Mama Bet's Cook Book: Oreo Truffles

One of the desserts that Mom does for us on a regular basis is her Oreo Truffles. She knew about it when she was scanning through Laureen Uy's blog Break My Style. You can read her post about it in this link. Laureen got hers as a gift from SweeTetite. Curiosity got the best of my Mom, so she searched for the recipe.

Mom used the following:

1 pkg. of PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese (softened)

3 packs of 137g Oreo Cookies (finely crushed)

Deutche or Goya Chocolate Buttons for coating (melted)

Mom mixed the softened cream cheese and finely crushed cookie crumbs. Then she shaped them into I inch balls; dipped them in melted chocolate; and placed them on paper baking sheet. She refrigerated them until they become firm. Mom would prefer using brown sheets, except that she couldn't find some at NCCC Mall. They only have white and some colored ones. She just recently discovered that Gaisano Mall Supermarket has complete baking materials and ingredients. Without further ado, here's the finished product. Pardon me for the hazy and noisy photos. They were taken using a 2 Megapixel Camera Phone only.

They taste oh so divine! My friends who have tasted this dessert said it's not nakakaumay, and I can attest to that (Sorry but I don't know the direct English translation of the italicized word. Buzz me if you know the answer). We also made fun of the packaging by sticking the logo I made for my Mom's future business. How I wish her dream would come true in an instant. I will definitely pray for that, and I hope you do too.

Will you make your own Oreo Truffles now? I hope this post has helped you in its own little way. Much love!

Pretty Little Liars Binge

I love the caption: Never trust a pretty girl with an ugly secret.

Mystic Nymph singing Secret by The Pierces, "Got a secret? Can you keep it? Swear this one you'll save. Better lock it in your pocket. Taking this one to the grave. If I show you then I know you won’t tell what I said. 'Cause two can keep a secret if one of them is dead."

I'm no closet queen when it comes to my enthusiasm for ABC's Pretty Little Liars. I have an absolute fascination over that TV series, and I'm not going to hide it. I do believe that if certain things makes us happy, then by all means, we should not hold back in letting it show. Y'all agree?

I may get a lot of eye-rolling for this, but I love PLL! It's because of the on-going mystery that engulfs the whole story. It's very catchy, and that's what makes it more alluring. I love it that they have a mix of different genres. It has romance, drama, comedy, action, suspense.. name it, PLL has it!

I've read a lot of negative critic reviews about the show, but those stuff will not change the fact that PLL is one of my ultimate guilty pleasures. We have different interests, but that doesn't necessarily make us less of a person. It may be a cliche and predictable show, but hey, others also are. Walang basagan ng trip!

Based on Sara Shepard's teen novel of the same title.

PLL S02E13 The First Secret. Halloween Special.

I just finished my PLL marathon, and now I'm thinking of re-running it. The "Over My Dead Body" mid-season finale has made my heart pound fast, literally. It may seem a tad bit OA, but that episode had clouded my mind with so many questions and further confusions like the following:

• Will Spencer get back with Toby? Why did she have to kiss Wren?

• What made the Rosewood Police think those 4 girls really killed Alison?

• What will happen to Ezria with Jackie's petty threat? Will their relationship cause another trouble on the Montgomery family?

• Did Garett and Jenna plan that shitty situation to turn in the 4 girls?

• Who the hell is Pretty Eyes? Who is A, cause definitely it's not Alison?

According to some reliable sources, PLL S02E14 will be shown on January 12 2012. Wait for it, PLL-lites? I've seen the promo, and I bet it's going to be an explosive comeback. More revelations will be unleashed. Someone will go missing. Someone will die. Someone will be exposed. I seriously can't wait!

Meanwhile, here are some of my favorite photos from PLL stars. Grabbed them from their Facebook Page. And oh, they already have 6,132,301 Facebook fans and counting. That's something!

Sasha Pieterse as Alison DiLaurentis

Lucy Hale as Aria Montgomery

Troian Belisario as Spencer Hatings

Shay Mitchell as Emily Fields

Ashley Benson as Hannah Marin

Chicos de PLL
Ian Harding (Ezra Fitz), Drew Van Acker (Jason DiLaurentis), Keegan Allen (Toby Cavanaugh) and  Tyler Blackburn (Caleb Rivers). Ian you're hot!

And by the way, do you know that one of our pretty ladies is actually a Filipino? She's none other than Shay Mitchell who was born from a Filipino mother and an Irish/Scottish father. No wonder why she's talented and beautiful! It's so good to know that Filipinos are becoming well-known globally. I'm proud of her!

I'm very sleepy now, so let me bid you goodnight. Sleep tight everyone! Enjoy the Halloween!

All images used in this post are not intended for copyright infringement.

Proudly Pinoy

PILIPINAS GOT TALENT

The third season of Pilipinas Got Talent recently ended with a bang last night. The show has been a trending topic not only on Twitter, but also in every household in the country with the word-class Pinoy talent it showcases. However despite the success of PGT 3, not everyone was satisfied with the results. As we all know, the grand winner in this prestigious search will be determined via the people's texts and online votes and not on the judges. That is a practice worldwide. Anyhow, let me not dwell on that negative issue because the Maansinhon Trio are still worthy to bag the 2 Million pesos somehow. Congratulations to them! They're great singers, it's just that I have a different bet by the name of El Gamma Penumbra. Here's a video of their spectacular performance:

Performance by El Gamma Penumbra (PGT 3)

Song: Piliin mo ang Pilipinas (Choose Philippines) by Angeline Quinto

What can you say? This group is truly an outstanding group! They make me feel proud to be a Pinoy (Filipino). As you can see, they were promoting the cultures and tourist destinations of our country. What I love most in their act was when they showed the unity of Muslims and Christians. The sense of positivism and nationalism that they're advocating are what the whole world really need in times like this. Well, need I say more? I hope the Department of Tourism sees how excellent they are and let them be a part of our government's tourism projects! They may not have won the competition, they still have the support of the majority of the Filipinos nation and worldwide.

I have always wanted El Gamma Penumbra to win right from the very start. They actually got the idea of shadow play from the Silhouttes of America's Got Talent. You can watch them in this YouTube video. EGP's act may not be original, but their concept is. I don't condemn them for copying others, because for me it's a positive thing that the Filipino talents can also do what they can. I definitely think EGP did a great job in PGT 3's Grand Finals. They even got a standing ovation from the judges and the crowd. They gave me goosebumps all throughout! I just couldn't believe that they didn't even reach the Top 3. Their performance was awesome, and I believe that they deserve to win!

Embracing My New Look

Hail to my new hairdo!

The BOB which is a hot short hair trend for 2011.

I've been wearing my straight and long locks for ages; and for me, keeping it the same way is becoming such a beauty bummer. Right then I thought I needed to take a breather, so it won't literally and figuratively weigh me down. Trying a new chin-grazing 'do feels great. From now on, I will try to be adventurous with hairstyles I deem suit me best. This bob cut gives me the feeling that I am ready to work it in the corporate world. Thanks to Joan de Castro Hair Salon!

So, how do you like my new look?

Gastronomy: Food and Friends

My new girl buddies (Jael and Maicie) and I had our sort of "sem-ender activity" last week. I’ve got to know them just months ago, and it felt like our friendship has already existed for such a long time. I can be my bizarre self when I’m with them, and I’m glad that they always make me feel like I belong since I’m new to their group. If not for them, I would have become a loner in my last sem in UP Min. We have so many things in common, and as we mulled over our similarities, we found out that the three of us consider FOOD as our top de-stresser.

We went to Abreeza Ayala Mall, because Maicie insisted. It was her first time there so we gave her a chance to see the much-talked about mall in Davao. LOL! We searched for a nice place to feed our starving stomachs, and decided to dine at Pancake House instead. I ordered their Jumbo House Burger, Maicie had their Blueberry Pancake and Jael tried their Spaghetti Set with Mushroom Soup. There was nothing special with the ambience of the joint, but I honestly think that the Abreeza branch was better than their branches from other malls.

The Jumbo House Burger

It looks small in the photo, but it was really big. I needed help from my girls to gobble this all up. I could say this was one of the best-tasting burgers I’ve had. The cheese, beef patty and bacon were so delicious. I was also very delighted with the generous amount veggies and French fries. Two thumbs up for this dish!

Special Spaghetti Set with Cream of Mushroom Soup

This was Ate Jael’s order. I didn’t like the spaghetti, because it was not that saucy. I loved the sandwich and the mushroom soup though. That’s what friends are for. We have conjugal properties even on food! Haha.

Maicie’s Blueberry Pancake

After Pancake House, we had another food indulgence at my beloved spot… at Zabadani Café. We totally had carbo overload that day, but we didn’t mind it at all. We thought we needed that a lot. I wanted to spoil myself since I've been really beat the whole semester, though I’ve never really tucked myself away from my ultimate stress reliever despite my busy scholastic life. At Zab, we order Grilled Cheese Oreganao (for me), Bubble Milk Tea (for me and ate Jael), Beef Kabsa (for ate Jael), Beef Squares and Mochaccino (for Maicie). Here are our shots…

Ate Jael’s Beef Kabsa.

Maicie’s Beef Squares.

My Grilled Cheese Oregano. I wasn’t able to take another shot of this because the camera ran out of battery. We weren’t able to take photos of our beverages.

Because we love food big time, we came up with an idea of setting up a gastronomic meet every month. We kicked off our plan that day, and our next stop would be at TGIF! It’s time for me to save some moolah (Off topic and weird, but I can imagine myself singing this line like Jessy from New Girl). Before I let out my over excitement on that matter, let me show you the rest of the photos we took.

We couldn’t get enough of Sophia (the little girl from Zab) and Ramadeey’s (the uber adorable Persian cat from Zab) extreme cuteness! Pia was such a sweet kiddo because she loved hugging Ate Jael and brushing my hair. It was like she knew us quite well that she ran straight to us the moment we went in. One thing we noticed with her was that she tend to hit us, and one thing she doesn’t know is that I get so scared with tantrum kids. Maybe she just felt that comfortable with our presence. But nevertheless, she’s still very charming! I hope to see her again next time.