Lamingtons

Mark and I got married in November 2003. The ceremony took place in the Philippines though the marriage registration itself was held in England. This enabled my family to attend the wedding. Since we were already in the Philippines, for our honeymoon we toured around the Asia Pacific region before we made our way to the USA where hubby was set to study. One of our chosen destinations, the one where we spent bulk of our time travelling, was Australia. It was a great choice as I had relatives in Sydney and we wanted to visit them, too.

Autumn in New York

Bow Bridge, Central Park

Last week we went to New York city to see some gorgeous fall colors. We were not disappointed. Central Park was at its loveliest with wonderful hues of red, brown, orange yellow and some stubborn green (hanging on to the very last day!) all over. The weather was glorious as well and the temperature was perfect. If you are thinking of visiting New York city one day, come during the fall season when the colors are at their peak. You will definitely have a wonderful time! Enjoy this photo journey in NYC - Central Park and beyond.

Travel Feature: Oxford, England

Last summer we went to England for my parents-in-law's 50th Wedding Anniversary, which incidentally coincided with our 10th Anniversary so we had the chance to not only celebrate with them but to go around some lovely parts of the country. Whenever we are back in the UK, I often request hubby for a quick trip to Oxford - home of my alma mater University of Oxford. I spent one year here for my masteral degree and had the most wonderful time. I always want to go back and visit whenever I get the chance. It is such a unique and beautiful city as you can see in the photo.

This time I was very excited that the two tots could join us. I have wanted them to see this glorious university town - home of some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires" in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university buildings.

The name Oxford comes from the old term Oxanforda which literally meant a ford (shallow crossing) in the river where the cattle (Oxen) could cross safely. Watch out for these cows! I was actually so happy to see these cows just by the river and I thought this photo perfectly described Oxford!  Thankfully, they didn't mind me taking their photos as they took their afternoon nap. :-)

Just one of the magnificent spires in this wonderful city. I believe this one belongs to Magdalene (pronounced - maudlin) College. You would often see a similar view in postcards.

Close-up of this splendid spire.

This is my college - Wadham in Parks Road. It is one of the oldest colleges in the university (though the youngest among the oldest) - built in 1610. This was my residence while I took my studies at the Faculty of Law. It is very centrally located as it is just across the Bodleian Library - Oxford main library.

The entrance to the college.

Quite an imposing and really tall door. 

This is what you see upon entering - we have a lovely courtyard that they maintain meticulously.

This is our dining hall. The tutors and professors sit at the table at the end. Sometimes they invite a student to dine with them. That is quite special as they have some ceremony of sorts and the dinner does not end here as they move to another place and give you drinks. My tutor invited me to join them one time and it was quite an experience. (Photo is from http://claudeschneider.com.)

Perhaps the most well-known of all the colleges in Oxford - Christ Church. It is one super-rich college and has for me the most beautiful grounds. As some of you may know, Harry Potter was shot in this college - particularly - the stairways and the dining hall. This college is just so grand and you need to pay to enter it (though Oxford students go free so I took advantage of this a few times!). There's always a queue to get in.

On the way to Christ Church coming from the River Thames. Gorgeous and lush! 

Just outside Christ Church is this cute and quaint little store - Alice's Shop - inspired by Alice in Wonderland as its author Lewis Carrol (Charles Dodgson) taught at the college. There is actually a real girl named Alice - Alice Liddell - the daughter of the Dean at Christ Church who was a friend of Lewis Carroll. She immortalized Alice in his books.   

Bridge of Sighs at Hertford College. This is quite near Wadham, just on the other side of the road.

The Sheldonian Theatre which was built by Sir Christopher Wren (perhaps the most famous graduate of my college - Wadham) for graduation ceremony. I had my graduation here in 2001.

Sheldonian Theatre on Broad Street

Lovely and colorful buildings along Broad Street

Courtyard of the Bodleian Library. Harry Potter was also filmed here. I was actually in Wadham when they filmed this movie as I remember seeing some of the kids who were in the film (though not the main characters). Bodleian is just right across my college and I saw the film crew but little did I know what they were filming then. Disclaimer: I have not seen the movie(s). :-)

William posing.

Sophie had to have one outside Bodleian.

This is the iconic Radcliffe Camera which is part of the Bodleian Library.

By All Souls College just beside Radcliffe Camera.

Love navigating these tiny streets and yes, am glad I still found my way to the covered market.

This was my habit when I was a student - I would go to the covered market to buy Ben's cookies - yes, they are the world's best cookies!!! These cookies are so well known now and some stores/branches can now be found in London.

Three prominent Protestant church leaders were memorialized in Oxford's Martyr's Memorial after being burned alive on Broad Street for they did not renounce their faith during the reign of Queen Mary. Apparently, they were all Cambridge educated.

Can you see the tots? At St. Johns College.

Cornmarket street is often buzzing with pedestrians. This is the shopping area.

Beautiful Tudor House at Cornmarket.

Back at the River Thames near Christ Church. So beautiful by the river.

If you ever come to Oxford during the summer, this is one thing you should never miss - punting! It is fun and I wished we had the chance to do it, perhaps next time.

Here's us by the River Thames. It was a wonderful day, indeed!

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Travel Feature: Brussels, Belgium

Since today and until tomorrow we are continuing our Foodie Party on our Facebook page, I thought it is the best time to write another travel piece lest you be bogged down with too many recipes. Although in the food blogging world, there is no such thing as too many recipes....once in a while we do travel features and since I never got the chance to share any photos of Brussels when we were there in June, here's the chance to share a few of them. Hopefully, they will become useful someday when perhaps you decide you wish to visit Belgium. This can be a mini-guide. :-)

Travel Feature: Paris, France - The Louvre and Les Ombres

 

Here's the second part of our travel feature. On Wednesday (June 19) we scheduled a trip to the Louvre Museum. Originally, we wanted to do it on Tuesday but it is closed on that day so we had to postpone it to Wednesday which happened to be our 10th Wedding Anniversary.

Travel Feature: Paris, France

As some of you know we are on holiday at the moment. Because of time constraints and not having full internet access all the time I will be sharing some travel features here along with the regular food posts. Let's begin our travel feature with our trip to Paris.

Chicken Ramen

In 2009, we went back to the Philippines to visit my family for the Holidays. En route we stopped by Tokyo so we can see what it's like in Japan during the Holidays and also to have a much needed break after that long trip from Chicago. Once we landed and after checking-in at our hotel, we immediately went to search for food (airlines don't feed you much nowadays, do they?).

The Philippines and Leche Flan

 

As I was writing this, snow was falling hard outside and though I like looking at the glistening snowflakes they made me think of the warm tropical climate of my archipelago. The shivers down my spine made me long for the sunny days in Manila. Since I needed to write a blog post about Leche Flan I thought I would tie it with some lovely photos of the Philippines.

Of course, when I think "warm" the first thing that comes to mind is the white sandy beaches of Boracay. It's not really warm there - more like "hot!" But the beach which has been named one of the world's best a few times is the main attraction. White and fine as talcum powder, the sand makes walking on the beach not only ideal but truly romantic. Imagine the glorious sunsets and Boracay is well known for that too.

We love Boracay so much that we decided it would be our first stop on our honeymoon tour. 

We went there for our honeymoon in 2003. It wasn't just us though, we brought the entire English entourage including Mark's mom and aunt. Fancy that?  It was fun though! From right to left - Mark, Mark Ellis, Janet (Mark's Aunt), John Rayner, Paul Priest, Margaret (Mark's mom), Abby (me) and the manager of the resort where we stayed in Boracay. We thought that seeing as they had flown that far to attend our wedding, we should take them to Boracay as well!

Another photo of Boracay taken by Mark. He is such a good photographer. He just knows how to capture the right angle and shot.

The two photographs below were taken in Tagaytay where Mark and I got married. It's about an hour drive outside of Manila and is a favorite place to visit during summer for its cooler climate.

This is Taal Lake and Taal Volcano in the middle.

With our first and secondary sponsors during our wedding in Tagaytay overlooking Taal Lake. What a happy day!

Here are just some photos of the place where I spent my childhood. Our town is called Gasan and it is in the province of Marinduque, one of the 7,107 islands of the Philippines.

This is Gasan shoreline, our house is located behind the palm trees in the foreground. When I was growing up I remember my mom buying the first catch of the day from fishermen who just came back from their overnight fishing. Fish straight from the sea....you can't get any fresher than that! Sometimes in the afternoons either after class or during summer time my friends and I ride these little bancas (outriggers) around the shore until the sun sets. Needless to say there was lots of swimming though I must admit I never really learned how to swim properly and almost drowned twice. One time, a friend and I got caught out of our depth. I was able to swim myself but my friend was pulling me under. I really thought that I was going to drown. All I could do was pray - "O Lord, please save me". Thankfully, my father arrived right on time and rescued us both. Amazing. It was in that same ocean where I almost drowned that I was baptized a few months later.

The island you can see in the photograph above is Gaspar Island one of the three islands that belong to my town. Every summer we go to this island for swimming, snorkelling, barbecues and to have some fun!

This is the sand bar that you land in as you approach Gaspar Island. The water is so clean and clear here as you can see. Our little island Marinduque is truly paradise in itself. It will always be my home.

Now about the recipe, Filipinos have a sweet tooth and we always love to eat, too! And one of our favorite desserts is Leche Flan (Creme Caramel) - a classic Filipino dessert. Traditionally, Leche Flan is steamed but here I am baking it instead so it's much easier.

Ingredients

For the caramel topping:

6 Tablespoons dark brown sugar

3 Tablespoons water

Don't forget the llaneras or custard molds/ramekins. I use 2 llaneras (Pinoy oval-shaped tin molds) for this recipe. Have them at hand.

To make the caramel, place the sugar and water in a shallow pan in medium heat. Stir the mixture and cook until the sugar melts and begins to boil. When it starts to really thicken, immediately pour the sugar on the tins/mold.  Divide it evenly between the molds (if using more than 1). Spread it until it covers the bottom of the molds. The caramel should harden immediately. Set aside.

For the custard:

7 egg yolks (8 if your yolks are quite small) - separate them well from the egg whites

1 cup whole milk (2 % milk is fine if that is preferred)

3/4 of a can of condensed milk

Zest of one lemon or 1/4 tsp lemon extract (2 tsps of lemon juice also work)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C.

Whisk together the egg yolks in a big bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.

Pour the mixture in the prepared custard molds or ramekins. Place the molds in a baking dish big enough to hold all. Fill the pan with hot water (hot water from the tap is fine) up to half the height of the molds.

Bake for about 30-35 mins. (Adjust the time depending on the size of molds being used). For my llaneras, 35 minutes is just right. The custard should have set nicely at this point. It will firm up more as you leave it overnight in the fridge.

Cool completely on a rack and then refrigerate. Overnight refrigeration is recommended.

To serve, run a thin knife around the mold and then invert onto a plate. Enjoy such creamy deliciousness! By the way, I used a heart cookie cutter to achieve the heart shape but you can of course use a heart-shaped mold if you have one.

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