fruit trees. They were all captivated by a giant mango tree heavy laden with fruits and everybody decided to gather instead. It was at this moment that Juliet saw an old man seated close to the tree. He took the hand of Juliet and started reading her palm. And these were his words: "you will need to travel a thousand miles to meet your prince charming." Of course, everybody burst with laughter.

Mix two eggs, with 200 g of flour, half a liter of milk, a liitle bit of salt, 1tbsp of sugar and 20 g of melted butter. Fry them on a non stck pan.

The Beginning

Many years have passed since that summer. Juliet have had quite some relationships in the past but decided this time to focus on her career instead after the last tumultous relationship she had two years ago. When Juliet discovered she was awarded a scholarship grant to Osaka, it was a mixed emotion. She was excited but was scared at the same time for it it was her first time to go really far from her family. When she received her plane ticket to travel it was also during the summer.

In a pan caramelise some bananas with butter and brown sugar. Fold in this mixture inside each crepe.

The Encounter

There were so many foreign students gathered at the hall. For fear of uttering words in Japanese, Juliet stick only with some acquintances she made earlier. From among the crowd her attention was caught by nice looking backpack in red and blue color. Looks like a giant sneakers with a magnificent shoelace, she thought. It was Romeo's. But their first real encounter was not really there. It was when all the french students invited Juliet and her german friend to stroll around the city in bike. Juliet panicked, she doesn't know how to bike for his strict father never allowed her to learn when she was a kid. But Romeo like a galant soldier didn't think twice to offer her a lift. And that was the real beginning of their friendship.

Cover it with melted dark chocolate mixed with some creme fraiche.

The Day She Said I Do

Romeo & Juliet despite their racial differences (he is white, she is brown) have plenty of things in common that binds their relationship: that is their love and passion for travelling & Japan. Their love for each other have survived long distance and cultural differences crisis. Juliet never imagined that summer night promenade with Romeo in Odaiba will be the day she said "I do". After strolling for a while, he invited her to sit on the beach sand. Romeo took her hand and murmured these lovely words.."veux-tu m'epouser [1] ?".. And Juliet replied; "huh?? what?? I don't understand." Luckily though she noticed the diamond ring he was holding and she replied, "oo, payag ako [2]." He didn't understand her reply but they kissed each other.

[1] Will you marry me (in french)
[2] Yes I do (in Tagalog)

And that is the making of our Banana Crepe with Chocolate Sauce "story". I guess I don't need to explain why.

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Pear Clafoutis: Weekend Snapshot: Say it with flowers

Pear Clafoutis enhanced with Rose Petal Infusion

We have a fine weather today! And as always dining becomes triple times pleasant on weather like this. As I savour the last bite of the Pear Clafoutis enhanced with Rose petal infusion that I made for our dessert, I just thought of how men and flowers could be alike in so many ways..

Men like flowers could sometimes be a loner

Men like flowers could sometimes prefer to live close to another.....

Men like flowers could sometimes be down to earth...

Men like flower prefer to follow a leader....

Men like flowers could blossom too even in a rocky situation......

and men like flowers we are all beautiful in our own special ways

And for the recipe of Pear Clafoutis enhanced with Rose petal Infusion
You will be needing: 2 eggs, 80 g of flour, 80 g of butter, 120 g of sugar, 4 tbs of milk,5 pieces of pear, 1 tsp of Rose petal infusion, half a liter of water

In a bowl beat eggs with sugar and melted butter. Continue beating until it becomes creamy. Add the flour and the milk. Cover it and keep in fridge. Peel the pear, quarter it and take off the core part. Infused the rose petal infusion in half a liter of water and let the pear stand in this infusion for an hour. Grease a baking pan. Arrange the pear and pour over the cake mixture. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees.
and now that's the rest of it...