@25

Joyeux Annivesaire, Monsieur Juan Paulo G. Gultiano!

From the bottom of my hollow and muscular myocardium, I would like to thank the people who greeted  me on my special day. I feel elated, as we speak, and so blessed that the Lord Almighty has given me another year to be thankful for.

Again, thank you.

Oh! By the way, I read 105 posts on my Facebook Wall, replied to 4 birthday Tweets, got 3 big hugs, received 2 phone calls from 2 different countries, and had 1 long yet wonderful ride home. Not to mention the email from Karen Raisa Ramos straight from Chicago, Illinois! FTW. :-D

Bring it on 2011! I am sooo ready!

Coffee, anyone?

Brownies, anyone? Part 2: Overload

[caption id="attachment_854" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="A product of trial and error."][/caption]

I call this one "The Brownie Overload."

Try and try until you succeed, right?

Coffee, anyone?

Brownies, anyone?

[caption id="attachment_843" align="aligncenter" width="655" caption="Paulo's first take on brownies."][/caption]

I never fancied cooking.

The mere thought of buying ingredients, mixing every component and assuring that each element is well blended to the core makes my not-that-good of a brain go haywire. Argh! I recall, back in high school, my mother tried to teach me how to cook "Chicken Adobo" for supper; she carefully instructed how to chop this, mix that, and when to place that over the other one in 10 minutes. I was definitely clueless and flabbergasted! I even got my fingers burned! Grabe! Eventually, she cooked the "Chicken Adobo" herself and I forgot all about it.

Recently, I have been trying to find an outlet for my sudden emotional outbursts and decided to try the art and science of baking. Yes, you read that correctly. I will be trying very, very hard to bake something. Even if it entails a few burns here and a couple of cuts there, I will still try. There's nothing wrong in trying, right?

Anyways, here is my very first experiment: Brownies.

Yes, I know. The sides got burned, as well as the bottom. Nonetheless, I love it! It's hard on the outside but soft and warm on the inside. My housemate, JB, even praised my efforts stating:

"Wow! It looks and tastes like Red Ribbon! Nice job, Paulo. It's the best!"

From now on, I will definitely try baking. Seriously.

Brownies, anyone?

California Roll/Maki

California roll or maki originated in Los Angeles, California during the early 1970s. Although its exact origin is still subject to numerous debates, it is believed that the California roll eased American taste buds to a more exotic variety of sushi from Japan. It contains avocado, imitation crab stick, cucumber, and rice in an inside-outside roll. Here in the Philippines, a slice of ripe mango is usually included just to add a twist in the mix.

Yummy!

Caren and I ate them for lunch during our "agency hunting" spree last week. I thought that it would be very exciting to try something new yet tasty just to break the monotony of the typical Filipino lunch.

Lunch, anyone? :)

Excelente Ensaïmada

I went to a workshop conducted by the British Council last Tuesday at the Richmonde Hotel along San Miguel Avenue in Pasig City. Of course, the workshop was amazing. The speaker, though I can't recall her name, taught us some strategies to ace the IELTS exam this Saturday. Obviously, I need to focus on my writing skills to pass the test. God bless, Paulo.

Anyways, we were served with snacks, a full-course meal and bottomless coffee. Yum. Yum. Yum. I was then intrigued with the last snack, which were a pair of ensaymadas.

Sorry. I ate some of it before I took this picture. My bad.

Diet? No way! This is so tasty!

So, my curiosity led my to Google the ensaymada's history. According to one site, it originated in Majorca, the largest island of Spain, during the 17th century. It was made of strong flour, pork lard, mother dough, sugar, water, and eggs. The said pastry was common during festivities and celebrations throughout the island. Here in the Philippines, the "Ensaïmada" evolved to "Ensaymada," made with butter (instead of lard), cheese toppings and sugar. Tasty! This can be associated with the fact that the Philippine islands were colonized by the Spaniards for 333 years (if my memory's still intact).

You should try one. It's very nice and tasty. Diabetes? No way! Haha.