Cathedral Window for Rye's Birthday (1st Post for Kulinarya Cooking Club) and Canvas Print Giveaway Winner

Very seldom do I make weekend posts...but today, I am...not just to announce UPrinting.com's giveaway winner, but also because today is a very special day!  It is my wonderful husband's birthday! Ryan turns 38 today! We've been married for 11 years now, and it's the 17th year that we're celebrating his birthday together! Yeah...that's right...we've been together that long already! We've actually known each other since we were in 6th grade. We went to the same school in elementary and we both took up Engineering at the University of Santo Tomas. He became my boyfriend when we where in third year. We've been together for so long and I honestly say that I can't imagine my life without him!

During our college days (^.^)

Ryan is such a loving, patient, understanding, and supportive husband who never gets tired of me and my shortcomings (especially since I started blogging). He's my best friend in both good and bad times. He’s a phenomenal dad, the best husband, a truly all around awesome guy, and for that and so many other things, he is and always will be the greatest love of my life! A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, LOVE! Wishing you a longer healthy life! I am truly so lucky to have you...and I am so happy to share my life with you!

I want to dedicate this post to Ryan by sharing with all of you one of the two special desserts I made for him yesterday (the other one I'll share with you on Monday). I made them in advance so I can spend  the whole day with Ryan and the girls. These are 2 of his most favorite desserts that he will surely enjoy after we watch a movie and eat out later. 

The first one is Cathedral Window (some call it Broken Glass). Though not Filipino in origin, this dessert has always been part of all our family gatherings, as far back as I can remember. It was my favorite when I was growing up, and Ryan's too! It's so colorful and yummy to eat so I guess all kids love it! The name of the dessert, cathedral window, is a description of its appearance - brightly colored cubes of jelly against a creamy white backdrop, resembling stained glass cathedral windows.

Cathedral window, also known as Christmas Jello in the Philippines is commonly made with green and red jelly. We always had this on our dinner table not just on Christmas but also on other special occasions. I planned of submitting this recipe to Kulinarya Cooking Club September Challenge so I used blue, red and yellow instead. Yes, I'm trying to hit two birds with one stone! (^.^)  Ryan doesn't care about the color anyway! As long as it's cathedral window, he's happy! :)

The Kulinarya Cooking Club's theme for August & September as chosen by the four wonderful hosts, Ray of Wok with Ray, Oggi of I Can Do That, Chef Theodore Salonga of Chef by Day and Boyet of Reel and Grill is red, white, blue and yellow which are the colors of the Philippine flag. We're being patriotic here! Not only are we paying homage to our flag and country, we are also trying to honor our national heroes by sharing with you Filipino recipes with a hint of red, white, blue and yellow! This is actually my first post for Kulinarya Cooking Club so I'm so excited about it!

Though the hosts' rules include not using artificial coloring, the jelly I used had artificial color...so to compensate for that, I topped it with fresh blueberries, lemon and strawberries, even though Cathedral window isn't usually served with toppings. I wanted to use white agar-agar and color it with blueberry, lemon and strawberry extracts but I wasn't sure if I will get a jiggly outcome so I just stuck to the boxed jell-o. At least I have all the four colors required right! :) Ryan and the girls said it's beautiful...what do you think???

Ingredients: 

• 1  3-oz. pack Lemon Flavored Jell-o
• 1  3-oz. pack Blueberry Flavored Jell-o
• 1  3-oz. pack Strawberry Flavored Jell-o
• 4  sachets Knox Unflavored Gelatine
• ½  cup sliced strawberries 
• ½  cup blueberries
• 1 lemon, peeled and sliced
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 1 can Nestle table cream
• ½ cup sugar
• water

Procedure:

1. In a small bowl, mix sliced strawberries and 2 Tbsp sugar. Do the same with the lemon slices (you're doing this to slightly cover the sour taste of both the lemon and strawberries).  Set aside.

2. Prepare each flavored jell-o according to package directions, i.e., add boiling water to gelatine mix; stir 2 minutes until completely dissolved, stir in cold water and then refrigerate until firm.

3. When firm enough, cut each flavored gelatine into cubes. Set aside and prepare the binder.

4. Dissolve 4 envelopes of Knox Unflavored Gelatine in 1 cup cold water. Set aside. In a sauce pan over low heat, mix evaporated milk, table cream and sugar. Keep on stirring until sugar is dissolved. Add gelatine & water mixture. Stir until well combined. Remove from heat.

5. Transfer to desired molds. Allow to cool down and slightly set before adding the cubed flavored gelatine. (If you add the cubed gelatine when the binder is still hot, they will sink to the bottom.) Stir gently for a well distributed color. Chill in the refrigerator until redy to serve.

6. To give it additional hint of red, blue & yellow, I garnished it with blueberries and lemon and strawberry slices. 

 

Check out what other Kulinarya members prepared for our August-September challenge:

• Abigail on Pork Kaldereta 
• Arnold on Tocino and Blue Potato Hash
• Adora on Ube Macapuno Inipit 
• Caroline on Salted Duck Egg and Tomato Salad  
• Day on Adobong Dilaw 
• Dudut on Salted Fish Fried Rice 
• Elizabeth on Chicken Curry and Mango Chutney 
• Felix on Ensaladang Labanos
• Joy on Red, Yellow, Red and Blue?
• Jun on I is for Itlog na Maalat and How to Make Salted Duck Eggs
• Malou on Adobo Wrap with Pineapple Vinaigrette
• Maribel on Buko Salad
• Oggi on Red, White, Yellow, Blue Special
• Peach on Pinakbet 
• Ray on Grilled Pork Belly and Ensaladang Manga
• Thea on  Kulinarya Cooking Club: Philippine History Edition
• Tita Flips on Pinoy Breakfast 

And now, the winner of UPrinting.com 16"x20" canvas print giveaway which was drawn via random .org is...

#22, and that is...

...Jessica of Kitchen Belleicious! Congratulations Jessica!!! The wonderful people at UPrinting.com will be contacting you soon. Again, a BIG THANKS to UPrinting for this awesome giveaway!!!