Food, Glorious Food

A friend of mine requested this recipe for homemade chocolate frosting. It's simple and very versatile. You may add less or more of the cocoa or milk depending on your taste. I like to flavor mine with different types of liqueur (helps prevent the shakes that come from withdrawal :) or exchange the vanilla extract for different flavored extracts. There's nothing like the taste of homemade frosting, especially this time of year.

6 T softened butter
2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 cups cocoa
1/3 cup milk
1 t vanilla extract

Beat butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar and cocoa alternately with milk.
Beat until spreading consistency. Blend in vanilla or other flavoring.

I am trying to find a nice gift for my neighbors. I don't know them very well, but I like them, and would like to bake something for them for Christmas. If anyone has any good recipes for baked goods that make nice gifts, please let me know. The easier, the better.

There are a couple more recipes I am searching for: homemade chicken siopao (again, the easier, the better) and a fruit tart/ trifle-like dessert, preferably something with tropical fruits. My husband's parents are spending Christmas with us, and I would like Christmas dinner to have a Filipino flair to it this year. If anyone has any suggestions, I would be very grateful.

Thanksgiving was nice. Two of our good friends came over, along with a handful of my co-workers and their families. It was a pretty big get-together. We had a lot of traditional Thanksgiving food, along with some Brazilian and Colombian items. Everything was delicious, and the company was wonderful. My favorite holiday.