Kay tamis ng pag-ibig parang leche flan!

Dear Diary,

First time kong magluto kanina. Sabi ng aking mahal na si Maria Clara na masarap daw ito. Pero hindi ko alam kung mahal lang talaga niya ako o sadyang masarap nga talaga ang ginawa ko.
Ginawan ko siya ng leche flan. Hinanap ko pa ang ingredients nito sa mga recipe book ng aking mahal na ina. Ididikit ko ang pinunit kong pahina sa kanyang cookbook. (Hindi naman niya ito nakita kahit katabi ko siya. Hihi)

LECHE FLAN

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Estimated cooking time: 1 hour

Leche Flan Ingredients:

• 1 can (390g) evaporated milk

• 1 can (390g) condensed milk

• 10 egg yolks

• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract or lemon essence

For the caramel:

• 1 cup sugar

• 3/4 cup water

Leche Flan Cooking Instructions:

• In a saucepan, mix the sugar & water. Bring to a boil for a few minutes until the sugar caramelize.

• Pour the caramelized sugar into aluminum moulds - you can use any shape: oval, round or square. Spread the caramel on the bottom of the moulds.

• Mix well the evaporated milk, condensed milk, egg yolks and vanilla by hand or blender.

• Gently pour the mixture on top of the caramel on the aluminum moulds. Fill the moulds to about 1 to 1 1/4 inch thick.

• Cover moulds individually with aluminum foil.

• Steam for about 20 minutes (the traditional way to make Leche Flan is by open-air steaming on either an open cooking fire or stove top) OR

• Bake for about 45 minutes. Before baking the Leche Flan, place the moulds on a larger baking pan half filled with very hot water. Pre-heat oven to about 370 degrees before baking.

• Let cool then refrigerate.

• To serve: run a thin knife around the edges of the mould to loosen the Leche Flan. Place a platter on top of the mould and quickly turn upside down to position the golden brown caramel on top.

Pagkatapos kong gawin ang leche flan, ito ang naging resulta:


Napakaganda noh? Kinikilig ako ngayon habang sinusulat ko itong blogang ito. Gayunpaman, pumunta ako sa tahanan ni Maria Clara at hinintay ko siya sa kanilang azotea. Kinakabahan ako nun dahil may mga bisita sila galing ibang bayan. Pagbaba niya sa hagdanan, lumaki ang ngiti ko. Pina-upo niya ako at binigay ko ang aking masterpiece na leche flan. Natuwa siya at nagmadaling pumuntang kusina para kumuha ng platito at tinidor.

Maria Clara: Napakasarap naman nito, Pepe.
Ako: Talaga? (blush)
Maria Clara: Oo, naku! Hindi ito puwede, tataba ako nito.
Ako: Okay lang yan, mas masarap nga yung may napipisil pisil eh.
Maria Clara: Sira ka talaga.

Kinailangan na niyang puntahan ang kanyang mga bisita kung kaya't nagpaalam na ako at umuwi.

Napakasaya ng pakiramdam ko ngayong gabi. Sana ay lagi ng ganito. Sa susunod ay lulutuan ko siya ng Kare-kare at dadalhin ko sa magandang garden at magpipiknik kami duon.

Adiós amigo!
(Ashley Siy)

New Year's Resolutions

1. Look for more plants and insects that I can name after me

2. Grow taller and be more muscular in physique

3. Visit more places around the Philippines

4. Learn more local dialects

5. Write more publications in Tagalog

6. Get into politics in the Philippines

7. Build a hospital that provides free medical care

8. Build a school for the youth

9. Propose and marry Leonor Rivera while I still have the chance

10. Have a family of my own


-Margarita Cantada

-Pepe
(Margarita Cantada)

Pepenator

THE PEPENATOR

-Pepe
(Alec Rivera)

Time for a new name

hi Philippines! after a long holiday break i'm back to presenting random thoughts to nobody nobody but you. I did just post a blog 2 days ago but i feel like i'm in the need to write some more. To share my infinite knowledge with you... and after a month long of break from blogging i sincerely and truly missed you!

anyways... notice that i addressed you guys as "the Philippines" which would be the last time i did if i had it my way. I think we need a change in name. why should all our effort and hard work as a country be reflected on an incompetent king's name? Plus that king was spanish. on the other hand, i i didn't really know the guy and it must've been tough handling the biggest empire in the world so i guess i'll cut him a little slack maybe he does deserve some of the credit but now i think we have to start a country with a name of our own! oh yeah if you ever wondered what the guy looks like, well here's his picture.


We need a name first of all that is not as long and not as hard to spell as "the Philippines". People should be entitled to not think if there double l's or double p's. We could name it "rabbitwithnoears" coz it does look like a rabbit with no ears or kangaroo which i think is better. Hmm... but i guess they're still hard to spell. We also need a name that is significant to us. it could be named after a national hero like manny pacquiao. We could name it "Pacland". hmm... but i give boxing about 5 to 10 years and its gonna be forgotten again by the Filipino people. Btw don't you think its funny that the sports that gain popularity in the Philippines are the ones that famous Filipinos excel in and after a while die out again i.e. billiard->efren bata reyes and we constantly chase after a sport we'll never be good at i.e basketball. i guess its just human nature to go after what you can't have. anyways why am i thinking too deep. sigh. we need a name.

how about we just randomly pickout letters and form a word, it worked for Haagen Dazs. how about i just name it after Manny Villar para matapos na ang aking kahirapan. I'll name our country "mannyville" because uso rin naman ang farmville but it would really not work if manny didn't win. oh well i guess thats that "mannyville" it is.

Jose "Pepe" Rizal
(Shawn Yap)

Ang Bahay Ni Rizal (Rizal Builds A House)

Simpleng Bahay lamang ang gusto ko.. isang normal na bahay na may:
- Kitchen
- Dining
- Living
- Bedroom (2) :
isa para sa akin at isa para sa aking maaring maging bisita.










Kahit simple lamang ang plano ng aking bubuuing bahay, gusto ko pa rin maging maganda ang itsura nito mula loob hanggang labas kung kayat talagang dinisenyohan ko ito ng maganda. Ang bahay ay gawa sa kahoy, semento, at bato. Pinuno ko rin ito ng mga halaman at puno sa paligid para may mararamdaman pa rin akong malamig na simoy ng hangin.










Naglagay ako ng "pond" kung saan maari akong makakapagalaga ng isda. Isa rin itong paraan upang maalis ang aking pagod sa mga panahon na marami talagang ginagawa. Makita ko lamang ang parteng ito ng kanyang bahay, agad na akong natutuwa.











Ito ang kwarto ko. Dito umiikot ang aking buong araw. May kama, may duyan kung saan ako ay nagpapahinga o di kaya'y nagbabasa ng mga nobela at libro, mayroon ding lamesa na maari kong gamitin kung may naisip akong bagong nobela o tula. Sinadya kong itapat ito sa mga puno para na rin maging malamig ang paligid ko at parang hindi ako umalis sa dating bahay namin.











Ilan lamang ito sa mga paboritong parte ko ng aking bahay. Sana ay magustuhan ito ng mga tao. Baka sakali maari ulit akong magaral. Baka sa susunod na mga taon ako naman ay maging arkitekto.


Jose "Pepe" Rizal
(Kristina Salac)