The One About the 2011 Printable Posters

In just a couple of hours, we shall be bidding 2010 adieu and welcoming a new year. I hope 2010 has been kind to you; it sure has been to me.

I am celebrating New Year here in Baguio. The wonderful weather is perfect for sipping a tall Peppermint Mocha. It literally is a holiday in a cup. We are staying here at The Manor and everyone is in a holiday mood from the log cabin ambience to the gingerbread delights at the bakeshop to the wonderful albeit faint smell of pine trees.

I managed to make some printable posters with some words to live by for 2011. Hopefully, one or two will tug at your heartstrings and make an effort to live it out in the new year.

Just click on each poster if you want to print them. Happy New Year everyone! :)

The Ones That Have Kept Me Busy All This Time

I have been making some homemade goodness this holiday season...

Italian meatballs smothered with marinara sauce for TB's family Noche Buena

Something I crafted in my kitchen for the people I love

I hope everyone's enjoying the holidays! I know I'm enjoying the chilly mornings! :)

The One About the Recipe Binder (Part 2)

Remember when I started on making a vintage-themed recipe binder in order to organize all the recipes I have from newspapers, magazines, and the Internet? When I first wrote about it here, I only got this far.



I was able to find the time to get more work into it.

I bought binder dividers to categorize the recipes.

The binder dividers weren't this pretty when I bought them. They were plain and came in generic blue, red, yellow, and green. So I bought some vintage-looking gift wrappers and Mod Podge-d them onto the dividers.

Words to live by...

One gift wrapper was enough to cover only four dividers. I went out to buy more of the same print but I just couldn't resist this print! It's a 1968 Tigger!

I printed the recipes, added pictures and clipart, and placed them in clear sheet protectors.

Now I can't wait to get started on cooking! Haha! Happy crafting -- and cooking!

The One When We Came, Saw, and Conquered the Heavenly Sofitel Spiral Buffet

Oh yes, we did! Thanks to CashCashPinoy, TB (as The Fiance shall now be known henceforth) and I were able to get vouchers to dine at Sofitel at 50% off! CashCashPinoy and other groupon websites can be real gold mines.

Anyway, we were close to celebrating 42 blissful months of togetherness so dining at Sofitel was a great way to celebrate.

I purposely wore my loose boyfriend shirt to hide my ballooning tummy. Hahaha!

Beautiful cutlery

My first round - er, course: grilled eggplant with yogurt, pate, cerveti salad (sausages, onion, pickles), lettuce with olive tapenade, and hummus with pistachio-crusted dinner roll (because there was no pita bread)

Second course: tuna and salmon sashimi, crab stick, California maki roll, tuna maki roll, and sushi rice with toppings

Third course: ham and veggie pizza, pesto and olive oil pizza, Thai grilled prawns with lemongrass, dimsum, Thai grilled pork

Fourth course: Peking duck, prime ribs, ratatouille, and mashed potato with apple compote

Fifth course: Escargot soup. I usually start with a bowl of soup but with the hundreds of dishes there, I didn't get to see the soup at the start.

Sixth course (by this time, TB had given up. Hehe!): Soba noodles, shrimp and pomelo salad, chicken yakitori

Seventh course: chocolate creme brulee and truffle cake. This was supposedly my last course. I wasn't big on sweets but I could never resist creme brulee. Both were delightfully too sweet so after finishing my plate, I looked for something salty which led me to have my...

Eighth course: Gorgonzola cheese, Rebluchon, Manchego, goat cheese with ash, Caprice des dieux, and dried apricots.

So there you go. Yet another buffet conquest. I usually have seven courses but the Sofitel buffet made me beat my own record! To make things sound even more disgusting, there were no resting, no breaks, no "Rest muna ako...pababain ko lang kinain ko" moments in between courses. I rest my case; thy name is gluttony.

The One About the Paper Bag Turkey

Since it is Thanksgiving Day, I decided to do something nice for my students. I couldn't prepare a big Thanksgiving feast so I went for something cute and amusing.

I found this idea for a paper bag turkey from One Charming Party.

I tucked the edges in and sealed them with clear tape. You can also use hot glue.

For the drumsticks, I used smaller brown paper bags. Place your fist inside a bag and gather the sides around your fist.

Then I got a strip of white paper and cut fringes.

Then I wrapped it around the drumstick.

I used double-sided tape to attach the drumsticks to the big paper bag turkey. Again, you may use hot glue. I placed the turkey on a tray and plucked leaves from the garden to garnish as "herbs."

Hot off the oven!

My students were all smiles when I served the turkey.

I found this printable from Paper Glitter and the kids listed down all the things they were thankful for.

They were so thankful for the turkey and so during free time, they made cards and drew pictures for me instead of playing as a way of thanking me!

They were also thankful for other things. :)

I hope you have given yourself some time to think about what you're thankful for before you dive into your own turkey! Happy crafting!