B-day at Home

One of Tatay Ilyo's earlier birthday celebration, it was just us with Ninong Boy and Tito Tony, oh I think Gene-gene was also there.

We shared two kinds of pancit - Bihon and Luglog (both homemade), two kinds of puto - Pandan and Salted Egg (bought from Malabon Public Market, hehe) and two viands - Pork and Tofu in Black Beans and Lumpiang Shanghai (cooked by Dete).  

It was a fun and filling night!  That's why I love birthdays, you get to eat until you can't anymore *lol*.

Red Ribbon's Chocolate Cake

Mother's Day 2014

Another late post from yours truly, and to top it off, I won't say much, haha.

We celebrated Mother's Day at home with a simple dinner, a treat for myself and my nanay, tatay wasn't even there to eat with us, he was out-of-town in a seminar at that time, if I remember correctly.  It was okay though, a valid reason, I guess... after all he already spent more than half of his life celebrating mother's day with nanay, kaya hayaan na natin sya, hehe.

Judy Ann Crispy Pata

Tita Belle's Day!

May is Tita Belle's natal month at syempre, tulad ng nakasanayan, may munting salo-salo para sa kanyang kaarawan, pero dahil medyo nahuli kami ng dating, di ko na nakuhanan ng magandang litrato ang mga putaheng inihanda ng kanyang pamilya, ang siste pa nga, di ko na rin inabutan iyong ibang putahe, hahaha.

Pinagsaluhan namin ang Pancit Luglog mula sa Pancit Malabon Express, Puto na may Itlog na Maalat, Spaghetti (na wala sa larawan) Yang Chow Fried Rice (Mike's version), Sweet & Sour Pork, Lumpiang Shanghai (na muntik ko nang di abutan), Piritong Manok (na hindi na talaga namin inabutan pero napatunayan ko na mayroon dahil nakita ko sa plato ng mga naunang bisita), Mocha Cake mula sa Betsy's at Coffee Jelly (na si nanay na lang ang nakatikim).

Nasiyahan naman kami dahil masarap lahat ng handa na inabutan ko at hindi ako nagre-reklamo na hindi ko natikman ang lahat, pero sana lang talaga nagtira yung mga nauna, hahaha...

Pancit Malabon

Cravings: Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

Baby A's taste and food choices (through me, hehe) is now diverse.  We used to nibble and gobble only glazed doughnuts, seldom where the days when we opted for something sweeter and more complex, but now, look at what we had gotten - a smorgasbord of chocolaty and nutty doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.  Aah *gushing*, my baby is blossoming to a full-bloodied foodie, nyahaha!

Disclaimer:  Baby A wasn't the only one who enjoyed the sweet delights, Kuya E had his share of fun, too!

I forgot their individual names, kayo na bahala mag-tag sa kanila, haha!

Krispy Kreme
2nd Level, SM City North EDSA - Annex
North Ave., EDSA, Quezon City
3312647

Cravings: Pines' Cappuccino Brownies

I had been gorging myself with sweets - pastries, desserts - name it and I'm sure I've tried it, fortunately or not, work has been stressful enough to help me burn all the calories and fats so I haven't been gaining that much weight to warrant my OB-GYN's wrath and, a bit of her, concern, hurhur! 

Ano pa nga ba, eh di tuloy lang ang ligaya *lol*!

A present from the hubby, I think, her sister went on a seminar somewhere in Pampanga and he forced her to buy a box of Pines' Brownies on her way home.  Cappuccino, because I had been wanting to have a sip of coffee but my OB-GYN won't allow me, hmmp, bad doktora *tongue out*!

Colette's Buko Pie and Cassava Bibingka

Whether it was intended or not, like that of Dunkin Donuts' tagline 'Pasalubong ng Bayan', Colette's has been synonymous with the word pasalubong if you're coming from a roadtrip / vacation / seminar or just a simple day tour from Tagaytay, Cavite, or Laguna.  It is famously known for its sweet version of buco pie but, I am telling you, you have to try their Cassava Bibingka... it is way better than their buco pie, swear *right hand promise*.

Colette's Cassava Bibingka

Mother and Son Merienda

One Sunday afternoon, mother and son decided to walk around their street to have a look, on what new food finds they can see, they found a new BBQ stall, a new siopao and dimsum stall, a new pizza brand, and a frappe and shake corner which also sells siopao and siomai.  They decided to try the latter, hence, a frappe and shake for their drinks, a piece of asado siopao for mom and an old-favorite for son, buy-1-take 1 kind of burger, haha.

Merienda ng mga walang magawa!

choco hot fudge shake and mocha-caramel frappe

asado siopao

hamburgers

Cravings: DQ M&M's Blizzard

The queen of everything cold and sweet (ice cream), DQ Blizzard.  I used to favor their Oreo and Mango Cheesecake flavors but when Baby A came, it was all about M&Ms, ooh yum *drooling*!

M&Ms Blizzard

my model and partner in blizzard binging

Another cup Kuya E?

Cravings: Shakin' it Up at Work

Another shakin' story, haha.

That love of shake and everything ice cold, it doesn't stop at home, it lingers even at work, good thing there's this Pizza and Pearl Shake place nearby which name I forgot, but in fairness to them, for 35 pesos you'll get a tall pearl shake with whipped cream and choco or caramel drizzle, I dare say, we get our money's worth.

Vanilla Delight Pearl Shake

Cravings: Shake, Shake, Shake

Baby A started growing and thriving in my tummy at the start of summer, so my love of shakes, frappes, ice creams and sundaes, halo-halo and other con hielos out there is sooo justifiable and easy to understand.  You know, there's this level of hotness and irritability that normal people feel during summer and those long days and nights of scorching heat and then there's this level that, we, pregnant women feel, like it was twice or thrice as much hotter than it really is.  Yeah, yeah... something like that!

Strawberry and Cream Shake

Cravings: Nilupak

According to Mr. Wiki, Nilupak is a dessert made from mashed cassava, sweet potatoes or saba bananas with butter or margarine.

I know nothing about sweet potatoes and saba bananas, the Nilupak I know and grew up to is made up of kamoteng-kahoy or cassava.  The one featured below is one of those ready-made nilupak one can find in the market, it has grated cheese on top instead of butter or margarine and it's not as sweet as those nilupak of random street peddlers.  Not many folks in the metro sell nilupak and as I'm sort of maarte, I don't really buy food from people I don't know, so I haven't eaten homemade nilupak (the one with margarine) in a long, long time.

I had been craving for nilupak for weeks before my nanay chanced upon one in our community market, I think I ate three bars in one go, imagine that!

Cravings: Hopia Baboy

Yep, offer / give me Hopia Baboy of any kind, of any brand and I'll surely not disappoint you.  You can even time me and you'll be amaze on how fast I can finish several pieces, hehe.  One of the powers of being pregnant and always hungry *tongue out*.

Hopia Baboy or Hopyang Baboy (pork hopia) is filled with a savoury bread-crumb paste studded with candied wintermelon, flavored with scallion, and enriched with candied pork back fat, hence its name.  This type of hopia is also sometimes referred to as hopyang maalat (salty hopia).

Got that from wikipedia, go figure, hehe.

Tipas Special Hopia Baboy

Hopia Baboy from our friendly neighborhood bakery

Cravings: Tikoy

An all-time favorite Chinese delight, I think I had been eating and enjoying the taste of Tikoy since childhood when every Chinese peep that we know of only give Tikoy as a gift, haha.  I enjoy it raw, yes I do eat the white variety as is, or coated in egg and fried, or wrapped in molo or lumpia wrapper like turon, I haven't tried it in stir-fried veggies yet but I heard it was yum.  Someday...

So, it wasn't a surprise when I suddenly had a craving for Tikoy in the middle of summer when the Tikoy season (Chinese New Year fever) was over.  I didn't know I was pregnant then but hey, if me wants tikoy, I should have tikoy *grins*.

What happened to these boxes?  I asked hubby to cooked it for breakfast, mid-morning and bedtime snack everyday until there's none left.  I assure you, I didn't stop there, I think I got to finish  3 more boxes before my tikoy fixation finally ended.  What a tikoy journey, haha!

Baker's Fair Original Tikoy

Movie Marathon = Food Marathon

One Saturday afternoon, while the monsoon rains brought about by some typhoon was lashing on our roofs and window, our family decided to just deal with being cope inside and do a movie marathon, syempre kapag may movie marathon, may food marathon din dapat, hehe.

Here's ours *grins*.

5AM loaf of bread, Oishi Krewers creamy peanut butter and Miracle Whip mayonnaise

Fried eggs and hotdogs, bread and Sarsi

smorgasbord of junk foods 

Okay, bring it on!

Cravings: Quake Overload and Lava Cake

One of the very first things that I had craved for was the Mocha Butter Quake Overload, I was like addicted to it, everytime I saw its commercial on TV, I would say that it was sooo yummy and I would love to grab one (pack) and eat it without stopping.  The first time I bought a pack in a grocery store, I ate 3 bars in one sitting.

The Lava Cake was a new discovery but I love it nonetheless *smiles*.

But... Quake is still a favorite *grins*.

Lava Cake

Quake Overload Favorites

Cravings: Burger Machine Goodies

Burger Machine's trailer-like stalls used to abound here in Navotas City, there was even one in our own barangay, but not anymore.  Gone were the days of mini burgers, bite-sized sansrival and buy 1 take 1 phenomenon, so were Burger Machine's heydays *pout*.

But a few still manage to trudge the high waters and continue to exist, and for that I am thankful.

Longganisa Burger

Cravings: Toasted Garlic Bread

The wonder of oven toaster and all things instant *smiles*.

Breakfast, brunch, snack, midnight snack, you'll see me nibbling on some toasted garlic bread.  That's how obsess I am with it.  And they let me indulge kasi mura na, madali pa gawin, hehe!

McCormick Bread Spread - Garlic Flavor

Star Margarine - Garlic Flavor

one of my creations :)

How to make:  Maghanda ng pandesal, monay o kahit anong lumang tinapay (basta wala pa amag, hahaha), pahiran ng maraming instant garlic spread/margarine/butter, ipasok sa oven toaster at painitan depende sa gusto mong lutong and voila, may pagkain ka na *lol*.

Fiesta Food Hunting

During any fiesta, aside from the opportunity to eat lots of delicious food for free (also, without the guilt of committing gluttony), I also welcome and embrace the chance to walk around the street market, feasting my eyes on various treats ranging from simple street foods to native furniture, to even on-site tattooing and herbal medicines and other traditional ways of healing (with free demonstration), but what I like most about fiesta street fairs is the possibility of getting some known native delicacies from neighboring provinces.

The last time I took a look at a street fair, I took home some yummy delights *smiles*.

From Pampanga to Nueva Ecija, from Laguna to Rizal

Special Piaya 

Cravings: Cloud 9 Salted Caramel

I have been a Cloud 9 enthusiast since I was young, I was never into Big Bang and its other contemporaries as I'm not overly fond of nuts in my chocolate bars.  And I have been vocal about my love of caramel and appreciation of nougats in my chocolates, so Cloud 9 was like a dream come true for me, a food from the gods.

Cloud 9 has since released other flavors, I think there's Ube (and another one that I am not familiar with), unfortunately though, it didn't hit big in the market, or it might have, not just in my own personal market, hahaha.

But their newest variant, the Salted Caramel, oh men, it was heavenly... for a while, at least.  My fanaticism kind of ended after two weeks, I guess Baby A got tired of it, hehe.

Cloud 9 Salted Caramel

Cravings: Ice Cream

I began craving stuff mid of April, the month when we all suffer the monstrous heat of summer 2014, I wasn't even aware that I am carrying Baby A back then, I was just always, always gushing about all the ice cream commercials and I can't ever stop asking for ice cream.  

I blamed it on the scorching heat, not that I had changed my mind *grins*.

Nestle Temptations - Flirt with Chocolate

best sandwiched in a hot monay, hehe

Cravings: Nutella

If you think Nutella is sinful now, wait when you're pregnant and craving for something chocolaty, I say, you'll look at Nutella differently... like, you're the goddess and it is your ambrosia *wink*.

Nutella

Cravings: Good Shepherd's Ube Jam

A pasalubong from Prof, she, together with her fam had a summer getaway in the Land of Pines and right after she messaged me that they're going, I immediately asked her to buy me Ube Jam from Good Shepherd, she told me she'll try but because I am me, I nagged her in to buying me one.  Good thing she delivered, naglilihi na pala kasi ako noong mga panahong iyon *smiles*. 

Thanks Prof!

As per the label - Our products, sought for their quality, signify the Good Shepherd Sisters' mission, with lay mission partners, to the student workers from the Cordillera.  Made with care and diligence, cooked with a prayer and wrapped with the mission, these blessings in bottles/jars feed not only the body, but also nourish the soul.

If its taste isn't reason enough to buy one, that mission statement would / should.

I love it paired with hot, crunchy pandesal *smiles*.

Cravings: Kakanin

If we'll count my kakanin posts as proof of my love of all things kakanin, we'll certainly deduce that I am overwhelmingly besotted with it.  But now that I am pregnant with Baby A, I tend to crave and mentally drool for the uncommon ones, I can buy puto, cochinta, pitsi-pitsi, etc. in our barangay wet market but I won't easily find Pinipig Kalamay or Puto Polo or those big and chunky palitaw.

But hey, if there's a will, there's a way!  And if your pregnant and you wish it, people who loves you will painstakingly make it happen, I feel so loved, haha.

Pinipig Kalamay 

My tatay found this green and slime-looking delights in Cavite and he hit it with just one try - Pinipig Kalamay, check!

Puto Polo

Puto Polo was a namesake given to these kinds of rice cakes as it hailed from Polo, Bulacan.  Found this pack under the table of one of those business-minded peeps of the Legal Dept., she's from Bulacan, hence, her choice of business - buy and sell of Bulacan delicacies.  Puto Polo, check!

Palitaw, still waiting to be checked *sad face*!

Cravings: Revel Bars

Another product of Pines' and one of the most amazing pastry ever created / invented by mankind - Revel Bars!

Classic revel bars consist of two layers of oatmeal cookie dough sandwiching a fudge-like chocolate filling but different variations already popped and came out in the market.  I like mine not-too rich in the oatmeal and chocolates, I want my revel bars, smooth and a bit dry but still chewy.

A box will cost you more than your usual brownies but it's worth your money, promise!



Pines' Brownies and Delicacies
160 Siran, Guagua, Pampanga
(045) 497-0280

Cravings: Amira's Buco Tart

The first I sampled Amira's Buco Tart was last summer, I think in the middle of March, it was a pasalubong from Ate Pat, when her family went to Tagaytay for a 2-day vacation.

Fast forward to the present, still courtesy of the same person but this time, it was because I cajoled her to buy me one, I was secretly hoping she'll buy me more, hehe.

One of the best buco tarts I ever had the pleasure of tasting, two thumbs up!