satisfied craving

the amazing aloha has been one of my favorite burger since it was first launched sometime in the 90's.  it comes and goes in Jollibee's menu every so often. 

i would find myself craving for this burger and i had to get myself one when it became available just recently.  too bad though that it wasn't the same burger that i longed for, it no longer tastes like how i remember.

thanks to my nanay for teaching me how to cook, i need not depend on fastfood chains just so i can eat a decent aloha burger when i crave for it... i just feel i need to share this just in case there folks out there that think they deserve better burger for their money.

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 kg ground beef 
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small pouch, food seasoning (lucky me namnam or maggi magic sarap)
1 tsp flour
   salt and pepper, taste
   lettuce leaves
   sliced pineapple, drained
   bacon strips
   cheese slices
   hamburger bun
   mayonnaise/honey mustard dressing (optional)

HOW TO:
1. Mix ground beef, onion, food seasoning, flour, salt and pepper.
2. Divide mixture into 3 equal portion and shape each portion into a patty. Set aside.
3. Heat pan and fry bacon (do not put oil) until crispy then set aside.
4. Fry burger patty in same pan where bacon was cooked. Cook both sides until brown for about 8-10 mins.
5. Remove patty from pan and immediately put cheese slice on top of patty then place it on bun.
6. Top with pineapple, lettuce, and bacon strips and place top of bun.

this recipe yielded 3 sandwiches and it cost me only PhP 240 (US$6), if i were to include 3 coke-in-cans, then it's about PhP 300(US$7.25). if my friends and i were to eat this at Jollibee, the burger alone is Php 99 for the burger alone, PhP 135 for a meal.  we can have the same burger at The Burger Project, but then again, each sandwich will cost about PhP 200.

i say, i'll just make one everytime i crave for one. :)

cake it away...

and so i've rekindled my love for baking.

with cupcakes being baked every so often, there are times when i just want to try out something else. and what better choice do i have but venture into the world of cakes.  much as i want to create fancy, whimsical cakes... i have to start from baby steps-- junior cakes.

the first attempt was for my former boss. i volunteered to bake the cake for our birthday surprise instead of just buying one.  since she fancied my red velvet cupcakes, why not a red velvet cake?! and so i did this mini-cupcake tower for her.

 

we didn't really get to eat it, but she shared the cuppies to some of our bosses.  she brought the cake home for her consumption but apparently, her kiddos demolished it. :-)

and then there was this attempt to make a chocolate cake.  one officemate, now housemate, loves chocolate cakes (even the frosting) which inspired me to make one.  i can't remember how i was able to bring it to the office since i didn't have that much baking stuff at home back then, but then again, i brought it--they destroyed it. ;-)  

how did it look like? here goes..

the most memorable cake i made was the rainbow cake for new year 2011.  why?! two reasons: (1) it was very colorful, it looks so nice; and (2) it was too sweet! who knew frostings can be so damn complicated.  thank God i have nephews who i can bully to eat and finish it all up. hehe.

up to this day, i plan to do it again but with a much better frosting.  look how simple yet colorful it is!

  

 

if there's new year's, there's also valentines.  two of my good friends celebrate their birthdays on February so i decided on giving them cake as a gift (not to mention they are also members of my quality control team -- the ones who gets to taste stuff i bake). it was simple but memorable, i guess it really was the thought that count.

nowadays, i haven't baked that much... especially trying out new designs for cakes.  but hopefully this year, i'd have more time for my passion and make bigger and better ones.

trip to memory lane -- my cuppy cakes

so i tried rummaging through my external drive and facebook albums in my attempt to put them all here... much as i want to tell the story for each, i pretty much forgot most of them (le sigh).

but where do i begin? ah! where else but with the sorts of cupcakes i've done since time in memoriam.

i remember i did an attempt to make smores cupcakes and luckily, my friends liked it.  one of them liked it so much that she ordered a couples of dozens from me, only to find out that she was to sell it in her condo unit (smart bitch! haha!). i didn't mind though since i thought it can just be something i'd do for extra cash plus i get to do what i love doing.  here's how they turned out.

Pink & blue

another friend asked me to bake stuff for her for her twin daughters' birthday.  i thought she was just kidding but little did i know, she was dead serious when she ordered a dozen each of pink and blue cupcakes that she'll bring to her hometown, davao.  i only had a couple of days to prepare but since i have ingredients in the cupboard at that time, i was able to pull it off in time for her flight.

oh! let me not forget my very supportive boss back then.  she was, i think, the first ones who got to taste my red velvet cupcakes and thought that it was worthy enough to be sold commercially.  she ordered red velvet by the dozens for her daughter's birthday, and for her Christmas 2010 giveaway.  

i was lucky enough to have very supportive friends.  it's either they themselves order or they refer me to their friends.  Some orders I got are for birthdays, baptisms, Christmas, etc.

 

and then there are just days when i want to try out some goodies and have my officemates munch on them since no one's gonna eat them at home.

  

  

these are just some, but there really was quite a number of orders that i didn't take pictures of any more.  but looking through these, i'd say i've come a long way since that very first batch of red velvet cupcakes i baked.  and here's hoping for a lot more in the future...