Entries Tagged 'Affairs' ↓

This is it! NomNom Club will turn 1 on September 9, 2010!

And we will celebrate our 1st year anniversary with our community of readers/email subscribers – the NomNom Foodie Club!

Updated Aug 31, 2010

Since it will be on a Thursday,  we will celebrate it in advance on September 4, 2010, Saturday 1pm to 3pm at the Greenwich branch of SM North Edsa.

We are thankful to our venue and food sponsor Greenwich.We will be having their new offerings including Shrimp Aglio Olio, Lasagna Supreme, Beefy Baked Macaroni, Bacon Chicken Carbonara, Ultimate Hawaiian Pizza 18”, G4 Pizza 18”, Shrimp & Garlic Pizza 18″, Hungarian Sausage Pizza 18”, and my personal favorite Philly Cheesesteak Pizza 18”. 🙂

Greenwich Pasta Fiesta - NomNom Foodie Club Choices

Check out their website and choose among the first four as I will be taking participant’s personal orders by Friday(Sept 3) through email. 🙂

We will also be giving away raffle prizes and giveaways including branded items! SolidHosting.ph will also be raffling a number of webhosting packages worth thousands of pesos! Even the early birds on event day gets some early worms. 🙂

Due to venue space limitations, we might be able to only accommodate the first 40 50 NomNom Foodie Club registrants as of now. If you have registered in the NomNom Foodie Club before August 27, 2010, then you are entitled to join.

Sign Up for the 1st NomNom Foodie Club Meet Up by leaving a comment below. In filling up the comment form, be sure to use your email that is subscribed to NomNom Club so I can check it in the list.

I will also update you guys if there will be any changes such as if we can accommodate more with a bigger venue. For now it’s only 40 50 slots. Let’s see first if it even gets filled up. 🙂

Lastly, I would just like to clarify some terms to avoid confusion. NomNom Club is the food blog. NomNom Foodie Club is our community of email subscribers who have also signed up through this form.

Sign up through the comment form below and see you next week in the NomNom Club 1st Anniversary AND 1st NomNom Foodie Club Meet Up.

What does it take to be a “Souperstar“? Lea, a wife and a busy mom to her family, exerts great effort to be creative in her cooking by experimenting on soup recipes. And with this, she depends on long-trusted brand Knorr.

Knorr Souperstar

A self-confessed “domesticated Carrie”, Lea has been sharing her experiences and hopefully soup recipes too (very soon) with busy moms like her through her blog, http://souperstar.ph/.`She could use some interesting widgets though, her sidebars are too bare. 🙂

In one of her blog posts, Lea shows how you can come up with an alternative to fried chicken, the Chi-Ka-Knorr. On the other hand, there is the easy-to-prepare Knorr Chicken and Corn Real Chicken Soup for the rainy days.

She also showed how Knorr Cream of Mushroom Soup can be used for the kid’s favorite fried chicken.

So how did Lea became a “Souperstar?”

“Remember my best friend Kaye, the girl from Unilever whom I ran into at the grocery last week? I forgot to mention she also helped me out with this little online hobby of mine. She told the people at Knorr about my mention of their product on my blog (the Knorr Cream of Corn soup she enthusiastically endorsed), they saw it and offered to co-sponsor it! Hence the apt website name – SOUPerstar.ph. Yay, thank you Knorr!”

Souperstar momblogger and her family

Momblogger Lea

In her blog introduction, “My late night chasing deadlines copywriting for ad agencies have now been replaced by keeping house and taking care of the two loves of my life…thanks to modern and my trusty laptop, I’m still managing to juggle a career as a freelance writer with being a pretty decent homemaker and part-time blogger. Who says you can’t have it all?”

Aside from helpful recipes, Lea also supplements her blog with photos of her cute kid, Gab, and her husband, J, and their food adventures for the day. You can follow Lea Souperstar on http://souperstar.ph/.

I celebrated my personal birthday a few weeks ago and a Jollibee cake made by Red Ribbon found its way into our home.:)

It was a big fondant chocolate cake with a big and cheerful printed Jollibee mascot on top. A fitting cake for a day of merriment.

Jollibee Birthday Cake by Red Ribbon

Chef Laudico

However, I was further surprised when I came home to our QC house last Sunday (two days ago) and found a Chef Laudico brownies box in our refrigerator. It was accompanied by a birthday greeting card saying:

“Happy Birthday. Hope you’ll enjoy this box of brownies especially and exclusively prepared by Chef Jackie Laudico…“

Wow, that sounds special, albeit belatedly.:)

I opened the box and found a set of ten elongated brownies. Something different from the usual square ones we see. And indeed, the taste was exquisitely premium. More than just the average brownie, it was a luscious mixture of the brownie; plus the roasted nuts caramelized cashew on top. I can’t exactly distinguish what kind of nut but it’s most probably cashew.

Chef Laudico Brownies - the Best!

It was so good. This is one of the best brownies I’ve had. I think this due to the good chocolate mixture highlighted by the crunchy and premium-tasting roasted walnuts caramelized cashew on top. Yum!

Birthday Card

I searched the Net including Chef Laudico website (http://www.cheflaudico.com.ph/) but didn’t find the brownies, not even its name.

And lastly, the card indicated:

“We have made a donation under your name to the Virlanie Foundation and the Autism Society of the Philippines.”

NomNom Club

What a warm feeling of goodwill done in your behalf for your birthday. Thank you GeiserMaclang, Stratworks, and Jollibee, you have made my birthday this year more special.

Out of 60 participants only 12 were chosen to battle out for the coveted title of SM Hypermarket Super Chef.

Housewives, culinary academicians, call center agents, kitchen crew members, restaurant owners, bankers, and retirees faced off in live cooking challenges a few weeks ago. The 12 finalists will battle it out in the four final rapid-fire final rounds that will determine who will be hailed as the SM Hypermarket Super Chef.  To make the competition more intense, the challenges will be televised over the Asian Food Channel.

Eddieson de Ocampo, Reynilo Peña, Aiza Mesina and Dante Cabalona compose the Northern SM Hypermarket branches.

Eddieson de Ocampo is a former champion of 2009’s Super Chef Challenge and a college professor who teaches HRM and Culinary Studies at Fernandez College in Baliwag. Finalists Reynilo Peña from North Harbor and Dante Cabalona from Marilao share a profession – both are successful carinderia owners who are seeking to make their mark on the Filipino culinary scene. Aiza Mesina is a professional events coordinator.  One of the youngest competitors at 22, Aiza dreams of owning her own food business someday.

Aiza Mesina, Angelo Cervantes, Islagel Gellidon, Eric Dizon, Dante Cabalona, and Eddieson de Ocampo (L-R, T-B)

Chefs from the Southern division of branches comprise of Islagel Gellidon, Leah Alava, Angelo Cervantes, and Louie Dumangas.

Some people were practically born with a spatula in their hands, like Islagel Gellidon, who learned the art from her grandmother and has pursued this passion and owns and operates a catering business while passing on the tricks of the trade to other aspiring entrepreneurs as a TESDA trainer.

Leah Alava, a homemaker with four children, attributes her ever-improving skill in the kitchen to her kids’ unbiased judgment of her cooking.

Angelo Cervantes’ family’s construction business specializes in the perfect mix of concrete, stone, and steel, but he would much rather concentrate on the perfect blend of spices for the dishes he whips up with a BA in HRM the College of St. Benilde.

Las Piñas branch representative Louie Dumangas is no stranger to the professional kitchen, having learned how to cook in his parents’ carinderia and then going on to become a line chef at TGIFriday’s.

To completing the roster for the Super Chef competition are the four chefs from the Central District branches, namely Mark Anthony Mejino, Eric Dizon, Josephine Portulin, and Roselle Manzano.

Mark Anthony Mejino is a culinary student of the Culinary Institute of Aristocrat, and at the tender age of 24, had already studied in Macau and worked there at an Italian restaurant.

Eric Dizon is currently the Assistant Head Chef at Gerry’s Grill Pasig who begun his cooking career with his first job at Ihaw-Ihaw along Tomas Morato when he was only 22.  Although he began his restaurant career as a busboy, Eric requested a transfer to the kitchen, and the rest is history.  Next year, diners at Gerry’s Grill Makati will hopefully have the pleasure of being able to sample his cooking, as he was offered to be the restaurant’s new Head Chef when the management found out he made it to the finals.

Josephine Portulin is an educator from Lucena, majoring in Economics. When she discovered that she has a gift for cooking, it wasn’t always smooth sailing – in fact, it was an employer’s negative feedback about her cooking that inspired Josephine to study cooking in earnest and improve her dishes.

The final finalist is no stranger to competition.  Eton branch’s representative, Roselle Manzano, won 3rd place at ABS-CBN’s National Food Showdown in September 2009, whipped up an amazing chicken burger that bagged first place at the Healthy Heart cooking competition held by the Philippine Heart Association, and won 3rd place for her ham sauce in Purefoods Ham Millenium Contest.   A dietician and a nutritionist, she works as a corporate chef at Trilogy.

Leah Alava, Josephine Portulin, Roselle Mendoza, Reynilo Peña, Louie Dumangas, and Mark Anthony Mejino (L-R, T-B)

The battle to become a star of Filipino cuisine is on! Catch SM Hypermarket’s Super Chef Challenge every Wednesday on the Asian Food Channel (AFC) beginning August 25 at 6:30 PM with host Chef Tristan Encarnacion. It has replays on Saturdays at 6:00 pm.

Exactly one month away from NomNom Club‘s first year anniversary, we’re officially announcing the establishment of NomNom Foodie Club! 🙂

Actually, it has been open to the anyone (public) with the link located at the header of every page. We are now at 70+ foodie members and counting.

NomNom Foodie Club is the community-based arm of NomNomClub.com food blog. I have also decided to take out the prior membership classifications to prevent biases. Although it was intended to facilitate group organization and effective communication, I think it is better off this way at this point in time (ang serious!). 🙂

The establishment of NomNom Foodie Club is part of the blog administrators plan of slowly opening up this blog to become community-based in the next two years; and eventually having the foodie club SEC (gov’t) registered if circumstances permit. For the short term, we could be having you guys guest blog! 🙂

I foresee a lot more potential with our foodie community like possible taste tests for new products, food group activities, and even themed food tours!

If you are a foodie and thinks that you can contribute to our community, please Register Here. It’s open to any foodies from anywhere in the world.

NomNom Club

As a final note, I would like to invite all our members to reserve their Saturday afternoon on September 04, 2010 to celebrate NomNomClub’s 1st Year anniversary 5 days in advance with NomNom Foodie Club’s first Get Together! We are most probably having it in one of Greenwich Pizza branches in Metro Manila, Philippines. Talks are underway with concerned sponsors as of this moment (advance Thank You to Greenwich; woot!).

Thank you for supporting NomNom Club!

It’s that season of the year again when the blogging community goes on the sprawl searching for their Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for the year.

There are a lot of great and influential blogs out there. But the trick in this search is the term ‘emerging.’ It pertains to the NEW blogs, those which started about a year ago – March 2009 to be precise. And that’s where discernment is needed – because of a blog’s young age, it’s really hard to judge if the blog would eventually kick-off or die down into oblivion in a year or two.

I have been participating in this annual activity for three years now. And I have noticed something unique this year – a rise in the number of new food blogs. I think it is safe to say that this is partly the result of the increase in food blogger events as well, prevalent in at least three major areas in the Philippines namely Cebu, Davao, and Metro Manila.

Nomnom Club

NomNom Club itself is an out-sprout form LetsGoSago.net, a former travel-and-food-blog now turned travel blog. It was September 09, 2009 (09/09/09) when I decided to start this food blog to avoid diluting LetsGoSago.net which was slowly being dominated by non-travel related food posts. The rest is history.

More than the increase in new food blogs, the latest top rank list (week 9) were dominated by at least 5 food blogs sharing 2nd, 4th, 6th, and 7th spots. Compared to last year’s winners, there were only 2 food blogs.

In this light (and being a food blogger myself), my first five Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010 are:

NomNomClub.com – This food blog. If I don’t vote for my blog, how can I encourage others to do so? 🙂 Hence, I hope you will (*ahem*vote*ahem).

Foodie Manila

By the way, I’m trying to develop it to become community-based by year 2 so feel free to Join NomNom Foodie Club and expect exciting foodie activities soon! We’re turning one next month! 🙂

FoodieManila.com – If you’re not much of the reader-type, this food blog is for you. Just look at the awesome photos, dream about it but hold that saliva drip, asleep or awake.

Kusina Maria

KusinaMaria.com – Maria is her first name and cooking is her surname. Find personal recipes from her blog

Thirsty Blogger

ThirstyBlogger.com – And you think having a food blog is already a focused niche in itself, this guy goes a step further by focusing on drinks and juices, or any beverage for that matter.

TeaCompletely.com -  Tea blogging. And you thought a beverage blog was already extreme? This blog tandem of Aileen and Drew is about their tea adventures in Manila, Davao, or as far as Singapore!

Tea Completely

I guess 50% of my nomination slots going to food blogs is enough. I’ll look into other emerging and influential blogs and update this post within the month.

Aug 31 Update:

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And the other 5 non-food blogs completing my list are:

Facebuko – this is one of the best and wittiest humor blogs we have today. Maintained by a fellow UP alumni, I’m not surprised (lol).

Ganda Ever So Much – I am not usually fond of personal blogs as monitoring the personal lives of individuals is not my cup of tea (unless they’re extra special). But this one got a magic touch to it care of Orman. 🙂

When In Manila – From zero to hero, Vince managed to prove that there is still room for more creative blogs in the Philippine blogosphere.

Fat Girl No More – this blog is unique and inspiring as it journals the quest of a fat girl who wants to loose the extra pounds. I admire her dedication despite the odds and her courage in sharing her journey with us.

Tara Na – I have personally met all my nominees above except Erica. Nonetheless, her zest in the write-ups and articles shows her zest for the craft. I believe she is one emerging and influential blog to look forward to in the months to come.

Sadly, we can only include 10. If for any reason, you don’t prefer my complete list, you may consider the following similarly deserving blogs in your list:

• http://www.project52weeks.com
• http://www.reluctantstylista.com
• http://www.survivingautism.net
• http://www.paolodome.co.cc
• http://www.rabsing.com
• http://www.christianhomeschooler.info
• http://www.avatar.ph
• http://www.thecreativedork.com
• http://www.no-benta.blogspot.com
• http://www.bonggaba.com

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If  NomNom Club passes your standard to be one of your Emerging Influential Blogs for 2010, please do so in any of your blogs and it will be very much appreciated. 🙂

This writing project will not be possible without the support of sponsors such as Events and Corporate Video, Budget hotel in Makati, Pinoy Party Food, Copyediting Services, PR Agency Philippines, Budget Travel Philippines, Send Gifts to the Philippines, Black Friday Deals, Roomrent – units for rent, Search Profile Index, Corporate Events Organizer.

Have you recently “Thanked” your best friend?

Have you shown your appreciation of your epic best friend who has been there ever since, through thick and thin? With or without chocolates? 🙂 Toblerone has actually done a similar campaign last year with a Thank You Day Photo Contest.

Well, Toblerone encourages you to do so. Tobelerone prods you to thank your super best friend now.

Your favorite triangular Swiss chocolate encourages you to say “thank you” to your best friend through simple things that show your appreciation. And why don’t you let the world know about it too! 🙂

Talk about how you met your epic friend, the adventures you’ve gone through together and especially why you are thankful for your relationship with him or her!

Mechanics:

1. “Like” the Toblerone Fan Page on Facebook
2. Upload a photo of you and your epic friend
3. Tag yourselves and TobleronePilipinas
4. Post your answers in the Comments section of your photo
5. Have your epic friend to “Like” the post as well!

Winners:

Ten winners will be chosen based on the number of people who “Liked” your post as well as the feedback from the Toblerone team and a special panel of judges.

Prizes:

Winners will be treated to Toblerone gift packs and a full day of fun and exciting bonding activities, featuring body care treatments at The Spa, with their epic friends.

Isn’t that a great and unique way to start saying “thank you” to your best friend! The contest will run from July 5, 2010 to August 11, 2010. Check more about this promotion at www.toblerone.ph

Gratitude, like friendship, should not simply be a one-day deal. Let this “thank you” opportunity from Toblerone inspire you to think of many different ways to show your friend how much you appreciate all he’s or she’s done for you.

There’s a lot of good things I can say about my recent dining experience in Barrio Fiesta Greenhills.

Too much goodness that a food blog post should do it justice. And while I craft that food article, let me first share my food photo set of the dishes we had with a group of blogger friends in Barrio Fiesta Greenhills branch.

It’s a Food Foto Fiesta in Barrio Fiesta!

Sago’t Gulaman and Fresh Buko Juice

Sago't Gulaman (Tapioca & Jelly Sweet Drink) and Fresh Buko Juice

Kuhol Na Gata

Kuhol Na Gata

Kare-Kare

Kare-Kare

Sinalab (Inihaw)

Sinilab

Kilawin

Kilawin

Bouillabaisse

Bouillabaisse (mussels, clams, shrimp & crab soup)

Sizzling Gambas

Sizzling Gambas

Sinigang Bangus Belly

Sinigang Bangus Belly

Bicol Express

Bicol Express

Pinakbet

Pinakbet

Adobong Kangkong

Adobong Kangkong

Hipon Sa Aligue

Hipon sa Aligue

Steak Tanigue

Steak Tanigue

Chicharon Bulaklak

Chicharon Bulaklak

So where’s the Crispy Pata? Abangan! (soon!)

Hungry? 🙂 Visit the neewly renovated Barrio Fiesta Greenhills situated at Rochester St. corner Florida St. at the back of Play and Display in Manadaluyong EDSA. You may call the Barrio Fiesta EDSA Greenhills branch at 7267836 or email fiestainternationalcatering@yahoo.com.