KITCHEN MISADVENTURES - CARROT CAKE AND CARROT MUFFINS GIFTS

This recipe for carrot cake, I got from my brother’s current beau who is also a baker herself in Abu Dhabi. But in most sites I browsed, the recipes for carrot cake are more or less similar. The difference lies in the type of sugar used but most of the ingredients are quite the same. The first thing I did (which is the actually the most difficult part of doing the recipe) is to grate the carrots then mix it with the muscovado sugar, raisins and set aside for an hour.

After that I preheated oven to 350F then called my daughter from her room as it was her turn. In a large bowl, my daughter beat the eggs until light and gradually added the white sugar, oil and vanilla. Then she stirred in the pineapple (no crushed in the supermarket so I used tidbits), the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon which I already combined earlier (all dry ingredients). Finally stir in the carrot mixture and walnuts. Pour the mix evenly onto a 10-inch cake pan but in our case we only had one pan so I used muffin pans with the rest of the mixture.

I was the one who popped the pan into the turbo boiler for 45 minutes and the cupcakes for 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. We let the cake cool for about thirty minutes before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

For the frosting, we used 2 eight-ounce packages of cream cheese frosting (softened) creamed together with 1/2 c butter (also softened). Then we added 1 tsp vanilla and 2 cups of confectioners’ sugar into the mixer until the cream cheese is a bit fluffy. The frosting was then applied evenly on the cake while on the muffins, the icing was piped on top and decorated with chocolate chips n sprinkles. Truth to tell, baking has become a very vital bonding experience for us – my 2 children and I. What’s best is when we jostle around to eat the cake mix after it has left the pan and only a few dribbles are left on the bowl and on the beaters/spoons used. Yup...we definitely have fun not just in making and decorating the cakes/cupcakes but also in eating them afterwards...

P.S. The cake was packed (with the round glass dish included) to my father as a Christmas present (turns out though that he is not really fond of carrots, so I need to remember that hehehe) While the muffins were given to my mother.

CHRISTMAS GIFTS ATSARA

Every Christmas, whenever I have the time and the money, I make an effort to make my Christmas gifts special. Sometimes, I bake goodies and place them inside pretty plates or bowls or jars to give away to friends. Or sometimes I make chocolate candies then wrap in colourful paper or boxes for those who have the proverbial sweet tooth. But most of the time, it is usually the ever reliable and most often requested staple that we give away - the Kapampangan atsara. Many of our friends and relatives have looked forward to our gift of atsara because it is usually at this time of the year that the atsara is quite needed to partner with the regular Christmas food that we often enjoy - lechon, ham, crispy pata, and the like. And so this time around we did not fail them even though making it is such a tedious and arduous task, we continue to do so because I knew they expect it from us. I just hope they continue to enjoy our atsaras in much the same way that we enjoy making and giving it to them. Happy Christmas and Happy eating everyone!

MY NEW ELECTRIC KETTLE – AN ADVANCED XMAS GIFT!

The hubby was out for most of the day today to do some Christmas shopping for the office cooperative (to give to its members during their Christmas party). Every year, they decide on one generic item to give – one year it was electric fans, sometime ago they gave out towels, still another year they had umbrellas. It depends really on the budget surplus that the organization has... and this year, they decided to give out a multi-purpose cooker. But the hubby decided he did not really need one and so he chose a different item to buy for himself but which still costs almost the same as the cooker and he gave it as an advance Christmas gift for me – well I guess he knew how much of a coffee addict I am so this is what he bought for our household. I already have the traditional whistling kettle, a coffee press from my sister, a single cup coffee-maker but hey I would still welcome an electric kettle anytime...

EARLY GIFT FROM MY FAVE AUNT

I actually was able to get this gift over the weekend during our last family get-together at Oakwood hotel but then I forgot to post pictures. The gift itself was left by my aunt since last month pa, before she left for Cebu. It wasn’t really new since she bought it for her Samsung tab, figured she didn’t like it and decided to give it to me. Well, lucky for me that she didn’t like it since I had been looking for a tab cover for ages...I had initially wanted something like Papa’s tab cover (that he was able to buy from a mall in Makati) but when I saw an Ipad with a folding cover that can be used as a stand, I figured I wanted something like that too...and guess what, this was the cover that my aunt didn’t want...woot! woot! So now I have one for myself! Thanks Auntie!

UNIQUE GIFTS

The Christmas rush is past - the decors neatly wrapped and tucked away, gifts have all been opened with all the wrappings thrown away... but I would like to make my one last post for Christmas 2007 just to share with you the little things I gave away to friends and co-workers.

You see not everyone is blessed with lots of money to buy pretty gifts and it seems kinda awkward to always be just on the receiving end of gift-giving when Christmas really is all about showing someone how much you have appreciated them all these years.

Thus, in my own little way [and meager government employee budget] I still managed to give away the following little tokens of appreciation:

For little kids, I gave away these little beaded coin purses which takes me about two hours to make.... but since I am only able to do this when I get home from work (usually while I am watching my telenovelas) I am only able to do one each night. Often, when I help my kids with their assignments I don't get the chance to do anything at all. So I was only able to complete about 20 coin purses this Christmas which I was able to give away to cutesy nieces and even daughters of friends.

For teenaged nieces and lady friends, I had a choice between cellphone holders or cosmetic cases made in varying colors. I had to take pains to find out which is their fave color so that I know they would really be able to use the ones I made for them.

The gifts for our bosses I did not really make. Instead, I had my mother-in-law whip out her secret recipe for atsara which I then placed in red bowls, wrapped in sinamay, tied with a red ribbon and voila! A truly delicious and unique gift which they'd hopefully appreciate (well, if they eat atsara, that is!)

Finally, for some friends and co-workers, I baked some muffins and cookies which I then placed in red boxes or in pretty Christmas themed square plates, wrapped in cling paper and tied up with a gold ribbon. The gifts do not really cost me much - only my time, patience and a whole lot of love... just my own little way of showing how much I care...