Mocha Icing Recipe

I have come to discover that people are actually stumbling into my weblog somehow, and one or two have written me directly at the e-mail indicated here and also as direct comments on this site.  Here’s the requested Mocha Icing Recipe, Jean:

Ingredients: 

3 egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup evaporated milk

3 Tbsps creme de cacao

1 1/2 tbsps instant coffee

3/4 cup butter

Beat egg yolks slightly.  Blend sugar and milk.  Cook ove rlow fire, stirring constantly till mixture coats the spoon.  Cool.  Cream butter and add cooled egg yolk mixture gradually.  Blend in creme de cacao and instant coffee.

Hope this helps.. let me know how you liked it, Jean..

If I Won the Lotto…

There was a time years ago when the sweepstakes pot (when the lotto wasn’t in the Philippines yet) had been set at an astronomical amount that we in the family bought our full sets and had started plotting what we would do with the money if we won.

These days in New York, Alan and I try to bet in the lotto when the pot is healthy, and this coming week is one of the bigger pots, estimated to reach over $160Million for the MegaLotto.  Mom already has her usual numbers — I’m going to do both a quick pick and some personal picks.  Who knows?  The worst that can happen is I lose $20 or so…

What would I do with the money if I win?  Alan’s and my answer to that question is qualified by how much we actually win.  If I won the grand prize, after paying in full for our Co-op and getting a house in our dream community in Manhasset then bailing out my Mom from her financial worries, I would stop working and do one of two things:  (1) put up a day care center for children in Bayside where we live — purchasing a house we can convert into a state of the art second home for children, or (2) put up a store in the Village where I can sell fashion goods from the established and up and coming designers in Manila.  I envision something like Sari-sari, but under a name that will appeal to the very diverse ethnic mix of New York and the millions of tourists who flock to this city year in and year out.  So even if I will be selling wares from my home country, the name will definitely be American.

Maybe I can use “P-Mix”.. P for Pinoy.  Or simply Mix… (is there a store with the name in existence already?)  I’d sell accessories and one of a kind or limited edition pieces from trendy casual wear to formal gowns.  (Imagine a store with one-of-a-kind pieces from Inno Sotto, Rajo Laurel and the likes.. truly a dream!)  As Jonathan had said, “libre namang mangarap.”  (It doesn’t cost a thing to dream..How true..)

While tonight I failed to bet my dollar in the night’s lotto, I’ll definitely be betting for the draw on Tuesday, that’s for sure.

Watching a Mother's Suffering

Mom’s rather depressed because the business in Manila has not been doing well.  We even had to send financial assistance to tide it through.  Times like this make me wish I could win the lotto and make her worries disappear. 

My mom is a strong woman but you can see when her pain gets the better of her.  I am asking her to go to bed but I have a feeling she will lay awake tonight, sleep eluding her.  I pray the angels bring her to slumberland soon and give her peace of mind. 

I hate seeing my Mom this way.  It’s not the first time this has happened since she arrived to spend the past year with me.  Each time, I can only sit and watch and try to comfort her. 

When she says she wishes God allow her to win the lotto, I don’t encourage her but neither do I rebuff her.  She is, after all, entitled to hang on to all the hope she can muster in this trying time.  I just tell her if it’s our time to win, we will win.  I know God will always have an answer — even if it isn’t the one she wants to hear.