How do I love tikoy, let me count the ways

I  tikoy.  I could eat it all day ... which is why I am very happy when we receive a lot of Tikoy from our friends.  Good thing that tikoy is usually only given during Chinese New year or I'd be a blimp!

Before cooking the tikoy I like to put it in the chiller to make cutting it up easier.  Once firm enough I slice it by cutting down (not in a sawing motion) and I store the cut up pieces in plastic containers in the refrigerator.  That way I can just take out a container and cook it without the hassle of slicing ... plus it takes up less space in the ref that way. 

The usual way of preparing tikoy is by beating an egg and then dipping the tikoy in the beaten egg before frying it in hot oil.

Another way is to roll it in cornstarch after letting the sliced tikoy sit out for a while (so that it is sticky again) and then frying.  This method uses no egg.

Another way is to wrap it in a lumpia wrapper with a slice of fruit.  Fruit options I am sure work (because I've tried them, hehehe) are langka (jackfruit), ripe mango, and saba (banana).  I've tried cooking the lumpia two ways and both of them work.  

You could deep fry it (as usual) or you could baste it with oil and stick it in the oven toaster for 8 to 10 minutes.  The second option is healthier so, if you are "trying" to eat healthy, you may opt to do the latter.  I wish I had chocolate or strawberry syrup.  I bet this would taste and look great with a drizzle of syrup.   The fruit in the photo is mango.  I like using mango because the contrast of sweet and slightly sour is interesting.

I read somewhere that I could roll the tikoy in sesame seeds before deep frying it so I want to try that tomorrow.

A friend of mine said he ate some earlier with nuts, so I want to try that, too.

Can anyone else think of other ways to prepare tikoy?  I'd love to try them all so suggestions are more than welcome.

Christmas 2009

Christmas is the time to see our relatives, catch up on news, eat 'til we bust, and, for those who could afford it, gift giving.

Christmas eve was spent with my immediate side (Angeles) of the family. The clan Christmas celebration will be in a few days.
Here I am with my immediate family and their spouses and children. My mom and dad were not in the picture because dad was in bed with the flu. Uncle Vic was with us for Christmas but he was busy taking pictures, so could not be in the picture with us. Noche buena was simple. We just had Majestic ham, queso de bola, scalloped potatoes, mango float, soda, wine, Absolut Vanilla vodka

Christmas day we went to San Juan to spend the day with Simon's side (Tan) of the family.

After lunch my in-laws decided to go to the mall, but I opted to go home so I could catch up on some sleep.

Yesterday we went to relatives on the Zaragoza (my mom's side) side of the family. There are quite a number of first degree relatives on the Zaragoza side and this photo is nowhere near complete because most of my mom's siblings are either in the U.S. or out of Manila. Same goes with their children (my cousins) and their children (my nephews and nieces).

There is one more celebration left before the year ends. It's the Aben/Angeles clan reunion on the 30th. 'Tis definitely the season to be loosening the belts. Exercise, we will reunite on January 3.

Food and Friends at Bizu

I love attending bloggers events, especially FOOD blogging events.  Yesterday I had the privilege of attending Bizu's Blogger Merienda 2 where we were invited to sample there summer sorbets and their Yoga Cake.




I asked Mark to join me in attending this event.  Goodies like these are meant to be shared with a friend or two, or three, right?  I saw some old friends there and also made some new ones. Jomi shared a table with us and we had a really good conversation with her while sampling everything on the table.

Bizu was very generous to its bloggers.  Before allowing us to sample the succulent summer treats (see first picture above), they treated us to afternoon tea. This was composed of a variety of hors d'oeuvres, tiny sandwiches, and dessert pastries and chocolate truffles, washed down with tea, coffee, and water. The clincher was ... everything was refillable, and refillable, and refillable! But we had to leave room for "the stars of the show", so to speak.

Of the food served for afternoon tea the ones I enjoyed the most were caramelized apple with brie on croute, the chocolate truffles, the opera cake, and the salmon. Yum!




Click HERE to read my review of the summer sorbets and the Yoga cake.

Thank you, also, for the "jam" you gave us to take home. I was given the Mango and Lemon and it will be perfect for when I make a salad with mango vinaigrette! Overall, it was a wonderfully, tummy-filled afternoon and I wouldn't mind doing it again.

Bizu, keep me in mind for the next one, ok?

Happiness is lotsa freebies!

I am so glad I went to the first ever Friends of Krispy Kreme party at MOA.  Just for being there, I was able to receive at total of 17 donuts, 1 cup of coffee (refillable), 1 bottle of Sola Lemon Green Tea, 1 can of Pepsi Creme Caramel Soda, 1 bottle of Propel Gala Apple Flavor, and a Team Manila tee-shirt.

Awesome!!!

I met up with Jovan at the MRT station just so we could arrive together.  Good thing we did, 'cause we didn't know anyone else there.

After signing in we were given a couple of certificates and we were told to use one of them tonight.  The certificate said:  Get 2 donuts and 1 cup of coffee and get a free gift.  I figured, I'd spend P130, thereabouts, that's ok.  But when we get to the counter to choose the donuts (and get the 1 original glaze free) and choosing the coffee I pull out my wallet and the girl says, "No, mam.  It's free today for Friends of Krispy Kreme."  And then she tells me to turn around to get my free gift.  Behind me was a table with staff handing out half-dozen boxes of original glaze and the stub for a FREE GIFT was returned to us which we were told to just keep for later.  HAPPINESS!

So ... box and bag of donuts in hand and coffee in the otherJovan and I make our way out to one of the outdoor tables so that we could monitor the activities outside.  Who knows, we might win something, right?  Sadly, we didn't but ... because we kept the stub we were told to line up once again before we left to get our SECOND box of half-dozen original glaze donuts and a Team Manila tee-shirt.  Plus, all the drinks at the counter were free so we could just take what we wanted.  Plus, we also got a couple more original glaze donuts while waiting our turn.  DOUBLE HAPPINESS!!

PLUS:  we also have a certificate for the opening (Sept. 5, Friday).  If we buy 1 dozen assorted donuts we get 1 dozen original donuts FREE!  TRIPLE HAPPINESS!!!

Thanks for loving us, Krispy Kreme!  I remain one of your loyal patrons.  BRING ON THE FREEBIES.

Chef for a day

I had lots of fun in someone else's kitchen.  Pots and pans like you see on the Food Network (albeit looking like they've seen a lot of use), knives so sharp you have to be extremely careful, and professional chefs to teach us how to turn out beautiful, delicious dishes.

I was invited, along with other bloggers, to join a Discovery Class last Saturday, 10 May 2008, at CCA (Center for Culinary Arts). The Discovery Class is part and parcel of the regular course offerings for new students of CCA to help them decide whether they are inclined to culinary or baking. Personally, I couldn't decide. As some of you know, I love being in the kitchen. I love to cook and I love to bake. And I am all for learning something new.

Fifteen people attended the morning session, majority of whom were bloggers. We were divided into 3 groups of 5 and each of the groups were tasked to prepare the same dish --- Caramelized Salmon with Orange-Shoyu Sauce. We also made sauteed mixed vegetables as a side dish. Our teacher for the morning session was Chef Menoy Gimenez. I had a lot of fun under his tutelage. His teaching technique is efficient, informative, and fun. I was lucky enough to be part of a group that could mostly cook and are OC so our process was also efficient and our work area was always clean AND we were all pretty good at following instructions. Check out what our finished product looked like.




In the afternoon was the baking session with Chef Anne Atanacio and we prepared Saffron Panna Cotta. This session was more casual and personal. Chef Anne showed us how to prepare the dish and then allowed us to make it ourselves. In the meantime, she would chat with us, tell us anecdotes, get to know us, and teach us when we needed guidance and jumped in when we made cooking mistakes. In the afternoon session only 9 participants were present so we were split into 3 groups of 3. My group finished first because we did not make any mistakes (thankfully!) and were eager to taste our finished product.

I, personally, had a lot of fun in this class and I fully intend to make these dishes again at home.  For me, though, the question of culinary or baking was not answered.  I want to do both!

If you are interested in taking the Discovery Class yourself, this is offered every Saturday at CCA.  The class costs P3,800 for a full day session (3 hours in the morning and 3 hours after lunch), all materials included.  CCA is located along Katipunan Avenue across the street from the Ateneo gym. The ground floor of the building is the Cravings restaurant.

I would love to enroll but that will have to take a back seat for now. I'll get Erika through college first, then we will see if there is a chef in me.

My only regret ... we couldn't bring home what we made.    I wonder ... any chance I could sit in on another Discovery Class for free? hehehe  But seriously ... I'd love it if I could.