TGIF! I couldn’t wait for the last minute to clock out and step away from my work station. After a day’s work, I finally got the chance to enjoy the rest of the day. I have nothing fancy or any sort of planned revelry to do, simply “me time” is all I want. I don’t even care to open the TV or go out to shop. I’m glad the kids are out with their dad at a school tournament (yay!) it’s really nice to have an extended solitary moment (as of this writing).

I realize that ever since I started working at home some few years ago, I seldom speak to anyone face to face. I communicate alright, but it’s either through email, webinars, brief phone calls, or text_ and occasionally, when there’s mandatory meeting that I need to attend to meet with our team and that’s it.  Even at the webinars, when you have 200 to 500 people in WebEx, chat is the best way to raise your hand or it will be chaotic if the host will un-mute all participants, and yes that’s how we do our seminars nowadays.

What about talking in cellphones? Hmm, yes I do talk to my friends… but rarely! why? Coz smart phones fell off from heaven. The unbelievable apps in my iphone, the imessaging with unlimited texts, FB app, bible app, blogging app, calorie app, name it and iphone has an application for everything, ever heard of iFart app? Sheesh, the phone can even speak for you! All in the name of itouch, it can change the world.

Although this post is not about any apps, all I’m saying is that technology today can silence the world (literally). When we were kids acting like chatterbox and annoyingly loud, my mom would tell us about her prudent character; on how she could tally in her ten fingers the total words she uttered in a day. I always thought it was impossible in those times but I guess I can do the same thing now with my handheld and all these gadgets.

Simply put, I hear my voice less these days because I speak not through my mouth; I let my fingers do the talking just like how I communicate with you right now.

It’s Monday morning, the back of my legs are cramped from what seemed to be an endless walk we had yesterday at the beach shore with family and friends. Interestingly, it looks like I had a dreamless rest overnight, perhaps due to exhaustion from the previous day. I woke up half past my usual waking hour. It’s my day off at work and I wanted to spend extra time on bed to enjoy a chance for reflection. I’m grateful to the Lord my God for all the blessings I receive, for the friends and family whom I cherish, and for another day to experience my creator.

Yesterday was also the last day that our Lady stayed in our home. The presence of “Our Lady of Fatima” is a good way to bring our entire family praying together. Even though our family prays daily in our meal table, contemplating on the Life of Christ through the mysteries of the rosary is a beautiful way to engage our Lord in our family life. Our Mother Mary has a knack of bringing her children together to worship the Holy Trinity. Jesus Christ brought us the Kingdom of heaven and our Holy Mother is so watchful, making sure we always remember and live our Christian lives to the fullest.

Photo Credit: St.AndrewChurch Supply.com

My fervent admiration to our Mother has become extraordinary lately, I begged her to pray with me these past few weeks and she did; after all, she is the favored one, blessed among us whom the Father had chosen among women. I had a fascinating experience this morning as I was talking to Mary the Mother of God during my morning reflection, all of a sudden, the image and name of St. Ambrose continues to appear at the back of my mind. So then, after I ended my morning prayers and reflection, I took my laptop and searched for St. Ambrose as I have no idea who he was except that he’s a saint.

Who is St. Ambrose?  I had goosebumps for sure while reading his works and biography. St. Ambrose was the first doctor of the church. He was the ”Patron of the Veneration of Mary”. During his time, St Ambrose took charge of the church like how a mother cares for her child. “He was fastidious in overseeing that any emperor, high official in government, or other members of churches, would not interfere with his responsibilities as leader of the church. He protected the church as a mother would her infant, watching over it with zealous and solicitous concern and always uplifting his own members by his ever-watchful eyes”  __ I really believe that our Lady wanted me to know about St. Ambrose. I had no clue about him but now I do what an amazing experience of prayer today!

As Jesus Christ revealed His Father to us and His Kingdom, He also gave us the gift of Mary as our mother at the crucifixion when our Lord present her to John. “Woman, this is your son,” and “This is your mother.” The Church understood this  very quickly; as how St. Ambrose and the Church Fathers understood.

The sequence of events did not end there. The day is still young and when I opened my Facebook, Dr. Scott Hahn‘s article about our Mother is stunning. I thought it is worth sharing:

Happy Birthday Mappytimes!

Did you know that the New York Times is approaching its 161st year anniversary in a few months? But that’s not the reason why I’m celebrating; it’s about the first year “blogoversary” of Mappytimes, Yay! I began sharing my thoughts on WP on July 16, 2011 to be exact. However, I’m kind of late on my anniversary post. The anticipation to post on the precise date was completely overlooked as I was obliged by duty to accomplish the menial yet chief tasks any mother must do.

WordPress…filling the void

I do wear many hats; motherhood is only one of those colorful hats I love to wear. I am busy, yet here I am thrilled on the opportunity to engage with technology during my spare time. I can’t help but to ponder on the things I’ve posted since this blog started. The impetus for starting this blog stems from the fact that my very first blog was taken away into oblivion. The first one I created in 2007 through Friendster site had fallen to extinction. I thought of mentioning just because I’m still bitter about it, or perhaps at least, “from historical standpoint” of this topic.

What’s with the blog name?

MT is of course short for Mappy Times which ended a one word. I have a NY Times app in my phone and one day, my ambitious whim questioned the paper’s title_ what if it’s called Mappy Times, where everything in the news is all about me? (Pardon my narcissistic delusion) :) and yes I can do that, hence the blog name was born. “A glance at my wandering thoughts” was the concept I considered staging in my header, just to give my readers a hint of what they can expect here. I prefer to include anything that founts from my ramblings rather than concentrate in the area of cooking alone or any particular hobby that I know about. I also include personal musing as well as photography stints.

Thanks!

A year of blogging is just a beginning. Whilst I can never consider myself as one of the best bloggers in the blogosphere, I am indulging with delight from all the pleasantries I received with your comments and the steady stream of the fabulous viewers. Being featured twice at “freshly pressed” gave me a flare of motivation to continue with this adventure. In a few days, reaching the 10K hits is another milestone I anticipate. There’s a prevailing sentiment within me about this joyful accomplishment. Thanks to all my readers and subscribers, without you, what’s the point of the writer investing his/her time on a blog?

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Celebration calls for a cake, but since I already prepared brioche dough sitting in my fridge, I decided to use it as my celebration cake Try making this for breakfast or snack, it’s worth it.

Direction:

Combine 1 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt. Heat milk, water and shortening until very warm (120º to130ºF). Gradually add to dry ingredients. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in mashed potato, whole eggs and 1 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Meanwhile, add the crumbled feta cheese to 1 cup flour and process in a food processor to mix very well, then, combine with the rest of the flour. Stir this flour mixture to make a stiff batter. Detach dough hook and cover dough plus hook loosely with plastic wrap; refrigerate 2 hours. Remove from fridge and add the 3 egg yolks, stir setting on the mixer. Remove hook from the dough this time and cover loosely again with plastic then refrigerate for 1 or up to 22 hours.

When ready to bake, sprinkle your work surface generously with flour. Grease your hands and place the dough on the work surface. Sprinkle the dough generously with flour anywhere it is sticky, and divide using dough cutter into three portions. Degas by pressing with your palms or rolling pin and shape into a rectangle about 8 inches by 10 inches.

Apply softened butter on the rectangular dough except 1/2 inch from edges. Roll from the long side to form a log. Using dough cutter, swiftly cut at intervals of 1-1/2 inches. Place on greased baking sheet cut side up, 1 inch apart. Alternatively, you may use brioche molds (5-inch diameter) sprayed with butter flavored oil. (This whole recipe will yield 3 logs, 8-9 rolls each. A log can be frozen by wrapping tightly in cling wrap. When ready to use, thaw in room temperature for 15 minutes before slicing, then let rise for about 2 hrs to 3 hrs or until doubled).

Brush with melted butter, and cover with greased plastic to rise for 30 minutes to one hour (depends on how warm your environment is) until doubled in size.

Bake at 350ºF for 12-15 minutes or until done and golden light brown. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack for about 30 minutes or until completely cool.

The result of my brioche was amazingly soft and perfect, in the Philippines, this is called “Ensaymada” but it’s hard to get a super soft recipe like this one. Credit goes to Bukisa.com for this wonderful recipe.

Sticky Buns

THANK YOU WORDPRESS!!!

THIS HAS BEEN “FRESHLY PRESSED” and MY SECOND TIME ON BEING FEATURED IN ONE YEAR I AM LOVING THE MOMENT!…

I have a dream…and it finally came true! I always wanted to bake cinnamon buns in the morning and eat it freshly baked. For some reason, I feel intimidated on how it is prepared, processed, and baked, thus no challenge was ever done. Hah! gone are the days of staring at my recipe book that has a photo that sometimes urge me to go to a Cinnabon store. The past weeks have surely turned our oven busy. Baking is in the air :)

Making sticky bun is quite a task but it’s worth your every sweat ( if you live in a warm place that is). The proverbial phrase of “virtuous patience” truly fits the wait. I began with this task around 3pm one Sunday afternoon and enjoyed its goodness the next morning. The unforgettable sweet aroma that filled our kitchen was enough to inspire me in making it again in the future.

The recipe:

One thing I am not or have not done so far was to follow a recipe in a strict manner. In this recipe, I combined 3 recipes from different sources. The dough recipe was taken from Alton Brown http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/overnight-cinnamon-rolls-recipe/index.html the filling and goo or glaze was from Bobby Flay http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/sticky-buns-recipe/index.html and some tips from my good housekeeping recipe book.

I followed the video instruction of Mr.Alton brown in making the dough.

Flatten the dough with the rolling pin as wide as it can get. One helpful tip that I want to share is using a parchment paper or wax paper underneath. It saved me from tedious clean up afterwards.  After flattening it, I spread butter on top of it and then sprinkle a mixture of 1 tbsp cinnamon, white granulated sugar, toasted pecan nuts (grounded in small bits).  

Roll the dough carefully and slightly pinch the end together to seal the edge.

This roll yielded 10 slices.

The sliced rolls will sit in this glaze with walnuts (see recipe from Bobby Flay link). It will be kept in the fridge overnight until it swell enough and ready to bake. (Notice the color of walnuts, I rarely see red walnuts and got it from our local grocery store. )

The next morning, this is the pleasant surprise when I opened the fridge

I baked this for 30 minutes at 350○

.

It was sweet, chewy, gooey and perfect for a hot cup of coffee, but the best part is sharing it with your beloved .

Yes, we are still in the baking mode! One night my oldest daughter made a comment, “mom we should bake our daily bread since we eat lots of those” my response was a resounding, “Yes why not?” That was the beginning of an inspiration for the love of baking. She started devouring with my baking encyclopedia, trying to find a recipe for everyday bread. I keep reminding her that just a plain white  loaf is a good starting point but she insisted on making the plaited bread because it looks fancy…and so the experiment set out..

Plaited loaf recipe requires the following ingredients:

1 packet active dry yeast, 1 tsp honey, 250 ml lukewarm milk, 2 oz melted butter, 1 tsp salt, 1 egg lightly beaten, 15 oz strong flour (we used Pillsbury bread flour), egg yolk and milk for glaze.

The little hand is now mixing the honey into the mixture, with matching cool nail polish

Honey

next is the melted butter

incorporating the melted butter

The recipe calls for strong flour, I learned that it’s another name for bread flour.

The strong flour

Now the wet mixture is now incorporated to the flour and gradually mixed together.

Go girls.. work it out!…yeah got to have those gloves, it’s really messy out there.

kneading the dough for braiding

After the plaiting, tucking and waiting for some few hours for the dough to rise, it was baked at 375 F for 45 minutes. According to the book it should look like this!

The happy bakers looks really happy with the fruit of their labor while mommy takes photo all the way to…the end.

My Happy Bakers

It’s summer time! The kids are ready to explore anything including everything about kitchen activities. My girls included my baking books in their summer readings (seriously!) and eager to try their hands on the recipes I haven’t tried myself. Recently, my weighing scale is not a friend anymore (actually, it hates me for a while now). Oh well, I’m sure it will haunt me sooner, but for now let the fun remain.

My two little chefs gets excited like I do when we pick a new recipe to try. I can sense that my girls love baking and cooking. The fact that it’s a messy business is not at all a problem since we all do our share in the process from preparation to clean-up.  Actually, it’s really tiring but in the end, the hubby will end up cleaning our mess now, that fulfills the fun in our household. Two weeks ago, we decided to bake a blackberry cobbler. It’s so easy to make and the fact that raspberries are in season at this time, there’s no perfect time to bake it than now. The next day, we baked the same thing. I have to warn you, it’s addicting.

Blackberry Cobbler

We begin by picking fresh blackberries…oh wait, we don’t have it in our backyard, so just find the nearest farmer’s market and that’s the best you can do.

Fresh from the farmer’s market

The recipe calls for 1 stick melted butter (microwave if for a few seconds). I used 1 cup of half & half milk or you can use any milk you have in the fridge.

milk and melted butter

Flour mixture include 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup sugar (set aside some for sprinkling on top before baking), 1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder, and half tsp salt. Mix all the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients together. Pour in the round baking dish, distribute the berries evenly and sprinkle some sugar on top as shown on the picture. Bake in 350• temp for 50 mins.

Sprinkle sugar

Here’s for your delight, the freshly baked, crisp blackberry cobbler..

Sweetness!

Pair the warm pie with a scoop of black raspberry ice cream and it’s a perfect combination!

Ice cream and pie

The best compliment a cook can get is an empty plate. Happy eats!

Peach Cobbler

       We were at Walmart the following week and we saw some tempting peaches in the produce section. It was cheap, fresh and sweet. We bought a lot that we got tired of eating it plain. I thought of making peach cobbler of course. My two assistants are always ready to roll when it comes to baking goodies. We did the same preparation like we had in making the blackberry cobbler. I got the recipe online and one that’s famous was from the pioneer woman.com.

Here it is:

Peach Cobbler

The process, ingredients and instructions of baking are similar with the blackberry cobbler as I explained in the opposite photo.

The best thing about any warm pie is topping it off with ice cream. Mango ice cream and a dollop of whip cream as my youngest recommends.

It’s late in the afternoon and I was busy looking for my ice cream dasher. The promise to make a home-made ice cream for my kids is long overdue and my little one is getting impatient. I keep looking everywhere for that mixer but I end up finding old stuff that I am happy to see anyway. One of the unexpected finds was the box of Kitchenaid grater and slicer set. I opened the box with excitement just like the first time I received it from my husband. It was his present to me a few years ago to ease my daily cooking task and yet I never had a chance to use it.

Unaware of the time, my kids and hubby started to chorus about what’s for dinner. I took a bunch of potatoes from the fridge and started testing the vegie slicer and I was like a kid having a blast with the new-found gadget. The result was awesome and since I got a bowl full of sliced potatoes, I thought of making Au Gratin.

Peeled Potatoes – Since I did not plan what to cook for dinner tonight, I really didn’t care if this is the good kind of potatoes for Au Gratin.

Slicer attachment

Meet my slave…the Kitchenaid and its new attachment. Who needs a maid?

Awesomeness!

The thickness of the slices are just perfect!

1st layer

So I buttered the baking dish. The one on the photo is the first layer. It was simply a layer of potato slices, salt, pepper to taste, and topped it with mixed shredded cheese (mozarella, jack, and cheddar). Meanwhile, I sauteed some minced garlic and chopped onions in a pan and spread it evenly on each layer.

2nd Layer

After toping the next layer with sautéed garlic and onion. I repeat the procedure of the first layer, adding cheese, salt, and pepper to taste and a little dash of nutmeg (be careful not to err on it). Afterwards, I added equal parts of low-fat milk as well as heavy cream. I kind of ballpark the measuring of milk and cream, the idea is to not let the potatoes swim in the liquid or else it will be too watery. Probably just enough to soak the 1st layer but not quite..being careful not make it too mushy.

Voila!

Not bad for a first timer!…first time to use the kitchenaid slicer and first time to try this recipe.

Yeah, spoon it with pride!

Cheers to the hungry birds!

I tell you, it was really yummy. Well, my family said it.. and the proof is on the empty dish. It was delightfully creamy! The texture was chewy yet you can feel the crispy edge of the potatoes. I baked it uncovered for about 45 minutes at 400°  and on the last 7 minutes, I changed it to 450°  to brown the top at a faster rate. The only thing I forgot to include are the seasoned bread crumbs (which I don’t have anyway) so It must have been better for a more textured effect.

Happy eats!

Some facts I wanted to share: Poppy is California’s state flower. It was selected as the state flower by the California State Floral Society in December 1890, winning out over the Mariposa lily and the Matilija poppy by a landslide, but the state legislature did not make the selection official until 1903. Its golden blooms were deemed a fitting symbol for the Golden State. April 6 is designated California Poppy Day (see wiki). Wearing of poppies was once a custom in the United States as well, and attempts have been made to revive the tradition in the US in connection with Memorial Day (end of May).

No wonder this flower was chosen for the Golden State. Although it comes in different colors, its golden color fit the State’s title. We were at the golf course around mid afternoon and you can imagine how bright it was at the time of the day but glad that it was a breezy afternoon. If I was not wearing shades, the vibrant reflection that almost like the sun rays, would have hurt my eyes. Ok, it was an exaggeration but at least you get my point on the simile.

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Beautiful flowers of May

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Living in the fullness of life is what makes our life worth living. It is not about the hardship; this is what gives us endurance. It is not about poverty; poverty makes us human. It is not all about money; money is just a tool for making things easier. It’s not about just getting rich; nobody cares about those who are in the millionaire’s list. It’s not all about our job titles; our job is to make a difference in the lives of others. These thoughts will occur if we have a time to reflect and contemplate. Turning off the “noise button” of life will help us understand why things are just the way it is. I guess my point is that we allow things to happen because these are part of the elements of life. However, the proverbial saying (which my mom used to tell me) will always echo in our hearts and minds…”Life is what you make it”.

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Let’s begin the tour at the 17-mile drive. First, we paid an entrance fee of about $9.75 (I guess that’s per car). We were not really sure what to expect. So we paid a fee therefore, it gave me a hunch that it is worth driving the area otherwise, why charge? So a welcome sign greeted us at the gate and the friendly staff gave us a brochure/map of the area.

Driving the 17 Mile Drive in California

The brochure tells us that there are 21 scenic views to enjoy. The Huckleberry Hill is one of those. It was colorful and beautiful.

The Huckleberry Hill

Here’s one of the many stops we did, enjoying the color of the sea.

Pebble Beach

My daughter didn’t want to go home. She really appreciate the beauty of nature which she rarely see in her normal routine.

My daughter enjoying the breeze and the little waves brushing off her feet

Sandy Feet

My two Hijas

delightful

This deer runs free, not bothered by the passers-by. Such an amazing thing to see.

A Deer graciously stopped having his fill and posed for a picture.

I think this is one of the most Spectacular views. How grand and regal this lone Cypress Tree is..standing alone with pride.

The Lone Cypress Tree

The colors are so natural, the sound of breeze so peaceful, and the sight is so powerful, enough to calm a troubled soul.

Deep blue sea

As we drive along the road, a helicopter was circling around the area we were at. At first we just ignored it but after driving a few more miles we could hear an announcement from above and so we opened the window but it was starting to fade and we just continue to the gas station. While my hubby was filling the tank, here comes again the chopper and this time it was lower and louder. It did get the attention of all the motorists. I tried to listen but all I heard was the last part saying “call 911!!”

I saw my husband talking to this muscular guy wearing a green shirt who was putting gas in his bike. It appears that this guy was asking my husband on what the announcement was all about. After a few seconds, my hubby hurriedly drove us off the scene. I asked him, “what was going on with the chopper?” and he said they are alerting the people that if they see a guy wearing a green shirt and driving a bike, call 911 immediately. I gasped and looked back at the gas station. My husband and I cracked up and he said, “I know right! I thought so too but I don’t think it’s him, he was clueless and looks like he just got up from bed..oh and the race description does not fit him… I thought that was hilarious!