20 Nov2009
Here are the first 9 winners of various mini-contests on marketmanila.com over the past two weeks to celebrate the blog’s 5th anniversary. There are also 3 winners of Artisan’s chocolate creations to be claimed in Cebu…
POSTED IN: General
19 Nov2009
What do you think about Zubuchon’s official new logo? A huge thank you to SP and CR for designing this logo and getting it done in warp speed. Please let me know if it looks close to any other lechon logo or pork related venture as I wouldn’t want to unintentionally replicate someone else’s trademark… And don’t worry, we ARE registering it with the IPO office. :)
POSTED IN: General
18 Nov2009
The concept of a Thanksgiving dinner to celebrate the bountiful harvest of the past summer and to give thanks for all the good things in life before the hard cold winter sets in is something I have always enjoyed. Of course it also happens to have become a major food holiday so that can’t hurt either. But if you’ve lived in New England and can empathize with the early English settlers in the region some 400 years ago, and the harsh winters they endured, it’s easier to appreciate the underpinnings of the holiday. When we first moved back to Manila, we used to have a Thanksgiving dinner every year, complete with turkey and and several side dishes. But in the last few years, we have skipped the holiday due to other commitments, or scaled it back a bit. Last year, we had what I will call a “Mock Thanksgiving Dinner”…
POSTED IN: Chicken/Fowl, Fowl/Poultry, General, Main Courses
17 Nov2009
The Intellectual Property Gods are at it again. Egging Marketman on, in yet another “jerk magnet” moment (a phrase coined by reader “Toping”) of nearly incomprehensible coincidences. I arrived in Cebu a few hours ago and got to the office. After an hour or two, a call to the Zubuchon phone line is answered, and a lady from the Marriott Hotel in Cebu asks if we would be interested in participating in an organic weekend market in December. She is told to fax details. The fax arrives. And the event is sponsored by the “Ayala Business Club of Cebu” together with the Marriott Hotel. Pretty established names, I thought. And the market is called “simply organic weekend market.” BUT wait a moment, look at their logo! Doesn’t it look familiar? Are they kidding me? Shall I have lunch first before I give them a call and ask who designed their market logo? Yes, lunch first so I am less likely to bite someone’s head off…
POSTED IN: General, Rant & Rave
17 Nov2009
Lemon poppy seed cake has always been one of my favorites. There is something about the slightly tart, rich buttery cake with the nutty crunch of poppy seeds that is so comforting together with a cup of tea. So when I spotted some blue poppy seeds in a street market in Paris early last Summer, I bought several packs and this is how I used one of the packs. Unfortunately, I don’t even recall what original lemon poppy seed recipe I used when I baked these several months ago, but there are many good ones on the net. But I publish this because of the slight variations I made to the recipe, with great results…
POSTED IN: General
16 Nov2009
Whenever I go to groceries with relatively large meat sections, and it’s apparent that they butcher whole animals on the premises, I inevitably ask for particular pieces or cuts of meat, hoping they will answer in the affirmative. One half of a whole pork belly is always on my wish list. Often, when I ask for the hind legs of a pig, they inevitably answer they don’t have any, but have lots of less meaty front legs of the pig instead… So I was thrilled the other day when the butcher said they had pata or hind legs in stock. While they were bigger than the typical front leg pieces, they were still quite demure in size, so I decided to get two pieces. Back home, I thought I would try two different recipes…
POSTED IN: General
16 Nov2009
How about some outrageous bathroom humor early on a Monday morning? My current poll on readers preferences with respect to soaping themselves in the shower shows how there are different strokes for different folks. But the serendipity/mischievous gods were watching out for us yesterday… Mrs. MM and I were shopping for handicrafts at the request of a U.S. based friend, so we found ourselves at Tesoro’s, that venerable house of Philippine crafts for the past 64 years, and found the most outrageously funny item on their shelves. Just next to the coffee and other food items, were some soaps. Mrs. MM picked one up and burst out laughing. I read the label and burst into uncontrollable laughter as well, and I quote:
POSTED IN: General
15 Nov2009
Congratulations to Manny Pacquiao on winning his fight against Miguel Cotto a few hours ago… After all of the bad news that has befallen the Philippines in recent months, finally an incredible day of national pride as Filipinos at home and around the globe watched Manny pummel and outwit his opponent. Boohoo for Puerto Rico. :) Yehey for the Philippines, at least this time around. He’s probably going to walk away with close to a billion pesos in prize money, endorsements, cable TV revenues and if I were him, I would retire having been the only boxer in the history of the sport to win in seven different weight divisions. But then again, I suppose he will be doing at least one more fight with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. if only to bank another billion plus pesos more, win or lose on that one. CONGRATULATIONS, MANNY PACQUIAO!!! Oh, and my favorite of the insufferable advertisements that played for hours during the fight on local television, the San Miguel ad where Manny is reading the menu, and orders some “Roasted Highland Legumes” and what arrives at the table is described as “isang platitong mani” (a dish of salted peanuts). Hahahaha.
POSTED IN: General