A few days before Christmas, my dear dearest mom turned 59 :). I am glad that we get to celebrate her birthday here. We surprised her with an ice-cream cake on the morning of her birthday and had a simple dinner at Smokey Bones.

DH was so busy on that day and we were supposed to get my mom's birthday cake from Dairy Queen, but DH did not get the chance to catch them early. He ended buying some random ice cream cake at Walmart. Voila, it turned out yummy!

Happy Birthday Mommy! Too bad, you do not like cold weather, we could have given you ski vacations as your birthday present hehe! :P.

Aha! I know I owe you a lot of worthy-reading entries because for the past weeks, even months, I end up writing well, sponsor3d entries. My Apologies, really. The last few weeks of graduate school have been extremely toxic (not to mention that I need to sell textbooks to at least get half of the amount I spent on them) and each time I have the time to blog, I am swamped with blogging tasks. And those blogging time has left me with just short short time to spend in my laptop. But since things are starting to get better now, I promise to update you with what's going on in our kitchen and yes, my tummy too :).

Speaking of graduate school, during my graduation we just ended up having a quick lunch at Nordstrom Cafe which I love love love. DH is going gaga over these dishes, we are going to be frequent eaters in this resto.

Heading off to check some rv financing site, but before that, let me share my latest Fred and Friends find.

More than this cool Fred&Friends innovation, I was more delighted with this product's name. Ain't it interesting, AIRFORK ONE. LOL! Do you think your kids would love this?

AIRFORK ONE™
for perfect in-flight meals

Airfork One is now ready for boarding! It’s made of sleek stainless steel encased in food-grade, dishwasher-safe silicone, just the thing to bring those mashed potatoes and peas in for a safe landing. It’s high-flying meal-time fun for the little ones. 6.5” long, packed in a recyclable clear peggable PET box.

Design: Sibylle Stoeckli/ECAL
©2008 FRED

Some food snippets of our Cebu pig-out trip in 2006 before I check on this Dutch Master. I am in my reminiscing mode because I am missing Christmas in Pinas so badly.

• When you decide to pig out over an eat-all-you-can lunch make sure you don't get in as early as 10am so you won't be sooo full when they served the famous Lechon Cebu usually by 12nn (it happened to us at Joven's) =)
• go eat beef pochero in Abuhan. (Abuhan=Lutuan or kusina) Ang sarap!
• CnT has the best lechon cebu and they packed it very well! malutong pa ang balat after 36 hours!

My brother forwarded me the downloadable version of this cookbook. You can find recipes of meals from your favorite restaurants and food chains in America. Thought I'd share. Just check out the site how you can download the recipes. Happy Sunday everyone! Off to check spa filters.

The Secret Recipe Cookbook

"Americas Most Wanted Recipes" by Ron Douglas
Learn how to easily cook the secret
dishes from your favorite restaurants - Red Lobster®, The Olive Garden®, The
Cheesecake Factory®, PF Chang's®, KFC®, Applebee's® and many more...
Uncover the cooking techniques used by world class chefs from famous restaurants.
Discover your 'inner chef' with quick and easy recipes guaranteed to make
your meal a hit with family and friends.
Save money by making these
spectacular dishes at home.

Save on Shipping - Get the Downloadable Cookbook

Oh yes, it's a very chilly weekend and it's not even Winter yet. Brrr!!! I can no longer wear my comfy short dresses at home aka daster! I am all bundled up, socks and all. But this cold weather does not stop us from going out of town. In fact, this Christmas, we will spend it over at a friend's house in the nearby state hee hee.

Anyways, there are still days when the sun is up and I can sport my Ray Ban Sunglasses. Speaking of, ZephyrSunglasses.com has a wide array of new Ray Ban sunglasses collection, check it out. How's the weather at your end?

Yay! I have been a delinquent blogger once again. I know I haven't been posting recipes and dishes whipped in our kitchen, my bad! Blame it all on the holiday blues and my busy busy schedule hee hee. So anyways, here's sharing what we had for Thanksgiving Breakfast! Yes, breakfast because DH and I left the house very early to camp out for Black Friday, What did you have?

Off to check st thomas!

A good friend is thinking of some destination weddings options for her wedding next year. She is the adventurous and spontaneous-type of girl that would rather have a fun wedding over a formal gathering. She has been sending me some beach wedding dresses that she wants for her wedding day. I feel giddy just by looking at it and feel excited. I know this wedding of hers will probably be one of the best weddings I will attend. The number of guests she plans to invite is pretty small because she wants it as intimate as possible. I would consider that too especially since destination weddings would turn out a bit expensive compared to the regular hotel weddings.

how about you, what do you think about destination weddings?

I have talked about how Hoisin Sauce can make your mixed veggies a hit in this entry. Now, I have another cooking discovery which was an accident discovery that would make your adobo or baked fish/chicken/pork very very easy and really sumptous. Tada! The SWEET SOY SAUCE! It's not your ordinary soy sauce nor your premium soy sauce, it's a SWEET soy sauce! A bit pricey than the other popular kinds of soy sauce but guaranteed every meal whipped with this a hit in your dining table.

I was about to cook adobo for our Washington, D.C. sidetrip baon (request kasi ng marami) then I found out, we no longer have one in our pantry. It was too late to grab one at Walmart so I just used the available LEE KUM KEE sweet soy sauce that I saw in our fridge. It instantly gave my adobo a different taste twist. I thought of baking fish. So what I did was melt 1/4 cup of butter then mix it with 1/2 cup of sweet soy sauce, a bit of pepper and salt, and squeezed a whole lemon on it. Then occassionally brush it on the fish filled with onions, garlic and ginger. Instant voila! It was a hit. For some people who found it matabang, ask for more sweet soy sauce and dip their fish on it. Ang sarap talaga! Kahit ako naparami ang kain. The following weekend, I baked a whole chicken and used the same ingredients I used on the fish. Baking the whole chicken for an hour then broiling it 10 minutes each side. You better grab one now and this sweet soy sauce is really a must in your pantry!

Disclaimer: I haven't tried this ABCbrand, I just can't find a photo of LEE KUM KEE sweet soy sauce, that, I guarantee you the best sweet soy sauce, better than kikkoman!
Okay enough of these condiments, I should be researching on this tile flooring for hubby.

I've discovered that Hoisin Sauce is better than oyster sauce when cooking mixed veggies with pork, shrimps or chicken. Yes you heard me right, better than oyster sauce. Eversince I invented this recipe, my mixed veggies dish has been a hit. Try it!

Have a good weekend everyone, hopping off to check this home theater system.