"Kids Food Fun" at the Del Monte Test Kitchen (Part 2)

Faith @ the Del Monte Test Kitchen

As we waited for Faith’s classmates to come back we had ample time to take some pictures of the surroundings.

Del Monte’s Vision, Mission and Core Values

Del Monte, a well known and trusted brand all over the world has been in existence since 1892. Some of the earliest food products I remember from my childhood were sold by Del Monte. So it came as a bit of a surprise when I read from their (Del Monte Pacific Limited) vision statement that they were aiming to be “one of the top ten food and beverage companies in the country.” I mean, haven’t they yet achieved that?

At any rate, the afternoon started with the third recipe, another kids’ favorite – chocolate cookies…with a nutritional twist.

Third Recipe: “Cookie Sandwich”

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
8	Pieces	Oatmeal cookies
2	Pieces	Ripe lacatan bananas	Sliced
1	Tsp	Calamansi juice
2	Tbsp	Hazelnut/Nuttela spread
2	Tbsp	Creamy peanut butter

Procedure:

1. Place a generous amount of hazelnut or peanut butter spread over two pairs of cookies.
2. Slice the bananas in a crosswise manner and soak the slices in 2 tablespoon of water with calamansi juice. Drain after a few minutes.
3. Place the slices of bananas over the cookies. Cover each with another cookie to make a sandwich.

These portions combined makes for 4 servings.

Faith with recipe ingredients

Faith and group mates slice through several bananas

Spreading hazel nut and peanut spread on top of the cookies

Semi-finished products

Icing preparations

Preparing the cake icing was quite difficult for kids to do on their own so much of it was done by Chef Joy Tuliao. At this point the kids had to be simply content with mixing some of the icing with food color additives.

Boiled Icing

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
1 - ¼	Cup	Sugar
½	Tsp	Cream of tartar
½	Cup (5pc)	Egg whites
1	Tsp	Vanilla extract
3 to 5	Drops	Food color

Procedure:

1. Combine the sugar, cream of tartar and ½ cup of water in a heavy saucepan.
2. Put egg whites in a mixer bowl and set aside.
3. Boil sugar mixture until it reaches 240°F. Set aside.
4. Beat egg whites at high speed until stiff.
5. Slowly pour hot syrup into egg whites while beating. Add vanilla. Continue beating for 1-2 minutes more.
6. Mix with desired food color.

These combined portions make 4 cups of icing for the cupcakes.

Game Time!

All work and no play make dull junior chefs. That seemed to be the philosophy of the afternoon’s midway game time for the kids. As expected, these games brought out Faith’s competitive spirit to do her best and win.

Faith wins a Kitchenomics Cook Book!

For her game efforts, Faith won a Del Monte Kitchenomics 20^th Anniversary Edition Cookbook (Volume III), which the company came out in 2005 to celebrate then the two decades of creative cooking by the country’s biggest culinary club, which through its breakthrough program has helped countless homemakers prepare budget friendly but at the same time, tasty and nutritious meals for their loved ones.

The anniversary cookbook features a special compilation of one hundred (100) of the best Kitchenomics recipes. Not bad, Faith for a game prize…not bad at all!

Putting icing on the (cup)cakes

Chocolate Cupcakes

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
¾	Cup	Evaporated milk
½	Tbsp	Del Monte Red Cane Vinegar
1 – ¾	Cups	Sifted cake flour
½	Cup	Karo syrup
½	Cup	Sugar
½	Cup	Packed Brown sugar
1 – ½	Tsp	Baking soda
¾	Tsp	Iodized fine salt
½	Cup	Unsalted butter	Softened
2	Pc (1/3 – 1/2 c)	Eggs
1/3	Cup	Cocoa powder
1	Tsp	Vanilla
½	Tsp	Red food color
24	Pc	Paper cups

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven at 350°F. Line muffin pan with paper liner. Set aside.
2. Combine milk and Del Monte Vinegar. Stand for 5 minutes to curdle.
3. Combine all ingredients and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Beat on high for 2 minutes.
4. Pour into cups and bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool. Frost with desired icing.

These combined portions make 24 cupcakes.

Zany works of food art

This kid had fun making a tower with his blue icing cupcakes

The taller they are…the harder they fall!

Building again…

…oh well!!

This three year-old kid is very artistic

And so is my own little princess

Gobbling cupcakes

Popsicle break!

After a round of cool popsicles (pineapple flavored I’d presume!), the kids went about their last recipe – pizza making!

Pizza

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
12	Pc	Mini pizza (ready made)
1	Pack (115 grams each)	Del Monte Sweet Pizza Sauce
100	Grams	Pepperoni	Sliced
1	Pouch (115g)	Del Monte Pineapple Tidbits	Drained
½	Cup	Canned Sliced Mushroom
100	Grams	Grated quickmelt cheese

Procedure:

1. Spread pizza crust with sauce.
2. Top with pepperoni, pineapple tidbits and mushrooms.
3. Sprinkle with cheese.
4. Preheat the oven toaster. Toast pizza for 2-3 minutes.

These combined portions make 12 pizza servings.

Pepperoni, mushroom, cheese and bread - basic ingredients for a pizza!

The art of pizza making

Grating cheese (…again!)

Placing Del Monte’s Sweet Pizza Sauce

Pizza making requires patience….

….and tender loving care

Heavenly Hawaiian Pizza

Faith “graduates” from the culinary program

With Del Monte’s Test Kitchen Chef Christian

Along Bonifacio High Street with the “King of Rock & Roll”

Chilling out at the BGC

I think it would be safe to say that despite the delays, miscues and “stress” of being in a room full of restless young kiddie chefs that everyone had a good time today. Faith of course was the happiest by far, proud of the certificate of participation she held at the end of the short but fun-filled food course.

With the look on Joshua’s face, I’m sure he was much inspired as well to further improve his skills and learn more about the culinary arts. The good thing about my kids is that they look at preparing food as fun and not as a chore. And this activity reinforced that positive attitude.

I’m sure Faith and Joshua’s enjoyable food experience today will lead to greater challenges and more fun bonding times for everyone in our family!

"Kids Food Fun" at the Del Monte Test Kitchen (Part 1)

Joshua and Faith at the Bonifacio High Street

To many, kids and cooking may not run synonymous to each other. While kids (like many adults) love to eat, I have yet to see children coming in droves to sign up for kitchen work. To think then of kids having “fun” with food preparation was at the very least, an interesting notion to me.

Last March 23, I received an email from the Del Monte Kitchenomics Club on its Summer Class Schedule from March to April. As a long time member of this culinary guild I would regularly receive invites and recipes from them which often turned out to be useful at home.

What really caught my eye was the “Kids Food Fun” class slated for April 2 that I thought should be a fit for my youngest child and only daughter Faith who seemingly loves to cook and bake. I thought this should get her more motivated to learn the culinary craft.

So after a process of pre-registration and a reasonable payment of P1,200.00 (which covered the hands-on class fee, the ingredients, materials, recipe handouts, apron, toque and certificate of participation) to Del Monte’s Banco de Oro account, we were good to go.

A quick breakfast at the nearby Krispy Kreme Donuts Shop

I had asked my wife Odette and Joshua to come along with us to the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) where Del Monte’s Test Kitchen was located. At first, I wasn’t sure they would be allowed to join us inside the test kitchen. But I thought they could at least go around the shops of Bonifacio High Street for the duration of Faith’s class. Luckily, as we later found out, they were both allowed to be near us, allowing them to be there for much of the duration of the class.

Site of Del Monte’s Corporate Offices

After a quick breakfast at the local Krispy Kreme outlet we set out to look for the Test Kitchen of Del Monte which wasn’t really far away. The site which also houses the company’s corporate offices here in Metro Manila is found at the Bonifacio High Street’s B3 area near TGIF and exactly at the back of the Stock Market Café.

B-3: Del Monte’s Test Kitchen

1^st to arrive….

….with Kuya Joshua

The family that cooks together…bonds together!

Faith with cooking classmates

The class started rather slow, much delayed by the arrival of several registrants. And with very young children a long lull time would generate restlessness and disorder. At first it looked like a pre-school gone haywire like a scene from the movie “Daddy Day Care” but some semblance of order finally set in when the class actually started with Test Kitchen Chef Char presiding.

Kids introduce themselves

Banzai!! The kids do some stretching

Faith gathers ingredients for the first recipe: “Fruit and Jello Salad”

As the kids relatively calmed down, their food preparation adventured began with the first recipe – “Fruit and Jello Salad”.

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
1	CAN (439g)	Del Monte Fiesta Fruit Cocktail	Chilled
100	Grams	Fresh strawberries	Sliced
2	Packs	Ready to eat gelatin (jello)	Sliced
½	Cup	All-purpose cream	Chilled
1	Tbsp	Condensed milk	Room temperature

Procedure:

Combine all ingredients. Chill until ready to serve.

These portions combined makes for 5 servings.

Chopping strawberries

Cutting jello

Group mix

“Chef Faith”

Kids label their respective fruit salads

Items for the 2^nd recipe: Merry Mix Sandwich

PORTION	UNIT MEASURE	INGREDIENT	PREPARATION
¼	Cup	Cream cheese	Softened
¼	Cup	Grated Cheese
2	Tbsp	Mayonnaise
1	Can (234g)	Del Monte Crushed Pineapple	Well-drained
2	Tbsp	Toasted Cashew Nuts	Chopped
1	Tbsp	Chopped Red Bell Peppers

Procedure:

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining ingredients and 1/8 teaspoon iodized fine salt. Blend well. Serve as sandwich filling.

These portions combined makes for 6 servings.

Grating cheese

Mixing the sandwich spread ingredients

Using different plastic molds to create variously shaped sandwiches

Lunch break!

While all of Faith’s classmates and their companions opted to eat out somewhere else, we stayed at the test kitchen, as my wife bought food and drinks outside which we ate along with the lunch food we brought from home.

Faith and Joshua with the Test Kitchen Team

With two recipes done there were three more to go in the early afternoon. The best of Faith’s cooking is yet to come…

Back at Cabalen Restaurant after 20 years of marriage

Twenty years ago, we had our wedding anniversary in a relatively new restaurant along West Avenue. Back then, my wife and I had one of our very first dates at this eating place which I particularly liked for its famous Sisig and Crispy Kangkong with white creamy garlic sauce.

At that time, I believe our wedding reception was only the second special occasion they ever handled at Cabalen - West Ave. The first one was I think a baptismal which made our wedding reception their first!

Twenty years after, which was just last Wednesday (Jan. 26), we celebrated our wedding anniversary at that same very site where we trace part of the historical roots of our conjugal life.

The kids get ready to savor Cabalen’s tasty Filipino dishes

On its 24^th year and presently operating at least 12 branches in the country (11 in Luzon and 1 in the Visayas [Cebu] area), Cabalen Restaurant has both gone a long, long way and at the same time, remained the same.

Sure, its West Avenue branch has expanded its space adding a spacious second floor for regular customers and function rooms for special occasions. And it also has been promoting its own catering services offering either its traditional Filipino cookery or a mix of Filipino-Asian cuisine. Significant was the fact that they found their niche in the local restaurant scene with their reasonably priced “all you can eat” offer.

But more importantly, they have been able to retain through the changing years, much of the ‘home cooked’ taste and appeal of their dishes that loyal patrons come back for in the first place.

Which reminds me, whenever we had ‘balikbayans’ or foreign guests who wanted to have a good sense of taste as to what constitutes Filipino food, we bring them to Cabalen.

Native buffet dishes galore

My plate is teeming with a variety of food delights

That special night, I deliberately avoided rice, concentrating more on the delicious viands. I often said that rice was one food item we had very much at home. Ultimately, less rice meant more space in my tummy for the viands. He! He! He!

Focusing on the vegetables and seafood dishes, I chose not to eat much meat that night, passing on the ‘Sisig’ that our two older children are also very fond of.

If you’re on your first visit to one of their branches, don’t miss out on the following food items:

For appetizers: Mango ensalada, ginataang kuhol (escargot in coconut milk), burong isda, crispy crablets and kangkong

Main course viands: Sisig (you can ask for an order and they will serve it to you on a hot plate), kare-kare, paella, sinigang na hipon (sour broth with shrimps), alimasag (crabs), tahong (mussels), adobong Kangkong and native longanisa (sausage).

A family of satisfied customers

To relieve my heavy and bulging but otherwise satisfied stomach, for dessert I munched on some light maja blanco/mais (different flavored sweet rice cakes) and some ube (purple yam). You can actually make a do-it-yourself cool halo-halo or ginumis drink to suit your palate at the dessert bar.

Tonight was a simple celebration of life and love in our family.

Cabalen was a perfect choice for this special milestone in our lives as it brought back so many good memories in the last twenty years. With our family members time and again enjoying the good food and warm ambiance of this place, our generation and future generations of our family are sure to weave more of those good memories at Cabalen in the years to come!

A memorable wedding anniversary dinner at Cabalen