Let's Join Chef Lau's Dinner Party!

Hold on to your pots and pans, people.  This is going to be a men-who-cook-are-hawt post!

Everybody knows Chef Rolando Laudico.  Celebrity Chef de Cuisine of the Chef Laudico Group, the genius behind Bistro Filipino, and the host for the upcoming exclusive Colgate Pro-Relief Chef's Dinner Party.

Now, a handful (give or take) knows Jing.  Head cook and owner of Bulalo Mismo, loving husband to moi, and a huge fan of culinary masters around the world.

The common denominator between the two:  They both love soups.  They both love to please others gastronomically.  And, they both love to cook because they both love to eat.  My husband once said, 'If you don't love to eat, then you can't put love in what you cook.'

In the same way that Chef Lau said, “Food is my life, my love, it’s what fuels me and inspires me. I enjoy eating everything and anything! As long as it's cooked well with a lot of love. “

Sadly though, another thing they both share is sensitive teeth. It's that piercing pain that spreads to the brain like wildfire, and keeps them from their simplest joy:  Food.  For two men whose passion lies in the kitchen, this is cruel, cruel irony.

Good thing Chef Lau discovered Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief.  It's as potent as the paste used by dentists but with a delightful fresh taste.  Its Pro-Argin Formula tackles the root cause of the sensitivity, making it twice more effective than other brands.  In fact, rubbing it on your affected tooth relieves the pain almost instantly.  Since then, Chef Lau goes on cooking and tasting his spectacular creations hardly feeling any sensitivity at all. 
My husband agrees.  He's been using and thanking Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief for quite some time, too.

So why must my husband and I be invited to Chef Lau's Dinner Party?  Pure and simple.  I bet these two food lovers have a lot to talk about and share with each other  --while enjoying Chef Lau's signature Bistro Filipino delectables, without the slightest tinge of teeth sensitivity.  THAT would be phenomenal!
Me?  I'd eat to that. :)

Jack and Jill Went Up to Kill

Woohoo, book review!

Tita Annie gives the coolest gifts.  Like this one she got for Miro.  Whoop-bam on that title, baby! Penned by Michael Spradlin and inked by Jeff Weigel, Jack and Jill Went Up to Kill is definitely the book for the zombie-loving freakazoid that is our family.  Even better, it presents these zombies as nursery rhyme characters --to feed the Grimm-loving freakazoid that is our family.

I can almost see you wrinkling your nose in disapproval. 
And this is me chuckling in retort.  :D
If you appreciate artistry in irony and irreverence... if you believe humor doesn't only come in shades of pink and baby blue... then this book is for you.  If not, your taste for old school will be respected.

However, for those who dare, bedtime stories will never be the same again. 
Sweet and sour dreams!

Imagination, Live!

Do you ever see your kids doodling unfamiliar characters on paper or on your living room walls?  Do you ever ask them who these characters are?  Do you ever gasp and clap in awe upon learning that your children actually invented original characters straight out of the mad, unbridled workings of their imagination?

Well, here's a cool parenting tip:  Bring your children's imagination to life!

Ok, tall order.  Bring your children's imagination to something more tangible than lead markings on paper.  Bring them to the 3D-ness of papier mache sculpture!
There... that's workable.

You know me.  I'm a papier mache advocate beyond control.  And my boys have imagination bursting at the seams, too.  This calls for a great collaboration! 

And so it began when Kenji thought, "What if Super Mario went to Hogwarts...?"  Questioned answered just like that.

Miro mused, "Penguins don't have to be cute all the time.  I think they can be powerful warlords!"  And now they are.

My husband said, "It would be nice if my little eatery had a mascot."  So be it, Kitchen Jedi.

I just had to pipe in, "Can my other blog have an action figure, too?"  My boys agreed.  Yay!

Our imagination in 3D!  How cool is that!

We had the most fun sculpting, slathering glue, and painting this batch of papier mache sculptures. There's that extra fulfilled feeling when you see your thoughts coming to, well, life. :)  Try it!

Ice Age 4 The Win!

If I were to rank each Ice Age installment (one being the highest and 4 being at the bottom of the pile), I would still put the original Ice Age way up there on number 1.

My boys, however, are pitting Ice Age 3 vs Ice Age 4 at number 1.  These 2 are way more action packed than the first... and boys will be boys.

We're unanimous on keeping Ice Age 2 at number 4 simply because my boys aren't into that mammoth love thing, and I personally am not a mammoth fan of Ellie.

Anyhoo, Ice Age 3 was awesome simply because it had Buck.  Buck stole all the crazy from Sid putting him at the top spot for brave animal misfit --which my boys adore about action characters.

Ice Age 4 : Continental Drift has one huge thing going for it though.  It had ...revelations.  It had awesome 360s per character.

For example:  Poofy Manny the mammoth, although a strong authoritative figure in their 'pack', has always been the cuddly type.  This time around, he proved to be a fighter --specially when the danger concerns his family.

Tough guy Diego the saber-tooth finally revealed he was capable of love.  Well, he's always had a soft spot for lost babies and helpless sloths even when he doesn't admit it.  Oh, but now --this kind of love is for real.

Long time doofus, Sid, who does nothing but botch everything up, rose as the hero!  He saved the day with the help of his on-the-brink-of-madness grandma --whom everyone thought would just be more trouble than success maker.  Sid made the biggest turn-around here.

And Scrat, the one with the acorn addiction for 4 film releases now, actually shaped history.  Lol!  Of course, he didn't really.  But it's cool that the film makers thought of transforming his useless shenanigans into something of historical importance.  He was responsible for Mount Rushmore, dude!

My boys thought the bad guys of Ice Age 4 were cooler, too.  Nothing beats pirates.  Uhm, ok maybe dinosaurs do.  But just a little.

The big questions now are these.  With this kind of kiddie box office success, will there be an Ice Age 5?  And, will the end of their world come first ...before ours?

Lego Zombie Cupcakes. Ze Bomb.

It's Miro's 11th birthday and we're kicking cupcake creativity up a notch!

His latest interest is pure, unadulterated zombies.  Call of Duty zombies, Left4Dead zombies, The Walking Dead zombies, ooey-gooey-goody zombies.
So if you're serving up a zombie-themed cupcake spread, how do you it with just the right balance of gore and giggles?

First, we went swimming (even when about to face a zombie, you want to do it fresh, ha!).
Midnight Snacks took care of the rest.

Presenting Miro's Zombierthday Party Cupcakes!  Moist chocolatey goodness snug in a thick blanket of sweet finely-sculpted fondant.  In colorful Lego palette, no less!  There's your balance.

The craftsmanship was just insane!  The details were way, way over expectations!  It was blood-curdling and lip-smacking all at the same time!

Now for those who are just about to go into cardiac arrest, the rifles are simply yummy representations of the good guys' defense in the fictional zombie apocalyptic video games kids play nowadays.

And the blood, well, it's strawberry syrup.  Not real blood.  Sorry to disappoint.

Bottomline, it was fun and quirky and really put my boy into that 'I... want... braaaains...' birthday kind of mood.  I call that an undead success.

Got a crazy idea for your next party cake/cupcakes?  Leave it to Midnight Snacks to pull it off.  And, how!

Bulalo Mismo is on Facebook!

After putting up my boys' Paper Macheniacs web page on Facebook, now I've done the same for my husband's little food business.
Yep, I'm a giver.  Lol!

Give it up for the Bulalo Mismo's Facebook page!  Yeeeeeey...!

This page showcases Jing's amazing homecooked Filipino goodies.  Announces daily specials.  And exposes my lame attempt at being a food blogger. 

Hhhawtness (ze blog) shares tips on easy and better-tasting cooking.  Even shares tradition and how to totally diss it in the kitchen --to lip-smacking results. :P

But enough about me.  Bulalo Mismo IS on Facebook.  LIKE it if you're hungry.

DigiBoy's Handiwork

I should've uploaded this two months ago but conversion was a killer!

Anyhoo, last summer, Miro figured Digital Arts was his calling.  2 summers ago, it was Robotics.  He gets a different calling every summer.  But all are skewed towards creating something out of nothing.  He likes that kind of power. :P

Junior Digital Arts at First Academy was right up his alley, it would seem.  He had a complete blast! 

He learned Photoshop and made me this lovely Mother's Day card.

And, he learned Vector drawing, manipulation, and animation to come up with this compilation of short movies.

Something I doubt I'll ever get to do in this lifetime.

So it looks like we're coming back to First Academy of Computer Arts next summer  They have other interesting workshops lined up for him, like 3D Modeling, Digital Manga Comics, and Junior Digital Photography.

That is... if he doesn't get another totally different calling.... say, I don't know... wood carving?