Lunch Date at ARYA

My husband and I took some time off and had our kids stay with their grandparents over last weekend. In a way, such occasion when we get to have some time for ourselves regarding how, where and when is already considered grand. School is out, so I get to have a vacation too. Friday night, my husband asked me if he can take me out on a date. Being asked by my other half is one of the things I cherish because not all guys do that, especially when you're married. Aside from his surprises, it's one husband's sweet gestures that he kept even if we're married already. He didn't change a bit. Well, you don't really change to a different person when you get married. Ideally and based on my experience being married for almost 10 years, yes we grow old physically, but the emotions, the mind and heart becomes sweeter and happier.

One of the things I share the most with my husband is food. We have the same taste. We love going on food adventures, we just try everything.

There's this list of favorites that we have and we just rotate each item in the list so that there's something to look forward to. Persian is on top lately. Over lunch, we agreed to go to ARYA at the Promenade in Greenhills. Arya Persian Restaurant is the home of authentic Persian cuisine and is one of the most progressive Persian Restaurants in the country.--- http://www.aryapersianrestaurant.com

For starters, we had Hummus and 4 orders of Pita bread. I'm so addicted to Hummus. My Persian dining is going to be incomplete without Hummus.

For our main meal we had Arya's Bareh Koobideh served with grilled tomatoes, choice of pita bread or add Php20 for Basmati rice. Quite a serving too... I can practically share it with another head, but I finished everything with  Arya's house blend iced tea on the side. Even while eating, we were still talking about food... It keeps on coming. Ideas, experiences and other fun moments of our food tasting. But take note, we don't do this every week. We at least go out once or twice a month or every other month, the rest of the days are spent in the house with home-cooked meals.

Our afternoon continued with a good movie... Oz The Great & Powerful... Love it!

Which we paired with 2  large, cold orders of Happy Lemon's Cocoa with Cheese and Rock Salt. Rejuvenating! and we haven't done some retail therapy yet :)

Busy But Still Cookin'

My week before Holy Week has been very busy and tiring. I wasn't expecting it to be so exhausting considering that school is over... One of the things that made my day so sluggish was the weather. It has been  ridiculously humid. Yeah, I know summer is here. But I'm expecting our days to be hot but in some way, still refreshing.

Anyway, preparing and making plans for our first summer getaway is one of the things that's keeping me busy too. I've been looking for resorts near manila that are nice, family-friendly and peaceful. As of now, most resorts are already fully-booked. I'm hoping that my husband has already made arrangements since he is not bothered by the fact that I can't find a single location for our vacation. Another is the renewal of our passports. It's easier now, praise Jesus! This time, I'm preparing documents for 4 individuals--- growing family :) and a possible travel?

One of my growing interest is baking/ making pastries. 

I'm taking this new hobby slowly. I have important plans for it in the near future, so I want each pastry to come out perfectly. I re-invent a basic recipe to something new and delightful and to be able to make my own mark in the industry.

With all the work that's needed to be done beyond my kitchen, I still make time to prepare a few meals worth sharing.  Happy and loving it!

Please bear for I'll be posting them soon.

Shomal By Hossein

Persian food is one of my family's favorites. We've been in and out of several restaurants through the years of our food adventure and so far, among the Persian restaurants we've tried, Shomal takes the #1 spot in our list.

Located at the 4/F Trinoma Mall, North Ave,Shomal by Hossein will entice you with their wonderful Persian- Arabian dining experience. With the luxurious set- up of the dining area, fine curtains, delicate patterns and attractive shades that will make one's moment unforgettable. We were seated at the couch area. To maintain privacy for each table, there are curtains that served as dividers. It made our whole dining experience more authentic.

Instead of ordering individual plates and dishes, we decided to go for Shomal's Persian Kebab Platter Specialties particularly the Mega Kebab 1 (Php1,200+)

2 sticks beef kubideh

2 sticks beef shish kebab

2 sticks chicken kebab

4 large grilled tomatoes

A large platter of mixed saffron rice and biryani rice

This platter is good for sharing (4 heads)

For our appetizer, we decided to go for a share order of Hummus/ Houmous (Php200+) that was serve with pita bread.It has always been fun eating Hummus. I love it as a dip too. All in all, we ordered 4 more large pita bread because Shomal's hummus was so good and the size of the plate was pretty big, we took our left- overs home.

For me, the highlight among the dishes served was the rice. Of course it's Rice from India. I love the texture. For those who are interested, Shomal is selling this rice for 150php per kilo. I'm coming back to taste a new set of food and to purchase some of that good rice.

Yes! A Header!

Finally! It's been 4 years... and now, a header for my food blog. Well, it's not as good as the ones made by the pros but, since I made it, it's special. I've been meaning to spend on the over- all layout, but thinking about the price and my urge to experiment all the time,  spending on such is going to be a total waste.

The photos were randomly picked from my files through the years. 2 are shots from a restaurant. An Instagram image of my breakfast, pasta which is my favorite, a dessert and the rest are dishes prepared and cooked by yours truly. I didn't bother to edit the images individually because I want you to see the dates when they were taken. I thought it will look messy, but thank goodness, it turned out okay.

Red as an accent because this shade is attractive, it brings color to everything dull. Same as with food, it makes the reader imagine how delicious everything is in this food blog. It also makes my site look simple yet vibrant to the eyes of the viewer.

I was able to come with this header with the help of my Apple photo apps. So thanks to those apps. I never thought that those things will give the answer for a header. It's simple as mixing and matching things and putting apps together. Love it!

If you notice any glitch, please bear, it was made using an iPod 5th gen. Imagine my big fingers tapping and sliding on a small screen :D But I did eventually moved it to my iPad.