Be Intentional
How quickly things can change, just last month I was blogging about making the best of your 9-5 and allowing yourself to build relationships at work and about how you should make the best of the time you spend at work. Ironically now due to COVID 19 I am now working from home, and I must say I am missing my corkers. Thanks to technology, my department has a daily video meeting thru Microsoft Teams, allowing me to still feel connected to them.
This whole thing feels like something right out of a movie. If I was not living through it, I would have a hard time believing that there is a worldwide pandemic going on. It is even harder to believe that the number one item on most people’s mind is stocking up on toilet paper, how did this even start?
We tend to follow the lead even if we do not know who we are following. I am as guilty as the next person. For instance, a week ago I was returning a dress I had purchased and I could not find a parking space. It was a Thursday afternoon during lunch time so I did not think parking would be an issue but it was. When I finally entered the store I was surprised, it was empty. Where did all those cars come from? Soon enough I could tell that the parking spaces were taken up by customers going the grocery store. While exiting the store I noticed a long line of people exiting the grocery store with carts full of bottled water and toilet paper. So of course I did what anyone in my place would do; I too went into the grocery store to purchase my fair share of water and toilet paper. The best part for me that day was that it took a whole five minutes to complete my transaction because all of the products were still on pallets in front of the store.
The one thing I will not do is fall in the vicious circle of gloom and doom, it is easy to start down that path and extremely hard to get out of it. Choose life, choose to live your days with purpose. Making the most of this situation and keeping busy are crucial; looking to the very things that bring us joy will be what will give us the strength we need to endure these days and the days to come. Use this time to take up new hobbies, read new books, and dare to take a journey into your imagination. Take up cooking, baking or trying out the latest and greatest hair, nail or make up tutorial on YouTube or Facebook video. Do not allow your mind to wonder on the merry go round of the what-ifs. We must trust in God’s Sovereignty and not focus on what we cannot control but focus on what we can control and how we chose to respond to our surroundings.
With the extra time Noel and I decided to come up with a new caramel flavor and together we came up with Passion Fruit/ Mango caramels. According to our taste testers they are for sure going to be a hit which is a good thing because introducing flavors that represent Puerto Rico is something we both want to do.
All this to say if you know me, you know that if left to my own devices I would spend my free time cleaning & organizing, making sure everything was in its proper place because it is what I have done for so long and it’s what I do best. Are you anything like me? I am obsessed with keeping things picture perfect, but I have come to the realization that my pantry will never appreciate the time I spend organizing it. On the other hand my son will appreciate the time I spend with him just listening to him share things that happened to him during the week. We all have the same 24 hours in the day and once they are gone they are gone, lets changes thing up a bit and spend time intentionally planning to do something meaningful. That cheese flan you have been meaning to bake, bake it! If you have never had the desire to bake a cheese flan do it anyways.
Here is a quick and simple recipe you can follow;
Ingredients;
1 can of Evaporated Milk
1 can of Condensed Milk
1 tablespoon of Vanilla Extract
1 8 oz. block of Cream Cheese
5 eggs
1 cup of sugar
Preheat oven 350 degrees
In a small sauce pan cook the sugar over medium heat, stirring consistently until sugar melts completely. Remove from heat when the caramel (dissolved sugar) turns to a golden amber color.
Pour hot caramel into the cake pan (glass pans have the best results) and set aside.
In a blender mix all the ingredients on high until all the ingredients are combined well.
Pour custard into the cake pan then place pan in water bath which adds moisture to the oven to prevent cracking due to heat.
https://www.afamilyfeast.com/how-to-bake-using-a-water-bath
Bake the flan for 1 hour or until flan is set around the edges with a slight jiggle in the middle.
Remove from the oven and let the flan cool in the water bath for about 30 minutes to an hour.
Once cool, refrigerate at least 6 hours.Set a plate over the flan and flip upside down, a large plate will prevent caramel from spilling over.
Slice into wedges, enjoy a slice and do not forget to share pictures!
diana garcia