Frannywanny

You know the age-old saying that "you can't have your cake and eat it too?"  For me, it means you can't just have it all. That's true and very realistic as life is never perfect. However, to celebrate Mother's Day, the sweet folks of  Holiday Inn & Suites Makati  has the perfect solution to counter this saying with their DIY Cake Box !  It's a special DIY box filled with all the essential ingredients to make your very own cake! One that you can also enjoy come Mother's Day (or any other day even before that if you just can't wait any longer). For only P1350, the box comes with specially packed and measured cake flour, buttercream icing, rainbow sprinkles, an 8-inch springform pan, a set of silicone baking utensils, 2 adult aprons and some freebies from Jack n Jill and Nissin. This is a great deal as the baking pan alone can be use for a really long time and it can help bring out the Baking Star in you.  I got this over the weekend an...

There are many things that brighten up my day... ... impromptu lunch or dinner dates with Paul  ... video chatting with my parents and Pan ... seeing photos of my cutie doggie Scottie ... discovering a new delicious food place ... and receiving a surprise specially delivered to my doorstep I always believe that how our day turns out is fully dependent on us. Happiness, as I have mentioned previously here, is a frame of mind. It's only YOU who can control whether or not you want to be happy or not. In my case, I choose to stay on the positive side and find things that make me really happy. Of course, it doesn't hurt to get warm hugs, sweet kisses or a fat slice of Strawberry Shortcake (or okay, a Gongcha treat) every now and then too. ;) Speaking of receiving a surprise package delivered to my doorstep, that actually happened last week! I was so thrilled when Paul called me to say that a nice yummy-looking hamper was delivered to our house and not only does it look go...

There's truly no place like... home . This Christmas is extra special as both Paul and I are able to catch up with friends and spend a lot of quality time with our families. I can't really imagine being anywhere else during this special time of the year without our loved ones around us. Of course, with all the bonding comes a lot of eating. We've been feasting, munching and partying for days on end! Tis the season for lots of merry-making, after all. Check this festive Christmas Stocking cake that Paul and I got from Shangri-la Hotel, Singapore . It's so pretty that I actually hesitated for a minute before slicing it. Inside, you get a moist vanilla butter cake that goes so well with a mug of hot chocolate. It's light and creamy perfect for those who wants something different from the usual Chocolate-flavored cakes. However, we also got a couple of chocoholics in the house (yes, O and Paul I'm looking at the two of you!) . They both enjoyed the Chocol...

♫  It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...everywhere you goooooo  ♫ Here I am again going around town in search of the yummiest things to give this Christmas! It's not a difficult feat as Manila is literally bursting with so much talented home bakers and chefs thus the challenge actually lies in knowing how to best fill your tummy with all these goodies! As I'd always tell visiting friends, be ready to pack in a few pounds during the holiday season as you'll surely be surrounded by all these mouthwatering creations 24/7. During my quick visit to Manila, a bright yellow box was delivered to my home and the packaging was the first thing that caught our attention. The box was created using corrugated sheets and it was just so cute and innovative. As you must have noticed, my family loves pretty and creative paper creations so even before we got to opening the box, we all ooh'ed and ahhh'ed by just checking the packaging out. Now, the grand unveili...

Father's Day is happening this Sunday and I'm so happy that I was able to pre-celebrate it with Papa a few days ago. It's hard being away from the family most especially during occasions such as these. This year, we celebrated it a few days earlier to coincide with my family's visit here in the Lion City. Of course, my Papa loves steak so we took him out for a delicious steak dinner! Oh, the smile on his face as he enjoyed his big piece of ribeye was priceless. It's no big secret that I am indeed a Daddy's Girl. I'm lucky to have a loving dad who would go the distance just to make me and Pan happy. I guess, I'm blessed because aside from having an amazing Dad, I also have the best Kongkong (grandfather) and the coolest Father in Law too! :) While I believe that we have to show our loved ones how special they are to us not only for a day but for all 365 (or 366) days in a year, Father's Day is one occasion where we treat them like kings and give...

A mother holds her children’s hands for a while, but their hearts forever  - Unknown While doing my research for work a couple of days ago, I chanced upon this quote and I liked it. For one, I think it's so true by just looking at how my own mommy cares for us. I've mentioned before that despite being an adult myself, I still do get my Mommy's weekly reminders -- eat well, exercise often, get enough sleep, don't stress yourself out so much, take vitamins, don't eat too many fatty/oily food, cook more veggies...and the list goes on and on. I live thousands of miles away from home and this doesn't stop my mom in sending me her daily sms to check whether I've had dinner, if I'm home and what am I doing up so late. Surprisingly, I do appreciate all these messages and nothing brightens my day than hearing from my family. Theater lovers -- Me and Mommy During one of my long walks home, I was able to think. Not about what I have to do at work, not abou...

Growing up, my parents thought me the two magic words -- Please and Thank You. Among the two, I think I have been over-using the phrase Thank You a little bit more than usual lately. Take tonight for example, I came home from the office to see that my dear husband Paul has prepared a yummy and very healthy salad dinner for the two of us. He prepared and cooked everything! I was beyond impressed and thankful to have such a sweet and talented husband who spoils me crazy. A week ago, my friend Che of Dragonfly Desserts , delivered a box of her latest creations right before she flew out of the country for her vacation. No special occassions, no big reasons but my loving friend just wanted me to try her new masterpiece. Once again, I thank my lucky stars to be blessed with good and more importantly, true friends like her.  I was so excited to see this box sitting on top of our dining table that morning. It looked so mouthwatering that I couldn't resist but grabbed a piece desp...

A year ago, I blogged about this genius creation called Fruits in Bloom -- Gourmet Arrangements . Indeed they say, the way to ones stomach is through his or her stomach! After exhausting all of the delicious chocolate brands in the market and instead of joining 90% of the population that gives cookies and brownies for Christmas, why not say Merry Christmas with fruits! Fruits in Bloom is back this Christmas with more fruity arrangements. What I love about each and every arrangement is how they manage to make it look so colorful, festive and truly mouthwatering. It helps that even if you're able to consume half of the bouquet, you're assured of not gaining so much unwanted fats and calories as fruits are very healthy and nutritious. They're high in vitamins too! This year, they have the Christmas Blooms (Php. 850) which is a yummy arrangement of pineapple flowers, grapes, orange slices, green apples and banana covered in white chocolate. I love the mug that holds the ...

My mom's friend once said: "Give out food and more food will come to you...give out money and more money will come back to you." She was so right. Food has been my way of sharing the love with my friends, family and colleagues and I've been blessed with abundant food coming back my way every single day. Who's complaining? My tummy has been very very happy! Yesterday has been another stressful work day for me. As I spent really long hours at work to the point that Paul had to literally pull me out to have a good and filling dinner. I continued working at a milk tea shop while waiting for my sister's call for us to pick her up. Then, I came home to... ...a box of delicious Date and Nut Torte sent by one of the sweetest couples Paul and I have the privilege of knowing and being friends with. Thank you A & I! You guys rock!

If there's anything that I'm fashionably attracted to, then it would be on accessories . I'm a firm believer that a piece of jewelry or accessory can add more personality to your everyday wear. As such, my jewelry staples includes a good piece of watch and my heart and locket white gold bracelet that I've been wearing since my High School graduation. While surfing the internet, I visited one of my favorite accessory brand Jean and Rosz and checked out what are the new items they have available. It was then that I saw the Charity Bracelets. For only Php 150 per set of 4 leather bracelets , Jean & Rosz will donate the sales proceeds to their partner charity institution. There are about 9 colors to choose from and believe me, I had a hard time choosing my 1st four colors! Thus I let my ever-stylish friend Jean decide for me. Here's what she came up with.

Look what landed on my office desk one busy day. A box of Chocolates! H-A-P-P-I-N-E-S-S!!! It seems like someone knows that I need a little picker upper as I've been feeling a bit gloomy these days. I love pretty boxes and what more, a pretty box filled with chocolates. It was so hard to choose which one to try first. Each colored foil is equivalent to a specific type of chocolate be it a Praline ball in Milk Chocolate with Caramel Cream (Gold foil) or Praline Sticks in Dark Chocolate with Orange Cream Filling (Orange Stick). I personally love the Praline Balls in Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut Cream Filling and Cereals (Shiny Orange foil) and the Praline Ball in Dark Chocolate with Coffee Cream Filling (Black foil). Price starts at Php. 480 for the sampler box and they have bigger boxes in 250g and 500g too. Visit Villa del Conte at the 3rd Floor, Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Edsa corner Shaw Blvd in Mandaluyong City. Call them at 893-2575 or 621-6101.

"I'll always be your Mommy even if you're married and you'll someday be a Mommy yourself..." That's my Mommy's constant line whenever she would nag me about certain things and I would tell her not to worry because I'm a grown woman. Up until this day, Mommy never fails to call me at exactly 7PM to ask for my whereabouts. I never really got off my curfew as Mommy would start looking for us (yes, Paul included) and wouldn't sleep until she knows we're on our way home. She would always ensure that our helper would prepare breakfast for us and that I have lunch to bring to work. Initially, I thought my Mom must be the most protective Mom in the world...that was until I saw how my Amah (grandmother) was when Mommy went to Japan for a vacation. Amah would call me every single day asking if I was able to talk to Mommy online. On days where her favorite radio announcer would announce that it's a rainy day in Japan, she would call and ask if Mommy...

Here's one great gift idea for the holidays! My friends, Chefs Angelo Comsti and Aileen Anastacio , came up with this quick and easy cookbook called Home-Made for the Holidays that features 60 Christmas treats that you can enjoy in your own home or to be given out as gifts to your loved ones. They have easy recipes on how to make caramel popcorns, gingerbread cookies and step-by-step guide on how to make potluck-perfect dishes like a caviar pie or even a White Chocolate Cheesecake! I'm so proud of both Angelo and Aileen as they finally have their very own book! Both are contributors of Yummy Magazine while Angelo Comsti used to be Yummy's former food editor (and my very popular cooking demo chef) while Chef Aileen is the talented lady behind Goodies and Sweets. Home-Made for the Holidays is available in all National Bookstore outlets for only Php. 895 !! Buy your copy now! :)

It's common practice to shower your loved one with a huge bouquet of flowers or at least a dozen long-stemmed roses. Believe me, we've had our share of garden-like bouquets here at home given by Paul and my sister's special someone. What normally happens is that our talented househelp would carefully remove them from the plastic wrapper and transfer each piece of flower into my mom's pretty vase, she'd even water them regularly until they wilt and give a really nasty odor that even my dog Scottie wouldn't even dare go near to. Sadly, I have zero talent when it comes to flower preservation so for the past 8 years, I wasn't able to keep a single bud or even a leaf from all those bouquets that Paul has gifted me with. *sigh* If only I can eat the bouquet then none of it would go waste! ;o) Then we came across Fruits in Bloom -- a company that specializes in fruity arrangements. No thorny roses, no wilting flowers instead they make use of the freshest, j...

Cookies are truly addicting, pair it with a glass of cold milk and it makes a perfect afternoon snack. For my family, we enjoy munching on a cookie or two after dinner. My personal favorite is Mrs. Field's White Chocolate Macadamia . I can never get over how delicious the chunky macadamia nut combined with its milky sweet chocolate. Mmm... I also remembered the time when I attempted to bake simple chewy chocolate chip cookies. I carefully measured all ingredients and followed the procedure to a T. Later, I drop spoonfuls of dough into my cookie sheet and carefully carried this to my pre-heated oven to bake. Like a little kid, I excitedly waited for my cookies to bake. Using a flashlight I would peek through the oven glass door hoping to watch my cookies take shape. To my horror, it went the other way. My dough started to flatten and spread all over, it was like watching a chemistry project gone wrong. Dumbfounded, I just stared at the oven and wondered what went wrong. The cookie...

I am such a fan of macaroons! I can still remember Mommy bringing home packs of mini macaroons from Hizon's bakeshop and my sister and I would happily munch on one macaroon after the other. I love the coconut filling and the fact that it is not too sweet. Talk about creating innovative ways to enjoy our childhood favorites, Gigi Gaerlan came up with this amazing product where she has successfully combined the creamy texture of the sweet custard and the delicious components of macaroons, thus Gigi's Custaroons were born. Thanks to fellow blogger Abet who shared samples of Gigi's delicious creations with us, we enjoyed the entire box of Original flavored Custaroons one afternoon. In addition to this, she also has the Custaroon Poppers -- bite sized round custaroons coated with premium chocolate powder. At first glance, Paul and I thought that it was like that delicious Sticky Chocolate Donut that we've tried during our recent visit to Hong Kong. Unfortu...

A and I have been best friends since 5th grade and our friendship continues to grow all throughout these years. I still remember the time when we would have swimming classes together and those moments when we would reassure one another that we'll be ok come report card day. Back in grade school, we'd be like two peas in a pod. Forever inseparable that at some point people would say we look, act and think alike. After high school though, A left for Europe and took her university degree there while I fell in love with Marketing and eventually joined the crazy corporate world immediately after my graduation. Still, A and I would manage to catch up every time she would come home to visit. Talk about destiny, A sent me an SMS a month before my BIG day telling me that the love of her life D has proposed to her. I've always like D for A from the moment I saw him and I knew they were perfect for each other. I was just as thrilled as everyone is about the news. Despite receiving t...

We have 41 days left before Christmas Day . To follow my annual tradition, I would like to share with you various Holiday gift ideas that you might want to give to your friends and loved ones this year. First off is Dragonfly Desserts . A dessert-company owned by my friend Cheryl who, after taking her culinary lessons in New York City, came back to Manila to spread more sweetness to everyone's daily lives. My sister totally loves her Wicked Bites which are mini cupcakes filled with chocolate and chili. The sweet-spicy mix makes every bite truly exciting! This year, she sent me a couple of new additions to her growing list of best-sellers such as the: Almond Cappuccino Bars : My dad, without even opening the box, said that whatever was inside must tastes good as it smells good. He's a coffee-lover and obviously was drawn towards this caffeine-loaded sweet treat. I love the moist, melt-in-your-mouth cappuccino bar that's topped with thin slices of almonds and cho...

Father's Day is coming this Sunday and Bizu Patisserie and Bistro was able to come up with this amazing gift idea that you can surprise your dad with. Check out these Sugarless Chocolate Cigars (Php. 1895) that comes in 5 yummy flavors! When my friend Audrey offered to send a box over for my dad, I cautiously asked her if these are real cigars as my dad does not smoke. She assured me that there is no need to light it up instead a couple of bites and munches is needed to enjoy. We tried the first cigar last night -- Milk Chocolate with Hazelnut Feulletine and everyone agreed that it was delicious! We're excited to enjoy the other for cigars in the coming days! What I also love about it is that it comes in a pretty hard case! Here's a great way to impress dad on his day! :) Plus get a pair of men's socks from Goldtoe for ever purchase of these yummy chocolate cigars! Bizu Patisserie and Bistro is located at the ground floor of the Promenade Mall, Green...

We're approaching the last two weeks of shopping for Christmas, stress level is rising and our wallets are thinning. Here are some sweet ideas on my Top 10 Holiday Food Gifts that are just a few clicks and calls away! SPOT.ph’s Top 10 Holiday Food Gifts Related post: My Top 10 Christmas Party Food-to-Order List photos by: Paul Ang