ASHLEY RIVERA aka PETRA MAHALIMUYAK Is Your WHITE CASTLE CALENDAR GIRL for 2026

 

I've heard of her a couple years back, but my first personal encounter with her was during an event in San Juan and I was hailing a car to go home with a TV. She was a guest too of the brand and she had to go to another event/go home but she preferred a motor ride through a ride hailing app so she could get there early. Needless to say, I thought celebrities would prefer to have their drivers and car, but she's a cowboy, didn't even mind what people would say. She's beautiful, like a ball of energy, and she's super down to earth. I said, I like her already!

I've covered several calendar girl launches, but this year, White Castle was the last one to actually do it. They've been looking for someone who could fit their brand, someone who could represent them in so many ways, and when the choice was made, I was so happy to hear it was going to be Ashley Rivera aka her alter ego Petra Mahalimuyak.

White Castle's VP for National Sales Brandon Jon Limpe-Aw says "Thank you for being here despite the traffic, rain and all. For the upcoming year, we are going to introduce our 2026 Calendar Girl. After Ninong Ry, Sassa Gurl, Ria Atayde, and more, we want to have the persona of White Castle on social media. We looked for someone humorous, funny and a really great personality. We found her in a podcast, this was also something that she wished for, and we got interested about her. We scanned her social channels, and found out how she aligns with our brand. Cheers!"

He also mentioned why they chose her and said "Her energy is really big, and that's why we chose Ashley Rivera aka "PETRA MAHALIMUYAK". I think the universe really just transpired, and we really wanted Ashley to be our White Castle Calendar Girl for 2026!"

Ashley says "They're right because I really wished for it during a podcast, and there's so many women to choose from. White Castle trusted me and I am so grateful. I will have those life sized photos of me and put them in the lobby of my condo. I would like to dedicate this to my Mom who's here. My Mommy Vicky already has her own followers, I'm glad netizens are also having fun with her on social media. When I found out, I was shocked because it's something that happened before the year ends. When I was chosen, they shared the story board and I was so happy because it's in a ranch, classic, I was speechless when I saw the layout. Let's see because I have so many plans about content we're going to come out with after this launch! Watch out for that!"

Here's some more videos from the launch, particularly her dance number when she went on stage!

Congratulations Ashley! You're gorgeous, funny, so eloquent, and really deserve this recognition! You're one remarkable lady that people should discover even more!

Cooking with Truffle Is NOT Complicated

I'm a Truffle buff and I'm not afraid to cook with it. I'm also the first one in line to have dishes with it, because for the fun part, I'm crazy obsessed with it. 

Cooking for it must be a mystery for most people, but let me tell you a simple rule. If you are cooking with truffle, use the black variety. If you are using it for a salad or finishing something like soups or dishes, use the white kind because it doesn't need heat for the flavor to permeate. With that in mind, the good people over at UMBRIA are suggesting two new dishes which you can serve your family and friends. Let's introduce these two recipes and get straight to business.

 Beef Mushroom Sandwich

Ingredients: 30 grams Sukiyaki Cut Beef, 50 grams Portabella Mushrooms, a table spoon of soy sauce, Mayonnaise, a good crusty bread, Umbria Truffle Oil and Worcestershire Sauce.

Marinate the beef with soy and Worcestershire sauce (overnight if possible) but 30 mins would do. Cook it with butter, mushrooms, season with salt and black pepper. Put mayo on bread, when beef caramelizes, add mushrooms. Salt to taste, then finish the beef with a little Umbria Truffle oil after placing it on top of bread. Remember, a little goes a long way.

 Potato Leek Soup with Truffle

Ingredients: 3 Medium sized potatoes, 35 grams of leeks, 750ml chicken or vegetable stock, 125 ml of Cream, White Pepper, Umbria Truffle Oil

Peel potatoes and cut into slices, chop up leeks and saute on hot pan with butter. When leeks become wilted, add potatoes, stir it in til it crumbles. Add broth, salt and pepper to taste. Put it into a blender or use an immersion blender if you have one. Add in cream, mix thoroughly (not to boil so it gets creamy). Put a few fresh leeks on top, crunchy bacon (if you have it) and about a half teaspoon of Umbria Truffle Oil. Put this on the side of the sandwich we prepared earlier, and it's a meal you'll love for sure!

Make sure you enjoy your time at home and prepare food for them, your family and friends will surely love it because the one who prepared it is YOU. Truffle is NOT complicated, think of it as perfume when you're about to go out on a date, but you're just putting it on a plate. Umbria is distributed in the Philippines by Dygen Food Ventures Inc. which is under Dyna Drug Corporation. It's available at https://goodwill.market/ which you can order online with.

Trust me on the truffle.

Wine Love with Casillero del Diablo

I have always loved chilling a good ol bottle of wine and downing it with friends and family. Filipinos often love the sweet fruity type whilst I prefer the mildly stronger reds with notes and whites that have really good spice content on them. Now this was gifted to me a couple days ago and probably the first time I’m having Casillero del Diablo. I have had it during a post New Years Eve dinner and enjoyed the Cabernet Sauvignon and Sauvignon Blanc much that when there were a few leftover wines, I thought of probably cooking with it.

If you’ve got good wine, cooking with it intensifies the flavors so I’ve decided to do a Coq Au Vin. Coq Au Vin simply means Chicken in Wine (it’s just a french fancy way of calling it) I have learned to cook this in a workshop I attended years ago and was surprised how relatively easy it was to do it.

In a pan simply put olive oil and about 3 table spoons of butter. Be careful not to burn the butter because it will taste weird in the dish. You put in a whole chicken or chop it in quarters, then brown all the sides until it turns golden. Don’t worry if you don’t cook it all the way because you’ll do it later. Take it off the pan and set it aside.

Put the chopped onions, carrots and celery in the same pan and saute it. If you’ve seen it cooked a bit and caramelized the onions, then pour the whole bottle of Casillero del Diablo and deglaze that pan. Make sure you take those brown things and scrape it because that’s where the flavor lies. Add a sprig of thyme and parsley then wait for the wine to reduce. A good Chef told me you should only use wine that YOU love to drink because what you will get in the end is a stronger version of it. When reduction occurs, put in the Chicken. If you see the chicken is not simmering, add chicken stock if you have some, else, just pour more water until it’s completely covered. Add potatoes and pearl onions (I have some bottled ones from France) then add the can of Tomato paste. Boil it again until the liquid reduces.

In a separate pot, blanch vegetables like carrots, brocolli, cauliflower. In a separate pan, put about half a stick of butter and melt it. Put fresh garlic, brown it a little then put in the veggies. Stir fry the vegetables and then place it on one side of the plate. Go back to your other pan and taste the sauce, adjust with salt and pepper if you see the need to do so. Arrange the chicken on the other side of the plate and season well (freshly cracked pepper will do wonders!) then pour the wine reduction on top of the chicken. This is your Coq Au Vin! Serve and enjoy!

For those who would have more Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc, Chef Sharwin Tee has his Spicy Mussel and Clam Binakol. Saute ginger, lemon grass in a pot with Olive Oil then add in Gochujang (chili paste). After a minute add in the mussels and clams plus a cup of Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc. Cover the pot until it cooks, it usually takes 2 minutes. Add enough coconut water and young coconut meat, when it boils turn off the heat. Garnish with basil and serve.

Red or White you’ll have to make sure your wine is good for drinking or cooking. Casillero del Diablo proves our point, it’s one of the wines distributed by http://www.flyacecorp.com so if you need some, you know where to go.

Cheers!

KUMAGCOW

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