A Wild Bite Night: Green-themed Potluck Dinner and Rockband

 

 

Not your usual themes of Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, kids, Italian.  I had this bright idea of having a green-themed potluck dinner.  We had a special guest on the table that evening.

 

No, it’s not Oscar the Grouch. 😀

 

I sent out the message to the group and got a flood of responses. 

 

“Green as in vegetables?”

“Do you follow no-meat Fridays?”

“Like all green food?”

“What meatless Fridays are you talking about?”

 

I said green would depend on their creativity or excuse.  Green-themed foods can vary anywhere from wasabi-flavored mashed potato, green leafy vegetables, green curry, only-in-DLSU-bought food (school color is green), wasabi-flavored ice cream, nori-wrapped sushi or food, Japanese green chicken, random food served on a green plate, stuffed green chilies, guacamole, avocado salad… there are actually a lot.

 

I was feeling under the weather Friday morning, March 12 and told the group that I might not be able to make it.  I felt a bit better after work and made it to dinner.  Thing is, half strayed off from the green theme while the other half was still on the plan.  Andrew, who hosted us that evening, actually cooked 3-cheese baked prawns but whipped up a green salad with Japanese dressing (when he knew I was coming) to veer back to the green-theme.

 

 

I walked to the door and caught Eric’s eye and exchanged knowing smiles.  He thought I wasn’t going to make it.  Buch, Mari, and Jim were already there when we arrived.  Ann and Andrew were still busy in the kitchen.  Alex and Nico were pretty late because Nico’s meeting took a long time.  There’s a space beside Eric that should be occupied by Made, who was missing in action because she had to attend something. 

 

On the Table

 

Andrew and Ann’s Green Salad with Kani and Japanese Dressing

 

 

Pasto Crostini, Chicken Liver Pate, Salsa, and Spinach Gorgonzola Dip

Bubba and I brought Spinach-gorgonzola dip and crostini chips from Pasto.  Excuse my being sick at that time, I wasn’t able to think of a more creative “green” anymore.  I actually planned to bring wasabi-mashed potato from Ninyo but due to time and travel constraints, decided to forego that idea.

 

 

Baked Prawns with Three Cheese

Andrew loves prawns and shrimps and I’m glad because Bubba doesn’t eat those so I don’t usually order them when we eat out and when it’s served at home, we usually dine out.

 

 

Fish Dish with Vegetables (I forget the name)

 

 

Beef Dish with Vegetables (I forget the name)

 

 

Jim said that he particularly asked the dishes to be served with vegetables (in this case, cabbage) to still be within the green theme.  Eric brought sisig sampler with three kinds of sisig.

 

 

Somebody brought this but I also forget now what dish this was.  Told you I wasn’t on my element that night.

 

 

Alex’s Pasta Puttanesca

Alex and Nico brought yummy Pasta Puttanesca with green noodles!  Yay! 

 

 

To add to the whole green-feel, Andrew brought out his favorite Schweppes Ginger Ale.

 

 

Amidst all the good food, the special guest on the table (literally) occupied the spotlight of the night.  Wild Bite green tea products!!!

 

 

Get into the bite

We did a round robin on the items and catch is, you can describe the item with only a word or a phrase/statement.  Nobody else can use the descriptive words already mentioned.  Quite tough but a bit of fun.  Since I was busy taking down notes, I forgot to track who made the most mistakes -so no consequence. 🙂

 

Wild Bite Clusters 

 

Wild Bite Clusters is a bunch of thin cornflakes coated in white chocolate and green tea.  There’s an earthy taste (probably the green tea) to it that’s very calming.  It has the right crunch on the outside and enough softness to enjoy snacking on these in delight!  It was the clear favorite on the table and the group kept looking for more. 

 

 

Wild Bite Chocolate

 

It’s white chocolate that strikes familiarity (a local chocolate you probably tried in childhood) but not quite because of the green tea taste.  People who don’t like overly sweet chocolate, like me, might go for this.  Packaging was pretty nice, perfect as a gift idea for folks who are into green tea or basically will try anything chocolate.  I wonder how dark chocolate will fare blended with green tea.  I love dark chocolates.

 

Wild Bite Cookies

 

The group found the Wild Bite Cookies quite the enigma.  The mild taste of green tea is there –which was just right for me because too much green tea flavor might be overwhelming.  As one describes it, the cookie had an identity crisis –some parts were like soft-batch cookies while the other parts were tough like it’s been aired out in the open for too long.

 

 

Wild Bite Crisps

 

It reminded the group of buttery Danish cookies –to some, it had a hint of green tea flavor, to others, GT flavor wasn’t that evident.  Crumbly texture dusted with sugar crystals.  Both Alex and Nico liked it a lot and tagged it at the top of their list.  Alex enjoyed its toasty taste –similar to burnt flavor (I suspect the light bitter flavor comes from the green tea leaves) when you bite into it and then there’s sweetness it releases when you get to the inside.

 

 

 

 

The Wild Bite Green Tea items were welcomed on the table with different levels of interest.  Big thanks to Chris Chan for letting us try his Wild Bite product line, which started only as a surprise gift for his girlfriend.

 

Wild Bite offers a variety of green tea products to suit your craving for green tea confections.  For order inquiries, contact Chris Chan of Wild Bite at +63917 3276559.

 

Wild Bite

(63) 917 3276559

http://wildbite.multiply.com/

 

 

After dinner, we headed to Andrew’s attic where their audio/video room is located.  Of course, another Rockband session happened until past midnight. 

 

 

After Rockband, Eric and Andrew taught Alex, Nico, Bubba and I how to play mahjong.  It’s quite interesting but I’m yet to get the hang of it.  I already know the basics though, yay!!!

 

 

2009 Christmas Dinner with the Berks

 

 

Don’t ask me why Berks.  It’s just is and the name stuck 😉

 

Flashback:  Berks Christmas Dinner December 27, 2007

 

 

Although I was forced to file a leave for December 21 and my last day of work was supposed to be Dec 18, I was still working until Dec 23, Wednesday.  I wanted to cook for the Christmas dinner but I didn’t find the time because I was still in the office until 6pm.  Bubba and I just ordered food for the potluck.  Made looked for my pasta (*meblush*  tee-hee).

 

 

What makes this Christmas different is, the group was complete!  Alex has moved back to Manila after a long career stint in Singapore. 

 

As customary, dinner was potluck and the table was filled with so many delicious food!  There were just too many dishes on the round table that it was hard to find space to put everything in.  Alex brought 3-way duck from Luk Foo and it was delish.  I don’t remember who brought Nathaniel’s Buko Pandan but it was also a hit with the group.

 

 

Andrew brought Tequila Rose to which I chided Anne to drink the first shot.  Anne is pregnant with their second baby so she couldn’t go anywhere near the alcohol.  Hee-hee!

 

 

 

After dinner, we all gathered near Eric’s beautiful Christmas tree for our exchange gifts.  This year was a bit funny because most got each other gift certificates!  Er-hem, I didn’t start the fire 😉

 

 

We’re thinking of doing 2 themes next year, one is White Elephant while the other is the regular exchange gift.  That should be fun.

 

 

Year Ender Photos!

 

Toast to Friendship and a Happy Christmas!

 

Cheers!  🙂

 

Xmas Celebs Album

 

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Misato

 

It was a rainy evening last Friday and we set out for Metrowalk because Madz invited to hang.  It was supposed to be a poker night at Metro Card Club with Jody but at the last minute, he begged off.  I wasn’t also up for it that much anyway.  The schedule was at 9pm but traffic looked pretty bad that evening with the rain and all, that Bubba and I decided to have dinner at Metrowalk as well.

 

Misato was the pick of the night.  It’s a Japanese restaurant parallel to Starbucks’ location at Metrowalk, which means that both are at the tip of the U-shaped area.  Service was fast and pretty adequate, even the manager takes our orders.

 

On the Table

 

Freebie

Gy-Saikoro Steak PHP 365

I deliberated whether to get Beef Sukiyaki PHP 480 since the hot semi-sweet broth will temper the cold weather but decided on getting the Gy-Saikoro Steak, which is basically their version of Beef Teppanyaki.  Notice that beef teppanyaki is not included in their menu but when I asked for it, the wait staff pointed to the “Entrée” section and directed my attention to Gy-Saikoro Steak.

 

The beef was tender to the bite but Bubba wasn’t too impressed.  It was served on a sizzling plate with sautéed bean sprouts on the side.  The mild sweet salty brown sauce gummed to the beef and vegetables were tasty.

 

Baked Salmon PHP 305

Of note is the salmon served inside a foil.  It was very fresh and serving was generous.  It had a mound of cheese on top of it and some onions making the baked salmon dish anything but boring. 

Japanese Samurai Gohan Rice PHP 88

 

Japanese Gohan Rice PHP 55

 

We were in the middle of our dinner when we saw Eric Tang outside the window.  He went to our table and asked if I was going to play at Metro.  Bubba shook his head before I could so I just said, “I might” with a smile.  It all depends if there is waiting time before my friends arrive.  Eric and I have been chatting about Metro Card Club, rules and the crowd, the day before.  Eric asked me a few more questions about Metro “rules” since it was going to be their group’s first time there. 

 

We also saw Jayvee and Kring walk inside the restaurant and we said our hellos.  It was a slow dinner as Bubba and I took our time knowing that with the heavy traffic, Madz, Pat and Eric will naturally be late.  We both talked about our recent projects –but mostly I did the yapping about this project that my team and I are going to present the following week.  He had some inputs and talking about work without the pressure and stress was really a breathe of fresh air.

Madz followed soon and feasted also on the baked salmon and rice.  She liked the salmon as well.  Not long, Patrick arrived and we all decided to transfer for drinks and meet Eric Lopez at the next venue.

 

Misato

G/F Metrowalk, Meralco Avenue

Ugong, Pasig City

(632) 638 7951

 

Misato Album