Audrey's Adventures Featured on The Daily Palette!

Hi, everyone! I've got some great news to share with you today! Audrey's Adventures got featured on The Daily Palette yesterday for the La Vie En Rose Sweets food review that I wrote yesterday. I hope you all check it out! :) And thank you to The Daily Palette once again!

Audrey Cooks | Pesto Pasta Presto!

Hi, everyone! :) I don't think I've written about this here but recently our entire family has decided to go vegetarian (well, for the most part--mostly Wina & I have been doing this while everyone else minus Jo has gone on a no red meat diet). And I thought I'd share this recipe that  I came up with for pesto a few weeks ago. 

See, traditionally pesto is made by blending sweet basil, olive oil and garlic together. But I've found that the problem with that is the garlic becomes overpowering and it's difficult to gauge the proportions of the sauce so it becomes terribly imbalanced and just way too garlic-dominating. So I decided to put in some hard work and mince the garlic and sweet basil by hand to make this pesto dish. We also used whole grain fettuccine which I find goes better with pesto than a spaghetti noodle. This fed almost our entire household which is about 12 people.

The recipe is as follows:

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 pack of sweet basil

1 400 mg pack of whole grain fettuccine 

Extra Virgin Olive Oil (enough to cover pasta)

Cheese (parmesan/queso de bola)

Cook your pasta for 11 minutes; make sure the water is boiling before putting the pasta into the bowl. Remember to season by sprinkling olive oil and a bit of salt into the water before adding the pasta.

Mince the garlic and sweet basil until they are so tiny you can hardly hold one single piece in your hand.

Once the pasta is cooked, strain it and once the water has been disposed of, put the pasta back into the bowl/pan.

Pour enough olive oil to cover the pasta evenly (gauge this to taste).

Pour in the minced sweet basil and garlic, mix until evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper.

Add a bit of parmesan or queso de bola (whichever you prefer) on top of the pasta to add a little more contrast to the flavor.

And that's it! :) I hope you all enjoy cooking this at home! I'm planning to recreate this with tomatoes soon!

Food Adventure | La Vie En Rose Sweets

So yesterday, my sissy Wina and I satiated our craving for sweets with an order of French Macarons from La Vie En Rose Sweets. She picked them up in the morning and we snacked on them (along with my darling Presley of course) after lunch. :) Thank you again to Cara Funk for these! I enjoyed them thoroughly!

Product: La Vie En Rose Sweets | French Macarons

Contact Details: Cara & Rosenne Funk | 09052048031 | carazfunk@yahoo.com

Price Range: P30-P35/piece

Over-all Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

 The packaging was adorable and is stored really easily too! Another great thing about these sweets is whether or not you put them in the refrigerator, they still keep fresh!

 We ordered around three pieces of the following flavors:

Blueberry Cheesecake

Strawberry & White Chocolate (Plain)

Strawberry & White Chocolate (w/ candied rose + pearls)

Choco Hazelnut

 Of all the French Macarons I've tried (I've had those served at Bizu and those at Cafe France) these are the only ones where I could taste the coconut-y goodness without it being overpowered (yes Macarons and relatives of Macaroons). 

1.) Hands-down, my favorite was the Blueberry Cheesecake--I loved how you could really taste the creamcheese and the blueberry taste wasn't overpowering. I also loved that it wasn't too sweet. I'd definitely give this 5 stars.

2.-3.) Strawberry & White Chocolate (Plain) was my second-favorite. Although this is essentially the same as the Strawberry & White Chocolate (with candied rose and pearls) I enjoyed this more because I'm not particularly a fan of the candied flowers (Presley loved them though, as you'll see in the photo below). Wina loved these the most. The thing I loved about this was that it was just sweet enough and was just the right mix of fruity and chocolate-y. I'd give the plain variety 4.5 stars and the candied variety 4 stars.

4/) Choco Hazelnut had to be my least favorite. While I love Nutella, I'm not a huge fan of Nutella on something chocolate. I like Nutella on waffles or on bread but on something chocolate, it can be a little bit overwhelming. I think that kids'd love this though because it's very sweet. While it isn't something I'd crave for or snack on, I'd still recommend this for all my fellow-mommies who'd like to give their kiddos a treat. I'd give this 3.5 stars.

Presley took her eating very seriously and just about munched off the flowers on two of the candied flower macarons we ordered. :))

All-in-all I'd definitely recommend you go order these! :) They're way more affordable than other French Macarons (they're around P38/piece at Bizu and P36/piece at Cafe France) and are (in my opinion) was more delicious. These are perfect for tea parties, birthday celebrations or just something to store around the house for dessert!

Food Adventure | Xoi Vietnamese Kitchen

A couple of weeks ago, Ate Ria (my other sissy in law who lives in vietnam) came to visit us and (ironically) the first thing she started craving for when she got here was Vietnamese food. So we decided to hit Xoi Vietnamese Kitchen. I'm going to start organizing thoughts a little more with reviews here, so let me get to a more orderly start than usual.

Restaurant: Xoi Vietnamese Kitchen

Location: Corte De Las Palmas Extension, Ground Floor, Alabang Town Center

Price Range: P300-400 (Around P180 per dish)

Over-all rating: 3/5 stars

Goi Cuon This is basically the Vietnamese version of Lumpiang Ubod x the mexican burrito. It's delicious and definitely refreshing--the steamed shrimp goes very well with this too. 

Cost: P100

Kropek appetizer! :) Always delicious and absolutely free.

Pho Hai San Pho is a Vietnamese staple, so of course we had to order this. The most delicious part of this dish were the mushrooms. This was very, very yummy! You can get this for P 180.

Pho Ga This is their Chicken Pho. Very, very delicious! :D This was the dish that we ordered for Dad--who we try to keep on a healthy, healthy but yumm diet! This dish was for P 175.

Spring Rolls. Definitely a favorite. This costs around P 150 and is very worth it. The sauce is delicious as well.

Bun Thit voi Cha Gio This is a combo satay and crispy roll. It was delicious and very refreshing! Somehow, the vegetables tasted really good and not overly leafy (if that makes sense haha). This was P220.

Thit Heo Nuong Xa This is grilled pork belly with lemon grass. While this sounds delicious, Mike had this and it wasn't too good (he should know because he loves pork). Nothing beats grilled pork liempo! This was P175. 

Canh Ga Chien voi Toi Basically, your chicken lollipop. This was very good and worth the P175.

Overall, I'd say Xoi was an okay restaurant. It isn't the best--they have a lot of dishes that seemed a little overrated. Also, being from Vietnam, Ate Ria didn't seem to impressed; she said there were other more authentic places to eat Vietnamese here. Not bad, but not great either. :)

Hope everyone is having a good Friday! TGIF!!!

Just Keep Swimming

Ate Ria is in town (as I think I've mentioned in my last entry) and she's staying at the Acacia Hotel here in Alabang. :) Presley and I went for a visit yesterday and we went swimming! The hotel is beautiful and everyone is so friendly. :D Here are a couple of photos from yesterday!

 This is the view from the pool deck of the Acacia Hotel. Alabang is a really pretty place, especially when seen from above.

 Presley had a great time in the kiddie pool--she also insisted on wearing the star-printed floatie even if she could reach the floor of the pool. :))

That's it for now. :D More soon!

Food Adventure | Jamba Juice

Hi, everyone! Yesterday, the Puangco clan decided to eat out at Xoi (which I will post about in a separate entry), which serves Vietnamese food. After a hearty dinner we decided to try and be healthy--something that is quite the challenge in the Puangco household--and snack on something fruity instead of the usual dairy-loaded options. :) Delicious, delicious, delicious! The prices are a bit higher than you would usually pay for a fruit shake but for their juice recipes and unique fruit blends, it's definitely worth it. :)

Thanks to my sissy, Wina for the photos!

 Mike looking quite satisfied after his drink. :)

Food Adventure | Cafe Med

The other night, our family decided to eat out to celebrate Ate Ria's two-long week vacation here at home in Manila. :) We decided to head to Cafe Med, where they serve some of the best Mediterranean cuisine in all of Metro Manila (as far as I'm concerned, anyway). Here's a little run-through of our dining experience:

 The service at Cafe Med (at least in the Alabang Town Center branch) is exemplary. Our dear waiters, Anthony & Paul were so kind as to help us out with everything we needed--pouring wine, getting ice and taking our follow-up orders. I also love that they introduce themselves before serving you; it makes the dining experience so refreshing and it feels so much more personal than at other places where the waiters and waitresses don't talk to you. :)

 Their House Lemon-and-Mint Iced Tea was delicious! Refreshing and citrus-y, this drink had my taste buds partying. Definitely worth the try if you haven't had it yet. :)

 The Kofta appetizers were muy delicioso! Mussaka, and olives are the perfect match for meat and tomatoes; they balance out the zing of the meat with a perfect coolness and a texture that soothes the flavor-whelmed palette.

 Everyone else had the kebabs--Ate Ria & Wina had beef with couscous (above), Mike had the lamb with pita bread while Jo had the lamb with rice; Mom and Dad had fish kebabs and rice (below)--a healthier option for our dearest seniors. ;) I had the olives & eggplant pasta (yes, I couldn't get enough of this combo) and it was delicious! No meat has never tasted this good. :)

Overall, Cafe Med is a wonderful place to eat. It's a little pricier than your average restaurant but it's definitely worth the money--their main courses range from about 295-370 while their entrees go from 250-350. I apologize for not having the exact price list, perhaps I'll be back with it soon. :) Hope everyone enjoyed this! See you soon!