Sunday Morning at Tagaytay

Last November, our friend Ja came home to the Philippines from Dubai and just out of the blue we all decided to go to Tagaytay on a Sunday morning to eat their famous Bulalo. It's been a while since the last time I myself visited this place since I moved to California.

At 6 in the morning, we headed south for that craving. Since it was a Sunday and has no sign of traffic the trip from QC to Tagaytay City was just an hour and a half. Not to mention we were lost along the way because we tried the Greenfield exit. hahaha I put the blame on my sister TR she said she knew the way. Though she always say that and get lost! hahaha 

First Stop: Angels' Hills Chapel and Pink Sisters' Convent

All smiles yet all hungry

We used to visit here when my mom was still alive she just love the serenity of this place

Second Stop: Mahogany Market to satisfy our Cravings for Bulalo

BULALO

Yes we had lunch at 9:30 in the morning!!!

Third Stop: Roadside Flower stands

Poinsettia P250 per pot, the vendor said the flowers will last until February

Fourth Stop: Bag of Beans for a great coffee, yummy pastries, and priceless view

Fifth Stop: Roadside Fruit stands

Last Stop: Nuvali Sta. Rosa, Laguna

Tagaytay will always be that place close to my heart for many cherished memories. It was just a short trip to Tagaytay just to eat Bulalo but the time I spent with my long time friends after a while because of our busy schedules made this trip so fun and memorable. 

How to cook Kare-Kare

The Secret of a Lazy Cook
Kare-Kare is one of the most famous Filipino traditional dish that I always have loved since childhood. Though I remember this dish as something special. "Special", meaning we have it on the table during fiestas, Christmas, New Year, birthdays, baptisms, house blessings, and so on. As I grew up, I realized why it is not an ordinary every day typical home dish. The pig's leg or pata as they call it wasn't that easy to soften to become chewable. The ultimate Pressure Cooker comes to the rescue to shorten the boiling time though the sad part is I don't have this here in Sg. 

But moving abroad makes me a bit frustrated it is just so hard to cook this dish for the very reason that I don't have the luxury of time to cook this. But will it deprived me from wanting to impress my husband that I can cook this fiesta dish in a snap? No right? And so let me share with you how I solved this dilemma.  Cooking Kare-Kare the easiest and the fastest possible. 

Cooking time: 1 hour 
Here are the ingredients:

Half kilo of pork belly cut into cubes (better than how I sliced the meat here). 

8 cups of water

2 tsp of minced garlic

1 pc of sliced onion

7 pcs of pechay (bok choy leaves or can also use sio pek chye)

6 pcs sitaw (long green beans) - cut into atleast 2" in lengths

1 pc eggplant sliced into 1/2" lengths, ( if you have enough time you may also fry the sliced 
eggplant in a separate skillet to bring out the sweetness)

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 pouch of Mama Sita's Peanut sauce  (Kare-Kare mix) OR you may also use 1 pouch Del Monte Quick N Easy Kare-Kare Mix (these 2 mixes taste really good) dissolved in 1 cup broth.

2 tbsp Skippy peanut butter

bagoong on the side

Directions:

1. Boil the pork belly in water for 30 minutes lower the heat and wait until the meat is tender. Cut in cubes.

2. Set aside the broth.

3. In a heavy saucepan, pour the oil, saute the garlic and the onion.  

Add in the pork belly and stir fry.

Then add the broth. Let it simmer. Then add the dissolved Kare-Kare mix. 

4. Wait until the sauce thickens add in the eggplant and long green beans and then wait for 3 minutes to simmer.  But if you already fry the eggplant, just put first the long green beans then after 3 minutes you may add the eggplant to avoid overcooking it. Stir occasionally. Add the 2 tbsp of Skippy. 

5. Turn off the heat then on top placed the pechay (bok choy leaves) let the heat cook it, this way you can preserve its freshness and crunchiness. Wait for 3 to 5 more minutes. Serve hot with bagoong and rice.

Tip: Don't cover the pan let it stay uncovered until it gets cold in this way your Kare Kare will have a longer storage time. I have proven this my Kare Kare has a 5 day fridge life, no bubbles  (an indicator of spoiled sauce) when being reheated. 


Enjoy eating! By the way, my husband was impressed with my cooking hahaha! 

Love at First Bite: Twelve Cupcakes

Founded by Singapore celebrity couple Daniel Ong and Jamie Teo, the flavours she liked to bake and he liked to eat. Twelve cupcakes are freshly baked everyday which actually you can taste its freshness. 

This morning before my husband headed to work he brought me to one of Twelve Cupcakes stores. Well just by looking at the different flavours I was like a little child having second thoughts of what to pick. I was so intrigued by the best seller which is of course the Red Velvet with Vanilla Cream Cheese topping, next since I love coffee I chose the Mocha with Chocolate Cream Cheese topping, and the last one which I had a difficult time deciding to fill in the last empty spot in the trio box, I picked Cookies N' Cream chocolate cupcake with Oreo crumbles infused buttercream. 

I held it tightly on my palm as if I was holding a Louis Vuitton purse. I gave my husband the sweetest smile and said, "Sweetheart, I'll wait for you to come home from work let's eat the cupcakes together". As I arrived home, I opened my precious box and smelled the 3 gorgeous cupcakes. There was this unexplainable aroma that told me to taste it. Well, fine 1 small bite wouldn't hurt right, I can still fulfill my sweet promise to my husband that I'll wait for him. 

And then 1 bite, taste extremely delicious, I was like Snow White biting that poisonous apple but this time the Red Velvet cupcake was so addicting. I love the moist cake, the taste was the best I have ever tasted, and the cream cheese topping was perfect! One more bite, and then one more bite, and its gone... Well, to ease the guilt feeling I said to myself, "I can buy 1 Red Velvet tomorrow for my husband!" 

For more information about Twelve Cupcakes visit their site that you may see the mouthwatering gallery and check out their branches all over Singapore. 

http://www.twelvecupcakes.com