yummy!

have been craving for chocolate cake for weeks now. we attended a birthday party last sunday and had some chocolate cake. but knowing myself, i need {have} to binge when it comes to chocolate. so, i went out there (on the web) to look for a simple chocolate cake recipe. came across ina garten's chocolate cake and i have been wanting to do PW's delicious baked fudge, so yesterday was a fine day for all these chocolate goodness.

frosted the cake with the leftover frosting when i made this last week. Mmmm-Mm...i couldn't get enough of the whipped cream on my baked fudge that i gotta have it on my cake too. :-D
and i can no longer bake unless i make a batch of my fave peanut butter cookies and ina garten's chocolate white chocolate chunk cookies. yum-oh!

now, to more yummy stuff - blog candies (thanks marix and timi for posting these)

karen, michelle, kath, nikki, dawn

please visit their' pages and leave `em some love. :-D

jp's into shawarma lately.

and found this picture of us having shawarma at home (taken december 30,2007). we were going to watch the fireworks display at SM and we do not have time to grab some shawarma so we made our own when we got home.

as you see, eating is one of our favorite bonding time. hihi. just wanted to share. :)

time off from work (NOT!)

{ warning: this is a picture-filled entry. it may bore you or it may not. but thanks for looking anyway. :) }


who takes time off from work just to work? yours truly. heehee. i have neglected housework (unintentionally) for quite a while and i owe it to my family to come home to a very polished and fresh-smelling house. :-D so after accomplishing my other domestic chores, i moved on to my 'favorite' one.

i was looking forward to my days off cuz i have been planning [it's been a long time since i saw the challenge over at the daring baker's and promised myself that i'd one day try it] to make cinnamon rolls.

i so love cinnamon. i like it in my toast. in my coffee. and i love apple pie overloaded with cinnamon [is there such a thing?].

i found this illustrated recipe of cinnamon rolls from pioneerwoman (very very witty and talented woman)

i have a very cute helper which made the process merrier and messy-er. hihi. JP and i made the dough the night before we were to bake our goodies. he was so excited (as you can see in his expression, hihi). he can't wait to use the rolling pin. note: he offered to help me because he wanted to see the dough rise and i promised he'll use the rolling pin to roll the dough.

so, we started by adding our yeast to the warm milk, oil and butter mixture.

we waited a while before adding the flour and below is my helper (while waiting)
and then my little helper continued by adding the flour and mixing our would be doughnoticed that my little baker doesn't have an apron? as little as he is, he managed to destroy my apron when he was acting so grown up and tried wearing it without help. so there goes a messy shirt (for sure) after the dough making.

left the dough to sit in the fridge to knead the next morning after i energized (after playing SIMS2 until midnight - heehee - this is my latest addiction).

the next day, i didn't wait for my little helper to wake up (which was a very,very bad idea cuz i had a bout with a crying boy for more than 10 minutes when he woke up and learned that i made the rolls while he was asleep) i decided to go ahead and make the rolls.you gotta have to be generous with butter and cinnamon. yum-o!

while waiting for them to rise (and as what pioneerwoman suggested), you can do the laundry, fold clothes, play SIMS2. heehee.

modified it a little. since hubby likes his food well done, i decided to glaze some of the rolls before baking them. this will give me caramelized rolls which i am just oh so sure hubby will love. :-D

and while the rolls were in the oven, i also made chocolate muffins and chocohip-oatmeal-peanutbutter cookies.

so my babies will have muffins (with a surprise). JP will have his stuffed with chocolate chips and for daddy, a small scoop of his favorite chunky peanut butter.

whenever i bake, i do it so most members of my family will have goodies. i make sure that everyone will have their small bag of cookies and a muffin to go. :-)

but most especially, i just love making these babies happy.

oh my! oh my rachael ray

i can't wait til i can play in the kitchen with these. :-D

and i thank a very, very kind person for helping me get this set [in GREEN - i can't thank you enough for this favor].

the above is the same grin and happiness painted on my face when i learned that i will soon own these.

anyway, can't blame the guys for the silly grins [those will probably be the same smiles i will see, once i cook their favorites with my new pots and pans] . :-)

why tnapay?

i was christened, baptized, dubbed {you take your pick :-D } by my college friends tnapay for fun. because they call me TNA and to get my so 'precious' attention, they would attach the -PAY at the end of my name. {imagine that said with a shrieking-kolehiyala giggle} :-)

tnapay {tinapay} means bread in our language. hhmmm... i love to bake but not necessarily breads so i doubt that there's a connection and i don't think it's the reason why the name stuck.
but i kinda like it and i am pretty sure that it'll stay. ;-)

now, i'll leave you with a simple picture i got from the net. :-D a blessed Sunday to all.