A look back : A decade of Paul and Fran -- Our 10th Anniversary Celebration

2020 was supposed to be a special year for Paul and I. It's the year of our 10th wedding anniversary and we had BIG plans. Plans such as taking the twins to Hong Kong to visit Disneyland for the first time, plans for a week-long beach getaway to celebrate our anniversary, plans to eat out and to celebrate this special occasion. Well, I guess life is indeed unpredictable. Who would have thought that the entire world will be hit by the biggest pandemic known today and we're still battling it as we speak. It's been a year and a month since our first lockdown and the fight is far from over. 

Sure, it was a bummer that all our plans had to be put on hold but if you're going to ask me now, it's okay. My only wish since 2020 is for all of us to stay healthy and safe. Travelling can wait, eating out can happen once the pandemic is over and yes, that beach trip will have to be rescheduled to a much later date. 

However, Paul and I didn't let our special day go by without any celebration. Since we're in the company of family and our beautiful kids, we ordered some of our favorites as our way to celebrate 10 years of marriage. 

Check out our 10th anniversary dinner line-up:

Unagi and Scallop Sushi Bake from Kamikalu

Sushi Bake was indeed on trend last year and we settled no less than the best (in our book). Kamikalu creates premium sushi bake using the best ingredients. Each scoop will show you how she didn't scrimp on any ingredients. The Japanese rice, the tobiko, the freshest scallops and the yummiest unagi (eel). This is really the best and I love love love it so much. 

Tagliatelle in Mushroom Cream Sauce from Eleonor's Kitchen

My friend Ele makes the best truffle cream pasta that both Paul and I love. We first had it sometime back in 2010 (the year we got married!) and we loved it ever since. I'm so happy that Ele was so game to make this for our special day. Just like how we enjoyed it before, the pasta has a perfect bite and the sauce was creamy and so fragrant. Apart from this, El also makes really good Lasagna too. She's now busy with her new business called Fish n Chix but maybe if you ask her sweetly, she'd happily make you her delicious pasta too. :)  

Beef and Mushroom Salpicao (Php. 1,300) from Carlito's Catering

We first discovered Carlito's Catering back in 2017 when the twins were newborn. Click on this link to see how tiny they were before! We loved their Baked Salmon, Cha Misua and Lechon Kawali. Since then, we've tried more dishes from Carlito's Catering and our list of favorites have grown so much since then. For our anniversary, Paul requested that I try their Beef and Mushroom Salpicao as he was badly craving for beef. As always, they did not disappoint. The beef was so tender and the dish was so garlicky yummy, it'll make you want to have it with rice. 

Prawns Thermidor (Php. 1200) from Carlito's Catering

This was probably the only dish that we weren't so crazy about that night. I guess, the meal was just an explosion of flavors. Dish after dish with rich flavors that as we got to the Prawns Thermidor we all felt that it was just way too creamy and nakakaumay. This may be the case of "it's not you, it's me". Perhaps, if I have balanced out the rich dishes with some moderately flavored ones, then it would have been better. Nonetheless, the prawns were very fresh and this would go so well with rice. 

Assorted Flavored Wings from Mando's Wing Shack

Of course, we got something for our two VIP guests. The twins had a mix of flavored chicken wings from Mando's Wing Shack. This was our new discovery before the lockdown happened and we had plans of going back there with friends but sadly we had to resort to home deliveries for now. Mando's have a long running list of flavors that you can choose from. 

Belgian Chocolate Cake from Airbakes Manila PH

This was created and given by my friend Lia. Who knew that she's such a talented baker! Lia send this delicious and truly decadent Belgian Chocolate Cake which we enjoyed so much. On top of this, she also makes Sylvanas, Cookies and more cakes too. The chocolate cake went so well with our bottle of wine from our friend Lacar. 

What a feast! How I wish that we'll be able to make up for it come our 15th Wedding Anniversary. However, despite not being able to go out, what mattered was being together as one family and being with our kids who, after all, are proof of our love for one another. ♥♥♥