Cook and Brew.

You Are a Sweet Person

When it comes to snacks, you’re more likely to grab some candy than heat up a pizza. There’s a good chance you’re female (women prefer sweet snacks)… Or at least, you prefer to be in the company of women. Your tastes are simple and predictable. You are young at heart. You tend to crave food you can just grab and eat.

Are You Sweet or Salty?

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

Wow..this is so true. Aside from my being affectionate, which the husband can attest to that, I truly have an incredibly sweet tooth. In fact, the barcode scanners in the grocery could actually break down whenever we shop for my sweets stocks for the week. I stock our cart a lot! From ice cream, to chocolates, cookies, donuts, etc. My latest sweet cravings lately are Goldilocks Polvorons which I’m currently munching as I blog.

Going to Baguio City this Holiday season? Don’t forget to drop by Teahouse along Session Road or their SM Baguio branch and snag this delectable treat for your own feasting or as a pasalubong to your loved ones here in Manila:

Here’s what I have previously blogged about this sweet treat:

Ever since we tasted this heavenly cake dessert, we make it a point that this is the number one in the list of pasalubongs to take home from Baguio. This refrigerator cake called Chona’s Delight is named after the brilliant Aling Chona, the owner of Tea House Restaurant and Bakeshop located along Session Road.  This establishment is one of the oldest chow place for locals and tourists craving for noodle snacks, coffee, bread and sinfully delicious cakes such as the above pictured Chona’s Delight. Tea House now also has a branch at nearby SM Baguio where we bought 5 small tubs of Chona’s Delight for take home during our annual Christmas vacation in the city of Pines last year. Three of the five small tubs were exclusively devoured by me..yes, that’s how delectable and addicting this cake is.  It consists of layers of rich chocolate cake frosting and fillings of creamy custard and whipped cream. Don’t be fooled with the rich, dark chocolatey look but this doesn’t taste tooth-cringing sweet at all. In fact, you can really even consume all by yourself in one sitting the small tub which they sell at Php 105/container.

Tea House Restaurant and Bakeshop
87 Session Road, Baguio City
Branch:
SM Baguio, Upper Session Road, Baguio City

Polvoron has become one of the most loved sweet Filipino delicacies over the years. It is an easy to prepare powdered milk candy, made of flour, sugar, melted butter and powdered milk toasted all together. They are shaped and pressed into round or oval-shaped special molds that can be bought from the grocery or supermarket. Several polvoron variations and flavors exist now: the choco flavour, pinipig, nuts and the latest one is called, chocovron: polvoron coated with dark or white chocolate. Chocovron from Collette’s is my personal favorite. In fact, it was one of my sweet cravings when I was pregnant with my son.

Polvoron has also been a favourite “pasalubong” gifts to overseas friends and family.

Here’s a simple recipe that my sisters and I usually follow whenever we make our own polvoron during our childhood years.

Digiscrapped by yours truly.
Credits:
All A Flutter Paper by Eve Recinella
Posh petals tab element by Eve Recinella
Heart element by Amber Clegg
Bent photo template by Nancy Comelab
Alpha by sharonk
Photo Corner by Corina Nielsen
Idea from Katie the Scrapbook Lady’s February Amazing Months of Memories Class (Feb as Snack Food Month)

Sweet treats such as chocolates have been popular birthday giveaways lately. But for my son’s birthday, I veered away from the traditional chocolate packaging. Check out the words and facts I used in “Nutritional Facts” style to spice up my son’s giveaway. It definitely makes the treat sweeter.

Calling all Go Nuts Donuts fanatics, here’s your chance to get a free Go Nuts Donuts Gift Certificate. Just log on to your Facebook account and answer the “How much of a sweet tooth are you?” quiz. The claiming procedure will be given at the quiz results.

Here’s the result I got..it’s pretty obvious that I have a sweet tooth.

I am yet to receive an email response. I’ll update this post once I get feedback.

Stay tuned for more contests. Who knows they might be giving free tickets to watch Las Vegas Shows.

Edited 09.28.09: Just received an email stating that my GC is on its way to my mailbox.

One of the tables that got stormed by my son’s 1st birthday party guests was the Chocolate Fountain table. A dear friend who happens to be my son’s godmother volunteered that she lends her chocolate fountain and likewise, offered her services to set it up and make the necessary dippers. Check out her Chocolate Coated Apples, the recipe of which she got from Foodnetwork.com:

Ingredients
* Medium sweet-tart apples, such as Fuji or Gala
* Barbecue or popsicle sticks
* 1 pound semisweet chocolate, cut into chunks
* 1 cup M & M’s and candy sprinkles. Optional ingredients are chopped pistachios, shredded coconut, toffee pieces, or crushed Oreos

Directions:
Twist off the stems from the apples and push a stick down into the core. Put the apples in the fridge while preparing the chocolate; they’ll coat better if they’re cold.

Slowly melt the chocolate in a double boiler over hot water or in a microwave set on high for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through the heating time to smooth it out. Remove from the heat and stir until completely melted and warm, not hot. Dunk each apple into the chocolate, allowing the excess to drip back into the bowl. Roll the apples around in the chocolate, turning with the stick, so it’s coated all the way up to the top. Use a spoon to baste any hard to get spots.

Put the desired coating in a separate bowl and roll the dipped apple around so it is completely covered. Set the chocolate dipped apples on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.

***

I was so busy entertaining the party guests that’s why I wasn’t able to taste it. But I heard great raves about it from the guests.

Planning to have a Chocolate Fountain in your party?  Check out the following Metro Manila Chocolate Fountain suppliers that may serve your party requirements:

101 Pinoy Parties
0922-5667820; 0928-6021569
one0one.pinoyparties@yahoo.com

Choco Fountain by Flowers & Events
1321 Quirino Ave Malate, Manila
404-2638; 243-6875; 0916-7046273; 0916-5548993
flowersandevents@yahoo.com

Chocolate Fountain by Perfect Moments
1445 Zulueta St., Paco, Manila
564-2130; 563-7193; 0917-5361015
eventsbyperfectmoments@yahoo.com

Dreams and Glimpses Party and Bridal Boutique
713 JP Rizal St., Concepcion, Marikina City
240-3148; 942-1787; 724-5508; 0917-8544440; 0915-7793777
dreamsnglimpses@yahoo.com

ILoveChocoFondue.com Chocolate Fountain Services
3rd Floor Femar Bldg., ML Quezon St., Antipolo City
692-2939; 0905-2729751
info@ilovechocofondue.com

Sweet Definitions
0908.7882255; 0915-3344544
info@sweetdefinitions.com

My Chocolate Heaven
Email : mychocolateheaven.info@gmail.com
Cell # for Northern Luzon-Baguio City: 0917-5060308
Cell # for Northern Luzon-Lingayen: 0928-0255969
Cell # for Northern Luzon-Dagupan City:0928-5219053
Cell # for Bulacan : 0917-8922276
Cell # for Metro Manila: 0917-8007215

A party trend that has become quite popular lately is the Chocolate Fountain. From birthdays to baby showers to baptismal to corporate events to weddings, the chocolate fountain table might have been the next crowded area next to the buffet table.

A chocolate fountain is a stainless steel with 2 or 3 (or more) tiers that melts chocolate and produces a continuous flow of chocolate film over the tiers like a fountain. The chocolate fondue are usually: Bittersweet Chocolate, Darksweet Chocolate, Premium Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, White Chocolate, and even Colored Chocolate. There is a variety of “dippers” or “dippings” which are used to dip into the chocolate film and cover it with the desired amount of chocolate.

Dippers can be fruits and non-fruits:
Fruits:
1.Banana
2.Apple
3.Pineapple
4.Orange
5.Melon
6.Watermelon
7. Grapes
8. Strawberry
9. Blueberry (Frozen)
10. Kiwi
11. Raspberries (Frozen)

and Non-Fruits:
1.Chocostick Wafer
2.Vanilla Wafer
3.Breadstick
4.Marshmallows
5.Graham Cracker
6.Garlic Fingers
7.French Bread
8. Pretzels
9. Mini Donuts
10. Chocolate Chip Cookies
11. Peanut Butter Chip Cookies
12. Butter Cookies
13. Mini cup cakes (in choco, ube, strawberry, and cheese)
14. Churros
15. Rosquillos
16. Broas
17. Barquillos
18. Butter Egg Roll Cookies
19. Nachos
20. French Fries

The Chocolate Fountain is highly favored because of the following advantages:
1. It simplifies your menu. Just serve the chocolate and dippers then the dessert bar is done.
2. Because of the interactive and fascinating experience of “dipping” it makes eating more exciting.
3. It is an elegant and impressive table centerpiece.

“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M’s and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.”
~ Dave Barry

I’m literally drooling while posting this picture. And all the more I salivated when I noticed that my recent snapshots share are all food…so tempting and alluring. This is the husband’s shot of his special Father’s Day cake…Red Ribbon’s Chocolate S’mores Cake: moist chocolate cake with layers of heavenly marshmallow and grahams. Topped with caramel and chocolate squares.

From among Red Ribbon cakes, the S’mores Chocolate Cake used to be our top most favorite but the Cookies and Cream changed it. Its layering of creamy cookies and cream filled with real chocolate cookie chunks and vanilla and chiffon cakes in between is the best thing about this cake. Plus, the soft whole oreo cookies toppings finishes the taste with a big bang. I just love it to bits because it doesn’t taste that sweet as you would think because of its chocolatey-cookies-and-cream appeal.