Updates, Updates, Updates!

I just got home from the concert of Charice Pempengco in Resorts World. First, I'm really sad because taking photos was not allowed and I'm a big fan boy. Second, I wasn't able to go inside the casino because of time constraints. Lastly, I wasn't able to go clubbing because I had to be responsible to go home because...

Christmas with Charice @ New Port Theatre

Just to update you guys...

We have a lunch event for Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods later. I hope it all goes well. Thank you to everyone who will be coming.

We will also be a sponsor to an event later tonight: Spin City, a benefit event for Virlanie Foundation, Inc. It will be held in TIME in Manila, 7840 Makati Ave.

It's been so busy with all these and thesis. It really is a time to be thankful to God! :)

Moreover...

We just got featured last month, November 2011, in Working Mom Magazine! Thank you, Ate Rowena!

We also just got featured at Between Bites! Thank you, Ate Jane! 

And, we just got in eBay Kuponan! Thank you, Ms. Mindy!

Well, bye for now! Thesis again and prep work in a while! :)

The New Addition... Maybe...

So a lot of things are happening with Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods and that is partly why I have been really hoping to spice up this blog too.

Just recently, Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods has a small feature in this month's issue of Working Mom Magazine. Thanks to Ms. Rowena! We also have been featured in some notable blogs around. Thanks to Jill, David, Franny, and Richard!

We just had a meeting with my marketing and promotions team last week and, just this week, with eBay's group buying site, Kuponan. I guess everything seems to be falling on together well.

With all that, I am really excited for what will come out of everything.

Now that I am done with talking about those. The next thing will be about this blog. I decided to write more about what I do. For the people who know me, they know me as one or many of these: a cook, a photographer, a blogger, a dancer, a frustrated writer, a board gamer, and/or a hopeless romantic. I still will mostly talk about food but with the focus on food I create. It is mainly because I want to hone my skills in cooking more and because I want to write a different perspective on food, hopefully. But, I will have my occasional blogs about food that I find outside the comforts of my kitchen. And lastly, I will also have my occasional chatter about my life and what I do.

Now for my first entry in this new blog...

White Sauce Fettuccine

White Sauce Pasta

Who doesn't love white sauce? Although, a better question would be who doesn't love pasta? It is one of the best creations of man if there ever was one. And cooking through the ages, we have seen more and more different kinds and types.

When it comes to the noodles, the Italians have linguine/fettuccine, spaghetti, angel hair, penne, and a lot more. The Chinese, has their egg, flat, and a lot more that some I cannot even spell or pronounce. When it comes to the sauce, there's Bolognese, Marinara, Napoleon, Margherita, Carbonara, and a lot more.

There always has to be the perfect type of sauce for the perfect kind of noodles.

My mom kept bugging me to create my own white sauce for Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods so I started to create one. Keeping my mind in making white sauce the Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods way, I just knew it had to have milk, butter, and cheese. There had to be mushrooms and bacon and it had to be perfect.

I created it one Sunday night and the resulting dish created this question from my brother, Kel, that I really liked, "Isasama mo ba ito sa menu mo?" It meant he liked it so I had to dig in. I was not able to take a shot of the pasta with bacon in it because some people do not know the meaning of the phrase, "Please save some for me."

The pasta was just right. The noodles were cooked perfectly. The sauce was just thick enough. It had a creamy base that was oozing with the flavors of cheese and mushrooms. The bacon complemented the creaminess and the cheese was just like topping off any dessert with whipped cream.

The recipe was simple. It was thick and creamy enough to make you feel like your mom made it. And, it might just be the next addition to the Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods Menu. Enjoy!

Anything New is Good...

I miss the days when everything seemed to be so easy. Nowadays, everything has to be cool and new. The thing about it is that you have to be updated too.

For the people who know me, I got my camera stolen last year. It was a Canon EOS 400D and it served me for almost a good three years. Everything these days seem to go well for almost three years... fads, technologies, relationships... ha ha!

Camera Love.

So since everything around me seems to be bogging down, I decided to revamp everything. Just this month, I bought a new camera, a Canon EOS 60D with an 18-135mm IS kit lens and, my beloved, 50mm f/1.8 lens.

It never ceases to amaze me how clean it looks like.

I also bought the new 15" MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz that they silently upgraded from a 15" MacBook Pro 2.0 GHz with the same price so now I'm ready to fix up this blog.

For once, I think life is really starting to go back to my favor. I guess I have to be really thankful to You for that.

I am back on track and I have to thank the people around me for giving that to me. Thanks, Lina, Marc, Jed, Ate E-Anne, my Kuya, my Mom, Skittlez, and the board gaming community. Special thanks to Mikho, Jelo, and a lot more other people that will be too many to mention.

 with Lina.

with Jed, Mikho, and Ate E-Anne.

 with Skittlez Crew.

Ultimate Frisbee with the board gaming people.

Creating a new experience...

Heart, Meat, & Soul Blog will be taking a turn for the better, or I hope it does. It's going to be more about the food I create in a regular basis than other food... :) Better pictures and better writing I'm hoping... Hahahaha! :P

Guys, any views about it? :)

Heart, Meat, & Soul Blog Reloading

Heart, Meat, & Soul Blog has been a mix of different kinds of my food and life experiences but it has not been really that easy. I'm really looking for a good focus and I think I found it already.

Starting next month I'm going to start on focusing on something new and unique and more close to my heart. The other things may stay. It just depends on how it's going to happen next week.

This is to hoping it all turns out great! :)

The Dog Days Are Still Here...

Thesis killing me!!! Hehe!

I'm pretty much swamped with everything else that I haven't had the time to post anything here. But, it has been a great time. I think I'm almost done with school at last and God has been very helpful to me in the food business.

Please take your time to read posts from these two lovely people who posted about my food...

Heart, Meat and Soul : Personal Chef at your Service | Frannywanny by Fran

Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods | Tales from the Tummy by Richard Co

Thanks! Hope for your support in everything!

P.S. Guys, if you know anyone who can handle E-Commerce and SEO concerns, tell me! :)

The Tagaytay Escape

We were supposed to go to Hong Kong, then it became Thailand, and it all came down to Tagaytay Highlands during the long weekend. Since my mom and I actually had nothing to do. We decided to leave on Tuesday while everyone else was trying to get back home. It was just an overnight with my uncle who came back from the United States.

I am not, in anyway, putting down Tagaytay Highlands. I actually loved it more. I somehow did not really want to leave the Philippines. And, one good thing about Tagaytay Highlands is it was pretty quiet.

Anyways, we left around 10 AM from the house and picked up our Uncle from where he stays. We then went on the long drive to Tagaytay. It was pretty fun. I was asleep in the car the whole time. Haha!

We went to our unit at Tagaytay Highlands to drop off the bags and left to find our late lunch.

We ended up at RSM Foods and ordered for at least five people.

We ordered Sizzling Sisig, Adobong Kangkong, Crispy Crablets, and Bulalo. The crispy crablets in vinegar was to die for. For some reason, I was eating less than I could that day but it was really good.

After, my mom didn't want to go back to the condo just yet. So, we went to the forever full Bag of Beans to have some afternoon drinks. My phone died so I was not able to take photos but we ordered this big pancake that ended in me saying, "This is a pancake! A real one!" Haha!

Now, we were so filled up that we decided to go back to the condo and call it good. I tried to get them to play board games but it was pretty hard to teach them. I was able to get them to play Hive and I'm the Boss. But, my brain and capacity for teaching was on the brink of destruction. But, it was fun! Haha! We also took a night jog that took off the cholesterol from the afternoon food trip.

I really am glad for this trip because it was an escape from everything, especially that time. My mind was going restless and I really needed a break. It was one of those times that I could really just break away into the silence.

The next day though, we decided that we pack up and leave already and just eat along the way home. It was a long walk down for me because I really wanted to stay. I just want to go back there and escape from everything.

But, alas, the trip back home had to be done.

We went on to have a late lunch at Leslie's Restaurant. It was the original Bulalohan in Tagaytay if the rumours are correct.

This time we went on for a lighter meal, Crispy Bangus Tail, Crispy Pata, Laing, and Bulalo Soup. Hahaha! It was one of the best Crispy Pata I have ever had and it was also large for its price. Very good food indeed.

We were full going home and we passed by Colette's for a Buko Pie and Rowena's for the best Mango Tart ever!

And, as if we weren't done yet, when we got back to Manila, we hit off the best food trip and escape with JT's Manukan, the best Bacolod Chicken Inasal there is here in Manila, owned by Joel Torre. The chicken is cooked just right.

Hay, I want to do this all over again. :)

Double Double

This post is not for the faint of heart... figuratively and literally. This is another audition to this foodie blog, me being a junk foodie, fast foods and chips galore!

So what is a Double Double? Double Down (KFC) + Double Cheeseburger (McDonald's) = Double Double.

The Double Double can literally kill you with the amount of cholesterol in it but it's a pretty flat out meat lover's dream. The cheese blends, the bacon, and, surprisingly, the beef and the chicken patties actually are contrasting but complementing flavors.

My friends saw me eating this last month and they were telling me, "Dude, nagpapakamatay ka ba? Puwede naman natin pag-usapan yan eh." (Dude, are you trying to kill yourself? Let's just talk about it first.). I know I have to take care of my body but the occasional big, unhealthy, cholesterol-full, processed food still knows how to tempt me. Double Double goes next to my heart to Burger King's Mushroom Steakhouse burger.

In another one of my fattening and junk foodie exploits, this would be the best thing to eat on a Sunday morning when you have not yet slept and are about to head home to rest...

The Real Big Breakfast consists of: Double Sausage McMuffin, 2 pc. Pancake smothered in maple syrup, and Medium Orange Juice. For this to be ultimately an enlightening experience, please do not ever think about the amount of calories or cholesterol you will get from eating these. Hehe!

Thank you!

Pulutan Anyone?

A friend of mine asked me to make pulutan for their bar. I have thought of some great things like a good cheese-stuffed pepper and my signature cheese sauces that they can use for almost any appetizer. But then, they might not have the right utensils to cook at the bar except for a microwave like most bars in the metro so I am starting at a blank.

Anyone have any suggestions? At least until they get kitchen equipment. Microwaveable. Hearty. Meaty. Soulful. That's a tough call. Haha!

A Realization...

Been busy lately with the ups and downs of business and life so that would explain backlogs of writing about events that happened a month ago. Hahaha!

One of our close relatives was taken to a better place last month August. I would spare you the details so that to protect you and also the safety of the immediate family. Earlier that week also, I went to a wake of one of my good friend's grandfather. It was just a week full of realizations. Life can be pretty short I guess. And, it can be taken in an instant.

I had to leave Metro Manila for a few days and go to Pampanga for the wake. In a sad note, it was one of the reasons why my thesis proposal got deferred but, to hell with it, family was more important. Then again, enough of the sad story....

We stayed at Clark, Pampanga and, in Pampanga, you should really go and try food that you won't find in Manila. For the people who don't know, it's a fact, or at least it is in my mind, that people from Pampanga are great cooks. My mom would be a pretty good example along with almost the rest of our family. So, I wanted to know how it would be like to eat at some of Pampanga's best.

At our first night, we went on a journey to see what we could find and we ended up at.... *drum rolls please*

Nothing good! We went to a restaurant that you could find in Manila and I will be nice enough to make it stay anonymous.

In a shorter version, it still is a sad story for me. But there was still a very good chance that I could still try and make the best of it at breakfast.

Mequeni Restaurant in Holiday Inn at Clark is one of the well-known fine dining and buffets in Pampanga. So staying at a cottage there entitled us for breakfast buffet. I wanted to know what would be the favorite breakfast dishes aside from the obvious cereal and bacon. Hehe!

To my delight, the choices were filled with the ordinary breakfast buffet choices and some that are not so usual.

I think I went with all the different breads and all the sausages, tapa, scrambled eggs, hasbrowns, and all those other food. The pastries and bread were not much but the Filipino dishes like the beef tapa, adobo, and others were good. For a good review though, breakfast wouldn't be a basis for a restaurant I would guess. It had to be either lunch or dinner because I'm as easy as if they have crispy bacon or not at breakfast.

Again, in a short version, it wasn't a total failure but Pampanga has not yet seen the last of me. I need to really go back and try the food and other things that you would only find there.

Off to the next food tripping!

Who We Really Are?

I was wondering these past few weeks who or what Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods really is and what's it direction going to be. As I was telling my friends a while ago, I was actually walking around aimlessly in the metro. I was able to reach UP Diliman, got tired, and went back home. I was trying to clear my head from lots of things. A lot of it would be personal but a part of it was where I was going to take Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods to.

Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods is a Special Order Foods Company. We make food on a per order basis and it can be either picked up or delivered within the Metro for a minimal fee. The food delivered or picked-up will come in microwaveable plastic or aluminum foil, depending on what the dishes delivered are. We can also individually package the food or bring the food in chafing dishes with additional fees. Right now, this is what we can offer.

We are still trying to make ways to actually partner with some catering services so that you can order our food along with theirs. Right now, we're not yet capable of the manpower for catering services but we are hoping to expand to it in the near future.

But, that is all the technical side of it...

Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods is a foods company created to make home-cooked meals that your mom will make for you at home. It's hearty, meaty, and soulful dishes that simply have that homey feel. Our prices are justified by the taste of the dishes that we make. We make sure that love and passion surrounds the food that we create.

Try it out and you will never regret it.

The Ultimate Food Trip happens in Rockwell on September 3

I'm really anxious about this and I want to go. Guys, do you think I can? :) I just want to bring my pasta to the event.

Rockwell's Ultimate Taste Test 

The Bazaar Experience

I would have posted sooner but I was really pretty beat up after all the five days of bazaar. And after all that hard work, I understood just one simple thing: it is hard to do things alone.

Every morning from August 8 to 12, I woke up at midnight or past midnight to start preparing and cooking. I have to be finished by 6:00 AM so that I can let it rest and leave at around 7:00 AM or 7:30 AM. Fortunately, I had a driver so most of my sleeping time was done in the car. Once at school, I had to bring all my stuff to the venue in the middle of the school and set up my booth. I manned the booth all day, then packed up, and waited for my driver to pick me up. Once home, I just sleep and do it all over again.

I am not one to complain because I wanted this and it was really fun. I was able to make friends with the booth beside me even if they were also selling food. I would say it was really just a learning experience for me.

I would be the first one to tell you guys that I did not really earn that much in terms of money but I learned a lot that time. The food was great but the people who will be there to support you matter as much and even more than. So this would really just be my way of saying, thank you to everyone who helped me throughout the week and the people who tried out our food. I hope I could be able to hear from you guys again.

A Brief Experience

DLSU Bazaar is hard but awesome! Cooking, sleeping in the car, setting up, selling and giving out food, go home, sleep, and do it all over again. I just want to invite you guys at SJ Walk in DLSU-M so please support our last two days! Please share to your friends! :)

Thank you, guys!

The Next Level of Taste

This will be my first foodie entry and I wouldn't have it any other way than to talk about one of my most favorite eats, The Steak!

For my cousin's birthday, we went to Cru Steakhouse in Marriot Hotel beside Resorts World Manila. I was pretty excited since I haven't had a good steak in a long time. It was all paid for by my aunt but the limitations were no Wagyu Beef. He he! Not a bad deal still.

Being the good boy that I am, I just went with USDA Prime Rib eye, 350g, Medium, with sides, Black Truffle Risotto, Potato and Onion Gratin, and Forest Mushroom Sauce. I'm still a kid so forgive me if mushrooms still get the best of me. Ha ha!

The steakhouse ambiance was warm. You could see the steaks being chilled, there's wine all around, and the kitchen grill was a sight to see.

So, the table started out with our complimentary bread and the spreads were Cream Cheese with thyme and whole red peppercorn and Parsley Butter. The bread was great! Our family loved the ones with crusted cheese and the cream cheese went well with the peppercorn. Unfortunately, I was not able to take pictures since it was gobbled up pretty fast.

The next came the Caesar Salad and the French Onion Soup. It was the oldies' orders so I wasn't able to taste any but the cheese on the French Onion Soup must be great since they praised it the whole time.

Now, the steaks came rushing in one by one and I just saw mine with the sides. It was heaven on a plate. I missed eating steaks especially with my family and when my grandfather was still alive. It was also funny that my cousin and I had the exact same order for the steak, sauce, and sides. The steak was not that thick and not that thin. It had that juice in every bite and the Forest Mushroom sauce just complimented it.

The Black Truffle risotto is something I cannot describe. It was creamy and just divine. The Potato and Onion gratin was the highlight for me. I was taking my cousin's half of the gratin because I finished mine halfway through the steak. The potato was still bitey and the onion was creamy and flavorful and it was just all perfect.

Since me and my cousin were the big eaters in the bunch, I was able to test my palette with some of the other steaks my mom and uncle ordered. My mom ordered a USDA Prime Rib eye, 250g, Medium Rare. I now understand why some steakhouse do not serve past medium rare. It was juicier and more flavorful in the middle because it retains more of the flavor of the meat. My uncle ordered a Australian Grain Fed Angus Rib eye, 350g, Medium. There was a sweet lingering taste when I took a bite of it and it was just so different from the USDA Prime.

Last up, the desserts came in and we were confronted with a Sugar-free Cheesecake for my cousin and the others and a Grand Cru Chocolate Mousse for me. There was just a symphony of flavors from the chocolate mousse alone. The dark chocolate mousse, the think white chocolate, and the caramel sauce did not overpower each other. The strawberries and the mango coulis was just a bonus and it added layers and dimensions to the food.

Comparing Cru Steakhouse to most other steakhouses in the Philippines, it would be really one of the best I have tried. I have to go back and try them again soon. He he!

I still have a lot to learn on the different flavors but I can determine it when I taste it now than before. It's really fun when my palette is going to the next level. My mom and I get to understand each other because of that. Ha ha!

Anyways, I have a big day tomorrow and I have to start cooking now. To all the Lasallians and my friends, see you at the bazaar!

Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods with David Garmsen

 

Hearty, Meaty Spaghetti

Food Styling: Lorraine Timbol © 2011

Photography: David Garmsen © 2011

So I could not sleep again as usual, I was so excited from our food shoot yesterday with David Garmsen, a wedding photographer. David is a good friend of mine and I really am happy that he took it on his busy schedule to shoot for Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods. It was a great shoot even if it was kind of cloudy. I love how the shots turned out.

Soulful, Tender Roast Chicken and Hearty, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Food Styling: Lorraine Timbol © 2011

Photography: David Garmsen © 2011

It was a great experience cooking, running around, and arranging the shots. I loved working with my mom who was the food stylist for the shoot. I also want to take some of her recipes into consideration especially her lasagna and baked macaroni. Okay, maybe more than just taking them into consideration, he he!

Soulful, Cheesy Cream Dory

Food Styling: Lorraine Timbol © 2011

Photography: David Garmsen © 2011

Thank you again to my mom and David! Check out David's blog and see his feature on Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods there.

Hearty, Creamy Mashed Potatoes

Food Styling: Lorraine Timbol © 2011

Photography: David Garmsen © 2011

To my fellow Lasallians, please support us and visit our booth next week, from August 8 to 12, from 9 AM to 6 PM, at the SJ Walk, in DLSU - Manila! We are giving out in introductory prices so enjoy good food at affordable prices! Enjoy and experience our food with us!

Torn

I am so excited that I cannot sleep again. I am so excited that I have been planning what I should be doing for the DLSU Bazaar this coming August 8 to 12. I am really scared how it will turn out and what my fellow Lasallians will say about the food. I am still planning how I am going to do the preparing, the cooking, the packaging, and the manning for those 5 days but I am really scared but happy. I am so happy I still have not slept again and I am still not yet fixing my thesis up.

Yes, I am torn with fixing the thesis and fixing the bazaar. But after a few more minutes with the bazaar, I will finally focus all my attention on finishing this thesis proposal. Whatever happens, I will do both. I may be torn but I won't give up.

Hope you guys will support me! Take care and thank you all!

Beside Kuchen and Game Day Fun

 
Last Saturday was great. It was the first time I had to cook for two events on the same day. It was really just supposed to be food for our game day event but my Uncle called me to order food for his wife's, my Aunt obviously, birthday.

My Uncle also ordered from another catering service, Kuchen. It was an absolute thrill to actually cook beside one of my most favorite catering services. It was really one of the days I could just really be happy that someone really loves my food that they would order mine along with a great catering service. Not to mention, their roast beef is awesome with my mashed potatoes. Speaking of, I should try making roast beef soon.

Anyways, it was a very tiring day. Whoops! That's an understatement. Game day finished around two o'clock in the afternoon the next day so it really was very tiring. The Hearty, Cheesy Taco Beef was a hit for the Game Day event. I need to tweak it a little bit but it was great.

But before that, people are asking me to do fish first. Cream Dory with Cheese Sauce here I come. He he!

Anyways, that was my weekend. I had my much needed rest and it's back to my thesis for the moment. Bye and take care, guys!

Thesis and Double Cooking

I know I am not supposed to write it down here but I really, really want to thank the people who made yesterday possible.

I don't know if it was because I looked so sick because of my allergic rhinitis yesterday and they just looked at me with pity or was it really about the way I handled myself in the defense and the panel was a bit nicer than usual but I passed my topic proposal yesterday. In the six years I have been in college, it would be the first time that I really felt fulfilled. I know it's just a topic proposal but it's really hard to pass a topic because that's what I have been doing every term for almost 2 years.

For all the people's prayers, support, and love, thank you! It was a scary experience especially when I was just telling my friends that I think it may take another term. January (or is it February?) graduation, here I come!

I really want to thank The Edge's creative director, Ate Rory, and director for development and web marketing, Ate Ailene, for putting up with my nuisance calls every now and then. I would especially love to thank my mentor, Sir Brucelas, for helping me get my thoughts straight and the panel for letting me defend my topic. For the other supporters, you know who you are.

The feeling kind of reminds me what I felt after cooking for a hundred people two months ago. This is awesome!

Okay, now back to and moving on to cooking, I have two events today. I think this would be harder than cooking for a hundred people because, this time around, I have to cook in the morning, deliver it there before lunch, eat lunch with them because it's a family event, go back here, cook again, and deliver again before dinner.

Things to cook for today: Hearty, Meaty Spaghetti, Soulful, Tender Roast Chicken, Hearty, Creamy Mashed Potatoes, and Hearty, Cheesy Taco Beef.

Short post. Will expound on it after everything is done. Ha ha! Love...

Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods with The Food Scout

Last night, I was really looking forward to today. I almost could not sleep and really had a hard time waking up when it was time. It was because this was my first time to cook for a person who tastes food for a living or for passion. I was able to let Jill Bantang, Food Blogger - The Food Scout, try out my food. I am pretty anxious for what she has to say about the food so I will just have to wait for her to blog about it.

She was able to taste my spaghetti, roast chicken, and mashed potatoes. That would be my whole menu as of the moment so a lot of questions pop into mind. It's like cooking for my mom, who by the way is somewhere out there cooking something for somebody (It's because she's a sous chef for a restaurant somewhere out there, hehe!). She has been a food judge and critic, an awesome cook, and, as known by some, a mother (Some people actually thought she was around the age of 20 and were surprised that she has sons the eldest being 27.) and all my recipes has to pass her acid test before I even put it out for others to taste.

But, this is my joy and passion. Going back, I hope she really likes the food. Ha ha! Anyways, next on the Heart, Meat, & Soul Foods Menu, Taco Beef with Mushrooms and Cheese Sauce. Or, Hearty, Cheesy Taco Beef... What do you guys think?