Mariposa's Banana Cake

Happy Friday everyone! Mariposa has finally seen the light...after days of staying in bed due to flu which complicates to asthma. Today is such a darn good day as I am way better when I thought I'd die with all the tissue papers I've sneezed into.

Despite the illness I still managed to sneak out once in awhile to bake some banana cakes. For this week we've made about a hundred of it! We could have made more but oh well, a hundred is already a lot. People just LOVE it. It is a bit moist and not dry like some others you find and well they say its YUMMY!

Hmmm....I can smell its sweet aroma just by looking at the photos! LOL

 

This is my Food Trip for Friday. Too see other's choice, please visit the official host of Food Trip Friday!

My Home Inside My Home

Life According to Jan and Jer are our Fun Monday hosts for the week. And well they say --

As your hostess this week...here is what I dreamed up! The big question is ....What is the favorite room in your home? Tell us why and show us a photo if you can.

I am guessing most people would say it's their bedroom, but well not for Mariposa. I am rarely in my bedroom when I am home! LOL

The past months, I've been spending most of my time at the kitchen. Lately I find myself baking some cakes or pastries or just trying out some new recipes. This is something new but I am seeing this to last very long.

This is the snapshot of the small kitchen where I always bake the famous Mariposa's Lengua de Gato and Banana cake. I say famous because lately I've been getting huge orders and more than the money I am making I am enjoying the feeling of it, SO MUCH!

This was before the repainting project...I apologize I don't have  a very recent photo as I just got back from a trip and is recovering from flu.

Just when the IT Guy was ready to take a shot, the nephew came running to make sure he joins in the photo shoot! LOL

Next photo shows Mariposa and the nephew more settled! I am having such a good relationship with this cute oven of mine! It doesn't eat space, it serves my need and is very gas efficient.

My next favorite part of the house is not really a room, it's the garden! I LOVE staring at the greens and I love tending the plants.

 

In the garden is also where I play with the nephew! IT Guy and I spend some of our lazy Sunday afternoon here playing with the nephew.

 

And that's it for my Fun Monday post, you just have my home inside my home. Let me head over to our hosts to check what the others have...

I wish all you a great week!

Cooking Is An Art...

...but you eat it too!

This is beef caldereta à la Mariposa! I did tell you all how busy I was over the holidays, right? Well I was at the kitchen most of the time and this was one of my endeavor. I am so proud of this one as I can say this is my own creation. ;)

This is a simple recipe, quick and easy to prepare. If you want to try it, the recipe is posted at Mariposa's Kitchen.


Happy Wordless Wednesday everyone!

Mariposa's Kitchen

A quick shout out which I can't understand why on earth I miss it...

I have finally opened another blog where I can share and explore with you my kitchen.

I'm no cook but I love to cook...so if you have time, please visit --

Mariposa's Kitchen

Lengua De Gato

Last week I joined What's Cooking Wednesday for the first time and it was so exciting! Now I look forward to spending more time in the kitchen every weekend and I hope to share whatever I'm cooking/ baking there every Wednesday here.

So this post is a (not) WORDful (less) Wednesday and What's Cooking Wednesday in one!

Lengua de Gato is what these yummy crisp butter cookie wafers are known here. In French, it is referred to as Langues de Chat .

Shaped like a cat's tongue, Lengua de Gato is a thin, crisp butter cookie wafer that melts in your mouth and a favorite of my nephew! He likes it so much that the last time I brought him a box (which I bought from the airport), he had to guard it from the IT Guy who kept teasing him that he's going to eat them all...LOL

Last week the nephew was playing and found the box of the lengua de gato and came to me saying "Wow! Am...A-am!" He refers all his food as "am" and says "wow" to his favorites. IT Guy the ever sweet and thoughtful asked me if I wanted to go out for a coffee...which was odd because it was already after dinner...but I said yes anyway! Turns out he wanted to buy the nephew some lenguas and after driving around for an hour we gave up. We just couldn't find one!

Thus...we decided to bake some Lengua de Gato last weekend.




Let me share with you how Lengua de Gatos are done! Very simple...very easy!

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1-1/3 cups cake flour
2/3 cup sugar (Feel free to modify this according to your preference.)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup egg white (Usually you can get it from 2 pieces eggs, but since some eggs can be watery, I opt to measure them.)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Preparation

1. Cream the butter and sugar.

2. Add egg white gradually then fold in flour (with salt).

3. Add vanilla.

4. Stir until mixture is smooth.

5. Use cake decorating tube to form mixture into oblong shapes. Drop each onto slightly greased cookie sheet. (You may also zip lock bag with a corner cut out, and pipe the dough onto the prepared pans.)

6. Bake in 375 °F oven for 5 to 8 minutes or until light brown.

7. Remove immediately and let cool. Store in tightly covered jars.

These cookies are more of dessert cookies than snack cookies! It goes well with my coffee... ;)


Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!


For more interesting photos, you may visit Wordless Wednesday and Wordful Wednesday...or go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

Friday Fill-In #129

I'm UP so early...but well rested! So it is good. And when Mariposa is up, Mariposa blogs...LOL

Today will be a busy Friday for me here as I always have several Friday activities...and let me start with my weekly Friday Fill-ins.

Janet is still recovering from her surgery and this week's Friday Fill-Ins is courtesy of Tamy at 3sidesofcrazy. Thanks Tammy...and to Janet...get better soon!




1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to behave as they are told.

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a real winner.

3. Eating fruitcake is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy running their own lives and are too busy for politics.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine moisturizer and bronzer to get that skin glow for the party! LOL

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without any herbs or spices in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to shopping for a pair of shoes, tomorrow my plans include going to the grocery to make sure my kitchen is complete with things I'd be needing because on Sunday, I (want) am going to host for a small party for my Dad and I will be cooking!

Creamy Tuna Pasta

My Word Filled Wednesday post is below...

Thom tagged me but I'd say this post is more than that! This is rather a serendipity post for me and I will slowly explain to you why.

The TAG rule says --

1) Go to your photo files…Select the 6th photo folder
2) Select the 6th photo in that folder
3) Post that photo along with the story behind it.
4) Then challenge 6 blog friends to do the same! (I will not tag anyone but feel free to do this when you have the time...it's fun!)

This is the 6th photo in my 6th photo folder!

What a luck as this photo will let me do my (not) WORDful (less) Wednesday and the story behind it will let me join What's Cooking Wednesday for the first time!

This photo was taken very recently...just last weekend. This is IT Guy's recipe and I'm sure he'll be surprise to see it here...Ha!



I call this recipe Creamy Tuna Pasta as that is what it is! Most of my friends and my family love it and this is a good recipe for weekends and a good step away from the usual Spaghetti Bolognese (Which is so common to Filipinos!). At least for us.

Let me share to you the recipe as I can remember --

Ingredients

500 grams of pasta (IT Guy loves to experiment, so you can have fettuccine or just any!)
1 can of tuna in vegetable oil, drained
onion, chopped
garlic gloves, minced
2 tbsp olive oil (I guess non-fat butter will also work as I saw him use that in the past when we ran out of olive oil.)
250 ml thin cream
1 cup/can sliced button mushrooms (IT Guy loves mushroom!)

Preparations

1. Cook the pasta. (I know most of you know how!)
Boil the water, add a little oil so as not to make the pasta stick to each other. Add a little salt for the pasta. Once the water is boiling add the pasta until al dente (in English until it reached its tender crisp phase)! Drain and toss!

*If there is one thing I learn from the IT Guy it is to read the instructions in the package of the pasta as cooking time varies for each kind.

2. Add the olive oil into a large fry pan over medium heat. Add garlic. Don't over cook it as it will give a bitter taste. Just enough to get its aroma. Then add the onions and the mushrooms.

3. Add the tuna. While some people would opt to add the cream first I want the tuna ahead as I want it mix with the spices first. There is just something in the tuna which I want to neutralize to make it more palatable for me! LOL

4. Add the cream. Season to taste. We love to add a little of white pepper. Let it stay for 2-3 minutes while continuously stirring it.

5. Then add the pasta. Mix.

*You may also serve it with sprinkled chopped flat-leaf parsley.

And it's ready!!!

Happy (not so) WORDful (less) Wednesday!


For more interesting photos, you may visit Wordless Wednesday and Wordful Wednesday...or go to The Fairy Blogmother for more What's Cooking Wednesday participants.

Apple Crumb

I got this recipe from Arlene, and this what kept me occupied last weekend...

1 cup rolled oats
2/3 of a cup brown sugar
1/2 of a cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 of a teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons water
6 tablespoons butter
5 large apples

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly butter an 8 inch square baking pan then dust with a small amount of flour.
Peel, core and slice apples and place in the floured baking pan.
In a bowl blend dry ingredients with the butter and water.
( I prefer to melt the butter in the microwave).
It should make a crumbly dough.
Sprinkle the dough evenly over the apples slices.
Bake 35 minutes or until top is golden brown.

It was nice...and people did enjoy it! Sadly, I was not able to take picture...

Thanks for your variations too, it did help... ;)