Sit-down interview with an icon

Ina-Tay is very excited to be granted a sit-down interview with one of GoNegosyo's Women Entrepreneur Icons 2013.

I'll give you a clue:

Photo from the web

Now do you have an idea? Stay tuned...

Practice-makes-perfect Banana Loaf

I love to bake. I didn't have formal training but I started early courtesy of my Auntie Binky. My earliest baking memories were of me greasing her baking pans when I was seven years old. Until now I'm still using some of her pans that she left with me when she got married.

The recipe for the perfect banana loaf seem to have eluded me. The ones I tried before were either to dense, too heavy or just didn't sit perfectly on my taste buds. I kept experimenting and just last week, I FINALLY baked what for me is the perfect banana bread recipe. 

The recipe is actually for banana cake but most people bake this in loaf pans and they come out like breads hence the name. But it was moist, with just the right sweetness and it didn't use butter or milk so less calories for the figure conscious. It was also not a fussy recipe so even beginners will find the directions very easy to follow. With much pride and joy, I'm sharing with you my practice makes perfect banana loaf recipe. 

An open letter to a new blogger

"ate lany, lookie! I have a blog na din! role model man gud tika  good example. HAHA. pero bitaw ui, it's to pass the time, and to help me improve sa akong pagsulat... nagbutang ko ug link sa imong blog didto sa akong blogroll :))" 

http://medicalschoolroadtrip.blogspot.com/

This was a message I received a few minutes ago from my cousin Karla or Mae-mae as we fondly call her. Immediately I started crying because I was so overwhelmed that I inspired her to make her own blog. She even called me her role model. *tears* Oh Mae...

Davao - Then and Now

It's Araw ng Davao once again. I feel the need to be at least in one event and blog about it as my simple way of paying tribute to the city that has become my home for 28 years. We came to Davao from Zamboanga City in 1985 and Davao was so different then. No malls, no traffic.

One of the events I was keen on going to was the Davao Then and Now photo exhibit staged by Museo Dabawenyo at the SM Annex. I'm a big nostalgia fan so it was no-brainer why it was on top of my list. Last Saturday, I found myself at SM Ecoland and immediately headed to their new annex wing. The exhibit featured around 20-25 old Davao City photos and little trivia about the edifices. It celebrates the journey of our city to become the premier city in Mindanao and a melting pot of different cultures. Davao City's rise to fame was definitely NOT an overnight success. The exhibit is one way to let the younger Dabawenyos learn and appreciate our history. 

Kitchen bonding

I have always been in the look out for good and fool-proof recipes that I can try and most of the time tweak to suit my taste. After checking our pantry, I noticed the unopened bag of quick cooking oats so I decided to look online for an oatmeal cookie recipe. I was also thinking of allowing Leia to try her pudgy little hands at  baking instead of being just a spectator and eater.

I came across this recipe from food.com that said Best Oatmeal Cookies. Not one to immediately believe anything that has the word "best" in it, I read the comments and 90% of them raved about it. So I gathered the ingredients and spent an afternoon with my apprentice. It was good to see her practice her motor skills by mixing and I'm slowly teaching her to appreciate the effort that goes into making something. As an added treat, I told her to put chocolate candies on top of her cookies. The oatmeal cookies came out really good - I liked the variety of textures since it has chopped nuts and raisins aside from a good amount of oatmeal. Leia was obviously very proud of her effort and Mama was even prouder to finish all her work and spend quality time together. :)

My apprentice in action