A Day @ The Market

This Sunday, Sal and I decided to go to Serendra...we wanted tohave breakfast there and go to Fully Booked. Alas! Can you believe ALL restos there didn't open 'till noon???? No breakfast!!!!! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!! Noooooooooo =(

Not to lose hope, we thought of killing time at Market Market untill lunch time. We walked around and stumbled upon Razon's at the al fresco food court...how good it is to have a cool and refreshing halo-halo on a hot sunny morning? ---Great, we thought! With Serendra all put aside...we had our brunch there...

Tapsilog

This was my choice...although I prefer my egg-sunny-side-up cooked to a crisp on both sides! Scarry when the yolk is all runny! hehehe The tapa was ok..a bit tough though...but still tapsilog is real comfort food.

Sally had the tocilog

And to cap our heavy brunch....Halo-halo =_
So cool and refreshing, despite it having only 3-halos of leche flan, sweetened bananas and macapuno

True pinoy comfort food Sunday brunch that surely got us through our day =)

The Love I Lost....

After the Pink Kitchen event, Elaine and I went to Greenbelt to visti our favorite Max Brenner and finally have our choco banana turon!!! We made sure we saved room for our treat, kaya we didn't have proper dinner...and by that I mean we had Jamaican patties ;P hehehhe

When we got there, without even bothering to look at the menu...we called for our choco-banana love....
...but something was not right...we ate and we go...hmmm kulang ba ng chocolate? Parang..ma-turon lang sha ngayon.... =(

Was is just us or did our choco-banana turon love change???? What sorrow....the love has fadded away...

Shucks, after that that, we both were really kinda disheartened. What will make for our HAPPY TREAT now???

We thought...maybe we were just full from all the food we saw at the event? ...Maybe we expected too much from our choco-banana love ....maybe it lost it's magic touch? haaayyyy....

Oh well, after a while maybe we will try it again...but for now...the love is lost =(

Pretty In Pink

The first time I saw the ad for the Pink Kitchen breast cancer benefit food festival on the Lifestyle channel, I defenitely wanted to go! I called on my gal pals, and asked them if they wanted to go too. It's a little something that we can do to help the breast cancer advocacy group. Breast cancer is something not to be taken lightly, and proper information dissimination, I believe is very important so that women can be precautious about it.

We went early afternoon...

A long list of top chefs and students from Enderun, participated in this whole day eating event. We caught the meryenda session...

There are a wide array of breads...challas, baguets, rolls etc...

they look so lovely and enticing!!!

Robs & I tried Saltine's turn overs....she had the chorizo and I had the spinach

A yummy puff pastry that is an excellent snack =)


We moved along the long stretch of food booths...here is something interesting...this is a cricket dish from Everybody's cafe



I wanted to try it, but I was kinda off to have in the afternoon =)

More pastries...

Goodies from Baba Ibazeta

We tried the banana cream pie...well, I mostly picked on the banans and crust! It was loaded with whipped cream and the girls loved it! As we were enjoying Chef Baba's creamy pie, we noticed that the numerous chefs and chefs to be roaming around. I said to them..."dame ng mga chefs noh? Pero you know d ba not all chefs naman are nag-aral from culinary school...like there was a time when I was watching Heny Sison's show...her guest was a chef from Lolo Dad's...he told her that he never got formal Culinary schooling and that he started out as a dishwashed there!..d ba ang galing?" and Gwen goes..."Well, sabe nga ni Ratatouille...ANYONE CAN COOK! " hahahahah You're so funny honey! :P


There were lots of Filipino native goodies like turons and kakanins.

So many food to try and take home! We saw lot of popular chefs there liek Chef Rob, Sunshine Puey, Reggie Aspiras, Jill Sandique Baba Ibazeta, just to name a few. The turn up was great! I even bumped into Joey(80 breakfasts), Christine (Ramblings of a Gypsy Soul), Mr. Anton (Our Awesome Planet) and family!!! It was chit chatting with you all =) Feels good that our love for food is doing somethng good, right? =)

Here we are...Gwen, moi & Robs

Elaine, me & Gwen

For the love of food, friendship and most of all womens health!

2007 Wedding #3: Trina's Wedding

It's time for wedding number 3!!!! My friend Trina had the wedding ceremony at Iglesia Ni Kristo Central and the reception followed at the Gazebo Royale, in Mindanao Avenue.

It's my frist time to go to Gazebo Royale. It was an al fresco, garden set reception. The venue was charming...reminded me of Fern Wood, sans the swans =) It was lovely! A lot of singing and games! I just loved the part when Trina rendered a love song to her new husband...so sweet!!!!

Most of my blockmates from UP FT were there and it wss great to see them again. Here we are...

Sal, Kat, Gale, Melay & yours truly...how time flies talaga!

It was just like yesterday, when these girls and I were in college. We reminisce about the good ol' days when we used to just worry about exams, lab works and all the stuff we had to do for school... we had great laughs. Now moving on to new chapters in our lives...being career women, wives and mothers... =)

Congratulations dear Trina!!!! Best wishes to your new life ahead =)

My Sourdough Love =)

It's baking time for my babies!!!! I patiently waited for them to rise slowly for 12 hours!!! All day long, all I can think of was my bread. To tell you the truth, I was nervous because of 2 things: 1. I don't have a baking stone....I wasn't able to find any at Santi's and the local hardwares nearby didn't have terracotta tiles (yes--I did visit hardwares for that---dapat ata sa Wilcon Builders ako nag punta) 2. I was only able to buy corn meal yesterday! The baking sheet, lined with parchment paper should be dusted with a mixture of bread flour and cornmeal to prevent the baked bread from sticking. I only dusted it with bread flour---I really didn't want to bake them without the cornmeal!

After goin to the gym...I even cut short my belly dancing class, because I wanted to fire up my oven to start preheating!

When I got home, I pre-heated my oven, sans the stone. I prepped a new baking sheet lined with parchment dusted now with the flour-cornmeal mix....and the dangerous thing that I did was...transfer the shaped and risen dough to the new sheet!!!! My friend Elaine warned me about this, but I am hard headed!!! I transferred them as carefully as I can..I mean I was really careful because I know that the proofed dough is at a delicate state.

Here they are....whew!!!! I

I think I put way too much of my dusting mix...but I know I can always tap it off after baking to remove the excess.

So, I placed my first dough in the oven and crossed my fingers! Here is my first SOUGH DOUGH BREAD!!!! =)

The shape is not perfect and the top a bit burned at one side, so I note to rotate the next loaf I bake.

Here our all three loaves baked!!! =) YEHEY!!!! I love them, despite their imperfect shape! As you can see, I am a novice slasher...is it lame not to have a lame? I used a blade to make several delicate gashes on my loaves before baking.

As you can see... the excess dusting flour needs a bit of tapping hehehe...They smelled wonderful! I left them out on the rack to cool completely...I was soo anxious to slice and see the crumb and more importantly ---taste my bread!!!! I decided to slice them in the morning instead! Patience is a virtue! =)

This morning I sliced 2 of the loaves to check the crumb ......voila!!!!!!!

The bread has a nice crust and soft, springy-spongy crumb =) My bread is moist--thank God!!! As for the taste....I toasted a slice.....yummmmmm I taste that delicate slight sour flavor of a real sour dough!!!! I AM SO PROUD AND SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!!! =) They may not be perfect but I love them!!!! My family, unfortunately, are no fans of Artisan bread. I was having a slice for breakfast and she was intrugues so I toasted a slice for her and buttered it up. I was surprised she liked them..she asked for another and traded her hotdog and star-rice breakfast for some buttered sour dough bread =) It makes me soooo happy at the sight.

Nothing beats bread making! The thrill and feeling of making my first rustic bread is indescribable. Simple as it maybe--bread lang d ba? but if you know the love and care put into making it...you would know what I mean. It's a waiting game! Growing the yeast....waiting....making the dough...rising..waiting...baking...waiting....cooling the loaf..waiting....before you can savor the final glory that is bread!!! =D The more fulfilling part of this? Sharing it with loved ones =)

Joy of joys!!!! =D An experience like no other type of baking has given me to date. I love it!!!!

Hooraaaaayyyy!!! It's Dough Making Day =D

It's time to make my dough! =D My starter is ready for use...I measured the amount necessary to make a batch of Sour Dough Bread, and fed my starter afterwards. You feed the starter culture by adding flour and water and let it ferment once more. Just incase they DO taste good...I keep them alive!!!! bwhahaahaha ;P

Sour dough bread is special, because it takes a lot time to make it. You ferment for days and days. Hence, this should be made with a lot of patience and a lot of love =) For this reason, I adore artisan breads....and more so the sour dough.

Mixing up my starter with honey and flour to jump start the fermentation for my dough making day.

This is the dough goin to rest....to double in bulk =) .... feed and rest to fatten!!!! Works the same way with humans right (kain+tulog=taba bwhahahaha)!!!hahahahaha

I used a kitchen aid to mix the dough...but I knead with my hands at the final addition of flour so I get the feel of the dough. The amount of flour added depends on the moisture of the dough, which is affected by ambient moisture. Since its rainy...I take it the dough is matakaw sa flour.

Here is the bulked-up dough---so cute isn't it? =) The aroma if excellent! Using a starter does have a big difference. I've made different kinds of breads before but this has a special aroma! I hope it does taste as good as it smells!

I divided the dough into 3 loaves and rubbed some flour on top...

I double wrapped my babies in plastic film and set them in the refrigerator to ferment for 12 hours....this makes for a slow rise to work up the flavor of the bread =)

I am so excited to bake them...and a bit nervous! Shucks, I don't have baking stone! It's best to bake breads..specially artisan breads, on a baking stone to ensure even baking temperature. I will find out tomorrow if I am successful....haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay..I hope they turn out right. The baking will make or break my bread! I can't wait! =)

DAY2: Sour Dough Starter

It's ALIVE!!!! =)

After 2 days of fermenting at room temperature...the starter bubbles...a sign that we have YEAST! YEY!!!!

It has a lovely yeasty aroma and a thick and creamy consistency =)

Spicing Up My Morning

A rainy Tuesday morning, and I found myself tackling the Makati rush hour! Grrrrr... traffic was hell!!!

Anyhoos..after doing what I had to do in the business district of Makati, I managd to to have a late breakfast pit stop at Starbucks in de la Costa...I think its Alpap buliding? --not sure, but I do remember that it is the building of the office of Pablo Antonio Architects =) hehehehehe

So here is my breakfast...Jalapeno Cheese roll and a latte =)

This is my first time to have this. I thought of having having something spicy and hot on a rainy morning. Well, its was ok..but I coudn't taste the cheese!!! It's just like plain bread with some kick to it. The heat was just right for me...just hot enough for me to handle;P hahaha

Banana Kleintorte

Another creation of my friend pâtissier Elaine!

She texted me that she had a dessert cake for my sisters. "Not for you Jen, because it's a mouse cake" she texted me hahaha. She knows me so well. Ofcourse I will taste it for the love of appreciating divine desserts, specially ones made by people close to my heart =) Mousse or no mousse I dive my fork into it! hahaha Well, its exquisite chocolate mousse with a layer of banana cream mousse....mousse on mousse!!---Not for moi...but its tasted good...Choco-Banana combo is excellent without a doubt. A very delicate dessert. My sisters adored them..as expected =)

Thank you my dear talented friend! Mwah!

Starting My Starter: SOUR DOUGH DAY 1

Today is the day! Before leaving home for work...I prepped my sour dough starter! TADA......

Now with a little TLC...I hope they turn out nicely =)

My wish for you, dear starter...is to go multiply and create for me a delicious and delicate flavor for my Sour Dough Bread! ahahahaha

If all goes well, I can make my Sour Dough bread before or by the weekend! Yehey!!!! So excited Am I!!!! =) Cross your finger for me!!!

Chillin' with the Girls =)

I don't hang out much at Glorieta nowadays, mostly I prefer Power Plant or Shangri-la for mall-capades. This Sunday though, I found myself there to hang out with my girls..Gwen and Elainey. I needed to buy a gift for my friend Trina's weddning next week so it was just but fitting to go there. Rustan's Departmentstore is the best place to get wedding gift, for me. Apart from the fact that most if not all bridal registries are at Rustan's, I love the full servive of gift wrapping and delivery service! The selections are great as well.

After shopping for my gift, we went to the UCC park cafe, located above the basement parking facing CPK & GJ's. It's my first time there...I think its a cool place to hang out---well, if it's not bright and sunny or hot! hehehehe It was a breezy afternoon...and we decided to "chill" with some cool treats.

I had the Ogura Smoothie! I've long been intrigued by this red bean delight, but I've never had the chance to have it because I am always drawn to having coffee =) ...well up untill now ! I love beans! Red, white kidney, mung, yellow, cannellini and even soya?!hahaha This smoothies is really good. It's redolent of the Azuki Frap of Starbucks, sans the coffee, which I find too sweet. This was blended just right and I like the little bits of grainy Ogura.

And these are the twin towers of Coffee Jelly Parfait....for Gwen And Elaine

They love this cool concoction..well as for me...I just want 'em Jellies =) See that whipped cream cascading along the mountains of coffee ice cream?----well, that was the major barrier that hindered my spoon to scoop up a taste! heheehe But..but...Elaine was generous enough to give me a big cube of coffee jelly...that I dropped in a glass of water to rinse off the cream hahaha ---yuck ba? It was like an espresso jello-shot! =) nice hahaha

After that, we parted ways with Gwen. Elaine and I went to Sanctuario de San Antonio to hear mass---my favorite church =)

Another wonderful Sunday to finish up the week!

Thanks girls!

Another Bridal Shower

I am set out for my wedding number 3, next week. Another very dear friend of mine---my Food Tech classmate, Trina is walking down the isle! A great wedding year for a lot of my close friends I say.

We threw in a bridal shower for her. A yes, women are really so wholesome....baket pag guys ang daya...when they have stag parties...naku headaches for the fiancee hahahaha (dahil scarry na baka may hanky panky!!!!--bwhahaha) ... our bridal showers (and I have attended my fair share of it) primarily constitue of a night of chit chat, singing, a little drinking (maybe not) and EATING!!! hahaha

The party hostess was indeed a food lover. As I glanced over the food she contibuted...I saw creativity. Unfortunately, my pictures do NOT do any justice to any of the food!!!! My hands were a bit shaky and I had no time to focus on pictorials because I was busy goin "aww...hello...musta kana..mwah ...mwah.." to our friends =)

I just want to mention her excellent lasagna...everybody that night agreed that it was excellent.

She made chicken lollipops, kare-kare, a nice Grilled-chicken and eggplant salad =)

Our pot was 2 big bilaos of pancit malabon---na galing malabon talaga ha, and barbeque from Naty's Nook...our favorite bbq site at Kat's office in PhilAm Village =)

There was spaghetti, putos, ice cream and cup cakes by Go Nuts! Yes, they make cupcakes now. It did not have a appeal to me at all as they were all iced up and it kinda looked stiff to me =)hehehe Sorry for the fans of these babies, that's just a personal opinion, I think the girls like them naman.

Back to our nice hostess, as I complimented her cooking, she tells me how fond she is of good and beautiful food. She told of a recent trip to New York, where she was able to dine at Bolo, the resto of Bobby Flay!!! Wow, I think that is great!

It was a very fun night of catching up, playing games and Videoke singing!!! This was kinda sad for me, as my throat has been very sore the past week. My voice is badly hoarse agai =( . Friends who hasn't seen me for years went..."Jen!!!! What happend to your voice? You used to be a soprano at S1 pa!!!.." ohhh sadness, I tell you. I couldn't join in the singing...may part pa naman when we had to do songs that reminded us of college...=( My voice, my poor voice...now an alto---ewwwe. Will I ever get better?

Anyhoos, despite that, I still had a great time...we all did. You need not do crazy stuff to have a good time--right girls! hahaha

Good luck and best wishes to you dear Trina!!!!!!! I can't wait to see you in the pretty white dress....how time flies....

A Mini Re-Union

It's been quite a while since I've hung out with my gal pals' Dang, Sher and Maimai....we used to see each other often, for movies and dinners along with the boys. Mai invited us all for an afternoon get together ..it was really meant to be a dinner thing but I, unfortunately, have made prior engagements (feeling important ba ako? hehehe);P

It turned out to be a very long lunch.....sooo long that it extended up untill early dinner time! hahaha I am glad it did because I was awfully late!!! Embarrassingly late! I am a very punctual person you see, but I got tied up with work and all but I am glad I still made it. We hanged at UCC in Tomas Morato, a favorite coffee place of mine =) and chatted away to catch up with each other.

Thank you girls for waiting! I can't wait to hang out with you girls again soon para maka-sakop ng juicy! hahaha ;P

Book Browsing

I just adore browsing at bookstores! I love reading cookbooks, though, I have NEVER bought a book for myself!!! Yeah, it's true. This is because my atchi buys so many, that I don't have too and I have great friends who give them to me =) ----lucky, lucky! hahaha My sis has a great cookbook collection, from Food Network star chefs bestsellers...we have all Barefoot Contessa series, Guiada, Nigella, Silver Palate...to Good House Keeping Books(these are great by the way! the recipes they put in are fool proof!), Martha Stewart (my sis is a huge fan of hers), Hershey's, Nestle's...its goes on and on .. =) Well, the down side of this for me is that, she doesn't have much on bread, I mean books on bread solely and I only have one given to me by my dear Lotte =) Nevertheless, most of them have things on bread too, specially this Good House Keeping "bible"-like book...really thick and cover savory dishes to desserts and breads as well. I borrow or research on the net =)

I went to Fully Booked at Serendra, with Elaine. Its their biggest branch ever!!! We were so enthralled by sight as we approached the building!!! I've been there once with Sal but most there were just starting to pun in the books on the other levels. This time...Fully booked IS fully packed! We scoured through the building, from the novels and best sellers and lingered mostly at, wherelse, the cookery! ahahhaha I was looking at my new favorite, Jamie Oliver's cook books. ...I noticed that he was kinda odd looking when he was just starting up....scrawny built with a toothy smile =) hehehe. Well, good cooking, entails good eating and his most recent cover photos are more good looking, as he packed in a bit of weight...he looks healthier and cuter I think. More than that, I love reading his notes and how he directs his recipes. Its as if he is talking to you! I like that. I've never tried any of his recipes though. Other than that, there a lot of great bread books that look so enticing and inspiring.

The simple delight of book browsing can be an all night event! hahaha

Back To Baking...

I been having the gym-in-the-morning routine since my shobe started college and its a nice habit, I say =) Today, I didn't go to the gym...but straight to the kitchen to start baking! Yehey!
I haven't been baking for quite a while now. Last night my friend Marc texted me his order for 2 boxes of my Chocobons and was delighted to bake them once again.

And so my morning work out...working on my dough...TADA....

..how cute the brown dough rises! I miss watching the small brown dough balloon into an airy ball =)

I wanted to start my biga as well, I have all intensions of making rustic bread this week....but unfortunately, I had to goto the office...I finished baking one at home...loaded one of our ovens in the car... along with my cooling rack...rags, tongs, boxes, unbaked but formed chocobons and finished cream cheese frosting and drove to the office.

I baked the other batch at work!

Here they are...

...one homemade and the other is commercially done! hahahaha

A friend...a patron....thank you Marc for your order =)

One of my very favorite hot and cold dessert, that picks me up and always brings a smile on my face....the Choco Banana Fritters of Max Brenner =) I smile with the thought. They are just crisply fried---TURON made fabulous by incorporating dark chocolate in them and served with a scoop of Hagen Daaz Vanilla ice cream---ahhhh Nirvana! When a girl friend of mine is sad and needs some cheering up...I introduce them to Max to nurse their blues away with this fancy TURON!!! I remember a post of the beautiful Joey of 80 breakfasts...she made chocnut turon! I told her about my favorite Max treat and how her creation reminded me of it. The turon-ablities, I think are infinite! The turon..is like a humble fried crepe--don't you think? I love crepes =)

Enough of that though, we didn't have any room for such a hearty dessert! (TIP: eat light if you want to enjoy a the Banana Fritters afterwards ;P) We were full from dinner and that sad Jack-Sans added to our sataiation pa!

We had something a bit lighter than my dear favorite treat...it's my first time to have it as well...

Churros ala Max

They usually serve it from 3pm-5pm...sort of a merienda treat, but we requested out dear shaven server (fyi: the waiters there are all---skin head, kase Max is a bald guy so para di sha ma-insecure!hahahah ;P)

We are persuasive women--they obliged to our sweet request and we were greatful =). They were not what I expected though. These are not the traditional churros con chocolate that you may find at Dulcinea ( I think they have the best ones =) ) Their renditon of this Spanish delight: skinny logs of fried dough pastry, dusted with cocoa powder and confectioners sucre. A chocolate sauce in a mini Erlenmeyer flask , a tiny fruit cup and sugared Walnuts were served on the side to complete the plate! Well, I had it with coffee and Elaine had the Italian Thick chocolate, which was great because we could dunk our churros there! hahahah ;P

We enjoyed our dessert and more so enjoyed our time togther...maximizing our bonding time at Max B's, for Elaine you see is soon leaving the me =(.

Something Different at M Cafe

With much pleasure from our Fig and Olive dinner, we decided to move to Greenbelt for dessert! To stall for time as well as we were very much full. Apparently, the movie was out of our agenda as we missed the showing time we wanted. Elaine told me she heard good things about the dessert offering of M Cafe. M Cafe is located at the Ayala Museum. A posh looking restaurant cum bar cum hooka place! hehehe I've dined there before, but I don't recall being so impressed with the food. I think I had seabass, but no dessert.

When we got there we checked out the menu and we were a bit surprised that they only offer a few cake varieties and pots de creme. I am no fan of the pots! hahaha So we just asked our good ol' server to recommend the best seler...he indubitably replied.."the Jackfruit Sansrival and the Choc-nut Valrhona cake"

I was more intrgued by the Choc-nut cake but Elaine wanted the Jack fruit Sansrival...

and here is Jack....which turned out to be a real FRUIT!bahwhahaah

It was sad looking...just look at it..looking back at you, sitting on that gargantuan rectangular dish! The only thing I liked on this plate---the Cashews =) hehehhe

It was nothing like a sansrival. No wafer, no dacquoise. There was just a layer of yema like substance that did taste like Jackfruit and a layer of mushy minced nuts with something sweet and brown! hahahaha I am sorry to M Cafe...maybe there are a lot of people who really adores this, but maybe when it comes to Sansrival, we are purists...by that I mean we want it to have the nutty wafer later and expect ist oh sooo buttery and nutty. We at once thought of our Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Pistachio nut Sansrival---that was good ei! =)

Well, that was that, maybe we just didn't like their rendition of this dessert. Nevertheless, the interiors of M Cafe is definitely admirable, I like the art that adorned the walls =)

Fig & Olive

What a lovely place! Fig & Olive, is a Spanish-Mediterranean restaurant found along H.V. dela Costa in Makati. Yes, Makati. Elaine & I were supposed to catch the new movie of Mandy Moore, License to Wed, and since the movie was at 845pm, we decided to have something interesting for dinner =) We traversed the business district of Makati to look for this restaurant nouveau to us. Fortunately, despite both of us being always a-lost in the area...we found it with ease. Meant to be ah! hahahah

It has that feel of quaint elegance that appealed to us. The place is personal and cozy...we loved it!

The menu had a good mix of Spanish and Mediterranean cuisine. From pastas to fabadas to humus and kebabs! They offer vinos, cocktails and desserts to boot.

We chose to share the Chicken Galantine.

It's somewhat like a meatloaf of minced chicken meat mixed with nuts(like pistachios), dried fruits, ham and herbs. This was served blanketed by mushroom gravy with veggies and garlic bread on the side. A great melange of flavors! Really good galantine. I like the sweetness imparted by the dried fruit, ( in this case I think they were sultanas?) whichs cuts through the richness of the dish.

We lingered quite a while, taking phots, enjoying the food. A place worth going back to and very conducive to vital colloquy! =)

Starbucks Coffee Press

Our final stop...wherelse...Starbucks! We were all so full, so Elaine and my sis had brownies and a toffee bar, respectively. I had the pressed coffee.

Black coffee soothes the full stomach...but deleterious to one with acid reflux =S

Santi's Treats

When we moved to Corinthian Hills, we went first to Rustan's ro buy some yoghurt, milk and cereals. My shobe needed a change of breakfast treats! She has been having spam and hotdogs for breakfast and I think its time she had a healthier change. Oh, the yoghurts are for me. I've been on a banana-yoghurt addiction since Elaine made me some a couple of nights ago at her house.

Santi's was still open as well so we went in to check out their stuff. I really enjoy buying stuff their and even just browsing through their items =)

This was something new... it was the first time I saw this on the shelf...


...a mix of chopped nuts and herbs...meant as bread dip or salad sprinklies. As bread dip...just add to some Olive Oil....interesting, interesting.

Lookie here...this is the lady fingers great for Tiramisu...Savoiardi!

I miss Caruso's Tiramisu =)

Nuts about nuts....

Cashew, Hazelnuts, Walnuts, Pecans, Almonds, Pinenuts....Love them all!!!

Cheeses! Quezos! Formaggi!!!!

I love cheese!!!!! =)

Our Special Place

Back when my baby sis Nikki was still..well a baby( kid naman, hehehe)..I used to her official driver to and from school. I really like making her happy by bring her to McDo with MacPlay Place or at Shakey's, where they have those little tike homes to play in while having milkshakes and pizza =) I'm glad she doesn't read my blog..otherwise she will go--ewwwee with this kwento of mush! She used to be such an adorable and bubbly child...but my baby is now a lady....how time flies talaga.

Nevertheless, we still have our shobe-ditsie day outs! hehehe Sometimes I bring her with me when I go out with my friends. Ganun na ba talaga...ka-gimick ko na ang baby sis ko! hahaha When I first had a chance to dine at The Cook Book Kitchen, I instantly thought of my shobe Nikki and Che. I know their food preferences and I was sure they would both like the food there. They love rich tasting and buttery food! The creamier the better! =)

I told shobe....may "special place" ako dadalan sa inyo soon =) .

That time came last Wednesday night. Shobe texted me..."ditsie, let's watch ratatouille". I really had movie plans with Elaine, but I told shobe that I'd gladly watch it again. I told her Elaine will come with us and she goes..."yey! kasama si Elaine" over txt! I told Elaine the plan and she was happy to oblige. I told shobe..we have dinner first at "the special place" hehehehe and she got excited.

The three of us were very much hungry goin to CBK! There was a wine tasting function that evening, but they were able to accommodate 3 famished girls pa naman =)

Moi, shobe and Elaine

We had the squash soup....

good and squashy =) hehehehe Served with a small pillow o bread.

a pair of baked fish

Sizzling hot when it was served to us! Good and buttery and shobe liked it =) This was very satiating, really. After having this we felt full to the brim!

We had so much fun! Elaine and Shobe have something in common, they are both La Sallites so they like talking about school...the noon at ngayon kinda thing. Among my friends, Elaine is my shobes favorite hang mate =) Well, my shobe declared that she didn't want to watch a movie and would rather hang out at Starbucks for more chit chat. Well we could always watch again another day =)

We proceeded to Corinthian Hills to cap the evening.

CBK is such a warm and friendly place. Delicious and simple comfort food with a homey ambiance. Next time I'll take Che and her fiancee Jeff there (as I promised them) =)