Showering the dog

We're still pretty much in the dry season and the last few weeks have been quite hot. We shouldn't forget that our pets also need some cooling. In this case, that might be in the form of a quick shower. Our Shira, a 4-year old Golden Retriever, loves her quick showers in addition to her regular long ones where she gets shampooed and massaged and groomed/combed.

More water please!

The singkit look when you think your human is about to spray your face with water.

More about our pets in future posts!

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Herencia Artisanal Tablea Chocolate

We attended a surprise birthday party for an uncle on my wife's side. He is actually also a godfather/ninong in our wedding. The dinner party was held at a restaurant in Marikina. As we exited after the party, we passed by the regular part of the restaurant/cafe where on display were cakes, cookies and bottles of this chocolate drink. 

Herencia Artisanal Tablea Chocolate is based on the original chocolate drink prepared and served at homes in the "old" times. Tablea or tableya are cacao chips or cubes that are melted and transformed to a drink that is usually thick. Note in one of Rizal's novels where the thick version - tsokolate-eh is the thick, rich version of the drink often served to VIPs or guests of honor or close relatives and friends. Tsokolate-ah is the watered down version.

Nutrition information on this chocolate drink

This was definitely on the side of tsokolate-eh. I liked the richness of taste considering this was served cold and not hot. It's on the expensive side though as a bottle cost more than 200 pesos! Good perhaps for occasional purchases and drinks but not for daily consumption. The maker is from Quezon City (based on the quick research I did using Google) and specializes in chocolate among other products. 

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Special edition ice cream: Selecta Shoyu Caramel

I was buying some ice cream the other week and was browsing the available flavors at a convenience store. I spotted this limited edition flavor from Selecta (Wall's in other countries). It's a Japanese themed flavor that practically hints at a form of salted caramel. The salt being substituted by shoyu or soy sauce, which is a common ingredient in Japanese cooking or used as a dip for food like sashimi or sushi.

Selecta's limited edition Shoyu Caramel

The featured ingredients are caramel, shoyu and cashews. The base ice cream is vanilla.

The ice cream was okay. It is basically salted caramel. There was a hint of shoyu but it was not strong. I'm not sure what the maker's objective was when they made this and decided on the name. Perhaps more on the novelty side? 

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