3/30/12 - Jayla is Eating WHAT?! - New Vlog

Jo's Top 10 SF Sweets - New Vlog

Throwback Thursday - Gifts from My Childhood

When I was a kid, Tatay and Manong Dado brought me Happy Meal Toys from work...without the actual meal, but i was still very happy. These were my favorites. Miss you, Tatay. RIP Manong Dado.

Jo and Jayla with Boy Bawang - New YooChoob Bidjo

It Is Always Better...with an Egg on Top

People always ask me what my favorite food is. While that is a very difficult question to answer, I do have a favorite ingredient...and that's the incredible edible egg.


No, I'm not a paid endorser for this awesome product. I'm just a lover of it and all the things one can make from it. I love flan, custards, macarons, omelets, scrambles, etc etc etc...but don't you think it's an amazing thing to take an already great dish and just add an egg on top?

It's like taking chocolate pudding or cherry pie or a banana split and topping it with a generous serving of whipped cream.

Twice already this week, people have told me that an egg on top of (fill in the blank) is like "sex in your mouth."

Uh, I can see that.

I never really knew how much I loved eggs until I saw how many pictures of my egg-topped dishes. Come to think of it, when I was a kid, I ate eggs all the time. Tatay made THE BEST scrambled eggs I've ever had. Uncle Romy BQ made an incredible potato omelet. Auntie Glo BQ cooked a fantastic tomato and egg stew that I recreate to this day. I also relished in the way the eggs curdled as Inang slowly poured them into the tilapia siarciado, making sure the clumps weren't too big. Jayla, my niece, also requests eggs all the time. She's an egg white girl. I loved the yolk.

Don't even get me started on balut and all the silogs I have encountered throughout my life. Eggs are simple yet one of the best things on Earth. It goes with almost everything and it's not limited to one cuisine. You can put it on top of pizza, ramen, burgers...the list can go on and on.

It's not just for breakfast anymore.

xoxo,
Jo

So how much do I love eggs?

This much...enjoy:

National Cake Pop Day is 3/24! They're Amazing Balls Too

Keat and I Eating Francis' [Amaze]Balls - New Vlog

My 28th Birthday Noms!

I heart my friends and family!

On St. Patrick's Day, I gathered my F&F at Shabu House in Burlingame. Lots of food, sake, and laughter. Great time!

Check out Jayla acting like a diva! My friend Romeeta brought her son, and Jayla was such a little flirt! She chased him around the dining room...oy, kids. Haha!

I was so surprised no one took pictures of their food! Ha! I guess everyone was hungry and excited! I would totally come back to Shabu House!

Thank you to everyone who came! I DID notice that not all of you were wearing green! Uh-huh. You got lucky this year. It's going to be pinch city next year! I made a little "speets" at dinner with my shot of sake and in my drunken state, I proceeded to thank everyone for being there. I had people from all eras of my life, from childhood, high school, kapaMEALya, etc. It was dope to have them all there in one spot.

What I REALLY should have done was honor my mom for going into labor on March 16, 1984. Without her, there is no me. Without her guidance, there is no me. Without her love, there is no me. So Mommy, I hope you enjoyed that sake shot.

Smoov, huh?

After dinner at Shabu House, we drove down to San Mateo and visited some friends at Attic Restaurant. It was great to try Sataysfied and Frozen Kuhsterd for the first time! The beers and Jameson shots didn't hurt either!

My birthday foodiness actually started on March 13 when I met up with Chef Joe at Wing Wings for the Hapa Ramen pop-up. Pork fries! Oh my lord. On the 14th, I met with Kuya Chip and hit up Pi Bar for $3.14 drafts and $3.14 cheese slices and Mission Pie for luscious walnut pie. By the time we got there, most of the pies were already sold out. Yeah! I know, right?! People are really serious about 3.14...etc...atbp. On Thursday, I met up with Francis and we watched the Prison Dancer screening as part of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival...and look who we saw!


Yes...*sigh*...Mikey...Bustos...this is the only time I would find a Filipino accent sexy. LOL! Yummy. Uh-huh...speaking of yummy, check out the food I had. Talk about Japanese invasion!

1. Red Stripe and Friend Chicken Ramen from Hapa Ramen - Lower Haight
2. Pork Fries with Chive Creme Fraiche from Hapa Ramen - Lower Haight
3. Cheese slice and Tangerine Wheat Beer from Pi Bar - Mission
4. Walnut Pie with Whipped Creme from Mission Pie - Mission
5. Beef Curry with an Egg and Asahi from On the Bridge - Japantown
6. Croquette, Chicken Kara-Age and Strawberry-Hi from On the Bridge - Japantown
7. Taro-Men Ramen with Corn and Seaweed from Himawari - San Mateo
8. Pork Fried Rice from Himawari - San Mateo

Again I want to thank you all for your love and greetings! I didn't get out of bed on 3/18 until the afternoon. Birthday hangovers are always fun! Funny because I swore I was sober and tweeted I was sober.

Have you ever heard the song by Fun called "We Are Young?" I was stuck on it for the longest time last week.

...and if by the time, the bar closes and you feel like falling down...
I'll carry you home tonight...

After listening to it on repeat, I realized that my friends and family are awesome. No matter what, I'll always find myself safe in their presence. I am grateful to have had them there with me for my birthday.

Year 28 looks wonderful.

xoxo,
Jo

PS: Weng Weng!
PPS: Thank you to Abe, Cristina, Manang Yolly, Sherri-Anne, Captain Kirk, and Keat for letting me steal your pictures!

Happy Macaron Day!

Hi friends,

Do you know what today is?! It's French Macaron Day! Who else loves these lovely little treats? I sure do! I looked back on my old pix and saw how many times I have had them in just the last year. I adore them!










Good news is that Bouchon Bakery is now open!! Who wants to make a trip to Yountville with me? It was such a tease to go there 3 times in the last 6 months only to have it closed because of that darned fire! Also, much love to my macaron all-stars! Annapet, Cristina, Lara, and Chip!

xoxo,
Jo

I'm Still Here! Birthday Wasted...

Blame it on the Weng Weng!

Hi everyone!

I know I have been MIA from Blogger, but it's all because I'm birthday wasted. Truth be told - I am getting too old!


Thanks Twinsy for this pic! My birthday dinner night was hella Asian. Hit up Shabu House, then Attic, and finally Himawari. I ate and drank real good. I CAN type it up OR you can just watch this video:


SO...I'm going to start off my 28th year recuperating and starting new projects. I don't know about my writing, to be honest. I got my editors emailing me asking, "where the hell are you?" LOL! I'm working on logistics for some things. I wish I can divulge it, but I'm going to wait. Don't want to get your hopes up and then fail at the end. Not a good look...but I'm crossing my fingers!

I also need to take classes on how to write restaurant recaps again. They are very scarce these days. I should be able to do a full birthweek recap soon. Just waiting on some pix from my friends and fam. Anyway...thank you again for your support and hope to see you all very soon!

xoxo,
Jo

Wordless Wednesday - Happy Pi Day!

Stop #1 - Pi Bar

Stop #2 - Mission Pie

The Phenomenon that is Draw Something

There's LINsanity.

There's KONY 2012.

There's Jessica Sanchez on American Idol.

But nothing has spread like a wildfire as fast as Draw Something.

Yes, that pesky app that everyone has been playing.

I have seen my FB friends complain about having work in the morning, yet are stuck playing Draw Something. There are couples who are sitting next to each other, yet are playing Draw Something.

You think that this song is about you? Don't you? Don't you?

You're so vain...

...or maybe you're just addicted to Draw Something.

Remember that Yahoo! game Graffiti? I think that was more fun because you actually competed against other players to guess what was being drawn, but Draw Something is nice too.

My favorite ones to draw are the food ones. lol. Go figure. I've only been playing for a little while, but here MY food masterpieces(thus far):












So if you are playing a game of Draw Something with me and have a choice of food to draw, DO THAT ONE! I will be posting more food pix here!

Here's my fave so far from Miguel at Papalote - so fitting lol!



xoxo,
Jo

Keeping Busy, Changes, and New Beginnings

Hi all!

I apologize for the absence of posts here on the good ol' blog! It is now March and since I'll be turning 28 this year, I figured what better time would there be for some changes and new beginnings than now?

1) I've starting video blogging and posting them on YouTube and my handle is "joanneisafoodie." Hope this gives you a better idea of how my world works.

2) I'm friggin' addicted to Draw Something. *shakes my fist* at all those contributing to that addiction!

3) For Lent, I decided to "sacrifice" red meat during the weekdays meaning I could eat it Saturday and Sunday! Hey hey, that's a big change for me! I never realized how it's natural for me to eat beef and pork. I admit, I did have a cheat day on Momma's birthday on Wednesday and had binagoongan pork and oxtail kare kare...but that was a special occasion! I really tested myself when Keat and I went to Umami Burger for dinner Friday night. Beef was staring at me in the face, but I opted for the Veggie Umami burger with a portabello mushroom as the "patty" instead of moo meat. It was delicious!! Keat even caught himself when he offered some of his "Hatch burger" to me. Thanks for the support, babe. Honestly, the luscious cheesy truffle fries made me not miss the meat! They're TDF!


4) I've been doing tons of research for my NYC/BOS trip! Booked plane, train, and sleeping quarters all this week. Now I just need to figure out transportation over there, especially in BOS since I'll be on my own there. I'm kinda scared to be honest, but I'm going to learn a lot out there. Thank you to all my friends who've been giving me tips and suggestions all this week!

5) I've been hustling...yes, at my (highly exhausting) 9-5 and also with kapaMEALya projects. I'm working on getting those workshops set up for you! Ninang Annapet of The Daily Palate has been awesome and offered to lead a French macaron workshop. I'm just trying to figure out logistics. When I get everything finalized, I will mos def blast it on here and all my social media platform. You know how I roll.

6) I'm getting older. Mom is getting finer with age. Keat just got a promotion. Too much. So we CELEBRATED! I've been so excited with Mom's birthday this week that I kinda forgot mine is next week. Ha! This evening, mom, sis, hubby bubz, and niece went to Parallel 37 for dinner to celebrate mom even more! I'm going to post about it next week, but below are some teaser photos taken by Keat...it's the Ritz...you best believe we had FOIE GRAS!


I'm tired, but excited for the next month! Like I always say, it's a "good" tired. So much to learn and see! Hope you all are having great weekend and I look forward to seeing you soon!

xoxo,
Jo

Happy Birthday to My Inang!

[Kinda] Wordless Wednesday - Happy Birthday, Mommy!

At home on 3/6/2012 at 11:30 pm


at Patio Filipino, San Bruno on 3/7/2012 at 6:15ish pm








Photos taken by my sister Sherri-Anne

Another Meatless Lenten Friday

This no red meat on the weekdays is killing me. I accidentally ate pork sinigang yesterday when I was sick, but now I am consciously trying not to! So surprised how eating red meat is second nature. Actually I should not be being Pinay after all. At work, I didn't have much of an appetite so I just ate some chocolate Kisses, cashews, coffee, and water. Actually, I've been pretty good at work, eating more veggies and less heavy cooked things.

At dinner, I had spaghetti with shrimp. I watched a girl across from me eat a cheeseburger. Good Lord. Torture.

Meanwhile, do any of you play the Draw Something app? I'm currently sprung off it. Add me: joanneisafoodie :)

What do you think of Keat's pizza? Obviously my favorite ones to draw are the food ones!

Well, time for bed! Happy Friday, yo!

xoxo,
Jo

PS: is anyone else's Android phone acting up? With that said, don't call me. My phone is on its last legs. Message me here, email, FB, or Tweet me!