Inspired

Pay It Forward (The Best Way To Live)

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Paredes) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:30:00 +0000

Light shines best in darkness.

After reading this news, I'm inspired anew to gladly take each chance to help other people.

A volunteer pays it forward: A love story
By Julie M. Aurelio
Philippine Daily Inquirer | 14 February 2010
p.A21

After he lost almost all of his belongings in the floods brought about by Tropical Storm “Ondoy” last year, this jeepney driver thought it wasn’t enough to simply thank the strangers who helped him get back on his feet.

Sonny Hernandez, 48, a resident of Barangay Nangka in Marikina City, felt it was but right to repay the generosity of his benefactors with the same acts of kindness and love he was shown when he was down and out. (Click to read the complete article.)

It really is better to give than to receive. We would rather have the resources to help than to be in a position where we are compelled to beg for help. When we are made able to help others, our efforts at sharing our blessings become a prayer of gratitude that is always well-received in Heaven.

No more limits

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Paredes) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 05:51:00 +0000

The happiest people are those who know what is best for them, who will not be easily swayed by other people's standards or opinions of them, and who are so sure of who they are that they don't need anyone to define their dreams for them. (They just need to be inspired enough, that's all.)

"Anything is possible for those who believe."

2010 is Charmed

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Paredes) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 09:40:00 +0000

Dear God, Thank you for a blessed 2009! I was sure 2009 was going to be great, and as usual, it feels great to be right -- and loved! Thank you for always giving me chances, moment after moment, to feel your amazing presence in my life.

"Hold me," is what I often hear myself saying to you when the going gets tough (as it invariably does). I mean it each time I say it, whether I say it loud enough for someone a yard away to hear, or just faintly in my mind, like a quiet whisper of a meek child in trouble. And each time I say it, I always, always feel a sense of calm, of not being alone, of being listened to, of being held. In love. In faith. And in grace. It gets me through the dark nights. It gently drags me out of my bed on difficult mornings. It helps me to just live one more day. And God, you know how I live! So thank you, Dear God, for holding me through it all.

The past year, I've been to new places yet again. I've also tried some new things for the first time and it all felt great. I've also met kindred souls and some ordinary people doing extraordinary things with their lives -- all of them are inspiring, all of them are a blessing. You gave me opportunities to give a little bit of myself to other people -- most of them I know, some of them are complete strangers to whom you've led me in your usual guiding ways.

I also say "Hold me," whenever I meet victory along the road. Whether I'm blue or simply radiant with your abundant blessings, your providence just continues to show, as your love continues to overflow each moment.

Thank you for this ever comforting message, that you will always hold me, whether I realize that I need your loving touch or when I get so lost somewhere somehow. You just hold me.

2010 is charmed. 2+0+1+0 = 3 = Three's a Charm. This new year will see great results, fulfilling fruition of hard work, and beautiful completions of different chapters. In particular, a lot of couples who have been waiting to conceive will soon receive good news. Investments will grow, business will expand, and new ventures will be off to a great start. This is the year for deliberately and thoughtfully following through that which was started in the past two years. It's a great year for those who have been waiting... for anything.

And so I welcome this year with profound gratitude and much hope. Even as I've been blessed abundantly the past couple of years, I know I could still use more blessings to be able to share more with others. So I thank you now, Dear Lord, for you have made it pretty clear to me that I can actually get what I want. So thank you, thank you, Dear God.

Anything is possible. As cliche as it may sound, as easy as it may be to forget, the truth is, we will always have the means to get what we want. The trick is in openly hoping and staying open.

This year, doors and windows will invite us in, and we'll step right into 'em to live, love, have fun, and celebrate life.

I'm all set for 2010. I'm ready for the big 30. Thank you, Lord.

Previous Year Ender and New Year entries
2006
2007
2008
2009

It started with a baking recipe (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Paredes) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:05:00 +0000

Previously: It started with a baking recipe (Part 1)

So one weekend, I called up some girl friends and asked them to bring their lovely hands over to help me in a little baking adventure.

Somehow, I managed to convince them that it would be worth their time. Fortunately, they were game. Besides, they wanted to see my new apartment and grace my new place with some pretty thoughtful housewarming presents (which I wouldn't deny, I requested for them to bring)!

I've been meaning to bake apple pie for quite a while since I bought the oven, but I felt that baking an apple pie for the first time is an adventure that is best to embark upon with as much moral support as possible.

(I don't really want to be overly dramatic about something so "simple," but the truth is, first times, especially an "ambitious" project like baking an apple pie and preparing homemade crust, could be a bit too daunting for me.)

The good thing about having friends around as I made an initial attempt at baking apple pie was that I was able to wade through my fears and calm down my nerves through the warmth of their presence, the familiar craziness of our friendly banters, and the silly sound of our loud laughter.

The truth is, I only needed help in peeling and slicing the apples. (Oh, and washing the dishes!) The three girl friends were more than enough for what I needed, but we got the right number of people for finishing the apple pie!

Yes, the apple pie was very much successfully baked and very much well received by our taste buds. In fact, the moment we all caught a quick sniff of the grin-inducing waft of sweetened apple in my kitchen-slash-social-area, we all knew we were in for something special.

Below is the recipe that I followed, except I didn't have vegetable shortening in stock. So I used only butter. I didn't have a pastry brush, too, so I didn't bother putting make up on the top crust. To keep the list long for what-was-missing-it-could-have-gone-wrong, my crust was not the perfect size so I wasn't able to make cute edges. Needless to say, our apple pie was not picture perfect, but it was more than good enough for a fun and healthy snack. It did turn out pretty well.

Here's a photo of the apple pie poster girl before I give you the recipe:

(In case you're wondering what we were watching, it's the latest episode of Accidentally on Purpose starring Jenna Elfman. Another tip -- it's a fun comedy show, no need to think while watching it, so it's good to have in the background while doing other stuff.)

Homemade Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients for a 9" Double Crust Pie Crust
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup solid vegetable shortening (much better than butter)
3/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tsp salt

Ingredients for the apple pie filling
6 pcs. medium-sized apples, peeled and cored
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon for the filling
2 Tablespoons cold butter, cut in small pieces

Ingredients for dusting the top crust
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 egg white for a shiny effect (you need a pastry brush for a good finish)

Procedure

Follow the recipe for "A Perfect Flaky Pie Crust" here.

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Roll out the pie crust bottom and top. (Fold the top crust in half and place a towel over it so it doesn't dry out.)
3. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, flour and spices if desired, mixing gently.
4. Fold into prepared pie crust and dot with cold butter.
5. Use your pastry brush to spread egg white all over the top crust, then dust with sugar and cinnamon.
6. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbly.

TIP: Wrap the rim of your pan with aluminum foil so the edges won't brown too fast. (Seen in YouTube.)

7. Remove and place to cooling rack.
8. Cut small slits or vent holes into the top crust using a knife or a very small cookie cutter. (You'll know it's ready when the filling doesn't stick to the knife.)
9. Serve Apple Pie à la mode with ice cream or sweetened whipped cream.

Thanks to Donna Diegel and suite101.com.

The recipe above was enough for four ladies, with a sliver of take home pie for the three of them.

It started with a baking recipe (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Paredes) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 04:21:00 +0000

On a whim, I bought a gas range as a Christmas present for myself. This was about a month ago. Christmas begins on September 1, right?

I've always wanted to have a real oven and I've always known I'd have fun exploring some baking recipes. Now the gas range dream has come true, I now have a grown up's oven (not just an oven toaster), I've started googling and trying baking recipes, and I was right: baking is fun!

About 11 years ago, I took Nutrition classes as electives for my undergrad program, BS Development Communication (DevCom). Why would I take Nutrition classes when my major is Community Broadcasting? See, DevCom, among many things, is about mass communicating simplified technical subjects.

So anyway, I chose a couple of Nutrition subjects because the college then didn't really offer a wide selection for me. I narrowed it down to some Nutrition and Economics subjects, and not surprisingly, I decided I didn't like Economics.

Nutrition was a serious f$%^ing weight on my shoulders. The chemistry component of it, the lab hours, the jargons that came up every now and then. Hated it. And loved it. Loved the part when we prepared and processed food. Loved the part when we had to go to the market. Absolutely loved the part when we learned baking.

In one of those classes (HNF 11 : Food Selection and Preparation), I learned baking a cake with my group mates. If I remember correctly, we had only 2-3 sessions on baking, and only 1 session was focused on pastry baking. At the end of the semester, we were required to draft an original baking recipe and present it individually in class, complete with a baking demo and taste test. With friend Lenen's help (may she rest in peace), I was able to draft a baking recipe for what I called, "buko squares." I modified a baking recipe that Lenen found in her Food Tech materials. The result was, modesty aside, fantastic. The Nutrition students loved it, my instructor was quite pleased! After that, I didn't get to bake again. But just like a good weekend with the right fling, baking was always on my mind.

There was a gas range in the company condo where I lived for 17 months, but I never used its oven even once. Even when I was the only one living there. I figured the next time I'll bake, the oven will be mine. And that is exactly what happened.

For my first attempt, I started with a baking recipe that is really kindergarten simple: macaroons. I burnt some of it, and I didn't have the right baking pan so it looked funny overall, but it was really, seriously delicious. Then again, if your baking recipe has sugar, flour, milk, vanillla, and dessicated coconut, things should turn predictably well (unless you screw up the oven temperature)!

For my second attempt, I followed a baking recipe for oatmeal raisin cookies. Now *this* is the major pivotal moment of the baking chapter in my life. The cookies were so damn good, they even looked pretty in the photos! I asked some friends to try some of my cookies and it was well received. I baked cookies again another time when a friend requested for it. This time, taste testers would be really close friends of mine so I was pretty excited. But the finished product wasn't as good as the first batch. I thought it was because I changed oatmeal brands. I would later realize that my oatmeal raisin cookies tasted better with baking powder than baking soda.

(Quick note on baking powder vs baking soda: Baking powder is usually used in baking cakes. It's for rising. A cookie is not supposed to rise so I should use baking soda. But the taste was better when I *mistakenly* used baking powder.)

The good news was even if I didn't like it so much, the second batch of oatmeal cookies was a hit with my friends and their parents! The third time I baked oatmeal raisin cookies, it has become so easy already. And the taste -- as yummy as batch 1! A friend who got to try batch 2 and 3 understood from the moment he took a bite of batch 3 why I was kinda disappointed with batch 2.

Following is my second* baking recipe.

(*My first baking recipe, which I submitted to my Nutrition class over 10 years ago is somewhere in my virtual chest of files.)

Inspired's Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

What you need
2 1/2 cups flour
2 cups oatmeal
1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoon baking soda
(you may use baking powder if you want your cookies to rise a little)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 eggs, well beaten
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon vanilla
a few drops of banana flavor (optional, for aroma)

What to do

1. Combine eggs, raisins and vanilla. (This would yield an excellent aroma. Cover with cling plastic wrap to lock in the aroma while they are blending together.)
2. Combine flour, salt, cinnamon and baking soda in one mixing bowl.
(At this point, you could preheat the oven at 350 F.)

3. Cream butter and sugar.
4. Add the ingredients on #2 into the creamed butter and sugar.
5. Let the ingredients fuse together by mixing well.
6. Once you feel the ingredients are thoroughly combined, remove the plastic wrap from your mixture in #1 and add it into your oatmeal mix.
7. Combine throroughly to spread the flavors in. (This is the toughest part, because your ingredients are now stuffed together.)
8. Get a pinch of the oatmeal mix so you could roll it with your palms to form a small ball.
9. Flatten it into your desired cookie size then lay in on your cookie sheet or baking pan.
10. Bake at 300-350 F. Check after 10 minutes because some of them could be good by then. Your batch should be all good in 15 minutes or less.

I've decided to give away boxes of oatmeal raisin cookies and oatmeal cookies to friends and relatives this Christmas.

For my third attempt at following a baking recipe, a level up -- apple pie.

Time for an Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Arlene Paredes) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 06:26:00 +0000

The first book I've ever bought with my own money was a self help book. It was Dr. Morgan Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled. I can still remember how I reached a buying point and how funny it was, because I thought I was not the type who would buy books. That was my first thought. Then I realized it wasn't that I wasn't interested in buying books, it was just because I have never had spare money for such a "luxury." But that day, I got extra money from my sales as an agent of Reader's Digest publications. It was some time around 1996 to 1998 if my memory serves me right.

So anyway, The Road Less Traveled became a massive inspiration to me. I have always been into such kinds of materials except I haven't read a full book yet 'til around college. In high school, I read Sweet Valley and other teen fiction books because my best friend used to lend me her books. Og Mandino, whose motivational quotable quotes were always featured in a learning aid magazine that our high school subscribed us to, was my hero. He was also a big inspiration to me. So much so, that when I got my first laptop in 1998, I wrote him a long letter. Unfortunately, he had died soon after that.

As I'm writing this now, I am realizing that I've always been interested in self help books and materials since I started reading them in high school. This isn't the first time that it's making sense to me, but this is the first time in a long time that I'm sitting down with my thoughts and just typing what comes to mind.

Family life was pretty dramatic when I was young and I struggled to maintain a sense of calm amid all the chaos of traditional family dramas. So when I had no money for a shrink, somehow fate led me to turn to self help books, or at least inspirational quotes by some famous self help book author. At the time, I was already writing poetry and features for a magazine. I wrote a poem called, "My World," which was published in Woman Today in 1994. It was about a sad little girl wanting to get away from it all. I also wrote a poem called, "Mistakes," which was about how some people get so hard on themselves when they make mistakes. I'll find the poem and publish it here for nothing but self-indulgence. I have to finish this entry first.

So naturally, after finishing The Road Less Traveled, the feeling of I-can-do-this and I-want-to-do-this quickly swept over me. I can, and I want to be, a self help book author. Funny I am blogging this just now. I've always said I wanted to write children's stories, and I still do. (The Little Prince is my biggest inspiration for that. I read that book in college, when I took up a Humanities class.) But I have to recognize, once and for all, that I am more passionate about writing inspirational, feel good, self help articles. Because the truth is, not everyone has the ability to easily let themselves heal in times of great pain. And I have that ability. I have that gift. After my father died in 1997, I used much of my pain to write an essay about how I was coping with his death. I didn't know I was coping well enough until after I've read my published essay on a national broadsheet, the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I knew then I could turn anything that is hurting me badly into something that could heal me. There are ways to heal oneself, we all have the tools within us. It will be much too wrong to not share it with whoever needs it.

I guess I've always been on the path to becoming a self help book author. I was just much of a fan of side trips.

Motivational Quotes

"Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity."
Og Mandino

"Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new."
Og Mandino