Mabuhay Ang Bagong Kasal: David and Serene!

My work seatmate, David finally tied the knot with Serene yesterday in Hong Kong. We had been talking about his plans even before the pandemic. After a long wait, they finally got married last March and had another ceremony yesterday. We, of course, attended online. 

I am sure this marriage will be blessed since there was a bit of rain just before the ceremony yesterday. The weather cleared up and the beautiful wedding finally happened. 

Congratulations and best wishes David and Serene!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Vice Ganda and Ion

Vice Ganda recently revealed in her vlog that she and Ion Perez tied the know in Las Vegas. We can't believe how they managed to keep it a secret for four months! The ceremony was done at The Little Las Vegas Chapel. They revealed later on at Showtime that it was unplanned and they just got $5 rings for the ceremony. They just wanted to tie the knot finally that's why they did it. Awww how sweet!

Here's the vlog where Vice Ganda shared that beautiful day -

Love wins!

Congratulations and best wishes Vice Ganda and Ion!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Brad and Donna

Heaven made a way to make them happy again. Brad lost his wife in 2017 and in the same year Donna lost her husband as well. They eventually met, became very good friends and then fell in love. We were overjoyed to see how their relationship progress and saw how much they loved each other. It was a match made in heaven. 

Donna and Brad tied the knot in a beautiful ceremony last February 8 at the Palmera Garden Hotel in General Santos City. 

Congratulations and best wishes Brad and Donna! May you have many blissful and happy years together! <3

Easy to Cook Bacon Mushroom Alfredo

I prefer to call this dish "Bacon Mushroom ala Avel" because my friend Avel  asked, "Who is Alfredo?" So I told him I shall call this dish Bacon Mushroom ala Avel because it reminds me of happy memories we've had together. Seriously though, pasta Alfredo was created by Alfredo de Lelio in Rome (source) that's why the dish is named after him. 

Here are the ingredients:

Pasta

300 gms. spaghetti noodles

salt

Sauce

6 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup butter

canola oil

200 gms. bacon bits

1 pack fresh white mushrooms

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp basil

1/8 tsp rosemary

4 Tbsp flour

1 1/2 cup fresh milk

175 ml all purpose cream

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese 

Steps:

1. Boil noodles in water with lots of salt. Drain. 

2. On a separate pan, saute garlic in canola oil and butter.

3. Add bacon, saute for 2 to 3 minutes. 

4. Add mushrooms and saute with the bacon. 

5. Add the herbs and then the flour. 

6. Lower the heat, add milk in 3 parts. 

7. Add cream and cheese. Turn low heat off once cheese has melted.

8. Add freshly ground pepper.

9. Mix in the noodles.

10. Transfer to serving plate and sprinkle more cheese on top. 

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Beautiful Lego Bouquet

I will call this the forever bouquet!

A friend of mine just got married. She wanted a bouquet that would last forever. Her best friend came up with the idea of creating a bouquet made of Lego since they both loved Lego.

I interviewed her best friend, Analyn, after the wedding dinner and asked how she made it. It took her almost a week (and sleepless nights) to finish the bouquet. I was surprised when she told me that she traveled from Manila to Singapore with the bouquet. She said she packed it really well.

This is the most unique bouquet I've seen in my entire life! Amazing work of art Analyn :)

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Cathy and Mike

Our dear friends Cathy and Mike tied the knot today. May your married life be blessed, happy and filled with kids! 

Easy to Cook Pinakbet

Last Christmas my friend Buddy who owns OnlinePalengke.com surprised me with a box of veggies! In the last ten years Sweetie and I have been married I have cooked veggies sparingly. Sweetie loves eating vegetables, but I don't. I do eat vegetables, but I've been very picky. I know I should be eating more veggies since it's the best kind of food for my blood type so I saw Buddy's gift as a challenge and researched what would be good to cook.

To figure out what dish I could make with the available vegetables I typed in all the veggie names and did a Google Search. It gave me several options and I selected pinakbet since it looked easy to make. On Christmas morning I quickly put the dish together and served it to our parents when we had Christmas lunch. They absolutely loved it and Sweetie's Dad even requested to bring home some take-away. Woohoo!

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 tomatoes, chop into wedges
1/2 cup sitaw, slice 2 inches
3/4 cup ampalaya, chopped
3 pieces sigarilyas
6 pieces baby okra, just cut the stems
3 small eggplants, chopped
1/3 a kalabasa, chop into cubes
chicharon (as much as you want!)
1 liter water with 1 tsp salt
oil
3 Tbsp bagoong (I got it from Gerry's Grill)
bowl of cold water with ice

Steps

1. Boil the kalabasa for 5 minutes, blanch in cold water, drain and then set aside.
2. In the same boiling water, boil the rest of the veggies for 2 minutes, blanch in cold water, drain and set aside.
3. In a large pan, saute the garlic in oil until brown. Add the onions and when translucent add the tomatoes and bagoong. Mix well.
4. Turn off the heat and then add in the rest of the vegetables.
5. Before serving add chicharon or lechon kawali on top. Enjoy!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Ms M and Papa I

Last December we have two awesome friends who tied the knot. They had sworn all of us to secrecy so thought I'd just share how I surprised them with a special quilt I toiled on for them. Here's a video of how I enlisted the help of other friends to sneak in the quilt blank in their room.

It was a super happy day and I'm glad the couple loved the quilt blanket :)

Mabuhay and Bagong Kasal: Moira and Jason!

A few months back we had the opportunity to watch Moira and Kyla's concert in Singapore. It was a night to remember because for awhile we felt like we were just back home in Manila. We were treated to many beautiful OPM songs.

The show had a segment where Moira introduced her fiance, Jason Marvin Hernandez, and she walked us through her songs which essentially reflects how their love came to be. We saw from the news yesterday that their most awaited day finally came. A beautiful garden wedding for a match made in heaven.

Congratulations and best wishes Moira and Jason!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Tonette and Ton

Congratulations do our dear friends Tonette and Ton.  We've known Tonette for several years and are very happy she will be spending a lifetime of happiness with her husband Ton.  We pray for a blessed marriage for the two of you!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Jomar and Celine

Last October 2017 our dear friends Jomar and Celine tied the knot in beautiful Canada. We had the privilege of witnessing their love grow and was really excited when they told us they were getting married later this year.

Thank you for sharing with us your beautiful love story. It's been an amazing journey you have been through and we look forward to hearing about your adventures in the coming months!

*Photo from the bride!

The Fruitcake Baking Experience

A few weeks ago before I left for Japan the hubby asked where we could purchase fruitcake in Singapore. I asked a couple of friends and no knew where to buy fruitcake. My friend Tappy said that she had just made one. For two weeks she coached me and shared her learnings from baking fruitcake. Luckily I was in Sydney she started to teach me and I realized it would be cheaper to buy ingredients there. Went back to Singapore with two super heavy luggages and got a bottle of whiskey from duty free. I was all set.

Before I started work on the fruitcake, Tappy had me review a couple of things:
1. The fruitcake recipe from BBC - read this many times and also had to work on converting the measurements.
2. How to line a round cake tin - important to watch especially if you've never done this before
3. Demo video - good to watch so you have a better idea on how to prepare for baking
4. Will newspaper burn in an oven? - a question you will definitely ask yourself if you've never done this before. At 150'C newspaper will not burn, just make sure your pan won't touch the sides and top of the oven (hubby partly burnt a mitt because it touched the oven ceiling).

Ingredients

The ingredients listed here were fairly easy to find at Coles in Sydney. We also checked at Giant in Singapore and they had most of it. Tappy said that the ingredients were cheaper at Fairprice. All the ingredients though were much cheaper to buy in Sydney. One tip given in the video is to purchase the dried fruits after Christmas since it's usually on sale. Purchase your alcohol too in duty free if you can so it's cheaper.

Method

I read other recipes where they soaked the dried fruit in whisky overnight before baking. The BBC recipe did not do this, but Tappy suggested it would be good to do. So I soaked the 1 kilogram of dried fruit in 150 ml of whisky overnight. I used a clear Corelle pan with cover and mixed it with a plastic spoon.

The next day I simmered the dried fruit soaked in whisky with butter, orange and lemon zest, orange and lemon juice, and brown sugar for about five minutes. I returned it to the clear pan to cool. I waited more than an hour for the mixture to cool before I mixed it with the dry ingredients.

While waiting for the mixture to cool I prepared the round 8 inch tin. Cut the baking paper and put the newspaper around the tin. Hubby was very nervous about the newspaper since it was my first time to do it. I made sure to use cooking string (Tappy said she used metal paperclip to hold it).

*I trimmed down the newspaper 

Once the mixture was cool I proceeded to mix the dry ingredients and then slowly added the mixture. During that time I got help from hubby to pre-heat the oven to 150'C for 10 minutes.

Then the egg and vanilla.

After mixing it thoroughly I put the mixture in the baking tin.

Then I popped in the pan in the oven. Watched it closely for 15 minutes to make sure the newspaper won't burn (sorry was paranoid!). At 90 minutes the cake started to smell like it was burning so I put a foil on top so that the top of the cake won't brown too much.

At 2 hours I was really surprised to see it was cooked through and did not need additional baking time. Removed it from the oven and put it on top of a wire rack. Took off the newspaper and let it cool a bit. While it was still warm I put 1 tablespoon of whisky on top after poking a few holes. Left if on the dining table overnight to cool.

In the morning I removed the cake from the tin. Poked a few holes and wiped it with another tablespoon of whisky. Wrapped it in cling wrap and then tin foil for the outside. It's in the fridge now. I'll feed it with more whisky in a few days.

Now have to sit tight for a few weeks before we eat it!

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Elvin and Lynnette

Congratulations and best wishes to our dear friends from La Union - Elvin and Lynnette. They tied the knot last November 18, 2017 in La Union. We're very excited for them as they start their new life together. Happy discovering and cheers to more adventures for both of you! - A & J 

Mabuhay ang Bagong Kasal: Kristian and Stefanie

Congratulations and best wishes to our dear friends from Kalibo, Kristian and Stefanie. #KriStef tied the knot last February 11 in Kalibo! It was also an exciting day for us as it was our first time to become principal sponsors for a wedding (well Aileen did). We pray for a blessed marriage for the two of you!

Easy to Cook Chorizo Pasta

I have been meaning to share my recipe of chorizo pasta for sometime now since I'm proud that I managed to tweak to satisfy my family's taste buds. I've only so far used the chorizo from Dayrit's (the gigantic one they sell), so I'm not sure if the taste would be the same for other types of chorizo.

Here are the ingredients:

spaghetti noodles
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 pc. Dayrit's giant chorizo, cubed
2 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 of a large green bell pepper
1 can crushed tomato
1 tsp. Spanish paprika
grated cheese (optional)

How to make yummy chorizo pasta:

1. Cook the noodles. Drain and set aside.
2. Saute onions, garlic, green bell pepper and chorizo in olive oil. Mix often.
3. Once onion is translucent add the crushed tomato. Mix and add paprika. Let simmer for about 10 minutes in medium heat (mix every so often).
4. Serve.

Mabuhay Ang Bagong Kasal: JM and Mav

Congratulations and best wishes to our dear friends JM and Mav who tied the knot last February 4, 2017 at the St. James the Great Parish and was followed with a sumptuous dinner buffet reception at Palms Country Club. God bless you both!

Mabuhay Ang Bagong Kasal: Andy and Joy

To Andy and Joy Rubio,

Best wishes from MabuhayAngBagongKasal.com !

Menudillo at Itlog Recipe

Received some requests when I posted about the menudillo and egg I prepared for dinner yesterday. It's quite easy to cook and inexpensive too!

Ingredients:

3-5 eggs (depending on how many you want)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
1 small onion
200 grams ground pork
1 big potato, cubed
1 medium carrot, cubed
1 cup water
200 ml tomato sauce (I normally use Del Monte tomato sauce)
1 small box of raisins
1/2 tsp salt (to taste)

How to Prepare:

1. Boil the eggs. Peel and then set aside.
2. On a pot saute garlic and onion. Once soft add the ground pork and saute.
3. Once pork is cooked add the potatoes and carrot. Mix and then add 1 cup of water.
4. Let the water boil and simmer until the potatoes and carrots are cooked.
5. Add the tomato sauce. Mix well and then add the raisins.
6. Add salt to taste.
7. Once it's yummy put it in a bowl and arrange the eggs on the meat mixture. Serve with rice.

Pork Sinigang Recipe

It's been awhile since I last cooked pork sinigang. It's one of the easiest Filipino dishes to make as long as you have the sinigang mix which can be bought in any Filipino store (also available at some supermarkets out of the country).

Here are the ingredients:

1/2 kilogram pork (yummier if it has some fat, but I usually get lean pork), cut into cubes
4-6 cups of water
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 packet Knorr sinigang mix
2-3 tomatoes, cut wedge style
1-2 red onion, cut wedge style
kangkong (one bunch, just the leaves)
1 long green sili
2 gabi (optional)


How to cook:

1. Boil the pork in 4 to 6 cups of water. Add 1/2 tbsp salt.
2. When pork is a bit soft add the pork sinigang mix (usually after 15 minutes of boiling). Mix.
3. Add the gabi (optional, my boys don't like it that much).
4. Then add the cut tomatoes and onion.
5. In the last 2 minutes add the sili and kangkong.

*You can also use salmon or shrimps instead of pork.

The Convertible of Oven Toasters

We've been married almost 6 years now and some of the appliances we got have started to conk out. The first one was our refrigerator which died on us on Christmas Eve last year. Last week our microwave oven (a gift from Jay's cousin Iza) just kept beeping and refused to heat anything. So we shopped around for a new microwave, but ended up buying a new over toaster (our Imarflex oven toaster still works though). We got curious so we bought one (I know, I know it isn't a need, but the oven toaster was too cute to pass up).

Presenting, the "convertible" of oven toasters (because it looks like it has a sun roof!).

The 3D oven toaster has an added feature. You can heat something from the top of the toaster as well. Brilliant idea since the toaster is hot all over anyway, so why not heat stuff from the top too? The inside toasting area is also pretty spacious, you can actually heat up to 4 slices of pizza. No more piling them on top of each other! You can also adjust the heat area (top, sides, bottom etc.). And it's pretty easy to clean since you can open the bottom part easily. One thing we'll do differently though is use aluminum foil for heating oily food since it's hard to wash oil from the pan.