Frannywanny

If you're familiar with the story of King Midas who's a man that turns everything that he touches into gold, then the Japanese, I believe, are the type that turns everything that they create into something that's super cute and pleasing to the eye. I love how the Japanese gives so much attention to detail that even a regular gift-wrapped item turns into a work of art. Then there's their sushi and sashimi creations that just never fails to wow everyone. It's the precision, the balance and how they continues to achieve perfection no matter what. That said, my heart skipped a beat when I received a beautiful present from Kumori Philippines about a month ago. It's a box of Puffy-O Donuts  and it's available in 3 flavors -- Banana Walnut, Chocolate Caramel and Cheese. I was actually out when this beautiful box arrived so our reliable helper decided to store these in the refrigerator in order to prolong its life. So, as soon as my family and I were ready to...

Growing up in the Philippines, there's a common practice wherein some items (common nouns) are referred to by a particular brand (proper noun). For example, "Don't forget to close the Frigidaire (a popular brand of refrigerators)"  or "Do we still have Colgate? (toothpaste)"   As a marketer, I'd honestly take great pride if my brand will be used as such. Perhaps, this is one indication that the brand as made it as a household name. Similarly, when using butter, I often times would hear my Kongkong would say "Just add Anchor and sugar" when he actually meant "Just add butter and sugar". Well, Anchor Butter has been around for as long as I can remember and growing up, this is what I would also see in our fridge which we use to spread on bread, pancakes, on sweet corn and more. In fact, my favorite childhood breakfast was pretty simple. It's a piece of toasted bread with melted butter and sprinkled with white sugar. So simple but s...

It's no secret how much I love cheese . For me, it's that one thing that can never go wrong regardless of what type of dish you add it in. Cheese on crackers. Cheese with Pasta . Cheese on sweet Pichi Pichi . Cheese Sandwich. Even Cheese on my Milk Tea ! I'm totally crazy about cheese and most especially the soft cheese kind. Cheese is indeed a very versatile ingredient and recently, I attended a lunch affair where Chef Emmanuel Stroobant showed us four different dishes where he made use of cheese. Before that though, I got to try a mix of European cheeses with a very varied taste profile and history.

It has been almost a year since my colleague told me to try this really good Japanese restaurant called Mangetsu . Back then, the restaurant used to be located in Mile Long along Amorsolo street in Makati. Time flies so fast that we have been so busy and before we know it, Mangetsu in Mile Long closed down to relocate. Shucks. I can't believe we just let one week pass after the other and just like that, the year has ended without us being able to try this highly-recommended restaurant. Fast forward to the start of 2012, I learned that Mangetsu is finally open again and this time it's located along Jupiter street, a place I am very familiar with. We wasted no time and there we were a few days ago to have dinner with two of my favorite food bloggers Jin and Leslie . We agreed to meet early, too early that we were the first batch of customers to arrive for dinner time. Good thing too as we got the full attention of almost all servers. Of course, I did my research by aski...

I guess our love for food truly runs in the family... I strongly believe in this as every member in the family loves everything and anything about food. From cooking to trying out new dishes, from visiting new restaurants to actually writing about them , we can just talk about food for hours and which actually makes a very interesting dinner topic. However, my cousin took a step further and opened his very own deli. That, in itself, is a true testament about how passionate he is about food and that he would love to share this with his customers. Meet the Deliboys . The brainchild of Wilcon Syjuico and Perry Choi , this cozy looking deli located at the 3rd floor of the newly constructed Northeast Square is your go-to place of delicious cheese, cold cuts and steak. The best part is, these are sold at very reasonable prices making you want to go back for more. One afternoon, wanting to unwind so badly, I was invited by my mom to have a light afternoon snack at my cousin's deli...

I call myself lucky because in the rare times that I'd get sent to a business trip..I was sent to the United States. Also, of all the states there is in this country, I ended up flying to California where my Ahia Jeff is based. So, on the first day of my vacation here in the US, I made plans to have dinner with my cousin. I guess being a food-lover runs in our family (in my case on both sides) as Ahia Jeff made reservations at Bouchon Bistro , a popular French restaurant owned by a Michelin-star awardee Chef Tom Keller . Aside from Bouchon Bistro , he also owns the high-end restaurant French Laundry . We agreed to meet at 7PM but traffic was so bad that despite leaving an hour early, we got stuck along the freeway and arrived 45 minutes past 7. Sadly, due to this, Ahia Jeff lost his reservation as it takes one more than a month to get a table here as it's always packed with guests every night. We ended up having dinner at the bar area at the ground floor. Our server was so...

Outside Universal Studios Singapore, you'll find a row of mouth-watering Western food establishments to satisfy your hunger. One particular store caught our attention...well I guess it was due to the line that doesn't seem to fall below 15 waiting customers. I've first heard of Garrett Popcorn from fellow blogger and friend Richard who told me not to miss this when we visit Sentosa. On our way out, I made sure to follow Richard's advice and boy were we glad we did! Inside the tiny store that's adjacent to the Hershey Chocolate shop, we focused on the board that listed the different flavors available. There were five flavor options and we chose the Chicago Mix which is a sweet-salty combination of cheese and caramel popcorn. My mouth waters as I patiently wait in line, from the back of the store I can see the perfect round popcorn in their glass shelf. We just got a small bag ($6) to share. Personally, I would have gotten the 1 Liter Tin Can to bring home...

Last Saturday, I took some time out to go around the mall on my own. After getting so tensed and stressed out on my never-ending things to do, I decided that it's about time to enjoy some me-time. I've always enjoyed going around the Eastwood Mall . While the mall still has a limited number of stores and majority of which are high end shops, I enjoy the ambiance and the fact that I can roam around in peace. A new signage caught my eye: Weekend Gourmet Market . I've been to a number of weekend markets and all have brought about delightful experiences. I enjoy eating my way around as I chat with the stall owners while learning more about their products. The Eastwood Weekend Market is probably the smallest weekend market that I've been to but hey, I'm not complaining. I love it that it's inside the mall which means we do not have to sweat under the sun. What I hope the mall admins would add though are tables and chairs. Take for example, a stall selling ...

This is what I've been munching on for the past few days... Chicago Popcorn Shops Definitely one yummy Christmas gift that you can give to your friends and loved ones. I like this particular flavor called the Chicago Mix® . This is their best-seller and I can definitely see why. It's your perfect sweet-salty snack item that is a combination of cheese and caramel popcorn. Stored in a handy tin container, it keeps the popcorn crunchy even after a couple of days. Chicago Popcorn Shops has branches located at Mall of Asia and Shangri-la Mall.

I love long weekends! Aside from the fact that I get that much needed rest that work normally deprives me from, I also have more free time to tinker around the kitchen. As OC I may get with planning my day-to-day activities, my kitchen personality is somewhat different from that. In the kitchen, I normally have a come-what-may attitude where I don't normally plan what to cook but I just follow my heart and creative mind and make use of whatever ingredients I find inside the fridge. That is, unless I really have to prepare for a special occasion that I have to seriously plan for. I am a self-declared leftover princess. I love to create new recipes out of a bunch of (well...) left-overs. Which is basically the story behind this newest dish I have named Three Cheese Penne created after realizing that I still have three types of cheeses (cottage, mozzarella and quickmelt) and a roll of meatloaf left from last night's dinner. What you'll need: 3 types of cheeses (the three chee...