Epic Fail: Fruit Pie

We got a recipe book from my cousin for our wedding and I thought I'd try out her fruit pie. I felt compelled to try out a pie recipe after my company found out a pie competition was added into a BBQ fundraiser contest that we won last year. Of course, we are set on keeping our trophy at our company, so I thought I'd try out a pie.

For one, I've never baked a pie, aside from pumpkin. Plus, the recipe was kind of short, so I hoped I was reading everything correctly. Complete failure of a pie! I must ask her what I did wrong.First of all, the inside mixture was pretty liquidy. Not a thick texture I was hoping for. But, when my cousin made her pie at our house about a month earlier, her mixture was kind of liquidy and leaked through onto the pan. So, I thought I might have done something right. I was so wrong. (Plus, I added a little more wine that she instructed, but I don't think that made too much of a difference.) This wine was very tasty too. Wandering Grape Merlot. Bad picture though.
Second, for the crumb topping, I accidentally melted the butter too much, so it created a paste-like topping instead of crumb topping.

When I baked it, even after an hour in 400 degree heat, the pie never thickened. *sigh* First fruit pie turned out to be a fail. Next time.

Chicken Adobo

Mmmm. One of the staple Filipino dishes. Also one of the easiest to make. We didn't have garlic cloves, only garlic spice, so I wasn't sure if it would make a difference. Turns out it just made it a little more pasty than normal. I put the garlic spice on top of the saute'd onions rather than on the chicken. The taste probably would've been magnified if I put it on the chicken. I also used tons of onions. Next time, I'll saute the onions a little more too. Either way, my adobo dish turned out real good. I still want to master it to taste like my moms though. I think I added too much vinegar in this round. I love the sauce too, so I need to make more next time to coat my rice with. =)

Valentine Oatmeal Cookies

Happy Valentine's to us. We got a cute little oatmeal cookie on a stick from Ira's 2 month old niece. =) Pretty packaging, a cute valentine's card written "by her", and a picture of her.

Homemade oatmeal cookie with chocolate stripes. The cookie had a little more spice than usual, which was really nice. The outside was hard, but completely soft and chewy once you bit into it. Not too sweet either. I may have to try and imitate her recipe...

Wine: Yellowtail Chardonnay

I don't think I'm a fan of Chardonnay. Although I found out Chardonnay is a big component to Champagne, which I love, so maybe it's the type of Chardonnay I try. We got this wine for New Years, but we never ended up opening it. Too much champagne and other drinks that night.

I am not really a fan of Yellowtail. It's got too much of an oaky taste for me. Yellowtail is from Australia, so I thought it might taste pretty good. Note to self: not all pretty packaging turn out pretty on the inside.

Cupcake Kits

I love cupcakes. I made some simple ones for my sister in laws baby shower, and my cousin is now selling hers, so I'm even more infatuated with trying new types of cupcakes. Then this was posted on one of my favorite blogs, OhJoy! The cutest cupcake accessories. They're from the Meri Meri store. These are my favorites. (The bear one is because my husband likes bears. heehee.)