You are Mine

15 August 2010.

Today is supposed to be a special day.

Odds and ends of thoughts race through my mind today.

A former officemate of mine passed away a couple of weeks ago.

She had been diagnosed with cancer last year before we left for Australia.

This song is playing in my head today.

Can I request for this to be played during my funeral mass?

YOU ARE MINE

by David Haas

I will come to you in the silence
I will lift you from all your fear
You will hear My voice
I claim you as My choice
Be still, and know I am near

I am hope for all who are hopeless
I am eyes for all who long to see
In the shadows of the night,
I will be your light
Come and rest in Me

Chorus
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine

I am strength for all the despairing
Healing for the ones who dwell in shame
All the blind will see, the lame will all run free
And all will know My name

Chorus
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine

I am the Word that leads all to freedom
I am the peace the world cannot give
I will call your name, embracing all your pain
Stand up, now, walk, and live

Chorus
Do not be afraid, I am with you
I have called you each by name
Come and follow Me
I will bring you home
I love you and you are mine

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For Whom the Bell Tolls

When we were young, carefree and unattached (as Mother likes to put it, describing the time when we were all unmarried and living together under one roof), we would ring the bell which hung on my study room table.

The bell itself was essentially just a bell. OK, there was some slight sentimental value to the bell because it was the giveaway at our JS Prom when I was a junior. But that was many, many years and one boyfriend ago.

Going back to ringing the bell. The bell would be rung to gather family members around the altar located in the study room, above Mindy's table, so that we could pray the family rosary together.

As the years passed, sadly this tradition ceased to continue. Father and Mother continue to pray their rosary at night but possibly because Cebu Avenue is practically an empty nest, ringing the bell is no longer part of the routine. People are welcome to join the rosary if they are around but there is no audible call to the occasion.

At our place in Makati, we used to have a bell, too. However, the purpose of the bell was different and it almost always got its job done. The bell was used to get people, mainly the children, to come downstairs for meals or for vitamins. We figured it was better than shouting each child's name to call for eating time.

I liked that bell. I wish I had packed it in our shipping box. It definitely knew how to serve its purpose. Of course any old bell would do if you really thought about it and were not very picky. (And yes, the old fashioned way of going up the stairs and calling the person would also work.) But I suppose I like to keep little bits and pieces of our past life alive. So when I saw a small bell on sale, I picked it up and bought it.

It isn't as fancy as our old 'eating time' bell and cannot be hung like my HS memento. In fact it is just one of those bells that look like something you'd find in school or something the ice cream man (mamang sorbetero) would be using. But I'm pleased with it because it has a nice ring to it and it gets the job done.

The other day, as the rice got cooked and the food was being placed on the table, I told RD to ring the bell.

"Why, Mom," he asked, "we're all here."

"It's to let people know that they should go to the dinner table already. You know how SOME people are," I said purposely, looking at GI as I said it.

RD dutifully rang the bell and it took GI ages to leave his computer and join the rest at table.

See what I mean?

So Full, Eh?

I thought that souffles were difficult to make but apparently they are not THAT hard to do. Since I was home for the day to make up for the half-day I spent at work last 02 August, I decided to try one of the recipes I had copied from a magazine.

When I mentioned at the dinner table that the souffle baking time was only 15-20 minutes, RD said, "That's not too bad. We can even make it on a weekday. Hey, it IS a weekday!"

I can't help but smile when I remember RD saying, "I don't think I can finish all this!" (only to show me his empty ramekin).

I do realize that I should be making savory, rather than sweet, souffles so these could be dinner rather than dessert. Maybe next time.

Hot Chocolate Souffle

(serves 6)

60 g butter

1/2 c (75 g) plain flour

300 ml milk

150 g dark chocolate melted

4 eggs, separated

2 t vanilla extract

1/2 c (110g) caster sugar

icing sugar, to dust

thickened cream, to serve

Preheat oven to 200ºC

Grease six 1-cup ramekins

Place on baking tray

Melt butter in saucepan on low heat

Stir in flour and cook 1 minute

Remove from heat and mix in milk

Return to medium heat, stir until sauce boils

Stir in chocolate and vanilla

Remove from heat

Cool slightly

Beat in egg yolks one at a time

Transfer to large bowl

Set aside to cool

Beat egg whites in large bowl until soft peaks

Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks form

Fold into chocolate mixture

(I ended up folding the chocolate into the beaten eggwhites)

Spoon into ramekins.

Bake 15 - 20 minutes until souffles rise

Dust with icing sugar

Serve with cream

Can you tell how happy MyGirl is with our souffle?

Unfortunately you can't appreciate what the souffle looks like

with all the whipped cream we put on top of it.

Amazing Clock

It is a bank holiday today so ... I had to go to work. (?!!)

You see, I was able to stay home the past few public holidays (Easter Monday - 5 April; Anzac Day holiday - 26 April; Queen's birthday - 14 June) so today was my turn to go to office. Previously, my other officemates had to 'man the shop.'

Fortunately, we are only supposed to report for half a day and they are not very strict about what time you arrive, as long as you are able to complete the work to be done. So although I was at Sydney before 9am, I decided to hang around the Queen Victoria Building and enjoy the sights and sounds there.

I waited for the Royal Clock to strike 9. I was hoping to see the moving display but unfortunately there wasn't any. (I still hope to catch it another time.)

As you can see in the picture above, it is exactly 9:00 am,

Monday the 2nd of the month.

Check out the ship located about on the lower left side of the photo below the number 31.

The ship is the clock's "second hand" and it takes a minute for it to go around the clock.

It is now 9:01 am. The ship has moved after a couple of seconds.

It is now between the numbers 2 and 3.

In spite the 'no show' of the clock display, I still feel that the visit to QVB was worth it.

I was able to see the dioramas around the clock. I was able to hear the bells ring nine times. I was able to see the discs around the clock rotate slowly. But most of all, I was able to see the ship that 'sailed' around the clock and completed its rotation in one minute's time.

Below are the first five of the fifteen dioramas. I have yet to find the other ten.

1/15 -- Aborigines before White settlement.

2/15 -- Captain Cook's landing 1770

3/15 -- Second Fleet Landing 1790

4/15 -- Crossing of the Blue Mountains 1813

5/15 -- The Taking of the Children

Fluffy Pancakes

My search is over.

The secret is ... self-raising flour.

I normally make pancakes from scratch but no matter how magnificent the picture is in the cookbook, the magazine or the internet, the final product is never quite as fluffy.

I like FLUFFY pancakes. I just do. (Of course the children are somewhat partial to the crepe-like pancakes. But that is another story.) The ones in the likes of Pancake House are always light and fluffy. Even McDonald's can make fluffier pancakes that I can. (Oh dear, I am taken back to McDonald's for breakfast. Hotcakes and hot chocolate. LIKE!)

Anyway, a couple of weeks back, an officemate of mine gave me a piece of her pancake. It was nice and fluffy ... and homemade. When I commented that her pancakes were extraordinary, she said it was so simple to do. She mentioned that she used self-raising flour AND baking soda.

So my quest (for fluffy pancakes from scratch) was revived. I said to myself, if she can do it, so can I.

I got this recipe off the internet and tried it out this morning.

FLUFFY PANCAKES

(Makes 10 x 11" pancakes)

1.5 c milk

2 t lemon juice

2T sugar

1.5 c self-raising flour

1/4 t baking soda

1 egg

1.5 T melted butter

Combine milk, lemon juice and sugar. Set aside for 5 minutes.

Combine flour and baking soda in a large bowl.

Add egg and melted butter to the milk mixture . Whisk to combine.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk until almost smooth.

(Do not over beat. Leave batter a little lumpy.)

Let batter sit about 2 minutes while preheating a non-stick pan.

Scoop 1/4 c of batter and spread to make 11".

Cook until bubbles burst (about 2 minutes).

Flip and cook the other side (about 1 minute).

I LOVED IT!

My next experiment would be to see if this recipe would work as well without the secret ingredient. You know ... 1 cup of self-raising flour = 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 t baking powder + 1/2 t salt + 1/4 t baking soda.

Yes, I know I said that my search is over ... but that doesn't mean I stop experimenting. Don't worry, if my experiment fails, then you can expect self-raising flour to be added to our regular grocery list.