Dolphy Cookies: A Birthday Greeting and a Wish

I made some cookies for someone very special who will be celebrating his birthday on July 25.

The Comedy King, Golay, Pidol, you know who who I am talking about, right? Yup. Rodolfo Vera Quizon, Sr., simply known to us as Dolphy.

If you are a 70’s kid, you would probably remember him as John Puruntong from John en Marsha. If you are a kid of the 80’s (like I am), then you would probably know him as Kevin Cosme, the wonderful, resourceful and cheerful dad from Home Along the Riles. My Thursdays wouldn’t be complete if I wouldn’t watch his show. Now, he currently stars in the children’s show, Pidol’s Wonderland. In between these shows, he has made countless movies.

There are a lot of Dolphy movies that I would love to see, Pacifica Falayfay, Jack en Jill (yes, before Herbert and Sharon, there was Lolita Rodriguez and Dolphy), Ang Tatay kong Nanay to name a few. Too bad there are no copies of these films in stores. I hope National Commission for Culture and the Arts would remaster these Philippine Classics. I would love to have copies.

Let me tell you - this guy is a treasure. He saw the film and television industry evolve from how it was in the 1940s to what it is now. I would love to be a fly in a wall when he gets to reminisce about the Golden Age of Philippine Cinema – the days of Sampaguita and LVN. I took a History of Philippine Cinema course when I was in college and my professor shared some tidbits about how it was during that time (like who loves to go walk around Luneta in her mink coat – yup in our kind of weather, she chose to wear mink coat) but I bet Dolphy knows so much more than that. 

I wonder if Dolphy has seen It Happened One Night? It is my all-time favorite movie. It would be a thrill if he did, then we’d have something in common. A banker/baker who loves 1930s screwball comedies. Yup, that’s me.

Okay back to the cookies, I would have wanted to do lollipop cookies like how I did with Dennis the Menace but I decided against it.  So I cut and baked some sugar cookies

It still doesn’t look much at this point but royal icing will do wonders for this project of mine.

The early stages of the cookie, at this point I have just started to outline the cookie with flesh-toned royal icing. 

For details, I have two choices, black royal or a food writer. My hands looked like broas then so I decided to do the easy route. Food Writer it is. Easy peasy – not! I have to practice drawing his face on a paper first before drawing on the cookie. God up above, thank you so much for my steady hands.

Tadaah! Dolphy cookies! :)

So, Tito Dolphy, this cookie post is for you. I wish you the very best and most meaningful birthday celebration ever. My wish for you is for Cultural Center of the Philippines and National Commission for Culture and the Arts to grant you the title “National Artist of Philippines for Film”. You, more than anyone else, deserve it. 

Happy Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Love,

Aikko

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Oreo Kahlua Cookies

I got this recipe from Yummy Magazine’s June 2011 issue. My heart skips a beat whenever I see a new Yummy Mag issue in a 7-11 newsstand. I totally salivate when I see adore the food photographs. You should get one, I read it from cover to cover.

Fact: I read a magazine from back to front. I get disoriented if I do otherwise. Okay, totally irrelevant, I digress.

Anyway, one recipe caught my attention... and it read – 

***Homemade Oreo Cookies***

Dang it got me!

We don’t have kids at home to prepare “baon” or lunch boxes for but my sister and I can take some to nibble on while at work so I decided to give this one a try with a wee bit of a twist. Who can resist an oreo cookie spiked.. erm… I mean flavored with Kahlua? I can’t. 

Oreo Kahlua Cookies

Adapted from Yummy Magazine (June 2011 Issue)

Makes 2 to 3 dozen

Baking time 9 to 12 minutes

For the cookie -

½ cup butter

1 cup all-purpose-floor

1 cup sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¼ teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon Kahlua

For the fillng –

½ cup butter

1 ¼ cups confectioner’s sugar

1 teaspoon Kahlua (or more)

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. In an electric  mixer, combine all the ingredients until they come together to form a dough. Chill for 15 minutes.

3. Shape into balls. [I used my smallest scoop (quarter of an ounce) to form evenly sized cookies]  Place on a cookie sheet leaving a two inch gap in between cookies. 

Flatten a little and bake for 9 to 12 minutes. Let cookies cool. 

Oops, I can't wait, I just have to taste it!

4. Line cookies in columns and flip alternating columns with the bottom facing up.

5. Prepare the filling by mixing all the ingredients in a mixer.

6. For an evenly disdributed filling, place mixture in a piping bag with a round tip attached. 

7. Pipe small dots into the cookies with bottom facing up

8. Sandwich the cookies and enjoy.

And enjoyed it, I did. I washed the cookies down with malt flavored soy milk.

Oreo Kahlua cookies + malt flavored soy milk = a cookie heaven experience.


Happy Cupcaking, 
Aikko

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Dear Santa, This is For You

Dear Santa, 

I know you receive lots of letters everyday over there at the North Pole. I bet it piles up as the Christmas season nears. I've always wondered how you manage  to read all of those. You don't happen to have a Ghost Reader, do you Santa? 

I am no longer a kid, so you must be wondering why I'm writing you a letter. 

You've been making a lot of nice kids happy for as long as anyone can remember. It's high time we return the favor.

Come Christmas eve, will you come by our home? Pretty please?

No, I won't raid your sackful of gifts. But if you'd invite me to come take a peek, I would. Is there something for me? Tee hee!

I would just to invite you for a little midnight snack. I made these for you.

I hope you love mint chocolate chip cookies, I do. Maybe we can share them when you get here. I'd love to hear some of your wild adventures while I wash down the cookies with the glass of yummy cold milk. Oops, I forgot, that was also for you. I'll just get some from the fridge.

Instead of chocolate chips, I used coarsely chopped dark mint chocolate bars. It made the cookies way chunkier. Why dark mint chocolate, you ask? Coz you're special. I even bought the chocolate from the best chocolate cafe in Manila, Chocolate Fire. 

Mrs. Field's Chocolate Chip Cookies
(not sure if indeed this recipe is from Mrs. Field's. There's an urban legend that says it's not, but never the less, this cookie recipe rocks!)



1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cup oatmeal
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 package chocolate chips (6oz)


Cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla.
Put small amounts of oatmeal in blender; blend until it turns to powder; set aside.


Mix powdered oatmeal, flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
Combine all of the above ingredients except chocolate; mix well.
Add chocolate chips
Make golf ball sized cookies (about 2"), spaced 2" apart.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 6-8 minutes at 400'F.

Happy cupcaking!

Aikko

ps. We don't have a chimney. But you can use the big window by my bed. I'll be waiting...

Can you doodle with Snickerdoodles?

Apparently not.

But nibble on some you could! And boy did I do just that.

It has been a long day today. At least it is for someone who has been lazying around for the past few days doing nothing short of nothing.

First off to a garage sale near our place, I was quite excited to go and hoping to find cookbooks and some rare kitchen finds. In the back of my mind, I was hoping someone would be selling a slightly used fire engine red Kitchen Aid mixer for a fraction of its cost. A girl can dream, can't she?

However, I wasn't able to find anything. Better luck next time!

Then, we went to Intramuros. I haven't been there to explore the place in awhile. It still is magical. Intramuros, was built by the Spaniards in the 16th century and is the oldest district of the city of Manila. During the Spanish colonial period, Intramuros was considered Manila itself. By the end of World War II, much of Intramuros has been damaged but it has been restored since then.

Then off to lunch. It's just mid day but I'm looking forward to siesta already. But before that, I'd love to get my hands on some cookies first. Snickerdoodles doesn't seem hard to make. After all, who can't resist a cinnamon and sugar combination?

___________

Snickerdoodles

From The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon for sprinkling

In a small bowl, combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and the sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla, and beat well. Add the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Wrap the dough tightly in a plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets, leaving several inches between for expansion. (The book recommends leaving extra room between these cookies because they spread more than most.) Sprinkle generously with the cinnamon-sugar mixture Bake for 12-14 minutes.

Cool the cookies on the sheets for 5 minutes, and the remove to a wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Cupcaking,

Aikko

Banana Cinnamon Chip Cookies

I forgot about these pictures. Didn't know I have them in my SD card. I thought when my PC crashed these were lost. Good thing I haven't been deleting pictures from my SD card lately.

I have stash of cinnamon chips on hand. I thought of making cookies out of them. But I was in dilemma. What goes well with Cinnamon? Apple is classic but after a few grocery trips here and there, I realized apple extract is not sold here. So I settled for banana instead.

Love Love the combination. It turned out pretty well. One of my friends even said it has some bubblegummy flavor to it. Cool!

Happy cupcaking!
Aikko