Easy Bake Delicious Brownies

Craving to eat something sweet and yummy?

I would like to share with you my favorite brownie recipe which is easy to make and delicious too. This recipe is from my Sis, she got it from a recipe book and made her own alterations. I usually give this brownies as goodies give aways for Christmas and our friends love it. Here it is:

EASY BAKE Delicious BROWNIES

6 tbsp. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter or oil
2 tsp. oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
pinch of salt
1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup flour

8 inch square pan - Makes 16, 2 inch brownies

Set oven at moderate (350 f) and grease pan. Cream butter ( or oil) until soft, graudally add sugar & beat until mixture is light & fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift flour, chocolate powder with salt & stir into mixture. Stir in nuts & vanilla. Spread mixture in the prepared pan & bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a dull crust has formed. Cool slightly & cut into square.

Hope you'll enjoy this recipe. Do let me know if you've tried it already.

Weekend in Malaysia

We're going to Taiping, Malaysia tomorrow! Yeah, we actually just decided on this a few hours ago because we found out that I needed to have a medical check-up urgently ( for insurance purposes) and the check up must be done in Malaysia.

We had an option to do it at the border and come back immediately but then we're worried about leaving Baby Lyle with my cousin for a long time because he has really been a cry baby lately. (Oh, we can't bring Lyle with us outside Thailand since he will only have emergency exit with no visa yet.) There was this time we left him with our friend and he was crying the whole time. Oh it just broke our hearts when we came home and he was sobbing. And we were just gone for 2 hours! So, I won't risk leaving him again because the whole border trip with the check up might take the whole day. Pity Lyle and pity the one who'll be watching him too!hehehe!

The trip to Taiping will just be in time too since Lyle's Ammachi ( Grandma) already missed him so much. ANd this time we'll need to get him a Malaysian passport so he could travel with us anytime.

I love going to Taiping (my Hubby's hometown). Aside from the loving family we have, the place is also beautiful. It's laidback. It's always cold since it rains all the time there. And you have to try bathing in Taiping water, it's icy cold! Nice!

Now, I'm already excited to meet the family, smell the Taiping fresh air, eat some Curry Mee, maybe go to Pizza HUt (yes, because their Pizza is much cheaper there than in Thailand), and guess what Tesco has opened in Taiping! I heard they have Secret Recipe inside Tesco too..wow!! I just love their cakes...so, which means I won't be thinking of my weight or diet or healthy food for the weekend lah! hahaha! So, it'll be an eat-all-you-can weekend! Eat-all-you can Roti, Apam, Poppiah, Kuaytiaw Goreng and etc..hahaha!! Anyways, I hope they also have MPH bookstore there. I'd like to get some books for the school, for Tricia and maybe for us too.

Okay, have to go now. Still have to pack our things. I just pray that we'll have a pleasant journey. We'll be riding the train. Tricia's sooo excited for the train ride but I hope Lyle can take the travel. Since it'll be his first time to travel 'abroad' ;)...

Good night for now and see you next week!

Because of the Crab Curry

Remember my coke free resolution?? Well, sad to say it has already been broken because of my favorite crab curry..YUM!

Last friday our ANneh came with some friends and they treated us for dinner. We went to this Seafood shop at the Plaza. This used to be our favorite shop when Jesu and I were still 'singles' or I mean without kids. And our favorite dish would be the Thai crab curry. So that's what we ordered. And when you eat some yummy spicy dishes it's always best to have it with coke. SO, there goes my coke free resolution. And not to mention I ate so much!! and broke my promise to myself again, which is not to eat white rice for a month. Yeah, I'm really trying hard to lose weight.

Then when Saturday came, my hubby called me and gave me a good news! Our Anneh cooked Indian Crab curry for us! We were in a meeting when he called and I couldn't wait to go to the center to eat the curry. So, we all feasted on the delicious curry. I ate 3 servingsof rice and drank so much of coke!! When we went home we were so full but I was still dreaming of the curry.

Then today, when we went to the center we found out that there were still some more crab curry leftovers. And the 'beauty' of indian food is it tastes nicer when it's older..heheheh!! So, immediately I cooked rice and guess what? Ate the crab curry for LUNCH and DINNER with so much of rice!!! and syempre with coke!! hahahaha!

So, now while I'm typing this I could still smell the crab curry in my fingertips ( since we used our hands in eating) and maybe I'll dream about more crab curry tonight...haaayyy..it's just soo yum!!!

So, tomorrow is a start of my coke free day again and I'll have to eat less rice..unless someone brings or cook crab curry again..hahahah!!

Chocoholic

Haaaayyy.... I feel relieved and guilty at the same time.

Relieved because our box ( 24 pcs) of Ferrero Rocher chocolate is finished and therefore no more tempation for me everyday. But guilty because I was the only one who finished it! hahahaha!! I finished it off today . I ate the last 5 pcs. so that I won't have to think about it anymore. funny huh? I'm a certified chocoholic I guess. What happened to my New Year's resolution? That I need to be FAT-free..hahah!

I just love chocolates! I think people know that, that's why last Christmas we received a lot of Chocolates! Our friends from Singapore gave us (they sent by mail) 4 boxes ( about 16 pcs. each box) of Ferrero Rochers, our American friend gave us a big box Van Houten chocolates and my Hubby gave me a box of Baci. Don't worry, I didn't eat everything. In fact, I gave all the others away as a gift too, and I just kept ( and ate) the Baci. I didn't want to eat everything (even if I wanted to) since I know what I'd look like after consuming all those boxes of chocolates. :) But, surprisingly last week we received the 24 pcs Ferrero Rocher. My hubby said, "Oh, we received another box now, because maybe we gave all the others away." I was already tempted to give it away again but he said he'd also want to eat and he decided to keep it. And there, he decided to keep it but I ended up finishing it..haaaaayyyy... My hubby can eat chocolates but not as much as I do. I think he just said that because he knows I love chocolates and because of this 'diet' thing, I'm depriving myself of what I love - fatty, unhealthy food..hahaha!

Anyway, that's the end of the chocolate story. I'm just glad that there are no more chocolates that 'calls' me out everyday to eat them. So, tomorrow is a start of a brand new chocolate-free day. Woohhooo!! ( Unless, someone will give us another box of chocolates again..hahaha!)

* by the way I've been very good in the 'coke free' department. Haven't drank coke for many days now. I think the "NO coke allowed..." signage has really worked. I've been drinking fruit juices now ( my sis would be so happy to hear this!:) ) and just this noon I told my Hubby, " I think I like to drink fruit juices now" and his reaction? "Hahahahahah!" He had that "we'll wait and see" look in his face. Hmmm...he's challenging me huh? hahahahha!

My Delayed Christmas Blog

Finally, I have the time to sit down and write my Christmas entry. A lot of things happened first before Christmas like our Overstay-Border run Experience, Village party and etc. but for now, I'll just have to write about our Christmas Eve (Filipino style) first.

Aside from our family and our Anneh's family, we only invited two couples who're very close to us, since we'll be hosting another Christmas dinner on the following night.

So, our friends started coming at 7:30 and we started out with dinner at 8:00 pm. We had Indian and Filipino/American dishes for dinner. I didn't cook the Indian dishes as it might turn out to be a Pindian Dish. So, our Akka, a real Indian cooked the Indian dish and indeed it had that authentic taste. Yum! I just made lasagna, brownies and roasted chicken while my cousin made eschabeche (sweet and sour fish).

After dinner, we had worship and sang songs to Jesus, the Reason for the Season. We had a good time of worship. Then we asked each one to take turns in sharing one of the many things that we are thankful to God for the year 2007. Guess what I was thankful for the year 2007...hmmm...of course, the birth of our precious baby boy. Others shared about how God protected them, provided for them, or giving them the desires of their hearts.

Rajah Anneh thanking God for protection during the car accident they had

Sak thanking God for His continuous provision

Then we had gift giving. We're supposed to have 'exchanging of gifts’ but since almost everyone has a present for everybody, then we decided to cancel it and call it gift giving instead. Or I think, that's what we did is the REAL exchanging of gifts. Anyways, we made it in such a way that whoever is going to give the gift for must describe the receiver in two words first before giving it...so, there were descriptions like Miss Universe, Miss SS (secret!), Joker Sak, smiling buddha, 10 years younger (oh, that’s more than two words) and etc. :)

Then, the most exciting part of the program came, and that is the opening of gifts! There was this one girl who was the happiest of all because she got her wishes fulfilled. She's non other than my Li'l girl. She got a pair of rabbits from her Ninong Junjun and an electronic keyboard from..guess who? :) wow! she was just so happy when she saw her rabbits. She ended up praying " Lord, thank you for my rabbits. I'm so happy Lord. I like it so much!" I just hope her rabbits will survive this time. I think they will since they are bigger rabbits now.

Tada!!! Two cutee rabbits!!

Tricia praying and thanking God for her rabbits.

Everyone agreeing in her cute prayer.

Careful with the rabbit, please..

All of us got so much of presents and we all were just saying ... wow! ..wow! ..wow! .. everytime we opened the gifts. :)

Then, after all the excitement, we had coffee break and just waited for 12midnight to strike and talked, talked, talked ..and at 12 midnight..this is what happened....




Well..we had indeed had a blessed and FUN Christmas Eve! Hope you all had a blessed Christmas and wishing you all a fruitful new year!!

Baking, gifts and the GIFT

Started my day with baking lessons with our Korean friends' kids. I taught them how to bake brownies and they really enjoyed it. We'll have another baking session the following Saturday. :)

Lunch! After the baking session...:)

Forgot to take pictures during baking..and I thought I'm already a certified blogger!

And since, I already started baking, I thought why not go on with it and bake for our Christmas goodies give aways. So, I managed to make a few boxes for my give aways and we immediately delivered to some of our friends this evening. It's really a joy to give. Even if it's just a simple gift for friends but it's a nice feeling to see their appreciation for being remembered.

The Christmas goodies!!

It's nice to have Christmas. It gives us a chance to give just like what God did for us. He gave. He gave is only SON for us to have eternal life. Wow! It's just the best gift we have ever received. We just couldn't outgive God. Writing about this now reminds me of my favorite "Christmas Song". Nope, it's not Joy to the world not Silent night but the song entitled, We are the Reason.

Anyways, watch this and be blessed just as how I'm touched everytime I hear the song. During this Christmas Season, may our HEarts and minds be for our Lord Jesus alone.

'twas a Busy Wednesday..

..that explains why I was not able to blog yesterday.

Yesterday was the King's birthday so, it was a holiday! With a new baby, Holidays these days are no longer spent in going out (as it will so crowded everywhere too) but we'd rather spend it at home with family.

So, from morning till the afternoon my hubby and I cleaned and rearranged our Dining and kitchen area. Good thing, Lyle was just sleeping the whole afternoon and I still even had a bit of time to start writing on the Christmas cards that we'll be sending to friends. But then evening came and we remembered that friends were supposed to have dinner with us in the house. We didn't have much time left to prepare so, we thought why not try our 'steamboat & grill" set given to us by our friends a year ago and just buy the seafood plate set in Carrefour. And indeed I didn't regret that we decided to do that because it's hassle free and not to mention cheaper too.

Imagine, all we just did was buy the seafood plate set, beef, fruits and coke and cooked rice. Within minutes, everything was ready. We also enjoyed grilling, cooking our own food while we talked and talked. I guess we should do this more often when we invite friends to the house especially these days when I don't have much time to cook. Thanks to our Indonesian friends who gave us the steamboat& grill set!

Buko Salad 4ever!

For many months now, I have been craving for Buko Salad from Jo's Chicken Inato from my hometown...Oh, how I would imagine eating that delicious buko salad and been telling my friends and family about it...maybe hoping that they'll send me one!..haahha!Anyways, I always get the same suggestion from them which is, " Why don't you make one?". My husband even suggested that why don't I try the Thai Version of the Halo2?...but I said, never mind..I might just end up disappointed. I also didn't try to make one a few months ago since I'm too lazy and besides ( i thought) some of the ingredients won't be found here.

Anyways, finally..a few days ago..I got surprised when my husband brought home about 10 bukos (green cocomuts)! Actually, a friend gave it to him...and so I got excited and thought..ok, why don't I try to make my own buko halo?..So, we went to Carrefour and managed to buy a buko scraper, evaporated milk, nata de coco, red beans, corn flakes and Swensen's Ice cream (YUM)! My husband is really trying to pamper me esp. with the ice-cream... I told him any ordinary ice-cream will do...but he "forced" me to get the Swensen's one ( to my delight! hehehe!)which is my favorite.

So, the mission to make the BUKO Halo was on....I didn't have ube jam, leche flan and the most important of all..the shaved/crushed ice because our blender just got broken a few days ago ( that's what you get for buying cheap appliances, their lifespan is just so short!) But surprisingly, that didn't dampen my excitement to make the buko halo. So, I just use iced cubes instead..:(

A few minutes of mixing and putting all the ingredients together...tada!! I made my buko halo and had a taste of home.....hmmmmm..yum...never mind if the leche flan, ube and shaved ice were not there..never mind if the thai Nata de coco has this funny jasmine flavor....I was just felt at "home" for a few minutes savoring my own version of buko salad. Even Tricia enjoyed it..actually she just wanted the 'cubes' (nata de coco) and we fought over who gets to eat the Nata de coco first..heheehe! Think..I need to make another one tomorrow..:)