At last, Fried Oreos!

This sinfully delicious dessert first caught our attention during Cycle 15 of America’s Next Top Model. Yeah, blame Ann Ward for this. Haha! A fried cookie may sound repulsive at first but once you taste it you’d end up eating your words. To prepare you just need the following:

• pancake mix
• Oreo cookies
• cooking oil

Freeze the Oreos for at least an hour, this is to make sure they don’t disintegrate once they are coated. Prepare the pancake mix according to package instructions. Heat oil. Coat cookies in the mix and deep-fry until golden brown. Others prefer to dust the cookies with confectioner’s sugar after frying but I prefer mine as is. 

It’s fun to experiment once in a while with recipes you see on TV. Oftentimes you’d be surprised at how it’ll turn out afterwards. Fried oreos should be a good snack alternative over the summer when my younger cousins come and visit. Word of advice, just take it in moderation.

Happy eating!

The King’s Speech: An Unlikely Friendship

“I’m a naval officer, that’s all I know. I am not a king…” – George VI

The movie merited a second viewing on my end. The first time we watched it, I fell asleep. Not because it was boring but rather due to my lack of sleep that day. In fact, the movie was anything but boring. I even found myself laughing at some parts. Colin Firth was a great choice to play George VI (trivia: Paul Bettany was initially considered for the role) because he truly captured the emotions and struggle of the reluctant monarch. One can only imagine how difficult public engagements were when you could barely get words out of your mouth.

This movie’s biggest strength is no doubt its competent supporting cast. Geoffrey Rush was spot-on as the “quack” speech therapist, Lionel Logue. I credit his lines for the occasional comedic scenes in the flick. On the other hand, it was refreshing to see Helena Bonham-Carter not act bat-shit crazy for once. Her watered down portrayal of Queen Elizabeth was a stark contrast to Bellatrix Lestrange whom we all associate her with these days. Even Guy Pearce who was only on for a few scenes was as engaging as George VI’s older brother, Edward VIII.

That said, I’m rooting for Mr. Firth to win the Oscar tomorrow. And I want the book too!

Oh, and here’s the real King’s Speech. Notice the pauses and hesitation when he speaks.

James, Albus and Hugo’s day-out

How cute are these epilogue kids? They’ve become such fast-friends ever since being cast as the next generation of the Potters and the Weasleys in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Watch out for them this July when the last installment of the Harry Potter movies premieres worldwide.

The boys do Star Wars...

Arthur Bowen (Albus Potter), Will Dunn (James Potter II) and Ryan Turner (Hugo Weasley)

* photos swiped from Fanforum and various HP Tumblrs

Riding the 'Tangled' loveboat

My Facebook and Twitter status over the weekend:

I enjoyed Tangled so much that I want 'I See The Light' to win Best Song at the Oscars. I ♥ you so much Zachary Levi!

My love for the guy grew exponentially after seeing the movie with my sister. Seriously, whenever he sings, the hotness factor just hits the roof. Tangled further sealed that for me. The movie was fun and heartwarming. For once Disney hit the jackpot casting lead actors who can also sing.

Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore with TANGLED's directors, Nathan Greno and Byron Howard

I’m crossing my fingers that I get to wake up early on February 28 to watch him and Mandy Moore perform the song at the Oscars. They should win Best Song. They should!

* Photo swiped from Daylife

Pasta ala Sardines and Quickmelt Cheese

The inspiration for this dish came from Home Cooking Rocks’ Pasta ala Puttanesca. In case you haven’t known, my siblings and I are sworn pasta lovers. Usually during my restdays we cook it for dinner. Whatever’s left, we have it for midnight snacks. But after years of experimenting between tomato-based and cream-based sauces, we decided it was time for a change.

Sheila had always been fascinated about cooking pasta with only a few ingredients. A dish that’s less messy, much cheaper (at least for us) and easier to prepare. But the thing is, because other ingredients are hard to find, we usually end up substituting them for cheaper (but practical) alternatives. Take for instance this recipe. Parmesan cheese is too costly since we’re preparing this for just the three of us. So we opted for Quickmelt instead. We might try kesong puti next time just to be more innovative.

Pardon the photos, I cannot plate to save my life. It’s another art that we have to master in the future.

I have found my calling! Okay, sort of…

You see after weeks of practice, I realized I will never be as good as my sister behind the camera. I suck at finding the perfect angle. Portraits aren’t my thing. But thankfully, I seem to do well with food photography. See? This is why I’m getting fat.

 

 

It’s too bad we forgot to bring Yogi when we tried out Spaghetti Factory last Saturday. Sheila had Boscaiola while I chose Carbonara Alla Elizabeta. The servings were generous and we were quite fascinated with their pepper shaker. (I thought it was a baseball bat!) We didn’t even have to wait that long for our orders to be served. Pretty efficient. So yes, we’re definitely coming back one of these days. I, for one, cannot wait to try out the other pasta dishes in their menu.

This is my story (and yours too!)

We finally had the chance to watch Crazy Little Thing Called Love this evening. I’d been seeing the title for quite sometime in message boards I visit although I never really paid attention to it. But thanks to FunnySexyPH, I was finally convinced to give this movie a chance. Hey, it’s Mario Maurer (who reminds me of a younger Francis Magalona) after all!

It’s easy to see how this became a hit by word of mouth. The characters are people you can relate to. Never mind if Pimchanok Leuwisetpaiboon (Kim Chiu, is that you?) is just too cute to play a plain Jane character. My sister and I found ourselves laughing at almost every scene. It was like being transported to high school and reliving all those memories you both cherished and would rather forget. Who never attempted to pass by their crush’s classroom (at the pretext of going to the comfort room) just to steal a glance? Or who never secretly squealed, in one way or another, when he actually acknowledged you for the first time?

How come we never make films like this? And no, I’m not talking about those teeny-bopper flicks. I’d like to see a Filipino rom-com flick make it big in other countries because really, there’s more to the Philippines than poverty, prostitution and homosexuality.

I’d like to say we all had a Chon in our lives. Someone who made us look forward to everyday life despite the disasters that come along with it. But like Nam, no one gets a happily-ever-after in a snap. Others wait for years. My own Chon might just be right around the corner. But I’m in no hurry. He'll come around. For now, I simply enjoy the company of my friends and my dearest family.

Online Assistance for Unresourceful Children

"S is the quintessential overachiever, who excels at almost everything in school. C is her brother, an average student."

I have nothing against helping students with their homework. But when it goes down to actually "doing" the assignments for them, then I think we have a problem. Who would find it cute when you get a text at 10PM for an assignment that is due the next day? My own parents would never have allowed that. What's worse, these kids aren't even resourceful enough to consult the library first before running to their elders for answers.

It's frustrating really. For a Grade 5 and a Grade 3 pupil, we shouldn't be spoon feeding them answers. Homework, after all, is there to gauge how much the child has learned from his/her lessons in school. How hard can it be for parents to realize that? I don’t want them to grow up thinking this is a practice worthy to be emulated. This Online Assistance for Unresourceful Children has got to stop.

Trailer: The Kennedys (TV Movie)

Can April 3 come any sooner? Reelz saves the day for The Kennedys, the ambitious 8-part miniseries about  America's political family. The TV movie was without a network for quite sometime after the History channel decided not to broadcast it. I can overlook the fact that they cast Katie Holmes as Jackie O because the actors playing Jack and Bobby more than compensate for that lapse. This family’s story never fails to be interesting. Anything about them will always be controversial. Would you watch this if you had the chance?