Sweet Snack Time

Churreria La Lola in Mega Mall

2015-09-25T07:06:00.002-07:00

I have seen Churreria La Lola at the SM Megamall Atrium last week but we were in a hurry to go home so I just passed on the opportunity to try it as it opened.

Since it was a holiday today, I trooped the kids and yaya to the food outlet. It was packed! We had to wait for a little while to grab a table.

Ordering also took a while as the churros were only prepared as soon as you order.

My niece and I had to review the menu for a while since I was not familiar with La Lola (which has a branch in Rockwell). We settled for the Mix Churros (Php 180), which was a combo of their classic churros (3 pcs) and the chocochurros (3 pcs).

The chocochurros I found out a bit later were churros totally covered in chocolate. The classic, of course, was the usual donut-like bread in stick form. The chocolate dip was purchased separately from the churros and we ordered it in medium size (Php 60).

After 15 minutes, our churros arrived and it was in a cone-shaped carton. It also had a hole which can hold the chocolate dip in place.

I really liked the chocochurros, it was chilled but still had the crunchy texture of the churros. My son preferred the classic but without the dip. He's not really a fan of sweet stuff (I know, a 2-year-old who doesn't have a sweet tooth!).

We all enjoyed the churros and we would definitely go back. Maybe we will try the Xuxos next (churros stuffed with Nutella, strawberry jam or peanut butter. Or the churroreo, which comes with ice cream and caramel.

Avocado and egg on toast time

2015-08-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Since I've seen this recipe posted on Pinterest, I've always wondered what avocado would taste like as a spread.

Filipinos are used to eating avocado as a dessert mixed with sugar, cream and milk. Or in their ice cream. Not a viand or sandwich spread.

Since it's avocado season, I've finally gotten around following a recipe at this site.

Real simple to follow:

Mash the avocado, season it with a bit of salt and pepper.

Toast the bread. I spread a thin layer of butter on mine before spreading the avocado. :)

Fry the egg sunny side up (pardon my messy eggs). Place on top of the toast.

Red dots = hot sauce optional.

My niece Gab and I had one toast a-piece. She said she could not taste the avocado that much and was overwhelmed with the egg.

For me, it tasted good. Avocado can be a sandwich spread (aside from being guacamole) and it's taste was a good combo with the egg.

Will scrambled eggs work too? We will see next time.

Pocky Matcha

2015-08-04T07:05:00.002-07:00

My good friend Ann went on a vacation in Japan and gave me and Tidus Pocky Matcha as her pasalubong.

I've seen this green box of goodies in the Family Mart at the office but I did not attempt to buy since I'm not really a fan of green tea or matcha flavored stuff.

Upon opening, I was happy to know the big box contained four individual snack packs because I did not want to open the entire thing and have left overs in case I didn't like how it tasted.

However, I liked how it tasted. The chocolate-almond coating tasted like the usual yummy Pocky chocolate but the stick had a slight bitter taste because of the matcha.

Tidus liked it too! He finished one packet by himself :)

Thanks Ninang Ann for the yummy pasalubong from Japan.

An afternoon at St. Marc Cafe

2014-08-25T05:04:00.001-07:00

There's a newly opened dessert place at SM Megamall's Fashion Hall. It's called St. Marc Cafe and it reminded me of this small snack place we went to in Hongdae in South Korea called Spero Spera. The cafe offered coffee and crepes of various types.

St. Marc Cafe on the other hand offers coffee, dessert beverages and various types of desserts, from shaved ice, ice creams, breads, and their signature Chococro.

We ordered three desserts and I must say their sizes are to share. Unless you are really hungry, you can finish one by yourself. I got one of the best sellers, the Choco Banana Fuji. It's a croissant topped with vanilla ice cream, bananas, drizzled with choco syrup.

Add caption

My niece and my son's yaya got tempted by the pretty displays and ordered Strawberry Heaven and Mango Fantasy. Strawberry Heaven had cheese cake while MangoFantasy had pudding.

We were all satisfied with our orders. We'd definitely go back and try the coffee drinks and breads.

My version of Adventure Time Bacon Pancakes

2014-08-02T20:29:00.006-07:00

I finally got around to making bacon pancakes. When Gaby, my niece, realized what I was doing she said that Finn and Jake of Adventure Time cooked pancakes the same way. So that was what Adventure Time Pancakes are all about.

These pancakes are real easy to do. Just fry the bacon in a non-stick pan. Some like it crispy. But I'm ok with it a bit juicy. Then I just prepared Maya's pancake mix in my Hello Kitty measuring cup. It's easier to pour the pancake batter this way.

Next, I placed two bacon slices on the non-stick frying pan. Then I just poured the pancake batter on top of the bacon. When you feel one side is done, flip the bacon carefully. Remove from pan after a couple of seconds or if you feel that side is cooked.

Voila. It's a little sloppy looking. But it's okay for a first timer don't you think? Tidus approves.

Breadtalk launches new generation breads at SM Aura

2013-07-20T06:34:00.002-07:00

Last July 17, Breadtalk opened its 36th branch in the Philippines at the SM Aura Lower Level in Taguig City. Present during the blessing were Breadtalk's officers, Taguig Mayor Lani Cayetano and Mutya ng Pilipinas beauties.

Aside from the opening, Breadtalk also launched their Gen4 breads, which are healthier for their diet-conscious consumers. Before I could discover those breads though I got distracted by this yummy display.

Now, I'm sure you might have guessed that the giant floss bread is an acknowledgement to the store's top selling bread in the country. Well, Breadtalk promises to continuously make their top sellers like the Flosss, Fire Flosss, Hot Chic, Cheese Flosss, Spring in the City, Get Cheesy and the Standard Sausage. Before tasting the new generation breads, I got to taste these top sellers and these are my hauls.

This is my favorite though:

I dunno what it is exactly called but it's the perfect breakfast bread: toasted bread, ham, with a sunny-side up egg topped with cheese. I was looking for me and my sister's favorite chocolate croissant but Breadtalk's General Manager James Aguilar explained that they sometimes pull out breads to give the customers a chance to experience other breads. Come to think of it, when Pia and I go to Breadtalk, we only buy the chocolate croissants haha. So yeah, don't go to Breadtalk always buying one kind of bread. Buy different ones!

Ok, now on to the new breads. Breadtalk Managing Director Winward Chu explained what each bread was made of as he placed each plate before us bloggers. The bread we tasted first was the Kpop Chicken or Claypot Chicken. It might not look that appetizing (it looked liked it was made of ube) but the bread was actually very savory with a flaky outer crust.

Next on the plate was the Sweet Potato Pot, which was a baguette infused with black sesame filled with steamed sweet potatoes. I dunno why it reminded me of hopia and how it was perfect for those who are weight conscious. The Sayang Sardine bread came up next and for me it was a sort of tribute to the classic Pinoy pandesal with sardinas. We also tasted the Big Apple Bread, which was a hit for me because I really love apples. The Coco Fuji was milk custard cream sandwich and the filling reminded me of Ferrero chocolates and Nutella. And last but not the least was the Yaya Eggtart and it instantly became another of my favorites because of the not too sweet egg custard, flaky crust and the sprinkled sugar on top was burned just right. The new generation breads will come out soon in all Breadtalk branches so watch out for these.

Of course the Sanrio cakes inside the ref standee did not escape my attention. I plan to buy a Hello Kitty cake for myself and a Kerroppi cake for Tidus soon.

Oh and before I end this, I met this adorably weird guy outside the Breadtalk store.

Maybe you'd like to go out on a date at Breadtalk with the Flosss Monster one of these days, huh? :)

SM Hypermart Bakery

2013-06-24T22:36:00.001-07:00

Gaby and I passed by the SM Hypermart at SM Megamall last Saturday and we were immediately attracted by the yummy goodies at their bakery. First that caught our attention was their ham and floss bread.

Gaby ate most of this one. She said it tasted real good, with the floss being like that of Breadtalk's. The ham side had a little sweet and mayonaisse-y taste which she said can be a very good snack in school.

Next that made me curious was this green bread (my favorite color is green by the way). It was matcha flavored bread with red bean filling.

I liked the bread, which had a sweet taste and texture like that of an ensaymada. There was a bit of a bitter taste, probably because of the matcha tea flavor. However, I wasn't too fond of the filling. It was too sticky for my taste. Tidus' nanny liked it though and finished the bread for me.

I'm also fond of spring onion flavored stuff (like crackers and hopia) so I bought the spring roll, which upon close scrutination, had floss too.

This bread I really liked. It was soft and tasted of spring onions plus the floss added to its savory flavor.

Of course, I would not forget to buy the store's Japanese cheese cake because of ...

Hello Kitty! The cake looked like leche flan but it was actually very soft cheese cake. Not too sweet, just right and you can absolutely taste the cheesiness in it. Tidus likes this one too.

Over all me and Gaby were satisfied with our SM Hypermart Bakery experience. And all these bread were purchased for only a little over 100 pesos. We would definitely go back again.

Mister Donut Cafe in Greenhills

2013-06-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

When I heard about the Mister Donut Cafe in Greenhills selling pon de rings, I immediately dragged my niece Gaby to buy some for Tidus' 4th month birthday. I expected the store to have the donuts we bought in Korea and Taiwan but it was really the pon de rings they imported.

Gaby and I also decided to have our merienda there so we ordered their bacon croissant and baked macaroni. Both tasted okay, not exceptional though.

We enjoyed our time inside the cafe because we also chose to sit by the windows and on their huge red chairs.

As for the pon de rings, we ate them at home after Tidus touched them (hehe). Well of course me being a fan of Mister Donut in Korea and Taiwan, it tasted a bit different for me. The sansrival flavored donut was a tad too sweet. The almond covered one was okay but J.Co's version of it (the al capone) tastes better. The one I liked the most was the chocolate covered pon de ring. It wasn't too sweet and the flavor blended well with the donut.

Next time we go there, I'm probably gonna try their other donuts and desserts.

Taste N See Toasted Pastillas

2013-05-20T23:31:00.001-07:00

I joined a mommy forum since giving birth to Tidus. And the mommies there were raving about these toasted pastillas for the longest time. Finally, I gave in to my cravings last week and my two pouches of Taste N See Toasted Pastillas came in the mail. I ordered them from a mom in Marikina, who orders the lot from Bulacan. I was a bit surprised when it came in an itty-bitty package. I thought one order was big, like the size of the usual chichiria pouch in the supermarket.

But when I took a bite of the pastillas, I realized why it came in such a small package. It was yummy and super sarap, it would be hard to stop eating and you'd have a major sugar overload.

It tasted like the usual pastillas from Bulacan made from goat's milk but the toasted sugar coating added that extra bitter-sweet punch. I asked my officemates to taste it too, and they all hated me for making them 'bitin.' They now want to order from that mommy too. :))

Hello Kitty -- Mister Donut Japan

2013-04-04T06:39:00.006-07:00

Here I am still dreaming of the Pon de Rings and Bear donuts of Mister Donut Taiwan and Korea when I stumbled upon a friend's post (she lives in Japan) on Facebook about Hello Kitty donuts. They are absolutely adorable and I'd probably take pics of my orders before taking a bite in it. Would I even dare? I hope it reaches Philippine shores (cross fingers) like that of the Pon de Rings which are now available in the Mister Donut Cafe in Greenhills. Aren't they such pretties? ^_^

Sweet Catch

2012-02-04T04:05:00.000-08:00

I've passed by Sweet Catch's kiosk at the SM Megamall Food Court a dozen of times already but I thought of finally buying one of the fish-shaped waffles when I went shopping one day with my niece Gaby.

The waffle reminded me of Korea, where the fish-shaped cakes with red mung bean paste fillings are famous. Sweet Catch's fish waffles had fillings like that of the ordinary waffles we have here.

I wasn't too impressed with my ham and cheese-filled fish waffle. The waffle was obviously cooked hours before and it was a bit on the rubbery side already. And at P25, I could have gotten a cheaper and more satisfying waffle from Waffle Time or it's counterparts. Anyways, I probably paid for the fishy shape and the reminiscent feeling of being in Korea. LOL.

Kozui again

2012-01-27T07:01:00.001-08:00

My friends and I love eating at Kozui. It's a quaint cafe located along Tomas Morato in Quezon City and we first ate there wanting to eat their green tea anmitsu. However, over the years they have expanded their menu and we have been eating there now for lunch or dinner. And Pia likes it there because of the wifi.

Last Thursday, my pick was our favorite spinach soup. I also ordered the Korean chicken wrap for the first time and although it was spicy, I really enjoyed it because of the fresh lettuce and they had my favorite pickled radish like the ones we ate in Korea. Their menu is a bit expensive (the chicken dish was worth P195) but if you want a healthy splurge, then go to Kozui.

There wasn't any space left in my tummy for anmitsu this time. Maybe next week :)

Oishinbu at Little Tokyo

2011-10-19T09:16:00.000-07:00

I'm too lazy to write something lengthy at the moment but my friends brought me to this Japanese restaurant in Makati inside Little Tokyo and was I really full after. The best for me were the gyoza and tempura. The gyoza was juicy yet slightly crispy while the tempura had the fattest shrimps I ever ate. LOL. We are going to try the other restaurants beside it next. Gotta save though for the food was a bit on the expensive side. But definitely worth it.

Easy Sundubu Jigae

2011-07-24T04:48:00.000-07:00

I was craving for Sundubu Jigae (Soon Duboo Chigae to some), a Korean tofu stew, for sometime now and even though my friends and I ate at Yedang (Korean restaurant in Ortigas) my tongue seems to be yearning for the dish every week!

So at the grocery store, I realized maybe I can replicate the dish again, but with some revisions since I don't have all the ingredients at hand. I looked up some easy Sundubu recipes on Youtube and bought stuff this afternoon. It tasted close to the real thing :)

I hope you find this easy to do too.

Easy Sundubu Jigae

1 block silk tofu, chopped into huge blocks

1/4 cup onion leeks, chopped thinly

1/4 k pork strips or menudo cut

1 white onion, minced

1 big clove garlic, minced

1 small pouch of Dae Kimchi

2 tablespoons of red pepper paste

2 tablespoons of patis or fish sauce

1/2 pouch of Del Monte Caldereta sauce

2 eggs

mushrooms (can be button, shitake or whichever you like)

1 tablespoon sesame oil

1 1/2 cups water

Saute garlic and onion in sesame oil. Add the pork and fish sauce. Saute until brown then add the water. Let it boil for 10 minutes then add the kimchi and red pepper paste. Put in the tofu then let it simmer. Add the caldereta sauce, mushroom and leeks. Let boil then crack the two eggs. Do not stir. Turn off the stove and let the remaining heat cook the egg. Serve with steamed white rice.

Sangchu Geotjeori or Korean Lettuce Salad

2011-04-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

I saw this Korean recipe being made on 2 Days, 1 Night (shown on KBS) the other week. My sis said maybe I can replicate it. I found a recipe similar to the one on TV and some of the ingredients were a bit hard to find. So I decided to do some variations, available here in our supermarkets in Manila.

Sangchu Geotjeori or Korean Lettuce Salad

Ingredients:

1 bunch romaine lettuce

2 tbsps. of red pepper paste

1 tbsp corn syrup

1 tbsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

green onion leaves, chopped

Chop lettuce into bite size pieces. Add chopped green onion leaves and minced garlic. Add corn syrup and sesame oil. Add red pepper paste and soy sauce. Mix. Then sprinkle sesame seeds. Serve.

Good healthy stuff. Hope you like it.

Arce Dairy Ice Cream

2011-01-23T06:35:00.000-08:00

Arce used to be the makers of Selecta Ice Cream but they eventually built their own brand in the late 90s. Since I've tasted the ice cream on a cone in UP during my college days, it has since become my favorite local ice cream.

My top 3 favorite flavors of Arce are pistachio, caramel and sweet corn. What I like about the ice cream is that the flavors are not too sweet and the milky taste is prominent. It also melts a bit faster than other local brand ice creams, I guess it having less artificial stuff.

I have yet to taste some of their other unique flavors like buko lychee, atis and blueberry cheese cake.

My version of risotto

2011-01-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

This is the second time I've made "risotto" and it's more of Filipino rather than Italian. The first time I did this, I added uncooked rice into the broth and stirred constantly. It tasted great but the rice was cooked unevenly. So this time around I used cooked rice, since we had a lot of left overs from last night's dinner. And it was faster to cook too. If you love mushrooms and cream then this is a nice dish for you.

Patty's Beef and Mushroom Risotto

Ingredients:

Rice (cooked, about 3 cups)

Mushrooms of your choice (we used brown and shitake, put as many as you like)

Beef sirloin (or any thinly sliced beef in the grocery store cut into tiny pieces)

Frozen peas and carrots (thawed)

Butter ( 2 tbsps)

Garlic (1-2 cloves, minced)

Evaporated milk (one small can)

All Purpose Cream (the one in the small box)

Beef cube (1 cube)

Salt and sugar to taste

Water

Parmesan cheese

Saute minced garlic in butter. Add the beef and stir fry until it turns brown. Add the mushrooms then the vegetables. Add a half cup of water then add the beef cube, let it simmer. Add the can of milk and the whole box of cream. Add salt and sugar to taste. When it begins to boil, add the rice. Stir the rice thoroughly and mix the beef, vegetables and mushroom evenly. Stir constantly. You can add a bit more of water if it appears a little dry. Let it heat a bit then serve. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top for more of that Italian taste.

Hope you like this one.

Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache Icing

2010-12-29T21:02:00.001-08:00

I wanted to try my aunt's delicious chocolate cake recipe but I didn't want to be too ambitious and made it into chocolate cupcakes. She didn't share with me though her icing recipe and told me to buy the instant fudge icing at the store.

I didn't want to do that so since it's small scale stuff, I decided to use Martha Stewart's chocolate ganache icing recipe. It has three ingredients: chocolate, heavy cream and some corn syrup. I used dark chocolate for my icing and I was amazed with how easy it was to make. And look how shiny my cupcakes are!

I'm gonna make some more of these and this time with my Hershey's chocolate cupcake recipe. Chocolate overload! :)

Mango Hello Kitty Cake

2010-11-15T06:55:00.001-08:00

I've had these molds for quite sometime and it is only now I got to use them. I wanted to make my boyfriend something special for our 5th month so I looked for a mango cake recipe online since he likes mangoes a lot. The recipe I found was actually for a cupcake one from the cupcake project, so the cake I think is a bit heavy, with a bibingka like consistency. I placed mangoes and strawberries inside with butter cream icing. I hope he likes it. :)

Sittori Chocolates from Daiso/Saizen

2010-11-13T02:26:00.000-08:00

My sister and I were surprised to find snacks and noodles being sold at Saizen. Saizen here in Manila is known as Daiso in other parts of the world. We saw some of the snacks sold here in Taipei. The one I bought and is writing about is called Sittori Chocolates.

From the package I thought the chocolate snacks were covered in chocolate. But when I opened it, it was a kind of wafer snack with a very light chocolate coating. The wafer-like biscuit tasted like Nissin's Rubik's Wafer but a bit more chocolatey to the taste, probably because of the choco coating. It was sweet yet light so it's not overwhelming. I'd definitely buy some again.

Glico Potato Stick

2010-10-20T07:32:00.000-07:00

My sister went to Thailand about two months ago and like all our travels, we always visit the convenience store to find any interesting snacks. And here is one of her interesting finds, Glico Potato Stick. It had interesting flavors like Japanese curry and BBQ but we found the cheese flavor the yummiest.

The sticks were light and flakey and the flavor wasn't too overpowering. I think it's much better than chips because it wasn't too salty for me. But I dunno really since I couldn't read the nutrition information since it was all in squiggles.

Cheese pimiento, my version

2010-09-11T11:26:00.000-07:00

And I'm back. Sorry to have been out for sometime. :)

Anyway, I've got a lot of food pictures, waiting to be uploaded and written about here so I guess I better get started.

My sister and I went to the grocery a week ago and saw this package of buy-one-take-one bread by the counter and it looked yummy enough for us to buy. However, we had an arguement about what to put on the bread with our limited budget at the moment. I suggested to make a cheese pimiento spread but she didn't like the idea because it reminded her of our school baon when we were kids, those days when our mom didn't have much money to buy hotdogs or ham.

Anyway, I bought the ingredients for the cheese pimiento the following day when I wasn't with her and did my own version of my mom's recipe. And when I asked her if it tasted like anything we ate before and she sheepishly said it was much, much better. The cheese pimiento spread could even be a dip for chips and snacks. When we were kids, I used to think my mom used mayonaisse. But she actually used milk.

So here's how I did it:

Cheese Pimiento

1 package of Eden Cheese
1 small can of Carnation Evaporated Milk
1 small can of red pimiento
sugar (optional)

1. Grate the cheese in a bowl.

2. Cut the pimiento into small slivers or slices. How many to put in will depend entirely on how much you'd like it to taste "pimiento".

3. Combine the cheese, pimiento and mix in the evaporated milk. Add sugar to taste.

Hope it's as easy for you to do as it was for me.

Pepero Almond Sticks

2009-02-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

Since Pepero Day in South Korea is celebrated similarly to Valentine's Day, I thought I'd give a special tribute to these special snack.

If you've been curious what Pepero is, well these chocolate sticks are like Japan's Pocky and it comes in different varieties like strawberry and white chocolate. I bought this box of Pepero Almond Sticks at a Korean grocery near Panay Ave. This is my prefered "flavor" over the choco-filled sticks and the original chocolate Pepero sticks they have over at the store.

The chocolate is creamy and the almonds add more crunchiness to the stick. A real good snack or dessert for only Php45 a box.

Trying my hand at cupcakes

2009-01-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, this is my first venture into fancy cupcakes. I went all out for my friend Thess' birthday. Actually she was my little experiment hehe. I was scared of doing frosting at first and when I saw Wilton ready made icings in tubes (P119), I bought one (pink) to see if I could decorate my cupcakes using icing.

However, It was obvious that one tube would not be enough to frost almost 2 dozen cupcakes so I really had to try making my own frosting. I didn't like my frosting to taste too vanilla, so I added tons (spoons heheh) of cocoa powder to the mix and somehow it came out okay.

The Wilton icing also had an okay taste, not too sweet, not too overwhelming. Will try another frosting recipe next time too.

I hope Thess liked her birthday cupcakes.

Lotte ABC chocolate

2009-01-19T19:35:00.001-08:00

Yes, I'm a sucker for Japanese goods. And Japanese chocolate. Ever since Ate Monch brought a kind of Lotte chocolate as pasalubong for the office years ago, I could not resist buying this pack at the SM Supermarket in Megamall. It cost 100++ for a few measly pieces but I was willing to shell out cash for my quest of finding that brand of chocolates. And even though it has Korean writing all over it, I thought since it's from Lotte, might taste the same.

Unfortunately, it tasted different. The chocolates were yummy but still it lacked the creaminess and the dark chocolate feel of the Ate Monch's pasalubong.

Oh well, maybe I should just really go to Japan and go chocolate hunting there.