Sign Language

I pressume all of you knows the sign language. People tend to use it lalo na kong parehong magkaiba ang kanilang linguahe. Madalas ko itong gamit noong bago pa ako dito sa Germany, kulang na lang na pati nguso at mga paa ko ay gamit ko rin para lang nila ako maintindihan. That was 23years ago.

Kaninang hapon napilitan na naman akong gamitin ito although German ang taong “kaharap” ko. It happened on my way to Handelshof (wholesale supermarket) in Moenchengladbach. Somewhere along Autobahn 61, a Mercedes car before me was driving very slow. Nagtaka ako dahil walang speed limit sa area na yon. It was not possible for me to over take him right away dahil kakapasok ko pa lang sa autobahn. Besides, I also have to wait til the cars on the left lane passes by. So I drove patiently behind him for about 5 minutes. After awhile, I glanced at the rear view and saw that the left lane was deserted behind me. So for instance, I stepped on my gas pedal and speed up from 80 to 120 kilometers. I maneuvered the car back to the right lane matapos ko siyang maunahan and I even increased my speed to 150. Laking gulat ko na lang ng makita ko siya na nasa left side ko na and we were even at the same speed level. Kaya pala naki-level siya ng height dahil may balak na masama. I almost choke as he all of a sudden used a sign language. Guess what, he showed me his stinky middle finger, he over take me afterwards at nandoon na naman siya ulit sa harap ko and slowed down again. I was wondering of his behaviour dahil madalang naman ang mga sasakyan kanina, actually he could easily speed away with his Mercedes. Pero ewan ko kong bakit mas gusto niyang nasa harapan ko siya. Mukhang napagtripan ako ng ulol. This scenario repeated 3 times and everytime I over take him ibang sign ang kanyang pinapakita sa akin. First he showed me his middle finger, next he pointed his finger on his forehead…that means sira ulo daw ako. And the third time, he spit on his palm and did as if throwing it behind him. I think it means…you are scrap or something like that.

Now he made me real mad at nangatog na talaga ako sa galit. Balak kong gumanti but how? Wala na akong ibang sign na alam gamitin dahil naunahan niya na ako. Something dirty came to my mind. I stepped on the pedal to accelerate my speed to the fullest, at noong magka level na naman kami. I looked at him, and smiled at him with all my charm. Then I pointed at him and signaled him to slow down and go to the service road. After doing so, I pressed my tongue on my right cheek..mouth half open, clenched my right hand and shaked it gracefully. My gush, I was fevering…my cheeks were glowing and I was so ashamed of my action. Pero sa tutuo lang ano, the feeling thereafter was satisfying. Hehehehe…hindi na nakahirit ang gago. Sa shock he speed up to hell. So ein Arsch, ich hoffe du gehst zur Hölle!

Chocolate Chiffon Cake With Creamy Chocolate Frosting

I had been trying to bake chocolate cake with that creamy chocolate frosting like the one I’ve tasted in Davao. But unfortunately, I never succeed. So last Friday, I “combed” the whole web to find for the frosting recipe again. There were more than a hundreds of recipes I found but selected only two. The first one I made end up in the trash bin and the second was a success. Wow, I finally got the right mixture of creamy oh so creamy chocolate frosting.

My husband who came in the kitchen later was shaking his head as he saw the kids faces smeared with chocolate cream. My chocolate monsters had great fun eating the leftovers with their fingers.

To chocolate lovers like me, I’m going to share to you both chocolate chiffon cake and frosting recipe. By the way, this delicious chocolate chiffon cake recipe uses cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate to give it its wonderful taste. Please make sure to use cake flour for this cake.

I unfortunately forgot to save the link of the author, that means I also can’t add her name.

Continue reading

Each Child Is Different

We had a wonderful sunny weather today kaya naisipan kong linisin ang harapan ng aming bahay. Maya-maya, lumabas ang aming kapitbahay kasama ang kanyang anak na halos kasing edad ng aking bulilit. Wala sana ako sa mood na makipaghuntahan sa kanya dahil balak ko pang ipasyal ang mga bata. Kaya ako nagmamadali sa aking ginagawa. But well, since I’m no bastos nakangiting aso pa rin ako and listened to her endless complains about this and that. Habang ang dalawang maliliit naman were playing behind us and we can not over hear Gillian talking “kauderwelsch”. She began to ask questions about my boy and then started bragging about her son who can talk more and clearly than Gillian, her son who is so intelligent and blah blah blah. Hello, please excuse but I’m aware of that fact okay?

Oh well, some parents believe that a child who begins to walk at 8 months is more talented and smarter than a child who begins to walk at 12 months. The fact is that children are just different. The child who begins walking later may grow up to be a better athlete than the child who starts to walk at a younger age. What I mean to say is that no two children are the same. She heard Gilian saying “Mama bitte (please) milk“, guess what she told me. “Oh no wonder he can’t talk, you should only speak german to him and not mix.” Grrrr. Paki-alamira. Typical german attitude besser wisser (one who always know better). She continued telling me what to do and what is good and what is bad and tralalala.

I simply answered: See Mrs. Sowieso, it is unwise to rush children in their development or to try to get them to be like some other child. Helpful parent will help children develop as they are ready. Okay? I brought three kids in this world and you only have one. I can tell you that each of them developed differently. So do not ever tell me again what is best for my child because I’m not doing this to you.

Then I left to end the conversation.

Below are my two clowns who brighten up my day.

Italian Tirami-su Cake

Tiramisu is one of the cake that I love to eat. There is no doubt, Tiramisu is the popular Italian dessert…known worldwide. No wonder, it is sooo delicious! I usually bake this on special occassions, and family gatherings. I simply want to serve something different than the usual or typical german cake.Take note, this cake is not for young kids due to Amaretto. The alcohol amount is not much but I’d rather warn you upfront :) . The recipe also contains fresh eggs, so I advice you to consume the cake at the same day you bake it or keep the rest refrigerated.

Oh by the way, you need a pastry when baking this Tiramisu recipe. Since I am a lazy cook…I mostly buy a ready made one from the bakery. It makes the preparation time shorter, but just incase you are willing to bake the pastry yourself. Continue reading

Stuffed Pepper With Mozzarella

Vor lauter Arbeit konnte ich mich nur noch kaum retten. Ich überlege mir sogar ernsthaft ob ich dieser Food Blog doch nicht aufgeben würde. Ang ibig kong sabihin niyan ay: dahil sa dami ng trabaho hindi ko na malaman kong saan ako magsimula o ano ang unahin kong gawin. Pinag-iisipan ko nga na baka itigil ko itong food blog ko. But anyways, I can still manage to accomplish things so far. With delays of course, but I think what matters is that it is being done. I have so many recipes lined-up, recipes I cooked previously…so please do not ever wonder if I’m going to post them at one time. Don’t worry, I’m not posting it altogether in one entry. First to go is Stuffed Pepper.

Stuffed Pepper is an easy and quick recipe to prepare, just like all other recipes I posted earlier. So now let’s us not waste our time with blah blahs, let’s get started.

Ingredients:

4 – 6 green bell peppers

16 oz ( 450g ) of ground lean beef

1  large onion ( peeled and finely chopped )

1 large egg, beaten

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

pinch of dried thyme

1 tsp finely chopped parsley

2 balls of Mozarella (sliced thinly)

2 tablespoonful of beef broth

4 to 6 tablespoonful breadcrumbs

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

How to:

Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds and white membrane. Wash peppers to prepare for filling. Mix ground beef, egg, salt and pepper, thyme, onion, garlic, parsley, beef broth and breadcrumbs together and mix well.  Heat oven to 325 degrees or 170 °C. Stuff the meat mixture into the peppers, and place it into a deep baking dish, you may add ¼ cup of water a piece of butter and pinch of salt (this prevent pepper to dry) and bake for 20 minutes. 

When baking time is over, open oven and place one or two slices of mozzarella on top of stuffed pepper and bake it for another 10 to 15 minutes or until mozzarella melt.

Serve hot with rice or pasta with cream or brown sauce.

You can change many of the ingredients in this recipe and still have a great meal. There was no mozzarella when I first learned it. Adding it gives this recipe more taste.
  

My Name Is Gillian-Yves

Hello everyone! My name is Gillian-Yves. I turned 3 last February 2, 2006.

Mama bought me a mini cake for my birthday.

For our dinner, she prepared Stuffed Calamaris…

Fried King Prawns with Parsley and Garlic Sauce…

and as dessert, Buko Salad with Kaong and Peach…hmmm, yummmy! Take note, we had no guest…it was just the four of us, but we had fun.

Okay, let me tell you more about me. I’m a computer freak like the rest of the family. My mom was always mad at me when I used her pc, she once told me that I ruined all her work because I pushed on several buttons. Now I got a mini notebook as birthday present, but see…it is not really like the adult pc. It makes music that sound monotonous in the long run and the screen is so small and it is not colored as well. So I am sure you understand me when I’ll tell you that real pc is still my fancy, and that is why I still sneak to Mom’s desk when she is away.

That is my Ate Kathleen. She teaches me how to brush my teeth properly, tie my shoes, wear my jacket and how to operate my notebook. One thing disturbed me though, she played most of the time at it than really teaching me what to do. I think she likes it more than me…

Now that I’m three years old, my family expect a lot of things from me. Like, I should behave when we are eating. I should be quiet when we are in the church and many other things. Hmmm, I just can’t understand the world sometimes, I’m so puzzled. You see, there are things I want to do but Mom does not like it. There are things they want me to do but I don’t like it…like potty training. They thought they can trick me by giving me my milk and my doggie just to keep me remain sitted. But….

I hate it!

Really, really hate it!!! Waaaaaa…