It’s almost five years now. Finally, I got to write about my trip to Sagada. It was one of my memorable trips up north.
Sagada is six hours by land from Baguio City. If you’re not the outdoor type, the 6-8 hours land travel to Baguio plus another six hours trip to Sagada can be discouraging. However, the cool air in Sagada took away all our exhaustion.
My mother-in-law loves to bake. She bakes so well and we all love her Chocolate Moist Cake, Macaroons and Cassava Cake. Now that she retired from her job, she kept herself busy trying out new goodies to bake. I was lucky to get the chance to have a hands-on baking lesson with Mommy this morning.
“You cook the pata tim later. It’s easy. Add all the ingredients and let it boil until the pata are tender,” said my mom.
“Ha? Baka masayang ang pata. Hindi ako marunong magluto nyan,” was my quick reply.
My mom insisted and I was left to search the Web for the basic pata tim recipe.
My husband and I were planning for a flower and a cake for our moms. Both our mothers love plants with flowers already blooming. However, we couldn’t find any new plants in Panaad Park. So, a cake for each mother was next in our list.
I was about to go out for the grocery store when I gave instructions for my brother in case I needed help in bringing the bags. He agreed to wait for my text message. At least, that was the plan.
I just came from SM Supermarket for food stuff — what else? We’ll have spaghetti for dinner and a Red Ribbon cake roll for dessert and it’s for free!
The Metrobank Red Ribbon Promo ended last January but if you have the qualified charge slip(s), you can still claim your Red Ribbon treats until March 2011.
Whenever we were to dine outside, I always crave for more flavors of pizza and pasta. The weirder the name, the better. We found another Italian restaurant in Bacolod — the Italia Restaurant and Bar. It was a mistake when we entered this place because we were supposed to dine pizza and pasta somewhere else also in this area.
Situated to the left of the Riverside Hospital (Dr. Pablo O. Torre Memorial Hospital), Italia has a big red tomato sign along the street and you’ll surely never miss it. However, we didn’t know the name of the restaurant we intended to visit.
Calea Cakes and Pastries has been a household name in Bacolod. When people think of cakes, it must be from Calea. I got to taste another creation from Calea — the Chocolate Crumble.
It was New Year’s Day! The very first day of year 2011 and another lunch date with my girl friends since they came back for the holidays. Majority of the Bacolod restaurants were closed because of the New Year’s celebration so the girls chose L’Fisher Hotel – a first class hotel in Bacolod.
Pepe’s Grill, located at the second floor of Piazza Sorrento along Lacson Street, has a classy ambience overlooking the busy street of Lacson. You may opt for a cozy dining inside the restaurant or enjoy the breezy atmosphere outside.
In my more than three decades of existence, I never tried baking. The La Germania oven, which was handed down to us by my uncle, sits in our kitchen for more than ten years untouched. My mom only uses its electric stove top when we run out of LPG supply.
Kau Kau Hawaiian Grill now sits in the former Joe’s Chicken Inato along Burgos Street, Bacolod City. Their sign board isn’t that eye-catching and the exterior of Kau Kau is modest like any common grill house in town but a taste of Hawaiian menu wouldn’t be that bad.
I found a plastic of beef cuts in the freezer so I decided we would have beef for dinner. What ingredients to cook with the beef was my next search. I like beef stroganoff but we don’t have broccoli, mushroom and cream of mushroom. Now, what should I do?
Diamond Palace is another new restaurant in Bacolod. It serves Chinese cuisine and is located along 6th St. Outside, this Chinese restaurant looks simple yet elegant. The interior of Diamond Palace isn’t that spacious yet there are big round tables that can accommodate huge groups of diners. On its left side are three function rooms with dividers wherein parties can be held.
It was our first time to dine in Diamond Palace. The foods and service should be good else I’ll never recommend it to anybody again.
My brother’s classmate and friend, Niño, hails from the Gaston clan. The Gastons own one of Silay City’s ancestral houses, the famous Balay Negrense. Oh! This blog is not about my brother’s friend nor Balay Negrense. It’s about Niño’s Aunt’s scrumptious delicacy. I just found it a bit challenging in introducing the maker of the Gaston Rum Pie, though. 
Without much ado, here’s the mouth-watering cake of Aunt Gaston (sorry, I don’t know her real name). It’s like an ice cream cake since it should be kept frozen. And I heard that rum is also one of its ingredients.
My nephew Shawn visited Bacolod last May prior to his christening in Davao. Unfortunately, he and his parents weren’t able to go around Bacolod. He was confined at the hospital due to pneumonia. But, at eight months old, he showed courage. His WBC reached as high as 19 and he still kept on smiling and playing. For his age with a WBC of 13, he should already have a fever!
Val’s Tita arrived in Bacolod last May 6th with her beau Uncle Joe. We had a cozy dinner in Resto Grill, a restaurant by the sea at the BREDCO port. Though it’s summertime, the breeze was cool which made our dinner enjoyable. Tita and Uncle were leaving for Iloilo the next day to visit Tita’s relatives and, at the same time, to give Uncle Joe a tour of Iloilo.
Lavish celebration during our birthdays is not commmon to me and my husband. “Come what may” is our motto. We plan what to eat at least a day before. Val’s birthday fell on a Good Friday (yesterday) and on that same day, we decided to prepare the dinner. Luckily, Lopue’s Mandalagan was open and we were able to buy some ingredients we needed. We had spaghetti and fruit salad at mommy’s house then spaghetti (again), macaroni salad, ice cream and blueberry cheesecake at mama’s house. What’s special is that the birthday celebrant prepared and cooked the spaghetti and created the blueberry cheesecake. And the cheesecake was my most favorite! Yum yum!
homemade blueberry cheesecake
Happy birthday, my valicious husband!!! Mwah!!!
Almost everyone hold back from using credit cards. It can be tempting at times to shop and swipe away with that handy plastic card found inside your purse without even thinking whether you’ll have the money to pay for it when the bill arrives. If you failed to pay the whole amount before its due date, interest will be added and on the next billing statement, you’ll be surprised at how much it has increased. What’s worse? It will continue to increase and you endlessly pay the amount you never used.
