Sweet thoughts

Yesterday's lunch: Starbucks' Banana Java Chip Frappuccino. Fruit + caffeine + chocolate + cream + ice = 680 cool calories... arrghhh!

Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. ~Ernestine Ulmer

I doubt whether the world holds for anyone a more soul-stirring surprise than the first adventure with ice cream. ~Heywood Broun

Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. ~Sandra Boynton

I want to have a good body, but not as much as I want dessert. ~Jason Love

Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos. ~Don Kardong

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not! ~Author Unknown

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who love chocolate, and communists. ~Leslie Moak Murray

Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie. ~Jim Davis

Forget love - I'd rather fall in chocolate! ~Attributed to Sandra J. Dykes

If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe. ~Carl Sagan

Ice cream is exquisite. What a pity it isn't illegal. ~Voltaire

Always serve too much hot fudge sauce on hot fudge sundaes. It makes people overjoyed, and puts them in your debt. ~Judith Olney

A boy doesn't have to go to war to be a hero; he can say he doesn't like pie when he sees there isn't enough to go around. ~E.W. Howe

Strength is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces. ~Judith Viorst

Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates. ~Fernando Pessoa

I prefer to regard a dessert as I would imagine the perfect woman: subtle, a little bittersweet, not blowsy and extrovert. Delicately made up, not highly rouged. Holding back, not exposing everything and, of course, with a flavor that lasts. ~Graham Kerr

Age does not diminish the extreme disappointment of having a scoop of ice cream fall from the cone. ~Jim Fiebig

Don't wreck a sublime chocolate experience by feeling guilty. ~Lora Brody

Cookies are made of butter and love. ~Norwegian Proverb

There are four basic food groups: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles. ~Author Unknown

Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart. ~Erma Bombeck

Self-discipline implies some unpleasant things to me, including staying away from chocolate and keeping my hands out of women's pants. ~Oleg Kiselev

I don't drown my sorrows; I suffocate them with chocolate chip cookies. ~Author Unknown

Ice cream is happiness condensed. ~Jessi Lane Adams

If you get melted chocolate all over your hands, you're eating it too slowly. ~Author Unknown

Dear Edamame

Ever since I met you over a year ago, you just keep on popping up at the most unexpected places. We met in Tagaytay, you were brought over by a friend who found you in a forgotten Japanese grocery in Cartimar. It was love at first suck. Next I found you at Salcedo market, locally grown but hairier than usual. I was smitten. Our next tryst was at a huge supermarket in Bangkok, where you were being offered to me by the gram. I was awed. You were cheap! I took you home. I declared true love. Last month, you were brought over from Bangkok once more. I was too happy I had to show you off. I introduced you to my friends. They welcomed you with open mouths.

It's a very sensual relationship, this one we have. My eyes dilate in excitement as I hold you in my hand. I lick my lips as I lead you to them. Your natural scent fills the dark hollows of my mouth, your cilia gently tickling every surface they touch. I squeeze your body to let your soul out. My tongue quivers in anticipation. Softly, gently, my teeth pull you out of your comforting pod. One by one, they succumb to my need. More, more, I hanker. More, more, I surrender.

Dear Edamame, I must have you again.

The 16-year old UP Valedictorian

I was floored by this news from the UPD Website. Ang galing! Sobra!

UP Diliman Class of 2007 has 8 top honors

(UP Diliman Information Office)--Eight UP Diliman (UPD) candidates for graduation will receive the highest academic honors of summa cum laude at the 96th General Commencement Exercises to be held on Sunday, April 22, at 3 p.m.
The summa cum laude is conferred to a graduate with a general weighted average (GWA) of 1.20.

Mikaela Irene D. Fudolig, BS Physics with a GWA of 1.099, will lead the top honors. She will also deliver the valedictory address on behalf of the graduating class.
Only 16 years old, Fudolig is the youngest student to be graduated by the University in the recent years and one of only two admitted to UPD without a high school diploma and without taking the UP College Admission Test.

She was only 11 years old and a sophomore at the Quezon City Science High School when she was granted permission to enroll at UPD as a non-degree student, having volunteered for a prototype Early College Placement Program the UPD College of Education was spearheading. After earning remarkable grades for an academic year, the Department of Education (DepEd) endorsed her admission to UPD, which was approved by the UP Board of Regents on May 30, 2003.

UP Diliman Class of 2007 has 8 top honors

Read more about this phenomenal student
College life begins @ 11

Question

After watching all-day updates on CNN on the Virginia Tech shooting, my 12-year-old daughter turned to me and asked, "What does one do if she sees a gunman coming at her in school?"

Run? Freeze? Scream? Pray? Hide? Faint? Play dead? Can you help me answer her question?

Here are some sort-of-tips I found on the 'net:
What do we tell students about safety now?

Student safety is a high priority

I was looking for sound advice to students from psychiatrists and security officers but I just couldn't find the right links. All I found were tips on how to prevent violence but it was so frustrating not to find any advice on what to do when faced with situations like this :-(

Run as fast as you can and hide may be the smartest thing to do alright, but can we really count on kids not to panic when confronted with such situation? Maybe schools should conduct "violence or shooting drills" the way they have fire drills during Fire Prevention Month?

PS. HELP ME OUT... I have decided to let this topic evolve into a full-fledged article for the next issue of CodeRED. And I would like to seek your assistance in writing this article by posting your comments on this topic (and therefore agreeing that they will be published in the June issue.) Reactions from parents, teachers, psychologists, those with training in security and crisis control, or other professionals and even the youth – are very welcome.

By sharing your knowledge, we can help more parents prepare their children for emergencies and who knows, save precious young lives.

To show my appreciation, I will pick three "commenters" randomly and send them copies of the magazine.

Thank you so much! :-)

Easter Chocolates

I had not molded chocolates for quite a while so I figured that Easter was the perfect time to get the Martha Stewart in me that has died, to rise and come again.

I had bought this Wilton Lollipop and Treat Stand on a whim at Living Well many months ago and it had remained unused in its box. (Smiley lollipops not included.)

So, on Easter morning, I hunted for my molds (the plastic Wilton stuff, not the kind that gathers due to sloth, which is about to happen anytime soon) and picked eggs, bunnies, chicks, and tulips and daisies in baskets. I had two half-kilo bars of chocolate. I chose the super premium bar over the Belgian bar, which I am reserving for a choco-cranberry-pistachio bark recipe that I found at Delicious Days.

It took much, much less than three days for the said bar to resurrect into these Easter lollipops. They stood beautifully on the lollipop stand, and were gone faster than you can say, "Hallelujah!"
But really, chocolate molding is a quick and easy activity to share with kids. All you need are the ff. ingredients:
1. One half kilo bar of chocolate or more (available in regular, premim, semi-sweet, super premium, dark, white and colored at Chocolate Lover's in P. Tuazon, Kitchenworks outside Shopwise Cubao and Cook's Exchange at the basement of Power Plant Mall and at the deli section of Crossing's, Shangri-la Mall). Makes about 30 regular sized pieces.
2. Plastic or silicon molds (available at the same stores, Wilton molds can be found at Living Well, Gourdo's and selected SM branches; in various themes such as birthday, Christmas, wedding, flowers, smileys, Barney, Winnie the Pooh, Rugrats, oh, the selection is endless).

And then, just follow these easy steps:
1. Chop the chocolates into small pieces for easier melting.
2. Put them in a double boiler, stirring continuously until the chocolate melts; or put it in bowl that is immersed in a bigger bowl filled with hot water; or nuke it in low heat in a microwave.
3. When the chocolate is melted, spoon them onto the molds. Put sticks (drinking straws used for tetra packs, also available in the stores mentioned above) if you are making lollipops.
4. Tap the filled mold several times against a tabletop to get rid of air bubbles in the chocolate.
5. Put the mold in the freezer for about five minutes or until the bottom of the mold looks frosted & no longer wet.
6. Remove from freezer, and flip the mold on a clean plate or cookie sheet. Push a but if chocolates are not immediately released.
7. Wrap in individual mini plastic bags if the kids have not attacked them yet! :-)
8. Remember not to wash the plastic molds with soap, as detergents will scrape their protective coating away.

Enjoy these yummy photos, too:
Pink & white Valentine lollies in a pot, circa 2001
Sunflower lollies in a pot, circa 2001

And these delicious posts:
Lollipop bouquet
Birthday lootbags
Dipped Treasures

Books are his friends

This is my son's stack of books to read this summer. This is the "priority stack" – urgent in terms of message and current interest – because another set exists in several plastic bags in his room.

How does he love books? Let me share with you the essay that he wrote for his Ateneo College Entrance Test application. (I wonder if this piece had anything to do with the test results...)

“Books are my friends”

As a child, this line was constantly repeated to me by my parents. They bought me books they knew I’d love.

Together, my “friends” and I ventured into the age of dinosaurs, the realm of insects, the vastness of space. They made me laugh out loud, gasp in surprise, and wonder in amazement. I felt a real connection to them. They made me feel like I was never alone or bored. And to this day, the best of them are still with me, some willingly shared with my sister and cousins.

Later in life, a new meaning of the said line seemed to emerge from within the books’ pages. I now choose books by myself. I choose them well, and take my sweet time in bookstores. I study the cover briefly, then scan the pages and read the summary at the back. Those I like and decide to own, I become more protective of. I become obsessive-compulsive, in a sense, in taking care of them. I refuse to read one that has not been covered in plastic. I wash my hands before reading as to avoid dirtying the sides of the pages. I avoid making marks on the book or writing deliberately on the pages. Furthermore, I refrain from opening the book too wide, to prevent “breaking” its spine and causing some pages to fall out. And finally, among my many books, while some are more special than the others, I refuse to have a real favorite.

I eventually realized that my seemingly odd and O.C. way of treating books mirrors the way I treat my friends. I choose them wisely. I don’t judge them by their appearance but by their character. I am protective of them. I treat them well. I try my best not to cause them pain in any possible way. I don’t intrude too much in their private lives that may cause us any falling out between us. And just as I never had one favorite book despite having a lot of them, I have not singled out anyone as my best friend.

Today I consider myself wiser and richer, because “Books are my friends.” My books, my friends and I will always be together, through thick and thin.

A scream for ice cream

Many years ago, we spent a long weekend in Subic. What my then six year old daughter remembers from that trip is squealing at the sight of a Blue Bunny ice cream cart then spending the next few minutes licking a frozen delight. As the years passed, she and her brother would occasionally talk about that find, wishing and hoping they'd find themselves in Subic once again.

Imagine her delight when she chanced upon tubs and tubs (and boxes too) of Blue Bunny Ice Cream at S & R a few days ago! I had to repeatedly assure her that, yes, we were getting one (how can I break her heart?) but only after we had gotten the last thing we needed and were ready to check out.
We reached home in about thirty minutes, and she quickly stuck the tub in the freezer to harden up a bit. We had to leave home again to celebrate her brother's graduation with a buffet dinner so we were too full to try it when we got home. The chance came the next evening, and she barrelled into the room screaming in delight.
Father, daughter and son ("It makes a non-strawberry lover love strawberry ice cream!") attacked it and begged for more. A last-minute Holy Thursday trip back to S & R got us this:
Looks like I'm going to hear more screams for ice cream all summer long.

Blue Bunny Premium Ice Cream, found at S & R. P349 for a 1.75-quart tub (that's even cheaper than a pint of Haagen Dazs!)
Available in Double Strawberry, Super Fudge Brownie, Pistachio Almond, Rocky Road and Iced Coffee.

Taiwanese Kamote

"Eat kamote, the musical fruit
The more you eat, the more you tooooot!"

Do you remember this childhood ditty? It is believed that eating kamote gives you a lot of gas potent enough to pollute your immediate surroundings. Somebody once described the act as "illegal discharge of carbon monoxide."

Anyway, I found these "air pollutants" at the fruit stall at the basement of Powerplant Mall. Taiwanese Kamote, the sign said, very sweet. Ridiculously overpriced at P100 a kilo, I was unexplainably attracted to these tiny gems from the ground, more so when the vendor said they were bright orange inside. I picked a few pieces totalling 800 grams.

I had four pieces steamed when I got home and decided to eat them in bed. Slicing one open was like sunshine bursting inside my room. It was bright orange alright! I slowly peeled off the skin by hand, gently, yet eagerly. Then I sank my teeth into the sweetest sunshine cream.

I've never had kamote this rich, this sweet, this good. At roughly P8 perpiece, I wondered allowed if I can find them in Farmer's Market instead, for maybe a fraction of the cost. But then again, for all the sensations it offered me, I'd gladly drive back to the mall.