The long drive to QC

Traffic management seems to be one of the most impossible tasks facing the government. Day in and day out, there’s no relief from undisciplined drivers, especially those of big buses and delivery trucks. Braving the traffic, we made the long drive to Quezon City in our quest for something new to write about. The trip took two hours from our home, but was actually not far in terms of distance.

Our visit to the PureGold (Price Club Inc.) QI Central branch on Rodriguez Ave. more than compensated for the irritation caused by the traffic. We first became acquainted with this store during past visits to Clark’s Duty Free shops and occasional shopping trips to branches in Parañaque and Cavite. While these branches are crowded and dark, making it rather difficult to find what one wants to buy, the QC branch is different.

Seemingly the flagship branch, this PureGold is what everyone wants in such a store. There are two entrances (side and main) and ample parking space. We entered through the side door and found a brightly lit display of everything from food, dry goods, and electronics to rides and games. Products are specifically grouped and a lot of them have their own gazebo-type display counters manned by staff. The supermarket aisles are wide for easy movement. The bread section also features an array of spreads, including the new Nusica (much like Nutella) from Holland in three variants. The 400 gm chocolate vanilla is priced at P79.25. In the next aisle are the taco shells and salsas such as Frito Lay’s Chunky and Tostitos.

Moving to the end of the hall, we found the dairy products with a wide selection of local and imported cheeses like Che Vital at P104 for a pack of 24 slices and McLeland’s Cheddar, Mature or Farmy, from P192.75 to P227.75.

If you want fresh catch without getting dirty in wet markets, PureGold’s big aquariums have live shrimps, lapu-lapu, etc. The fresh meat selection includes beef rib eye at P340 a kilo, camto at P210, and oxtail for P285 a kilo, Hawaiian roast pork for P200 a kilo. Ox tongue is priced at P410. It might be a good idea to buy now and store for the holidays.

Like in the palengke, PureGold has a grouping of condiments, dried fish, spices sold by the takal system. They range from laurel leaves to dried kamias, a practical item since the fresh fruit is hard to find. This is also where the delicious bite-size puto is. They are from Pangasinan and are sold at P10 a piece. Other kakanins carried are suman, biko, special bibingka, etc.

You can still catch the “All-Out-Blow-Out” promo of the chain, in celebration of their 10th anniversary.

Allow us to share with you a prawn recipe we got from a TV show recently. It is very simple and easy to make. Arrange prawns on a bed of salt, then bathe them with olive oil. Let simmer on low fire until cooked. This one got thumbs-up from the brood.

If you are planning to make kakanin or bake cakes and pastries for the holiday, here are some of the prices we got a few days ago. Panocha (palm sugar) at P25 per; fresh coconut, from P15 to P20 per; malagkit (glutinous rice), P50 a kilo; coconut milk, P34.50 each pack of 400 ml; all-purpose flour, P89.50 for 800 gms; baking powder, P12 for 50gms; sugar (white), P37.50 a kilo; evaporated milk at P29.95 for 370 ml.

A friend who resides in Toronto, Canada e-mailed us some very useful household tips: peel bananas from the bottom to get those little ‘stringy’ parts off. Take the bananas apart when you get home; connected, they ripen very fast. Add a teaspoon of water when frying ground beef. This will help pull the grease away from the meat while cooking. To really make scrambled eggs and omelets richer, add spoonfuls of sour cream, cream cheese or heavy cream before beating. Wrap opened chunks of cheese in aluminum foil so they stay fresh much longer. For a cool brownie treat, make as directed, then melt some mints in double boiler and pour over brownies. To get rid of ants, put small piles of cornmeal where they are coming from. They eat it and take it ‘home’, but can’t digest it, so they die.

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