I have plenty of “those dresses”—gowns, outfits and ensembles that all make my breath catch in my throat—filed away in my mind. More than mere frocks, they’re works of art, and all make me wish I were a seamstress.  After seeing a “That Dress” dress, I sometimes go home and have imaginary conversations with my sewing machine: “Hey old pal, old chum, do you think maybe we can try, you and I, to sew something more than circle skirts and aprons?” (Heehee. Fact is, I can’t even sew a decent zipper!)

I’ve already written a post on That Dress in Atonement, and now adding a new one to the list. This one’s the white number that Julia Flyte (played by Hayley Atwell) sashays in at her coming-out party in Brideshead Revisited, which I saw last Saturday.

Look at all this detail—the chiffon creation has hand-beaded swallows on the bodice! Are you drooling? Because I did. I was trying not to squeal out loud in the theater. (Pics from movie’s official site here.)

Julia Flyte’s character hails from a world of sprawling homes, summers in Italy and aristocratic sensibilities, so it’s no surprise that she has gorgeous outfits like these.

It doesn’t hurt the movie that I already have a fondness for vintage wardrobe. The costume designer is Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh, who is a genius in my book.

Brideshead is based on the novel by Evelyn Waugh (who I found out is actually a man—Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh!) I was reeling when I came out from the movie, much for the movie itself as for the beautiful sets, scenery and costumes. Go see it! If the chance to explore a study in human behavior in 1920’s England doesn’t convince you to, be shallow like me and go for the pretty dresses and for scenes of the breathtaking Brideshead estate. And oh yes, for Matthew Goode. I loved him in Chasing Liberty. (No snickers! He’s really cute!)

Official website, with even more juicy tidbits on the props and wardrobe, HERE.

Hello cooks, craftsters, eaters and friends!

I’ll be taking a blogging break for about three weeks or so. I know, that’s a long time! But there’s A LOT of batter in my mixing bowl, so to speak, so just let me get through the next weeks, and I’ll be back in two shakes of a lamb’s tail.

In the meantime, I leave you with pictures of birthday cakes I’ve made pre-GWAC (Girl With A Curl). Back then, I kept thinking I needed a place to share these. I now have this blog, and you! Hope these have you (virtually) happily munching away ‘till my next post.

Here we go!

Simeen’s Starburst Cake (Pound Cake With Pink Fondant)

The Story: My friend Simeen is a Starburst candy addict. A peculiar habit of hers is picking out all the pink ones and keeping those for herself; she shares the rest! I thought it would be great to surprise her with big pink cake that looked like an actual pink-wrapped Starburst. This was my first (and so far only) time with fondant. (YES, the fondant was pre-made. Teehee.)

Jen’s Piggy Cake (Traditional White Birthday Cake With Buttercream)

The Story: Jen loves pigs. She is known to harbor a preponderance of porcine bric-a-brac in her apartment. She has a pig wallet. A pig apron.  A pig small vacuum cleaner, even. So fine, she can have a cake shaped like a pig on her birthday, too! This was a basic round cake (Magnolia Bakery’s recipe) and two cupcakes for the ears and nose (ears were two halves of a cupcake). I used different candy to finish off the piggy face. Oink, oink!

Connie’s Birthday Cake (Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting)

The Story: This was one of the trickiest cakes I’ve had to make, because Connie’s birthday is at the height of summer, and cream cheese frosting melts easily. I remember having to stick this in the fridge a couple of times before it set properly, all the time cursing the heat in the apartment. The baby carrots were made from store-bought (at least I admit it!) marzipan that I tinted orange and shaped by hand. The green “leaves” were from snipped parsley stalks!

Sara’s Birthday Cake (German Chocolate Cake)

The Story: Sometimes, I use covert tactics to find out what my friends’ favorite types of cakes are. I ask them casually months before, and file the answer away so I can surprise them with it on their birthday. I sometimes think they know that I’ll ask, and they pretend to not know why when I do, haha! But for her birthday, my friend Sara came right up to me and said, “Look, let’s not beat around the bush. I would love a German Chocolate Cake on my birthday.” And a German Chocolate Cake, art-directed by my brother and executed by me, was exactly what she got.

Jaxon’s 1st Birthday Cake (Yellow Cake With Buttercream)

The Story: Jaxon is my godchild. I love him. That’s the story! (Waves were made with buttercream through a star tip, figures were from a baking supply store, and sand was crushed Nilla wafers.)

Whew!

The cakes you see above were all first-time attempts, inspired by ideas on the net, from my cookbooks, and the spirit of the people I made them for. (I’ve never been to culinary school, save for a very basic Wilton cake-decorating class.) I hope you enjoyed taking virtual bites of these, and that they inspire your attempts as well.

See you in three weeks, all. Stay curly!

I had to laugh when I read about the movie Namets! (which means “Yum!” in Ilonggo, a Filipino dialect), soon to be debuted at Cinemalaya 2008. The chuckles are because I just wrote a post on a feast in the making for an upcoming all-American holiday. Just as I pictured how my Peach Pie’s crust is going to turn out, the trailer below fed my hungry (and homesick) eyes with images of native pastries lovingly done by hand in Negros, where I grew up. How truly strange and wonderful to be a baker from both worlds.:)

Carla Gomez of the Visayan Daily Star says this of the movie. (Here’s the full article.)

“It’s the most Negrense film that I have ever known.”

That is how Negrense director Jay Abello yesterday described the movie, “Namets!,” that he is currently filming in Negros Occidental.

The main character of the film is the food of Negros Occidental, it is filmed entirely in the province, more than 70 percent of its cast and crew are Negrenses, and the dialog is in Ilonggo, Abello said.

“Namets! is a colorful celebration of food as well as love, and the love of food above all, which is central to being Negrosanon, and being Filipino,” Palanca Award winner Vicente Groyon, who wrote the script, said.

“Every region in the Philippines has a cuisine unique to it, and the island of Negros is no exception. Forget your diet if you’re planning to visit – from piaya to chicken inasal to guapple pie to kinilaw, Negrosanon food is irresistible,” Groyon said.

If any of you catch this, let me know if it’s worth seeing.

Argh. What I wouldn’t give for chicken inasal right about now!

Neither crafty nor cook-y, but definitely all sorts of curly. I just had to post.

I almost died laughing. This made me remember the crazies at the ad agency I used to work for in Manila. Instead of singing, “We just wanna, we just wannaaa…” from Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, they’d belt out “Medyas ni Juana, medyas ni Juanaaaa…”:)

Vi, maybe we should do this. Partners tayo, we can do a tango. Tee hee.

Even though my favorite chef Dale fell by the wayside in the race to become Top Chef, I couldn’t be happier for Stephanie.

I was giggling during last night’s finale because she kept saying, “ My pound cake’s crap,” over and over again, and she had this agitated/frustrated/silently panicked look on her face, one that I recognize because I’ve been in that state myself during baking! I thought to myself: “Oh, that’s not a very attractive expression to wear around the kitchen!” Haha.

Stephanie Izard is the first female Top Chef. The curls did it, I tell you. Curls=kitchen powah.

Congratulations to Stephanie, who I some day hope to meet. Along with Dale, please. Teehee.

I actually liked the bird in her hair.

…of my Curly Universe!

It’s been a little over a week since my last post, eek!

My curls and I have been swamped with many (wonderful) things, hence the absence. But, those post-less days made me nervous and edgy. Is there are term for that in the blogosphere? Post withdrawal? No-post malaise? Post-less anxiety? Teehee.

Since my last post:

1) I became a kid again by sliding down a bouncer with my niece at her fabulous birthday party. (More on the cupcakes I baked and all the fun at this Scooby Doo-themed celeb later!)

2) A new post at work made me rediscover the old-school charm of red China Markers.

3) I’ve gotten new crafty books and am jumping out of my skin to bake and sew from these wonderfully written resources:

4) I undertook the gargantuan task of reorganizing my closet. Took two days, lots of hard decisions about parting with certain things and lots of plastic bins and labels. I can now make full use of my shoes after storing each pair in containers like this.

And patiently labeling each one with the type and color of each pair (i.e. Heels: Blk Strappy; Sneaks: Nvy Stripe and so on) with a labeler like this from Dymo.

A bit much? Teehee, I DO have my curly quirks! (But seriously, I owe my closet’s full functionality to that labeler. Thanks to Ana for lending it to me!)

5) Despite the strange weather, Summer is announcing itself through nature’s colorful telegram: jacarandas in full bloom along our street. I never really liked purple, but these are practically pretty. I want to borrow the colors for a sweet-little-something-sewn.

6) On an un-crafty note, and because Sex And The City opening weekend is just a few days away, I saw Charlotte’s Mr. Harry Goldenblatt (Evan Handler) in Father’s Office in Culver City last Friday! I wanted to say something, but was too shy.

That’s been my week. Looking forward to more posts, blog-hopping, hopefully joining contests, answering memes and everything else possible, just to prevent another bout of post-less anxiety!

Hello again to all, and welcome back to me.

As a frustrated dressmaker, I’m fascinated by the creative genius of clothes designers. The whole lot of ‘em, even the ones whose clothes I’d never consider wearing (or making). It was after this TVC came out that I started paying attention to Chanel. (It’s Baz Luhrman’s 2-minute take on the Roman Holiday storyline, starring Nicole Kidman. The ad had me as soon as that poofy pink dress unfurled!)

Since then, I’ve been guilty of gawking at anything Chanel.

I’ve spent undisclosed amounts of time in bookstores and Amazon, inhaling stuff like this:

Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel was a beloved figure in couture history. And now French filmmaker Anne Fontaine is making her life into a movie! Audrey Tautou will play Coco in Coco Before Chanel, a biopic that will attempt to portray the designer’s life in Paris before she became a rising star in haute couture.

I’m confessing: I can’t wait!

I found it! This Dymo label maker tvc came to mind while I was baking this weekend. Glad I tracked it down on Youtube. Watch, and giggle.

Oh no, Dale.

So, my boy lost it on Top Chef last night. The Quickfire challenge was a relay race that had the cefs scrambling to section oranges, peel artichokes, dress a monkfish and whip up mayo by hand (something I’ve always wanted to do!) When his team lost, Dale promptly punched (and dented) the steel cabinets in the kitchen with a very malutong “F*CK!”

Dale Talde is now the official bad boy for this season. They flashed one of those polls on TV during a commercial break, asking viewers to text in their answer to “Which chef annoys you the most? Lisa, Spike or Dale?” Dale came out on top with 47% of the votes.

I thought for a second last week that the perception of Dale’s bad attitude would pass, but he’s really carved a niche for himself in the jerk department with this week’s show. Maybe my judgment is clouded (well, yes it is) but I don’t think he’s THAT much of an a*s. A bit of a divo perhaps, but who isn’t, in their own way? I have to admit to the same when I’m in the kitchen sometimes! (Just ask my family!)

His team also lost the Wedding Wars challenge, where they had to cater a wedding for 250 guests. They worked for 14 hours AND manned the buffet tables at the reception with no sleep. I would’ve keeled over.

Lisa made a Chocolate Hazelnut cake (recipe HERE) for the Groom’s Cake that I’m dying to try.

But in the end, Nikki got the boot. I’ve been waiting for her to get, uhm, served.

To end, I’m d-d-k-ting this Pinoy anthem on keeping it cool to Dale. Dale Talde, cool ka lang. Kawawa ang mga stainless steel na cabinet na yan. Spare the steel cabinets next week! Ahehe.

I’ve been following the Bravo cooking show Top Chef for several seasons now. Noted with mild interest that this season has a Filipino chef in the running. Dale Talde is a 29-year-old Chicago native who’s been quietly forging ahead in the culinary race that unfolds every week on my TV.

(By the way, what’s with the “look at my shiny silver belt buckle” pose? I’m not a fan.)

At first, I have to admit Dale didn’t blip on my radar because my early favorite was this guy, Ryan, and only because he’s cute. Yes, I’m shallow that way.

But he got axed last week for attempting to do a five-course meal at a tailgating party. Oo nga naman, five courses? Over ha.

But, Dale peaked my interest because he won a challenge two weeks ago. Last night, though, he finally won my vote because he made a Halo-Halo for one of the challenges.

Halo-Halo is literally “mix-mix”, a layered, shaved ice concoction of sweet stuff, topped with ice cream, that you’re supposed to mix altogether when you eat it. Dale’s Halo-Halo was prepared with the flavors of lemongrass-infused young coconut water, avocado puree, braised mango, bruleed mango, kiwi, candied cashews, young coconut meat, rice krispies and chili rings.

Ooh la la. (Kahit walang kaong at nata de coco.) Sounds like heaven, even without the traditional ingredients of kaong and nata de coco.

And I also found out that Dale works in Buddakan in New York. I was blessed enough to try Buddakan in Philly with friends and I loved it. I have good memories of that place, and its connection to Dale means points to the Filipino chef in my book.

Dale says of his “don’t mess with me” ‘tude:

I’m Asian, not the tallest dude in the world and I look like I’m 12. In the kitchen, you have to have a presence about you or you’re gonna get eaten alive. You’re always running at 100 percent. You don’t know when to stop. I have no OFF button.

Ha! I often say I have to prove myself more because I’m short and I look (and sound) like a little girl, so I know what he means.

Here’s a video of Dale from the Top Chef website, where he explains how his Filipino background influences his cooking:

I’m crossing my fingers for this guy!

The 43rd Pillsbury Bake-Off took place last April 14, 2008 and Carolyn Gurtz, a 59-year-old homemaker from Gaithersburg, MD, took home the grand prize of $1M. The winning recipe is for the Double Delight Peanut Butter Cookies you see above. Carolyn also won $5,000 from JIF Peanut Butter because the product was her recipe’s main star.

The website for the Bake-Off is HERE, but I’m posting the winning recipe below as well. I’m not a peanut butter fan and this seems like it might be too sweet, but you might like to try your hand at it. I’m curious to see what a cookie worth a million dollars actually tastes like!

———-

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup Fisher® Dry Roasted Peanuts, finely chopped
1/4 cup Domino® or C&H® Granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup JIF® Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Domino® or C&H® Confectioners Powdered Sugar
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® Create ‘n Bake® refrigerated peanut butter cookies, well chilled

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F. In small bowl, mix chopped peanuts, granulated sugar and cinnamon; set aside.
2. In another small bowl, stir peanut butter and powdered sugar until completely blended. Shape mixture into 24 (1-inch) balls.
3. Cut roll of cookie dough into 12 slices. Cut each slice in half crosswise to make 24 pieces; flatten slightly. Shape 1 cookie dough piece around 1 peanut butter ball, covering completely. Repeat with remaining dough and balls.
4. Roll each covered ball in peanut mixture; gently pat mixture completely onto balls. On ungreased large cookie sheets, place balls 2 inches apart. Spray bottom of drinking glass with CRISCO® Original No-Stick Cooking Spray; press into remaining peanut mixture. Flatten each ball to 1/4-inch thickness with bottom of glass. Sprinkle any remaining peanut mixture evenly on tops of cookies; gently press into dough.
5. Bake 7 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheets to cooling rack. Store tightly covered. High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): No change.

———-

A friend (hi, Maggie!) has been on my case for the past three years or so to join the Bake-Off. Ever since I learned how to bake, it’s actually been my dream to do so. Maggie doesn’t know this, but every time she mentions it, my heart starts to race! That’s a good sign, yes? The contest takes place every two years and if I wanted to join the 2010 run, I should start thinking about it now.

I don’t know why it’s such a scary thing for me. Another friend has already volunteered to eat all of my experiments and, at the very least, the exercise of creating and submitting the recipe should be fulfilling in itself. Aaah, I can’t think about it too much or I may just keel over! To even just be a finalist would be great. But I kind of want to have a picture of myself like this when my name’s announced:

Teehee. Ok, I’ll THINK about it.

Mary Ann Esposito is the chef/host of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) show Ciao Italia. When I first came to the US and didn’t have a job yet, I spent my days devouring cooking shows on the Food Network. Those shows fed me in more ways than one and I became a devotee.

But then, as I channel-surfed one afternoon, Mary Ann came into my life. I caught her just as she was breaking up some chocolate for her Torta di Vino Rosso, a cake that intrigued me because the main ingredient in it was red wine. (If you can’t drink it enough, might as well eat it too, yes?)

She wasn’t a big-named celebrity chef with cult status. She didn’t have a line of cookware named after her, nor did she have olive oil bottles with her face on it (sorry, Rachel Ray.) She was unassuming, genuine, warm and reminded me of my Tita Jesse (who is one of the most genuine souls I know.) She welcomed me into her kitchen (albeit a studio one) like that one aunt you have who always seems to be lost in the steam of pots and pans, always whipping up meals that fill both your stomach and your heart.

Since then, I try to catch Ciao Italia on PBS whenever I can. One thing I like about the show is how Mary Ann ferrets out these authentic cooks in Italy and interviews them as they make their signature dishes right in their rustic kitchens. She talks to them in that beautiful language as she explains to the hopelessly un-Italian viewer (me!) how each dish is comes together from fresh, local ingredients and flavored with the locale’s history.

I once caught an episode where a cook named Filomena made pasta with flour, olive oil and eggs. Her hands looked like they had many stories to tell, kneading life into dough and deftly shaping it into delicate fusilli with a metal skewer. I would love to meet Filomena and have her teach me how to make pasta from scratch!

I also visit the website often, as it’s brimming with must-try authentic Italian recipes. The site has this great Recipe Box feature, where you can store all the recipes that interest you. I’ve tried my hand at several of them (including one you’ll see above), but my first was the Red Wine cake that introduced me to Mary Ann five years ago. It’s been a delicious ride ever since.

Beyond the lights of Kitchen Stadium or the speed of a 30-Minute Meal, grazie a Dio* for chefs like Mary Ann, whose quiet instruction allows home cooks like me to discover and explore other culinary avenues.

* Vi, did I get that right? Teehee.