Unsolicited Thoughts

The New Starbucks Logo

2011-03-15T00:13:00.000-07:00

The new logo has been rolled out on March 8, 2011 to mark Starbucks' 40th anniversary. What a nice way to celebrate, huh? ;-)

Actually, it's been months since I first heard about this change but I never really paid much attention until yesterday (6 days after! where have I been?! darn!) when I got my cup of cappuccino that I noticed the new look of the Siren without the words "Starbucks Coffee" around it. Personally, it lacks the appeal of its predecessor and looks weak. If they want to symbolize "freedom" and "flexibility" to think beyond coffee, I guess the new logo failed to project that image. Oh well, this is just my 2 cents worth of opinion and I hope I was wrong.

Anyway, they say life begins at 40. With that said, here's to a good "start", may you be more inspired for the next 40 years... and beyond! :-)

Cheesecake Bars

2011-03-13T21:03:00.000-07:00

Cheesecake. Plain. No toppings. Blame it to my epidural, haha! Seriously, wanna know why it's plain? Here goes... we were in Trinoma last Saturday. We (Gie, me, and Icon) were having snacks at Jollibee while Sai was buying some grocery stuff to save time. Knowing how forgetful Sai can get when it comes to buying baking ingredients (yeah, selective amnesia! just kidding, baby *winks*), I told him to go about his shopping and I'll just text him what I needed for my cheesecake. Well, based on the previous cheesecake I baked, I thought of needing some butter, sour cream, and graham crust (in lieu of oreo cookies). I still have cream cheese at home and I'm sure the other ingredients are available in my mom's grocery cabinet. But it never occurred to me that I'd be needing some toppings this time, waaaah! Hence, instead of the strawberry cheesecake that I originally planned to make, with a bit of tweaking and some alibis, I came up with something different and it would be more fitting to call it "cheesecake bars" ;-)

thicker crust + thinner cheesecake = cheesecake bars...

Thanks for the help of my sous chef slash budding photographer, Gie! ;-)

Sweet Serendipity

2011-03-08T21:47:00.000-08:00

Last Monday, while I was at Mini Stop to get a bottle of water for lunch, I passed by the ice cream chest freezer and something caught my eye -- Reese's flavored ice cream! One of my favorite chocolates now in ice cream form! Can you imagine my delight upon seeing this? It was serendipity indeed... and a sweet one at that ;-)

I wonder how long this has been in the market. I hope (and I wish) this is not just a limited edition! No, please?! =P

Cheesecake {Take 2}

2011-02-20T23:20:00.000-08:00

A couple of weeks ago I baked an oreo cheesecake. I got the recipe from the official website of Nabisco (makers of Oreo!) which got me thinking (hoping, actually) that this must be good. Fortunately, as expected, the taste was awesome but the look was awful!

Hey, this was just my second attempt on {baked} cheesecake so bear with me *winks* Anyway, unlike this oreo cheesecake, the first cheesecake I baked -- the blueberry cheesecake that I never bothered to blog about, looked good but tasted more like an egg pie, haha!

So see, even if my oreo cheesecake was overbaked, it was definitely an improvement c",) 'til my next cheesecake experiment...

Cake Adventure #5

2011-01-21T01:01:00.000-08:00

Had it not been due to a request from one of our officemates to get another mango-flavored cake, I wouldn't be able to try this oh-so-yummy mango charlotte from Sweet Bella which I like a LOT better than the mango torte! To think that I enjoyed every bit of the latter, can you just imagine how delicious this one is? ;-)

*Photo "snatched" from Sweet Bella site.

Cookies For Sale

2011-01-04T22:57:00.000-08:00

Nah! Just kidding =P

Aside from playing with Icon and eating every now and then, these cookies kept my hands full last Saturday {January 1}. Actually, these are the culprit why I wasn't able to reply right away to all those who greeted me that day, sorry guys!

I've been whipping and beating and baking every chance I got since 10 in the morning. And these are the results...

From upper left quadrant, clockwise: mocha chip cookies, raisin-oats cookies, choco-mint cookies, and chocolate chip cookies.

Cookies, anyone? c",)

apple.convertIntoPie();

2011-01-02T23:53:00.000-08:00

Got some leftover "media noche" fruits...

... and turned some of the apples into apple pie! Sadly, the crust I made was too thin and it cracked easily. I never thought making pie crust was that hard, haha!

Anyway, I wanted to bake some banana bread too but got no more time... had to leave for Manila already *sigh*

Cake Adventure #4

2010-12-27T23:55:00.000-08:00

Strawberry cake -- our third cake in a row from Dulcelin Gourmet. This chiffon cake is lavishly wrapped in whipped cream and generously topped with strawberries. I could have enjoyed this cake much better had I not been under the weather which greatly affected my sense of taste :-(

Cake Adventure #3

2010-12-15T02:51:00.000-08:00

This callebaut chocolate ganache cake -- moist chocolate cake with crunchy chocolate mousse filling, wrapped in premium belgian chocolate icing and topped with slivered almonds -- definitely made it to my top 3 most favorite chocolate cakes! The other 2 were: kilaueia (by Joy San Gabriel) and chocolate cake (from Starbucks). For those chocolate cake lovers out there, this one is a must-try!

Oh by the way, this yummy-licious cake is another great find from Dulcelin Gourmet!

Sorry for the blurred picture! My ageing phone failed once more to give justice to this wonderful creation :-(

Cake Adventure #2

2010-12-08T01:07:00.000-08:00

This afternoon, we sampled another delish cake -- the mango torte! I'll just quote DCF's testimonial about this cake as I can't find the right words to describe it. This mango torte is...

"a study in perfect contrasts: set on a cashew-based nougatine, there are two alternating layers of cream then crust then an overlay of golden mango balls. Smooth then crunchy, hard then soft. It’s a dessert that’s difficult to get tired of."

This is one of the best selling cakes from Dulcelin Gourmet c",)

Cake Adventure

2010-12-03T01:59:00.000-08:00

I was glad to know that there are many of us in the office who love cakes! Last week, one of my officemates asked me if I wanted to join them in their cake adventure -- sampling different cakes, that is! I quickly said "yes!" without batting an eyelash, haha! =P

And to kickoff this endeavor, we ordered black velvet cake from Cafe Mary Grace. I know the picture above doesn't look appetizing at all but believe me, it was heavenly! This delectable three-layered chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting was surely a hit!

New Reads

2010-12-03T01:50:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to collect Mitch Albom's books but didn't get a chance until just this afternoon after I realized what the heck is keeping me from doing so? Haha! =P

Anyway, I bought 2 of his best sellers: tuesdays with morrie and the five people you meet in heaven. Can't wait to start flipping through the pages...

Paseo Uno

2010-11-29T21:57:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2010. Splurging and "pigging out" in hotel restaurants has been our yearly tradition. It all started in 2005 at Makati Shangri-La's Circles Event Cafe. From a small group of 6, we have grown into a bunch of 15 this year! This time, we had our annual indulgence at Paseo Uno in Mandarin Oriental.

The place was cozy. It has lots of partitions that give us (diners) a sense of partial secludedness which I think is ideal for intimate rendevous. But for the price I paid, I was a bit disappointed to see only a handful of food selections. Then I thought this must be quality over quantity.

And so the quest for my "zen" begun...

I started with the appetizer. I got a piece of cracker and a small portion of blue cheese, salami, mixed veggies with ranch dressing, and chicken teriyaki salad. I must say that the last one was great! I also enjoyed my cream of cauliflower soup. Meanwhile, there was a big chunk of focaccia bread with butter that was served to us which also tasted good.

For my main course, I gathered small servings of steamed lapu-lapu with white wine sauce, mahi-mahi with lemon capers, lamb chop with dijon mustard and mint jelly, blue marlin with cherry tomato, tempura, and ribeye steak with red wine sauce. I liked both the steamed lapu-lapu and blue marlin a lot but it was the ribeye steak that made my day! And with the amount of steak that Sai had, I think we've made a good deal for our money, haha! Anyway, the rest were just so-so!

Anyhow, I was hoping to find my zen yet in the dessert station! From a sea of fancy looking sweets, I managed to pick a few -- blueberry cheesecake (which I think should be renamed since it's not made of cheesecake but chiffon instead!), strawberry jelly (a so-so!), fruit provloda (yet another so-so) and green tea ice cream with chocolate sauce (if not for the chocolate sauce, I would have not enjoyed this one, you could hardly taste the green tea flavor!). Nonetheless, I guess Sai enjoyed his ice cream duo (banana caramel & honey) that he had to go for second serving!

By the way, complimentary tea and brewed coffee were available upon request.

Dinner buffet starts at 6:30 until 10:30 with rates as follow:

Sunday - Thursday: PhP1600 (net)
Friday - Saturday: PhP1990 (net)

Now, for my verdict. Was there indeed a quality over quantity rationale behind its steep price? Uhm, if for the ribeye steak alone, I would say "yes". So there you go, just read between the lines! ;-)

To my friends, see you all in our next hotel-food-trip destination... what about Seven Corners for 2011?

Starbucks Planner 2011

2010-11-22T20:43:00.000-08:00

It's that time of the year once again when coffee lovers, like me, find an excuse to visit Starbucks every so often. The red cups are back! The Starbucks Christmas traditions promo started last November 3, 2010 where one has to accumulate a total of seventeen (17) stickers in order to get a limited edition Starbucks 2011 planner. There are 3 different cover designs to choose from: cool clean metallic silver, dark red velvet fabric, and stained dark wood.

After having my daily dose of Starbucks coffee for the last 2 weeks, I finally completed the required number of stickers and got my planner last Saturday, November 20. I chose the silver one...

On to my second planner... Cheers! c",)

One Fine Day

2010-11-07T22:25:00.000-08:00

November 8, 2010. Today is my first day at my new job. I was given a temporary workstation so I could start with the "familiarization" process. So far, I have nothing much to do aside from reading company policies and procedures (that's why I had the chance to post this blog, hehe!).

my bare workstation

view from my table at starbucks

(my kind of weather -- "gloomy"... after the rain, hehe!)

turkey-chicken-ham with raspberry dressing (my latest addiction!) and hot praline mocha for lunch

Anyway, here's looking forward to a better life -- good career, new friends, and most importantly more time with my family c",)

Cheers!

Chocolate Melted Cashew Brownie

2010-10-26T21:02:00.000-07:00

Here's another experiment...

Next time, I'll bake this brownie with less sugar and a little bit more nuts. And I'll make sure to put smaller amount of the batter in each pan for better consistency and texture c",)

Animo La Salle

2010-10-26T20:46:00.000-07:00

October 23, 2010 - I finally got my DLSU centennial commemorative {s}watch...

For other designs, please click here.

A Small Treat For A Big Deed

2010-10-05T21:07:00.000-07:00

Before going home last night, I dropped by at Starbucks, Glorietta to grab a quick dinner. They have new additions in their menu - salads and sandwiches! I decided to try their pesto pasta salad with roasted veggies and I definitely liked it! I paired it with my favorite dark mocha frap... yummy!

It's actually a small "treat" for finally taking a big feat! Leaving CSPI {again}, which has been my second home for the longest time, is one of the toughest decisions I had ever made. But things are different now that I'm already a mom. My priorities have shifted. I had to take that opportunity or forever be confined in my comfort zone.

To my friends in CSPI, I guess this is not goodbye... 'til we meet again c",)

On a lighter note, I am looking forward to working at PointWest and taking on a new role that comes with greater and more serious responsibilities. I'm also excited to making new friends. I hope I can also call it "home" c",)

Cookies (Again)

2010-09-28T04:26:00.000-07:00

We stayed in Bulacan last weekend which meant I had the opportunity to beat, whip, and bake!

I tried a new recipe which I'd be naming "dark mocha cookies". I liked it but I guess I can make it much better next time -- I'll try to use a different brand of coffee, put lesser baking soda, and make sure not to add salt when using salted butter instead of unsalted one which the recipe calls for, haha!

Meanwhile, I baked "choco-mint cookies" for the second time and I'm loving it! It's definitely one of my favorite home-made cookies :-)

As promised, here's a picture...

Cookies Galore

2010-08-24T00:50:00.000-07:00

I baked two flavors of cookies last Sunday: choco-mint cookies and toffee crunch cookies.

Choco-Mint Cookies - though many are not fan of the chocolate & mint combination... I personally like this one better! The original recipe that I got called for peppermint extract and I've been to several supermarkets searching for such but to no avail. Until one day, I came up with the "brilliant" idea to just use Andes Mint Chocolate! I'm glad it turned out great, it was a sure hit with my sis and her officemates, as well as with my choco-mint-addict friends in the office, hehe! I'll certainly be making these cookies again.

Toffee Crunch Cookies - I used Andes Toffee Crunch Chocolate for this one. It was fairly delicious and preferred by those who are not fond of cookies that are too sweet... right, Sai? ;-) I intentionally made this one 'coz I know Sai won't dare try to taste the former (surprisingly, he took a small bite of the choco-mint cookie... only to show his appreciation... or was it plain curiosity? haha!) Sadly, these didn't make it to my office. I brought home (from Bulacan to Lagro) a small bag of these cookies and it sold like hotcakes!

Sorry, I forgot to take pictures... as of this writing, the cookies are all gone! ;-)

Failed Attempt

2010-06-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

I made some banana muffins and cookies 'n cream cupcakes for Icon's 3rd month celebration.

The banana muffins tasted great but looked a bit pale. I don't know what I did wrong. Probably the bananas I used were not {over}ripe enough. Or have I used the wrong kind of banana? Perhaps I should have put brown sugar instead of white? Whatever it is, I am bound to find out... I'll surely make these muffins again (and again) until I get it right, hehe!

The cookies 'n cream cupcakes is another story. Actually, it's oreo cheesecake molded like cupcakes! It actually tasted good but to my dismay, it looked awful! Guess I crushed the oreos too hard that it blended well with the cream cheese mixture :-(

My Last Day

2010-04-25T19:25:00.001-07:00

My maternity leave is over...
I'll be going back to work tomorrow...
I'll surely MISS my baby!!! :-(

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

2010-04-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Made these goodies for my son's 1st month, with the help of my sous chef Gie ;-)

It tastes better than it looks, hehe!

Check out the recipe here.

Baby Shower {Part 2}

2010-02-16T02:10:00.000-08:00

February 16, 2010. Another surprise baby shower... this time around it was organized by my friends in the office. It just feels good to have friends who care enough to squeeze into their busy schedule a time for this. I'm sure our baby enjoyed every moment of it ;-)

Our profound and heartfelt thanks to everyone! Cheers!

A Shower For Izeck Colin

2010-01-31T18:30:00.001-08:00

January 30, 2010. Our friends threw a surprise baby shower for our soon-to-arrive baby. Little did we know that the "dessert" session after MJ's baptism which was supposedly Manny's treat for his recent promotion at work was just a "plot"... as soon as everyone's gathered at Cheesecake, Etc. Tine blurted out -- "group yourselves into 2... the grouping would be the usual boys vs. girls...", it was only then that we (Sai and I) realized what was going on, haha!

Anyway, the party went on... we ordered different cheesecakes and drinks... we played several games (final score was 2-2)... then we opened their gifts for Icon (our baby's nickname *wink*).

I'm sure they're as eager as Sai and I to finally see our little bundle of joy -- Izeck Colin, the latest addition to our ever growing kada family.

Thanks kada! c",)

Happy First c",)

2009-12-31T21:03:00.000-08:00

December 23, 2009. Time flies so fast. The past year has been memorable. Lots of great things came our way, the best of which is our little bundle of joy that will soon come into this world.

We just had a simple celebration. As the clock ticked 12, we greeted each other and gave our gifts before hitting the sack. Had lunch at the HEAT, Edsa Shangri-La. Then shopped for baby stuff and had our annual studio portrait in Megamall.

Here's to better years ahead...

A Sneak Peek Inside My Womb

2009-11-09T00:42:00.000-08:00

Our bouncing baby boy at week 23...

Can't wait for my next OB visit! c",)

My Monthsary Gift

2009-10-07T04:58:00.000-07:00

A late post...

June 23, 2009. We celebrated our 6th monthsary as husband & wife. We had breakfast meals for dinner (Brek O'Day + English Breakfast Tea for Sai and Salmon Scramble + Brewed Coffee for me) at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf in Bonifacio High Street then whiled away time at Fully Booked before heading home.

And just before saying our "goodnights", I gave him my monthsary gift...

Yes, we're gonna be mom & dad soon! We're so excited about it that I barely slept that night =D

Back-to-Back Concerts

2009-07-24T04:32:00.000-07:00

May 16, 2009. David Cook and David Archuleta Live in Manila! It’s our first concert as a couple, what a start! Hehe =P We were treated to great music by David Cook. People were screaming & goin crazy & close to clawing at each other to get the best view. Alright, the latter was an exaggeration, haha! For the first half of the concert, David Archuleta delivered a brilliant performance. Trivia: This was the first time the two Davids were together in a major concert… and we were there! Oh, by the way, Gie was with us... she was the one who made those placards ;-)

June 11, 2009. A Clear Doll Domination: the Pussycat Dolls Live in Manila. Sai couldn’t let this pass. PCD in concert?! Who would? The group came with one less performer… but who cares?! Nicole was there! =D When they sang ‘Jai Ho’ it was then that we knew money was well spent. All in all, we had great fun. Nuff said ;-)

Here's wishing for more concerts to watch and enjoy! c",)

A Newbie

2009-07-23T03:51:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I'm a newbie at this side of the blogging world. Got an old blog in Friendster but most of my close friends are slowly switching to Facebook which somehow made me realize that I would eventually have to "kill" my Friendster account. Unfortunately, I haven't felt the urge to join FB... it hasn't appealed to me... not just yet (or am I just being lazy and stubborn?! haha!)

For the meantime, I guess I need to have another venue for my unsolicited thoughts so I could stay in touch with my friends... hence this blog site is born!

Hope you'll enjoy reading my posts as much as I do sharing them with you c",)