I'm squeaking!

I couldn't resist. I've been up all night uploading photos to make our 2009 Disney photo calendar, so my mind is filled with thoughts of Minnie, Mickey, Chip, Dale, and other squeaky characters.

And speaking of squeaky, as the saying goes, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. So consider this a squeak for my 12 Days of Christmas giveaways on my review blog, Bonggamom Finds. Visit the site every day for giveaways until January 6! To enter, just leave a comment on the giveaway post. So far I've started a Leapfrog and a Didj giveaway, and there's more to come.

For more squeaks, click here.

The chocolate mousse of my childhood (well, almost)

To end this year's Christmas dinner, I really really wanted a chocolate mousse cake from Red Ribbon bakery. It's one of their oldest and most popular products and I've loved it since I was a child. But the Red Ribbon bakery in South San Francisco is almost an hour's drive away, so I decided to try and make my own.

I searched the internet for an easy chocolate mousse recipe and layered it with chocolate cake and whipped cream. Turns out it would have been quicker (and easier) to drive to Red Ribbon and back -- even though I cheated and used boxed cake mix, it still took over 4 hours to prepare and assemble the whole thing. Okay, it would have taken less time had I used an electric mixer instead of beating the egg whites and cream by hand (my wrist and forearm still hurt; now I know what I want for my birthday). But the result is worth it.


1) Prepare a box of devil's food cake mix according to instructions. Pour into two 9-inch round cake pans. Once the cake is done, cool and remove from the pans. You can save 1 of the rounds for something else (or eat it all by yourself, no one will know). Cut the rounded top off the second cake round and place in a 9-inch springform pan (line the sides with parchment paper).

2) While the cake is baking, melt 8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips and 4 tablespoons butter in a saucepan over low heat.

3) Separate 3 eggs (keep the whites for later). Beat the egg yolks slightly and add them to the melted chocolate. Remove from heat and refrigerate till cool.

4) Beat the 3 egg whites till they form stiff peaks. Beat in 3/4 cup heavy cream. Fold into the chocolate mixture.

5) Pour the chocolate mousse mixture over the devil's food cake. Chill in the freezer for at least 1 hr.

6) When the chocolate mousse layer is firm, beat 1 egg white (or 1 Tbsp meringue powder and 1 Tbsp water) and 1/2 pint whipping cream in a chilled bowl till soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar to taste. Pour the sweetened whipped cream mixture on top of the chocolate mousse layer and return to the freezer until ready to serve.

7) Remove from the freezer about 5-10 minutes before serving. Release and remove the sides of the springform pan. Peel off the parchment paper. If you have any sweetened whipped cream left, use it to decorate your cake. Not that it needs any decoration; the taste speaks for itself.

Christmas greetings

Hello everyone!

2008 was our family's Year of the Suitcase. We started off by partying in Las Vegas for Alfie's 50th birthday. We communed with nature during a springtime visit to Yosemite Park and camped overnight for the first time at Palo Alto's Foothills Park. In the summer we travelled to England to spend time with Alfie's parents and Bonggamom's brother, and took a little side trip to Dublin, Ireland. In early December, Bonggamom's dream was finally realized as we took our first-ever family trip to Disneyland.



Bonggamom continues to immerse herself in the blogging world. In March she started Bonggamom Finds, a review blog focused on children's toys and books. In October, she joined the editorial team at The Savvy Source, a nationwide online preschool resource. Writing for five blogs means she's glued to the computer more than ever, but the kids put up with it because it means they get to test the cool toys that companies send her.



After the big shebang in Vegas, Alfie continued celebrating his first half-century throughout the year with even more firsts: first time to see the England soccer team play, first visit to London's famous Wembley stadium and first tour of the Chelsea stadium grounds. He’s establishing his own online presence with the publication of several articles in well-known technical journals.



The Pea has plunged headfirst into the second grade, with all the homework and test preparation that entails. Her dance card is definitely full this year as she has taken on both jazz and ballet in addition to her skating. We all cheered her on as she made her debut performance as an angel in The Nutcracker.



In his final year of preschool, Jammy has begun cutting the umbilical cord in earnest, entering the classroom with nary a backward glance and eagerly going on drop-off play dates. He has become quite the little chef, always the first (and usually the only one) to assist his mama in the kitchen.



3Po remains his sweet self, never letting his mama leave his sight without first bestowing a hug and a kiss. (Unfortunately for Alfie, his preferred method of showing affection toward his daddy is slightly different, usually taking the form of a well-placed karate kick). Both boys’ interest in books and reading has blossomed, and we never tire of seeing them snuggled up with a book, silently sounding the words out.

We look forward to hearing all your 2008 stories and wish you well in 2009. Merry Christmas!

A Letter to Santa

Dear Santa

How's it going? Listen, I know you're busy and all tonight, so I won't take up much of your time. I stumbled upon a letter for you, written by my daughter and left under the Christmas tree. Now, I know you're a right techie old elf, and you know that snail mail is sooo last century. This proud mama thinks her daughter's letter is the best thing since Clement C. Moore's The Night Before Christmas, and I figured you'd find it faster if I posted it on the internet. So here it is (transcribed verbatim by me).

Love,
bonggamom

PS: Target is probably still open in Hawaii; it's not too late to get me that yellow KitchenAid mixer.

Dear Santa Claus,

I know it is unbeleveible but I only want one thig for Christmas! That thing is a ipod, but my Mommy and Daddy it is not fair for my brothers. I think you might be a little surprised, because most kids have a Christmas list this

(arrow points to drawing of a long list) <------------------------- long (ex: my brothers).

(Well okey maybe not that long. anyways, KIND OF want Coconut. but I only want Coconut if Tita Risa dosn't give me Coconut. buuuuuuut I do not want you to open the present from tita Risa it's just that I herd in a book that you are magic *

Oh and when you deliver presents to Saint Mary's lane in Redwood City make sure you look at the lights and decorashons.

I really hope you read that part

Oh and I just wantid to ask a few q's

What's your favrite coler?
How old are you?
When is your birthday?
Do you know who my cousins are? There names are Katya, Nicolas and Isabell.
Are you bald?

OK that's all I have tell you!

Love
The Pea (her real name, proudly and painstakingly signed in cursive)

Get ready for 12 Days of Giveaways!

Christmas is almost here! My kids are so excited, they're almost peeing in their pants. There's a gingerbread house in the kitchen, stocking above the fireplace and presents under the tree. Yes, presents! And to celebrate with you all, my review blog -- Bonggamom Finds -- will be giving away one present for each of the 12 Days of Christmas, including:

* Products from Leapfrog
* A CurlyQ haircare kit
* Disney Photopass products
* A Global Wonders DVD
* books, cd's and more

Two of the giveaways will be hosted on Being Savvy: Silicon Valley, my latest blogging gig (it's a great resource for preschools and activities in Silicon Valley; if you don't live in Silicon Valley, never fear, there are over 40 other city guides!). To enter, simply visit my Savvy posts on December 25 and January 1 and leave a comment there.

The other ten giveaways will be hosted right here. To enter, visit Bonggamom Finds and leave a comment on the day's giveaway post. For more chances to win, you can also do the following:

* Blog about the giveaways on your own blog..

* Twitter about the giveaways (I'm @bonggamom on Twitter).

* Put my "12 Days of Christmas" button on your sidebar (see below for the code).

Each of the giveaways on this blog will last for 12 days, and I'll pick winners at random using http://www.random.org/. Visit Bonggamom Finds each and every day of Christmas!

Bonggamom's 12 Days of Christmas button:

Ok, it's not the greatest button, but I'm no graphic artist and hey, it gets you an extra entry to my giveaways. So to display this image copy and paste the following code onto your site:

<a href="http://bonggafinds.blogspot.com/search/label/giveaways?max-results=100"><img width="125" src="http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr260/bonggamom/blog%20buttons/bonggachristmas.gif" alt="Bonggamom's 12 Days of Christmas 2008"/></a>


The many uses of fruitcake

I hate fruitcake. Dense, alcoholic bread studded with candied fruit in garish, no-way-this-can-be-real colors....yuck. I think it deserves all the jokes that it gets. In fact, I'm going to contribute some of my own. Here are some uses for fruitcake I like much better than stomach lining:

1) Use it as a doorstop (okay, this isn't really my own idea, but any fruitcake list needs to include this classic usage).

2) Use it as a paperweight.

3) Use it as hand weights for your next workout.

4) Use it as a pieshell weight (i.e. it can weigh down the dough and keep it from bubbling up when you bake it)

5) Have you noticed a pattern going here? Basically, substitute "fruitcake" for anything that requires a weight.

6) Slice it up (you may need a table saw) and use the slabs as walls for a holiday fruitcake house. It'll look much cuter than a gingerbread house because it has all those shiny fruits.

7) Round up all the fruitcakes in the neighborhood, slap some mortar on them and build yourself a chimney or a garden path.

8) If you're feeling really crafty, turn it into a centerpiece:

Disneyland Decorating Tips from Heather Hust on Vimeo.

What would you do with a fruitcake?

I need to get a life (or my own gingerbread house)

A classic case of too many cooks spoiling the broth.... or in this case, decorators overcrowding the gingerbread house. It looks like the candyman threw up all over the gingerbread. Naturally, the kids are delighted with it; me, I'm still dreaming about the fantasy mansions featured on the Food Network. Still, I'm pretty happy I convinced them to plan it all out before sticking gumdrops wily-nily. Oh, all right, they did a great job.

Was Hugh Hefner like this at 5?

We were reading stories from greek mythology the other day, and the boys were mystified by the behavior of Hera, wife of Zeus and goddess of marriage:

3Po: I don't get it, mama, why was Hera so angry with all those women? Why did she want to punish them?

Me: She was angry at them because she caught them kissing her husband, Zeus. She didn't like him cheating on her, and she took out her anger on the women.

3Po: What's cheating?

Me: [3-second pause] It's when married men kiss other women who aren't their wives. Hera was married to Zeus, and Zeus liked to kiss other women.

3Po: So what? Why can't he kiss other women?

Me: [3-second pause, while chewing on lower lip and trying not to smile] Well, honey, wives don't like it when their husbands kiss other women. When you marry someone, you're making a promise not to kiss anyone else.

Jammy: Well, then, when I get married, I'm going to marry the beautifullest girl in the world.

Our wide-mouthed tree frog

You can imagine the volume.... no explanation necessary. At least he's making happy sounds, not screaming his head off.

For more wide things, click here.

Yet another Disney post

I know I've been posting a lot about Disneyland these days, but I'm still on cloud nine after the wonderful Disney trip and fun Disney mom blogging event we attended the previous weekend. Mom bloggers and their families were treated to a special night at Disney's Grand (and boy, it really is grand) California hotel with lots of food, festivities and fun.