Rossette Necklace

With a few days left in my Spring Break, I decided to take on a jewelry project. I came upon this DIY thinking it would be a quick and simple necklace. A day and a half later, I had cut out thirty-six circles in organza and panne, materials I had never been familiar with until this project. Since I hadn't worked on something like this in a while, I was growing impatient with the hand sewing and glueing but became quite pleased with the end result. If I have time, I might even make another in a different color.

Purses Over Books

I needed some space to store my purses so I decided to clear out the top of my bookshelf. Although I have dust bags to go with them, I love being able to see my purses on display. It makes outfit to purse coordination super easy and I'm less likely to forget about what I have. As for my books, I reorganized them on a different shelf. Hopefully they don't mind the relocation.

Sweet Spot

During one of the many Target visits during my Winter Break, I spotted the cutest cupcake plate in the Valentine's Day themed section. It just so happened that I already had a ceramic donut to hold my favorite earrings, so the cupcake was a perfect addition. Now my gold bangles finally have a home amongst the Coca-Cola bottles, donut and cigar box.

Chocolate Chip & Ube Ice Cream Sandwiches

With summer's end coming just around the corner, I wanted to finish up some ube (purple yam) ice cream taking up space in the freezer. At first, ube and chocolate chip didn't sound like a perfect match but they actually turned out quite nicely. I used my go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies to sandwich a couple scoops of Mitchell's ube ice cream of San Francisco.

Handle It

I've always adored the classic Kelly bag but when I saw this blue number with a personalized Hermes scarf I practically squealed over its cuteness. With a couple mana (hand-me-down) items, I took the Kelly inspiration to heart.

1. Half the scarf into a triangle and knot it at one end of the handle

2. Wrap one end around the handle until it covers it completely.

3. Knot both ends twice to secure the scarf and voila!

Tantiyahin

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of learning the family recipe for one of my favorite Filipino dishes, Pork Blood Stew which I think sounds less unappetizing in Tagalog, Dinuguan. In trying the record my grandmother's directions and measurements, I learned a new word that almost prevented my written recipe, "tantiyahin" or estimate (more like winging it). So as a disclaimer for the dinuguan recipe, all quantities can be adjusted as you see fit.

Lola Dory's Dinuguan Recipe

Ingredients (serves 15-20):

9 lbs. pork bonesless butt, cut into 1/2 in. cubes

5 lbs. pork stomach

30 oz. pork blood, thawed

20 oz. beef blood, thawed

1 tbsp. cooking oil

1 c. vinegar

6 cloves minced garlic

2 diced yellow onion

6 yellow chili peppers

fish sauce

pepper

Instructions:

1. Refrigerate pork and beef blood until needed.

2. Boil pork stomach in large pot for 1 hour until tender.

3. Slice pork butt into 1/2 in. cubes, rinse, then boil in a separate pot for 1 hour.

4. Once pork stomach is tender, remove from heat and run under water to cool down. Slice pork stomach into 1/2 in. cubes.

5. Remove pork and beef blood from refrigerator and mash solid masses.

6. In another large pot, saute garlic and onions over high heat until crystalized. Add pork butt then enough water so that the pork is slightly submerged. Lower to medium heat then combine pork stomach, cover and simmer. Add blood last with yellow chili peppers then cover and simmer over medium heat. Add water to prevent meat from sticking.

7. Season with fish sauce, vinegar, and pepper.

Serve dinuguan hot with sweet rice cakes (puto) or steamed rice.

C is for Corner

Picture frames typically display special occasions or the scenic outdoors but I like playing with the idea of showing scenes from the past. I recently stumbled upon an old picture of my room when my walls were bubblegum pink and my internet ran on a modem. In homage to my childhood past, I hung the picture in the same corner where the picture was taken. It's kind of like a small window to the past that I can glance at when I'm working at my desk. Although the photo brings back girlish memories, I'm glad I've upgraded my little corner.