Delicious Cupcakes

Christmas is fast approaching and as the BER months approach, people are getting preoccupied with what to give to loved ones, officemates, friends, neighbors.  Gifts vary according to the receiver.  Gifts for family and dear friends are usually valuable hence are expensive.  For office colleagues, neighbors and friends, gifts could be baked or cooked goodies, products of an enterprising relative's creativity or  some China made trinkets that could be bought from 168.

Like everyone else, I want to give gifts without breaking the bank.   For years, I baked fruit cakes and chocolate chip cookies, made cassava cakes,  made sardines for  gifts.  Not only was I able to save money from my home-made giveaways, I also earned a handsome amount from selling fruit cakes.

For this year, my daughter Kara and I trooped to the Maya Test Kitchen to learn how to make mouth-watering cupcakes.  Cupcakes have been the craze for the past two years with the emergence of Sonja's Cupcakes et al.  These little goodies could cost between P20  and P80 each depending on how intricate the frosting and decoration are.  Cupcakes have also become a favorite wedding and debut giveaway.

Kara & I rode the MRT at the North Avenue station and alighted at Ayala station and then took a cab going to Maya Kitchen's building.  We arrived just in time  as Chef Nikko Buendia was being introduced to the class.  She shared recipes of her bestselling cupcakes, demonstrated how to do them and the difficult part was to make the cake toppings.  Toppings could be anything.  For Christmas, one can choose from angel, star, bells or anything to commemorate the occasion. We had fun garnishing our cupcakes with chocolate chips, sprinkles, and other cake decors.

Thinking on how to decorate my cupcakes.

The fruits of my creativity.

With Chef Nikko and Maya Kitchen employee.

I must admit that I find cooking easier than baking.  Baking is a science, everything should be precise.  With cooking I can make adjustments if something did not turn out right.  But there's a certain high and fulfillment in turning out baked items.  Maybe I should put my heart in baking.  I'll start with cupcakes.

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Our Family's Davao Getaway

Exactly one year ago today, our family went to Davao upon the invitation of a Couples for Christ brother and sister, Edward and Rownee Braceros.  We stayed at their house as Bro. Edward was against us checking-in in a nearby hotel.  Except for Jun, my husband, all of us are first timers at Davao.

It all started when Cebu Pacific had a promo.  Airplane fares to domestic destinations were slashed by 50%.  I readily went online to book our reservation.  The best time for us was the November break as all our children are on semestral break.  When you have grown children, it is so difficult to plan a vacation as everyone has his own schedule to contend with.

We took the first flight for Davao to be able to maximize our time there.  I was wrong.  We were late to go to our first destination for a lunch at the beach of Samal Island as the children were all sleepy as they didn't have enough sleep. Lunch we had but we have to forego of the swimming as the children were tired.  The only other activity for our first day was a Mass.

On the way to Samal Island

The following day, we were all excited in going to the different tourist attractions.  We have already regained our strength and energy after a sumptuous dinner cooked by no less than Bro. Edward and a full night's sleep.  We spent the morning at the Philippine Eagle Center where the nearly extinct Philippine eagles are cared for.  Aside from the eagles, there were monkeys, crocodiles, hawks, owls, snakes and other big birds that you can only see in books.  We should really take a stake in the upkeep of this place is we want our grandchildren to see the nearly extinct birds.

Sir Arny, Philippine Eagle

It  was the Eden Nature Park in the afternoon.  Cool and serene, this park showcases the different trees and vegetables that Eden Farms are producing that end up in the vegetable/fruit sections of known supermarkets in Metro Manila.  We rode an open van that brought us to the different parts of the park:  lodges, camping ground (I would try this on our next Davao trip), swimming area, fishing area, big tracts of land planted to vegetables and fruit trees like mangosteen, durian, and others that are synonymous with Davao.  To cap our day, we had a merienda of fresh vegetable salad straight from the farm.

Our last day in Davao, we spent the day buying tuna and pomelo and a visit at the Crocodile Farm and the Butterfly House.  We learned a lot from Crocodile Farm.  We saw crocodiles of different stages, from babies to mature ones.  My daughters enjoyed feeding the ostriches and taking video of an orangutan showing his antics to his audience.  My son on the other hand ate barbecue made of ostrich and snake meat.

There are a lot of places to be seen in Davao.  The food is good, the weather is fine.  My daughters even said that they want to live in Davao.  Thank you Edward and Rownee for making our first visit to Davao truly memorable.

The Jimenezes of Sorsogon

Image via Wikipedia

With the Philippines under the rule of Spain for 300 years, it is not surprising that the majority of Filipinos had descended from a Spanish ancestor.  I am no exception.  Jimenez is a family name of Spanish origin and is very common in Asturias, Castile, Navarre, Extremadura, Murcia and Andalusia.  It first appeared in the mountainous borders of Spain's Basque lands.  Jimenez is a patronymic form of the name Jimeno plus the Spanish suffix "ez" meaning "son of" derived from the parents' given names, thus, Jimenez means "son of Jimeno".

I am the eldest child of Ramon and Thelma Jimenez.  My father was born and raised in Sorsogon, Sorsogon, now Sorsogon City, the capital of Sorsogon province.  The question now is who is the ancestor of the present generation of Jimenezes of Sorsogon?

According to history, the first Jimenez arrived in Sorsogon sometime between 1565 to 1570.  It was during this time that the then Spanish conquistador, Miguel Lopez de Legaspi who was based in Panay dispatched an expeditionary force to gather provisions for the starving Spanish force in Panay and at the same time evangelize the natives that they would chance upon.  This force was headed by Capt. Luis Enriquez de Guzman and joined by their chaplain, the Augustinian friar, Fray Alonso Jimenez.  They stumbled upon the fishing village , Gibalong, at the mouth of the Ginangra River in what is now called Magallanes, Sorsogon.  The village Gibalong is the very first Christian settlement in Luzon.  It was here that the first Mass in Luzon was celebrated by of course, Fray Alonso Jimenez.  Aside from Sorsogon, Fray Jimenez visited other places in Luzon trying to preach the Gospel.

My father and my uncle, Arturo Jimenez claim that Fray Alonso was quite a ladies' man. They said that with his forays to the different parts of Luzon as a man of the cloth, that could account why Jimenezes are scattered throughout the country.  Is it safe to assume that the Jimenezes of Sorsogon descended from this friar, Fray Alonso Jimenez?  That Jose Rizal's Padre Damaso is no fiction after all?

Jimenez' Coat of Arms

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/surname/a/spanish_names.htm

http://www.ancestry.com/facts/jimenez-family-history.ashx

http://www.zamboanga.com/z/index.php?title=Sorsogon_City,_Sorsogon,_Philippines