Which is The Best? The Voice or American Idol?
Singing competitions has been going on for ages. In the Philippines, it’s one of the most sought after competition. In the US, reality TV singing competitions TV are getting more and more popular with viewers voting for their favorite contestants to win instead of judges. Between the two most popular reality TV talent show, The Voice or American Idol, which one do you prefer??
American Idol
American Idol is currently on their 11th season and based their winners from fan votes. The shows 3 judges (Randy Jackson, Steven Tyler and Jennifer Lopez), provide critiques to the contestants and somehow influence a bit of the fan voting. The show is split into two episodes each week. After the audition and Hollywood rounds, the first episode for the week will showcase the singers singing based on the theme given to them. The second episode is the result show where one contestant may be booted out depending if the judges used the judges save or not.
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Book Review: Rich Dad, Poor Dad
Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a book written by Robert Kiyosaki. It’s considered as one of the best personal finance book of all time. My cousin mentioned this book to me way back in 2000 but I ignored it. When I first wrote about hitting my goal of having a million pesos, I scoured the net for tips on how to invest my money and this book came out as one of the must-read books on personal finance.
If you haven’t read it, I suggest you do. It’s a book that is easy to understand, a fountain of useful things that you can use on your personal life and a challenge that will make you yearn for more. This book encouraged me to start my own personal finance blog and share what I’ve learned through my financial journey.
The book is about the author’s two “dads”. His real dad is poor dad while his friend’s dad is rich dad. He talked about how the rich and poor think about money and how money works for them. He talked about how to differentiate between asset and liability. He also encouraged the readers to take steps on gaining a financial education and challenged them to take action.
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Coffee Cupcake and Vanilla Cupcake
On my short trip to Manila last April, I had an opportunity to attend a Cupcake Decorating with Fondant and Gumpaste class at the Castle of Baking and Confectionery Arts. It was almost a whole day of classes with hands-on training in the afternoon. Since we can’t start any decorating without the cucpakes, Chef Christine demonstrated how to prepare 3 types of basic cupcakes (Vanilla cupcake, coffee cupcake and chocolate cupcake). I’ll be sharing with you the coffee and vanilla cupcake recipes which came out perfectly and delicious (sorry, wasn’t able to take a photo of it).
Coffee Cupcake
Ingredients: (makes 12-14 cupcakes)
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1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
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2 large eggs
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1 cup sugar
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1/4 tsp iodized salt
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1/4 tsp vanilla powder
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2/3 cup evaporated milk, full cream
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2 tsp coffee powder
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1/4 tsp coffee oil
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1 tsp baking powder
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1-1/4 cup all-purpose flour (sifted before measuring)
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What’s Up? Take Two!
Dear Readers,
I am pleased to inform you that I will be branching out to a new blog, Thrifty Pinoy, within the next two weeks. If you have noticed the different personal finance posts that I’ve been writing in the past month, it made me realize that this is something that I’m passionate about.
The new blog will focus on personal finance in the Philippines and wherever I am at present. I will be writing about the different type of investment that I’ve been doing, my journey to learning more about finances and how my passive income building is going on. I hope that you will join me as I start on this new endeavor.
Don’t worry I won’t neglect my existing blogs. To my friends and family, that means my free time will be less and my travels will be limited.
Cheers,
Claudine
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Thanks! Keep The Change!
How many times have you heard people say “Keep The Change” in the past couple of days? This phrase is so common that the person on the receiving side is the one gaining something out of it. Most of the time, people think of loose change as a hassle or something that clutters their bags. More often than not, they just leave it lying or do not even bother taking it.
If you’re on the giving side of this phrase, think twice before doing it. Here are some reasons how “Keep The Change” can be used with a positive twist:
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Green Tea Cupcake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
St. Patrick’s Day is known for leprechauns, Guinness, four leaf clover and the color green. To go with the theme, the second cupcake recipe that we did in class was “Green Tea Cupcake with White Chocolate Buttercream Frosting”. We used the reverse creaming method to make this cupcake.
Reverse creaming method was pioneered by cake guru, Rose Levy Berenbaum. This method combines the dry ingredients first then adding the butter bit by bit and then the wet ingredients in 2 to 3 additions. The result of this method will be a tender, velvety crumb cake.