Happy Birthday!

Happy happy birthday to JK Rowling, wesley Snipes and Dean Cain. Anotrher reason to celebrate today!

Partyphile Says

Party everyday, 'coz everyday is a party!

My New Favortie Drink: Gilbey's Premium Strength

Here's one of my new favorite drinks. Gilbey's Premium Strength. Tastes like soda pop to me, but it says it has 7% alcohol. i dont feel the buzz.

Party Food: Veggie Casserole (for your friends who eat only veggies and dairy)

Disclaimer: First of all, let me just say, this dish does not photograph well (because the colors are similar. however, i promise you, even you would be surprised at how yummy this dish is. it tastes sinful, even though it is really healthy. you will be craving for this one for a long long time. i know i wish i could eat more, but my tummy is too stuffed.

Because of the good feedback i got from the first two recipes i posted on this blog, i decided to post yet another recipe. And since two of my readers are vegetarians (im not sure though if they consume dairy, but im hoping they do, or they could substitute fresh milk for soy milk), i decided to make a veggie casserole.

I have a twelve year old cousin who hates veggies, but loves this dish. I have also tried serving this dish to kids, and they seem to like it too. I think that's because it doesnt look like a veggie dish at all.

Try making and serving this on your next party, and your guests will surely be asking for the recipe.

Promise me though, that you would keep secret the easy steps to prepare this dish. You could also ask your kids to help ytou make this one. Yes. It is THAT simple.

For this recipe i used simple ingredients that we already had in our fridge and pantry, but a lot of different vegetables work werll with this dish. You could try adding some cabage, brocolli, caulliflower, beans, chick peas, green peas, young corn, okra, zuchinni, eggplant, pumpkin, gourd or whatever vegetables you fancy.

So here's how to make a simple, fast, and delicious veggie casserole:

First, cube some root vegetables. For this recipe i used squash, potatoes and carrots (because that was all we had in the fridge. but i usually put jicama and sweet potatoes)

Boil some water (and make sure its REALLY boiling) and add your root vegetables in. Take them out when they are fork tender (that means, your fork goes right through it). If you still do not get what i mean, jus tmake sure it is tender enough to eat. Take the boiled root vegetables out and set them aside.

Mince some garlic (mincing means to chop into really tiny pieces), Dice some onions and bell peppers, and prepare your corn and carrots. If you have vegetables other than what i have in the photo, slice them to a size close to the size of your root vegetables.

In a pan, saute your garlic, onions and bell peppers in butter and/or oil. I prefer butter because of the flavor, but i always use oil with butter since butter burns very quickly; and mixing oil with it lets it burn slower.

Once the garlic has browned and the onions have turned translucent, add in the corn, mushroooms and the rest of all your vegetables andsaute until they are all fork tender or tender enough to eat.

Prepare your herbs and spices and season your dish at this stage. In the photo are stuff i put at this stage: basil, paprika, pepper (the red zombie), salt (the black zombie), and some dried parsley (it is quite a challenge to find good flat leaf parsley in the philippines)

Add in your root vegetables and a couple tablespoons of paprika (this gives it a reddish color, which kids find more attractive, and it also lends a smoky flavor to the dish)

Add in fresh milk (or soy milk, or evaporated milk). Make sure that you put just enough to coat all the vegetables. you do not want too much sauce. Also add in a small amount of sugar. I find that it livens up all the flavors, and highlights the smokiness of the paprika

Cook the veggies until most of the sauce has been absorbed. Taste your dish at this point. Add in more slat and pepper if needs more flavor.

transfer to a oven-safe casserole

Put on some cheese and some parsley. For this batch i used cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese powder (that was all we had). However, you may use any type of cheese you fancy. I would imagine mozarella cheese would be great, texture-wise, for this dish.

Bake it in the oven until the cheese melts (or in the case of my parmesan cheese, until it turns golden brown). I do not really know what temperature i baked it in, and it doesnt matter as much, because all your vegetables are really cooked through anyway. You are just baking it to give it a cheesy crust which is more appealoing to kids and picky eaters. You could leave this step out altogether but i just find that it makes it more festive.

This is how mine looked like once it came out of the oven. If i had used cheese that actually melted, im sure it would have looked bubbly and stringy. since i used dried parmesan cheese, it looks golden brown but it tastes GREAT!

I served mine with wheat crackers, but you could choose to eat it alone, or with some steak.

I hope you take time to try this, and even though it seems like there are a lot of steps involved in this one, it is really easy to make, and it is a sure hit! I hope u enjoy and send me some feedback about your version of this vegie casserole.

Between you and me, i just had dinner an hour ago, and already im craving for another helping of this veggie casserole

July 30 Is National Cheescake Day

If you are wondering what holiday you may celebrate today, oits actually national cheescake day. so get your cheesy fix from wherever you wish, gather all your friends, and grab some cold drinks and enjoy cheescake without abandon! And to get you into the cheescakey moment, here is a little visual feast..

July 30 Is National Cheescake Day

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to Hillary Swank (Million Dollar Baby, Karate Kid, Boys Dont Cry), Lisa Kudrow (friends, Analyze That,, and well, Friends), Tom Green (ex-Mr Drew Barrymore), Vivica A Fox (How Stella Got Her Groove Back), and Arnold Schwarzenegger (however you spell his name)

Partyphile Celebrates: July 29 is National Lasagna Day

Its National Lasagna Day everyone! Celebrate and live it up! Prepare your own lasagna recipes or buy them from your fave resto! Just have lasagna once today!

Mark Your calendars! July 29 is National Lasagna Day!!!

Simple, Quick and Easy Party food

Everybody knows that the cocktail party is the fasyon thing in the party scene right now. Everybody who is anybody has been throwing their own little parties, and, well, not all of them have resulted in great nights. If you want to try your hand at throwing your own cocktail party, you would want to consider a lot of things. For example you have got to take care of the lights, the music, the guest list, the drinks, the theme, and the ambience.

And probably, the most important thing to consider when throwing your own party is the food you serve. Food, in a sense, is what draws people in, it is what your guests remember long after they have left your party, and it is often what starts conversations.

Obviously, you would want people to be talking about your food in a positive light, so instead of serving up your “special” spaghetti (trust me, everyone has gotten tired of your “secret” recipe), some kanto-bought barbeque, and fruit salad (without a morsel of actual fresh fruit), why not try something new?

This week, I am going to give you easy recipes to fun, flavor-packed food that are light on the budget, and easy enough for kids to prepare. All the ingredients are readily available in your local grocery, and some ingredients are straight out of a can. Consider this the lazy party-thrower’s recipe guide.

Take out your scissors because you would want to cut this article up and keep it in your secret party-recipe book.

Tuna Quesadilla with Bean Dip

Everybody seems to love this recipe, and it gets rave reviews every time I serve it in little get togethers. This Mexican-inspired dish is easy on the pocket and has the simplest ingredients you are sure to already have stocked in your pantry.

What you need: A small can of pork and beans, a can of tuna in brine, a block of quick-melting cheese, dried cumin powder, and a bag of frozen tortillas.

Tips Before you Start: If you can’t find tuna in brine, tuna in oil or water could work just as well. If you have Spanish sardines stocked in your pantry, you could use that also. If you do not have quick-melting cheese, you may use any good brand of cheddar cheese. Remember though that the cheese will be the “star” of this dish, so if you could spend a little extra bucks, spend it on the cheese. I buy Whole Wheat tortillas just because I hear it is healthier. They come in packs of twelve, which makes six whole tortillas. If you have trouble finding frozen tortillas, you can find it at a Mall-based supermarket. Clue: the name of the mall consists of two letters. Also, this recipe would require you to have a stove top grill or a non-stick pan.

Steps: Heat the pork and beans in a sauce pan and add a dash or two (or three, if you really want it to taste all Mexicany). When the sauce starts to boil and thicken a bit, take it off the heat and transfer it to a bowl. Mash the beans until you form a chunky, thick sauce, instead of the runny sauce the pork and beans come in. Set this sauce aside. On a clean working surface, lay out a piece of frozen tortillas (make sure that you have thawed them beforehand), top with some cheese, making sure that you do not over-fill the tortilla, as the cheese may drip out once you fry the quesadilla. Top the cheese with some tuna, and add a dash of dried cumin powder. Cover this with another piece of tortilla. Repeat this until you are done preparing all your tortillas. Set them aside and then start heating your non-stick pan. Once your pan gets hot enough, place your quesadilla on it, as if to fry it, but do not add oil. Once the quesadillas fluff up and get a deep brown color, you may take them out of the heat, and then slice them lengthwise and then crosswise. Your quesadillas are now ready to serve with your easy-as-pie bean dip. Enjoy!

Deconstructed Tacos

This recipe is familiar to everyone, but it does not get served in parties too often, or as often as people would like. It is another take on the traditional chips and dip, but this time, it has all the stuff that everyone loves about tacos: the sumptuous beef, tomatoes, and cheese.

What you need: Bags of nacho chips, oil, garlic, onion, ground beef (I usually combine round beef and ground pork since beef gets too oily for my taste), tomato paste, cubed tomatoes, dried cumin powder, salt pepper, and quick melting cheese.

Tips before you start: If you prefer using butter instead of oil, make sure to mix in a minimal amount of oil with your butter, since it prevents the butter from burning too fast. Try putting the garlic on the pan before turning the burner on, and before adding the oil; this way, the garlic would have more time to release its oils, instead of heating too fast. This also reduces the risk of burning the garlic. Also, make sure to de-seed your tomatoes before cubing them, otherwise your final product might be runny from all the moisture in the tomatoes.

Steps: Sauté as much minced garlic as you want. Once the garlic starts smelling heavenly garlicky, add in the onions and sauté until they seem translucent. Add in the ground beef and pork, and season with slat, pepper, and cumin. Once the ground beef is cooked through, add in the tomato paste, cubed tomatoes and cumin. This should make a thick and chunky meat sauce. In a microwaveable platter, arrange the nacho chips and top with meat sauce and quick-melting cheese. Pop in the microwave until the cheese melts right before you serve it to your guests.

Simple Crostinis

Crostinis are simple, traditional Italian, open-faced sandwiches. They are crunchy, flavorful and fresh-tasting. They go well with any drink, alcoholic or otherwise, but they are traditionally served with wine.

What you need: Baguette (yes, what some people call French bread), garlic, cubed tomatoes, basil, and some cheese.

Steps: Slice five large heads of garlic into four to five tablespoons of olive oil until the garlic turns brown and soft. Turn off the heat and brush the garlic-infused oil on sliced pieces of baguette. Top the baguettes with cheese and toast until the cheese has melted. Set aside. In a bowl, combine cubed and deseeded tomatoes and some basil. (If you can’t find fresh basil, use the dried ones.) Top the toasted baguettes with the tomato-basil combination and your crostini is ready to serve.

Cheese and Crackers

Cheese and crackers are little finger food that packs a punch. The velvety texture of the cream cheese against the dry crackers is wonderful, and with the addition of simple herbs and spices this recipe is bound to be your new fave party treat.

What you need: Cream cheese, round crackers (like Ritz or Fita), basil, oregano, paprika, curry, cumin and other spices.

Steps: Simply whip your cream cheese with the herb/spice of your choice. Put inside a piping bag and pipe on your round crackers for a more festive look. The trick for this treat is to mix and match the spices. You could go for a single spice, or mix them all up. Your flavor choices are only as limited as your spice cabinet.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs are simple recipes that everyone loves. They are smooth, spicy and give just the right amount of kick.

What you need: Hard boiled eggs sliced lengthwise, curry powder, cayenne powder, salt, pepper, and milk.

Steps: Slice your hard boiled eggs crosswise and take out the egg yolks. In a bowl, mash all the egg yolks together and add curry powder, a dash of cayenne, salt and pepper. If the mixture seems too thick, ad a teaspoon of milk until it is smooth enough to scoop with a spoon. Put enough curry powder to alter the color of the egg whites into a light green. Scoop the mixture back onto the egg whites or pipe through a piping bag for a more festive look.

Easy Cupcakes

This muffin recipe is the epitome of cheat-cooking. You just might make your friends believe that you made these cupcakes yourself.

What you need: Grocery-ought cupcakes (you know, those cupcakes your younger siblings make baon), strawberry flavored all purpose cream, sugar, marshmallows.

Steps: Chill your strawberry-flavored all-purpose cream for around three to four hours. After chilling, whip the cream with some sugar (make sure it tastes sweet enough for your guests). Pipe them (with a piping bag) on to your store-bolught cupcakes and top with marshmallows. Tada! Instant desert that looks like you have slaved for hours in the kitchen to make.

There, I hope those recipes are easy enough even for non-cookers. I hope to see those recipes on the next cocktail party I am invited to, and I really hope you try them out for yourself. By the way, make sure to try these recipes out before the actual day of your party to get a feel of the process and to test the recipe. If you don’t get a good finished product, maybe you could contact me for some private lessons.

Please catch Confessions Of A Partyphile (the radio show) on 105.9 Mix FM every Wednesdays, 6 to 9 PM.

For comments, suggestions, and more confessions from this partyphile, visit my blog, http://party.i.ph

Love Etc. by the Pet Shop Boys

This song ois currently on the top spot on the billboard top 100 dance charts. enjoy!

i love the quirky video, although this is not something i would dance to...when im sober...

Enjoy partyphiles...

Partyphile Says (Hangovers)

If you do not want to get a hangoveer, never stop drinking.

Level Up

Level Up is a new bar that opened a couple of saturdays ago. Its located along F. Torres street, in that new building in front of Prime Square. it is right beside Coffee Cat.

Level Up is mostly a restaurant, but i havent tried their food yet. On the side closer to Coffee Cat however, Level Up has a mini bar. And i mean mini.

Anyways, im reviewing the place because well, i have nothing b etter to do, and i think maybe the club-going davao public would want to know if its worth their while and buck to go there. :D

Well, im just gonna say, right off the bat, that i wasted the three hours i spent there.l And i spent three hours there just because my friends was friends with one of the owners. Anyways, the place is really really small, and the interiors were, eccentric, to say it in a good way. I could not udnerstand what look they were aiming for. It kinda looked industrial with the unfinished cement floor and walls (well, they looked unfinished but they were actually glossed), and they had lights sticking out from the floor. However, the stools were made of wood, which, in my opinion, didnt fit in with the rest of the interior. Come to think of it, they also had sofas. i dont know. T this day im still quite confused on what look they were aiming for.

There wer eno people when we got there, except for the DJs clique, and it was 1 am. It should have been packed (plus it was easy to "pack" the place, it was as tiny as a closet).

The owner tells me they are trying to compete with the metro lounge. good luck with that.

Rating:

Music: 3 beers

Drinks: 1 beer (seriously, no ice???)

Interiors: 2 beers

Crowd: 0 beers (what crowd?)

Over All: 1 and a half bottles of beer.

Breakfast Party Food: Homemade Sausage McMuffin

Everyone who knows me knows that i love Sausage McMuffins from McDonalds. I love how the salty and slightly spicy sausage (which looks more like a burger patty) tastes with the sweet, slightly tart, english muffin (no, i don't mean muffin as in a cupcake, i'm talking about a type of bread). Recently, Mama discovered sausage patties from PureFoods in SM. they taste exactly like the sausage they use in McDonald's. Plus, i found some English Muffins at Royal breadhouse. So all we needed to make our own Sausage McMuffins with Egg were cheese and eggs.

If you happent o find the PureFoods Sausages , try this out:

Crack an egg into a microwaveable container.

Pop it in the microwave for 40 seconds on high. Your eggs should not be runny after cooking. If you are pan frying your sunny-side-ups, make sure to flip them over and fry both sides. It would be jahrd to eat it with the yolk running all over.

Remove from the microwave and set aside.

On a stove-top grill, non-stick pan, or any frying pan available to you, fry the sausages with a bit of oil.

After the sausage looks done and perfectly browned, flip it on the reverse side and top with cheese. If you have quick-melting cheese on hand, you might have a better looking product than mine, but i just used Eden Cheddar Cheese for this one, and it still tasted great.

While waiting for the cheese to melt, slice your English Muffins and fry on the stove-top grill. Mine came pre-sliced though. :D

After the English Muffins have browned and formed a crunchy crust, put the Sausage on top of the (bottom part of the) bun

Top it with your microwaved egg, and your homemade Sausage McMuffin with egg is good to go!

I love how it feels like im eating fast food at home. At least this one is (theoretically) healthier. Oh, by the way, use Heinz ketchup for the Mcdonald's effect of it all. hahaha

At least you don't have to choose between coffee, hot choco, orange juice, or pineapple juice. You can serve this with beer. Thats enough for all the partyphiles to flock to your house. hahaha. :-)