15-Minute Pizza from "Scratch"

It's our helper's birthday today and I wanted to give her something special for our afternoon merrienda (snack) before my dad came home with a surprise birthday cake. I was in the mood for some pizza, but I don't have the time to wait for forty minutes to get one delivered. I was about to make a really quick pizza dough (sort of like a roti-style one that doesn't need much leavening), but I realized how much time and effort that would take too. That's when I saw the wheat pandesal - the Filipino version of dinner rolls - my mom brought home last night and I remembered the pizza pandesal she used to make when we were kids coming home hungry after a long day in school. So off to the kitchen I went to rummage the remains of last month's grocery shopping (I have to remind my parent to go shopping this weekend).

Ingredients:
Four to six pieces pandesal or any soft bread (I used Pan de Manila's Sugar Free Wheat Bread), halved or divided into thirds if they're a bit too thick
Any quick melting cheese or mozzarella if you have some
Whatever pizza sauce and toppings you like (be creative)

Topping suggestions:
Tomato base pizza sauce (I used spaghetti sauce with a bit of banana ketchup because I was out of pizza sauce) w/ ham and ripped-up fresh basil
Pesto sauce w/ crumbled feta or goat's cheese, arugula or baby spinach and olive oil
Ranch barbecue sauce w/ cooked strips of sirloin, pineapple and bell peppers

1. Assemble your pizza in this order: bread (duh!), sauce, cheese, other toppings
2. Bake in the oven for ten to twelve minutes or until cheese is melted.
3. Cut into smaller pieces (if you want). Serve and enjoy :)


Lots of Love,
J<3


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Jeepney

I was driving to school this morning, minding my own business and snickering quietly because I noticed my little sister cutely fast asleep in the passenger's seat. Ninety-nine point nine percent of my concentration was on the road, while point one percent was wondering around what I will be doing in school for the six-and-a-half hours I will be spending in the library.

I was looking forward to grab a snooze for a few minutes (or maybe a few hours) in the social hall or in the library when five minutes away from my home away from home, I noticed a familiar face in the jeepney right in front of me. Suddenly, I was fighting hard to keep my concentration on driving and not on the face of a friend I used to spend most of my days with for almost a whole school year. I wanted to let my car stay still, but the jeep was taking so long to move.

So I did the logical thing a driver would do: I went past the jeep. It was still idling at the corner to let a passenger down, but I kept looking through my rear view mirror, wishing that the jeep would drive by me so I could get a glimpse of that face again.

My heart was beating really fast, and hundreds of questions were running through my head. "Did he see me?" "What's happening?" "Why is my heartbeat like this?" "What does it mean?" "If he did see me, which I doubt, would he feel this way too?" I wanted with all my might to just stop the car, wait for the jeep drive by me, and follow it. But again, I did the logical thing: continue driving.

I took a left in the next corner and noticed that the jeep stopped once more to let another passenger down - him. The jeep then drove by me while I was parking my car, and I couldn't help but look at the spot where he was moments ago, wishing he was still there.

I haven't seen him for nineteen months, and I regret that I let every chance of seeing him pass. I thought I forgot about him, but why is it that after a three-second glimpse of his face, everything's back to how they were nineteen months ago? It just makes things complicated once again.



Lots of Love,
J<3

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