This is one of the most unfamiliar desserts I’ve ever attempted to make. For this gateau basque, there are three main components: (1) the cherry compote, (2) the pastry crust, and (3) the pastry cream. 1. First up, the cherries! 2. Make a compote out of these cherries. 3. Set aside to cool down. 4. Make the dough crust. 5. While waiting for the dough to rise, make the pastry cream. 6. Assemble the dough crust. 7. Add the prepared cherry compote first then top with the pastry cream. 8. Cover with the remaining dough crust. 9. Draw a decorative crosshatch pattern and ..read more

Hello dear blog! I have missed you! I’m talking to you like it’s 2006 and I’m pretending you’re a person. It has been awhile, hasn’t it? Since my last post, I have had a baby and that baby is almost turning two years old in a few months. Where have I been you ask? Oh just on the “sides” (tabi-tabi), literally and figuratively on the sidelines, not sleeping, always on the go, cooking for my baby and working to pay the bills. The next thing I know over a year has passed and I miss documenting my shenanigans in the kitchen. All the cooking I do these days are utilitarian. By that I mean it’s mos ..read more

Two years of the pandemic means two years of rarely going out for pleasure, let alone eating in fancy restaurants. Somehow I’ve gotten used to it. I’ve learned to eat out with the sole intention of nourishing myself. No new flavors. No photographs. No weird stuff. Just good familiar food that I’m sure I would enjoy and I’m sure won’t cost me a hand or a leg to do so. Or did I just forget? That’s what happened a few weeks ago while Jed and I ate at Indus Modern Indian Kitchen in BGC. Now I remember why I love it so. It was a spur of the moment. I’ve been craving Indian food but not really sure ..read more

For this particular birthday, I wanted to be more mindful. Mindful in its most basic sense—being deliberate of what’s around me and being extra in-tune with my feelings and actions. I woke up early that Sunday, Jed and Elmo still fast asleep. I went downstairs, sat cross-legged on the couch, and meditated—inhaling, exhaling, feeling the sun’s warm rays on my bare lap. I wanted to feel these deep breaths, the tension that arises when air fills my lungs, and the calmness that washes over me as I exhale these long deep breaths. A little hokey, I know, but definitely a luxurious activity for me ..read more

Baking bread still intimidates me. Unlike cake, bread takes a little more TLC in my experience. And if I botch it, there’s a lot of flour at stake. I mean four to five cups of flour is not nothing. That’s a lot of wasted flour. So when I came upon this King Arthur bread recipe, I was so excited to see the word “easiest” right before the words “loaf bread.” Then I saw that it only takes six ingredients (five if you exclude the cornmeal for dusting), I’m like this is too good to be true, how about we try it right here right now. I have been wanting to make an everyday bread that does not entail ..read more

This happened almost a month ago, late July, a day before Metro Manila went into another strict lockdown. I booked this almost two months prior, that’s how many people were eager to eat at Tahanan Bistro. This Filipino-themed restaurant promised a casual fine dining experience in a traditional Filipino home (tahanan) with a patio, a garden, and a view. We drove an hour or so to Antipolo, climbing our way through the elevated, winding roads of this city. Tahanan Bistro is located inside a secluded subdivision. A massive wooden gate greets you. There’s a stylish doorbell hanging outside and you ..read more

I told Jed the other day I might be experiencing some sort of late reaction. I feel things that I should have felt when the pandemic hit hard middle of last year. Remember 2020? Instead it’s 2021, August to be exact, and I feel an intense version of hopelessness. As a major in internet psychology, I started thinking is this low-grade depression? What’s scarier than “sad” for me is the feeling of futility, the feeling that there’s no way out. It’s the news. I swear it’s watching too much news. I usually don’t watch the news, to be honest. A major character flaw that, in one way or another, has ..read more

Jed celebrated his birthday last month. For most of July, we had non-stop rain here in Manila. Sometimes we delude ourselves, putting a fantastical spin by imagining we were in London. Truth was, we were stuck in lockdown for the nth time, rain pouring as we looked at each other with nothing more to say. On that rainy Sunday morning, Elmo and I sang a happy birthday to him, a delicate candle perched on top of this cake I especially baked for his special day. And by the way, Jed is not a big cake person. Like that would dissuade me. So this cake is a fancy rendition of good old white cake. I g ..read more

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve baked anything with intention. I’ve been going back and forth between a speculoos babka or lying on my ass reading random pages from my Kindle. For a good two weeks, it’s been the latter all day every day, save for when I’m actually working. Yes, I have a job. But last Sunday, I dragged my ass to the kitchen and cooked from scratch. I thought, it’s Sunday. It’s supposed to be a delicious-meal day. Sundays are for homecooking, or at least that’s what I was used to growing up. So I roasted a chicken, inspired by Chrissy Teigen’s recipe, which calls for an inord ..read more

1. Pep talks via newsletters Earlier today, as I was checking my personal email, I came across Garance Dore’s newsletter. She has launched an entirely new project for herself, one where she’s able to connect with her fans (me) in a more intimate setting but with a premium. I don’t mind it one bit. Her content is worth the price of subscription. For the same price as an expensive Starbucks coffee, I get to read her letters. I love her chatty style of writing, like I’m her friend, and she’s with me on the couch sipping wine. She’s like the cooler older sister (not sure she’d appreciate that desc ..read more