An Open Letter to Papa

Dear Papa,

I know you are a man of very few words so I’ll also make this short...and sweet. Happy birthday my dearest Papa. You turn 70 but somehow the joy and vigor of youth has not left you. Okay sometimes it’s not nice for a 70-year old to act like a teenager but sometimes it’s cute.

I will always love that cute demeanor, the wacky jokes and faces you love to make matched with the dance moves only you can manuever especially after, say, half a case of beer.

They say that children not only get physical attributes from parents (check out our noses) but the personalities and even mannerisms. I agree because I think my sense of humor I got from you as well as that no-worry attitude. That everything-will-fall-into-place and let-the-problem-face-itself outlook really works especially for the stuff that we need not sweat out one bit. 

We love you Papa and I will always cherish your sweetness and dotingness that you so profoundly express: the kisses on the forehead, the blowing of my hair, the way you support me and my siblings in all our decisions in life. Your belief in what we can achieve surpasses the fear and uncertainty when we face a challenge. Heck, I always tell my husband 'My papa thinks I sing better than Banig' (a child singer in the 80's that belts out high notes) when he criticizes my singing voice. I know there is no truth that I can sing better than Banig or even sing in tune but I appreciate the trust you have in what I can do. It's the thought that counts.

I know it’s not easy raising four children and how much you and Mama have to make ends meet to keep us in school and teach us how to be responsible adults. Thank you because whatever I am today, I owe it all to you, to Mama and my siblings. Despite all that we went through, I can say that we are one happy family bounded by love, hope, compassion, laughter and faith in God. 

Now that you're a lolo, you continue to be doting and your grandchildren loves to be around you. You just spoil 'em rich and make them laugh all the time! 

Happy birthday to the man who we fondly call Papa and others call Tito Tito, Mang Tito, Lolo, Jugs. May have more happy years ahead of you.

Recipe Share: Good Ol' Bread Pudding

Good Ol' Bread Pudding 

Ingredients:

2 large eggs

2 tbsps. granulated sugar (we stopped using white sugar at home so I always use brown sugar)

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled

2 cups milk (your choice what type of milk to use: full cream, skim, etc.)

What You Need:

wooden spoon or spatula

mixing bowl

9-inch loaf pan or round baking pan

Directions:

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees C. In a deep bowl, dissolve sugar in milk. Sugar should be used in moderation as the bread already has sugar in it. If you are using left over bread that’s a bit sweet, you can omit sugar altogether.
2. Beat in eggs, butter, vanila extract and cinnamon. I also sometimes add in half a teaspoon of ground nutmeg for extra flavor :)
3. Cut left over bread into pieces and soak in the milk mixture. I like texture so I also include the crust and sometimes cut the bread into chunky pieces. Make sure bread pieces are soaked with milk mixture inside and out. If you like really soft pudding texture, you can mash it up.
4. You can add in chocolate chips, raisins or  other dried fruits – imagination is the limit :)
5. Butter the sides of a 9-inch loaf pan or a round baking pan and pour the pudding mixture. Once the mixture is in the pan, the goal is that the milk mixture should just be enough to cover the bread pieces like this.

Too much milk will make pudding too gooey, watery. Less of it will make it dry when baked.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes. This part is tricky as ovens are not born (or made) equal so baking time will be dependent on how your oven functions. You can also use good ol' toothpick or fork trick- insert toothpick or fork into the center of the pudding and if it comes out clean its done. You can also bake this in an oven toaster (just make sure you use a loaf pan that can fit into the toaster). Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil while baking in the toaster and bake for 20-25 minutes. At the last part of baking, that would be 5-10 minutes before time ends, remove the aluminum foil and bake the pudding uncovered.

There, finally I was able to post this recipe. Sorry for the delay, I know some of you have been requesting for this for weeks now.See how easy? Enjoy baking! :)

Mommy Moments: Weekend Bakers

Last week, my little Sam and I were under the weather and so I stayed home for two days. I think it was a relapse for me because I got sick two weeks ago but opted to report to work the following day. Workaholic much? With tons of work to finish, who wouldn't be? 

One of my helpers was also on bereavement leave and with one less handy helper, I had to stay to make sure that both kulitogs were well taken care of. 

Come weekend, with both the little boy and I feeling a lot better, I decided to make a pudding out of leftover  pandesals that have been sitting on our ref shelf for days. They seem to cry out 'please eat us already!'

Nobody wants hardened leftover pandesal so I decided to make a pudding out of it. Pudding is one of the first few recipes that I mastered over the years. This relationship between the pudding and I have long been running that I can actually make them without a recipe guide, just pure taste of the raw mixture. It's so easy to make with milk, butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. You can top them with caramelized sugar or whipped cream. 

before and after, with additional ingredient of chocolate chips. 

 When the little kulitogs saw the pudding, they immediately said, 'we wanna bake too!' 

So I took out a Betty Crocker chocolate swirl cake box and let them make their own cake. The thing is, they just want to bake but don't really eat them.  

cake batter with chocolate sauce before the swirling action. 

While the cake was baking in the oven, they once again made a plea to bake some more. Haay, why did  I ever introduce them to baking? Oh, I know. Because someday, they may become great chefs and I imagine me just sitting on the couch while they bake yummy treats. hehe.

Next thing we did was a homemade playdough made of flour, salt and water. Easy and economical as I'm running out of ingredients. We tried to add color to the dough with a food color but it was not as successful (which reminds me to make a research on how that's done).

Kulitogs busy being Baker King (and Queen) 

Empty bottle used as rolling pin

Our weekend went out pretty well. We also trooped to the mall and kids played in Storyland for hours. It was also the first time Sophie rode a roller coaster and she surprisingly went gaga over it! The little boy, on the other hand, went to the Playzone and couldn't get enough of the giant balls and the slides :) 

Have a happy and safe weekend mommies! :)

The Kulitogs in School

Before school started on June 13 for kulitog girl, we got all ready with her school stuff and what have yous. On her first day in school, I was there with her from the start until the end of her class. The rest I would say moved along pretty well since she’s already in K2.

And then, Déjà vu happened.

Last weekend, we repeated the whole process of school prep this time for the kulitog boy. Although a week late for first day of school, we enrolled him in the same progressive school as his ate. Good thing the school accepted him, as nursery. 

Take 2 kami on everything: enrollment (thank God for mid-year bonus), trip to the bookstore and grocery to buy those 6 rolls of tissue, toiletries (good that Human Nature products are already available in groceries) and school supplies that should be left in school. By Sunday, I was feeling like Neo in the Matrix when he saw the cat twice and I'm sure I bore that 'WTF' look on my face. 

all packed for school, he personally chose the tiger scissors :)

Why are we late for enrollment? Well, he's supposed to start school next year pa. He's only 3 and he can very much learn from Mommy through our daily activities. My husband and I believe that 4 is a perfect age to start school because once they start, there's no turning back. 

The thing is, every time his Ate gets picked up by the school bus, we'll hear these sentiments from our little boy :

‘Wala ako school’ or ‘I want to go to school’

‘I have no teacher’ or ‘ I have no baon’

One time, when he accompanied Ate to school, he knocked on the door of the school administrator/owner and said, ‘Ayaw Daddy go to school ako.’ The owner then asked why and he replied, ‘Baby daw ako. Samsam Garcia ako eh.’

What kind of Mommy am I if just turn a deaf ear on that? 

So after much compute and recompute of our monthly and quarterly budget (bringing 2 children to school is no joke for a budget freak like me), we finally decided to enroll the Sam. You should see the look on his face; it was filled with happiness, excitement and triumph over his detractors (aka us!). I tell you, the time we told him he’ll finally go to school he finally made peace with his dad and gave him lotsa hugs and kisses. Talk about kids manipulating parents :)

Oh well, we let the little boy win this argument anyway. Why, some kids throw tantrums and cry themselves to death because they don’t want to go to school. This little one didn’t give so much as a sniff (although I think I did) when I had to release his hand as he entered his classroom. 

Oh my, my two kids now in school and before I know it they'll all be grown up and do grown up things...