May Round Up / June Plans

May passed by so fast... I still haven't fully savored the flavors of summer, and now it's Rainy Season already! Tsk tsk tsk. Anyway, May has been a sweet month for me, and I hope yours is sweet, too.

May brought changes here on my blog... I changed my blog's wall paper using the October Afternoon "Front Porch Fly a Kite" paper because it's no longer summer. I don't know how long the wallpaper will be up, I might change it to something different next month, but for now, I will stick to this one.

Also, instead of using the Blogger page tabs, I decided to pattern the tabs from the ones I used on my travel blog, "Where My Feet Took Me". For the tabs on this blog, I used the copy of a strawberry label sticker by Jillibean Soup, and just added the words using the Pea Lauren font. Aside from the tabs, I also decided to create little icons and chose to use the KI Memories puff cupcakes and just added the logo of Facebook, Twitter, an Envelope and RSS. Quite a tedious thing to do, but I surely had fun doing it.

As for food trips, I didn't do much this month, but I am thankful I got to eat out of town - specifically in San Pedro, Laguna as well as Tayabas and Lucban in Quezon Province. Cooking, zero new recipes tried this month. Awww. :)

My garden is showing progress... however, I am now left with two tomatoes and two bell peppers. Yesterday, I saw one of my tomato plants cut off... I didn't know who did it, but I did feel so bad about it. Good thing I still have about 9 little tomato plants in little pots, as well as 5 bell peppers growing. All is still not fully wasted.


As for my Kaffir Lime, I re-planted it again, because I noticed that it's drowning in rain water. I learned that this plant didn't like too much water, so I unearth it and placed it on a much higher part of the garden. I was afraid maybe the change might not do good on the plant, so I was really thankful seeing new leaves - which means it is growing. :)

June plans... well, I don't know where the family or friends will go out and eat this month, so that part I will just leave up to fate, although I will be attending a bloggers' event on 25 June, and hope to attend another one on 23 June (hope they will consider me). One big plan I have for this month is the cooking. I really have to find my place in the kitchen, and for this month, I plan to cook recipes from the May 2011 issue of Yummy Magazine. Recipes I hope to cook include:

• Chicken and Soda Casserole
• Cajun Chicken with Mexican Bean Salsa
• Chicken and Ham Rolls
• Paksiw na Pata a la Margarita Uy de Baron

I also plan to cook "Pork and Beans," but it is going to be our lunch today (will cook right after publishing this), so I am not including it anymore. The recipe for this dish will be shared on Friday.

I am very happy with the way things are going on this blog. I am patting myself for the passion I have and of course, I am thankful to the people around me that provides inspiration and fuel to grow. Cheers!

*** Jenn ***

ps - Oh, joined the Bloggers Exchange for the months of June and July... I already added a page tab for it. :)

BC Bloggers | Childhood Food

Week 3 of BC Bloggers now. This week's question:

"What food takes you back to your childhood?"

There are so many foods that instantly takes me back to childhood, among those include: Texas Bubblegum, Vicks Candy, Storck candies in Pineapple and Orange flavors, Jolly Sandwich Cookies, Coco Jam, Magnolia Chocolait and Milk in bottles, junk foods of all sorts... but my favorite would have to be this:

The jelly in cups! The time I started schooling, my brother was staying in La Union because parents can't take care of us both (we were born 1 year and 4 months apart and the family was just starting, parents can't afford to hire a nanny, let alone lose their jobs). Since no one watches over me, they decided to enroll me at a school near their workplace so mom can pick me up at school and let me stay in the office. Their manager has her own office, so I can stay in my mom's desk, but most of the times she would hid me in the records room just in case the manager comes in or someone might complain.

My dad works in the same branch, but I couldn't stay in his office because he was in the Salary Loans department and he was always busy and stressed. Once in a while, he would come pick me up in mom's department and treat me to snacks (always my favorite part of the day) - goto, barbecue... and always, before he sends me back to mom, we would go to the nearby supermarket and he would buy me these jelly snacks in cups so I won't get bored staying inside the records room. Sometimes, he would buy me those in bigger cups (with spoon), and even if my dad specifically said I'd eat it when I am alone in the records room, I'd always save it and take it home because it's much nicer sharing the jelly cups with playmates.

BC Bloggers last week:

Mommy Diary | Divine’s Memoirs | Darkanjel’s Life Musings | My Sassy Chef | Earn Online with Miss C | Where the Moon Shines | Digital Catharsis | My Everyday | Truly Rich Mom | My Oweini Life | Single Mother on the Go | The Adventurous Little Prince | I Live to Eat | The Miscellaneous Me | Momentary Life | Riza Written | Consumer Mom Talks | Zoie’s Mom Blogging | Pink Memoirs | My Life and My Journey Online | My Thoughts in Letters | Green Femme | Mama Vernz Theory | The Virtual Wanderer | Daily Notes | Life Ascending | Virtual Tralala | Earn Writes | Dad | Fortunate Cooky | Crushed Pink | Celebrity Diary | Handy Reviews

*** Jenn ***

Weekend Eating | Chicken and Siomai

Saturday was a busy day for mom because she attended the confirmation rites of our neighbor's fiance as they are getting married on Tuesday. The event was scheduled around 7am, but because the church had other programs, the priest was only able to start around 10am. They treated mom for some snacks (which became mom's early lunch). She took home some siomai from Chowking, and since it was already 11am, mom just said we just add it to our lunch since she is going out (again) to go look for clothes for the wedding. Sister came with her.

As usual, weekends are lazy cooking days. While I think the siomai is okay enough for me, brother went to cook fried chicken - 1 leg quarter for each of us. He still has a pack of the McCormick buffalo wings mix, so he just coated the chicken with the breading, and served the sauce on the side, so we can still put any condiments we wanted.

It was another binge for me... and I am starting to feel guilty.

So... what did you have last weekend? If you're new to the Weekend Eating meme, you can read the rules and get the badge codes HERE.



*** Jenn ***

ps - I processed the picture and ran the lomo script with vignette. I was able to download this script pack and I am trying to play with it. :)

Pasalubong From Quezon Province, p1

It's been two weeks since we last went to Quezon, but it's just now that I am able to share some of the food products sister and I took home. For this trip, my sister and I only had p2000 budget (each), so we decided to split the foods to buy. She chose the ones she liked, then I will choose mine, just so we won't be buying the same things. We ended up buying quite a lot, so I will divide the pictures, and for this week, I will share foods of the bread / cookie / biscuit kind.

Pinagong. I don't know why it was called pinagong, but on our way to Quezon, a vendor entered the bus and I liked its smell. It smelled like it was grilled, but Ria said it wasn't. Anyway, this I bought on the bus on our way back to Manila, so I was able to buy very fresh ones. Quite pricey at p5 each (it's sold in packs for p20 each, and it has 4 pieces per pack). Taste wise, it's like monay, but what made this one much better than monay is that it seemed to not have any yeast... it was so firm and yes... perfect to dip on hot coffee! :)


Shing-a-Ling. The buco pie might be the most popular pasalubong from South Luzon, but one food I always crave whenever I travel south is this. At first I thought this one's made from flour, but I later found out that it was actually made from dried then deep fried pancit miki. Before, I can just eat it as is... but through my sister, I found out this taste better when dipped in spiced vinegar. Why is it called Shing-a-Ling? I don't know, really.

Camachile. Crunchy cookies shaped like camachile fruit, but I think it shaped more like human fingers. :) Since it looked a bit toasted, it has its nutty flavor, almost kinda like ginger snaps minus the ginger flavor.

Torones (Cookies and Cream). Torones is basically like that of barquiron. At the store, there were different flavors, and sister chose the cookies and cream. It was good, though I was a bit disappointed that the barquillos didn't have any filling in the middle part.

Uraro Cookies. The uraro cookies I have grown to love looked like polvoron. At first I was a bit hesitant in getting this, but since it's the only kind of uraro in the store, I decided to get it. Well, tasting it, it still taste the same, but I guess some manufacturers decided to change its look. Each pack has about 6 florets and 2 leaves, and is p10 per pack.

Apas. Very thin oblong-shaped cookies with sugar... this one is my brother's favorite food from Quezon, so when sister got to see a store selling one big pack for only p35, she decided to get two packs. This one tasted like camachile with added sugar. :)

There are actually so many bread products from Quezon, but aside from the fact that we are on a tight budget, we also took into consideration how we are going to consume the products, so we didn't buy that much.

Next week, will share the rest of the goodies in our pasalubong bayong. :)

*** Jenn ***

Carol's Texan 5 Chicken and Ribs

I am a foodie and I love to eat. That is not really a secret, but coming from a not-so-well-off family, there are certain things I go for when dining out, two big factors being affordability and quality of food.

When I logged on to Facebook just a few minutes ago, I got surprised seeing this:

This is the menu of Carol's Texan 5, and just by looking at it, I was instantly drawn to the Ultimate Texan Ribs. I love pork and I am a certified "meatatarian," and that is just something I want to devour! They say Carol's Texan 5 offers the best chicken and ribs this side of Manila. Well, if it's really the best, then I sure I want to taste it so I can attest if they really are the best. :)

Located in Little Baguio (San Juan), they have the following services:

• Dine-in - probably the best way of enjoying the food as foodies will also get to experience the "feel" of the place.
• Delivery (Available only in San Juan, Mandaluyong, Ortigas, and Pioneer) - makes me wish I live in any of those areas, hehehe.
• Event Food Booths - makes me remember food fairs in schools!
• Party Trays - your share for potluck parties solved!
• Functions - celebrate life moments by eating good food!
• Kiddie Meal Sets - kids love good food, too, of course!

Ten Minute Tops and Club Travel Now are organizing a Bloggers Buffet at Carol's Texan 5, and I for one would want to be a part of it because I believe Carol's Texan 5 have the two major factors I look for when dining out (affordability and quality of food). Not only that, I also want to meet Ms. Carol, the person behind all those great looking dishes, learn from her passion and success, and of course, I also want to share good food with fellow bloggers, as it is a chance to mingle with other foodies.

Anyway, if you want to learn more about Carol's Texan 5, you can check their Website, and/or their Facebook Page. While you're there, you are most certainly welcome to click the "like" button, so more and more can get to learn about them.

If you're from San Juan or nearby location, or if you want to personally visit them:

Carol’s Texan 5
2F 713 J. Abad Santos St.
Little Baguio, San Juan
(02) 727-3843 / 0922-4850154

*** Jenn ***

Foodie 365 | Week 21

I follow "the Daily Wyatt" because of Texture Thursdays meme I do over my other blog, and just this morning, I saw the post about their Project 365 linky party, and since I am doing P365 this year, I decided to join the party. :) I am also now linking my P365 posts to Savory Sunday, since some of the foods I take pictures of tend to be on the savory side.

Here are the foods for Week 21.


141. Bouillabaisse

21 May 2011

This day was a great day for me food-wise, because I got to attend the Yummy Eats event, and was able to eat French food courtesy of a cooking demo by French chef Marc Chalopin, followed an awesome lunch at Enderun Colleges' Restaurant 101. This was the food cooked by chef Marc, and it was so comforting!

{Applied Kim Klassen's portrait texture here}

142. Cranberry Blondies

22 May 2011

Weekend, brother was in Batangas with his girlfriend. The sister of brother's girlfriend has a pastry business and when they (bro and his gf) left, they were given boxes of these goodies. This wasn't the first time I got to taste this, last Christmas we were also gifted with a box of Cranberry Blondies, and the family just love it a lot.


143. Starbucks VIA

23 May 2011

Starbucks was one of the concessionaires at the Yummy Eats event, and aside from an itty bitty cup of frappuccino that guests can have for free, they also gave each guests a packet of Starbucks VIA, which is their instant coffee. It may be instant, but it sure smells and tastes like brewed coffee!

144. Apas

24 May 2011

One of the cookies/biscuits I got to take home from Quezon Province.


145. Beef Sinigang

25 May 2011

There was a typhoon this week, so when the meat delivery delivered some beef short ribs, brother immediately knew he would cook it sinigang (in sour broth). This used to be my favorite food, and tasting it again surely gave me some nostalgic feeling.

146. Karinderya Foods, part 2

26 May 2011

Typically, I tend to eat real heavy for breakfast and would skip or eat less for lunch. However, since we have cousin here in the house and we can't just let him starve, my siblings and I really needed to make an effort in cooking lunch. Sadly, planning the meals turned out to be quite difficult for us, so whenever Mr. Lazybug would hit us, we just resort to buying cooked dishes. Well, three dishes for p100 (usd2.30) is surely a much better and cheaper way of eating rather than buying ingredients and cooking it (saves gas, too).

147. Tapioca in Sweet Cream

27 May 2011

Everyday before lunch, there is this local cooking reality TV show patterned after "Top Chef." We oftentimes watch it (because contestants didn't have formal training / experiences in the food business), and this day, a team cooked Tapioca with Mangoes. It made my siblings interested, so in the afternoon, they just bought tapioca pearls (locally known as "sago") and mixed it with all purpose cream and condensed milk. A very simple yet fulfilling dessert.

I realized, it's been too long since I last cooked new food. This week, I really would resolve to cook again. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

*** Jenn ***