CHRISTMAS CANDY SLEIGHS

How adorable are these!!!! I'm sure my girls (co-workers) will love these. I got the idea from pinterest of course. Thanks  to Ellyn's Place for the cute idea.

Ellyn's Place used glue gun and Christmas wrapped candies. I opted to use clear tapes which i think is as sturdy as the glue. And bought a variety of goodies which i know my co-workers will eat or chew ;)

Tape and attach a Kit Kat bar or a box of gum to two candy canes as the base. 

 Start stacking your candies. I taped each candies making sure they are sturdy. Then top with mini ribbons or embellish with more ribbons if you want.

I made 12 in an hour.... made these while watching "The X factor".... hahaha!!!

A word of caution....you'll definitely be on sugar high as you are making these. I probably ate a pack of snickers ;) So.... discipline is a must. Don't say i didn't warn you!!! ;p

CHEF IZARD'S MAGIC BEANS (GREEN BEANS WITH AIOLI)

This is my take on Chef' Izard's Magic Beans. Green bean is not my favorite vegetable but i will eat if i have to. When my daughter and I had dinner at Girl and The Goat , this dish was highly recommended so of course we gave it a try and fell in love with it. I have been making this ever since. A great and a new way to prepare your green beans especially this holiday celebration, a perfect substitute to the "same old same old" green bean casserole. The combination of the dressing and the aioli drizzled on top of the crisp beans and the nutty flavor is just genius. Thanks, Chef Izard, i now have a new appreciation for green beans :)

Green Beans with a special Aioli

 I opted for almonds because i love the flavor.

Wash the beans. Snap or cut the ends.

This is how my mom clean the beans. Snap both ends making sure to take the "string"

Or cut the ends using a sharp knife

Recipe by Chef Stephanie Izard

 The Ingredients:
 

green beans
4 fl oz. oil
shallots
green bean dressing*
cashews (or another nut if you prefer a different one)
aioli*

green bean dressing/vinaigrette*
yields 2 cups

4 oz. lemon juice
5 oz. fish sauce
2 ½ oz. soy
1 tablespoon dijon
3/4 teaspoon sriracha
1/3 oz cloves garlic
combine lemon juice, fish sauce, soy, dijon and sriracha. transfer to blender, add garlic and emulsify with oil.

aioli*
yield: 1 cup

1/3 cup green bean dressing (from above)
1 cup mayonnaise
whisk together

preparation
1. heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan.
2. add green beans and some sliced shallots for flavor.
3. add enough vinaigrette to coat the green beans. let steam.
4. add a handful or two of cashews for flavor. season with salt.
5. transfer to serving dish & drizzle with aioli.
6. serve hot.

I highly suggest that you visit Chef Stephanie Izard 's Girl and the Goat when in Chicago.

HALLOWEEN WITCHES' FINGERS

Yup it's the time of the year! For some reason these "fingers" became a staple for our Halloween party at work. I must say they have improved  through the years! hahaha!! Check it out and you'll see what i mean.
My witches' fingers through the years.

I have used my empanada dough but any pie dough will work. The following year i used a store bought sugar cookie dough. Then i used store bought dinner roll. They all came out pretty good. Each dough produced different shape and character. That is the beauty of this project, perfection is not necessary...the odd shape your fingers are the better it is.

This year, i decided to use Marina's Rich Butter Cookie recipe and of course i like them. There's no doubt about it, i trust Marina's recipes. This by far is my favorite. I will definitely make this again but this time it will be for my Christmas cookies. ;)

If you have her cook book, it's on p.88. If you don't have the book it's not too late to buy a copy. Let me know if you are interested and i'll give you the information.

Here's the recipe for the Rich Butter Cookies.
1/2 stick butter
1/3 C sugar
1/2 package cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1 t lemon extract
1 1/2 C flour
1/4 t salt
1/4 t baking soda


Cream together butter, sugar, and cream cheese until fluffy.

Beat in the egg and extract (you may use anise, vanilla, rum or almond extract in place of lemon if desired)

Sift together the flour, salt and baking soda and combine slowly with egg mixture. (For a firmer cookie, use egg yolk only and chill dough before baking.)

Cut into thin slices. Bake at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes. and bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Lemon Icing: Mix 1 cup sifted powdered sugar, 1 egg white, and 1/4 t lemon juice until smooth. Ice cool cookies.

*** To make the fingers:

30 pcs. roasted almonds

1 egg and 2 T of water- beat to make the egg wash

Divide the dough into 30 small pieces.

The dough is a bit sticky so rub your hands with little butter or oil.

Start rolling each piece of dough back and forth with palms and make finger shapes.

Lightly score the middle part with the back of a small knife to make a knuckle.

Transfer fingers to baking sheet and repeat until all pieces are formed.

Brush with egg wash and push almond into dough to attach making sure it's positioned to look like a nail.

To add nail polish, mix a little dot of red food coloring w/ little water and brush the almond.

* Double the recipe to make more creepy fingers. ;)

CRISPY GREEN MANGO, APPLE AND JICAMA SALAD

My version of a Thai green mango salad. This salad goes perfect with anything fried like fried chicken, fried fish and even fried pork chop. Best and famous with Thai crispy fish. Thai crispy fish with green mango salad is one of the best dish i had during my visit to Thailand. That dish will be for another blog. In the meantime let's continue with the salad ;)

This salad is easy to make and you can substitute other ingredients to make it your own. The addition of the jicama is my version. So, you can probably add pears to the salad or any crispy/crunchy fruit...hhmmm now i need to try that. ;)

The secret to a fresh and crispy salad, is to make sure you buy fresh fruits and no blemish as much as possible

Ingredients: 

For 4 serving

1 green mango (choose a big size and make sure it's not ripe)

1 jicama (medium size)
1 apple (green and tart- granny smith is perfect)

1 lime or more if you want it sour

cilantro (washed, this will all depend on how much cilantro you want. Omit, if you don't like cilantro)

2 pieces of Thai bird chili 

1 small shallot or small sweet onion

2 T pounded roasted peanuts

1 T chopped roasted dried shrimps ( available at any Asian stores)

Dressing: ****

5 T fish sauce

4 T fresh lime juice

2 T sugar

 **** Taste and adjust the dressing to suit your taste.

Peel and grate or julienne the mango and jicama. Slice the apple and onion the same way.
Roast and chop peanuts.

Roast and chop dried shrimps (optional)

Mix all the dressing ingredients (Remember, taste it first and adjust if needed)

Toss the salad and garnish more cilantro or dried shrimp if you want.

Oh...so...delicious!!! Crunchy, crispy, sweet, sour and tangy!!!!!

Some of the ingredients.... green apple, jicama, green mango and lime

An important ingredient. Fish sauce. I love this brand but you can use any brand of course.

I  know this might not be available in your area, or you are allergic to shrimp,you can omit this ingredient. But if you ask me...really, i think this does add flavor to the salad.

I served this salad with my version of the Thai Crispy Fish. Recipe to follow;)
Now, i want to make this salad again!!!! lol!

TACOS DE POLLO EN SALSA VERDE

 My daughter shared this recipe years ago but never got the chance to blog it. This is one of my family's favorite Latin dish. My BIL had rice with this, not surprised about that, we Filipinos love our rice ;) I like mine with fried corn tortilla chips, no not the store bought. I fry my own corn tortillas.

Tortilla is recommended but when i made this as shown below, i used fried pita bread which is as good as the tortilla.

 Ingredients:

Salsa:
8 oz Tomatillos, husked and rinsed
2 Serrano chiles, stemmed ( You can also use jalapeno)
1 1/2 T olive oil or canola oil
1 medium Spanish onion, coarsely chopped (any sweet onions will do)
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 C Chicken stock or broth****
1/4 C cilantro, coarsely chopped
Salt to taste

2 C firmly packed spinach, shredded or 1 bag of spinach
2 C cooked chicken breast ****
1/2 - 3/4 C Queso Fresco, crumbled (I've tried feta and it was equally as good or omit the cheese)

Corn Tortillas - cut in bite sizes and fried.

***I boiled the chicken with water, carrots, onions, celery to get my chicken stock.

Roast tomatillos, chiles , garlic and onions under a broiler until blackened and soft on both sides.

Transfer, along with any rendered juices to a blender.

Puree to medium coarse consistency.

Heat saute pan, add oil and puree. Saute, stirring, until puree gets slightly darker and thicker.

Stir in stock and simmer about 10 minutes. Add cilantro and season with salt.

Just before serving, bring salsa to a boil , add spinach and allow to wilt.

Adjust seasoning as needed.

Add chicken to the salsa or served separately.

Serve with tortillas topped with queso fresco,

I used pita bread. Cut the bread into bite sizes and fry them.

Pita bread is as good as the tortillas.

Cut them into bite sizes and fry.. You could use flour tortilla but i prefer corn tortilla

Yum!!

DIY BRAIDED HEADBAND

This blog is sort of an addendum to the DIY BEACH WRAP . Another easy project. The photos will show you how to braid, i promise this project looks complicated but it is really simple ;)

 

But if you think my step by step photo tutorial is confusing, check this Re-purposing: Tshirts into 5-strand-braided-headbands . This is were i got the idea and she got the perfect tutorial for this project.

I used the same fabric from the beach wrap project.

Nice huh? ;)

This is an extra fabric from the second beach wrap i made.

DIY BEACH WRAP

 

A pinterest project by Auna caught my attention. What a great project for my daughter! I fell in love with the project (i kid you not!). What is there not to love? It's cute, practical and so easy. No sewing machine needed...oh yes!!

Okay i take my word back, it wasn't so easy on my part. I don't know anything about measuring a "dress" let alone making this sans my daughter to actually measure. I had to base and follow Auna's measurement thinking that my daughter will fit into her measurements. Oh, i did asked a co-worker of mine to try it on so i will get an idea, where i need to adjust or fix.

Went to visit my daughter in Chicago, finally, she tried on my beach wrap and modeled it. The adjustments i had to make were the straps, it was too long on her. She wanted the length (above her knees) shorter as well but other than that.... it fit her to a Tee! ;)

I had extra fabric so i made her a headband to match the wrap. Of course i got the idea from pinterest!!! that'll be my next blog!

 I will be making another one, this time plain black. I bought this fabric on sale,thinking that if i didn't cut them right, i will not waste that much.

I love it... really love it! hahaha!!! 

The back view.

Materials you will need:

1 1/2 yards of jersey fabric (45 width). Cut down Auna's suggestion (1.75 yards) since she said she had so much extra fabric.
Thread
Needle
Tape measure
Scissors

*JERSEY FABRIC IS RECOMMENDED, IT DOESN'T FRAY, NO NEED TO SEW OR HEM THE EDGES.
* THE JERSEY FABRIC I BOUGHT WAS ON SALE FOR $4/YARD. I SPENT A TOTAL OF $8 INCLUDING TAX.

"Decide the length & width of your fabric. You want it to wrap around your body a bit loosely. I chose to have mine hit just above my knees. You'll also need to make underarm areas. I did that by folding it in half and cutting a deep "C". (*you may need more or less fabric depending on your size- about your waist + hip measurement)" ....AUNA

Cut: Underarm area - Fold fabric in half and cut a deep "C" shape. I suggest to measure the underarm area or use a tank top blouse as your guide.

 Use a tank top as a guide and measure to play safe.

This worked for me since she was not around when i made this.

 Use the extra fabric for your straps.

Measure the width and divide into three equal strips. Then braid.

THE NEXT THREE PHOTOS ARE FROM ANOTHER BEACH WRAP I MADE.

Sew the ends of the strap. Anchor a tip of the "strap" so you can make a good braid.

 Sew both ends to secure the braids you made.

Sew and attach the straps to the C cut (underarm)