Hola!

Hola, I'm your absentee temporary blogger reporting, sorry for being MIA for a couple of weeks, I've been busy. Busy procrastinating *lol*, I kind of, sort of got hooked with another diversion, add it to my duties as a mom and you'll get zero time for blogging; don't get started with the multitasking and time management speech, of course I know that, I just don't put it into practice *grins*. Seriously, the little house we own in the province of Bulacan is undergoing some renovation so a lot of my time was spent discussing the designs with the construction group that we hire, most of the floor and design plans were done so I do breath a little better now, but I'm still thinking about their idea of a Laminate hardwood flooring, what do you think?

Anyway, I'm back and I plan to linger for a while, the owner who call herself Anya keep on nagging me that I am taking her blog for granted, so to get her off my back, I need to work harder or to stick to the routine, at least.

Have you gone swimming yet? My son's still at school, so we're still stuck at home but he did swam with his second cousins a week ago at my aunt's house. Wishing for a happy and yummy summer!

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Note From A Substitute Blogger

Uhm, hello *waves*! The original blogger and blog owner, Anya, is now having the time of her life nurturing her newest bundle of joy, and I am tasked to look after Kutsara at Tinidor and One Dish at a Time until her schedule goes back to normal again, please don't ask me for a specific timeline as I don't know either, I'm just here as a sub and I don't even know how long it will last. She had been busy doing drafts for her recipe blog, so there are lots of scheduled posts, I just haven't gotten to posting them yet, please don't tell on me, I will do it today, promise. She also did a few for this blog but I don't think it will suffice until she comes back so I may insert some of my own food trips and adventures once in a while, the Tikoy entry was actually my very first. I'm not really a woman of many words and it would have been nice if I don't need to do this but Anya keeps on nagging me about introducing myself, so here you go, I am her substitute blogger, my name need not be known as a rose in any other name will smell as sweet, let's just apply that with food blogging, olrayt?

So, expect a mixture of her old ways and my new and out of her league writing, I'm not a professional and very new on this craft, so I beg all of you to bear with me and the mistakes I might do, but I promise to keep the blog's well-being in the forefront of my mind. So let's rock the boat until the owner comes back...

I'm loving my stay so far, hope you're all okay with it too...

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Happiness

I just found out that a Google PR update took place two days ago, so, I did what a normal blogger would do, I checked mine. I looked at my blog first and was so happy when I didn't see a change on my PR button, which you can see way below, on the right side --> . For my other blog, I had to checked it manually through the aid of a PR checker and was sooo surprised to find out that it now has a PR 2 on its name, and I just recently get back into blogging, it's either my hiatus had no effect or Google was happy that I took that extended vacation off the web, hahaha. And because I am a curious being, I decided to manually checked this blog's PR too, and lo and behold, it got higher, it now has a PR 3 as opposed to what the installed button is flashing (yes, I checked again), which one should I believe, then? Whatever, I'm still a happy camper :)

I wasn't able to join the Friday memes, I'll make it up next week. Have a good Sunday everyone!

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The New Year and Absences

Hi guys, I've been out of the circulation yet again, well, you can blame it to my hormonal imbalances *grins* and of course, to my son's most-awaited Holiday/vacation. Another thing, it's now my giving birth month, so blogging as well as moving, is kinda getting harder. I just thought of posting something before full-time motherhood calls me back, and to greet everyone a Happy and Blessed New Year!

By the way, have I told you that I'm going to have a baby girl, yes I would *doing the happy dance*, not that I love my son less, it's just that I can practice all my artistic and fashion ideas now that I'll be having my own doll and model, can you feel my excitement? I was, actually, tinkering with an editing software these past few days, as I try to come out with a logo that I can use in my baby's dedication, I want it pretty and coordinated. I want a specific logo that will work as a visual and an all around theme of the event, I think that it is pretty nifty and one of a kind. It's kinda hard to explain it in details but I swear it's awesome in my mind, you just have to trust me *chuckles*.

I wish artistry and capability in graphic design runs in my blood, life would have been so much easier but what I lack in aesthetic capacity, I can cover with maternal love *grins*, and I can always go for a Logo Designers, there are some free and crafty ones that circulate the net, when all hope is gone. I still have a lot of time in my hands though, I'm scheduled to have a CS procedure on the 4th week of January, so I can still play the DIY momma for a while *beams*.

Oh, I will try to upload and post all my stock photos to clean my laptop, so expect a blast of entries from me, well, as long as laziness doesn't kick in.

Again, sorry for being an absentee blogger, I hope you all still love me nonetheless...

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A Kitchen Dream

I have been very vocal about my regret in not investing on kitchen and dining equipments and utensils when I was still able to, when money was ready to be spent for my every whim, when our finances was still stable, when we're still free of debts and responsibilities. How I wish I can turn back time...

One of my dream is to put up an enclume pot rack in my kitchen, I really think that it would add that homey and aesthetic appeal that I so want to achieve. I have seen classic movies with kitchen designs like that, pot hanging and clinging while an entire family is happily preparing their dinner, I even envy those restaurants that have that as part of their interior design. I wonder when I can get a hold of such and be done with one dream. Don't get me wrong though, I don't want enclume pot racks just because of the allure it will add to my kitchen, I will lie if I tell you that it's not my main and foremost reason in desiring it but aside from that I'm sure it will also aid in ridding my humble kitchen of its clutter. Just thinking about it makes me happy, I just can imagine if it's the real deal already.

Enclume potracks has this comtemporary and timeless appeal to it which will make any homemaker beam with happiness and pride, as my kitchen is on a silver/gray motiff, I decided that if and when I get the chance to buy one, I'll get the chrome-plated variety. I'm still undecided on what design and built I'll take but it will most likely depend on what hubby and I will agreed upon and its corresponding price, of course. Anyway, as money is something that we don't have a luxury of at the moment, I think I have ample of time to browse their website and pick the best one for me. Hmm, I wonder what would it be...

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Chocolates for Haiti

A month ago, something dreadful happened to the country of Haiti, I guess no one is left uninformed or unaware of what struck the Haitians, unless, of course if you live in a cave or a box with only a few air holes *grins*. Much has been said and done, millions of cash and goods from all over the world had been given to them, aids from various countries, may it be from the government or not had been sent, people who can help had flown in and assisted them but can we say that it is enough? Thousands had died in that earthquake, thousands more are buried alive in the rumbles, hundreds of thousands of people had lost their loved ones, their living and their life, millions worth of infrastructure and properties was destroyed, can we really say that we had helped enough?

I get it, not all of us have that extra money to donate, exactly my dilemma, I am not well-off and I live thousands of miles away so, really, how can I be of help? If you have the same question, I suggest you stop mulling it over as the answer will be delivered to you in a silver platter. Intentional Chocolate has this on-going Haiti drive on their website, wherein they will donate all their profits to charities that supports the relief operations in the said country, it will be done up until Valentine's Day. So, if you're prepping up for V-day and at the moment searching for that perfect gift, may I suggest going back to basics, why don't you buy some Dark Chocolate from Intentional, I'm sure you'll make someone dear to you happy and in the process, you'll make someone in Haiti happy and hopeful, too. Isn't that a great deal?

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Someday I'll Have Them

The minute I posted my food entry last Saturday, I was off to Navotas. The Feast of San Roque took placed last weekend and I was there to share in the fun. There was a parade with lots of bands, floats and of course, politicians; I didn't get to catch a lot of candies and other goodies but I had the grandest time watching all kinds of people and shouting "candy", "candy", an aunt even stated (the obvious) that I was just making noises by chanting and shouting but didn't care about the candies and lollipops at all. The day after the parade was the food trip day, as in, though I am always saying that I am on a diet, I had completely forgotten about it for the last two days *grins*. And after feasting, there's no better way to loosen up than to walk around in the plaza to look and shop in the night market where I saw lots of plastic dinner wares and other kitchen paraphernalia. I would have bought some if its quality is as trusted as of wasserstrom restaurant supply, then I would be at ease to spend money knowing that I can use what I bought for a very long time.

I have been dreaming of owning professional cookware ever since I fell in love with cooking and have found delight in serving my family healthy and delicious foods. I have some stuff in my care which I bought several years ago, not because I want to use it but because I find those dining and kitchen wares pretty, I didn't care then if it would last because as I had said, it never crossed my mind that there will come a time that I'll utilize any of it. And now that I am a convert, I can't help but regret the harsh and senseless decisions that I had made back then. I wish I had purchased tableware and cookware that are of good quality and taste, cooking could have been much easier and enjoyable.

If only I had been aware of my deep and intimate passion with cooking, which was hidden up until last year, and if only I had been privy to the world of online shopping when I had the money to spend, life in my kitchen could be such a blast. If that had been, I think, I could easily concoct recipes like that of professional chefs, wouldn't that be lovely? So, this year, I plan to save a part of our monthly budget and invest on some quality kitchen wares and equipments, I did some online browsing and I saw lots of interesting and pretty stuff in Wasserstrom and I have my eye on these China coloration pieces and set (photo below), one of these days, I'll blog about being the proud owner of these cute little babies.


You just have to wait and see...

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A Piece of Toast

Just my luck, as I was preparing some buttered toast for my dinner, our trusted (not anymore) oven toaster broke down, geez, just when I needed it most. I have mentioned time and again that I am trying to slim down and though I didn't succeed in sticking to the after six routine I am slowly taking out rice in my diet, at the moment I only eat a cup of rice during lunch and I substitute it with bread at breakfast and dinner. I'm not really strict in what I'm taking in just as long as it's not that much but it seems like time isn't on my side, January is almost over and I don't think I have shed enough to reach my goal in time, so I need to be more focus. Mind over matter, I know I can do it.

Anyways, as my oven toaster decided to rest, permanently, I am looking at a site with toaster oven reviews on different brands so I can decide on what kind to buy next. My last toaster served us well but there's no harm in looking for a different and maybe a better one right? I am hoping to find a classy-looking piece that will do what my old one did - make yummy toasts, if I can find one that is energy-efficient and will fit in my budget, that would be just great. I am not a tightwad or something but at times like this, one can't help but be practical.

For the meantime, I'll just dunk that bread in a hot mug of coffee...

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Blogging and Dining

Finally, I was able to cajole my son into taking his afternoon nap, I have been waiting for him to sleep so I can do some blogging. I was cleaning the kitchen and dining room the whole morning up until my baby got home, I did some cooking - Burger Steak, in case you wanna know and then watch some TV with him. I was forcing him to sleep already as I want to continue my cleaning task and do some quick updates on my blog but he won't budge, he just can't sleep, fortunately, after three hours of storytelling, slumber took in. I would have continue my chores have I not seen the clock, it's almost five o'clock in the afternoon and an hour from now, I would be cooking dinner so I decided to ditch the cleaning galore and go straight to blogging. The life of a mother... phew!

Oh anyway, before I go on doing my Mellow Yellow Monday post, I just want to ramble a bit, you all know by now that I was just currently crowned as a kitchen diva, I used to be an elusive cook *grins* and now that I spent most of my time making my humble space pretty and neat, I regret the days that I wasted money buying stuff that were not really needed and were just wasted and now gone, how I wish I invested on some dining room furniture to make our family time (while eating) more enjoyable and fun. I wish I had invested on quality kitchen equipments and wares, as well, heck, I also wish I had taken care of our old oven (it wasn't old and rugged then, but it is now), I found out that it now cost a fortune, my goodness, it's no wonder everyone who has an oven and knows the basic of baking is plunging into home business. Oh well, rambling is up, back to work.

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Of Beds and Vacations

My father recently bought a new property in Bulacan, somewhere in the midst of resorts and food shops *grins*. Last Christmas break, we decided to have a sleepover and a mini swimming party for the kids, you know to let them enjoy a little without the extra cost and for us adults to have time to chat and gossip, laugh and enjoy, and be free of the city-stress even for just two days. We went there on the 26th, yep, right after Christmas and stayed up to the 28th, it was a zany two days I'm telling you, it would have been the perfect family destination (personally speaking) if my son didn't suffered from blisters from bed bug bites on skin, gawd it wasn't pretty. Well, it is partially my fault as I didn't bring our own mattress, knowing that the house has been empty for years with just minimal cleaning from the owners. I knew that the house had undergone major cleaning and frantic designing courtesy of my mom, so I was super confident that nothing can go wrong, I guess, the bed bugs were as stubborn as my mom *grins*. I'm not sure yet but I think the bed bugs could have surrendered or have been totally eliminated by now, as my mother wage an all out war against them when she saw what happened to my son. Come to think of it, I kinda pity those poor bugs *lol*, my mother can be such an OC sometimes.

My son together with his cousins have been bugging me to go back, they're all cajoling and begging me to bring them because my insane and crazy siblings told their lot that I'm the only one who can bring them there as I don't have a regular work, imagine that! For their information, I have work... I am blogging...

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Some Wine for the Lady

*** This is a sponsored post.


If you'll ask me, if there was something missing in our Christmas and New Year's Eve feast, I would immediately answer you with a yes, we missed out on the company of some fine wine this year. Yearly, we would always have some wine or bubbly in our table, mostly given by friends and business tie-ins but as my mom passed the management of the business to his younger brother, gone were the days of loots and freebies. And because we were so accustomed to having the wine ready, no one in our family bothered to purchase one *grins*. But we're not that downtrodden, we know that an upcoming family event will satiate our thirst...

Two weeks from now, we will celebrate grandma's (mother side) death anniversary, every year since seven years ago, we would always toast to her name, to celebrate the life that she had and fruits of life that she had left. And every time, we celebrate her anniversary with a potluck event, this year the wine is on us. My mom gladly handed me the job of perusing and choosing the best wine, quality and cost-wise. I did some online searching and I decided to buy california wine, I found an online site that has a list of almost 500 Californian vineyards and it has the biggest wine library in the US. More than that, the wine producers and vendors on their list sell wine at a much lower price than that of the regular liquor stores and groceries, if you purchase six bottles or more, you'll get the wine delivered to your doorstep free of any charge, one more thing, there is no transaction fee, that's like less than five to ten percent charge, ain't that a bargain?

Another glass for me please...

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The Magic of Spices

*** This is a sponsored post.


Truth, I just recently discover the art and science of cooking, I never actually thought of learning until we moved out of my parent's house and live on our own. This blog is an active testament to my love of everything dine-in and take-out, in our first few months of living away from the sumptuous meals and grand life that only my mother can give, I substituted decent meals with fast food and cafeteria treats, I seldom cook as I am scared of making mistakes and failing. But as I blog about food, I often passed by other foodie blogs that talks about cooking and the happiness and delight it can give to the cook and the ones he/she cook for, the range of yummy and mouth-watering dishes and recipes are endless and I can't help but be enamored, that's when I started to spend a little more time in the kitchen. I spend hours asking my mom about recipes and some more on looking online, I even created a recipe blog to document my journey and the baby steps I am taking, after almost seven months, I can say that I am doing good, I am not yet a master but I am slowly getting there *grins*.

One of the most important trick that I learn in cooking is using and playing with spices and seasonings. A pinch of salt will make your recipe tasteful but if you can add pepper, basil or rosemary to it, it'll be a whole new story. If you make a deviled egg, the usual combination of egg yolks, mayo, mustard, salt and ham bits can be enough but a sprinkle of paprika on top will add a tang to it. If you're trying to cook some good 'ol spaghetti for your kids, the usual ingredients of ground meat, spaghetti sauce and salt could be enough but a little pepper can make it more exciting, then add some dried oregano and you'll have Italian pasta. If you had been drinking lemonade for the whole summer and wanna try a different taste, you can try adding some basil leaves and you have a twist on your classic drink. That's the magic of spices, it can turn an ordinary dish into something special if you just know how to use and play with it.

Are you ready to add that zip on your homemade dishes? I can help you with that, try Pendery's, they have a gigantic assortment of spices and seasonings in affordable prices plus they offer it on different sizes, too, you can take as much or as little as you need and afford. If you crave for some gourmet food, salsa and other sauces then you're in luck as Pendery's also have that and more in their product list, you can even download their catalog for easy browsing even when you're offline. Pretty nifty eh?

Happy cooking!

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Weekend Chore

It's a weekend here in my side of the planet, actually, it's more of almost an end of a weekend here *chuckles*. And as a wife and a mother, one of my regular weekend chore is to clean our rooms (ours and our son plus the playroom), during schooldays, I am focus on being a mom, a tutor and a playmate, when my son take his daily afternoon nap, I get to pinch in dusting the house and do some blogging. The only time I can take care of the hidden parts of the house (read: rooms) is when hubby is at home and that takes place only in the weekends. I, usually, begin with our little boys room as it is smaller than the rest of the rooms and not much effort is needed to tidy it up as sleeping at night is the only activity taking place in that room. Next in line is always the playroom which will take most of my time as it is always in chaos though I try to clean up my son's mess every night. Our room is the last stop as I am the one who makes most of the mess and ramble, I really try to make it pleasant to the eye even for just a day for my darling husband (haha, do I sound like a dear wife, I wish, but I'm sure that my husband wish it more *lol*). I do that every week and I don't get tired of it, well, I do sometimes, err, I think it's more of most of the time specially when I look around and feel like our room is lacking. I wish we can have a different one, just for a change, I do dream of a contemporary bedroom, where we can rest and lounge, hug and cuddle and have fun together. Wouldn't that be great? I wish it's that easy, paging fairy godmother *grins*. But I know that at this economic state, my dream bedroom will be just that - a dream *sigh*.

Do you think if I dream hard enough, it might come true?

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Our New Year Feast

As I had mentioned in my previous post, I may not be able to share our Noche Buena feast but I can and I'm willing to share our Media Noche with everyone (only the picture though *grins*). Well, as you can see, we have an abundance of fruits, when my mother thought of fruits on the table, she thought, only fruits on the table *lol* and it almost turned out as such. We have the round ones - longan, orange, apple, pear, chico (sapodilla), guava, melon, suha (pomelo), small pineapples and grapes, we even have them in other shapes - sweet and green mangoes, banana and tamarind. Behind the fruits, you'll find the three loaves of white bread, a bowl of Cream of Chicken and Mushroom, regular and spicy Fried Chicken, small round servings of Biko (glutinous rice cake), Halayang Ube, Leche Flan and Suman. The ones you can spot in the photo are (from left to right) CDO Fiesta Ham, Pork Barbecue, Grilled Jumbo Hotdogs, Chicken Pesto Penne, Buco Salad, Chocolate Float, Castanas (Chestnuts) and coin chocolates for the kids. It's not that grand but we all had our fill and we loved it!


Note: Recipes of the dishes that I cooked in the above photo will be posted in One Dish at a Time, I was able to do one already and you can click on the link to check it out.

Later peeps...

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New Year, New Template

I decided to change my blog template, it's a new year so my need to have a different template is but justified *grins*, kung ang ibang tao, may dialogue na 'bagong taon ay magbagong buhay, sa akin naman, 'bagong taon magbago ng look', hahaha... seriously, I'm really focus on changing my looks, I started with my blog coz it's the easiest to do, also, I am on my 3rd day of lesser food intake, not necessarily a diet, I'm just eating a little less that I usually do and I am eating more fruits than I usually do and like. I even picked a simple look for my blog as I plan to live simply this year, well, hubby and son included, of course. My son and husband could use a little tummy-trimming themselves so this could end up to be a family affair, I just hope we can stick to it for the whole year. Oh well, I hate to ramble but I can't help it *lol*.

I hope you all like my new template, it is simple, clean and pleasing to the eyes, as it is basically white, you're eyes won't be strain and my photos look better, too *grins*. But, there's a little problem though, I wasn't able to save my Foodie List, I was able to reinstate and link those who put their links in the comment section of my Foodies Wanted post but the others I completely lost, so if you were once in my link list and I am in yours, be sure to live some mark in the comment section and I'll immediately add you up. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Now, let 2010 begins... May we all have a prosperous, peaceful and happy new year! I almost forgot, may we taste and enjoy more food and dishes this year! Cheers!

P.S.
I plan to monetize this blog beginning this year, I just want all of my friends, readers and followers to know, so, you wouldn't be shock to find articles that are out of my niche. I would continue to have food posts, of course, but from time to time, you can expect something out of the ordinary to pop in here. I hope it's okay *unsure smile*?

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A Great Way To Begin

Oh yeah! This has to be a sign from above, oh well, I hope it is *grins*...

For my opening salvo, let me share with everyone an award that I received a month ago, and though I am overly late in accepting it, I hope Mona of Working At Home Mom did not or will not hold it against me, after all, I didn't intend on hibernating, it was due to some technical (and financial) difficulties. Moving on, I would like to thank Mona for the award, I really, really appreciate it!


And, just like the others before it, there are certain rules to follow:

• Post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award, and his or her blog link.
  
• Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you’ve newly discovered. Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

As I just came back, I haven't really get around yet, I know that there are plenty of blogs waiting to be discover and read, so, I would hold this award to myself up until I find some blogs and bloggers to share it with.

To Mona, again my overwhelming gratitude *hugs*.

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Honey, I'm Home But There's a Little Problem

Hi guys, I'm back! My brother had mercy on me and decided to let me have his old Acer Netbook as he's going to buy a new one from another brand, but before you praise him and everything, I wanna make it clear that he asked me to pay for this lappy, it's not completely free *grins* but as he is my brother and he loves me so, I will pay according to my terms, I already gave him a downpayment and the rest will be paid in full when my son reached his puberty, he's going to be six this month, is my term fair enough *lol*?

Kidding aside, I need to take this blogging thing seriously, at least, up until I pay him his dues *grins*, I don't wanna ask hubby to pay for it and as I'm the one who bargained with my bro, I'm the one who needs to pay, and if anyone wants to help me in any way, just give me a heads up and I'll be happy to tell you my paypal address or bank account number *lol*.

I'm suppossed to join Food Friday and Food Trip Friday but I can't seem to make the card reader work, walang ganito sa bundok, paano ba ito pinapagana? Even the USB thingy doesn't seem to work, could it have something to do with the OS that I had installed, I reformat it and installed Windows XP, I'm not really familiar with Vista and it's making my head hurts. Can somebody help me, please...

On a better news, as I took my unprecedented blogging hiatus, I had accumulated a number of food pics which I am so excited to share... I'll have a food post the minute I made this USB/card reader work *wink*.

Is/Are help on the way?

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Announcement!

Hello guys, miss me? I have been out of the online world since October 31, not because I want to or need to but because my old and trusted PC broke down and everything that hubby did failed to revive it, I think my rustic and beaten PC had left me for good this time. I don't know when I'll be back, as I don't know when I can buy another computer set, we're not that keen into spending at the moment as our only son's birthday is coming up as well as Christmas. But I do hope it'll be soon...

I'm writing this post with the help of a cellphone, I don't think I can blog without a regular PC, this short post took me an hour or more to do *sigh*.

Forget me not...

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Foodies Wanted

I have done it, I'm finished! After hours of manual labor in front of the computer, I think I had enough, I think I had done what I aim to do, it may not be as perfect as I wish it would be, but I love its imperfections and as I made it with my own bare fingers (pwera ang paggawa ng html ng template, nakuha ko lang sa yan sa tabi-tabi, hahaha), I am proud of it.

Now, there's only one thing missing - a Link List - and I am soliciting names and links of my fellow foodies who wants to be included in my list. No reciprocal link is necessary, as long as you have a food blog and I like it *grins*. Just leave the Blog Title and corresponding url at the comment section of this post and you're a step closer to that elite list *lol*.

So what are you waiting for - comment na!

*** photo credits from Google images

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A Way to Earn Online

I have seen lots of bloggers who have made extra cash through writing paid posts, and I admit, I have been tempted to join in on the bandwagon for quite some time now but as I am me, I keep on procrastinating [and resisting a bit] up until now. I have seen a few of my fellow foodies brandishing this banner in their respective blogs and it got me curious, and who wouldn't, a chance to earn a thousand dollar in a month will make any one tingle, right? And so, after a few days of contemplating I signed up at Link From Blog, which is just in time for the debut of my blog's new look.

In this day and time, additional source of income in every family is but necessary, and we are no different, so I am thankful for the promise of earning some bucks through Link From Blog. What's more, I won't only earn through my posts but also through referrals, so, if you are keen on joining, please sign up under me, it's quite easy, just click the banner, fill up the form, activate your account, add your blog, sit back and relax.

P.S.

I have been up all night and day tweaking my new blog template, hope you like it... :))

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