Up Close on The Greenwich American Idol Pizza

Every summer, we'd all be glued to the TV to witness American Idol. I love music (I play the piano and I sing) so seeing these hopefuls vie for the top position is entertaining. Their renditions of various songs are also something that I find creative. It's definitely one of my favorite shows that still makes me watch TV from time to time. And yep, it's not just me who loves AI. A lot still watch it. I was able to catch snippets though of this season, although work prevented it from me following it religiously.



Just in time for American Idol, Greenwich launched their LE American Idol Pizza, which contains American favorites like shoestring potato strips and burger bits.

The thing I like about Greenwich pizza is that they never, ever scrimp on fillings. I mean look at all that filling and that floor of melted cheese! The dough is also something. It's thicker than the usual thin crust. However, unlike the thick heavy pizzas that cause me to bloat after 1-1/2 slices, this one had my tummy in check still. I'm full but not overly stuffed.

Hmmm... maybe I know my next snack when I'm watching Idol next week.

When Siopaos Get An Upgrade

While at a shoot, I was introduced to Gourmet Pao, which gives me a better outlook on siopao. Before I was used to siopao being bola-bola or asado and most of the time, they dissapoint me when all I get are like an ounce of fillings.

Yep, these are actually siopao, but instead of the usual fillings, we get fillings like sisig, corned beef, ham and cheese, and tuna. At first, I was apprehensive to try because I'm not really a siopao fan, yet after I tried one, I had a second one on my way home.

Model Mikaela Lagdameo-Martinez is the woman behind this novelty snack, and since she was present during the shoot, I actually got to talk to her and ask about the business and the products. She's happy that the business is doing really well. There's currently a stall in Alabang Town Center (near Yellow Cab) and she plans to open another one soon. Gourmet Pao also delivers too, for an extra charge of course. And whaddya know? She even said sometimes she delivers them herself. "And it works!" she says.

The flavors have creative names such as Dancing Queen (cheese, ham, egg, and bacon), Sosy-Sig (pork sisig and egg), and Maxi-Moo (corned beef and egg). "Moo because of cow, " Mika says with a giggle. The fun names are quite catchy. How do you determine which is which? The little colorful dots would tell you so. The bestseller happens to be Pesto-Veggie, which is a hit among vegetarians as well.

Speaking of health, these varieties also come in wheat dough. Okay, before you get all apprehensive and icky with the wheat dough part, we were assured that it tastes as good as carbohydrate-ful white dough. When you close your eyes, you think you're eating white dough, but it's just brown. So none of the grainy, flaky, stuff we don't like with health food. The dough really is something. It's not tough and leathery. And nope, they didn't scrimp on the fillings. The size is huge, bigger than my palm, so it's definitely not something that cheats on you. I ate my siopao straight from the ref so it was kind of cold, but I was told it's better heated (Heat it in the steamer or rice cooker).

If interested to order Gourmet Pao, you can contact them at their email addresses: gourmetpao@yahoo.com or gourmetpao@gmail.com. You could also contact them at 211-1099 and 0917-5377726.

Krispy Kremes Encouraging Filipinos to DOugh Their Part

With only days to go before the May 10 elections, everyone's all geared up with preparations and all. Krispy Kremes joins in the fun creating a mock ballot where voters get to choose their menu, election-style. I dashed off from work braving traffic and rain straight to KK at BHS and I was welcomed with a piece of paper and I was told to choose my own doughnuts and coffee. Since my camera was buried beneath my bag, I wasn't able to take a picture of it though. I was told to choose 12 doughnuts, and present it to the staff and I had a box of doughnuts ready for me. I think it's personally a fun way of giving us a little practice on how the new voting system now works, since it's pretty new.

See you on May 10!

Freshness To-Go

Since I'm trying to eat healthier now, eliminating meat and incorporating fresh veggies (more, at least) in my diet my newest discovery after I did some grocery shopping at Rustan's is the Gourmet-To-Go section, which serves salads, sandwiches, and soup to go. So there's no more excuse for me to wolf down the can of potted meat for the next few days or so. What's not to love with DIY salad for Php 165 that's already good for two? What you do here is to pick a bowl of base greens, choose 5 condiments, and then dressing. Believe me, that's not good for 1. I was already full and I wasn't done yet with my serving.

For those who are lazy to mix, there are pre-made salads for you to choose.

The sandwiches look promising and good too. A bit pricey (One could go for like about Php 22o) though.

Since I'm not much of a sandwich girl, I skipped this for soup. Every week, they change their variety so we're not stuck on a food rut.

The Gourmet-To-Go section is available at Rustan's supermarkets. Do drop by for a fast, fresh, and healthy alternative.

Summer Snacks at a Pop

If mermaids did exist, I probably was one in my past life. My swimming skills probably may not be Olympic-quality but once I see the sun and the sea and the sand, I plop on the sand and bake myself to NC45 level or set my feet on the cool sea water. The ocean and I seem to love each other. Should I blame it on my quest for golden skin? Or should I blame it on my Invertebrate Zoology professor who introduced me to the fossilized corals I used to give taxonomic rundowns to?

My appetite too seemed to dive to the sea. I absolutely love seafood and devour it like there's no tomorrow. Fond memories of summer by the sea would be eating fresh seafood that does not taste fake, preserved, or like it's been in the freezer for so long. A table full of cooked seafood (and the ocassional raw) spells heaven for me.Now if a world-famous chips brand were to have flavors that remind me of my summer staples, the result would be three new Pringles flavors that I'd definitely take on the next trip to the beach or pool. Take a look - seaweed, soft shell crab, and grilled shrimp. Can I spell vacation now? Honestly, I can't think of a favorite as they're all good in their own way and come in cute cans too. Or, if I'm just reminiscing of the ocean trip again, I'll just pop a can as I work on my cover.

Must-Try: Ming's Halo Halo

En route home from Batangas, Mike, Nix, and EJ suggested to stop by this place for halo-halo. Although we were experiencing a bit of drizzle that time, it was still hot and we needed a bit of a cooler to lower the body temperature.

Along the highway to Tagaytay, this open-air restaurant is home to good halo-halo. It uses real carabao's milk so it's richer. To get here, from Sta. Rosa exit, just follow the road that leads to Tagaytay. Look for this sign. There you go.

Aside from carabao's milk and finely-shaven crushed ice (i.e. no tooth-crunching ice bits), this type of halo-halo contains all the goodies we find in halo-halo, minus the beans. Anyone with gout here? This halo-halo is for you. As for me, I've never been a fan of beans or garbanzos. I leave those out. I was lucky that this one is legume-free, so I was able to enjoy it, except for much of the milk part, since I'm lactose intolerant and full cream milk is one of the stuff that I avoid. I was able to consume finished the fillings down to the last piece. Good thing there was EJ to finish off the milk for me.

For less than 200 pesos, you get one serving. One tall glass is already good for 1 person, although some could opt to share, especially if you're not that hungry (but we were heheheh). Anyway, the catch though is this place closes early, especially on weekdays so best go here before 4 p.m., since according to Mike, the first time they went here they were a few minutes late from closing time.

Another must-try is the puto (I think it's around 28 pesos for 4 pieces) which they serve hot, in contrast with the halo-halo. Oh, and before leaving, this place is great for photo-ops as well, with the scenery.

Cheeseburger Straight From The Bottle

That bottle above is what the kids at home look forward to having breakfast each day. Cheez Whiz brings back memories of packed snacks when I was a kid. I always thaw it a bit before spreading it on warm bread. And take note... one of the few things that make me eat bread.

The cheeseburger flavor looks fun, and it gives it a bit of oomph with meat bits that do not taste fake or synthetic. I'm actually thinking... what if I use this to make burger mac and cheese? hmmmmm.... Make sure the bread is really, really, really hot and make the spread melt into it. wait for the bread to cool before biting to it though.

It's great that it also comes in 5g packs, so we could take this with us too on our next outing. That's when we want cheeseburger in a snap (or in this case, in a bottle) without waiting for 30 minutes for delivery.