Seasons Greetings and Best Wishes for the New Year

It has been 13 years since my last Filipino Christmas. Today, I will be flying to Philippines to spend  the holidays and will be returning to the blogosphere after New Year. I wish everyone love, peace, joy and good health in 2013. God bless us all!

Soft and Moist Banana Muffins

I was surprised when my sister came home from work last week with a bunch of overripe bananas. There's no way I would eat bananas with black spots but I would feel guilty if they go to waste. I wanted to get rid of them before they go bad. My sister suggested  banana bread so she could eat it for breakfast. I searched for a quick and easy banana bread recipe on the web. I found one that required an hour to bake. I wanted to reduce the baking time to save energy so I baked them in muffin tins. My sister and I couldn't resist  when I took them out of the oven so we both ate one piece after dinner. We ate them again the next day and sis brought the rest to her school to share.

Healthy Desserts at Vista Cafe - Verasu

My first encounter with cakes made from spelt flour was three years ago when I was doing a course on pastry. A friend took me to Verasu  so I could get a break from  fattening cakes. For those of you who might not know, Verasu is a store which especializes in home and kitchen appliances and products. It also has cafe/bakery called Vista Cafe that serves healthy meals and desserts at reasonable prices. I was there recently with the girlfriends and another friend to celebrate Father's Day.We had just came back from a party and decided to go to Verasu for desserts.

Brownie cheesecake

My Version of Black Forest Cake

Only seventeen more days before New Year and I decided to clean out my computer of unwanted files and programs and copy the photos I took this year to a cd so I can free space on my hard drive. As I was  browsing through old pictures  I stumbled upon this black forest cake photo. I made it for someone months ago. I meant to blog about it but due to my heavy workload, I had forgotten all about it. I'm sorry to say I won't be sharing a step by step picture of how I made it. I also don't remember where I kept the recipe. Once I find it, I will share it with you. 

A Rather Unique Belated Thanksgiving Dinner

Wonder what's all these random food? My friend Kath wanted to have a Thanksgiving dinner  before she returned to the US. Her mom made a special vegetarian menu exclusively for the occasion.  My family were invited. Saturday came, I went to see her and found the whole house full of smoke. The oven  gas pipe leaked when her mom turned the oven on  and spew massive black smoke. Long story short,  Kath's mom was unable to cook anything that day. Despite of what happened we still wanted to stick around. My sister brought food from the cafeteria. Kath went out to get some vegetarian dishes. It was not something we anticipated but we were just thankful that the house did not burn down. Thank God!