Monday, December 12, 2016

Brazos the Mercedes

After a long hiatus of my oven (and mixer) due to laziness, I have decided to do some chaos in kitchen.  We have been craving for brazos de Mercedez and even bought a commercial one from Red Ribbon.  So I decided to make one suiting my taste.  I would like to share with you the recipe I used for my Brazos de Mercedez.  Enjoy everyone.

Ingredients:

For the meringue:
8 egg whites
1 cup refined sugar
1 tsp Cream of Tartar (CoT)
1 tsp vanilla

For the yema filling:
8 egg yolks
1 can condensed milk (330ml)
1 can water (330 ml)
1 tsp vanilla

Instructions

To make the meringue:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. In a clean and dry bowl, whip in high speed the egg whites.
3. Gradually add refined sugar while mixing.  Continue mixing until soft peaks.
4. Add in Cream of Tartar following the vanilla.
5. In a cookie sheet, line a baking sheet and grease the surface.
6. Place the meringue on the cookie sheet and spread evenly with a spatula.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or when the top begins to brown.
8.  While waiting to cook, start with the yema filling.

To make the yema filling:
1. Combine ingredients.
2. Cook over a double boiler until thick.

To assemble:
1.  Remove meringue from the oven and cool.
2.  Dust confectioners sugar and place wax paper on top.
3.  Place a new and clean baking tray of similar size on top and flip the meringue.
4.  Remove the old wax paper.
5.  Put filling and roll slowly to avoid breakage of meringue.



2017 Philippine Holidays

As I have previously posted, I have joined the ratrace.  And with that, I now don't have the luxury of going on vacation ANYTIME.  I have to reconsider taking vacations on declared holidays to minimize using my leaves.

Recently, President Rodrigo Duterte has declared the regular holidays, special non-working holidays as well as special holidays for scools in 2017 through Proclamation No. 50.  He declared the following dates as holidays:


Regular Holidays
January 1, 2017 (Sunday)             -       New Year's Day
April 9, 2017 (Sunday)                 -       Araw ng Kagitingan
April 13, 2017 (Thursday)            -       Maundy Thursday
April 14, 2017 (Friday)                 -       Good Friday
May 1, 2017 (Monday)                 -       Labor Day
June 12, 2017  (Monday)              -       Independence Day
August 28, 2017  (Monday)          -       National Heroes Day
November 30, 2017 (Thursday)    -       Bonifacio Day
December 25, 2017 (Monday)      -       Christmas Day
December 30, 2017 (Saturday)     -       Rizal Day


Special Non-Working Holiday
January 28, 2017 (Saturday)          -       New Year's Day
April 15, 2017 (Saturday)              -       Black Saturday
August 21, 2017 (Monday)            -       Benigno Aquino Jr. Day
November 1, 2017(Wednesday)     -       All Saints Day
December 31, 2017 (Sunday)         -       Last Day of the Year


Additional Holidays
October 31, 2017 (Tuesday)           -       day before All Saints Day to "strengthen family ties by providing more time for traditional All Saints' Day commemorative activities and to promote domestic tourism"

Eid'l Adha and Eid'l Fitr will be confirmed by the Muslim community and will be depend on Muslim calendars.

The proclamation likewise cited Republic Act 9492 for moving holidays, unless religious in nature, to the nearest Monday.

So now, I'm excited to search on the interenet for seat sales to arrange our vacations accordingly.


Friday, December 09, 2016

Your taxes won't be wasted with me

I have recently joined the rat race and after almost 4 years (my last stint was with Coke ended in December 2012), it felt new all over again.  I am now with Sugar Regulatory Administration.  Four years ago, I returned home from Singapore because of a job opportunity from SRA.  I packed my bags, I attended the interview, ranked 2nd amongst the applicants and was ready for office (because  Rank 1 turned down the offer) only to be neglected on the side because my mom is still with the agency. Rank 3 was chosen.

So yeah, it took me 4 years to get this post.  I have focused on establishing businesses while waiting for openings. I never applied to a private company because as per my mother, working for the governent has less stress, less pressure, and better opportunities which is really true. I have been with Manila Water and Coke and I could see the big difference.

This venture is a mixture of excitement, pressure and whole lot of self reflection.  The new job is exciting because new things means new learning.  New environment means new culture and new people.

It  has been 14 days of work. I got the responsibilities my mother left when she retired last June. But because I am filling the big shoes of my mother, there is this certain pressure and responsibility to do better and to prove to everybody that I could do more.  My mother is a hardworking woman, her work ethics is simply outstanding.  I could never beat that but I only wish to be at par with her.

 I have done the 6-month backlog, learned other roles when my other officemate take their leaves. There are days when it seems there is chaos in the office especially when most of the clients clamor in the office at the of the week but there are days when you could just browse the internet away.

The workplace is great.  But the voice at the back of my head tells me that I should be in the middle of the ladder in my career right now.  But here I am starting in the beginning all over again.  While my contemporaries are already heading departments, here I am, a mere part of the workforce, following orders.  So I promised myself, to work hard and smart.   There will be opportunities waiting (a big portion of the employees are about to retire) and I make sure to grab each opportunity.