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Kids Ain't Cheap

But They Sure Are Worth It

Happy Mother’s Day!

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E-wishes for Mother's DayHere in Manila, we have some holidays that are decidedly Western and Mother’s Day is one of them.  It is made an even bigger event because I believe Filipino culture places a heavy emphasis on the place, value, and importance of the mother in a family.  On Mother’s Day, you will see more traffic than normal (and that means a lot of traffic overall!) going to malls, parks, and restaurants.  You will normally see heartwarming commercials with tear-inducing montages to mothers of all kind on TV at the beginning of the month and the bookstores will likely be festooned with Balloons and poems to Moms.  Needless to say, it is a fairly big day.

Celebrating Mother’s Day as a Single Mom with Young Children

Since I became a mom, I like doing something just a little special to celebrate.  It is said here that this is a day when Mom’s are treated like Queens, chores suspended for a day, meals cooked and served to them, etc. but since my kids are still young, I normally get lots of hugs, kisses, and ‘I love you very much, mommy’ comments rather than the other stuff—which is fantastic still, in my opinion.  So, I orchestrate the ‘celebrations’ and this usually involves just a special meal and/or a trip somewhere not normally visited with the kids.

This year, I decided to bake a chocolate cake. You may be scratching your head wondering why this is different or special. Well, it is so because 1.  I have never baked a cake from scratch, even when I used to bake and sell cupcakes and bars.  2.  Since I have taken on single parenting, I have had very little time to do any kind of baking.

I decided to try this traditional cake because I wanted to know how to make a cake that could be a staple for celebrations.  I found a seemingly yummy recipe online and decided to try it out.  Here it is.

Moist Chocolate Cake:

Chocolate Cake:

  • 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened coca powder (not Dutch-processed)
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 cups (400 grams) granulated white sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup (240 ml) milk

Frosting:

  • 5 ounces (140 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1/3 cup (80 ml) milk
  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
  • 4 pounds (1 pound/ 454 grams confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted to remove lumps
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Chocolate Cake:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter, or spray with a nonstick vegetable spray, and line with parchment paper, two – 9 x 2 inch deep (23 x 5 cm) round baking pans.
  2. In a stainless steel or heatproof bowl place the chopped unsweetened chocolate (baking, plain chocolate) and cocoa powder (natural, not Dutch processed ones). Pour the boiling water over the chocolate and cocoa powder and stir until they have melted. Set aside to cool while you make the batter.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk to combine, the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  4. In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy. Gradually add the sugar and continue beating until the mixture is fluffy (this will take about 3-5 minutes).
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Make sure to smell the eggs and to check that they are not spoiled before adding them to the mixture or you will need to redo everything, and get and measure out a new set of ingredients. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  6. Add the vanilla extract and melted chocolate mixture and beat to combine.
  7. Add the milk and flour mixtures in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat only until the ingredients are incorporated.
  8. Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared pans and smooth the tops. Bake for about 35 – 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
  9. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 10 minutes.
  10. Then remove the cakes from their pans and cool completely on a greased wire rack before frosting.

Frosting:

  1. Melt the chopped chocolate in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool.
  2. Then place the melted chocolate, milk, confectioners’ sugar, salt, and vanilla extract in the bowl of your electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment. (Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer.) Add the pieces of softened butter and beat on low speed for about 2 minutes. When the frosting starts to come together increase the speed to medium and beat for about 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the speed to high and beat the frosting for 1 – 2 minutes more or until it is of spreading consistency. If necessary, add more milk or sugar.

To Assemble:

  1. Place one layer of cake, top side down, on your serving plate and cover with a layer of frosting.
  2. Then place the second layer of cake, top side down, onto the first cake layer and then frost the top and sides of the cake with the remaining frosting.
  3. Can garnish with fresh fruit or shaved chocolate

It was tough getting back to the preciseness of baking after being out of baker’s mode for a long time but it was cool to see the cake come together.  The finished result was quite good as well. I wish I had taken a picture to showcase my first attempt but the idea popped into my mind after half of the cake had been eaten so…next time.  I intend to make it again at the end of the month for my birthday and, seeing as I have tried it before, I expect it to look better and to be able to whip it up faster.

What do you do on Mother’s Day?

My Favorite Playdough Recipe

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Homemade playdoughI am really not a fan of the play-dough you buy in the store. I find that it becomes crumbly, and makes a mess. I also don’t really care for the way it smells — but my kids love play-dough and can spend ridiculous amounts of time having fun with it. So of course, I really love it too.

I have tried a few play-dough recipes but they usually leave our hands smelling weird, and feeling dry from the salt that they contain. So, while my husband and I went away for a night, my Mom watched the boys. She told me about some play-dough she made and she thought the boys would really like it.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this play-dough, was the best in all the land (or at least I think it is).

The first thing I loved about it, is the consistency and the fact that after we play with it, it doesn’t leave our hands feeling like they are covered in gunk. The dough can make your hands a tiny bit greasy – but I’ll take that over dried out – anytime. This play-dough is stored in the fridge and I think that makes a big difference.

It smells absolutely wonderful, since it is made using Kool-Aid. This is one of my favorite things about it! I really haven’t had any problems with my kids trying to eat it, but I’m sure depending on the age of the child, this could make the play-dough all the more tempting to taste.

It’s also really simple to make. You know me — I love simple 🙂

Playdough recipe

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup salt
  • 2 (4 g) packages unsweetened Kool-Aid powdered drink mix
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 3 tablespoons oil

Directions:

  1. Mix flour, salt, Kool-Aid until blended.
  2. Carefully add oil to boiling water
  3. Add to the flour mixture and mix with spoon until cool enough to knead.
  4. Continue kneading until color is blended.
  5. Store in air tight bag or container in the refrigerator

My Mom said she was told that the purple and orange Kool-Aid makes the best dough as far as color but you can experiment. I think I may try blue next!

If anyone knows of a good flubber recipe I’d love to hear about it. That’s my next project!

Have you ever made playdough? What colors did you make?

Some Last Minute Gifts Before the New Year

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Last minute gift ideas

Image from Christmasstockimages.com

If you are anything like me, you will surely have forgotten one or two close friends over the holidays.  Or you might have forgotten that you promised to bring something to the New Year’s potluck celebration at your brother’s house.  If this is so, then here are some ideas that I’ve used this year and over the past few years, when this happens to me.

Last Minute Gift Ideas:

First you have to look at the recipient of this gift.  Is this person a close friend, a recently-made friend, or a colleague?  This matters as this will dictate the theme of the gift you will be giving.

If this is for a close friend- this is the easiest person to give a gift to. The best last minute gift is something they can use, something that is still unique, and something that is easy to make or find.  I’ve discovered that men and women alike really appreciate something for the home.  Here is a short list of home gifts:

  1. A really nice, big serving dish- good for parties and the like
  2. A charming oil burner- wonderful for the room or the living room
  3. A basket with potpourri- a rustic air freshener
  4. A set of organic soap

If your friend is a colleague- this is the person that is not so easy to gift because there is that professional barrier that can hold you back.  Here are some presents that my colleagues liked.

  1. A compact desktop- to hold pens, clips, pins, post its and the like
  2. A personalized pen- this is great to have when signing those checks, papers, contracts. It’s very professional-looking
  3. A bottle of good wine in a beautiful pouch- after the wine is consumed, the bottle and the pouch can be reused
  4. A stylish and compact laptop bag- this is a must have for the workers of this day and, thankfully, you can find really nice ones for a bargain price.

What are some of your gift ideas?  I’ll bet I can use these next year.

Now, if you forgot that you committed a dish to this year’s potluck, try something sweet and simple like a Leche Flan.  This is milk custard in English, and before you knock it, try it first.  It is delicious, sweet, and very easy to make.

You will need:

  • a double boiler
  • aluminum foil
  • a dozen eggs
  • a can of evaporated milk
  • a teaspoon of lemon essence
  • a cup of sugar, brown or white
  • a cup of water
  • a Llanera (flan mould)- one big one or a few smaller ones

How to Make This Dish:

  1. In a saucepan, mix the sugar and the water in equal amounts over medium heat.  You have to use medium heat or you will burn the syrup. Mix this until it gets drippy, not thick.
  2. Transfer equal amounts of this syrup to the Llanera(s) and leave it to sit for a while to cool.
  3. Separate the yolks from the whites. You need only the yolks.
  4. In a mixing bowl, combine the yolks and evaporated milk slowly, mixing in the lemon essence at the end.  It should be light yellow and liquid at the end.
  5. Pour this mixture into the Llaneras in equal amounts.
  6. Cover the Llaneras with the foil and steam in the dopuble boiler for an hour or until cooked. You will know this is cooked when a knife comes out clean after insertion. make sure this is a smooth and not a serrated knife.
  7. Run a smooth knife along the edges of the pan and then turn over slowly into your serving dish.

Viola!  You have Leche Flan. Trust me, this is a simple and delicious dish that everyone will surely love. Let me know if you’ve tried this and how you liked it.

What are your favorite last minute gift ideas?