The Year We Stayed Home

Nobody could have imagined that 2020 would be anything like the year that has passed.    

We knew that something was amiss at the start of the year.  The virus in China was big news but at the time it seemed to be akin to the news about the Australian bushfires, Indonesian floods, or Philippine volcanic eruption.  We prayed for the people directly affected and hoped that the disaster and its aftermath would end soon.  However COVID-19 proved to be much more serious than anyone could have imagined.

When we were first mandated to work from home in March, we thought it was going to be a temporary thing. It soon became clear that temporary was not just 'a couple of weeks' but more like 'several months,' and as the year comes to a close,  there is still no clear end in sight.

RD and MyGirl did online classes for most of the year.  RD hardly stepped out of the house and actually stayed indoors for over a month during the height of the lockdown.  MyGirl did her regular walks around the block and in the nearby areas.  MacGyver did not have the work from home option so he was out more than most of us.

The lockdown and empty shelves were not something we expected.   Thank goodness things moved slowly away from that extreme.  There was a gradual easing of the restrictions.  Shops re-opened and mass services resumed.  For the church, at the onset they allowed 10 people inside the church, then 50, then 130.  By the 3rd week of Advent, they had increased the number to 250.  

We were looking forward to hearing mass in person on Christmas Day.  Then boom!  There were 18 cases reported at the Northern Beaches.  They changed the restrictions to limit the number of visitors in a household to 10.  That meant that we could not have our usual Christmas Day gathering in one house.

Not only did we have split operations at the office, we needed to have split operations at home for our Christmas gatherings.  The adults were in one house and the kids were in another.

Christmas and New Year's are only a week apart, and yet in that short span of time, the restrictions changes.  The government further reduced the number of visitors for New Year's Eve to five.  That meant that even the split gathering we had done on Christmas Eve would not be allowed for New Year's.

Ever since we arrived here, we have always spent New Year's Eve with the extended family.  Back in Manila, New Year's Eve was always spent at Project 7.  This is the first year we will be spending a relatively quiet New Year's Eve on our own.

Despite all that has happened, we are still thankful for the year that has passed.  It seems surreal to think that for a time people were mandated to wear masks or forced to stay at home, that we stopped shaking hands and walking side-by-side with friends, that we could no longer share an umbrella with a stranger or offer to carry someone else's grocer.  I still find it strange not being able to help the elderly cross the street or offer assistance to someone else's child if they fell down.   

2020 has made us all stop and appreciate many things that we have taken for granted.  It has made us more aware of the people around us and reminded us that truly no man is an island.  

Hopefully 2021 will be a better year for everyone.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Precious Commodities

I caught Mother and Slash-M on Skype last Tuesday.  It was the first day of my leave so I was just chilling and trying to get some things done in the kitchen.  

Z and Liana popped into the screen so I called MyGirl over so that we could take a screenshot with our daughters.   When I sent it out to the family, my caption indicated "with our bunso daughters" (bunso  means youngest.)  Z is the youngest of Mother's eight daughters but Liana and MyGirl are unica hijas (only girls).  

Mindy's reaction was that daughters are precious commodities in our family.  It is true, all the girls in MyGirl's generation on our side of the family are unica hijas.  

I hope the cousins are able to form tight bonds with each other or are able to find good 'sisters' among their girlfriends because I don't know how it is to be an unica hija but I am 100% sure that having a good sister is definitely a blessing.

A Dash of Love

 "The most indispensable ingredient of all good home cooking : love for those you are cooking for."  

                            -Sophia Loren

MJ came over for RD's birthday today.  RD had planned out what they were going to cook and bake for dinner.  We were going to have fettuccine carbonara and coffee cloud.

MJ brought flowers (and the "00" flour for the pasta).  

MyGirl and I sat on the stools behind the counter and took front row seats to watch the two of them make pasta from scratch, make coffee cloud, then prepare the carbonara sauce. 

Dinner was served at 7PM.  The kransky followed at 7:20PM because we forgot to cook them while the sauce was being prepared.

We all enjoyed the company and the food.

Thanks for coming over, MJ!

Beautiful fettuccine nests waiting to get cooked.

Flowers on the foreground.

You can see what was left of the coffee cloud (on the left)

and the flour (on the right).

We had one happy birthday boy.

Ube Leche Flan Cake

Ube Leche Flan Cake.  The name on its own is enough to make you want to grab a fork.

We have been making leche flan in the instant pot ever since I had discovered how easy it was to make it there.  It is so easy that every time MacGyver gets several trays of eggs, he always hints that he would love to see those eggs converted to leche flan.

I try not to make it too often so we have not had leche flan in a while.  Then I saw the someone post pictures of ube leche flan cake on FB.  Hhmmmm...although I dislike getting my hands all purple when handling ube extract, I was sure that MacGyver would love it if I tried to make this.  

After going through several recipes, I concluded that it might not be too difficult to make.  Our initial test run in November was a success that I wanted to make it for Christmas.

The reviews were quite good but the ultimate compliment came from GI.  

At lunch today, as RD was looking for dessert, we said that we had brought home some biko and cassava cake from the Christmas dinner gathering.   

GI called out, "Is there any ube leche flan left?"

I replied, "No.  Dad had the last slice last night."

GI replied, "It was soooo good."

RD relayed, "Yeah, last night when Kuya tasted it he said that it was better than the leche flan from the other night."

GI added, "And then I asked who made it?  Tita MiSquared?" 

I have to say, I was tickled pink. (Thank you GI.  You have made my Christmas.)  The term "pumapalakpak ang tainga"  came to mind when I heard the story because MiSquared is our resident expert cook and dessert maker.  To be placed in her ranks is an honour.  

Ube Leche Flan Cake
 (use 8" or 9" round pan) 

Caramel Layer

3/4 c sugar
1/2 c water

Leche Flan

6 egg yolks
1 c condensed milk
1/2 c cream
1/4 c milk
1 t vanilla extract

Cake

4 egg yolks 
1/3 c sugar
1/4 c oil
1/4 c milk
1 t vanilla extract
2 t ube extract
1 c all purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt 

4 egg whites
1/2 t vinegar
1/3 c sugar

Instructions 

1. Make the caramel layer.  Choose one of the two options.

  a. Use the microwave.  Place sugar and water in oven-safe and microwave safe container. Microwave for 2 to 4 minutes until light amber in colour.  (Check after 2 minutes and set timer 30 seconds at a time to ensure caramel does not burn. Remove from microwave before caramel gets too dark because it will continue to cook as it cools.)

  b. Use stove top.  Place sugar in round pan that can be heated over the stove.  (No need to add water.)  Heat the sugar in the pan over low heat until the sugar melts. Swirl pan to distribute melting sugar. Remove pan from heat when sugar turns golden brown.  Allow to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 350F.

3. Make the flan layer

  Combine egg yolks and condensed milk in a medium bowl. Add cream, milk, and vanilla. 
  Set aside.

4.  Make the ube chiffon cake layer

  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the yolks and sugar until the colour is lighter and mixture is bubbly.   Add the oil, milk, vanilla extract and ube extract. Stir well. Sift flour and baking powder into the egg mixture.   Whisk to beat until lump-free and smooth.  Set aside.

  In a medium bowl, beat egg whites until frothy.  Add vinegar and beat until soft peaks form.  Add sugar 2 T at a time and continue to beat until egg whites form stiff peaks. 

  Fold in about 1/4 of the egg whites into the yolk mixture and combine to lighten the batter.  Fold in the rest in two or three additions until the mixture is uniform in colour.

5. Assemble the cake

  Pour in the flan over the caramel.
  Gently pour the cake batter over the flan.
  Tap pan lightly against the counter.

6.  Bake the cake.  Choose one of the two options.

 a) Place the cake in a water bath and bake at 350F for 55-60 minutes until the top of the cake is golden brown.  

 b) Bake for 25 minutes until cake is set and springy to touch.

7.  Serve the cake

  To unmold, gently run a knife along the edge of the pan.  
  Place a rimmed serving plate on top of the cake pan and quickly invert the cake onto the plate.  
  Allow to cool.  Chill before serving. 

Warm Hugs and Hot Chocolate for Christmas

Merry, Merry, Merry Christmas!

Still a Bit Puzzled

Growing up, my siblings and I would complete puzzles for fun.  The activity provided us children with some bonding time and I suppose it gave our parents some peace and quiet.  

Fortunately, Mother would be nice enough to get the puzzles framed when we were done.  These framed puzzles would then be put up on the wall like certificates of completion.

We had a lot of nice puzzles.  (If you search on "puzzled" in the blog, you will find them.)

During one of the garage sales here, I picked up this puzzle because I just found it so adorable.  Plus, I wanted to replace a picture that was hanging in the downstairs bathroom wall that came with the place when we purchased the house.

Then COVID-19 hit and as you may know, we ended up doing puzzles at the height of the lockdown.  I found a puzzle of the world map on FB Marketplace and after it was completed, I wanted to put it up.  It would be a two-fold reminder of Cebu Avenue  since we had a big world map in the study room and we had lots of puzzles around the house.

We purchased a second hand frame for it but the glass broke as we attempted to frame the puzzle.  MacGyver got a plastic roll and we cut up a rectangle to act as a pseudo frame cover.  After a bit of tucking and taping, we managed to put up the map.

Unfortunately, since the plastic cover was not rigid, the plastic would sag and the puzzle would lean forward.  We would smoothen out the puzzle once in a while to make sure the pieces would stay in place, but at a certain point, several puzzle pieces got displaced and if we wanted to retrieve the fallen piece to complete the puzzle, we'd have to disassemble the whole thing.  At about the same time, I chanced upon a Christmas themed puzzle on Marketplace.  

I fell in love with this puzzle despite the missing piece.   This was the picture that was posted on FB.   Fortunately the missing piece is not smack in the middle of the puzzle.

 I reported to the office on the 15th of December and met up with the seller during my lunch break.  Even if I knew we were unlikely to complete the puzzle this Christmas season, I figured with a Christmas puzzle in the same size as the map puzzle (50 cm x 70 cm), we could have different puzzles on the wall at different times of the year.  With this in mind, I was resolved to buy a decent frame for the puzzle.

I found one at K-Mart the next weekend.  I was hoping to install the puzzle in the new frame during the week and surprise MacGyver before coming home from work, but as it turns out, I was the one surprised at how difficult it was to disassemble the old frame.  

In the end, MacGyver and MyGirl worked on the installation.  

I could not resist taking some photos of them as they worked.   These are special father-and-daughter moments.

There were two pictures stuck on the wall.  The old frame was hung against these two picture frames which we thought were glued to the wall because the wall had been painted AROUND them.

MacGyver managed to pry the pictures out and install a hook on the wall to hang the new frame.

So now we have a better view of the world.

The Only Apple Pie Recipe You Need

I had to see it to believe it.  I wanted to know if it was true.  Was Natasha Kravchuk telling the truth?  Was this really the only apple pie recipe I needed?   

I followed the recipe, and I must say, it was the most impressive apple pie I have ever baked.

I highly recommend natashaskitchen.com.  

Double Pie Crust Recipe

2 1/2 c flour

1/2 T sugar

1/2 t salt

1 c cold butter cut into cubes

7-8 T ice cold water

Combine flour, sugar and salt in a bowl.

Cut in butter.  Mixture should be dry and powdery.

Add 7 T of water.  If dough sticks together when a piece of dough is placed between your fingertips, then there is enough water. 

Do not add too much water or the dough will be too sticky and it will be difficult to work with. 

Do not expect the dough to be smooth.

Do not knead the dough.  Do not overwork the dough.

Divide dough in half and flatten to form 2 disks.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour before using.

Apple Pie Filling

4T butter

1 1/2 T flour

2 T water

1/4 c sugar

6-7 Granny Smith apples (2 1/4 lbs)  peeled, halved and cored 

1 1/2 t cinnamon

Melt butter in a saucepan.

Whisk in flour and cook for about a minute.

Add water and sugar.  Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and allow to simmer about 3 minutes, whisking constantly.

Slice the apples thinly to make about 7 cups.

Sprinkle with cinnamon. Toss to combine.

Pour caramel sauce over apples and mix gently to coat.

Preheat oven to 425F

Roll out bottom crust on a lightly floured surface to a 12" diameter circle.

Transfer to a 9" pie plate.

Add apple mixture, mounding slightly at the center.

Be careful not to get any filling on the edges so crust can seal properly.

Roll out second crust to 11" diameter circle and cut into 10 even slices.

The odd numbered slices would cross over the even numbered slices to form a lattice pattern, starting with the ones in the middle, working towards the edge.

Crimp the edges over and seal.

Brush top with egg wash made of an egg beaten with 1 T of water.

Bake at 425F for 15 minutes then reduce temperature to 350F and continue baking for another 45 minutes until the apples are soft and the filling is bubbling through the vents.

Let rest for 1 hour before serving. 

(Sugar alert  : Compared to the original recipe, I halved the caramel sauce recipe and further reduced the sugar but kept the number of apples.  I mistakenly made the eggwash with a tablespoon of sugar instead of a tablespoon of water.  No wonder the top crust was extra yummy.)

The Empty Chair

The number of times I have reported to the office since the work from home arrangement started in 23 March can be counted in two hands.  Last Friday, I went to office and when I got home, the kids were like -- you went to the office, Mom?

RD : When I came down at about one, you weren't here.

MyGirl : I wanted to share a story with you at lunch but when I turned around, you weren't there and when I looked at your (work) table, there was no one there and the chair was pushed all the way in.

It is nice to know you are missed.  

(Of course, it could also be a sign that the kids are just so used to seeing me downstairs in front of the PC because I am working too long hours.) 

(These are the pictures I took yesterday.  I was practically alone on the double deck bus I rode to work, as well as at the office.)