From Our Home...to Yours!

Food Trip Friday: Leche Flan

We spent a Christmas dinner with Pinoy friends tonight. The made Pork Barbecue, fried Rice and I made some veggies, and Leche Flan. It was my second time to make this dessert and it turned out to be good despite the difficulty making the caramel; I almost gave up! Anyway, we also brought sparkling wine since we don't drink alcoholic beverages. We had so much fun having dinner together. Anyway here is my entry for this week.

For more yummy entry, visit Willa's Blog.

Friday Fill Ins

1. My boots is still in the closet; I didn't get to wear it this winter.
2. Baby Boomer lives longer this century.
3. Imitation like brand name items can be deceiving.
4. I just have a question for you; can we go somewhere private and talk?
5. I'd like to thank everyone who sent me/us Christmas cards, messages and gave/sent gifts as well.
6. I still suffer from homesickness, will I get over it?
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to having dinner at friend's house tonight, tomorrow my plans include shop for things I need to send to the Philippines and laundry afterward and Sunday, I want to rest and relax after church!

To All My firends and Visitors...

And Happy New Year...from the Kenyon's
Cecile, Matt and Jake

Filipino Foods: Sizzling Sisig

Ingredients:
- 1 kg Pork Face
- 1/4 kg Pork Brain (Optional)
- 2 tsp. butter
- 4 pcs. Onions, chopped
- 3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
- 1 Tbsp. Vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Catsup or Chilli Sauce
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Fried Pork skin, grounded (Optional)
- 1 Egg (Optional) - only when serving

Cooking Procedures:

- Boil pork face till tender; slice thinly into cubes.

- Saute 1 pc. onion in butter and add the sliced pork face and the brain in a deep skillet.

- While sauteing, mix the liquid ingredients.

- Add the liquid mix in the pan. Simmer for about 15 mins.

- Serve in sizzling plate, garnish with Fried pork skin, egg and chilli for your taste.

Bonding Time with Friends

These pictures were taken during our last visit with our friends, Juliet and her family. The kids were having fun playing together. I really had fun seeing Jacob climbed fig tree. He never climbed any tree before and I was amazed how quickly he learned to climb up despite the difficulty he had! He had a blast...and so with all the kids.

Great Tasting Gravy Gift Pack

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Club House. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have been roasting a turkey every thanksgiving day, but for whatever reason I couldn't really make a great tasting turkey gravy. So, I always end up using store brought gravy mix that taste better for me than the one I make. Who would have thought that there is far better than gravy mix until I watched the gravy tips video from the Club House. The video is about how to I can now make a great-tasting homemade gravy without worry or fuss that my family wouldn't eat. I say that the video is entertaining as well as educational. From now on, I would add up chicken or turkey drippings on my gravy mix for a tasting gravy; indeed it is a secret to a best-tasting gourmet-type gravy! If you are interested, make sure that you check the link out and watch watch the Chef's Video Tips on how to make the perfect holiday gravy. Make your holiday meal perfect using the tips the chef himself!

Even better is that fill up the newsletter sign-up and contest entry form for a chance to win a Club House Gravy Gift Pack. If you want, you can also share your recipe with fellow raffle entrants also. For more info about the contest, read the contest rules. Who knows, you might be the lucky winners of the Club House Gravy Gift Pack.

Food Trip Friday: Chicken Pho'

Here is my entry for this week's Food Trip Friday. This is a Vietnamese soup called Chicken Pho'. Hubby ordered this for me when he ate dinner with his colleague one Friday night. Visit Willa's Blog for more yummy foods.

It has chicken broth. with noodles, bean sprouts, red onion, green onions, basil, sliced of lime and jalapeno and of course...slices of chicken.

This is good especially on cold season like winter!

Mommy Moments: My Fave Entry

This week's theme for Mommy Moments is "your fave entry". Honestly, all the entries are my faves because I get to brag about my one and only son. Okay, my fave entry of them all is the "treasured moments." Buy I also , chose my own entry today where my son pause for some pictures taking in front of the Christmas tree. I particularly chose this for the reason that it is Christmas and Jake is very excited about it. He loves snow and hopefully get some snow before the winter ends. Anyway, just want to thank, Chris for hosting this meme...I had so much fun joining every week!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

For more entries just click the badge above.

Food Trip Friday: Mangoes

It's Friday once again...and here is my entry for this week's Food Trip Friday hosted by Willa.

I've been eating fruits lately and this is one I like best, MANGOES!

Sunday Stealing: The 6 Ws Meme

Today we ripped this meme off a blogger named Notbob at the blog Notbob's Bits. He states that he stole it at Milly's Big Fat Me blog. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Cheers to all us thieves!

Sunday Stealing: The 6 Ws Meme



Who...
Is easy to love? ~~ Aside from myself...my family.
Do you just wanna smack? ~~ No one.
Do you trust? ~~ My husband... next to God.
Do you talk to when you're alone? ~~ The person on the other line.

What...
Dangerous things do you do while driving? ~~ Watch those crazy drivers.
Are you allergic to? ~~ Nothing.
Is Satan's last name? ~~ No idea.
Is the freakiest thing in your house? ~~ None!

When...
Is it time to turn over a new leaf? ~~ Right now!
Will you be all that you can be? ~~ I already am!
Is enough enough? ~~ Of what? Be specific.
Do you go to the dark side? ~~ Yup, when the sun goes down.

Where...
Are your pants? ~~ I am wearing one right now.
Is your last will and testament? ~~ We haven't done that yet.
Is your junk food stash? ~~ Yup, by hubby.
Is Carmen Sandiego? ~~ I don't know.

Why...
Was the Lone Ranger alone? ~~ You tell me...'cause I have no idea why.
Was The Scarlet Letter scarlet? ~~ I don't think so!
Are musicians sexy and plumbers not? ~~ Are they?
Are there no seat belts on school buses? ~~ Yeah, why? I need to ask my friend who is a school bus driver.

Would you...
Swim the English Channel for a doughnut and coffee? If not that, what? ~~ Maybe if it is a Chicory.
Forgive someone who deliberately hurt you? ~~ Yes, why not?
Rather believe a lie if it hurt you less than the truth? ~~ No!
You still be alive if you were sucked out of an airplane window? ~~ Maybe, if I am wearing a parachute.

Girl Rules: Birth Talk

Honestly, I never asked my parents what their reactions was when I was born. All I know is that, I was born preemie (2 months early) on the 18th of March. I was so tiny enough to fit into a shoe box. Yup, that small. I stayed at NICU for few months... because we were so poor, they couldn't pay the hospital bills. I got baptized at the hospital where nurses and doctors who took care of me became my godparents. One of my godfather was a doctor who wanted to adopt me that time, but my parents and grandparents, NO! My mother went to a postpartum stage; she couldn't really takes care of me, so my grandparents (her Parents) stepped up, paid the bills decided to take care of me. Basically, I lived with till I was seven years old. I was loved by my grandfather, and so I was spoiled then. Because I grew up with them, I didn't get the chance of knowing and living with my parents and siblings till I was about to start going to school. At the young age of seven, I already knew how to wash my own clothes.

Anyway, they (my parents) want me back...and so my grandfather who lives in Isabela dropped me off despite that it was against his will. I remember crying so hard when it was time for him to go back home... but he has no choice. The first few months living with my parents and siblings were difficult since my mother (I thought) hated me so much! I don't remember this but my mother told me that every time my father gets home from work in Manila that time, I always say to my siblings " your father is home again :-)...(yung Tatay nyo dumating na :-)!

That's all ladies....for more interesting entry, just click the badge above.

Food Trip Friday: Braised Beef

I have been craving for Chowking Braised Beef, that is why I search for a recipe and found this one. I couldn't upload the picture of the one I made last week, that is why I grab this one on google search. I will upload the picture when hubby is done fixing the problem. Here is my entry for this week. For more yummy foods, check Willa's Blog.

Ingredients:

4-5 tbsp clarified butter
10-12 pieces beef shortrib
1-2 onions chopped
3-4 small carrots chopped
1-2 sticks celery chopped
4-5 clove garlic chopped
1-3 tomatoes diced
2-3 cups red wine
1-2 cups stock or water
1-2 stems rosemary
3-4 stems thyme
3-4 stems parsley
3-4 stems basil
Salt and pepper

Procedure:
1. Heat large deep frying pan or pot add butter then sear (brown) the short ribs on all sides at high heat.
2. Reduce to medium heat and add each veggie as it is chopped, in the order listed, to the large pot and let them all saute till soft.
3. Add garlic and stir till you smell the garlic begin to cook, then add tomatoes.
4. Add wine and just enough water to cover all the meat and vegetables. Let wine get hot (just to the simmering point), then drop in all the herbs - not chopped!
5. Cover with a lid and place in 250 F oven for 2 hours. Then remove lid and keep in oven till meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Kitchen Renovated

As I mentioned before, we did many updates and renovation in our old house. The one part of the house that we totally renovated was our kitchen which we both love. Matt and I were both pleased with the outcome of our hard work. Yup, we did it ourselves from kitchen floor, painting to the cabinets installation. We spent like $5,000 because we didn't hire a professional to do it for us. Whereas, had we hired, we would have spent like $30,000

These are the photos before...

...and these are after the renovation.