Banana Cupcake is love

I know summer has ended but I live in a tropical country in where banana would never be on off market. So people, always expect banana everywhere. Banana has been very popular fruit here in the Philippines, its actually like the second national fruit. And that's not surprising, banana has very rich flavors and plenty of health benefits considering it's very affordable price! So I've decided to use banana with my cupcake with cream cheese frosting :)

I also baked red velvet cupcake but I like the banana cupcake more. Haha 

Yeah the frosting was a failure. Its too runny because the heavy cream wasn't cold enough when I made the frosting BUT still delicious and tasty. Haha

Then just after few minutes my dad arrived with this enormous cupcake that made into a small macaroons with cream drop on top. Great timing huh? Oh well someday I would be able turn my macaroons into that cupcake! And Im gonna nail it! So ciao for now fellas~

Apple Berry Pie Bar!

Being jobless leads me to get-to-know-what-else-you-can-do-good discovery, and that is baking! Actually I've been baking even before I graduated but its nothing serious, just for fun (why does it sounds Im fling-ing. Haha!) I tried baking cookies and it turned out good, I have also tried cupcakes and it was a disaster, it turned out like a macaroons with super sweet-you-dont-wanna-eat-it frosting.

This is what it looks like in it's best angle.
Forgive me with the frosting, it was my first time! HAHA

Now this is what it looks like when you remove that super sweet frosting.
Looks like a pink and juicy macaroons. 

And that was my failure in baking cupcakes for my friends, but I still gave it to them, I put my effort in making those cupcake! They have to eat it no matter what! Hahahaha.

 Enough with the past. So recently I bought some baking tools and I also got some frozen berries (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry and blackberry) from the supermarket and it turned out that the berries I got is to sour to eat as it is. So instead of turning it into waste I looked for Blueberry recipe from the internet and I got the Apple Berry Pie Bars! :)

I was kinda surprised on how the taste turned out so good. I was expecting that it would be too sweet again because of the berry jam I made but it turned out that the apple would balance the sweetness and would bring just a right kick of sour taste.

And this is one of my best bakes ever. My little sister liked it very much, she even brought some to school for her snack. It feels so good to be appreciated :)

Random Thoughts

I never thought that life would be this hard, or maybe I just thought that it would be just too easy for me. Have you had those nights in when you would just suddenly realize something that would have a huge impact in your life? It happens a lot to people.. but not to me yet. Tonight is just a night that Im being emotional by just thinking of anything nonsense.

When I was in college I never thought that having a job, a job means working in the field you are supposed to work and that's according to your course, would be hard. There's a lot of vacancy out there that could suit your abilities but only few are the REAL job. I've graduated for like almost 4 months now, but Im still stuck at home, and Im starting to hate it. Yeah at first its fun to have time for yourself, having time to sleep all day 'til your back aches because of too much laying in bed time, having those long hours you can spend in front of the television watching your favorite series for like a thousand times and as the days go by, you would get sick of those things you wanna do when your at home. And that feeling sucks. But I can't do something but to wait despite Im really tired of waiting. Maybe this is how things are suppose to work for me, maybe if I got a job now I wont be able to meet those people that Im suppose to meet in the future, maybe this is how the universe is doing it for me. Because in life, despite of how eager and deserving you are to get what you want you would never get it unless its meant for you.

Night Out

Watching a movie is not our family thing. We seldom watch in cinemas together, unless we have free passes. Last Saturday we were supposed to watch a movie in nearby cinema but when we arrived there the movie that we wanted watch is not available anymore so instead we travel from Bulacan to Manila to have a "snack" in Mercato, located at MOA seaside. Its kinda stupid idea to travel that far just to have "snack" but it was really fun!

It was my first time in Mercato, Mercato is like a street market of cooked foods (including desserts) and drinks. It is a street with a lot of food stalls on the sides and tables and chairs on the other side.

Its feels like I was back in college's foundation week. There are booths all over the place, and they serve different food you can think of, from breakfast down to midnight snack.

They also have meals for those people who cant eat dinner without rice. By the way that sisig is really good.

Who wouldn't love to eat with very soothing music, live!

Here's the proof that people are really buying this place! So crowded!

I am really a burger lover, I can survive all year with just delicious burger. And Im not even kidding.

We also tried those different rides around MOA 'til we get tired and decided to have coffee before heading home. It feels good that once in a while we still find time to hang out as a family with amazing place and food.

Baking Investment

Hi everyone! Im starting to really love baking! Baking is really fun!

Recently I was given by my Dad a hundred bucks (4000+ if converted to Philippine money) 'cause he went to Hawaii and he haven't got us anything asides from chocolates and macadamia nuts. He said there's nothing to buy naman in hawaii so he just gave us money to spend. So instead of buying nonsense things I've decided to just buy my baking tools. I was actually torn between the two things I love the most; baking and photography, I was thinking if I should buy an external flash instead of baking tools, but I just upgraded my gear so I think it would be too much if I buy an external flash. So I've decided to go for my baking tools!

Mehehehe :)

These are the things I got:

• non stick load pan
• non stick cake pan
• cooling rack
• piping bags and tips 
• square baking pan
• rectangle baking pan
• baking thermometer

I was also able to buy fabrics for my dress witch cost me 25 bucks. And I save whats left because I dont wanna be pennyless.  

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe!

Ingredients

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Since I dont have chocolate chips at home, I just used the chocolate bar I bought and never got the chance to use before. Resourceful! Hahaha 

• First thing to do is to preheat your oven while doing the recipe, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

• Then in a large bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside, your gonna use it later.

• Get another bowl and your electric mixer; mix the butter with both sugars (brown and granulated),  beat it on medium speed until light and fluffy.

• Reduce the speed to low then add salt, vanila and eggs. Beat until mixed. 

• Add the flour and baking soda mixture you whisked awhile ago. Mix until combined.

• Stir the chocolate chips and nips.

• Drop table spoon size balls of dough on your baking sheet/pan  lined with parchment paper. I used aluminum foil cause I was out of parchment paper.

• Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven, let it cool for a minute or 2. Transfer to a wire rack and let it cool completely.

I made mine like a cupcake with a use of a muffin pan instead of a baking sheet. 

So easy right? Bake your own now! Enjoy! :)

Photography x Life 101

Learning photography and being into it was not really part of my plan. I never dreamed of having those bulky and heavy DSLR that would just take a photo as good as those super thin and handy point and shoot cameras -- that was my way of thinking before. I mean, why would I choose to have a hard time in bringing that huge DSLR if I can just bring a handy dandy point and shoot? Besides I would just take pictures and that’s not really important, duh. 

I remember when I was still in highschool, I have this friends who are familiar with the capabilities of DSLR and its importance in the world of photography and there was one time when I heard them talking about the latest DSLR unit, they were swearing to themselves that one day they would afford to have. Then I asked them how much is a DSLR and why can’t they just ask their parents to buy it for them, then they handed me a piece of paper from a magazine with the list of DSLR units including its price. And I was shocked, why would this hard-to-bring-and-not-easy-to-use camera cost so much!? 60,000 pesos for just a camera? Huh you're insane. Its like times 10 of the price of a point and shoot camera. Seriously guys, why?

Little did I know that I would also be hooked by this hobby/profession.

When I was in my 2nd year in college, we had this individual project in Psychology in where you have to capture photos of anything under the sun and then compile them. I don’t have a decent camera then, I only got our old sony cybershot in where you still have to use a AA batteries. Haha It looks like this but Im not sure if it’s the right model.

 

Honestly, I super enjoyed doing our project, despite of the hassles that my old point and shoot camera brings, imagine I have to bring 3 sets of AA batteries so my camera would last for the entire day! Hahaha. I dont have the rechargeable one so I have to deal with it.

 Since then I started to enjoy taking photos, then eventually I learned to love it. Remember the old me, who didnt imagine herself buying those bulky and heavy DSLR but now asked her parents to just buy her one as a gift for her 18th birthday! Haha And now, As I graduated from college, I still asked the same gift from my parents, but now a more bulky and heavier one! a Professional DSLR, a Canon 7D! :)

A Little Business

Ola! Its now official, I've been unemployed for 3 long months, meaning, I've been broke that long. Huhu. I cant even go hang out with my friends because the only money I got in my wallet is 500 pesos! And I can not live like this and I have to do something!

Luckily my Dad, who's working in the industry in where you could get freebies from different companies (mostly companies which sell gadgets), always have something new to take home. From that we were able to keep some stuff, all brand new, like magic sing, android phones and tablets, branded bags, sunnies and shoes! Even perfumes! And since most of this things are not being used by anyone from our house, and since Im a smart girl and I dont wanna see those things cry every time they're being ignored and not being used, so what I did is.. I sell them online! Hahahaha For now I was able to sell the magic sing but I still have several items to sell such as:

Brand New! StarMobile Astra Android Phone and Engage 7TV Tablet

For more details visit here and here.

This one I bought it myself but I need to sell it because Im saving up for something.

A Canon AE-1 Program. Still working perfectly. No fungus and scratches. 

For more details visit here

Brand New!  Original Tumi Alpha Bag.

For more details visit here

And there you go! This is all the item that Im selling for now. So for those who are interested dont hesitate to message me! :)