The Salad Caper

You do not need to get me into magnetic catches whenever hakaw is involved. It is my most favorite dumpling!

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Hakaw, or shrimp dumpling, is a soft dumpling with shrimp inside. It has a unique translucent coating with some soft cooked egg-dough inside. I cannot even try to claim that I can make it, but here is a recipe you can try.

Ingredients

a. Filling
1 lb of peeled and deveined shrimp
2 tbsp of minced water chestnuts (or bamboo shoots)
1 tbsp of minced scallion (white part only)
1 tsp of finely grated ginger
2 tbsp of minced pork fat
3 tsp of soy sauce (gluten-free)
2tbsp of Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
½ tsp of salt
2 tsp sesame oil
4 tsp tapioca starch, potato starch, or corn starch
A dash of white pepper

b. Wrapper
1½ cups of wheat starch, plus extra for kneading
2 tbsp of tapioca starch
1 cup of boiling water
1 tbsp of vegetable oil

Instructions:
(Filling)
1. Mince the shrimp and add in all the ingredients for the filling.
2. Mix until everything is incorporated and the mixture almost has an elastic feel to it. Set aside and place in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

(Wrapper)
1. In a large bowl combined the wheat starch and the tapioca starch together.
2. Make a hole in the circle of the bowl and pour the hot water in.
3. Add the oil and combine until a ball of dough starts to form.
4. Transfer the dough into a floured surface and knead until the dough is smooth.
5. Divide the dough into 3 pieces and form it into a cylinder shape. Cover it with a damp towel or napkin and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
6. After 15 minutes cut the cylinder into 1 inch diameter and about a quarter inch thick pieces.
7. Roll the dough out into round pieces until it’s thin enough.
8. You can make the wrappers 1hrs or 2hrs before you need it. Just remember to cover it with a damp towel or napkin.

(How to Wrap)
1. Traditionally, there are about 7 pleats per dumpling. Pleat the wrapper with however many pleats you can muster.
2. Take your filling (about 2/3 TBSP) and place it in the middle of the wrapper.
3. Seal your dumpling. Use water if necessary.

(Steaming)
1. Lightly grease your bamboo steamer so that the dumplings won’t stick.
2. Place the dumplings on the steamer and cook for about 10 minutes.
3. ENJOY!

Factors to consider when choosing the restaurant point of sale system

Businesses before like restaurants use an Electronic Cash Registers to compute total purchases and print receipts for the customers. This was one of the first POS systems that has been used but this technology has evolved and instead of just providing the regular financial processing and printing of receipts, most of this restaurant point of sale software offers added feature like customer tracking, table management, job scheduling, attendance monitoring and more.

All business owners in the food and hospitality industry will agree that a POS software can be the best tool that their business should have in order to provide the highest quality of service to their customers. So if you are a new businessman who will soon be opening their first restaurant, or coffee shop, resort, bar and more, then you should check out the factors listed below to guide you in choosing the best resort or restaurant software:

1. Custom POS or Off the Shelf. Off the shelf POS software are more affordable but the drawbacks is that its features can be limited. Unlike custom POS that can be configured to meet the various demands of the business, an off the shelf POS software may lack features and modules that can prove to be useful in a business. Every business must work on a particular budget that they can afford while meeting the business requirements and so it is important that they weigh the functionality of the software over price and decide what the company will prioritize to give the business greater benefit.
2. Hardware and Software.  A complete coffee shop pos system for example consist of the hardware like the cash registers, monitors, etc and the software that process and runs all applications. When buying a POS system, it is better to buy both at the same time than buying them one by one or from different manufacturers to make sure that the hardware and software is compatible and will work well together.
3. Features. Different POS systems offers different features and so it is best to check the added features that go with the system. Some POS offers the regular payment processing while others can do more than that as they have additional features like:

• Customer database that stores customer contact details, transaction history, loyalty and rewards program, meal plan and more.
• Hardware integration with biometrics, wireless handheld, kitchen display
• Loss prevention by providing predictive tools to measure, analyze, and report theft and fraud data trends in real-time.
• Time and attendance monitoring, staff scheduling and more
• Self service kiosk
• Reporting system that can produce reports in various formats depending on the need and the requirement
• Restaurant floor plan tracking and seat management
• Enterprise ready backbone that allows you to network different branches so you can view and retrieve data from any location
• Updated and latest technology used to create the software like Windows, Linux, Java, etc
• Compatible with most operating systems

1. Reputation of the company. It is safe if you will choose POS system brands that have a proven good track record. This can be attested by its list of reputable customers.
2. Availability of support. Like any other computers and systems, a POS system can break down too and will encounter problems so it is important to check the availability of technical support that the company provides. Will they be available right away in case of failure? Is the service for fee or does it come with additional cost?
3. Warranty. Check for warranties being offered too so you will be sure that you don’t have to spend anything in case of system break down or failure during the warranty period. Some manufacturers also offer extended warranty and priority support for an additional cost so you might want to consider this if it will give more benefits and savings for the company in the long run.

The benefit that a business will get in investing in a POS System definitely outweighs the cost. So keep in mind the tips mentioned above and start looking for the best POS system for your restaurant or hospitality business.

My husband and I have been eating out a lot lately. We are going with a friend who needs company and we have been going to one restaurant a night and capping it off with coffee at Starbucks. It’s no wonder I am gaining so much weight. We talk about anything under the sun – from shredder reviews to serious talk about love, life and money.

Here is one of the restaurants we enjoyed eating at – gotta love Chinese food!

Last February, I did juicing for three days to detox myself and jumpstart my diet. It worked. After the 3-day juice fast, I was able to give up rice and soda without having withdrawal symptoms like migraines and temper tantrums. Unfortunately, it was a time of parties, events, reunions and trips the next month. I was not able to get back on track and now I am struggling to get into the fitness bandwagon again. I am tempted to take diet pills but I have read the side effects of african mango plus and decided that it would be best for me to do this the hard and natural way.

I am looking for a free weekend so I can do detox again. My problem is we go out everyday on errands and taking kids everywhere (it is summer and they have lessons) and juicing would pose a big challenge for me.

Wish me luck!

You can imagine me shouting “Yeehaw!” and doing a little giddyup with my cowgirl boots after tasting this delicious frozen mango tart from Conti’s.

It was my grandmother’s 9th day novena and we celebrated it with a little get-together at my aunt’s hotel, where she is staying since she got home from the US. We prayed the rosary and then ate some of my grandmother’s favorite foods – mangos and paella are two of them!