January 2014 - Certified Foodies

Japanese Chicken Yakitori (Barbecue) Recipe

Ever since I started eating healthy and hitting the gym, my mind has been overly preoccupied with food. And even in my sleep, all I see is food, just like this one recurring dream I have of me binging on Japanese fare like sushi, katsudon, or yakitori. 😀 I always wake up disoriented, salivating, and craving for anything Japanese. This torture has to stop! And I have always believed that the only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it. Needless to say, I gave in. So one afternoon, I decided to prepare Japanese Chicken Yakitori for dinner.

I used to have an obsessive addiction with Tokyo Tokyoâ€™s Chicken Yakitori, until they decided to take it off their menu and replace it with Chicken Karaage, which I did NOT find hard to love as well. But it was truly overwhelming when I came across my long lost love, the Chicken Yakitori, once again at my previous work. They had a mean recipe for yakitori, so I made sure I learn it any way I could. So with that recipe at hand, I charged at our kitchen, only to be disappointed to find out that weâ€™re missing most of the ingredients I need. But like any good chef, one must learn how to improvise and be resourceful.

The original recipe calls for mirin (Japanese rice wine) and rice wine vinegar. I boldly substituted the mirin with red wine, and the rice wine vinegar with the regular distilled vinegar. But I suggest that if you plan to substitute the mirin, use white wine instead, since itâ€™s milder and sweeter.

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Have a Merry Cremas with Alaska Crema!

All year round, especially during the cold months of December and January, we find ourselves longing for some good ol’ comfort food. But not just any kind of comfort food, we crave for something rich, hearty, delectable and, most of the time, creamy. That’s why, they say, calories don’t count during the holidays. 😉

We were invited as judges at the Merry Cremas Food Bazaar in Eastwood last month. Good thing it was a Sunday so Ken and I were able to go together.

We know, from personal experience, that there’s a wide range of dishes you can prepare using Alaska Crema all-purpose cream. We knew there’ll be a ton of desserts and pastries there, but we were really hoping to see more savory dishes. There were only a few who did. Thankfully, they were all quite successful with their dishes too along with the food purveyors who served desserts.

With that said, let’s begin with our top favorites from the Merry Cremas Food Bazaar in Eastwood. These might help you with recipe ideas for your celebrations or any holiday, especially for Noche Buena and Media Noche.

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Bizu Patisserie’s Christmas 2013 Collection

We may be weeks away from Christmas 2013 and New Year’s Eve, but you can still feel the holiday because of the cold weather we’re experiencing the past few days. And there’s Chinese New Year coming up. If you’re still in the mood for some foodie gift-giving, Bizu Patisserie’s Christmas 2013 collection of treats are still available for you and your loved ones.

Bizu is well-known for their delectable pastries and their yearly holiday goodies. We blogged about them here and here. They usually have a theme, and for 2013, it’s Tchaikovskyâ€™s Land of the Sweets (from The Nutcracker). You can check the list of their 2013 holiday collection below this post. Most of them are still sold at your favorite Bizu store, so make sure to inquire if there’s something you fancy.

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Bohol Bee Farm : a Foodie Haven

When we planned to travel to Bohol back in 2012 for our birthdays, Ken kept on insisting that we pick Bohol Bee Farm for our accommodation. He told me nonstop about how good their food was and that I’ll love our stay there. He was 100% spot on!

What we love most about Bohol Bee Farm is they continue to stay true to what they are all about. They boast of using organic ingredients in preparing their dishes, which means no fertilizers, pesticides or anything harmful were used in their farming. Most of them are produced from their own farms, and right there at Bohol Bee Farm (read about our tour on Travelsilog -soon!). They highly support organic farming and, in turn, has given jobs to Boholanos, especially with their livelihood projects at the farm.

Since they were also planting their own herbs and vegetables, you can taste the freshness of the ingredients. And the food wasn’t just healthful, but quite good too.

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An Unforgettable Stay at Bohol Bee Farm

Every year, Ken and I make sure to celebrate our birthdays somewhere out of town. In 2012, we decided it will be in Bohol. He’s been there before, and he can’t forget their wonderful stay at Bohol Bee Farm. He said it’s a truly memorable experience so I decided to check them out for our vacation.

Before anything else, I just wanted to say that this post shouldn’t have been delayed for more than a year. I wanted to write about our 2012 vacation in Bohol and our stay at Bohol Bee Farm as soon as we got back because we had an extremely fabulous time there, especially with the outstanding customer service we got from the farm’s staff. Sadly, too many things got in the way, including, I’ll admit, procrastination. 😐

After everything that has happened to Bohol in 2013 and our recent trip to Palawan for our birthdays (I’ll get into details of this on our post about it), I was determined to finally finish this series of posts to share with you why you must visit Bohol.

A rainbow appeared on our first day in Bohol. I didn’t have my DSLR with me so I took this using my smartphone. Couldn’t miss this shot. 🙂

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