Welcome home (mini) cakes

After more than a week of restless nights, quiet evenings and alone dinners, Honey finally came home from a business trip from Seoul, Korea last Saturday afternoon. This is the longest business trip that honey has been to so far (and this includes three out of four weekend days) and I was really not used to not being with him when I come home from work or on weekends. I was so excited that he’s at last gonna be home that I cleaned the entire house very early in the morning, and as early as eleven am, thought of what I would cook for dinner and decided what cake to make.

I’ve been trying to decide it over the entire morning, until I finally gave in and asked my plurk buddies to help me decide whether I should make peanut butter torte or bounchons au chocolat (which is more of a mini cake comparable to Chili’s molten chocolate cake Through plurk’s help, I’ve decided to go with bouchons au chocolat, the recipe that I used actually came from one of my frequented blogs, marketmanila.com. ). It was quite easy to make actually and convenient so coz all the ingredients needed, I already have in my pantry. I just hopped to the grocery to buy some vanilla ice cream to top it with.

When honey and I finally got to eat dinner that night, we had shrimps in coconut milk and rice. Ooohh, I missed rice, since honey left I didn’t had any rice until that night. The sauce was creamy and the shrimps were succulent and were complimented well by the rice. Of course we had to save space for the decadent dessert that awaits and my oh my was it a treat. It was rich and bursting with chocolatey goodness with every teaspoonful. The vanilla ice cream goes so well with the warm cake, it was ecstatic. I couldn’t believe myself how easy it was to make considering how good it turned out to be. I have to emphasize though that the dessert is best enjoyed while it’s still warm, fresh out of the oven.

I had to smile when honey was so amazed and asked, “Where did you learn how to make these?” on his first teaspoonful of the cake. Suffice to say, he liked it a lot which made all my efforts worth the while.

My favorite breakfast in Athens

I remember the first time I tasted all natural yoghurt was at my mom-in-law’s (Mama Lits) place. I remember telling her that I wanted to eat something very light for dinner and so she brought home a huge tub of yoghurt for me, being the engaging mom in law that she is. The very first taste of yoghurt made my face cringe from all corners, I almost spit the tablespoon worth of the stuff out of my mouth. It was so sour I wondered if I did anything wrong to Mama Lits to subject me to such torture, of course I’m kidding… definitely about Mama Lits but not about the yoghurt. I was never fond of sour food in the first place.

Over the years, in spite of my aversion towards natural yoghurt, I have grown fond of flavored yoghurts. My favorite of which would be the blueberry flavored ones. However, when we moved here in Holland, I was exposed to more types of dairy products that I could ever imagine. This encouraged me to give the natural flavored yoghurt another chance. This is when I developed a new found love of natural yoghurt. I discovered that the key to really enjoy it is to put a teaspoonful of sugar or so or add a tablespoon of comfiture of your choice. By doing so would lessen the tartness and it brings out the creaminess of the yoghurt.

When we were in Athens, it so happens that breakfast is included with the rates of our hotel room so I was expecting a typical continental buffet with the tired fried bacons, eggs, cereal, bread, etc., etc., etc. To my delight, while browsing through all the food that was on offer, I chanced upon this huge tub of brilliantly white yoghurt. I decided to start off with it so I scooped a couple of tablespoonfuls and sprinkled some sugar and topped it off with a comfiture of sorts (I think it was mango). To add a little bit of flavor, after mixing thoroughly, I scattered a generous amount of muesli on top. The resulting yoghurt was amazing. Just enough tartness to excite your palette, a sweetness that cuts the sour aftertaste of yoghurt and a crunch that very well compliments the creaminess of the this yoghurt. I think that this particular yoghurt is creamier and is thicker than the normal ones I find in Holland. I think the Greeks do something different with their yoghurt that gives it a little more umph than the one’s that I got used to.


I tried some of the breakfast buffet but in the end decided to stick with the Greek yoghurt for breakfast, definitely my favorite breakfast in Athens.

The Twilight Saga

Finally I have finished reading the Twilight Series (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn). Initially, I wasn’t interested in reading the series coz I was concerned about the piles of books lying on my “to read” shelf but when I chanced upon the saga in one of my trips to the bookstore, I got curious upon reading a quote from USA today at the back of BD saying “Move over Harry Potter”. Is it really that good? What pushed me over the edge of my curiosity was the fact that books two and three were actually out of stock from all the bookstores that I passed, hmm, it must really be that good. My probing brain got the better of me and I gave in and bought Twilight and Breaking Dawn thinking that at least I already have two out of four and I’ll be going to Greece in a few days maybe I could find the other books there.

I rummaged through the pages of the first book immediately after arriving home and I was instantly hooked. Seriously, I couldn’t peel my eyes off from the leaves of the book in spite of the lateness of the hour. I managed to finish Twilight overnight and I can’t help but feel so frustrated that I don’t have the second book. It took every ounce of my patience to keep away from reading Breaking Dawn thinking that I would ruin the excitement, curiosity and thrill that build up after reading the very engaging Twilight.

Luckily, while strolling along the streets of Plaka in Athens, Greece, we passed by a huge shop that sells a wide selection of books. I finally got my hands on New Moon and Eclipse at a lower price even. I was torn between curling up in the hotel room and read the next books and hauling my self out of bed to explore a new city…. Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma. I managed to reach a compromise with myself, since we toured Athens the entire day, I was able to satiate my yearning for a couple of pages from the next books during those times when we sit idly to rest. That’s how addictive the Twilight Saga is.

The entire series is truly engaging to say the least. The way Stephanie Meyer portrayed the love story between Bella and Edward was really brilliant, readers would get captivated by the forbidden love between the lead roles. Later on in the series, the readers would be treated with a love struggle between Bella, Edward and Jacob. Truly, the saga is riveting, but is it really better than the Harry Potter series? As fascinating as the series is, I still think that the HP series was better written, had richer plots and would keep you more on the edge of your seat.

The Twilight series has its ups and downs, in my view. Some of the books in the series are better than others. Although I am still torn on what I think of the last book, I still think that the entire saga is definitely a must read.