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Sugar, spice, and a pinch of GLAM

Posts tagged ‘culinary’

Mimosa and Orange Limeade

Hello, dolls!!! šŸ™‚ Happy Sunday!!! Aaaah what a great Sunday. So how do I begin about my amazing day? Daylight savings — it means two things for me, first – it won’t be dark at 5PM anymore, second – my parents will not be confused about calculating the time difference anymore. I woke up today feeling like a I ran a marathon for 12 hours yesterday, I was crazy exhausted! Saturdays at work now is the busiest.I got out of bed pretty late, I was exhausted and instead of hating myself for it I talked to my sister, cause who else could make me feel better about feeling a little irresponsible? haha. One of the things that I looked forward to today is my date with Lovely, which was of course, amazing.

** So obviously, I was not able to publish this on Sunday so maybe today we can pretend that it’s still Sunday haha

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In the perfect world,my Sundays will be welcomed with a delicious brunch after mass with family. A little quality time with friends in between dinner and having deep conversations with the people I love.

aaah, brunch. I love brunch way too much.

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Ā A and I fell in love with the orange limeade that we had at the Farmer’s Market.

Thanks to my amazing Mom-in-Law, she bought us a citrus juicer so we can make our orange limeade anytime šŸ˜‰

Read aboutĀ my first orange limeade experience hereĀ https://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2015/01/07/summer-14-farmers-market/ (more…)

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Category:

BALTIMORE, CULINARY, FOOD, FRIENDSHIP, KITCHEN DIARIES, LIFE IN BALTIMORE

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Korean Spa and Everything In Between

Hello, sweets! Whew what a cold snowy week this is!Ā It’s one snow day to another,Ā I guess I will be waking up to the sight of snow on our porch until the end of the week šŸ˜ Uhhh we are just so over with winter…I am seriously counting the days until it’s spring again. This cold weather (and crazy schedule) is making me eat every chocolate that I see, being surrounded with tons of chocolate here at home and at work is not helping my “bride” diet!!! (although let’s face, I have not really payed attention to my diet since December) —Ā I just like to say it para I’ll sound like a legit bride-to-be hahaha

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Ā One of the best things about my relationship with A is our cookbook collection.

We both had a good number of books before we met each other, and our collection started growing in 2012 because we would often give each other books on special occasions. Now that we are engaged, we now call all of our books “ours”, which makes me so happy because it has always been a dream of mine to own all the great cookbooks out there.

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An exceptional day is when you cross off 3 books from our wishlist.

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…andĀ celebrateĀ with Asian food! šŸ™‚ (more…)

Category:

BALTIMORE, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, LIFE IN BALTIMORE, NEW JERSEY, THE FIANCE

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Of Wine and Friendship

09.04.14: Girl friends are forever

Hello, dolls! Happy #ThrowbackThursday šŸ˜‰ Whew! I just got home from a challenging shift. One of the things that I truly appreciate about my job is how we can create beautiful things in just 5 minutes…amazing if you make it 10.. and breathtaking if you give us at least an hour. The nature of my job is stressful, we are always under pressure and for the past few years I have managed to not lose my temper (although this year I had a minor hiccup when my sanity gave in to the cliche and yelled at someone —- which made me feel horrible for 3 days!). Tonight I had the opportunity to work alongside my Chef, for a 7 course tasting for 5. It was very last minute! I swear it was a roller coaster ride that I am happy to be part of. If I can have more days like this, wherein I was able to exercise my creativity and be respected for the my craft… I can definitely stay away from the negative thoughts that I’ve been having lately.

So yup..just thought I’d share how my day went.

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A few days ago I expressed how I feel about distance interfering with the growth of my relationship with other people.

As disappointing as it can be sometimes,Ā I am grateful that I have these girls beside me.

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A trip back home is never complete without seeing my girls. Since I only had 3 weeks in Manila to see friends, I made sure that I’ll put my girls on top of my list.

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We decided to do “wine night”…you know, no more sparkling welch grape juice for us… we drink wine now. haha

Our sausage and cheese board

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Category:

CULINARY, FOOD, FRIENDSHIP, KITCHEN DIARIES, LIFE IN BALTIMORE, LIFE IN MNL

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December in Manila

12.2013: Memories at home

Hello, dolls! šŸ™‚ Happy Christmas Eve!!!!!!! Aaaah another year of spending the holidays away from my family, but thank God this year is not going to be sad or anything because I have A’s family with me. I sometimes feel guilty when I overlook the sad part of being away from home, I feel like I am cheating.

I miss home… I miss all our December traditions. I know it’s too much to ask, but sometimes I wish I have both.

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The food that I make at home helps me remember all the good moments that I had with my family.

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Just like this Chocolate Cupcake with Reese’s Peanut Butter FrostingĀ that I made for my family who loves to eat desserts like me. (more…)

Category:

CHRISTMAS DIARIES, Family, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, THE HOLIDAYS

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Summer’s Produce

Hello, sweets!!! šŸ™‚ 5 days until Christmas….are you all ready?? šŸ™‚ Aaaah I can’t wait for my super long weekend (literally!) A much deserved break. I wish my family is here cause I know it would be perfect to spend my free time with them. A lot of things can remind us about Christmas, for me I can think of 5 right off the top of my head. One of which is food,and I swear, as we draw closer to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day I am already starting to get worried about my game plan because I know it will be non-stop eating for me!!!!

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Summer is the perfect time for my smoothies. Everyone who is close to me knows that I could drink a 12oz smoothie in just seconds!

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I am very particular with the smoothies that I drink. I only like fresh fruits and natural sweetener.

This summer, I was able to experiment with some of my favorite fruits and beat the heart with a nice homemade healthy cold smoothie!

And of course, my trusty pink blender was there to help!

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Category:

BALTIMORE, CULINARY, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, LIFE IN BALTIMORE, THE FIANCE

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Day Time Spring Cooking

Hello, sweets!! It’s December again, the most wonderful time of the year for everyone, but for A and I… it’sĀ the most exhausting time of the year! I am starting to feel the sappy aura of Christmas here again and the huge difference between December here and in Manila. December here does not feel like December.Everyone wishes for a white Christmas, but with Christmas comes COLD. Cold weather for everyone and the cold lonely feeling for those who are away from their families…like me.

At home, I always look forward to my birthday because I know after that everyone will make it a point that we will be complete for dinner every night for the month of December. December is the ultimate family month for us, but now…. as much as I want to, I would rather cross out dinner on my daily routine. The first week of December was pretty nice because A’s parents were here, I wish they could stay longer. My motivation for the coming days is Christmas Eve and Christmas Day!Ā I can’t wait to go to New Jersey and spend time with the family!

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I am starting to miss A…and how we could have lunch together at least 3 times a week. Lately, I am lucky if I get to see him in the morning.

So tonight, I want to remember all the sweetĀ apartmentĀ lunch dates that we had during spring.

When life was still warm and lovely.

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Back when I hadĀ extraĀ time to go through our cookbooks and try at least one recipe every week. I, of course did something from the Milk Bar cookbook. (more…)

Category:

BALTIMORE, CULINARY, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, LIFE IN BALTIMORE, THE FIANCE

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Almost 24

Hello, sweets!!! šŸ™‚ November is almost over, I can’t believe it!!! I also can’t believe that I have not mentioned my birthday 1 million times just like how I do every year.As I get closer to turning 24, I am starting to get sentimental about being away from my family. I feel bad for A because he is doing EVERYTHING to make my birthday month amazing and sometimes I feel like I don’t show how happy I am enough because of all the craziness that we have to deal with.

I can see my Dad knocking on my door with a bouquet of flowers for me….my Mom in the kitchen cooking something delicious for my birthday lunch…my sister on the floor making a birthday banner for me… my brother Remo fighting everyone to hug me first…and jejekid, in our room to steal all of my chocolate stash while trying to come up with the perfect caption for his Instagram post dedicated to me.

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I wish my family could be here…or I could be there…I wish we could all be together for my birthday again. Like last year.

This is the second birthday that I am going to celebrate away from my family, but I feel like it’s the first.

Here’s a #tbt worthy photo of us during my 10th birthday!

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I do not have a lot of posts left from last year and I am happy because I am getting closer and closer to my target of starting to work on our trip to Asia by the end of the year -or- by January.

When I think of home, I remember all the times I made my family happy through food. I wish I could cook for them and spend the afternoon in our rooftop….to me that would be the perfect way to spend the afternoon of my birthday. (more…)

Category:

CULINARY, Family, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES

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24th Birthday Month

Hello,sweets! Hello, birthday month!!!! Aaaah I can’t believe it’s November already. My sweet fiance sent me a sweet message today telling me it’s already my birthday month.That started my day right because I love it when A remembers little details that make me happy. Anyway, the month of November makes me miss home more. My birthday is less than a month away from Christmas (and my brother’s birthday) so I always get pretty sentimental. This year, I will be missing holidays at home…again. Good thing, I have memories from last year’s festivities with me to help me get through this year with a big smile on my face.

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Yes….my life mantra.

And it’s a real thing because I really do eat cake for breakfast once in while. Haha

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  • Today I will share with you some of the things that I did when I was still in the Philippines. I don’t think there is no better way toĀ celebrateĀ this day but to reminisce of all the good things that I shared with my family over food.
  • Like thisĀ mini red velvet cake.

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Category:

CULINARY, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, Photography, Random

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KITCHEN DIARIES: Apartment Cooking

Hello, dolls! šŸ™‚ How was your Mother’s Day weekend? Mine was ahh-mah-zing! I was able to talk to my Mom which was very important. I spent the weekend with my family here, away from reality. I would love to talk about our awesome weekend in New Jersey, but this post is going to be all about the foods that we made in the apartment. I noticed that it’s been a while since I posted something that I did in our kitchen — here on my blog, Instagram and Facebook. So here I am, sharing. šŸ˜‰

Great food is meant to be shared, and Ā I wish I can send you all a bite of the things that I make but I guess posting entries will suffice for now. So here are a couple of things that we did 2 months ago, yes 2 months ago! I have TONS of pictures to sort and post and I wish I can just keep the rhythm on this blog.

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One morning, I woke up and said ” I want apple bars”. Lucky for me, I have a fiance who is willing to wake up early and go to the grocery to buy my ingredients.

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I love using Granny Smith on desserts! And I LOVE Granny Smith with sugar and cinnamon…I mean, don’t we all do?

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Category:

CULINARY, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, LIFE IN BALTIMORE, THE FIANCE

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The Collaboration

 

 

02.05.14: Kitchen Hours

Hello, dolls!!! šŸ™‚ I can’t believe that the first half of March just flew by…you know, just like that.Ā I feel like I just got here and every week is another chapter to share. I wish life can slow down for a little bit cause there are things that I need to accomplish before we bid goodbye to March. So yeah, it’s been pretty hectic and partly boring cause I am still…waiting.Ā 

Waiting for school to start!!! Aaaaaah!! I can’t wait to be a better student this time. My confidence level when I was in Culinary school was close to none, don’t ask me why but I’ve always had this big empty room in me where I feel like I just want to fulfill it with all the things that I will learn and just absorb them and be this shy little culinarian who loves to observe. My lack of confidence didn’t stop me from engaging myself to the beauty of Culinary school and be part of some of the great things that happened during my 2 years in CCA. Part of that greatness was meeting exceptional people, I don’t have a lot, but if I can give you a quick rundown I would probably say Joyce first.

I get too gaga over baking, maybe because there’s this sense of me wanting to know more about it since I took up Culinary & Technology Management. People who can make extraordinary food and desserts (Instagram- slash- food- magazine- worthy- type- of- thing)Ā inspire me. So just imagine the happiness that I felt when JoyceĀ messaged me on Facebook, almost a month before my departure, asking me to collaborate with her.

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Obligatory MEP shot.

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What we dealt with.

5 dishes. 3 cooks. 8 hours together.

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Category:

CULINARY, FOOD, FRIENDSHIP, KITCHEN DIARIES, Photography

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Kitchen Diaries: Chicken Lasagna x Beer Battered Fish

11.16.13: What Saturday looks like

Hello, dolls!! šŸ™‚ It’s the second Sunday of the month, and I can just feel how close I am to flying again when I stretch my arms. The excitement has kicked in already and I plan to keep it that way! Only good vibes and no loneliness, that’s what I am aiming for! I could be a long shot but what the heck? I made it possible this past October and I know I can do it again.

#throwback: Speaking of excitement, I can’t help but reminisce about all the wonderful dinners A and I had in Baltimore. We already have a list of the restaurants that we will visit when I get back and I can’t waaaaaait!

Woodberry –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/woodberry/

Clementine –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/clementine-and-the-babies/

Ten Ten –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/ten-ten/

Pasta Plus –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/08/07/pasta-plus-and-plusand-plus/

Cause we love BRUNCH! –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/brunches-and-munches/

Anyway, since I had an amazing day in our kitchen yesterday resulting to a very successful Japanese themed dinner, I am going to give you a glimpse of how I spend my Saturdays.

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Category:

CULINARY, Family, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES

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KitchenDiaries: Chocolate Almond Fudge

“The ability to make people think is a wonderful gift”

I often question myself why I blog and not call myself a…blogger.Ā I don’t know about you, but I respect every title there is in this world. Like how I take the word “Chef” seriously, and work hard to be deserving to be called one.I still feel shy when someone calls me a blogger, I feel like I amĀ trespassingĀ the zone of the people who actually works hard for it, like those who actually do it for a living.Ā I think that I exist on WordPress as a person who likes to talk about life and share wonderful photos.Inspire readers through my passion for cooking, love for fashion, and the beauty of being a daughter/sister/lover.

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Before I learned about angles and lighting –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/pmbccc/

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Anyway, since I’ve been spending a glorious amount of time in our kitchen I will talk about food.

Also, I have been very diligent in taking food photos that are Instagram/Wordpress worthy. So I have to keep this moving, along Ā all the other backlogs that I have piled up on my desktop. #SMH

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Category:

CULINARY, Family, FOOD, KITCHEN DIARIES, Random

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Forever21plus2: My Kind of Party

11.30.2013: 22 days

Hello dolls! šŸ™‚ It’s the first day of the month and I feel ambivalent about it.For the past few days, I’ve made things happen and did everything that I want to do, and I plant to keep it like that. I always get into this juncture when I am about to leave, like I try my best not to go that depressing sappy lane of “separation anxiety” or “SEPANX” as they call it now lol. I think I still have to muster up the art of putting a brave face for that “airport moment”, A and I did a great job this past October, and I want that to happen as well a few weeks from now.Ā “It’s not going to be for too long, so there’s no reason to be sad”.

Anyway,this a “drama free” blog now, I am going to stop from there and go on with my last entry about my 23rd birthday! šŸ™‚ BUUUUT before I do so let me share with you my #throwback for this weekend! šŸ™‚

Since it now the first day of February, or the “love month” as hopeless romantics puts it, here are a couple of my favorite entries

With my favorite Valentine’s dates – Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/02/24/100th-post-valentines-lunch-date-in-villa-cafe/

Just like Anthony Bourdain – Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/aling-lucing/

Hot Air Balloon Experience – Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/first-timers/

Hot Air Ballon Experience II –Ā http://riannagalvez.wordpress.com/2012/02/18/17th-hot-air-balloon-fiesta/

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birthday dinner with girlfriends at my favorite place to celebrate, our rooftop! šŸ™‚

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Category:

CULINARY, Family, FOOD, FOREVER21, FRIENDSHIP, KITCHEN DIARIES

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