Joined Brewing Surprises Day 1: Bedazzle Me

Joined Brewing Surprises Day 1: Bedazzle Me

Turbo Broiled Chicken

Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies. I am mostly what they call as an experimental cook. Fortunately, my experiments turns out good more often than not. :) 

Last night, I decided to make Turbo Broiled Chicken for our family dinner. I used ingredients that can be found in our pantry, they are: soy sauce, liquid seasoning, dried basil, onion, garlic, sugar, butter, sesame oil, small amount of barbecue sauce, and lemon grass. I mixed them all to marinate one whole chicken for about an hour or two.

The chicken in the turbo broiler! :)

Can't wait! Almost there! XD

I used a turbo broiler to cook the chicken for 35 minutes on each side at 225 degree Celsius. I also used a pastry brush to wet the chicken with the marinating sauce every now and then to keep the skin moist. 

Finished product! Delish! ^_^

Does it make you drool now? XD haha! I love how it reached this color, so much like the commercial roast chickens. We used some of the marinate drippings as a side sauce. It was really tasty and oh-so-yummy! ^_^ 

Best Friends: 10 years & counting. ^_^

"Best friends are those who, through all the new friends, new 
hobbies, new jobs, rough times, high school, college, and distance, 
are always there for each other, no matter how busy they become."

Four years ago when my family left Manila and decided to stay for good here in Davao, I remember how I feel so regretful for having very few photo mementos that I have with my best friend. We weren't the kind of best friends seen clinging to each other all time back in high school, so there are small chances for moments to capture. We're neighbors, had our classrooms side-by-side, yet we were rarely seen by others together. Way back then, I guess that's uniquely us — the type of best friends who only bonds together on rare occasions and had heart-to-heart talks once in awhile; yet despite that, we both know deep in our hearts, at the end of each day, that we have each other. It's like an unspoken pledge between the two of us. It proves to me one thing — "best friends" is not a label, it is a promise.

Then came the sudden twist-of-fate, my family arrived here in Davao, and my best friend and I started our separate lives in college; hers at University of Santo Tomas in Manila, while mine at Ateneo de Davao University. What others might think as the end of our story, turned out ironically as a start of a better chapter for the two of us. Through the help of social media technologies, my best friend and I maintained a constant communication. We became closer and had more hearty conversations. Even it was only through text messages and Facebook, we were always there for each other.


We had the same hopes; of her coming to visit me here in Davao, and of me being able to go back to Manila. Last summer of 2011, the once-was-only-dreamed plan of ours came to reality, she arrived here in Davao for a 10-day vacation. With even more luck for me, I was able to return to Manila last October 2011, and just recently, last April 2012. Before we knew it, we had overflowing photos that captured our best moments together.



This is a photo-collection of our "best-friendship". I am not an expert when it comes to creating AV presentations, like this one... But I have been wanting to try it, and I thought — as a way of showing my feelings for my one and only best friend, why not give it a chance? :) And so here it is, it may seem very elementary, given how little experience I have with Windows Movie Maker, but hey, this is the best that I can do so far. ^_^

PS: Karen, this one is for you, my sister from another mother. :)

I love you, Bes! ♥


~ingrid dl

Like Branches of a Tree

"Like branches of a tree

we grow in different directions,

yet our roots remain as one.

Each of our lives will always be

a special part of the other's." 

---Anonymous

My very own Chocolate Revel Bar: a sinful delight! ^_^

Image from DessertComesFirst

I have always shown interest in culinary arts, though I am not the one you can call an expert at it. I never had training through cooking classes and mostly do trial and errors with all the things that I cook or bake. With that, Chocolate Revel Bar is one of the many desserts that I really want to try baking. It is a rich, chewy chocolate-oatmeal bar-type cookies loaded with fudgy filling — an all time family favorite! ^_^ 

Since I have a lot of vacant time now, I decided to try it out. I used this recipe guide from AllRecipes and I can say that this one hit the shot! :)

Ingredients

• Oat mixture
• 3 cups quick cooking oats
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups packed brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Chocolate filling

• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together 1 cup butter and brown sugar until fluffy. Mix in eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla. In another bowl, combine oats, flour, baking soda, and 1 teaspoon salt; stir into butter mixture. Set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan, heat sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, 2 tablespoons butter, and 1/2 teaspoon salt over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in walnuts and 2 teaspoons vanilla.
4. Pat 2/3 of the oat mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread chocolate mixture evenly over the top, and dot with remaining oat mixture.
5. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in preheated oven. Let cool on a wire rack, then cut into bars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is my finished product! ^_^

Instead of using walnuts, I used toasted local peanuts since it is cheaper and more readily available in the market. I really like the results and the oat mixture is just perfect! Though I would like to adjust the salt in the chocolate filling because it tastes a bit too salty for me. I think 1/4 tsp of salt will do just fine, or no salt at all for those who are "sweet tooth". Aside from that, I would probably decrease the thickness of the base oat mixture to around 1 cm, not that the thickness matters, it simply is my preference. :)

I am gonna try baking more of this in the future until I can perfect it. By that time, it will be a perfect gift idea for my family and friends.

~ingrid dl

Taking the Steps

There are times that even though we are yearning to reach a certain goal,

we become feared with all the steps that we have to take.

We try to grope our way forward and continue the pursuit, 

but as if in engulfed by the dark, we tend to suspend ourselves and remain unmoving.

However, just as how we all find ourselves rooted to a spot,

the aspiration we set forth in the first place will continue to be frozen

and simply remain as an aspiration — unachieved and not even getting closer.

We must keep moving forward.

Take those little steps, no matter how wobbly, towards our dream. 

The dream that was once a mere aspiration

will one day materialize and be achieved.

~ingrid dl

Happy Birthday my dear friend! BENESA! ^_^

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY! ^_^

With a few moments left before I take an exam for my nursing subject, I still managed to blog about this. Of course, this is a special day for my dear friend, Benesa. This slightly obsessive-compulsive girl has finally turned 20 years old --- which I cannot bring myself to believe in because of so much childlikeness she has. :p peace out!XD But heyyy, she really is now a lady --- well, despite all the giggling fits of a kid. ^_^

I have learned to love all sides of this girl: from the quirky and dorky side where we can both choose to look weird by applying blackheads-remover in a public place [yea, we did that, photo as evidence is shown above XD]; to the bratinella side of hers where she displays her what-benesa-wants-benesa-gets attitude with a hint of playfulness most of the time; to her childlike or maybe even childish [sometimes] side where she often feels so giddy and fun. 

No matter what, I will, and always will repeat what I said before... I thank the Heavens for having such a dear friend like her. She is my sister from another mother. ^____^ 

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Bene! :) 

My birthday wish for you is - Vive bene, Spesso l'amore, Di risata molto!

Live well. Love much. Laugh often. :)

Our Successful Nursing Informatics Seminar

 NURSING INFORMATICS: 

 Leading Healthcare to High Definition 

The Food Committee.

The Program Committee.

The Documentation Committee

The Registration Committee

The BIG day is over and successful. :) 

Last February 10, 2012 (Friday), we held the seminar that we had been organizing for more than a month. We all did our best to make this one soar high. The committees from program, to registration, to documentation, and to food truly deserves an applause for creating such a smooth event. Of course this would have been impossible weren't it for the patient guidance of the core group of our class. 

All in all, in spite of our flaws, I am proud to belong in this class - BSN - 4A (2011-2012)! ^_^

Hi, I'm Fleurdelis! ^_^

I have finally decided to delete and move on from the age-old blog that I have created back in high school. This I did for two reasons - first, it is already outdated; second, I am determined to transform myself from the too-pessimistic side to a more positive and happy me. ^______^ 


What better way to do this than to start in changing my pen name? :)

From the very gloomy Wisherdemort(Deathwisher), I am NOW ---- Fleurdelis! <3

image from factspage.blogspot.com

The English translation of "fleur-de-lis" (sometimes spelled "fleur-de-lys") is "flower of the lily." This symbol, depicting a stylized lily or lotus flower, has many meanings. Traditionally, it has been used to represent French royalty, and in that sense it is said to signify perfection, light, and life. 

from http://www.fleurdelis.com/fleur.htm

Perfection, light, and life --- that is now my vision. :)


I cannot promise for zero negative episodes and emotional bouts, but I can promise to focus myself in choosing happiness over loneliness... as people put it - HAPPINESS IS A CHOICE. ^_^