On Car/Auto Insurance

Owning a car/vehicle is not easy as some people think. Those who had not own one yet may say the opposite for they did not experience what it is like to have a one. I am saying these based on my experienced. Now that we own two vehicles for the last 8 years of our married life, I learned a lot and that it is not all about driving a car, but it is also taking care of it as well as the financial responsibilities that come from having one. So hubby and I share the same financial goal which is to save money while at the same time getting what we need for our vehicles. We just did not buy an auto insurance, we shopped and shopped for a discount auto insurance before we actually buy one.

Yes, you can get free auto policy quotes for you car; you just need to be patient on looking for one otherwise you will end paying for stuffs you do not really need for you car. I tell you, there are many things an insurance company is not telling us. So we need to be very careful and do some more research. And when you are done, you will be glad to have found the most affordable car insurance in the market today. Hubby and I are happy for the car insurance we choose. We are getting what we want/need for a fair price.

FTF: Foods on Hubby's Birthday Dinner

Aside from the carrot cake I made for hubby on his birthday, here are some of the foods we feasted upon with our good friends, The Merenes at my house. After the dinner we played the board game called "Trivial Pursuit" and has so much fun!

Caldereta, my fave...and
Pancit Sotanghon...
Lumpiang Shanghai...my son's fave!
Ginataang Calabasa with Green Beans which hubby loves so much!

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How to Make Pandesal

I used to bake a lot before from cakes, bread and of course "pandesal", a Filipino roll. I love pandesal so much! The other day, a friend of mine gave me some pandesal she made and it was so yummy. And so I dug up the recipe I used before to make pandesal and here it is. I will probably make some tomorrow since it is too late to do it tonight.

Ingredients:
2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 cups all-purpose flour

Method:
- Put the warm water in a small mixing bowl and add the yeast and 1 teaspoon of the sugar; stir to dissolve. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the remaining 15 teaspoons of sugar and the oil and mix until smooth. Add the salt, 1 cup of flour and the yeast mixture; stir well. Add the remaining 5 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, supple and elastic; about 10 minutes. Lightly oil a large mixing bowl, place the dough in it and turn to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and let sit in a warm place until the dough has doubled in volume; about 1 hour.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces. Form each piece into a cylinder and roll out until the 'log' is 1/2 inch in diameter. Using a sharp knife, cut each 'log' into 1/2 inch pieces. Place the pieces, flat side down, onto two lightly greased baking sheets. Gently press each roll down to flatten.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Cover the rolls with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.
- Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

FTF: Chicken Adobo

One of my favorite Filipino foods, Adobo (chicken). I also love any kind of Adobo from veggies to meat and fish. What I miss the most is Adobong Sitaw (long or string bean). Anyway, here is my entry for this week on Food Trip Friday!

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The Power of Advertising

Have you ever stopped to think about the power of advertising? Whether you're a consumer or a merchant, advertising plays an important role that presents immense benefits. Print media is a very powerful tool to let people know that a certain product or service does exist. Through advertisements, consumers get a heads up of new products that are available to them, while merchants are able to reach a broad spectrum of buyers that would be most beneficial for their businesses.

If you are an advertiser trying to promote something, the first thing that might come to your mind is to launch an all-out campaign to promote your product through carefully crafted articles that you paid someone to write. That advertising option is great and has proven to be effective time and again. However, you must be aware of the fact that not all people enjoy reading. For most people, the age old cliché, "A picture paints a thousand words" always rings true. Now if you spend a considerable amount of time trying to wrack your brains for the effective advertising campaign, perhaps it would be better if you brought your business to an Advertising Agency with an energetic and dedicated staff and the confidence and leadership to develop creative, effective advertising campaigns with great results.

The ad agency must know that we are living in digital times. This means that people rely on all things digital when it comes to making decisions especially on products they should buy or services they must get. Of course, the fact that television and radio are still powerful advertising tools cannot be discounted. So going to an advertising agency that understands this is a must. The advertising agency must know how to mix and match and combine all possible avenues of advertising to come up with the most powerful advertising solution ever.

FTF: Carrot Cake

It was hubby's birthday last Sunday. He just turned 45. His favorite cake of all is carrot cake, and so I made him one for the first time out of scratch. For a first timer, this cake turned out to be very good. I got a recipe from allrecipes.com, but decreased the sugar in the cake itself as well as the frosting.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 cups shredded carrots
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (8 ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice
1 cup raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour an 8x12 inch pan.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine eggs, buttermilk, oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix well. Add flour mixture and mix well.
4. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, coconut, walnuts, pineapple and raisins.
5. Using a large wooden spoon or a very heavy whisk, add carrot mixture to batter and fold in well.
6. Pour into prepared 8x12 inch pan, and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour. Check with toothpick.
7. Allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

Frosting:

* 3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
* 1 (8 ounce) package Neufchatel cheese
* 1/2 cup butter, softened
* 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup chopped pecans

To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine confectioners' sugar, Neufchatel cheese, 1/2 cup butter or margarine and 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla. Beat until smooth, then stir in 1 cup chopped pecans. Spread on cooled cake.

FTF: Baked Salmon, Veggies and Mashed Potato

I love salmon anyway you cook it. It is healthy and good for your heart/health. So here is my share this week on Food Trip Friday.

The complete meal, yum!

Come dig in with us at.......

New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin

Thanks for the guest post by Esteban Vinson

Ever since MTV stopped doing their live new year's eve show in Times Square, I've been looking for a new year's eve program to occupy my satellite TV from www.cannonsatellite.com/ time. I think I may finally have found it last year with New Year's Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin on CNN of all places. The show starts at 11 p.m. and runs for two hours. After watching the show for like two minutes, I knew I had found my new favorite new year's eve program. As odd as it sounds, Cooper and Griffin have what can only be dubbed "great chemistry." And this is coming from someone who literally cannot stand Kathy Griffin.

The two person duo basically add humorous commentary about the events surrounding Times Square as well as putting an entertaining spin on the year's events. The thing I noticed about Cooper is that he's got a witty sense of humor while Griffin's humor is more blunt and obvious. I've come to the conclusion that she needs to be in a two person comedy team just to be tolerable. Anyway they also go to CNN correspondents around the globe for coverage on how people across the globe are celebrating the new year. I was a little concerned after Griffin's obscenity incident last year, but it looks like the duo will be back for another show this new year's eve.