Frannywanny

Happy Easter!  I hope that you were all able to have a good and peaceful Holy Week. After all, it was the perfect time to reflect, to repent and to have hope for He has risen again. As for me, I spent it with my family and gave my kids my undivided attention.  Given that the past week was all about family, let me share with you one of my family's favorite restaurants. With all our varying tastes, it honestly is difficult to agree on a restaurant because what may be good for me, may not be something my parents would be keen on trying or returning to and so on. Cibo is a place where we're all happy to dine in and it's simply for these 3 reasons:  #1 Quality is always top notch. We can always expect their pasta noodles to be al dente and tasty, their pizza perfected baked and they have a good selection of hot and cold beverages too.  #2 Service is always consistent. No matter which Cibo branch we go to, we are always well taken cared of by their staff.  #3 They ...

If you're going to sum up my life quarantining myself at home this 2020 -- it just be about 4 things. FAMILY. WORK. FOOD. DANCING.   Actually, the last one is very new.. like 2 weeks new. Yet, I'm glad that I finally took the first step to be a bit more active as I've spent 9 months sitting on my office chair from 9am to 12mn with very minimal toilet, eating, walking-around-the-house breaks in between. Such sedentary life I've led and it doesn't help that I've been stress-eating like crazy too. Sushi Bakes, Milk Tea, Sweets, Carbs, Carbs, and more Carbs. I realized though that I can't just rely on diets and when I'm hungry.. I get incredibly cranky and moody and that's no good especially for the welfare of the people around me. So.. I decided that if you can't beat 'em (food) then just burn 'em (calories!). So yes, 2 weeks ago, I signed up for my first ever dance workout class and I got to say that I was super out of shape. I no longer re...

Cucina  is the all-day International dining restaurant of Marco Polo Ortigas Manila  and is one of my favorite hotel buffet restaurants in the metro too. While it may not have the widest array of dishes to choose from, I love how each dish is well-curated making it go very well with the rest of the line-up. I also love how they make it a point to change the themes every so often so I don't feel like I'm having the same old, same old in every visit. One visit, I had Italian , the next I had Thai, in another visit I enjoyed the best Filipino dishes and so on. There was even that one lunch wherein we had the most authentic British fare too . Despite the regular thematic changes, the top favorites are there to stay. I also love breakfast at Cucina ! I'll never forget that one memorable breakfast during our babymoon staycation at the hotel and I woke up so early because I was starving. I tell you, pregnancy hormones can sometimes just get so crazy. So there I was, part of th...

This week started at a very sad note. As I opened my cellphone yesterday morning, I was greeted with posts after posts of the passing of NBA Star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna. While I'm no basketball fan, my heart sank as I thought about his wife, his 2 other kids and that final moment when Kobe knew that was the end of him and his daughter. As a parent, I'm pretty sure he would have wanted to do anything to save Gigi. Well, I definitely would. If I have to push my kids out of the crashing helicopter with hopefully a safety parachute, I would. Anything just to keep them alive. Apart from that, there's the growing concern on the rapidly spreading Coronavirus. Really, a number of sad, scary moments as we welcome the Year of the Rat. I do hope things will get better in the coming weeks.  When faced with stress or disappointing situations, I turn to food to cheer me up. *sigh* #thisiswhyImfat Seriously though, I have my set of comfort food that never fails to tur...

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...

There's nothing that excites me more than a challenge... a foodie challenge, that is. When the folks over at Doña Elena asked me if I'm game to prepare a special pasta dish using their products, this got me so excited that I said yes. Luckily, the package came ahead of my twins' grand debut so I still have time to work in the kitchen before I start dealing with milk and dirty diapers. I'm quite familiar with Doña Elena's product line-up as I used to buy their Spanish sardines, pasta noodles and olive oil among many others. I didn't know that they actually have their own pesto sauce and whole tomatoes too. Looking at my Doña Elena's loot, I was inspired to take the tomato-based route and prepare my version of Shrimp Fettuccine Puttanesca .

One thing that I miss the most about living in Singapore is the chance to cook on a regular basis. Somehow, I never considered cooking a chore as it's something that I look forward to doing most especially when I get to try a new recipe or experiment with whatever ingredients we have in the fridge. With all my kitchen utensils, pots and ingredients finally back from Singapore, I took the opportunity to do some cooking for the family. Recently also, I was invited to check out Grande Rice Bran Oil  which is new in the market. I still remembered the first time Paul and I had to shop for our cooking oil and we were totally overwhelmed by all the varieties available. From the more popular olive oil to the more mass produced vegetable oil, I seriously had to whipped out my phone right at the middle of the grocery aisle to check which one is the healthier variant before making our choice. After all, there's no early age to be health-conscious after all most especially when we se...

Having been back in Manila for more than a month now and being able to discover not-so-new and new food places in the Metro, I somehow have this feeling like I've been living under a rock. It's true what they say that being away from home for some time can make you feel like a tourist in your own country. Slowly, Paul and I are starting to re-acquaint ourselves back into Manila's bustling food scene and we got out families and friends to thank for. Recently, I went out for an impromptu, but long delayed lunch date with my sister Pan. It's so cool that we're both working very closely now allowing us to have lunch every single day and that means nonstop catching up to make up for all those years that I've been away. During one of our errands to Quezon City, we decided to stop by Maginhawa Street in Teacher's Village. This place has been known to have a line of interesting restaurants, cafes, bars and recently, food parks. Since this isn't really that c...

Every single time I hear the name or the phrase " Chow Fun ", I immediately remember my favorite scene from the late 90's film  "The Story of Us" . It's one of the best romantic movies that I've ever watched in my life which I feel shows the realistic side of marriage. Of course, back when I watched the movie, I was still in high school so what do I really know about love and marriage, right? Fast forward to today, I think Paul and I should watch this again on one of our home movie nights as we'll finally be able to relate closely to Michelle Pfieffer and Bruce Willis' characters now that we've been a married couple for 6 years now. For the youngsters who have no idea what on earth Auntie Franny is talking about... here's a 2 minute clip of my favorite scene: Now you know why I keep on remembering this scene whenever I hear the words "Chow Fun ". In reality though, Chow Fun Restaurant & Bar  is a relatively new food...

I know it has been a while since my last #FrannyCooks recipe and I'm really sorry about that! To say that this year has been busy and crazy is indeed an understatement. Actually our schedules just got so hectic starting the 2nd quarter of this year and it's just starting to ease off this month. There were just so many things happening all at the same time that at some point, both Paul and I felt like headless chickens running around as we're trying to get a lot of things done. The funny thing is, no matter how alike we can be, we apparently deal with stress very differently. He would resort to playing billiards or watching his favorite YouTube videos while I head to the kitchen to cook or I blog. Either way, we realized that we crave for some me-time to de-stress and we happily would give each other that much-needed space when needed. That, kids, is one of the secrets to a happy marriage. ;) During my recent visit home, I was so lucky to receive some bottles of Mega...

Perhaps after I finally get over my Japan hangover and I'd stop daydreaming about sushi and gyoza, I would go back to my all-time favorite comfort food -- pasta and pizza. These two have never failed in putting me in a happier mood especially on a very challenging day. I remember how Mommy would make it a point to cook pasta every Monday as she knows that this is definitely not our favorite day of the week. Also, Pan and I have this tradition of ordering our favorite thin-crust pizza during finals week which we would enjoy as an afternoon snack while reviewing for our exams. So, when my good friend D suggested that we go check out Marco Marco in Circular Road after our indoor cycling class one time, I was so game! Marco Marco actually has several outlets all over Singapore and it's a casual dining restaurant that offers a wide array of pasta dishes and pizza flavors to suit everyone's discriminating taste. Each flavor is named after a city or a travel destination so you...

food porn (noun) : a glamorized spectacular visual presentation of food.  Before anyone things that my blog is starting to get into adult content, don't worry. Frannywanny.com is still very much safe for general patronage. It just makes perfect sense to start the busy week right by talking about my favorite meal of the day -- breakfast . Also why not share some photos in hopes that I'm doing all the yummy food some justice while describing them to you. There's really something special about breakfast, don't you agree? Especially when you know that you're waking up to the yummiest breakfast fare from sausages to bacon, to all kinds of egg dishes, stacks of waffles or maybe pancakes and for Filipinos, a wide array of -silog options! If you ask me, breakfast can really get me excited to jump out of bed and to quickly get ready. After all, the faster I'm done, the sooner I get to eat. So, when I was invited by O' Coffee Club  to have breakfast for dinne...

It has been a year since I've started using the hashtag #frannycooks on Instagram . I still remembered how I promised myself to cook more in 2015 and initially, I would prepare the safe dishes which are the ones that I can confidently prepare and are surely edible. Little by little, I've gained more confidence and creativity around the kitchen. I love surprising Paul with a newly created dish every now and then and I'm lucky that so far, he has liked them all. Recently, I had lunch with my colleague C and since I practice abstinence from meat every Friday in Lent, I had to choose among the seafood items in the menu. I zeroed in on the Tom Yum Seafood Pasta as I love anything with tom yum! I tell you, that was one of the best lunches that I've had this year and I just kept on raving about it after every bite. I loved it so much that I was so inspired to prepare my own version that same day. As you may have noticed, I do thing pretty fast. After quickly going throug...

It's always fun to eat out. However, what makes it even more fun is when you eat out with like-minded individuals who share the same amount of love for food and eating as you do. Take my friend D for example. We have known each other back in Manila as he used to do weekly baking classes and I was one of those who has been intending to attend but sadly, I never really got the chance to. Still, D would religiously send me his schedules every single Monday. It actually came to a point when no Monday is complete without receiving D's (or at least, his secretary's) sms. Cut to last year, I received an email from D telling me that he's also based here in Singapore and he would like to meet up. Finally, after several emails back and forth, we met for the first time over yummy Japanese dinner and dessert after. It was really nice to meet a fellow Pinoy foodie in a foreign land. To date, D, Paul and I have been frequent foodie buddies as we have tried a couple of restaurant...

Some days can get very stressful and when the pressure is on... I eat. Yup, I eat to my heart's desire! That's what I told my friend D recently when we were talking about our stress-coping mechanisms. D normally forgets about her hunger when she's stress while I told her that I'm such a stress-eater. One thing though, I don't just munch on anything within reach or within sight. I have my comfort food staples that never fail to make my tummy and heart happy. These include a delicious plate of well-done pasta and pizza among many others. I'd say, I'm very Italian by heart. I love my risotto and I always enjoy ending my meal with a scoop of gelato. Perhaps, my next travel destination should be Italy, don't you think? *cough* hello Paul! *cough* While that dream trip might come in the next few years, I'm lucky to discover Bottura , which I must say is one of the few good and authentic Italian restaurants here in Singapore. Located at the newest win...

I just broke a new record last Tuesday. That is the fastest overseas trip that I've ever taken in my life. The record time : approximately 12 hours. Yup! I flew out of Singapore for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in the morning and was back at Changi International Airport 12 hours after. I have to say the trip left me so exhausted and almost in the brink of collapsing but looking back, it was still a nice adventure all together. Since I had a bit of time before my scheduled meeting in Kuala Lumpur, I decided to head to my favorite shopping mall -- Pavilion as this is one place I know I won't feel lost and can easily hail a cab to my meeting place right away. Pavilion is located along Jalan Bukit Bintang, the shopping district of Kuala Lumpur. It houses a lot of luxury brands so you can tell immediately that this mall is rather upscale. I like it though as I try to avoid overly crowded malls and walking around Pavilion never fails to give me that sense of peace.

It's no secret that I love food and friends can testify how I can just go on and on for hours talking about it. So, it is also not a big surprise whenever acquaintances would ask me what my favorite food is or where do I normally go to when I want a surefire delicious meal. The funny thing is, I would sometimes end up a bit stumped on what the right answer should be. I guess it's because I've dined at more a thousand restaurants all over the region and this encompasses a wide range of cuisines too. One time, I really took a few minutes to think about it and the answer simple. I love pasta. There, I said it. If there's one thing that I love to eat in this world, it would definitely be a plate of pasta preferably cooked in an oil-based sauce with mushrooms, cheese, a simple choice of meat and spices. At the end of the day, I realized, nothing beats going back to basic . Pasta, to me, is the kind of dish that I would have whenever I had a long day at work. It's a p...

Despite the extremely short vacation that Paul and I recently had in Manila, we came back to Singapore weighing a bit more but definitely happier, more relaxed and rejuvenated once again. Nothing beats being able to catch up with friends and spending a couple of days with family. Believe it or not, I have to always put together a calendar every time I fly home. This is because my schedule is always packed to the brim with meet ups, errands and shopping. I'm very thankful that no matter what, we have friends who wouldn't mind waking up extra early or staying out a bit later than usual just to be with us. You guys know who you are and for that, we love you with all our hearts. ♥ Take for example my favorite Nuffies M and A, most of the time, we would just communicate via email but every time I'm back in Manila, M would make it a point to meet up with me. We agreed to have brunch at the newly opened coffee shop named CO/OP Manila along A. Mabini street in San Juan. I...

Everything wonderful in life comes in pairs.  Harry + Sally Batman + Robin Tom + Jerry Romeo + Juliet Paul + Fran ♥  It also makes sense for food to team up: Peanut Butter + Jelly Coffee + Milk Burgers + Fries Prata + Curry ...and the list goes on and on!  It then makes perfect sense for two gastronomic cuisines to pair up. Miam Miam  is a casual restaurant that brings out the best from both the French and Japanese culinary worlds. We stumbled upon Miam Miam by accident when we decided to check out Westgate in Jurong East one weekend. I was immediate drawn towards the uber chic interiors and I'm glad that the boys were game to dine in such a dainty-looking restaurant with me.

"If only Pan and T were here with me, this would probably be their wonderland." This was the thought that entered my mind when Paul, O and I decided to have lunch at Everything with Fries . A quick look at their menu will tell you that they're taking this fries-loving quite seriously and staying true to their name, almost every item in the menu comes with a generous serving of fries. Yes, you can have a rice meal with fries, a burger with fries, a pasta dish with fries and more! Matching the relaxed vibe of Holland Village, dining at Everything with Fries will give you that laid-back feel as you enjoy your meal with friends and family. Service was good as our server was pretty much attentive to our every need.