seven years later

My last post was 7 years ago. I don't even know if people still blog - or if people have the patience to read blogs but here I am writing on the online journal that sustained me throughout my angsty quarter-life crisis. 

I started writing here when I was a law student who held a day job as a university teacher. I was in my 20s,   there was no such thing as Instagram yet, and anonymity was the name of the game. This tiny slice of the internet changed identities so much - identities that reflected the person I was at that time. I remember being someone going through the ups and downs of what essentially was a first job to a girl who had the energy to run after the bus in heels (!) to someone who finally achieved her lifelong dream of driving and owning her own car. I think I got stuck with cardriver only because after that I wasn't blogging as much anymore. 

Incidentally, my first car was the green lancer GLXI that I inherited from my mom when she migrated to the US. That car got replaced by Spike who I had for more than 7 years, then Diego, Datu, Cardo, and presently, P'Dol. By the way - this cardriver has also developed the ability to drive on the opposite side of the road. Yay, me.

As I said, I doubt if anyone will be reading this. Everything's on YouTube these days. Back in the day, blogs were online journals - the kind that made everyone feel like their own version of Doogie Howser, MD (before Neil Patrick Harris was on How I Met Your Mother, he was this child genius who ended the show by writing a journal entry on his computer). I also think I've lost the ability to write here - online journals gave way to food bloggers, fashion bloggers, and all these newfangled, very niche spaces online, while here I am trying to recapture the freedom that came from broadcasting my thoughts to strangers who happened to stumble upon this page. 

By the way - some of those strangers eventually became real people, friends even. Amazing isn't it.

Anyway, I am ending this entry for now. No such thing as like and subscribe on blogger ... just a fervent wish that even without a whole lot of shameless self-promotion, people would come, read, and leave a comment or two. And that they'd share your journey with you.

dreams do come true

a couple of years ago, 9 of my friends and i stayed at a "household". at that time, i'd been living alone for quite some time, so the exercise of learning more about housework was lost on me. but for some reason, they were quite surprised that i could cook, and if i may say so myself, i could cook well.

i guess it was cause i never cooked for myself, much less for them. little did they know that in the eyes of my brother's friends, i was quite the cooking diva when i was in high school. 

or was it more like a baking diva?

in any case, my cooking/baking diva self craved on of the most iconic things a self-proclaimed kitchen junkie would want to have the most: a kitchenaid stand mixer. and thanks to my mom, this dream came true.

 i had initially asked for a pink one, but because of special offers, sales, and what nots, my mom decided on getting me the classic red one. taking into account that i can't afford to replace the weird 80's green tile that adorn my kitchen, the classic red one was the best choice. it's so bright and such a major stand-out that you can virtually ignore the weird 80's green tile. hehehehe.

i had been hugging this box since it came, so i knew it was quite heavy. but i didn't really how immensely heavy it was until i had to pull it out of the box.

and here it is, in all of its shiny, bright red glory. doesn't it make you want to ignore the icky 80's green tile?

so far i've made chocolate chip mint cookies, chocolate chip walnut cookies, red velvet cupcakes, and fresh orange cupcakes. i'm excited to make more goodies. but more than that, i'm excited over the fact that even at this age, my mom can still make dreams come true.

p.s. happy father's day, papa! i love you.

alone again, naturally

my mom and i, we have a complicated relationship.

when i was in second grade and my teacher asked us to say who our best friends were, i didn't hesitate in saying my mom was my best friend. after all, my dad was working abroad then and except for the time i spent in school, i was basically with my mom all the time.

and she was a working mother. amazeballs, really.

she made sure i was first in line at the CSA entrance exam, even though my last name began with a "V" and i ended up entering the room last.

she brought us to school every single day cause a school bus from las pinas would be too early.

and she attended every single recognition, program, and school thingamajig that the teachers could think of.

even when i was in college and staying in the dorms already, she'd still bring me to UP on sundays and we'd eat at bun on the run in katipunan.

the time i made it as a university scholar one semester, she surprised me by being in my dorm room after PE class so she could attend the awarding. unfortunately, it was then that she saw a pic of me and an ex. she was crazy mad, but couldn't be on that day cause, after all, i was university scholar. hahaha. she waited till the weekend before biting my head off.

my brother and i were born ten months apart (yes, you read that right), so i wasn't even a year old when i had to start sharing my mom with my brother. and i won't pretend i don't know he's her favorite. i've grown to accept that as a fact of life, pretty much like how everything that goes up must come down. but favorite or not, i've always known that i wasn't every shortchanged by mom.

not in terms of a good education. not in terms of material possessions. not in terms of care and affection. if at all, i just wasn't able to get away with as much as my brother did. but when you're 36 years old, that doesn't really matter anymore. (or so I claim, haha!)

my mom arrived late night on April 21 (or was it early morning April 22) and i brought her to the airport at 4am this morning. it's crazy how we "tried" each other so much over the past couple of days. there were times that i was so frustrated i didn't know how to handle taking care of my mom (not that she needed taking care of) - i didn't know what she wanted to eat, or what she wanted to do, and how to make the heat go away (aircon, but she didn't like staying in one place too much, and turning on all the airconditioning units was just crazy). maybe i had just gotten so used to being alone and taking care of no one but myself. or maybe it was just how we are. i dunno. but thinking now about all the times we spent being frustrated with each other over the course of her vacation makes me want to hit my head against the wall as to how i could've been so stupid as to waste precious time with my mom.

it's mother's day tomorrow. ironically, we're not spending it together. i miss her already - i miss her calling me ateng and her sweeping my house every so often cause she just can't get over how dusty everything is in the philippines. i miss our weekends spent shopping (hence the suitcases that may or may not be above the weight limit) and our weekends spent with me forcing her to eat stuff at my favorite restaurants (thank goodness she liked banapple). but i'm also realistic; i do know that any longer and we would've probably ended up resenting each other beyond repair.

as i've said, my mom and i, we have a complicated relationship.

first trip of the year

{what's a trip to Siem Reap without the standard pic of Angkor Wat reflected on the pool?}

Ever since my friends pulled off that trip to Kuala Lumpur without killing each other, it has been our plan to hie off to Cambodia and see Angkor Wat. Or maybe it was their plan and I just adopted it as one of my own, haha. But, whatever, we wanted to go to Cambodia and it was timely that eventually Cebu Pacific offered a direct flight.

And, as with our KL trip, this was a truly spur of the moment, a let's-check-the-website-if-there's-a-sale, and boom, sometime back in August, we found ourselves with affordable tickets to Siem Reap for the last weekend of January.

For some reason, out of the country trips with my Tuloy friends always involve me, Cathy, Ralf, and KEf. This time around, KEf brought his friend, Doc (at least that's what I call him, he's a real doctor, promise!) who fit perfectly with out group. 

You do know when I say "fit perfectly" it means he basically agreed with everything I said, never complained about the food I ordered, and laughed at all my jokes. ☺

According to the websites, January is one of the best times to visit, it being their "small winter". One website even said to bring thick clothes. I'm glad I didn't listen to that advice. It was WARM!!!

On our first full day, Friday (we arrived Thursday evening), I couldn't help but feel giddy-excited. As most of my friends can attest, I'm a city girl - I like traveling to cities, shopping, checking out malls, and walking amidst people hurrying for work. Maybe that's why I loved Kuala Lumpur so much! So I couldn't really explain why my excitement was just way off the charts. 

When I saw my first temple, it just struck me: this was not just traveling to a different country, this was traveling to a different time. People made these with their hands, without heavy machinery, and people made these monuments to reach out to the gods.

And while none of these were made to reach out to the God I worship, there was just something about man's desire to worship a greater deity that struck a chord with me.

And don't let this kid's sweet face fool you. My friends and I were waiting for KEf to finish taking pictures (that ends only when his camera dies on him) when this kid stood in front of me, started counting out postcards in that Cambodian sing-song accented English, repeatedly telling me, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, ten postcards for one dollar." At first I was able to resist him. After five or so rounds, I caved in. With the dollar at Php40, I think I can afford ten postcards without a problem. My only condition was that he pose for me.

(I think it was that ear peeking out of his hoodie that did me in. A minute after I snapped this pic, another kid, this time in a pumpkin costume - where he got it i can only guess - did the exact same ruse of counting postcards in English. Gaaaah!!! I feel for the tourist trap!!!)

Now, I'm sure a hundred (thousands!) other bloggers would have better posts about Siem Reap ... for one, I was too amazed at everything that I didn't even take note of the temples that we visited. All I knew was that they took my breath away and that I would want a second go at this lovely country, this time armed with my guide book, more energy to manage the treks, and more time to just pore over every little bit of interesting thing this country has to offer.

start the new year with a bang ...

... or in my case, BANGS!

{so yes, i'm making a weird face in the pic. please ignore that!}

maybe it was cause the weather suddenly turned cool.

or maybe it was cause i was hating my hair with each passing day and regretting the trip i made all the may to this small salon in manila thinking i got a great deal on hair rebonding when in fact (1) it was expensive and (2) it ruined my hair.

maybe it was cause i was embarrassed when the girl who colored my hair struggled like crazy combing my hair after washing it ... yeah, it was that damaged.

whatever the reason, last friday, i asked M (my unofficial photographer and my new hair's #1 fan) to go with me to Shine Girls.

now, Shine Girls sort of has a cult following among the korean hairstyling fanatics. and the stylist, jina, almost didn't cut my hair cause i didn't make an appointment prior to going there. but i guess she took one look at the sad state of my hair and decided that if someone needed her magic, it was most definitely me.

since there was most definitely a communication issue (apparently, the only english she trusted was the english of one of her helpers there), my instructions were simple: i don't care what you do to my hair, as long as you take away the damaged portions. 

and oh, i wanted bangs.

she did warn me that my hair was going to end up short and that bangs would required blow-drying in the morning but i threw all caution to the wind. after all, what have i got to lose at this point?

so she cut. and cut. and cut. and cut some more. there was lifting and texturizing and other stuff i couldn't begin to understand. what there wasn't any of was talking. so while i was glad for the language barrier (at least no chit chat) i was afraid of the outcome.

for a while, i was, cause it seemed like my hair was going to come out all kpop-like. then she worked her wonders with a straightening iron, and in a matter of minutes, she made my hair pretty.

i mean, look at that detail!

{screen capture from @dred_fabian's instagram feed}

needless to say, for a P400 haircut, i was one happy, if not overjoyed, customer!

proof here:

{yep, more pics, and all from my official photographer!}

is it shorter? yup, but on bad hair days (translation: when i don't have the energy/patience to fix it) i can put it up on a ponytail still and look decent.

it it difficult to maintain? nope, not at all. i won't lie and say it's wash and wear cause it requires the "making" of a couple of curls with a straightening iron to bring out the nice layers. but, doing all that is super quick (less than ten minutes) with my favorite revlon straightener. easy peasy.

the biggest plus of all though is that the damaged/easily tangled/dead portions are all gone, and my hair seems  much, much healthier. and if only for that, i am so glad for this impulse trip to get my hair cut.

(and if you can't see it, well, look real closely cause i do indeed have bangs ☺)

let's give the birthday boy some bacon love!

{don't be distracted by the new polka dot dinnerware -- this is a really good hearty soup!}

you all know my food twin, right? after all, he IS way more popular than i am! and you all know how much he loves bacon, so much that family bring him bacon as pasalubong! so, in honor of his anniversary (yesterday) and his birthday (today), i'm writing a second post for today and it's all about today's dinner which i made in his honor:

pototo, cauliflower, corn, and BACON chowder*

*recipe adopted from here! notes from me!!!

cauliflower, chopped (1 big head, or several small heads)

1 large potatoes, diced (the smaller the dice, the faster they'll cook)

chicken stock (2 chicken bouillion cubes in around 1.5 liters of water)

1 can of corn kernels, drained

crumbled bacon (a lot, like around 250 grams. btw - purefoods actually has this now!)

3 to 4 cloves garlic

1/8 cup butter

1 large onion

salt and pepper to taste

method:

1. in the pan where you'll make the soup, fry the bacon. no need to make it crisp, just cooked! remove from pan, set aside.

2. melt the butter in the same pan (which will have a bit of fat rendered from the bacon, yum!). add garlic and onions and lightly fry till onion is transparent. DO NOT BROWN.

3. add the cauliflower and the potatoes. add enough chicken stock till the cauliflower and potatoes are covered.

4. bring to a simmer and allow to cook until the cauliflower and potatoes are cooked.

5. using an immersion blender, blend the soup. OR, allow to cool a bit then transfer to blender to mix. 

    * now after blending, you'll know whether your soup is perfectly thick or too thin. mine was, so i made roux with butter, onions, and flour and added it to the soup. it thickened a bit!

6. add corn and bacon. season with salt and pepper. simmer for 15 minutes.

7. serve warm! to make the soup a bit more special (and since i had a lot of it), i sprinkled parmesan cheese on top which became a "soft crust" that you can break into.

let there be light*

(*ang corny ng title, i know!)

since i ended 2012 as a domestic diva (with the help of my amazing cleaning lady), i've been trying to keep my house in tiptop shape despite marathon cooking sessions, purging sprees, and my short stint as a vegetable dealer. so far, i've been pretty for the first four days of the new year, and, as a way of embracing my inner martha, i told myself i was going to spend the first saturday of the year doing errands.

well, not real errands, but you know, the let's-pretend-i'm-domesticated-but-all-i-really-want-to-do-is-shop-so-i-will-look-for-house-stuff kind of errands. and thanks to KR, i chanced upon these:

{lamp number one}

{lamp number two}

for quite some time now, i had my heart set on this lamp with a glass base from SM, but since i divorced henry sy, i've avoided my ex-favorite mall like the plague. and, while it was on my christmas wish list, my friend wisely picked the ottoman + 2-gallon drink container, both of which are getting way more mileage than what i would've gotten from the lamp.

i guess i ought to blame that lunch we had at a co-worker's beautiful condo unit.

{photo collage from @dred_fabian's instagram feed}

the hour and a half we spent there was so inspiring that it jolted me once more back into martha stewart territory. it began with me and my boss running over to get the last two pieces of the louis ghost chair (and bringing it back to the office, walking through a very crowded mall + walkway) that same afternoon. and then today, i totally junked my puny (they were too tiny for the place) lamps and replaced them with these beauties.

there was way too much eye candy from today's trip, and my credit card thanks me that i exhibited fiscal restraint when i decided not to buy some of the other stuff that were on my cart as well. i guess it's a good thing that i'm saving up for two major items (not to mention a trip this month!), otherwise, i would've come home with more than two gorgeous lamps - i had my eyes (and heart!) set on a number of candle holders, this gorgeous artichoke vase, polka dot plates, and several serving dishes.

so not a good idea, right? especially after i had just purged a whole lot of stuff from my kitchen!

i AM going to go back ... after putting up the lamps and re-organizing some parts of my home (again!) i realized that i do need some of the stuff i saw over there. or maybe not. but then again, i am a girl who really loves to shop. sometimes, i don't really need a reason except that i want to. ☺

today

today is the birthday of a really good friend.

{birthday boy}

we met in 2007 ... i was a new lawyer and within minutes of meeting him, i pre-judged him as this guy living of his parents simply cause he was in jeans on a weekday and was driving an innova. i couldn't have been more wrong in my assessment of him. haha!

almost six years later, we're still friends. last night, when my turn came to tell the group something nice about him, i shared how he's always been there to figure out how to get inside my locked house, come in the middle of the night to repair pipes that burst, and to bring me to the airport when the flight is at some ungodly hour. he attempted to bill me for services rendered, until i reminded him that i've basically been his on-call lawyer. we have a mutually beneficial relationship (and hopefully he doesn't realize that i benefit way more than he does!).

happy birthday, KEf. i hope you never get tired of having us around you.

well, hello there 2013!

{happy new year!}

If today would be any indication of the rest of the year, then 2013 will be drizzly, will have minimal traffic, and will make me horribly fat with all the amazing food that passed through my mouth.

To my five (and hopefully more in 2013) readers, may your 2013 be filled with all things good and wonderful.

2012

Had the predictions been true and the world did end in 2012, I would've been okay.

It was a GREAT year for me.

{Superstars} 

{Part of Tuloy Thursday ... with kids!)

{Work Friends}

{Tuloy sa Don Bosco}

{Wonderful memories made}

{Tuloy Thursday ... we're growing -- in numbers, not in girth, haha!)

{becoming more domesticated}

{Becoming a regular employee and all the perks that went with it ... even if they got my nickname wrong!}

{more time to read, to relax, and to just be}

{getting back into the habit of cooking}

{hosting more parties at home}

So many blessings in those pictured, and so much more undocumented here, Diego being one of the most major ones. Ever since the holiday season started I'd reflect a bit before sleeping and would be struck at how many blessings have come in one day, and couldn't help but utter a short prayer of thanks for how He has made his presences felt in so many ways. and as if that weren't enough, last Friday, I received amazing news in the morning and realized, truly, the Lord cannot be outdone in generosity.

My 2013 looks promising. I've four trips scheduled, Mama's coming home this April, Papa in December, and I finally have leaves from work. The Big Boss has predicted that while 2012 was a tough year for business, 2013 is supposed to be the year of recovery. So if my 2012 already knocked off my socks, I can't imagine how much more wonderful 2013 will be!

Thank you Lord, family, and friends for being with me on my 2012 journey. Here's to more blessings in 2013!!!

♥,

Rosa

A Post-Christmas Party

Very much inspired by the home of one of my co-workers, I did my best to "level-up" for a post-Christmas party done at my home.

I'd like to think I did well ☺

{drinks station. the drink jar and the wine glasses, as well as the wines were all christmas gifts!}

{a "welcome to my home" station with a few goodies and nibbles to tide everyone over while waiting ...
yes, my friends are notorious for being more than two hours late for dinners at my home}

{forever the cake stand from dapitan, my mom's we've-had'-it-since-forever arcopal bowl,
and ceramic serving dishes from a friend at work}

{pretty paper straws}

{two-gallon drink jar which i filled up with homemade iced tea}

{Christmas napkins ☺}

{signs on my "welcome to my home" station}

after parties like this, there's always way too many dishes to wash, things to put away, and table linen to wash. but i've got nothing to say except that it's always worth it ☺

yummy treat #1

unlike my food twin, richie, i am by no means a food blogger. i do love to eat (my girth is proof of that), but way before i got this big, my brother's friends loved me cause i'd cook yummy treats for them. as a matter of fact, there was this time when one friend purposely dropped by our house because he found out i made brownies and he didn't get his share yet. 

talk about presumptuous, hahaha!

ironically, people from my current life think i am totally clueless in the kitchen. i guess they know better now.

recently, i've been cooking stuff i want to eat (dangerous, i know). so i'd get an idea in my head, troll the internet for recipes, and make them over and over again until i "perfect" it ... at least to my mind (or tongue?). one of the most recent was homemade peanut butter cups ... translation: reese's!!!

i've been tweeting about it, and jen has been asking me to post a recipe online. after much trial and error, i've finally settled on one that i liked. so, jen, let this be my christmas gift to you ☺ i hope your son likes this!

HOMEMADE PEANUT BUTTER CUPS

Rosa's tweaked version!

{ingredients used on attempt #1}

When I first made my peanut butter cups, i used this recipe but made them to look like the ones here. i've made them a grand total of three times - getting feedback from my "test audience" repeatedly until i think i hit the perfect recipe. well, at least it's perfect for me ☺ 

Ingredients (and notes!)

16 oz. peanut butter - most recipes call for creamy peanut butter. i've learned however that the perfect mix would be 8 oz of creamy and 8 oz of crunchy. my "test audience" likes the crunch and bite. me - as the cook - likes the fact that the crunchy and creamy peanut butter mix "holds together" better. if you're going to use all creamy peanut butter, i suggest adding 2 tbsps of crushed graham crackers.

2 pounds chocolate - the first time i made them, i got two bags of goya easy melt chocolate buttons - one bag of milk chocolate and one bag of dark chocolate. my "test audience" loved this. note, however that one bag each will just give you half of the chocolate requirements, so you'll actually need 4 bags (two of each kind) to make a full recipe. i tried using deutch (or something like it) milk chocolate chips but my "test audience" said it tasted cheap and not really chocolate-y. the one that got the best feedback was callebaut dark chocolate. this one a friend liked so much that he asked for the chocolate without the peanut butter! kainis!

{callebaut dark chocolate ... chopped up!}

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

4-6 tablespoons melted butter - i am a huge fan of queensland butter. do you know that now they have them on foil packs, not just in cans anymore? well, i learned that just this year and i love to use it for cooking! btw, 4 tablespoons is roughly 1/4 cup of butter. one bar of butter = 1 cup, therefore, 1/4 of this bar = your butter requirement for this recipe!

{queensland butter ... my favorite cooking butter!}

cooking spray

mini cupcake papers - i use 3/4 or 1. 

Procedure

1. Prepare your cupcake papers. I discovered that papers alone make for deformed homemade peanut butter cups. that's quite okay if the peanut butter cups are just for personal consumption. however, since i wanted to make these for friends as their christmas gift from me, i got myself some silicone cups to "hold" the paper in. a mini cupcake pan would be better, but i couldn't find them in this size. after putting the paper into the molds, lightly mist with cooking spray. (or you can put a bit of oil in a spray bottle and spray away!)

2. Prepare your chocolate. I can't remember which this one was ... but let's just say that (1) i never tempered the chocolate (2) i never used a double broiler and (3) the microwave was my friend. if you're using chocolate blocks like i did on my third try, make sure to cut up the chocolate into uniform bits so that it melts almost uniformly. knowledge of your microwave helps ... because you don't want to blast the chocolate for too long. in my case, it takes one 30-second zap, then i mix it a bit, and then a 45-second zap to melt it all up. usually, the heat from the chocolate is enough to melt whatever remaining solids there are after the second zap. now, don't be lazy and put it at 1:15 and just hope for the best. you need short bursts + mixing of the chocolate in between bursts.

3.  Now things get sticky ... literally. peanut butter (especially the half creamy, half crunch mix) + powdered sugar is hell to work with. my only consolation is that by the time i was able to thoroughly fold all the sugar + butter into the peanut butter, i would've gotten my arm exercises for the day.

4. The assembly! As i mentioned earlier, i did the "layered" thing over at fifteen spatulas. Sorry but no pictures here ... that peanut butter was CRAZY to work with.

Start with spooning a bit of chocolate onto each cupcake paper. Try to get the same amounts of chocolate on each cup. Once you're done, "hit" the tray against the counter repeatedly so that the chocolate spreads and that it becomes level. Refrigerate the chocolate for a bit. In my case, 5 to 10 minutes in the ref is enough to make the chocolate hard.

If you used creamy peanut butter and your mixture is quite smooth, you may use a piping bag (of a ziplock with a corner cut out) to put the peanut butter mixture into each cup. BUT if you're working with the crunch-creamy mix, expect this to be quite difficult to work with (my ziplock actually "burst" cause of the pressure to get the peanut butter out) and i'd suggest that you just spoon a bit of the mixture into each cup individually. afterwards, flatten out the peanut butter mixture with your fingers (after you've washed your hands, of course!!!)

then put another layer of chocolate on top. you may put enough chocolate so that it reaches the rim of the cupcake paper, or leave some space. in the end, it's all up to you (and how much chocolate you still have, haha!). again tap-tap-tap the tray onto the counter to flatten out the chocolate. make sure no peanut butter is showing (translation, don't follow my example below, haha!!!). throw inside the ref!!!

and afterwards ..

TA-DA!!!

 homemade peanut butter cups ... all ready to be sent off to lucky friends (yes, they're lucky they get to taste my cooking, haha!).

enjoy!!!

addicted to reese's

M, one of my good friends at work, put these ten nesting bowls on her Christmas wishlist.

before i was able to buy it, it went of sale. 50% off. yay! that meant i was able to get her another present from her list.

that also meant it was too good a deal to pass up so i had to get myself the bowls as well.

they were a pain to drag from greenbelt back to the office, but they were worth it.

so they sat and sat on my counter for a couple of weeks until i thought of making homemade peanut butter cups.

so i got myself the ingredients and got started on my reese's experiment.

first, i lined up my mini cupcake liners. i wish i had gotten prettier ones, but this was just an experiment. and notice - all my baking trays have rusted to oblivion (translation: i dunno where to find them) so i just had to make do with what i could find.

then i melted the chocolate (in the microwave - no double broiler and i wanted things quick!). since i was poor, and therefore cheap, i used goya. next time i'll spring for more expensive chocolate. 

however, i was trying to be more chef-like, hence i mixed a pack of regular milk chocolate and dark chocolate. i liked the resulting taste. 

and oooh, notice the bowl? love love love!

next up - the peanut butter mixture. now, this was where i went wrong: i think i put in way too much butter, hence the overly soft consistency. and maybe i should've put some graham crackers for a bit of texture (just like what the other recipes recommended).

and here's misstep #2 - i used this recipe and followed this assembly instructions. the result? too soft center that basically collapses when you bite into it.

the final product?

{sorry, instagram pic and not pic from garlic the camera)

nowhere near as pretty as the one from fifteen spatulas but, i'm cutting myself some slack. after all, this was my first try at making these things. 

since this is me cooking, expect to see peanut butter cups at least two times more in this blog (i have two other recipes i want to try out, including the one from fifteen spatulas whose presentation i copied, but failed to follow the recipe of.) hopefully, one day, i'll be able to come up with THE perfect recipe.

then you can expect to receive that for Christmas.