Merry Christmas Part 2

Our family celebrated the day with my side of the family. The kids prepared a Boom Tarat Tarat dance . It was fun reminiscing when my sister and I would have our own choreographed dance with matching costume. Side A, Side B. Haha . We would even charge Nana and Lolo, Tito P, Nana Chit to watch our performances.

DH and I woke up early to prepare the Garlic Prime Rib. It took forever to roast it. We covered it with a garlic and thyme crust. It was a 10lb and was wiped out. So good. For sidings we had pesto potatoes. Mama made her Sea Bass which I wasn't able to eat. Sister T brought salad and I tossed some candied walnuts and mandarin oranges on them. Delish!
And the dessert.... The Kid and I baked the day before Carrot Cake and Butter Cupcakes. DH gifted me with a Kitchen Aid Mixer Artisan 5 Quart. Just the one I wanted 2 years ago. Hmmm making all my wishes come true. Well I digress... So I made this Cream Cheese Frosting made of 5g of Trans FAt whipped Cream, added Low Fat Cream Cheese with Sugar Free Pudding and Low Fat Milk (we are aiming to be the biggest loser here). SIL brought me The famous Mati Fruitcake which I am not sharing with anyone. Yummers. Oh and she brought some Carrot Cake as well made by her SIL. The spread was good.

And what have we learned this Christmas. God has blessed our little family a thousand fold. I always pray to God for continuous protection of DH and my 2 kids. I pray for continuous projects and success for the business, I pray so that we will be able to meet all our payables and I pray for both our families.

To my Nana and Tita Ki, Merry Christmas. We missed you this year but look forward to seeing you.
To Tita Rocio and Uncle Chito , Merry Christmas. The kids send their love to you. Let the Lord lead us to make the right decision always.
To JJ and Sharon and Alex, Merry Christmas. We are looking forward to the next one.
To Bro, SIL and kiddos, Merry Christmas. Thanks for urging me to put up this blog.
To Mama and Papi, We love you and Merrry Christmas
To Sis and FIL and kiddos. Boom Tarat Tarat!!!
To all our relos Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! Happy Hannukah too!

It is our first Christmas at our new home. We are starting a new tradition by preparing a good dinner with our crew and our nuclear family. Tonight I prepared Christmas Ham, Steak with green beans and carrots on the side, Lentejas, Cheese, and a fruit platter.

We set up the table real nice then played Christmas music for tonight so that DH can get that Xmas feeling. Hope he did.

Boy we had so much Dates and Walnut Bars this holiday that both of us gained weight. He gained 20lbs while I gained 6 lbs. We are going to commit to losing the weight and then some this coming 2007. I bought ourselves a speedometer to count how many steps we take daily. You need 10,000 to lose weight so that is what we will be aiming for.

Happy Birthday Papi

We threw a party for my Papi who turned 64 yesterday. Because I was swamped with the preparations I totally forgot to take pictures to record the event. Well here is what we did so you will have to visualize this one.

Menu

Crostini - Home Made Basil Pesto/ Tapenade with Daing

Salad Greens

Lengua de Abuela (lol)

Chorizo & Olive Paella

Abuelo's Lechon

Steamed Crabs

Dessert Buffet

Chocolate Fudge from Sugar House

Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies from The Kiddo

Mango Tart from Conti's

Apple Pie from Makati Sports Club

Frozen Brazo de Mercedes from Camara's

Sauvignon Red Wine

The paella was overflowing with Chorizo & Olives and Chicken just the way my Tia Abuela Mercedes used to do it. Her daughter, my aunt mentioned it. We miss the old lady at times like this. Wasnt so happy about it though as I had to rush the Paella and forego baking it. I rate it at 7. I could have done better.

The lengua was tops as usual. Abuelo's Lechon was nice and crispy. Perfectly done. They have truly perfected this recipe.

The salad got soggy as everyone was still munching on the crostinis and took sometime before starting. It was brought in by my sister but she only brought to bags so many were not able to eat.

Crabs were flown in from Palawan on the same day. My DH just arrived noon and brought several kilos for me. He also brought me some casuy nuts that were so good. I used this as my take away bags for the night.

The dessert buffet was a sight to behold. Just looking at it will make you gain 10lbs!!!

All the guests enjoyed and no one left early. That is the gauge of my DH if we threw a succesful party. We wrapped up the party an hour before midnight and DH gave me his thumbs up for throwing a great party before dozing off. At the end of the day what makes me love throwing parties is the appreciation and rating of my DH at the end. His mother used to throw the best parties. I have big shoes to fill in.

Happy Birthday Papi! We love you. Hope you enjoyed your night.

Rushing Christmas 2

My centerpiece was just put together yesterday. I was thinking of using fresh flowers but with the prices going up I dont think I can keep on changing every 3 to 4 days in time for the parties we will be throwing. Mr. T bought me some wonderful long candles for my Tiffany candlestick however one started to bend and finally broke because of the humidity. Now I'm back using the old, reliable Liwanag Candles. The candy canes make a stunning sight with my capiz light.

Rushing Christmas

My DH has been bugging me to put up more Christmas decorations like tivoli lights outside for the past few weeks. I only had a Christmas tree that was set up on November 1. I am not so much into lighting up the whole house because of fires that usually occur around this time. I remember distinctly the fire that killed the daughter of JDV last Christmas. Well DH gave me the look and an ultimatum. The same night I worked on our front door. It took me 2 hours to set it up. I contracted someone to make paper parols for me. Paper parols are not commercially available anymore. You only see those ugly plastic parols. It just doesnt give you that Christmas feeling with plastic ones. The few days after I added more stuff to the Christmas tree and added parols at the lanai. I found candy canes that cost PHP75.00 a box of 12 at Candy Corner and purchased 10 boxes. Not bad for PHP750.00. I was thinking that this will be part of my Dessert Buffet Table. Now I don't regret adding more decor to the house to dress it up.

Must Have # 2

Must Have # 2 Canon EOS
I have been wanting to get one for the past 2 years. Louie Aguinaldo holds basic photography lessons when you purchase this camera. Guess I have to start saving up.

Frozen Brazo de Mercedes

I have finally gotten hold of this underground secret - frozen brazo de mercedes. My DH has been craving this ever since our cousin Mr. T told us about it. We got to try it at a friends place and DH was hooked.

Here it is. It looks like a baked alaska. We had it for dessert tonight. Can't wait to learn how to do this.

Must Have This Season

Here are my Must Have for this Season and my pursuit in purchasing them.

1. Instant Read Meat Thermometer

I have been looking for one for the longest time and was contemplating on just getting it online when lo and behold I found one at Rustan's. Yipee. Here is how to use it from Mareng Martha's website.

Instant-Read Thermometers

Take the guesswork out of cooking your Thanksgiving turkey and other roasted meats with one of these handy little tools.
How To Use It Insert the thermometer into the thickest part of the meat, avoiding any bones. Check periodically toward the end of cooking; do not leave the thermometer in the oven.
Beef/Lamb/Veal 125° to 135° for rare; 135° to 140° for medium; 150° for well-done and ground
Turkey 170° for breast and 180° for thigh
Chicken/Other Poultry 160° for boneless breasts; 165° for thighs and ground
Pork 150° for medium, and 160° for well-done and ground
.

My Masterpiece

My Kid has been going to an art school and has created an impressive collection of artwork. The Kid now knows about the Masters - Picasso, Monet, Cassatt, Pollock and the favorite Vincent Van Goat! I framed most of the Kid's artwork and hanged them around the house. Funny as the Kid has put a price on the exhibit ranging from PHP5.00 to $100.00 for anyone who is interested.

Travel Pictures

I'm usually the one behind the camera when DH, Kid and I travel. Here are some of the pictures I took of the landscape of places we visited.

These were just taken with my handy, dandy Sony Cyber-Shot. Next year I will be saving up for either a Sony SLR or a EOS.

4D Scans

On my 7th month my DH and Kid went to go for a 4DScan for our son. I have since then given and look back at the 4D scan to compare the way he looks. The verdict - yes it gives you a general idea of how your child will look like. No suprises. Here are two shots of my little boy. Here is another shot that DH took when I was delivering. So proud of DH as he was my rock on the two C sections I had. Check out how my doctor pulled him out

of my tummy. Look at that neck. Am so glad that the boy is out and doing so well. I had such a difficult pregnancy with this one. Almost had a close call when I caught pneumonia on my 5th month and was in labor for a week without me realizing. My uterine lining was paper thin like .45cm . One strong contraction and I would have opened up and bled. Then on the 8th month I was back in the hospital again for asthma this time. Imagine getting an xray while pregnant and taking steroids just to strengthen my lungs. First pregnancy was a different story. Was always in labor and checked in the hospital 3x. That is why during the operation I told DH that this would be the final pregnancy as I dont think my body will take another one again.

My Red Door

I love my Red Door. I love it when guests ask, "Where is the powder room", and I reply "The Red Door". The Red Door was salvaged from a garage sale that my good friend Auey had days before she migrated to the US. The door was not part of the sale but I offered to purchase it. The state of the door was repairable. We maintained the original color. We used automotive laquer paint to get the right red. The brass plate was black with years of dirt and after major elbow grease was able to get it to shine. Oh and did I mention that it is made of solid Yakal. It is so heavy that we used 4 heavy hinges to hold it up. Don't you just love that the door handle is in the middle. So different. My Red Door.

A Change of Blog Name

I was inspired to change the name of my blog to Mareng Stewart because of my SIL who called me this last Sunday. Mmmm, what an interesting name. Here are some pictures of my channeling Mareng este Martha Stewart.

Top picture was the Cupcake Tower monogrammed with the initial of my little boy made by good friend and baker extraordinaire Peachy Juban. She loved the idea that I gave her on how I wanted my cupcakes done. It was the first time that she monogrammed and will probably be using it again for other parties. The next day I made my own Red Velvet Cupcakes.

In my previous blog I mentioned about my love of Calla Lillies. I had 500 of these Lillies around the house and did some Jeff Leatham styling as recommended by Marketman. The picture on the left was our decor for my SIL birthday at our house. I also had a dry run for the Dalandan Topiary and Calamansi Topiary as well. I now have so much Dalandan Juice to consume.