Gourmet Masterpieces by Appetite Magazine and Megaworld Lifestyle Malls

I don't know how to begin. It's my first time to join a food event and I have no idea how to describe the whole experience. First I was so overwhelmed with excitement when I saw the showcase of food. Then I had the momentary urge to throw up when the models started to walk the runway (talk about slim figures and oh lalah bodies). But that was only for a brief period, the free flowing of enticing food eventually won and I ended up with a handful at the end of the event. I had to thank my friend, Madz of Pigout Sessions, for bringing me along.

The event was a combination of food, art and designers' gown. That explained why there were models walking the runway during the program. I think the event did not only aim for the appreciation of visual and culinary arts fusion but also the appreciation of fashion as well. I honestly did not get that but being surrounded by elegance and glamour was enough to put me in a good mood. Here's a sample of an entry:

The above photo is J.Cuppacakes' Gime me S'more. It is inspired by a heartwarming painting of a mother and a child. This is a Chocolate Almond Brownie cupcake topped with a classic comfort food S'more - Burned Marshmallow Frosting.

The event was also a competition. Each dish is to represent or recreate certain paintings that inspired the Chefs. Here are some of my favorites (and I'm yet to master my photography skills, if I have one. LOL):

This one is from Serye, called Filipino Mushroom Topped Laing, inspired by a painting of the Mayon Volcano. Yup, it's Laing, a Bicolano favorite of mine, "carefully laid on a delicately made pastry crust and topped with sliver of mushroom and siling labuyo". 

Red Crab's Gambas Ala Remedios is from Red Crab Alimango House. This one is inspired by Ang Kiukok's Fisherman with Catch. This dish is a combination of gambas, minced shrimps, garlic, onions and bell peppers seasoned with oyster sauce, sweet chilli sauce and tomato sauce.

The Deep Fried Lapu lapu Xi Yan style dish in pomelo lemon dressing of Passion in Resorts World Manila is inspired by a Yin Yang fish painting.

Robby Goco's Greek Nachos by Cyma.

This one is my favorite. At first I thought they were mere decorations and that the dish has not yet come. But try to look closer... They are cute little gelatin! They are King Chef's Almond Fish Gelatin inspired from a painting A school of koi swimming in a pond with lotus.

Filipino delicacies (puto, Maja Blanca, and pastillas - pastillas!!! which I can't get enough of) that gave life to the Philippine flag is from Eastwood Richmonde Hotel.

Cancun margarita of Agave Mexican Cantina. I used this as my thirst quencher during the event. 

C2 Mango Vita from Cravings / CCA is a "fruity combination of ripe mango, cucumber and carrots with sugar syrup and shaved ice".

This one can you believe is inspired by a tattoo design? This Double Decker Cake by Chef Micheal Lopez ogCafe Maxims is from Impressions in Resorts World Manila.

And the winning piece for spot on interpretation... Too bad I wasn't able to taste this one, but according to my friend, it had this melt-in-your-mouth texture that didn't had any liver taste in it, though its main ingredient is a Duck liver. This one is also from Impressions in Resorts World Manila.

Impression Foie Gras is made of "Braised Veal Sweet Bread with pan fried duck liver and Risottto with Parsley Cream Sauce". This is inspired by the cheerful greens and yellows of a spring landscape painting.

I did mention that there where models, right?

It was not only the models who rocked the runway, all the brilliant Chefs behind each creation/masterpiece came out as well.

Here's a bird's eye view of the event held at the Plaza in Newport Mall. I took this photo after the event while I was at a coffee shop drinking tea latte and soothing myself from the effects of the margarita I told you about. But believe me when I say this, the venue was full packed during the main event.

And look, they even gave us a little box of chocolate to bring home. It was delicious!

You have no idea how intimidated I am being surrounded with elite people while I only have an iPhone in my hand to take pictures with. How I wish I had those big, bulky cameras so I'd look like a Pro, haha! Nevertheless, I was able to enjoy the night and is looking forward to attending more events like this in the future.

My First Cookie Butter Experience

I'm on a strict diet. But seeing photos of famous Philippines actresses flashing bottles of Trader's Joe Cookie Butter all over IG made me really, really curious. In fact, I even listed "try the Cookie Butter" as one of my birthday wishlist! Not until I found out how expensive they were. Sign.

Until this: 

You have no idea how hard it was to convince my husband to buy me a box of these (well, technically, a half dozen box since I filled the other box with some of my favorite donuts). It was also a walk-down-memory-lane kind of thing, too. You see, Gonuts Donuts was once my favorite. Anyway, as soon as I was able to grab a piece, I instantly licked the butter first. I wanted to taste the cookie butter alone because I know Gonut Donut's donut (ahaha weird) were a bit too sweet. And mind you, YEAHS! it do taste good. 

Some of my favorites: Cinnamon Glaze and Pastillas de leche. Yum!

Website: 
http://www.gonutsdonuts.com/

Dibo's 1st Birthday Party - Racing Cars at Max's Restaurant

I wanted to create a new blog site ever since I gave birth to my first son last year but I only got to finally put it into a reality just now simply because I feel very masipag at the moment. You're not aware, but I do have a personal blog site that's been lying around somewhere here in the Internet. It's been inactive for a while now and believe me, I'd rather it stays that way for the rest of my life. Haha! 

Moving on...

So I guess it's a little late for me to share with you some of the little milestone that we've witnessed from our son. But just in case you're curious, feel free to browse my tumblr page. I'm just way too lazy to put them all into writing right now *grinning*

Let's continue...

As you may not know it, our son is super fond of cars or anything with wheels. You'll hear him say "broom, broom" while pointing to the car he's attentively observing, moving or not. Place a steering wheel in front of him and he'll know what to do. He'll even make a brrrrrrrm sound as if he was actually driving. Because of this, for his first birthday party, I imposed suggested to have cars as our theme. At first I wanted to organize the whole party all by myself - hire a caterer, rent a venue, create personalized loot bags, hire a host, create list of games, etc. But as it turned out, it is more tiring, not to mention more expensive, than I though. It was frustrating not being able to find the right (and cheap?) venue with a good parking space, considering some guests are coming from all over. In the end I finally gave in to the idea of holding it in one of the food establishments here Makati City. In one condition: That there would be a candy buffet station and I would have to do it myself. So this establishment should allow me to do that, or else it will not be our option. Good thing Max's Restaurant at Greenbelt 1 is so accommodating that after I learned that they allow candy buffet setup (without corkage!) I instantly booked them. They also allowed us to bring our own cupcakes, as long as it is for our giveaways. 

Behold, my candy buffet station:

Everything was personalized. I borrowed the containers from my officemate and I bought those sweets from Subic freeport and from Cash and Carry. I personalized those chocolate bars by printing out themed wrappers and replacing them with a local chocolate brand I also found from Cash and Carry. I thought I wouldn't be able to find those dotted cups because Living Well seems to forever run out of stocks.  Fortunately, Cash and Carry supermarket have them. I had so much fun labeling them into car parts. This was a hit during the party. *ahem ahem*

The cupcakes, the cake (courtesy of Max's Restaurant) and the picture frame that I made (taray! talent! LOL)

I had my friend/officemate Joey to thank for for my son's picture. The shots were awesome and I love it. 

I had the tarpaulin edited and printed at only Php150 at a shop along Buendia. For the magician, since I wanted to have a magician do tricks at the party, though Max's includes hosting in their package, we hired Rap-Rap the Magician who did magic, balloon twisting and games. Oh, he's good!

At first, I didn't believe Max's function hall can actually fit 100 people as what they have claimed. I was expecting 70-80 people and voila, look! 

What a fun party it was, our son even did an impromptu dance number.

He also liked the mascot.

Everything was great except for the loot bags. I'm a bit disappointed thought. I even added some Dole products in it because I find it's not enough. I had the magician bring the car pinata (additional charge) while I brought the candies for it.

Nevertheless, it was such a great experience for us having to host a birthday party for the first time. Of course, I would never stop thanking all those people who've helped us, our families for instance. It was fulfilling and definitely one of the proud moments I would cherish for the rest of my life. This is me immortalizing this experience.

Oh, by the way, the food were great, too.