Early last month, Magnolia Ice Cream announced a blog writing contest here to promote their Holidays Limited Edition flavors.

We express out gratitude for your positive response and to those who helped promote the contest to their friends and networks. We also had to extend the contest from Christmas to the first week of January to give chance to those on vacation or those coming home from the provinces during the holidays. Nonetheless, together with this extension is an upgrade of the prizes. The first prize was increased from P2,000 to P3,000. The second and third prizes were also upgraded.

In total, Magnolia Ice Cream is giving away P6,500 worth of gift certificates (GCs) to our Top 3 placers. And as promised, the winners will be announced today.

It was no easy task for the judges from Magnolia and NomNom Club to score the entries as most of them are outstanding and made us want to get some ice cream as well. It was good that we were in the San Miguel Corp office when we had our first meeting and deliberation of the entries. It was easy to have some servings of Magnolia ice cream around. 🙂

The scores were completed and averaged based on the contest criteria:

Creativity and Writing Style – 50%
Originality, Grammar & Adherence to Theme – 20%
Photo Quality and Relevance – 20%
Overall Impact – 10%

Some entries were very creative but suffered from grammatical errors while some were also affected with the photos they used (remember the mechanics stated early on that it should be yours and does not infringe any copyright).

Fast forward to today and without further adieu, the winners are:

First Place (90%) – “Head Over Heels with Magnolia’s Limited Edition Apple Strudel Ice Cream”
– by Mona of Eyes on Manila (http://mverdida.wordpress.com/)

"Head Over Heels with Magnolia Ice Cream..."

Second Place (85.5%) – “Enjoy While It’s Here”
– by Vivian of Trips & Falls (http://divineviva.blogspot.com/)

Enjoy While It's Here

I Love Magnolia Ice Cream

Third Place (85%) – “My Magnolia Ice Cream Experience: Enjoy while it’s here”
– by Gerald of I Love Magnolia Ice Cream (http://ilovemagnoliaicecream.wordpress.com/)

Third Place (85%) – “Magnolia Ice Cream New Limited Edition Flavors -Enjoy While It’s Here!”
– by Marie of Anything Under the Sun (http://eamangaliman.wordpress.com/)

Magnolia Ice Cream

Congratulations to the first placer! You will receive P3,000 worth of MIC gift certificates while the second placer will receive P2,000 MIC GCs.  You read it right, there are two who tied at 3rd place so each of them will receive P750 worth of MIC GCs. You will receive an email in the addresses you provided in the comment section within this week.

“But wait, there’s more!” 🙂 To the fourth to ninth placers, you automatically get exclusive invitation to an upcoming Magnolia Ice Cream product party to be held by end of February 2011. Details to be announced by mid-Feb in this blog as well.

Again, congratulations to the winners and thank you to all for participating in this Magnolia Ice Cream Holiday Limited Edition flavors blog-writing contest.

It was a busy day, but right after my classes, I proceeded on to Eastwood City for the Carnation Bloggers Night held last night at Buenisimo in Eastwood Mall.

China Cojuangco & Carnation

Cook At Home with Carnation

The program started with host Issa Litton welcoming us. After which, China Cojuangco held a cooking demo of Beef with Peppercorn Sauce; of course, with Carnation as one of the ingredients.

It was also my first time to know that China is the face of Carnation’s Facebook Page called Cook At Home.

I recently participated in their page and shared a photo of mine taken last night.

I hope you find it succulent and earn a “LIKE” from you guys. Please, please, please, NOW NA! 🙂

Beef in Peppercorn Sauce

Carnation Dishes

The highlight of the night followed – a dinner buffet of six dishes created by Chef Chris of Buenisimo used with Carnation products and ingredients.

They are the following:

Main Course:

• Canadian Glazed Ham
• Lengua Legislativa
• Tri Color Pasta with Salmon Cream
• Croquettas De Pollo Con Huevos with Aioli

Desserts:

• Chocolate Truffles
• Panacotta

Buenisimo Chef Chris & Carnation Evap

Tasting the Carnation Dishes

The Canadian Glazed Ham‘s sauce was good (perhaps because of the Carnation ingredient, lol) [top photo], but I expected more from the quality of the ham itself, I wonder if they used CDO Holiday Ham? 🙂

Although Lengua Legislativa hinted much of menudo more than lengua, it was my second top choice in taste. It was tender and the mixture of the ingredients, delectable.

Buenisimo @ Eastwood Mall, Eastwood City

Tri-Color Pasta

The Tri Color Pasta with Salmon Cream topped my bill for its delightfully creamy sauce and taste.  As the name suggest, a tri-color pasta is a combination of three color pastas – yellow, red, and green. The yellow pasta is made of durum wheat flour, water, and sometimes with eggs and salt similar to a fresh egg pasta. The red pasta is similar to common pasta but flavored with tomatoes while the green one is flavored with spinach.

However, a fellow at the dining table suggested that the cream should not have been ready-mixed with the pasta at the presentation buffet. Since the event started late, plus the cooking demo, and bloggers had to take photos, this consumed time and affected the noodle’s firmness (al dente).

Croquettes

Chocolate Truffles

Last from the main courses is Croquettas De Pollo Con Huevos with Aioli.

Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, the deep fried croquettes coated with beaten egg and bread crumbs was accompanied by a garlic-flavored mayonnaise.

Desserts were the lush and rich chocolate truffles and corn-topped panna cotta. The panna cotta was good but the corn can be better. The chocolate truffles championed the desserts category and ended the night in bliss.

Panna Cotta & Chocolate Truffles

Lengua & Corn-Topped Pannacotta

Finale

Towards the end of the night, Lengua Legislativa was declared as the Blogger’s Choice. If only China‘s Beef with Peppercorn Sauce was included in the line up of dishes, I bet it would have won the Blogger’s Choice. Overall, it was an interesting Blogger’s Night with Carnation

🙂

With a number of ready-to-drink juices around, from tea-based concoctions to natural fruit juices, consumers are faced with a lot of choices like C2 Green Tea, Yin Yang Cooling Tea, Minute Maid Pulpy, and the new Smart C+.

This could be confusing sometimes, but it could also be good since there are more options.

But Smart C+ health drink, a newcomer, focuses on providing one particular aspect – Vitamin C. A box of Smart C+ was sent to our house a few days ago and so I tried it.

Smart C+ Juice Drink

Vitamin C

Mind-breaking school work, stressful jobs, intense sports, late night parties, and the toxins such activities produce is what SmartC wanted to address with its high content of Vitamin C. Just like me who wear multiple hats as a college instructor, online PR consultant, and professional blogger, 24 hours a day is lacking. With a few hours of sleep amidst all that, I certainly need a good dose of Vitamin C. Add to that Smart C+ as well. 🙂

Read the Label

But I’m not the type of person who easily submits to advertisements and gives the nod. Read the label. A quick read reveals its “Vitamin C 320%“. It means that each 500ml bottle contains 500mg of Vitamin C or more than three times the recommended daily allowance (RDA)- I believe that’s more than enough. 🙂

SmartC+: Reading the Label

The Science Behind

We all know that Vitamin C can protect the body and help the immune system recover with the provision of anti-oxidants. But going a little deeper into the biological and chemistry side of things, a low vitamin C in the body means weaker collagen. Collagen provides our cells with strength, flexibility, and resilience to bind tissues, skin, muscles, and other areas. Vitamin C then helps the body to produce and maintain the needed collagen to assist cells recover from it’s daily and usual functions.

Smart C+ Flavors: Lemon Squeeze, Orange Crush, & Pomelo Grapefruit

Other nutrition facts include 110kilo energy calories. Those on a wight-monitoring frenzy would be happy about the zero fat (both saturated and trans fat) content as well. Oishi’s Smart C+ has natural fruit juice and no preservatives added, no artificial coloring, and no artificial sweeteners.

3 Flavors

Smart C+ natural juice drink comes in three flavors: Lemon Squeeze, Orange Crush, and Pomelo Grapefruit. The Lemon Squeeze flavor is indeed on the citrus side. But if you prefer something fruity, choose  the Pomelo Grapefruit flavor. This is also my favorite among the three.

The Orange Crush flavor is somewhere between the two. 🙂 Best when served chilled, the 500ml bottles in the photos are good for two glass servings each. Check out www.keepupwithsmartc.com for more details about Smart C+. They’re also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/oishi.smartc.

Check out this Smart C+ TVC video in YouTube:

So don’t just take in the overly-sweet juices just because it tastes delicious. Ask your self if it’s actually beneficial or will it just overload you with sugar. Be ‘smart‘ with what you put in your body, consider and try Smart C+, I did. 🙂

The 10th Philippine Food Expo will be held on February 24 to 27, 2011 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

The Philippine Food Expo is a grand showcase of manufacturers of quality all-Filipino food products. The event is led by Philfoodex Inc., the biggest umbrella organization of food manufacturers and exporters in the Philippines.

The expo will also house other events such as Food Styling, Photography, Food Blogging. and the “Pinoy Chef, A Culinary Experience of the Philippines’ Best Cuisine.” It features an open competition among culinary students and aspiring chefs in coming up with their innovative Pinoy dishes using local produce. This would also be the first time the Philippine Food Expo will be held at the World Trade Center.

Free Tickets:

Entrance is regularly P50 but you can get your free tickets here (look for the 10th Philippine Food Expo deal).

World Trade Center
Roxas Boulevard corner Sen Gil J. Puyat Avenue, Pasay City
Operating Hours:10am–8pm,
Tel: (02)6873292 / 6870654

For other details and inquiries, contact the follwoing:
Philfoodex Inc.
Tel: 634.2171
Email Philfoodex@yahoo.com

Cut Unlimited
Tel: 687.0654 / 687.3292
Email cut@pldtdsl.net

Check their website philfoodex.org.ph and philippinefoodexpo.com. See you at the 10th Philippine Food Expo at the World Trade Center!

The Ayala Triangle Gardens was then just a garden behind the business-heavy Makati Stock Exchange within the Makati Central Business District. But in the recent months, Ayala Land developed it further and now morphed into a leisure park complemented with a line of restaurants and dining places to enjoy – chat with a friend, nourish oneself after a healthy jog, or simply binge to your heart’s content. 🙂

Ayala Triangle Gardens

And indeed, I got the chance to somewhat ‘binge‘ a few weeks ago with friends. This was actually my second time at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. My first was a dinner of authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice at the famous Wee Nam Kee from Singapore. And after that night, I swore to be back and try the other restaurants.

And so it was. This time, I made sure I came earlier, which was in the afternoon.

Banapple

Similar to a famous food blog, dessert comes first. We took it the other way around and first indulged in Banapple. Aside from the usual Banapple Pie, we also had their in-season cake – Banana Starry-berry Custard Cheesecake.

Banapple

BonChon Original Chicken

Next stop was Bon Chon. We got a small order each of the Korean chicken wings in soy garlic (non-spicy) and of course, the ‘Hot & Spicy one. They took care of the latter while I feasted on the former.

BonChon Chicken

A small order of 6pcs. cost P185 while a medium order (12pcs) is P365. They also have drumsticks, chicken combo and chicken chops. In any variant, you’ll love the different crunch of the interestingly-breaded chicken skin.

Pho 24

It’s Vietnamese food, and I am most delighted with the traditional Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup served to us. Complete with condiments served on the side, it included beansprout (taw-ge) and lemon slices, among others. The soup was both filling and internally refreshing as common in most oriental soup.

PHO 24

If you want to make it more exciting to taste, you can also add some Sriracha Hot Chili sauce by the table side.

* Expect a dedicated blog post on what else we had on each of my Banapple, BonChon, and Pho24 experiences. 🙂

Almost all the restaurants offered an open al fresco dining experience facing the greens of Ayala Triangle Gardens.

MOMO Cafe & CBTL Soon!

Chef Laudico's BFast

Other restaurants include Amici, Cara Mia, Omakase, and Chef Laudico’s Bfast for an all-day breakfast menu. There were some shops which are stilll under construction though. But it won’t be long before we can try Momo Café, my darling Kanin Club, C.B.D., and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).

Golden Spoon

Next on my restaurant list when I come back at the Ayala Triangle Gardens is Golden Spoon for their frozen yogurt delights. I’ll be bringing a ‘golden fork‘ to complete the pair. 🙂

NomNom Club deliciously welcomes the new year of 2011! With the Filipinos’ festive spirit that is inclined to celebrate every occasion there is – be it a birthday, anniversary, fiesta, or even a simple Philippine Holiday – we find it fitting to share this year’s calendar of Philippine Holidays 2011 to our readers.

Moreover, a Filipino celebration is never complete without a feast. From a single dish and softdrink (soda) shared by the family to as much as filling the whole dining table with food; even inviting the closest neighbors or the whole neighborhood. NomNom Club itself never run out of occasions to celebrate. We had NomNom Club 1st Anniversary with Greenwich, Thanksgiving Party with Angel’s, and a Christmas Party with Kraft Eden. What a 2010 that was! 🙂

Perhaps we’ll come up with a list of Philippine Festivals / Philippine Fiestas soon as well. 🙂

Here’s your list / calendar of Philippine Holidays 2011 :

January    01 – New Year’s Day (Saturday)
February   25 – Edsa Revolution Anniversary (Fri) **
April       09 – Araw ng Kagitingan (Sat)
April       21 – Maundy Thursday (Holy Week)
April       22 – Good Friday (Holy Week)
May        01 – Labor Day (Sun)
June       12 -  Independence Day (Sun)
August    21 – Ninoy Aquino Day (Sun) *
August    29 – National Heroes Day (last Monday of Aug)
November 01 – All Saints Day (Tue) *
November 30 – Bonifacio Day (Wed)
December 25 – Christmas Day (Sun)
December 30 – Rizal Day (Fri)
December 31 – Last Day of the Year (Sat)*

All are regular Philippine holidays unless indicated otherwise.
** Feb 25 is a special holiday for all schools only.
* special non-working days

Holidays for Eid’l Fitr and Eid’l Adha are yet to be announced due to its nature. I hope October 31, 2011 (the Monday before November 1) and Decemebr 24, 2011 would also have been made a holiday since it is sandwiched between weekends and major holidays.

As much as we like to include NomNom Club activities in the calendar / list, of course, we can’t.  (LOL) Anyhow, set your foodie recipes and list of dishes to prepare in accordance with the upcoming Philippine Holidays 2011 you will be celebrating. 🙂

It was NomNom Foodie Club‘s first ever Christmas party! It was held last December 1, 2010 in SM Mall of Asia at Kraft‘s Sarap ng Pasko Christmas platform near SM IMAX. Food and venue sponsor was Kraft Eden Cheese and made possible with GeiserMaclang.

NomNom Club Christmas Party

I wasn’t really planning to have a Christmas party for the foodie club this year since we just celebrated NomNom Club’s first anniversary with Greenwich last August and a thanksgiving party last October when NomNom Club won in the Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010. However, when Kraft started their “Sarap ng Pasko” campaign, I thought it was a very fitting theme for the foodie club Christmas party since it was about food and Christmas as well. And hence, through GeiserMaclang, the proposal for Kraft Eden went through.

To share what transpired in the event, I believe the best way to narrate is through visual photos which shows how much the participants – NomNom Foodie Club members and guests – enjoyed the event. 🙂

Kraft Eden Cheese Inspired Dishes

Traditional Exchange Gift

We first had dinner and some socialization among the members and guests. it was followed by the exchange-gift-giving where each one of the attendees were required to bring a P50 simple gift. It was drawn similar to a raffle system. The best gift within the prize range of P50 was also given an extra prize.

Exchange Gift / Gift Giving

Raffle Draw with  Samsung Microwave Oven Grand Prize

Joy Ramos, Samsung Microwave Oven Winner

It was followed by the main raffle where Samsung donated the major raffle prize -  Samsung Microwave Oven. Other prize donors included GeiserMaclang for the Havaianas slippers, and Angel’s Pizza Pasta for the gift certificates. Major winners were Ms. Joy Ramos who won the top prize and Ms. Ryan Joson who got the Havs slippers. Other raffle items included a Sunpiology Piolo Pascual Planner for 2011, gift certificates, and branded tokens.

Round 2 of Raffle Draw

Because I wanted everyone not to go home empty-handed, I brought around 50 raffle prizes for  the online registrants which reached about 50 as well, but since the actual attendees were only about 40, the excess prizes were given away on a raffle draw round 2. So some got two raffle prizes. 🙂

Christmas Party Raffle

Subdomain Service and Food Tour

In closing, GeiserMaclang had a message of thanks for the crowd and gave away Manny Pacquiao–Alaxan shirts to everyone for pickup at their Makati office. I also thanked everyone for a fruitful year and revealed NomNom’s plans for 2011 including a paid subdomain service (ie: jenjen.nomnomclub.com) which includes a number of free services for the clients. We are also targeting for a food tour for summer or the second year anniversary.

More Photos - NomNom Foodie Club

Thank you again to our main sponsor Kraft Eden Cheese who had a similar successful “Sarap ng Pasko” campaign, to GeiserMaclang,and  to Samsung for the major raffle giveaway of a Samsung Microwave Oven.

Venue and Sponsors

Merry Christmas from NomNom Club!

Thank you to all the readers, subscribers, and members of the NomNom Foodie Club! Belated Merry Christmas and a fruitful, yummy, and nomnom-y new year this coming 2011!

It’s Christmas Eve! Aside from the usual excitement for gifts that we’ll be giving and receiving, another highlight of the Filipino Christmas eve is the Christmas Noche Buena. And this year, we’ll be having a CDO Holiday Ham on our table tonight.

Christmas Ham

I always look forward to the Noche Buena because, aside from Buena Noche, it’s actually a rare opportunity to eat a full meal during midnight with the whole family.

Although, we’re not having a Lechon pizza, we do include the traditional ham in our Noche Buena set but it’s usually just the regular ham.

Last month,  I got invited by CDO on their media event of CDO Holiday Whole Meat Premium-Cut Ham. Chef Rob Pecson also joined us and demonstrated how to come up with salads and Christmas dishes using the CDO Holiday Ham.

Christmas Ham Dishes

Ham Salad and Ingredients

Check out Chef Rob Pecson‘s episode 1 video on ‘10 Ways for the Holidays with Chef Rob Pengson‘

CDO Holiday Ham

It also gave me the opportunity to know more about Christmas hams and what makes CDO hams different from the others in the market. While there are a number of meat brands we are familiar with, CDO Holiday Ham’s premium-cut ham has:

– no extenders
– high-quality smoked ham
– one whole boneless meat from the hind leg

Chef Rob Pecson and the CDO Holiday Ham

It turns out that meat from the hind leg is the best cut of pork for hams, is tastier, and meatier.

Furthermore, the net marks of CDO Holiday Ham means they are whole-meat hams because only whole meat hams can be smoked in ham nets. Otherwise, pieces would fall off.

It would also be best to consume the whole ham in a few days after the ham has been opened; even if kept in the freezer.

Learn more about Holiday Ham on their website at http://holidayham.com.ph. ‘Like’ them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/HolidayHam.

Have a Merry Noche Buena Christmas with CDO Holiday Ham everyone! Nomnomnom….:)