Simple Tasty Snack

I love this particular snack because it’s super easy to make, it’s delicious, and it’s healthy (I think).

What you need:
Baguette
Spicy Canned Tuna (or Tuna in Brine, if you don’t like spicy food)
Feta cheese
Oven toaster

What to do:
1. Slice the baguette into three quarters of an inch, or however you like. Then toast the slices for about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how toasted you want it to be. Remember that the succeeding batches toast faster than the first batch because the oven is already hot. You don’t want charred baguette slices.
2. Drain the tuna and mash it with a fork.
3. Place a generous amount of tuna on top of the toasted baguette and crumble 2 to 3 cubes of feta cheese on it. Or you may want to spread the feta cheese on top of the baguette before topping it with tuna. It’s good either way.
4. ENJOY and SAVOR the tasty treat!

Variations and other suggestions:
*You may use Fita crackers instead of the baguette. But I personally prefer the latter.
*Sometimes I use bananas instead of feta cheese. I like how its sweetness contrasts with the tuna’s salty flavor.
*If you want it really really spicy, you might wanna try the spicy feta cheese, it’s really good.
*I’m not sure if it’s oil, but whatever it is that the feta cheese is soaking in, is good to drizzle on top of the tuna. Although I wouldn’t recommend this with Fita because it drips.

My Top 2 Feel-good Videos

Paul Potts
Paul won Britain’s Got Talent’s first season. After that, he’s been all around the world gracing everybody with his heart-stopping voice. In fact, he’ll be here in Manila on October 8 at the PICC. But with all the fame and opportunities, I still believe that his best performance was during his first audition. I’ve downloaded this video from YouTube so I can watch it whenever I want, and though I’ve seen it dozens of times, it still never fails to give me goosebumps and make me well up. Plus, his smile is one that melts my heart. Seriously.

Andrew Johnston
Andrew was also a contestant in Britain’s Got Talent Season 2. I saw his audition being featured on TV, and immediately looked him up in YouTube. He, like Paul, is absolutely amazing. Goosebumps and tears, yes, this video gives me those too. The difference between these 2 videos though, is that here, you won’t see the apprehension that the judges had when Paul said he was there to sing opera. Ah well, they both definitely surprised the judges and the audience.

Other videos you might want to check out:
Connie Talbot – the most adorable 6-year old singer
Sherman Pore – a man who lost his wife to cancer and dedicated an American Idol audition to her
Sungha Jung – an amazing young guitarist
David Elsewhere – just watch it

Junior’s Cheesecake in the Philippines

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay at the Food Network, where he challenged the current chef of the famous Junior’s Cheesecake in New York to a cheesecake battle. A brief background was given on Junior’s Cheesecake, and you can just imagine how mouthwatering it was to see enormous amounts of rich cheesecake batter being turned into irresistibly delectable desserts. They have this thing called the Devil’s Food Cheesecake, which, as he said is “a cake in a cake” – it was mouthwatering even for me who isn’t a fan of chocolate cake. I was already totally craving for cheesecake when Bobby Flay said something like “You haven’t really lived until you’ve tried Junior’s Cheesecake”. I was dismayed!

Last week, Mommy asked me to buy party hats for my niece’s birthday party, so JC and I went to one of the party stores in Xavierville Avenue called Party Network. Nearing the store, I thought it was closed coz it was a bit dark inside. Anyway, it turned out to be open so we went in. The first things I noticed were two chest freezers right beside the door, and I wondered if I could sell our ice cream sandwiches there. (Not the subject, but I talked to the lady about offering our product to parties and she ended up asking for my card.) Going back, there was a tarpaulin by the freezers but it took a second look before I realized that it had a Junior’s Cheesecake logo on it. Turns out boxes and boxes of Junior’s Cheesecake were housed in those freezers! I was ecstatic! I immediately asked the lady about it and she happily showed me all the flavors and answered my inquiries. I bought the plain baked cheesecake, which was what I’ve been craving for. For cheesecakes that are flown in all the way from New York, they’re cheap. The slice I bought was just Php90, and the others just went up to around Php120. I was so excited to go home to eat the cheesecake and share my wonderful discovery to Mommy and Genine. (I left Genine at home, sleeping in my room.)

The verdict: It didn’t meet my expectations. It was good and rich and creamy, but it wasn’t as extraordinary as I thought it would be. But then certain things have to be taken into consideration: (1) It’s imported from New York, so the freshness has definitely deteriorated, and (2) It has become a bit icy probably because of wrong storage temperature. Having said that, it still won’t stop me from going back to that little store and trying the other flavors. Who knows, maybe that extraordinary cheesecake I’ve been craving for is just right there tucked in those pile of boxes.

P.S. Bear with the ugly photograph. Genine was right behind me, holding a fork, ready to dig in, not leaving me with much time to take a decent shot.

Officially Addicted to Froyo

I’ve been reading about Frozen Yogurt (or Froyo, as it’s more commonly called) for quite some time now but it was only two weeks ago that I got my first serving, thanks to Genine. I was completely oblivious to the fact that the store called Green Mango (clearly taken from the foreign brand Red Mango) right beside Fruit Magic here in Katipunan was actually a froyo store. Anyway, she told me that it was good and cheaper than other stores like California Berry. So a few hours after that conversation, we were on a froyo date! I asked her to treat me and was surprised when she agreed. Thanks labber! (We’re not together together. We’re just really close friends who are really weird.)

So anyway, I totally loved it! I got vanilla flavor topped with almond slivers, corn flakes and white chocolate morsels drizzled with a generous amount of caramel sauce. YUM! I love how the slight sourness of the yogurt contrasts with the sweet toppings. For Php70, not bad at all. I’ve come back at least three times for the past couple of weeks. Froyo makes me happy! Really.

I have yet to try I Love Berries Frozen Yogurt, coz I read that it’s REALLY good, and I’ve seen how many people book them for parties and other events (I have them in my Multiply, check them out: www.iloveberries4.multiply.com). Unfortunately they join bazaars that are a bit far from here so I haven’t gone to any. But I read that they’re gonna be opening their first store soon, so I’m looking forward to finally trying their über famous concoctions. But for my sudden cravings, trusty Green Mango will be perfectly fine – it’s good, (more) affordable and accessible!