27 Dec 07 | by Lorraine in: Christmas, Food, Sweet Stuff
Merry Christmas, everyone! The husband and I spent an quiet eve alone, opening presents, feasting on chinese food, and having a Christmas movie marathon. But I’m not here to tell you about the tears I shed while watching It’s a Wonderful Life, I wanted to share with you all the holiday goodies we’ve been enjoying (too much!):
Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
I mentioned previously that I would be baking these and giving them away to close friends and family. Each batch, of course, required a taste test… which we were more than happy to do! Never mind that our recipe, based loosely on Alton Brown’s The Chewy, is something we’ve perfected in the past.
Frozen Brazo de Mercedes
My best friend gifted us with a gigantic tray of this, one of the most decadent, delicious things I’ve ever put in my mouth. I know I should post the telephone number of where it came from, but I’m too lazy to go to the freezer and write it down. I will soon, though. You simply MUST try it. *UPDATE: The frozen brazo is from Ana’s Kitchen, telephone 852-8224.
Christmas Ham from Santis
I love ham, especially Santis ham, anytime of the year, but Christmas ham is somehow more special. Taken with some thinly sliced queso de bola, it’s a holiday must-eat for me.
Queso de Bola
I love having one (or two) of these shiny red balls around. For breakfast today, I grated some up and made giant cheese omelettes for us. Creamy, salty, and awesome.
I could go on, I suppose- listing every naughty treat we’ve received from well-meaning friends and neighbors (don’t you love having neighbors? I LOVE having neighbors!) this year, but I need to go have a cup of hot chocolate and watch Home Alone on DVD now. What goodies are you enjoying this season?
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14 Dec 07 | by Lorraine in: Baking, Christmas
I know there’s no excuse for not blogging since Halloween (!), but I’ll try anyway:
Not so long ago, I turned to my husband and said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we gave everyone jars of homemade cookies for Christmas?”. He, the husband who believes in his wife’s baking skills to no end, agreed wholeheartedly… which is why I’ve been slaving away in my hot kitchen (what was I thinking when I painted it red??) these past few weeks, baking up a storm. A storm of Christmas Cookies.
Two of the cookies, I selected from my trusty old Rose’s Christmas Cookies, which is my most overused cookbook ever: Scottish Shortbread and Mexican Wedding Cakes (oh my god delicious). And, of course, my very own World Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies. What a combination! Buttery, crunchy Shortbread… melt-in-your-mouth (and sometimes in my very warm hands) Mexican Wedding Cakes… and the star of the whole affair, the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.
Sadly, not everyone on our list is getting cookies this year. I just can’t handle too much baking. But the ones who are getting them… well, they’re to blame for my lack of blogging. I’m hoping it will be worth it.
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07 Nov 07 | by Lorraine in: Cooking, Food, Food and Drink

We celebrated Halloween at home this year, watching the kids in costume come and go, and RUNNING OUT OF CANDY IN 45 MINUTES. I’m not kidding, 45 minutes is how long our 151 bags of candy lasted.
Some of the family came over to enjoy some smoked sausages, sauerkraut, and potato salad (all made by my superstar husband), red candied apples (made by me!), and keg of beer (that’s right, a whoooole kegger!)
Naturally, I forgot to photograph the food and drinks, but here’s some of the candy:
and a photo of our staff, dressed up and ready to scare the neighborhood kids:

We’re still recovering.
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07 Nov 07 | by Lorraine in: Cooking, Delicious Food Blogs, Lasang Pinoy, Super Sarap, Weblogs
Bryan Alvarez of Shoots. Eats. Leaves. has posted his round-up of October’s Lasang Pinoy. This was a particularly special event, being Lasang Pinoy’s Anniversary Edition and featuring the theme Cooking for Heroes. Not the immensely popular television show, no, but Filipino heroes- like Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio, even the People of People Power!
Will it make you hungry? Yes. But what I love about this round is how interesting all of the write-ups were. Make yourself a cup of tea and go read them.
I hope it’s not too early to mention that I’ll be hosting January 2008’s Lasang Pinoy: Crockpot Cooking! To join in the fun, I suggest you sign up for the Lasang Pinoy mailing list.
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04 Sep 07 | by Lorraine in: Baking, Experiments, Sweet Stuff
I’ve heard of days that are hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk, but what about baking cookies in your car? Baking Bites first wrote about other people doing it, then decided to try it out for themselves- and it worked (after about 2 1/2 hours). The cookies didn’t brown, but were “slightly crisp at the edges and chewy in the center”. Read more at Baking Bites.
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