Monday, April 28, 2008

Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies


There was a birthday celebration at the office last week and the catering was just super. As expected, birthday cakes abounded as gifts but everybody raved at the caramel cake from Estrel's.

I craved for it since then. So this afternoon after my trip to the salon, we headed to Scout Tobias, Quezon City with all the intention of buying a cake.

But to my disappointment, there was no cake available anymore at Estrel's. Everything on display were pre-ordered and all their buffer stocks for the day were already sold out. It was only around two in the afternoon mind you.


Hubby and daughter at Estrel's Caramel Cakes bakeshop.

Estrel's Caramel Cakes along Scout Tobias, Quezon City.

My daughter settled for the chocolate chip walnut cookies on the shelf so we bought some. And it was a good thing we did! Delicious. Not overly sweet, not too hard. The taste of the chocolate cookie and the walnut are distinct and they complement each other. This cookie is at par, if not better, than Mrs. Fields.

These cookies saved our afternoon craving for some good snack. :D

For some more weekend snapshots, you may visit here.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Banana Smoothie


My daughter likes watching and listening to Nat and Alex Wolf of The Naked Brothers Band. This band became popular through the tweens channel, Nickelodeon. I have asked and have researched why the band is named such, that story will come in other posts.

One of the brothers' favorite is banana smoothie. Seeing the banana in our kitchen, my daughter had this brilliant idea of making us some banana smoothie last Saturday just after lunch.

Get the chopping board. Take a picture of the banana for posterity.

Slice them using the spatula.

Put them in the blender with one teaspoon of vanilla, 4-oz milk and some ice. Blend for a minute.

Voila...banana smoothie in seven minutes or thereabouts. I have to make a quick check if we are doing the right thing. Just to be sure since this Mommy is not an expert on anything about the kitchen (but tries really hard).

Successful with the banana smoothie according to my dear daughter. :)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Fruity Dinner


We did our grocery in the afternoon and as always, every first week of the month I buy the latest issue of Yummy Magazine. I was browsing the magazine while going around the supermarket. I fancied the Chunky Chicken Salad recipe so I picked up all the ingredients for it. That's how amateur I am. I need a reference even for a simple dish. We had an impromptu chicken salad for dinner.

One thing that made me decide to prepare this already is the salad greens. Though they're packed and has shelf-life, I'm afraid they will get wilted in no time if I keep them in the refrigerator.



Here's the complete recipe lifted from Yummy magazine (I don't know why Yummy Mag has no website. They only have this.):
1/2 kilo chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1 piece red apple, cubed
1 piece green apple, cubed
1 stalk celery, diced
1/4 cup roasted walnut
1/4 kilo seedless grapes

For the dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup all-purpose cream
2 teaspoons all-in-one seasoning granules
salt, sugar, pepper to taste
grated cheddar cheese as garnish

This makes six to eight servings. Very easy to prepare as the ingredients only has to be combined. No sweat. It was really filling.

We had the salad together with papaya and some more apples. I believe we will often have dinners like this.




You may want to see what others has for their weekend snapshots. :)