#20: Combi and the Frugal Me

I am consistent. I am usually frugal. As much as I want to be embarassed in saying this but it takes a bit of emotional anesthesia or emotional panic for me to want to spend 250pesos ($ 5.80) for a single meal just for myself. Not even for both my husband and myself combined, hahaha! I dunno... I think I got it from my mom and my maternal lola who's really practical and frugal, even if they can afford it. As for me, striving artist, remember? Ask my closest friends; they can attest to my consistency.

While waiting for our meal

Anyway, one day my husband and I went around Metro Manila the whole morning for errands and meetings and lunchtime found us cruising through the Maginhawa cool cuisine belt. As always, I cracked up when we passed by this Persian resto. The name which starts with a certain letter A just gets me. Find out for yourself, wink wink! Well, we didn't eat there. Our chosen budget for that particular lunch was for either a carinderia or a fast food tipid meal that I was surprised that my husband even offered to go see if we can find a place to eat there in Maginhawa. So our instinct is to go to this pares place where the students are crowding.  We parked our car and checked. 65 pesos. Not bad but it's hot and cramped.


"Let's see what else is on the other side." 

#19: My Banoffee Pie

My daughter's bear even covets to have a bite.

So, I got enamored with the flavor, elegance and simplicity of Banapple's Banoffee Pie. I wanted to eat some more so I said I'd rather stuff myself with it at home. I then relived all  the flavors I enjoyed, checked the internet for some of my co-foodie's versions and came up with my own. Yeah! One whole pie just for me and my household!
You will just have to have a hand mixer though to whip the cream that we have in our recipe. I'd like to make the caramel sauce our featured ingredient but it is not exactly an ingredient. Caramel sauce calls for its own recipe so we'll make it the banana. 
We are used to eating banana just as it is when we need a quick snack or when there is nothing else to eat. Well, it is becoming increasingly popular anyway as a breakfast or meal substitute because it has all the works: vitamin C, potassium, energy from natural sugars, digestible carbohydrates, zero fat and cholesterol, dietary fiber. However, we fail to see that we can squeeze it into a sandwich with some peanut butter, or toss it with some orange segments and simple syrup,  or turn it into a luscious dessert just like this one! Oh this is going to be exciting! 

#18: A Banoffee Pie and 10 Books

A very good friend took me out a month ago because my system was aching for non-Anne cooked food.. or to be more specific, pastry. Or anything with cream and caramel! Help!


So the sky took pity on me and caused a friend to take me to Banapple in Il Terrazo in Tomas Morato. It is such a cozy place with light, flowing curtains, soft lighting, homy decor and warm , happy colors. 

Thanks to banapple for their picture!

Their tables are very nice, too! It is made of marbles stuck in clay or cement then let dry, as seen on this picture on the left. It feels ticklish in my palms. It makes the plates wobbly though but I really did not mind it much. :-D

#17: Pininyahang Atay ng Manok (Sarap nito!)

Perhaps I was treated to a death-by-tomato-dishes when I was young that is why I'm more inclined to prepare coconut or milk-based sauteed dishes now that I have my own kitchen. I still loooove kalderetang baka (the type that has peanut butter, and cheese and coconut milk *sigh*. I'll share the recipe for that soon!) but there is something refreshing and light about this Pinoy dish that we're going to bring to life this time.


This is an attempt to make you liver-haters to love the luscious, buttery, slightly bitter and earthy taste of our featured ingredient: chicken liver. Chicken liver is much smoother and lighter on the palate than pork or beef liver. Its rather eccentric characteristics are balanced out by the beach-loving, tangy flavor of pinapples that is sweet, sour and fruity at the same time. Then the whole marriage is tied by the rather subtle but creamy contribution of milk, both cow's and coconut (or whichever is available in your pantry at the moment). This nutritious and friendly viand could easily become a favorite in your repertoire of good food.

#16: Why Saute?

Filipinos, being stove-top-cooking creatures, love dishes that involve sauteing. When my friends ask me to teach them how to cook most common Pinoy viands my first line is always "So long as you learn how to saute, you will be well on your way." That is because that is the foundation of most Pinoy favorites like afritada, menudo, kaldereta, guinataang gulay, pininyahan, tinola and of course adobo. The next thing you should know after that is an idea of how long your ingredients cook. The only rule there is, you place first the ingredients that cook longer, then add later the ingredients that cook faster (unless you need to sauté them).

Thanks to http://food.rlove.org for thepicture! 

So why sauté?