A Gift .. More Like a Surprise Gift!

I love receiving gifts .. and to receive a surprise gift was even great!!

Just before lunch at work yesterday, I received a Postpac.

I opened it thinking it was something official but to my surprise it wasnt. The package contained a book .. a baking book to be exact! It was indeed a pleasant surprise.

Who on earth would want to send me a surprise gift?? A friend of mine, eat, who was leaving for Jakarta did. Sweet aint he??

eat sent me the book, as a gift for being a lovely friend ... awwwwwww .. and why did he choose a baking book?? I reckon it was also the fact that eat knew my love for baking.

Am I lucky or what?!?!

Anyways the book is called the Essential Baker by Carole Bloom and this is her latest. I love the fact how Carole had cleverly divided the recipes into different sections by the use of primary ingredients such as chocolate, fruits, etc.

Hmm .. I am so not done with the book, hence I cant decide which one I wanna try making as yet. Oh ya, not to mention that this is, by far, the thickest book I ever had.

PS: Mucho gracias, eat, for being so thoughtful. You really made my day! Really love the book, what more receiving it as a surprise gift!! Will try some of the recipes some time and thence will pass some to you and you be my critic. How about that huh?? And once again, thanks a million, eat, for being that super sweet friend of mine!

Krispy Kreme

Who can resist Krispy Kreme??

Not that I always get a chance to eat them. The last I had Krispy Kreme was a couple of months back when my sis brought some home from Bali.

And last week, when my buddy, Jun, told me that he was going back to Manila .. the only pasalubong I wanted from him was Krispy Kreme.

Well, yeah .. he bought me a dozen of Krispy Kreme .. THANK YOU, pare!!

His ETA was 11.55pm, and since I was craving for those sugary treats, I didnt mind going to the airport at midnite, just to take the doughtnuts from him.

I was of course full of smiles when I saw him with the box. The first thing I did when I received it, was to open the box and eat one .. oh gosh .. how satisfying!!

When I reached home about 1 am .. I sat down by the dining table and ate and ate. I knew how sinful it was .. doughnuts chockful of sugar!! I couldnt get enuff of these sugary treats but I had to stop at 3 .. ;-)

Then I opened the fridge, took a bottle of bird's nest with rock sugar and drank it.

Then a little voice inside me said "OH murnie .. get a life!! You are so contradicting!!" - doughnuts with loads of transfat then bird's nest .. hahahah .. well dats me .. do i really care?!

A Steamboat Session

Dang .. it has been a long time since I last updated my blog .. life goes on ..

So what did we do on Mother's Day yesterday?? We had a mini gathering at mum's place to have a good steamboat session.

Lots of food and lots of company .. the whole of mum's family were there, some cousins and aunt and uncles were there too .. hehehe .. it was really a joyous occassion!

The ladies had our steamboat in the kitchen while the men had theirs in the dining room.

These were the stuff we had for the steamboat session ..

Baby corn, button mushroom and different kinds of tofu ..

Marinated prawns, squids and mutton ..

Oyster mushrooms, cauliflower, enoki mushrooms, quail eggs and cabbage ..

Fishballs, crabsticks, sausages and squidballs ..

Clams and mussels ..

Marinated chicken and dory too.

Oh ya .. i was craving for sil's baked chicken wings and actually made a special request for that .. thanks Kak Ina for seeing to my request .. really appreciate it .. even before the session started I was already eating away the yummy chix wings .. they were irresistable .. hehe

We also had cakes .. not one but two cakes .. thanks Adriana and Kak Z for bringing the cakes .. ;-)


Oh ya .. mum actually cooked chicken curry too .. and those who didnt get enough of the steamboat actually ate chicken curry too with baguettes .. hehehe

Everyone seems to enjoy the steamboat .. it had been ages since we last had one ..

After the session .. after feeling bloated .. we all sat and had a good chat and only left mum's place at 2 am.

Happy Mother's Day to all mummies!

Oh yah .. did I mention that my hubby and I also celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary yesterday?? .. well yeah .. how time flies ..