United Airlines Snackbox

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

A good meal ought to begin with hunger. ~ French Proverb On my flight to Atlanta, I thought I try out United Airlines' Snack Box even though Suanne packed some snack for me. It has been a while since most airlines had discontinued free inflight meals even for long haul flights. On United's flight over 3.5 hrs, one could purchase United's snack boxes for USD $5 each -- they accept only cash. United has choice of four different types of snack boxes. Click here for their selection. I wanted something a bit salty and cheesey. I opted for the Mini Meal Snack Box. The boxes were shrink wrapped. I was pretty surprised by the content. It was packed pretty tight and had a very good selection.

I started off with the Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookies. There are two in a pack and sandwiched a layer of chocolate. As with most cookies I was particularly concern about crumbs since I was sitting in such cramped space with my bulky camera by my side, but it does not crumble much. Made just right for a flight.

I always get so dehydrated on flights. I took the apple sauce next. It's a Granny Smith apple sauce from Mott's. I like it because it is unsweetened.

There are seven of Hommel Hard Beef Salami slices in the pack. It was exactly what I wanted ... a little bit of salt and meat. Next was the Parmesan Cheese spread on stoned wheat crackers.

I did not particularly care for potato chips and kept it aside for snacks later.

I like this item. It is called the Hiya Peppermint. Instead of the normal peppermint drops, these peppermint is liquid filled capsule. It releases the mint instantaneously. Good thing to share with people.

It was a good thing I had a window seat on the last row on the plane. It was not easy to escape people's attention when I took my time to arrange my food for the shots. Luckily, the person who sat next to me was sleeping all the way. Some people did notice and must have thought I was a village bum flying for the first time and taking shots of every little thing I came across. :-)

Chicago Style Hot Dog

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

The heart of a man may be compared to a sausage; no one can tell exactly what's inside. ~ Yiddish Proverb I was delayed at the Chicago O'Hare Airport for four hours just a few days ago. At least United Airlines gave me a meal voucher so that I could have a wee bite while waiting. My tummy was growling then. Since I was in Chicago, I thought I should try something native to Chicago. Seems like Chicago'ians (?) are pretty proud of the Chicago Style Hot Dog which is served very consistently the same way. Here is what it looks like:

What I learn is a Chicago style hot dog is almost always:

• a beef hot dog
• a poppy seed bun
• yellow mustard
• sweet relish
• chopped raw onion
• a dill pickle spear
• tomato slices
• celery salt
• AND NO KETCHUP

I don't know why no ketchup. I find it strange because I have always wanted ketchup on hot dogs. It is a perfect meal with a little meat, vegetables, spicy peppers, cool tomato and a zing of celery salt. I also got myself a bottle of Tropicana Orange Juice.

How much did it costs? It's slightly less than $7 (USD) including the drink -- all paid for by United Airlines. Thanks a bunch for making me wait in the airport for four hours (NOT!).

DQ's Chocolate Dilly Bars

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

Life is like a box of chocolate ... ~ Forest Gump Believe it or not, last week I bought a total of 72 Dilly Bars! It is a good thing that Dairy Queen had a BOGO (buy-one-get-one) promotion or else it would have costs me quite a bit. I bought them as a treat for all the people in Best Buy who had so kindly paid for my farewell lunches. I think they all liked it.

This is my blog on the famous Dilly Bar from DQ.

The Dilly Bar is a delicious vanilla ice milk dipped in chocolate flavoured coating. Did you know that the Dilly is celebrating it's 50th anniversary this year. Yup, it was first made in the year 1955.

Each box of Dilly Bars come with twelve 100ml bars. A box normally costs $16 (tax included). Effectively, with the BOGO, each box is about only $8. It's a good thing they have a promotion at this time!

Most people does not know this but the Dilly Bars are made on the premises of each Dairy Queen. That sort of explains the twirlly deal on each bar. It's the twirlly deal that makes the Dilly Bar so famous.

Oh, all this blogging is making me want one. Bye for now ... gotta to get one from the fridge!

NUTRITIONAL FACTS

Serving Size: 3.0 oz. Calories: 210 Calories from Fat: 120 Total Fat: 13 grams Saturated Fat: 7 grams Cholesterol: 10 milligrams Sodium: 75 milligrams Carbohydrates: 21 grams Fiber: 0 grams Sugars: 17 grams Protein: 3 grams

Peanut Butter Pita Bread

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

Qn: What is the only food that does not spoil? An: Honey Hello all. After eating out the past week, we're blogging again about food at home. This is my (Suanne's) creation -- I call this PBPB, the Peanut Butter Pita Bread. I am preparing this as a snack for Ben's flight to Atlanta today. The PBPB is a very simple snack, filling and easy to carry (i.e. it does not get squished like sandwiches does). I made this for all the guys at home. All of them like it very much. We buy the Pita Pockets from the Superstore about once every two weeks. Each pack comes with 18 pita pockets and costs $4.19. About 23 cents each ... it is cheap.

The main ingredients are peanut butter and frosted cornflakes.

I normally microwave the pita for 10 seconds to soften it up. That makes it easier to open up the pocket as they tend to stick together on the insides. Here I have cut the pita in half and is opening up the pocket.

I then spread a generous helping of peanut butter. Ben likes it with a lot of peanut butter. Norman and Marcus likes it with Nutella spread. You can experiment with all kinds of spread but then you cannot call it a PBPB anymore, right? The frosted cornflakes goes in next.

Here it is ... the Peanut Butter Pita Bread, PBPB. If you try it out at home, let me know how the people at home likes it.

Deluxe Lunch from The Hub

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

Saying goodbye doesn't mean anything. It's the time we spent together that matters, not how we left it. ~ Trey Parker and Matt Stone Today is my last day of work and I have one last lunch -- this time with the folks of my Genco project. We normally celebrate project closeouts by eating out but opted this time to have the food catered from our cafeteria, The Hub. See that handsome chap below? He's the employee of the month because of his effort on the Genco project -- helped the company eliminated a bunch of unproductive work. This guy is a genius, I kid you not.

Jackson (our Iron Chef) specially prepared Asian food because most of the team members are Asians. Jackson and his team prepared what he called the Deluxe Lunch with an Asian Twist. The costs were just $11.95 per head. This is what we got for a dozen loonies:

For starters we had egg rolls, or is it spring rolls? The folks are adamant that it's called egg rolls even though I can't find any evidence of eggs on them. Well, I was told that the eggs were used to make the skin/wrappper. What do you think it should be called? Yum-yum.

This seems like the favourite among the folks. It's called pancit (pronounced as pan-sit). This is apparently a Filipino type noodle. Pancit means long-life and is a must-have during birthdays. Nice.

We had a lot of Sticky Rice leftover. It tastes nice but it's just that it does not look appetizing. I like the dried prawns (Cantonese har-mai, Filipino hibi) and the mushrooms in it. So-so.

The meat platter has Thai Curry Chicken Breast and Pork Chop. The Curry Chicken breast is not really spicy. The pork chops were huge -- I saw a piece that measured 8" by 6"!! Everyone liked the chicken breast. Thumbs-up!

This platter consists of Vegeterian Samosa and Fried Kalamari Rings. The Samosa was much bigger than the ones we buy outside -- probably explains why most stayed away from it. Jackson should make them smaller. Not Bad.

Here is the usual fruit platter consisting of grapes, watermelon, strawberry and honey dew. Sweet.

We had a lot of food leftover and brought it down to IT to share. I sent out an *itall notification and the food magically disappears in just two minutes -- it always does, amazing. Apparently, the two words "free" and "food" are the best words to have on email headers if you want people to read it.

Well, this is the last of the series of lunches at Best Buy. To everyone in BBYC who reads my blog, I want you to know that I had a blast the past six years. I am really proud of being associated with all the good work you have done. Remember this ... to me, you all are the BEST, Numero Uno, Second to None.

Keep in touch through chowtimes. Love you all!!

Alright now, I have a bunch of name cards in mint condition, never used ... any takers?

He he he ... I just logged onto Pluto. My ID still works ... amazing! :-)

Farewell Merienda and Balut

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

A brave man will face a situation no matter how dreadful. ~ Filipino Proverb I learn new things everyday. Today, I learn of two new words - merienda and balut. Merienda

Some of the folks in IT threw a little merienda for Alex and I. Our last day at work is tomorrow. I have never heard of the word merienda before. Well, I was enlightened that merienda is a spanish word that means snacks. I like the Spanish -- they did give the world the idea of siesta, right? Isn't it nice -- having a siesta after a meal and then waking up to a merienda? Anyway here are the folks who threw a farewell merienda for Alex and I at The Hub (the company cafetaria).

Balut (Duck Egg)

Balut is a Filipino delicacy. Zimrie made them for brave souls in the farewell merienda. This is how Balut tastes like ... gross!

Balut is a fertilized duck egg with a nearly developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in a shell. He he he ... it is considered aphrodisiac and considered a hearty snack. The filipino and filipinas in the group educated me on how to eat this:

I started off by cracking a small opening at the base of the egg. The base of the egg is the rounder end of the egg (know what I mean?). I looked in ... and man! It sure look nasty ... yucks! I can see the feathers! He he he ... Mark walked away because he can't stand the discussion on this ... "thing".

The first part to savor (!?) is the broth surrounding the embryo. Arturo showed me that the broth is to be sipped. I closed my eyes and sipped the broth ... it tastes weird. Gosh, the things I do for a blog. Got some broth on my fingers, it sure smells.

The next part is the yolk and the young chick inside (!?!). I tried not to look at it when I eat it. It doesn't taste too bad ... it's just that the thought of it is revolting. It tastes like ... hard boiled eggs left in the sun for three days.

This is the part where I gave up. I gathered up some courage and looked at the insides ... was looking at it curiously and tried to figure out which part of the chicken it was supposed to be. It looks ugly. Click on this picture and take a closer look. Let me know what you think!

Seriously, guys and gals, I had great fun today. Thanks for taking the time and bring along the goodies.

Vietnamese Coffee

We have moved our site to http://chowtimes.com

Coffee should be black as Hell, strong as death, and sweet as love. ~ Turkish Proverb It is cold and rainy today. I did not sleep too well last night and as such it's a great time for coffee to keep me awake. Suanne made me Vietnamese Coffee which is also known as Cafe Sua Nong. Vietnamese Coffee is normally served in ice but I like it warm on a cold day like today.

Vietnames coffee can be made simply by mixing black coffee with a lot of condensed milk. It is traditionally made by brewing the coffee with a small drip percolator into a cup containing condensed milk. We bought the percolator some time back from the T&T Supermarket. We can't recall exactly how much it costs but it's pretty cheap ... something like $5 or so.

We use whole coffee beans and like to grind it just before we use it to ensure freshness. Coffee once ground deteriorates fast. Ignore the Folgers can on the picture below ... we just used the can to store our coffee beans.

This is how we made our Vietnamese Coffee:

Normally, Vietnamese uses a lot more condensed milk (from 1/4 cup to half a cup!). That is too much for me. Suanne used two tablespoon instead.

Suanne placed the perculator on the glass and the fine ground coffee in it. She then packs it in slightly and screws on the metal lid to compress the coffee further. This will give the coffee the thick tar-like drips.

Suanne then pours hot, boiling water and set it aside.

The tighter the metal lid is screwed the slower the drip goes resulting in thick drips. It takes quite a while for the coffee to drip through.

This is how it looks like. We normally fills the perculator after the first round drips through ... two rounds of drip will fill the glass we use.

So, here it is ... a cup of warm, black, strong and sweet coffee. Just what I needed for this blog. Enjoy!