Finally! Shakey’s Pizza has made available pizza delivery via credit card. Val had told me about it a week or so ago and tonight I decided to try it. I ordered pizza and told them I want to pay via credit card. After a while, the rider came in, delivered the pizza, and swiped my card using a handheld device that wirelessly contacted the approver. I still had to do some signing on slips printed by the same device but it was otherwise very convenient. I hope the Jollibee group does the same.
Mango Cream Pie
Last sunday, Val taught a bunch of us to bake a mango cream pie. It was my first and as I went about the process I started questioning whether the effort was worth it. The answer came when I cut the first slice and took a bite: An unequivocal YES! I’m so happy with my pie (there are many like it but this one was mine hehe). The crust, the filling, the topping… they were all perfect. Okay so I did forget the vanilla. And there’s a wee bit more sugar than I’d like. But all in all it’s great for a first pie. Heck, it’s even better than some off-the-shelf pies I’ve encountered. Thanks Val!
Below is the recipe.
Crust
1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs
1/8 cup sugar
¼ cup butter, melted
Preheat oven to 300ºF
Combine crumbs, sugar and butter.
Press into pan.
Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 10 minutes.
Filling
½ cup sugar
¼ cup cornstartch
1/8 tsp salt
2 cups milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 to 2 tbsp gelatin powder
1 pack all purpose cream
Mix gelatin in 1 cup of milk. Set aside for 5 minutes.
Mix all ingredients except vanilla and all purpose cream together.
Use a double broiler to heat the mixture.
Whisk while heating to avoid burning the milk.
The resulting filling will be lumpy.
Add more gelatin for firmer consistency.
Transfer into another bowl and immerse the bowl in ice bath.
When mixture is cool, use strainer to remove all lumps and whatnot.
After that whip up the all-purpose cream and mix with filling–hahaha!
Add vanilla and mix thoroughly.
Pour the filling into prepared crust
Topping
1 to 2 Mangoes
Slice into strips and put on top.
Refrigerate or Freeze for 3-4 hours before serving.
Free Yakult
I was passing through Galleria from a work-related meeting (on a saturday… while sick… now that’s a bummer) when I decided that since I’ll be resting at home, I might as well rest AND watch Munich. So I went to the cinema area and saw these people waving a placard that read “3 packs of Yakult and a movie pass for P110″. I’m sort of leery of such things so I just went past them towards the ticket booths. Then something kind of ticked and I changed my mind. I walked back and talked to them, trying to find out what the catch is. Nothing, it’s just the 3 packs of Yakult and a movie worth P110! So I forked out the P110, got my 3 packs of Yakult, went to the ticket booth and paid the P50 difference (movie is at Cinema 1 so it really is higher). Maybe there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there sure is such a thing as free Yakult. 3 packs to be accurate :)
Happy New Year!!!
I spent most of the evening alternating between web surfing, channel surfing, and cooking pasta while waiting for my sister to stop playing Dungeon Siege II so I can take over. I was eventually able to play when she stopped long enough to make fruit salad, wash some dishes, and roast the baby back ribs.
Later, we (brother, sister, and I) climbed up the roof deck and watched the fireworks. I recorded some of the display with my K700i. After that, we went back down and had noche buena of spaghetti bolognese, roasted baby back ribs, fruit salad, and red wine. Yummy.
Happy new year everyone! :)
Dencio’s, Metrowalk
The other day, my former colleagues and I had our traditional Christmas get together. We decided to do it at Dencio’s in Metrowalk instead of at Congo Grill at El Pueblo where we usually go. We should have known better.
As usual in big gatherings, people took their time and trickled in gradually. While waiting for them, one of the staff approached me and asked how many we are in the group. I told her the number. She asked what time they are coming. I told her soon. She said they don’t reserve on fridays. I told her we’ve already ordered their food. I don’t know what the problem was. Whether it’s one person or twenty, if I order food for twenty people, I deserve space for twenty people. Good thing she didn’t push the issue and the bulk of the group arrived soon after.
Then while we were eating, some of the waiters were removing plates without asking. And this is when we still had pending orders which are taking too long. Maybe they didn’t know there are still pending orders. But that’s not even an excuse. At the least, they should ask if it is okay to remove the plates. What it seemed to me is that they were running out of plates because when we asked for replacement plates and utensils, they would take their time bringing the plates and sometimes bring only a spoon or a fork with it.
Throughout the ordeal, I didn’t feel welcome nor attended to. Granted it’s dinner time on a friday and it’s the Christmas season to boot. But they should have anticipated that. So it’s no excuse. Besides, this is not the first time I’ve experienced poor service in this specific branch. So maybe they really suck at the service department. I don’t know why I still went back. But I definitely won’t again.
Rating: 1/5