Weekend Footnotes: Manam + Papa Kim + The Grid + Gringo

It's been quite a while since I shared where we ate for the weekend, so expect a photo heavy post as I play catch up. We've tried quite a few new restos and I want to share them all with you

Manam

This has been around for quite some time na, but it has a newly opened branch in our side of Manila, so we gave it a try a few weeks back. Expect a long queue during peak hours so it's best to arrive early to get a table as we are talking about waiting hours to get a table during lunch.

Holiday Cookie Swap 2015

I attended a Cookie Swap a few weeks ago. Because it's my first time to attend one, I did not really know what to expect other than being ready to bake and bring 12 dozen cookies, Mish of Momma 'N Manila invited me twice in the past, but my schedule was not so cooperative both times, and I had to decline. When she invited me again this year and my schedule was free, I just knew that the stars aligned to make this happen. Hahaha!

My friend, Mish grew up in a family that loves to cook, eat and entertain. She grew up in New York and relocated to Manila almost a decade ago. When she came over to Manila, she naturally brought with her this popular US tradition. She has been hosting cookie swaps for almost 5 years now, and the older participants claimed that it just keeps getting better and better!

A Cookie Swap, while not so common in Manila, is simply a gathering of friends who love to bake. Each baker brings one kind of cookie to share. At the swap, everyone trades and ends up with a whole lot of different delicious holiday cookies. Along with new cookie recipes, too! But it's not jsut cookies and recipes that gets shared, everyone just took a short moment to share a quick background of the cookie we brought, and our experience while we were baking them.

Earth Kitchen BGC

Having decided to embark on a clean eating lifestyle since 2013, one of the local restaurants that we love to visit is Earth Kitchen, where we appreciate their farm-to-table concept. We first learned about Earth Kitchen in 2014 when my sister celebrated her birthday in their White Plains branch. We have since been back several times; it has quickly become one of our favorites.

As I researched for Clean Eating, I realized that the lifestyle is primarily based on the idea principle of getting more nutrition from the food we eat appealed to me.  We've been trying to eat more of fresh and unprocessed foods. My husband and I are not getting any younger, and my kids are competitive athletes who really need quality food intake, and I just generally wanted the family to start eating better.

When we got an invite from the Earth Kitchen and Got Heart marketing manager, Pinky Parra, to try out their newest outlet in BGC, it was an invitation I couldn't pass up.