How to Be a Domestic Goddess

The plan was to have dinner at my place this weekend. I’ll bake and the other friend will cook. Unfortunately, one got sick and the other was so tired from doing overtime work that we decided to postpone the dinner.

I, being crazy and stubborn, decided that hell, I’ve been psyching myself to bake again so why not go ahead and play the part of the domestic (baking) goddess? I can always bring the stuffs to the office and set aside some for when the dinner finally pushes through.

I admit, I was really just waiting for an excuse to bake. When you have wheat intolerance and you live alone, there has to be a compelling reason to bake, because you know you won’t be able to literally have your cake and eat it. (Case in Point: I know this would happen but I totally fell for the bacon puffs and so I scarfed down four of these beauties. The ending? I woke up with the telling throbbing headache and upset stomach. Yes, one other reason why I really need a reason to bake is because I can get myself ill so easily eating these forbidden foods).

So one lazy Saturday afternoon, I went into a baking frenzy:

And just so we are at par with the blog title, yes, I adapted the recipes from a book I received on my last birthday-- the great Ms. Lawson’s How to be a Domestic Goddess. So in a way, this is me, testing the recipes from her book which is just about time, haha, as I’ve had this book for close three months already.

I say “adapted” because I never follow recipes to a T. I tweak them to death, because, well baking for me is one fun experiment. And following a recipe word for word is too dragging. At least in baking (maybe just in baking?), I like living on the edge.

Tomato Bacon Puffs – this is what you do when like me, you love the process of making flaky pie crust but hates the tedium of making the fillings. I am more of the savoury hand pie type, so I usually make little pastry puffs and throw in whatever is on my ref for fillings. This time the combinations worked spectacularly—the salty bacon, stewed green onions and tomatoes blended so well it was like eating mini calzones.

What to do with the leftover pie crust? Roll them out, pepper them with rosemary and garlic and turn them into pastry sticks!


Simple Chocolate Cake

Peanut Butter Cupcakes

The cake batter for these goodies was a simple chocolate cake with a twist. I didn’t have cocoa powder but I had a stash of Cacao Tablea from the farm in Davao so that’s what I used. The peanut butter frosting for the cupcakes was something I totally made up, using up the half jar of Skippy’s that’s been in the ref for months.

You see, in Baking, as in life, I subscribe to the cliché that you must use what’s been given to you. (Except of course, when baking, you gotta check the expiration date first!)

Happy Weekend, everyone!


And how come I have the temerity to post a baking entry in a beauty blog? Well, just because I can hahaha! And because real beauty definitely comes not only from the stuffs we slap on our bodies (though they certainly help), they come from things that still our fears, allowing us to shine with our natural gifts, making us all the more beautiful.

Of course, I’m talking about our passions, the things we do to send our selves into a quite calm. And mine, among other things, is baking. So what about you, have you given in to your passions lately? ☺