Bea Wonka and The Chocolate Factory

Posting a blog after a lull is little bit knotty. So much has happened since February that I am quite undecided on what to share first. Joys? Woes? Challenges? I guess we can start with the joys first. Celebrating Bea's Birthday.

The little girl is not so little anymore. She turned 6 last July and we celebrated with her friends at the village clubhouse function room. The theme for her party this year was Bea Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. She's a big fan of the movie Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. Although she likes Gene Wilder's old flick, she is more partial to Tim Burton's interpretation. Well, it is more colorful and the musical score's more catchy, not to mention the Oompa-loompas are crazier. And she prefers Johnny Depp's bangs over Gene Wilder's curls? 

Going back, preparations for the party began four weeks before the factory gates opened. It was just a small gathering, so it was not that hard to pull off without professional help. And even if it were a big event, I'd still take matters into my own hands ... it is less expensive. The guests loved the faux chocolate bars I made for invitations. Materials were readily available at National Bookstore. Paper for the "golden ticket" was from the Astral Sparkle Paper Collection of our local Star Paper Corporation. Was about to create the Wonka wrapper using Microsoft Publisher, lucky for me I browsed the net and found a free template and just printed it on a regular white vellum board. It's just amazing the amount of stuff you can come up with just by having a reliable computer, printer and internet connection. Wrapped the ticket with a gold metallic paper for the foil effect and voila! A personalized Wonka chocolate bar.

An economical way of hosting a party nowadays would require a trip to the local bargain hunters' shopping mecca: Divisoria. Everything is just there! I even saw the Christmas decors I bought from Divisoria last year in Rustan's. I swear, exactly the same decor at a much lower price. Willy Wonka had a little notebook to write his "discoveries" on. So for giveaways, I got these cute little notepad board with a pen for PhP15.00 each instead and personalized it using my ever-reliable HP K209-A printer. Chocolatiers would need aprons as chocolate making is messy. Bought aprons, in one the stores between 168 Mall and DV Mall, for PhP25.00 a piece. That's like PhP25.00 cheaper than the PhP50.00 kiddie aprons they're selling in SM. My sister-in-law, C, and I had them personalized at Divisoria Mall for PhP5.00 per letter; much, much cheaper than the stalls in malls outside Divisoria. And we did not have to come back for them too! It just took 30 minutes for all aprons to get named.

You need a lot of candies and chocolate for a chocolate factory themed affair. The kids had a chocolate candy making activity, now this was a first for me. I mean I love chocolate. I eat them, I don't actually make them. So googleize I did. With a downloaded idea on how to make chocolates, I called the local suppliers I saw online to canvass for supplies. Chocolate Lover was my first stop, as friends and relatives suggested it too. Got most of the chocolate making materials from them, save the chocolate molds. It was PhP80.00 per piece. With more than 30 kids on her guest list, I figured it would be better to check out Killion and The Nutstore in Quiapo first since it's near Divisoria. And surprise! They were selling it for PhP60.00 at The Nutstore. My mommy friends, J and J, and  my cousin, G, helped in melting the chocolate bars for the mold. As for the candies, now this one is tricky. No matter how you want to cut on cost, feeding unbranded candies to kids is NOT an option . The SM candy section has a wide array of goodies. Got a variety of Wonka and Trolli candies and some lollipops as well. 

Glass from my kitchen cabinet, ribbon from National Bookstore, chocolate balls and ladybugs from Chocolate Lover , lollipop and candy canes from SM candy section.

My cousin, G, baked this awesome cake and scrumptilicious cupcakes for Bea. It was a labor of love. Her first time to make a multi-layered fondant cake. She is a cupcake expert though. I just can't get enough of her yummy chocolate and vanilla cupcakes! As for the food, everything was home-cooked. We had Potato Marble Salad, Mini Burgers, Pork Barbecue, Hotdogs on Stick, Chicken Lollipop with Garlic Ranch Dip, and Hungarian Sausage Pasta ---all prepared, marinated and cooked at home. Thank goodness for household staff!

Kids, young and not-so-young, had fun making their signature chocolates, designed their own cupcake and joined in the parlor games. All the preparations paid off. Even the hubby was very much involved in making this occasion a success, he got ice cubes from the store LOL. Just kidding. He helped facilitate the games. We were all pooped after the party. But seeing the daughter have so much fun made it all worth it :)

Kids busy in The Inventing Room

Cupcakelicious Art 

Christmas Callos

Got a SMS from my sister-in-law last week, asking what we’re bringing to the Christmas get together at their house? It’s the family tradition. So far there’s turkey (I’m guessing from Palm’s Country Club) and lechon (Lydia’s?). Remembering my long ago promise to our our godmother (wedding), I volunteered to bring Callos (Tripe Madrid-Style). Now this is also one of the hubby's many favorites, there was a time he’d ask me to cook callos every week. But we just had to stop, because it’s not really healthy. For an occasional treat, it's okay. And this is how I do it:

1.5 kilos Ox Tripe (I get the packed ones from S and R), sliced bite size
8 pieces Spanish Chorizo (also from S and R), thinly sliced (diagonally)
Green Olives, whole,pitted
Black Olives, whole pitted
Green Peas (I just use the frozen ones from the grocery)
Red Bell Pepper, cut into thin strips
Green Bell Pepper, cut into thin strips
Garbanzos (optional, Chuck doesn’t really eat this so I don’t use it)
6 Heads Garlic, chopped
6 Medium sized Red Onion, chopped
2 largest foil pack of Del Monte Tomato Sauce
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
McCormick Italian Seasoning (mixed dried herbs)
McCormick Black Peppermill
Laurel leaves
Soy Sauce (I like Silver Swan, it’s tastier than the pineapple brand)
Salt
Brown Sugar
Red Wine (I just use any bottle we have available, real wine. Not those cooking kind)

To prepare the Ox tripe and Spanish Chorizo:

Wash very well under running water. Put in a pot with water and some salt, then bring to boil under medium-low heat. Let boil for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat, throw away water, repeat the same steps, this time using one of the greatest cooking invention ever…the pressure cooker! (The chefs out there might be saying hey that’s cheating! Cause traditionally, you cook callos under medium-low fire for hours and hours and hours. But hey, we’re busy people you know, we still need to do other things. So just use the precious pressure cooker.) Wait until the top part starts wiggling then start timing it, 40-45 minutes should do it. Turn off the stove. But NEVER open the pressure cooker or remove the topmost wiggling thingy immediately after. The content will explode right at your kitchen. Just let out the steam first, slowly raising (not removing) the wiggling thingy every now and then, until pressure’s all out. Then put tripe on strainer and slice them in square/rectangular bite size.

Heat a big wok-like pan, or anything big enough to hold everything (you'll be using the same pan later), when it’s hot enough, put a little water and the whole Spanish chorizo. Let it cook. When there’s no more water, add a little Extra Virgin Olive Oil to fry it a bit. Remove chorizos from the pan, slice it thinly, diagonally. Set aside.

Back to cooking callos:

Using the same pan, add a little more Extra Virgin Olive Oil then the garlic, onion and let them cook for a few minutes. Then add in the tripe. Season with pepper, Italian seasoning, laurel leaves, soy sauce, brown sugar and around ¼ cup of water so it won’t dry up. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Add red wine (not too much, the goal is to make it yummy, not to get yourself drunk!). Don't put wine after cooking, you actually add it WHILE cooking. Simmer a bit, then the Spanish chorizo, green and black olives, green peas and tomato sauce. Simmer again for a few minutes. Check the taste. If it’s too salty, just add a little brown sugar and water. A little more wine, perhaps? You know, just adjust to your preference. I never use MSG in my cooking; I just substitute it with a little sugar. Just let it simmer some more, then turn off heat. Immediately put the green and red bell pepper on top, then cover it so it’ll cook a bit.

Again, it serves 18 and more. Big, foodie group. Just let them adjust taste with soy sauce or pepper. But you know what really goes well with this? Balsamic vinegar! Just a few drops to make it sing.

Another tip from Ima: never scrimp on the ingredients and let it cook first before adding the next, to bring out the taste.

Photo courtesy of southbound.ph

Tomato Soup

I just love Cibo’s Pappa Al Pomodoro or simply known as Tomato Soup (Tuscan style). On one of our many potlucks at my in-laws’ home, my brother-in-law, suggested that I just prepare soup as there were other viands already. I’m like, what kind of soup shall I make? I was thinking…then Cibo’s tomato soup came into mind. So I got ingredients from Makati Supermart and cooked my first ever tomato soup. I cooked it the way I like it and they liked it...well that's what they said (I don't know if they were just being polite or something). I would serve it every now and then, since. The way I do it:

2 kilo ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed and diced
3 heads large garlic, finely chopped
3 heads large red onion, finely chopped
1 medium-sized can Del Monte tomato paste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2.5 liters Beef or Chicken stock (your choice really, I like beef. If you don’t have the real thing you can use those commercial broths instead, like Knorr cubes)
Fresh Basil leaves, hand-shred
Dried Basil leaves (McCormick)
Bread croutons
Salt
Pepper (McCormick Peppermill)

Heat soup pot over medium-low heat. Add in Extra Virgin Olive Oil, garlic and onion. Cook for a few minutes, stir occasionally. Put in the tomatoes, crushing it a bit, then season with salt, pepper and a little dried basil leaves. Add the broth and increase heat. Bring to boil. And you’re done. (You may add or hold some ingredients as you wish. Like if you want it more tomato-ey add more tomatoes or tomato paste. Or more broth if you find it too tomato-ey. Ouido, remember?)

Serve in soup bowls, preferably the shallow ones. Top with parmesan cheese, bread croutons, fresh basil. Let them adjust taste, just pass around salt and pepper.

Fast and easy, huh? Serves 18 or more. Hey, It’s a big family. So I am used to cooking for a group. Just do the math, if you’re cooking for a smaller group.

*image from liketocook.com. Will post own photo once I cook it again.

Our Little Feline

My cuddly wuddly's teacher sent us a short poem by Marchette Chute before they went on vacation last October. Each child was assigned a poem (about animals) to memorize and recite in the school Literary Program, looking like the animal assigned. The grannies (my mom and my Tita Rose) were fussing about the costume. Told them I will probably just use face paint and her ballet clothes. They would not have it. My tita then said she’ll just go to Divisoria to get her a cat costume. Two days before presentation she said she did not have time to go. She’s really busy at work. So I went around looking for one. Went to three malls, but they had only Disney costumes left. I did not really have time to go to Divisoria, I then decided to make our own kitten costume.

Got a black long sleeved leotard from Landmark for PhP150.00, a kitten ear hat at PhP24.00, and 5 yards of purple boa feathers (PhP35.00/yard @ Carolina’s in Glorietta) for the fluffy/furry effect, black tights and black ballet shoes. Hand-sewn the boa feathers to the leotard and put on a little facial artwork. The last time I tried my hand at sewing was in High School, and I cried buckets of tears doing my projects, some of my classmates would even help me finish them. Man, things you'd do for your child! Oh, well here’s my cutie little feline:

Here are pictures of her with her classmates taken during their dance number:

A funny shot of Bea with a schoolmate-- a mouse with a sinister plot:

Most of the kids performed well, much to their parents' delight. They were very eager to strut their stuff for Mom and Dad. The teachers were there to coach them in case they forget their lines and dance move. After the show we went to Jollibee, Madrigal as Bea's treat for letting me dress her up and participating in the program. Good thing about Bea though, she enjoys these things as much as we love watching her do them with great confidence and enthusiasm. :-)