In My Heart

From the 'Wilted' Series.

Post Christmas

Time to gather up those fallen Poinsettia buds and leaves. Christmas went by quick.

Baked Creme Brulee French Toast

Home-Baked Creme Brulee French Toast

We were craving for the popular New York Style Creme Brulee French Toast.  Thanks to My Burning Kitchen Blog for sharing a recipe which comes close to what we were wishing for.  We were able to literally carve our sweet breakfast cravings.  It was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!

The only two things we changed from the recipe are the challah bread and baking time.  We used a loaf of 12-grain bread instead and baked ours for 40 minutes.  We loved the nutty taste from the grain bread and the crusty edges.  

Whip cream to top it off!

Enjoy.

Christmas Cookies

Shortbread Cookies with a Twist.

Macadamia Nut with a Hint of  White Chocolate.

My Homemade Christmas Cookies for the Tea Party.

DIY Packaging inspired from Intimate Weddings.

I added a little hang tag so they can hang it on their Christmas tree, 

perhaps for Santa and Rudolph.

Have you made some already?

How to Paint an Abstract Art

Fun foundation painting.  Work in progress.

Putting in the tiny details.

'Untitled' by Sherie Sloane.  Finished Painting - Detail.

Watercolor on Strathmore Cold Press Paper

Art should be fun.  Remember how fun it was painting in grade school? Laying the colors with our brushes without knowing the 'rules' of color combination, hues, focal point and subject placement.  All the tenets of art that seem to hold many emerging artists from fully expressing themselves.

With dull skies hovering the city in this cold autumn weather, I craved for punches of color on my paper. At the same time, I wanted to create something cheery and bright.  I happened to stumble on my boys' building blocks on my way to the studio in the wee hours this morning.  That was my starting 'block'.

One after the other, I painted squares in random sizes and colors, not thinking about any rules.  It was my time, in my own island of imagination and creativity.  Away (even for a moment) from the rigors of daily routines.  After the paper is filled with squares, I painted some of the squares with darker colors to bring out shapes to represent the subjects that developed in my mind during the process.  The difficult part is when to stop, especially when you're having fun. 

Maybe next time, I'll try circles.  So if you think abstract art is just for serious artists, think again.  You can do art and have fun too.  

'Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.'  

~Pablo Picasso

Feel free to share!  Send a photo if you decide to do this project, I'll be happy to see and share your art here.  Take care.

Eiffel Play

'Beneath the Tower' by Sherie Sloane. Detail. 

Mixed Media on Watercolor Paper

'Beneath the Tower' by Sherie Sloane.

Mixed Media on Watercolor Paper

I was feeling the blues a bit today, and thought a play with color and imagination will be a good pick-me-up.  How about walking under the Eiffel Tower with the moon all aglow? That already gives me a warm feeling inside.

How was your day today?

One Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

One Minute Chocolate Cup-Cake

Five minute mug cakes are increasingly getting popular.  It's a quick sweet fix, convenient and easy to clean up.  We tried different recipes and although it only takes 5 minutes to cook it, making the cake mix still takes quite a bit of time.  I also found out that eggs in a microwave is not a good idea (just think salmonella).  I searched for a mug cake recipe using store bought cake mixes and didn't found any, maybe I just have to click past the 2nd page in the google search result.

After 3 burnt cakes in a cup, we finally got the perfect timing and mix right.  So, without further ado, we (me and our little man) present to you our 1 minute mug cake.  

:: Ingredients ::

microwaveable mug or cup

8 tablespoons of Devil's Food cake mix (we used Duncan Hine's)

1 tablespoon of water

1 tablespoon of oil

drop of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons of chocolate morsels (chopped up chocolate bars work too)

:: How-To ::

mix all dry ingredients

add wet ingredients

mix in the cup or mug

microwave on high for 1 minute for 1000w ovens

let sit for 1-2 minutes

top with nutella or whipped cream

sprinkle with nuts (skip if allergic to nuts)

Enjoy! 

Let me know if you made some and how you liked it.