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Thanksgiving Prayer

Every year, we gather around our table with friends and family feasting over delightful meals specially prepared for Thanksgiving Day. To me, Thanksgiving Day is a day for thanking God for all the blessings we have received.  Good health, good family, good friends, good business, good food, etc. and all the other blessings (jobs, shelter, clothing, etc.) that we, in our busy life, have neglected to realize the impact they make on the quality of our life at present. Thanksgiving Prayer "Lord, we thank you for this gathering of friends and family in your presence today, for the gift of life and for good health, for the good food on the table, for more work and stable jobs, for peace and unity in the family and among countries, for the conversion of sinners, for the safety of our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in the other parts of the world where they get deployed, for a better economy, for the healing of the sick and those in pain, for humility and acceptance of who we are,

Ann Made Pizza for Dinner

That Was Awesome!

This video was taken last night by Ann during the lighting of the fireworks, which were contributed by my daughter, Christina's best friend, Julie Sanders. "That was awesome!", Samantha's comment at the end, made it easy to think of a title.

A Wedding of a Lifetime

Last May, I was invited to a wedding of my son's best friend, Nick P. and his then fiancee, Amy D. which was held in Healdsburg, California. The wedding ceremony was held in Asti, California, in a small catholic church in the middle of the vineyards and the reception was at the Simoncini Vineyards , a vineyard owned by the uncle of Nick P., the only living brother of his mom, Linda Simoncini Peruzzaro.

Marley

How to Crack Open a Sea Urchin to get Uni

Crawfish Boil

Roses in Bloom

Banana Bread

I was ready to go to bed last night when I noticed the overripe bananas in the fruit bowl. I had to do something to save those bananas from going to waste. After all, it was only about 11:00 PM, not quite late to bake a Banana bread. I set the temperature of the oven to 350 degrees F, gathered all my baking paraphernalia and all ingredients needed. My playground was once again alive as my hands began mashing the bananas. I purposely omitted putting any nuts, pecan or walnuts, because my granddaughter will be coming tomorrow, and if I want her to eat this bread, I better not put any nuts in them.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Wondering why Samantha's eyes are closed? She could hardly wait to eat the cookies and she said, "she's falling asleep because the cookies are taking too long to cook..". Samantha's 3rd Lesson in baking was making Chocolate Chip Cookies. She was so excited helping me gather all the ingredients and the baking tools we needed. We prepared everything on the table and she set the oven to 375degrees F. We also decided to use the portable mixer so she could get used to handling a mixer. The first time she handled the mixer, I told her "pretend you are the strongest girl on earth and control the mixer wherever you want it to go. Do not be afraid of it". Since then on, Samantha enjoys handling the mixer. Our cookies came out so delicious and everyone enjoyed it. Although it was a little sweet to me, the cookie turned out rich and delicious. Using premium butter gives it a rich flavor. Just the way we wanted it. All ovens are different. My advise to

Just Plain Pancakes

It was 1:00 AM and I was craving for soft melt-in-your-mouth pancakes. Why not? I had dinner at 6:00 PM but my tummy seemed to be wanting more food. Check out the recipe at my other site http://www.cookingenthusiast.blogspot.com/ if you want to try these pancakes. It will be worth all your efforts. Enjoy! Enjoy!

Making Cupcakes with Sam

Apple Pie, anyone?

It's been a while since I last posted a blog on this site. I think I can say the past two months were the busiest time of the year for me. I had a daughter who graduated from college, a business deal that was closed, correspondence done on time, estimates submitted, and calls and emails that were done. Now, I can enjoy the eerieness of the night, look back, and relax. It is 1:23 in the morning and I still cannot fall asleep. My thoughts are miles and miles away, thinking wether my daughter and my son were able to get tickets to Boracay, a supposedly pristine beach, south of Manila. This trip is her graduation gift from her dad. He brought her to Singapore-Malaysia-Indonesia last week and they just got back to Manila. The trip to Boracay is her next stop before she returns to SF and leave for Sydney to join the rest of the delegates from USF to attend a youth conference. On top of my dining table were the baking paraphernalia which I prepared earlier, in case I get the mo