Frannywanny

Mother's Day was a month ago and in a week's time, we will be celebrating another special day -- Father's Day. As they say, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach so why not whipped up these easy dishes for the special men in your lives? It need not be fancy or complicated to make. What matters is it comes from the heart, right? Get your little ones involved too as they can help you out with the preparation:  Breakfast in Bed  There’s nothing like waking up to a delicious yet nutritious breakfast made with love. One easy yet impressive dish you can try is the classic banana pancakes. All you need is 20 minutes of prep time, and you’re good to go.  Ingredients:  ● 1 cup all-purpose flour  ● 1 tablespoon white sugar  ● 2 teaspoons baking powder  ● ¼ teaspoon salt   ● 1 egg, beaten  ● 1 cup milk  ● 2 tablespoons vegetable oil  ● 2 ripe bananas, mashed  Instructions:  1. Combine flour, white sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, mix together egg, mil

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

2020 was supposed to be a special year for Paul and I. It's the year of our 10th wedding anniversary and we had BIG plans. Plans such as taking the twins to Hong Kong to visit Disneyland for the first time, plans for a week-long beach getaway to celebrate our anniversary, plans to eat out and to celebrate this special occasion. Well, I guess life is indeed unpredictable. Who would have thought that the entire world will be hit by the biggest pandemic known today and we're still battling it as we speak. It's been a year and a month since our first lockdown and the fight is far from over.  Sure, it was a bummer that all our plans had to be put on hold but if you're going to ask me now, it's okay. My only wish since 2020 is for all of us to stay healthy and safe. Travelling can wait, eating out can happen once the pandemic is over and yes, that beach trip will have to be rescheduled to a much later date.  However, Paul and I didn't let our special day go by with

It was a rainy evening and I have just completed one of the hardest course in my GM Bootcamp so I took a short break from studying and spent last night going through my blog files. Oh, there are just so many photos and stories that I have yet to tell and I hope that I'll be able to blog about them one by one soon. Let me start with one of my favorites last year.  Since the country went on lock down, I gotta give props to restaurants who were so quick on their feet and innovated their products to give foodies and their loyal patrons the chance to "dine out" within the safe confines of our own home. A few months ago, I received a brown box from Your Local  and upon opening it I was so happy to see cleanly packaged ingredients that will help me recreate their signature Chili Crab Buns  for me and my family to enjoy.  Everything was prepared so well! The crabmeat in chili sauce, the mantou buns and the veggies. Looking at this, I was so excited to give it a try and see if I

Experts often say that the secret to losing weight is to remember the 80/20 rule. Well, okay, there are several variations to this -- 90/10, 75/25 and it goes on and on. However, it all points to the same principle -- losing weight is a mix of 80% diet and 20% exercise . I learned this the hard way and I am still learning about this now. No amount of slaving on the treadmill will ever be enough without a healthy and balanced diet. That doesn't say though that you shouldn't exercise. Exercise improves your blood circulation, it burns off all the unwanted fat and it makes you feel young and happy. We're all for eternal youth and happiness so yes, do not forget to exercise.  Okay, now we talk about DIET . This is something that has been quite a challenge especially for food bloggers and lovers like me who believes that the secret to happiness is to eat like there's no tomorrow. Okay, that's an exaggeration but a quick browse through my social feed will tell you that

"The great gift of Easter is hope." – Basil Hume Happy Easter, everyone! Time is zooming by so fast and as the number of COVID19 cases continue to rise, my only wish is that we get to end this fight against the virus soon. Let's all do our part, shall we? Stay home, practice social distancing, sanitize sanitize sanitize and go and get the vaccine when you can .  I'd also like to add one more tip too -- let's continue to support local businesses as believe me, our economy has been hit so badly and it is just too painful to see one restaurant/retail outlet/business close down after the other. Along with its closure means people losing money, jobs and a livelihood.  With that, allow me to share with you one of my favorite home food business whom I have been supporting since late last year -- Salmon HQ . I first tried their fresh salmon sashimi and sushi bake sometime in December when I prepared my sister's going-away lunch. I know that they will most probabl