Frannywanny

Every morning, I would ask the #AngTwins what they would like to eat for breakfast and they would love enumerating all their favorite food. Cake, Ice Cream, Pizza, Spaghetti, Burger, Waffles...and the list goes on and on. As a food lover, it's a dream to watch your kids showing more love and interest in eating. I get so excited whenever I can share something delicious with them and to watch them eat it with so much delight just fills my heart with joy.  However, as a mom, I sometimes have to step on the breaks and carefully plan out their meals. Teaching them to eat right and healthy is our responsibility has their parents and they're at this stage wherein we have to train them to eat their veggies and fruits. This is also when I've learned to check the labels.. not only once but twice. I watch out for the sugar content and making sure that they get their vitamins and minerals too.  [PR] Our family, most importantly, our kids are the special treasures we have and with that...

I can't believe I have 3 year old twins! It still feels like yesterday when I patiently waited for my scheduled CS day to come and how Paul and I finally welcomed them in this world on that fateful day at 6 in the morning. It's been 3 years of living a purposeful life being called Mama by my intelligent, adorable and very sweet twins J & L.  For someone who loves to plan everything down to the last detail, 2020 really taught us to be flexible, to be resilient, to accept change and to roll with the punches. As they say, when life throws you lemons... you make delicious lemon squares. Haha! Seriously, the year went by so fast and while it wasn't really a smooth sailing one, it's the year where we got to spend the most time with family. Before the pandemic happened, I worry that I might miss out on their developmental years as I have gone back to working full-time and I often wonder if doing so will make me spend less time with them too. I guess, life has its funny way...

As the clock struck 12, Paul quickly went to me and reminded me to check my phone. I knew what he meant so with several swift but careful motions, I tapped, I scrolled and YES! I've checked out. Today is 11.11 and it's the best day to go online shopping!  Beauty MNL  is also having one of the biggest sale across all their product categories. They have products for skin care, cosmetics, home, mom and kids, nail and hair care and more! I had so much fun shopping and I couldn't wait till today to shop so I went ahead and did my early shopping a couple of days ago.  Ordering was a breeze as the website was very functional and easy to navigate around. I love how they have added in a lot of description and photos to help me decide which ones to get. After making my transaction, I immediately got an email and within a day or two, my package has arrived. How fast was that?!  Since I rarely put on make up this year since I've been staying home since March, I decided to foc...

  " A party without cake is just a meeting." - Julia Child Well-said by one of my favorite cooking icons. *applause applause*  I do believe in this saying and for me, my birthday will never complete without cakeS. Yes, plural. I really love having a lot of cakes and while yearly, my family knows this already so we would have at least 2 cakes to enjoy. There are years wherein I'd get 3 or 4. However, this year was probably extra special despite being on lockdown (it was the first day of GCQ exactly on my birthday) as I got not 1, not 2, but 6 amazing cakes which we all enjoyed and shared with the rest of the family during my birthday! I was so touched with all the love and sweetness from my friends and family. One cake that stood out was this. It was from Hearts and Bells  who are very popular in the wedding scene as they specialize in creating wedding/tinghun/customized cakes. In fact, they have been my sister's go-to cake supplier as they made her wedding cake and th...

If you're going to sum up my life quarantining myself at home this 2020 -- it just be about 4 things. FAMILY. WORK. FOOD. DANCING.   Actually, the last one is very new.. like 2 weeks new. Yet, I'm glad that I finally took the first step to be a bit more active as I've spent 9 months sitting on my office chair from 9am to 12mn with very minimal toilet, eating, walking-around-the-house breaks in between. Such sedentary life I've led and it doesn't help that I've been stress-eating like crazy too. Sushi Bakes, Milk Tea, Sweets, Carbs, Carbs, and more Carbs. I realized though that I can't just rely on diets and when I'm hungry.. I get incredibly cranky and moody and that's no good especially for the welfare of the people around me. So.. I decided that if you can't beat 'em (food) then just burn 'em (calories!). So yes, 2 weeks ago, I signed up for my first ever dance workout class and I got to say that I was super out of shape. I no longer re...

Woah! I can't believe it's November and in 8 full weeks, we're bidding 2020 goodbye. Are you excited for that? If 2021 means having a better and fresh beginning that's free of sickness and calamities then I'm so ready to bid 2020 goodbye.  I had a very relaxing weekend that I think I just kept on napping whenever I can. In fact, I intend to spend my weekends that way. 101% of my time focused on my family and catching up on sleep whenever I can. My kids are growing up so fast and I just want to savor every moment with them. See, a few weeks ago, they celebrated their 3rd birthday. Can you believe it? It just feels like yesterday that I delivered them and Paul and I were still trying to learn the ropes on how to take care of newborn twins. Today, they're very opinionated toddlers who are not afraid to speak their mind and they can really make choices too. Anyway, more on the twins' birthday party as I can't wait to share how it went with you too.  For now,...

The internet is a space so vast that you'd think it's just impossible to meet someone real and much more, carry out a genuine friendship from that. After all, we have our online and offline personas. Some mirroring each other, the others totally different that would even put Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to shame. When I started Frannywanny.com and joined the local blogging community 13 years ago, Didi a.k.a. canDishhh was one of those who welcomed me so warmly and I gotta say that we hit it off instantly. Well, I guess, it's also because we both went to the same high school so that's one big similarity and we share a lot of common friends too. Besides that, I've always loved Didi's personality. She's very down-to-earth, brutally honest and is one of my very loyal friend. Back then, Didi and I were two single girls, not even engaged to be married and motherhood is totally far far away from the picture. I remembered how we would go out for dinner or would just chat ...

This was indeed a big big surprise. It started when I was chatting with my cousin and he casually mentioned Vito's BBQ  as we were talking about Chicken Rice dishes. I didn't thought much about it until I went online and saw a couple of friends from my high school posting about the same thing. "Hmm.. what is this  Vito's BBQ ?", I thought to myself. I was definitely so curious now and I quickly went to their Instagram page to check them out. Oh my! I'll warn you now. Do NOT go to their page at the middle of the night or you'll surely end up hungry and craving for Chicken BBQ. Trust me, I learned this the hard, hungry way.  Apparently, Vito's BBQ is named after the owners' 4 year old and he's so adorable! They started in Libis and recently, they opened their pick-up station in... *drumroll* Ronac Art Center along Ortigas Avenue and is even closer to home! Yahoooo!  Anyway, we celebrated Grandparent's Day last last week and I decided that...

 I guess this is truly the "new normal" . How things have quickly moved online -- paying bills, processing payments, ordering food, sending out courier items and many more. Since the start of the quarantine, our family has heavily relied on our friends who have took their products online. From breads, to fish, from veggies and fruits and even cooked food. I've lost count of the number of deliveries that have been made and with that, we follow a very strict sanitation protocol to ensure that the dreaded virus stays out and away from our home. As you know, we had a scare just a month ago and it was really stressful and horrible. It was so hard to isolate someone much more to isolate 4 people in the family and to adjust how we do things here. The inconvenience was one thing but more than anything, it was the emotional stress that really took a toll on us. The fear that one may be positive and could have possibly infected the rest was one thing we were so scared of. Thankfull...

If there's one thing I realized while feeding my twins is that kids have this great love for anything crispy or crunchy. No matter how hard you try or how long you'd slave away in the kitchen, remember this -- prepare something crispy or crunchy and believe me, your kids will praise you like a kitchen god / goddess. Well, at least, as far as my twins are concerned. Save for the ever-reliable adobo which they love or their all-time fave Baked Spaghetti, my twins are huge fans of fried chicken, corn flakes, crunchy toast sandwiches, crackers and croquettes. This is why I always make sure to have a bag of panko breadcrumbs in our pantry cabinet to make it easy for us to whip up a deep-fry batter whenever the need arises. Don't get me wrong, they get their fair share of veggies and other protein too and we try our best to limit their deep-fried intake on a weekly basis but on days when it just gets slightly tough to satisfy our picky gourmands, well deep-fried crunchy creations...

WOW! Thirteen.  It's like I have a teenager. If you really think about it, Frannywanny.com is my first baby. It was born out of love and passion, somewhat unplanned and based on impulse but how it grew to what it is today is because of the amount of time and dedication that I have poured into it and of course, the immeasurable support that I have been blessed with. If you have been following this blog for the past 13 years, you have been with me through all my ups and downs as I moved out of Manila, started a new life in Singapore, moved back to Manila, became a twin mom and yet, I still want to think that I am still am the same Frannywanny from Day 1 -- a city girl who loves to eat, cook and to write.  I got to admit that when I started this blog, I honestly thought that I was just writing for a handful of my friends to read. Them and Paul, of course. So, it never fails to warm my heart when I would encounter someone who would write to me or would tell me in person that the...

We're living in a world where we're becoming really dependent on gadgets and technology. I got to admit that the first thing I do as I wake up in the morning is to check my phone. After getting the kids ready for breakfast, I then turn on the TV supposedly to play in the background as the reporter from BBC updates us on the latest news in the region but when I hear something interesting, I'd immediately turn my attention to it. After that, I head to my mini office where I start my daily calls with various people in the team. This goes on for the next 4 hours before I go down for lunch. After lunch, I take an extra hour to play with the kids and I go back again to work up until it's time for dinner. If I'm not staring at my phone, I'd be on my laptop and even if I try my hardest to create time blocks to walk around, grab a drink or to stretch, I know that I have been overworking my eyes especially during this quarantine season.  There were instances wherein I wou...

I got to admit that one thing that I really missed during the quarantine period is my favorite milk tea. When we first had the lock down, I tried in vain to search for any available milk tea shops that might be open during that period and while there sure were, I never really got around to ordering from them for several reasons. First -- I was scared of their sanitation. I wasn't sure of the measures that they're taking to ensure that my drink will never ever be contaminated. Secondly -- I wasn't sure what's good to order as the ones open were not the ones that I would usually go get milk tea from. So as soon as we went on GCQ, Paul and I took the chance to check if our neighborhood Serenitea shop was open and it was! Yahoo! Not only that, they were even running a Buy One Get One promo to make us even happier. So for a couple of weeks, we happily had random milk tea runs and finally, our milk tea cravings have been fully satisfied. I've been staying home more ...

I just had one of the yummiest breakfasts a few days ago. It was in the form of these interesting looking bread that's generously filled with cream cheese and herbs. What makes it so good is the slightly sweet buttery crust that it has. I discovered Lola Ester's Bread and Pastries  through my friend L who shared with me this family secret of hers. Apparently, Lola Ester has been baking empanadas and breads for years and finally, they're allowing the public to have a taste of her specialties. The delicious bread that I was talking about is Lola Ester's Herb Cream Cheese Pull Apart  (Php. 250 for 2 pieces) which took inspiration from the famous Korean Cream Cheese Garlic Bread  which I've never came across with in our neighborhood Korean bakery. Anyway, I'm glad that Lola Ester introduced me to it as it's soooo good! Even my twins loved it that I literally had to put on my Mama Bear cap and willingly share this with them (even if I know I just want more mo...

Allow me to make yet another fearless forecast -- I smell another food trend coming our way and it's in the form of these nice corrugated boxes that's filled with all sorts of ingredients that's packed and carefully sealed. DIY Kits  are here and it means allowing all of us to take our cooking/baking skills to the next level! Since we all have to stay home and to keep ourselves safe from the virus, why not recreate some of your restaurant favorites and enjoy these with the family. I've actually been cooking and baking more since the start of the quarantine and I have to say that I have became more bold and creative in the kitchen. Back then, I'd stick to the usual baked goodies, easy pasta dishes, stir-fries and steamed dishes. For the past weeks, I've learned to make more seafood dishes, cook steak properly, bake a variety of treats and just tonight, I made Galbi Jjim -- a dish that I've been planning to make for months.  A few weeks ago, I rece...

I got to admit that if you make me choose between sweet or savory, I'd choose savory in a heartbeat. I have a very sensitive taste buds that what could be just a hint of sweet, sour, spicy or salty flavor notes for others, is already incredibly heightened for me. This is also probably because I grew up accustomed to having rather clean tasting or mildly flavored dishes here at home. My Mom, as you may know by now, is very conscious with the food that we eat. She ensures that we stay away from anything too salty, too fatty, too oily, too sweet and more due to genetic and medical reasons. How ironic right that I still end up loving food so much. That said, you can really count with your hands the type of dessert that I personally love in my life. I've always been an ice cream person in particular fruit flavored ice cream. We also love fresh fruits and there has never been a day in my life that we do not end our meal with fresh fruits. My sister and Papa are choco lovers and P...

If there's such thing as "by moms for moms", Matt's Waffles would definitely be "by a kid for more kids"  I first heard about this brand of homemade waffles from my cousin-in-law V. She told me that they have been buying from them and even served this as part of the birthday celebration of my niece L. It was easy to find them on social media and I later found out that Matt's is actually a 10 year old boy who happen to be the talented little chef behind these waffles. I have yet to know the full story how little Matt got into making waffles but my guess is probably because it's one of his favorite snack/breakfast/thing to eat. Anyway, one thing that caught my attention is that it's made with the best ingredients. I'm not talking about truffles and Wagyu beef but it's all about choosing good quality ingredient that ensures us that these waffles are safe for kids to eat -- fresh eggs, fresh milk, butter and olive oil. As a mom, I've...

I finally did it! For years, I've been wanting to make stuffed veggies. When I was growing up, whenever we would visit Hong Kong, we would always make sure to have dimsum for Sunday lunch. Somehow, it's a common practice for locals to go for dimsum brunch where the entire family would feast on baskets after baskets of the best dimsum creations paired with their choice of hot tea. They would eat for hours as this is the time when the family also comes together. There would be a handful of aunties pushing the wooden dimsum steam cart and some would have the deep-fried cart too. As you order, they would put a stamp on a piece of card and that's how they would later tally your total bill. It was definitely one of my best childhood memories and the reason why I love dimsum so much. Anyway, during one of those dimsum brunches, I remembered having Stuffed Bell Peppers with Minced Meat. It was so good. Being a kid then, I was never fond of vegetables but if you stuffed it w...

I'm indeed a very very lucky girl. Why, you may ask? It's because I come from a food loving family and I married into one as well. I've probably mentioned this some time before that Paul's family hails from the foodie capital of Luzon called Pampanga where you can find the most delicious yet heart-stopping delicacies and dishes that has ever graced our tables. From the famous pork sisig, the very umami tamales and bringhe, loads of kakanin variants and a lot more. It's not a big surprise then that Paul and his family are such foodies that our annual family Christmas gathering would start at lunch and could last past afternoon snack with food being served non-stop and we would sometimes even have enough to bring back to Manila. So, when I found out that one of my cousins-in-law is selling her special Baked Macaroni, I quickly dropped her a message to place my order. Of course, primarily, I'm also all for supporting family and secondly, I'm curious to try ...

Ever since we discovered China Mommy more than two years ago, our basis for "what makes a good Chinese lumpia" has improved and increased significantly. For us, the best Chinese lumpia is what China Mommy makes -- fresh ingredients, clean taste and easy to prepare. It's been two years since and so far, I haven't came across a brand or restaurant that comes close to China Mommy 's amazing lumpia. This is also why we find ways (and reasons) to celebrate with China Mommy's dishes as the main highlight of the meal. From Chinese New Years to our birthdays and even recently, Father's Day, there's just a hundred and one reason why we just have to have some good Chinese lumpia and more. Related post: China Mommy : Authentic Chinese Home-Cooking Delivery Have a Festive CNY with China Mommy This year, I celebrated my birthday during the quarantine, it was actually the day when the enhanced community quarantine was lifted but we weren't taking any...

Ever since the start of the quarantine, Paul and I have been finding ways on how to keep our twins busy. Of course keeping them busy is easy but we want to do it the right way and that is to allow them to also develop a new skill or to learn something new. Since they can't go to pre-school yet because of the current situation, we took it upon ourselves to be the first teachers of our kids in hopes that somehow, we are prepping them to be ready for formal schooling when the pandemic ends and it's safe for everyone to go out again. I'm usually super busy with work during the weekday so I rely on Paul and my mom to help teach the twins while I deal with calls and my daily workload. However, I try my best to make it up to them during the weekend by giving them my full, undivided attention. On one of the those weekends, I received a package from Zoeily Cookies   and I was so excited! They sent us a ready DIY cookie kit and I know this will get the twins super excited. ...

A couple of weeks ago, I had the privilege to guest in the one and only podcast that I religiously listen to. It's called Sini Gang  and it's by my friends and foodie idols -- Chef Edward Bugia, Chef Sharwin Tee and The Pickiest Eater in the World, Richie Zamora . For many nights especially during this quarantine season, I would find myself working till midnight and I would always have Sini Gang playing in the background as I listen in to their various episodes that mostly revolves around food. So when Richie approached me and asked if I can be their guest for one of their shows, despite having a hundred butterflies in my stomach, I said YES. I'd be crazy to pass up an opportunity to join a fun discussion with my foodie friends. We talked about the top food trends that has hit our country since the start of the ECQ and this includes the Dalgona Coffee, the Ube Cheese Pandesal (where I shared about Twin Beans Kitchen ) and of course, the ever famous -- Sushi Bake . Lin...

Despite how fussy and meticulous I can be with food, there are some food items that I prefer it to be simple. Take donuts for instance, give me a tray of assorted flavored donuts and more often than not, I'd go for the one that's just glazed in honey or sugar, one that has just chocolate frosting on top and definitely not one that's stuffed with heavy cream. In other words, I like my donuts simple and classy. That's how I would describe  Milky Dust Donuts . It's nothing fancy. No artificial coloring, no fancy icing. All you get are big round donut balls that's stuffed in 4 types of filling -- vanilla, chocolate, mocha or ube and cheese. It's dusted with powdered sugar and kept in microwaveable tubs that can help you keep it for a couple of days in room temp or longer when chilled. From the moment that I laid my eyes on my friend Twinkle's Milky Dust Donuts  on social media, I wasted no time and quickly placed my order. I wasn't sure what got in...

It's been 6 months since the first news about the virus has been released. Since then, we have been staying home to lessen any exposure and to keep everyone safe. Given that the entire metro has been in quarantine since March this year, I'd say that I've also have discovered a number of delicious food finds along the way. This is because we no longer go out to buy bread or to do our groceries in fear that staying out for long will bring more harm than convenience or good to us. Luckily, technology has been helping us have easy access to food and basically all the essential goods that we may need. We're also seeing the rise of online money transfers and payments nowadays. Indeed, going cashless is the way to go now and to just do things with just a few taps here and there. One of my favorite discoveries was Twin Beans Kitchen  which was created by my dear twin mommy, D. D and I have been mommy buddies since our twins were barely a month old and it's funny how we al...

How are you, my dear readers? If there's one thing I love about being a Filipino is how we can be very resilient. No matter what the circumstance may be, wherever the wind takes us, we are probably one of the most flexible individuals in the region, to quickly adapt to changes and to seek the positivity in all things. It's no wonder that the Philippines was once voted as one of the happiest place on earth . Take the current situation that the entire world is facing, we were once put on Enhanced Community Quarantine which has led to business closures except for those offering essential goods like supermarkets and drugstores. With just a handful of restaurants offering take out services and public transportation not available, quickly people took to social media and messaging platforms to offer their products. Suddenly, there was a barrage of marketplaces being set-up in almost all communities imaginable. For years, you've never bothered to know your next door neighbor...

As a mom, how many times have you felt like you're all alone in your own worries and thoughts?  Most especially for newborn moms, I'm pretty sure the answer is every day . Well, I felt that way when my twins were born. I honestly felt like no one can ever understand what we're going through as everyone had singleton babies and here we are, trying to learn the ropes of parenthood x 2! I got to admit that there were nights when I would burst out crying and it's not the kind that you would cry yourself to sleep because..well... you don't get to sleep! I was just overcome with so much exhaustion, fear and anxiety. I just wanted to do things correctly from the way I breastfeed my babies down to making sure that I get to keep them alive and healthy. I got to say though that Paul has played a huge role in keeping me sane. He never left my side and I'd say that it's because of him that I didn't fell into depression but to all new moms about there, believe me...

8 years ago, I made my first ever croquette . In fact, the last time I ever did croquette was 2 years ago. Remember my Sardines Croquette ? This is because as easy as it may seem, it actually entails a lot of step and I never really got around to doing it again. Furthermore, I don't really like deep-frying because the thought of cleaning a very greasy pan is enough to discourage me from even entertaining that thought. However, I never thought my culinary creativity will be put to the test the moment I became a Mom...well a Mom of a picky eater. You all know that my little princess L can be quite picky with her food and one thing that she doesn't like is to eat the same dish repeatedly... so, we always have to make sure that we have a new dish every meal so as to entice her to eat. *sigh*  I tell you, my twins are like night and day. As picky as L can be, my little J is so easy to please. Just give him rice, add some sauce or soup and small cubes of meat and he's good. He ...

Wanna know what was one of the first few words that the twins can both say clearly?  It's.... WOW . Yes, Wow! Every time I walk in the room with a new package or a gift box. They get so excited and would quickly run to their playmat to signal that they're ready to open the box. I guess, it always feels like Christmas morning to these little ones as they just love ripping gift-wrapping papers, opening boxes, seeing the contents, setting the real present aside and play with just the box or the paper "confetti" that comes with it. Haha! Kidding aside, kids will always be kids and the kind folks of Tiny Buds Baby are always spoiling my twins with all these pretty surprise packages that they've been sending our way. This box was actually sent close to half a year ago. I'm so sorry as my blog-lag is terrible! Remember their first unboxing experience was also when they received a package from Tiny Buds  they were just over a year old then and look how fast ...

I'm not going to lie. Being on quarantine and working from home has really caused a lot of anxiety and worry especially during the first week that it was implemented. A lot of questions ran in my head, a lot of uncertainties and fears came out. However, as humans, we are created to adapt to our environment. Temporary or not, we cope with what's happening around us and we find ways wherever we can. For a while back, I was worried how our home routine will be. My kids no longer can go to Kindermusik and we've been looking forward to enrolling them in pre-school this summer which probably will be pushed back till then. That really should be the least of our worries as what we have to prioritize and pray for is that the number of cases will start to drop and no one should fall sick anymore. Enough COVID19...enough! I'm thankful though that the entire family is home to help take care of the twins. Of course there's Paul, Yaya M and even my parents. We take turns in...

I hope she won't mind me sharing this story but tonight I had a little argument with my sister. It was over something petty but of course, being the drama queen that I was, I just had to blow things out of proportion and since she's exhausted from her busy day, she didn't hesitate to put me in my place and to give me a piece of her mind. That's also one thing that I love about my relationship with my sister. We both can say our piece as it is, no holds barred and after all that I know that we will be okay and she loves me just the same. I know you're reading this Pan, and I just want you to know that I'm really sorry. Photo by Lina Trochez on Unsplash She also said something which got me thinking all night. She told me to learn to appreciate the people around me before it's too late. Given the current situation where people within our circle are falling sick and dying, it's really the reality that life is truly unpredictable and anyone of us can ju...

I can't believe that summer is officially here. It happened so fast. I was still enjoying the cool breeze in January and February then suddenly, *bam!* March rolled in and the temperature started to rise rapidly. We started sweating like crazy, skin started to feel really sticky and I have this intense craving for anything cold and refreshing. This brought back memories from a few months ago when Paul and I chanced upon a new milk tea place called Goodgood in Banawe, Quezon City. If there's any place in Metro Manila that truly merits the name "milk tea paradise" then Banawe is definitely it. In every block, you can find a shop selling milk tea, boba tea, fruit tea, you name it, they got it. Even brands that may still sound foreign in other areas of the metro has already made Banawe their home. Goodgood has been growing rapidly with branches in the Scout area, in the Ortigas CBD and even in the foodie strip of Kapitolyo. We visited the one in Banawe which is ...