Welcome to Manila Spoon! We’re so happy you’re here.

We are the mother-daughter team behind Manila Spoon, a food blog where we share delicious, family-friendly recipes inspired by Filipino food, easy homemade meals, and sweet treats for every occasion. Together, we create the recipes, videos, and photos that you see on manilaspoon.com and our social media platforms.

I’m Abby, the mom behind Manila Spoon. I develop and write the recipes and do most of the cooking, especially the savory dishes. My daughter, Sophie, handles much of the baking and desserts and also helps with video, food photography, and the social media promotion of the blog. You’ll often see her in our videos on Facebook and Instagram.

Manila Spoon began in 2012 as a personal foodie journal I started when my children were still young. I was also grieving the loss of my third child, Brooklyn Alexie, and wanted to do something meaningful and productive to help me cope with the pain. Because I have always loved cooking, I decided to document my recipes online, so I could one day pass them on to Sophie. The photo below shows how young we all were when Manila Spoon began!

Although I have always been passionate about food, I am not a professionally trained chef. I am a self-taught cook who has learned through plenty of trial and error. I am a lawyer by education and training, but after getting married and having children, I wanted to pursue something that would allow me to enjoy my creative interests while also caring for my family. Food blogging became a natural fit. It gave me a way to cook for my growing family, preserve our favorite recipes, and, by God’s grace, even earn a living from it.

Over time, Sophie developed her own love for baking at a young age. She started baking when she was 9 and was already making French macarons by 12. She even began selling some of her delicious creations to friends and classmates. Today, she plays an important role in Manila Spoon, especially in creating baked goods, desserts, and visual content for the blog.

In June of 2019, our first cookbook – RICE. NOODLES. YUM. (EVERYONE’S FAVORITE SOUTHEAST ASIAN DISHES), was published. It received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was highly recommended by the publication. Our book is still available on Amazon, and you may also find it in local libraries across the United States.

It has 75 delicious and authentic rice and noodle dishes from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and the Philippines, of course! Abby travelled all over the region, attended cooking classes, and learned from chefs and cooks alike who generously shared their techniques for cooking the tastiest Asian food! You can grab your copy here or click on the photo below.

Today at Manila Spoon, we continue to share flavorful, reliable recipes with readers around the world. From Filipino recipes and Asian-inspired dishes to easy desserts and comforting family meals, our goal is to help you bring delicious food to your table and create memories around it.

Thank you for being part of our story and for visiting Manila Spoon.