Happy Teachers Day
Grace ordered this for her mummy who is a retired chinese teacher...
she had asked for a no chocolate no cream cake and i guess this 'white forest' is good enuff..
I had use quite alot of strawberry, blueberries and organic black berries on it and also peaches too..
used a green sugar paste plaque for the wording sicne the whoel cake is rather yellow and dark
For Erika Birthday
One of my Army BMT platoon mate ordered these cuppies from perth.. Of cos they r not gg to fly over for her.. its meant for her buddy in spore, Erika.
Well basicaly I do not know what Erika likes.. so I kind of read up on her blog hehe.. and well.. fig out that she prob will like this loud colours instead of my usual pastel ones... Im not creative and so I dunno what is good fo rher and so I did these flower style with a hint of oriental/art look... Quite satisfying yeah
I hope she likes them...
Aerator vs Decanter
I dunno if i got the names right.. but well this what I been calling this 2 toys of mine..
Being wine drinker... we are obsessed with almost anything wone related.. if not for the fact of space constraint we prob have a wine fridge at home.. hehe
Anyway, this is a very important piece of thing for me at least if not for dear as well.
The aeratorThis thing here helps our wine to breathe... giving it more vol... Sometiems whn our wine is store too long.. it gets too old.. got a funny taste.. we did a test between and before and after breathing of the wine.. after we breather it with the aerator, it sure have a diff taste and volume... in fact its much nicer, since then I swear upon this slim tiny thing for my wine...
The porous ceramic like end is the thing doing the trick.. Give the top part a few squeeze, bubbles will emerge from the wine.. like sparkling red wine indeed except there is no real sparkle hehe
And I have bought this as a gift for a few of our friends who love wine.. I hope they make good use of this since this dun come cheap.
This other 'toy' I have, is the decanter.. I rem I got this real cheap from Duka, Norway. Duka is my all time favourite store back then (too bad spore dun have them).. Cos every town have at least 1 duka.. if u go to bigger cities like Stockholm.. they have more than 1 I believe. And thats hw i got it from Oslo.. By jumping in to every Duka.. and this was a real deal...
DecanterThe bottom of this is round... and so u can 'spin' it ard letting the wine move ard exposing to a bit of air in side (sorry for bad description) before u pour it out. But for an inpatient woman like me.. I personaly think it probably takes donkey mins or hours to breathe it compare to the aerator.. that y its still a while elephant.. but i still wish to use it during entertaining friends in future..
I love anythg glass....
~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is an article from Straits Time on the 2d sept 2007. whicn I think is really a helpful one.. Long one thou
How to choose a decanterBy Jeremy Oliver
IN THIS fortnightly column, wine commentator Jeremy Oliver sheds light on the wide world of wine. He is the author of the best-selling Australian Wine Annual, and runs his website
www.onwine.com.auWhat should I look out for when choosing a decanter?There are two criteria. The first relates to its design, while the second relates to the sort of wine you want to use it for.
To begin with, here are some general tips. Regardless of how expensive or stylish the glass or crystal might be, get a decanter that is easy to clean.
The shape of some decanters makes them virtually impossible to clean. And with wine, cleanliness is not so much a virtue as a prerequisite. You can tell a decanter is clean by the way it smells of absolutely nothing.
As with stemware, decanters should also be made of clear glass or crystal so you can easily see through the wine to check its condition.
Some decanters have rounded lips to pour over and they usually drip. I can't think of many things that are worse than a decanter that drips. So check to see that it has a cut lip that will prevent drips.
As you pour, a well-designed decanter will encourage the wine around its lip to spread out inside like a film. This film of wine should extend all the way inside the decanter, enabling the wine to be powerfully aerated in a very thin layer before it arrives at the bottom of the vessel.
Now, on matching decanters to wine. There are only two kinds of decanters from this perspective: those that provide a large internal surface area, and those taller kinds - similar to wine bottles - that offer a smaller area.
If you're decanting with the specific intent of aerating wine - especially reds that are young - you would need a decanter that provides a large internal surface area. This will enable the wine to continue its process of aeration and gas exchange after the decanting has finished.
But if you have an old and relatively delicate red and your main purpose for decanting is to remove it from its sediment, then a taller, narrower decanter with a small internal surface area would be better since it would help retard any excessive aeration once it is opened.
Most of the time, we decant relatively young reds that need aeration.
One of my favourite decanters for this is Zerruti's very elegant Turn Decanter.
Its ingenious design behaves like a normal ship's decanter when left upright in its stand, but whirls its way around in circles, aerating the wine if put directly on the table.
It's always fun to look at the widening eyes of those who have never seen it before, since they're almost convinced it will wander straight off the table.
Mooncake Fever
With the mooncake festival less than 1 month away.. Everyone is crazily baking and moulding mooncake...
I churn out these 2 flavour for the past 2 days...
Orange snow skin with crispy crunchy filling as well as red wine snow skin with red wine cranberry filling(same as last year)
Orange Snow Skin with Crunchy Pearl filling
Red Wine Cranberry
I more or less did them in record time esp the red wine one since Rachel last min told mi someone ask for samples... well i did it under 1 hour... and i suddenly realise my red wine snowskin taste not bad.. last year i din eat any at all...
My Mini Bar
Im no party girl... for i tink... I party so little that ppl are surprised, given that.. im an 'alcoholic'.. yes i am... since my 1st glass of wine at work in the Navy (forced by the guys bleahhh)... tat got me started... well drinking is part of the Navy culture, or should I say SAF culture... of cos there is a group who prob dun like alcohol in there.
Thought getting out of the SQN will get mi out of the drinking group.. who knows my group of colelagues at MINDEF was worse.. there, they prob drink hard liqueur till DROP when they go party (I think I have never gone partying with them thou) but every BBQ or gathering... im sure someone or some TWO will get drunk...
Then with dear.. well of cos.. there is not getting out of the loop either.. And in fact some of us (the wives) drink more than the hubby haha.. Red wine thats it... Still im no good drinker... just a moderate one.. until when We got overseas for work for the 1 1/2 year.. the 2 weeks holiday up north was enuff to let the boss trained me and dear up again... with the nightly drinks at the hotel lounge or cruise... beer, cocktail, wine etc... plus the occasional pub hang out w them... and that was how I got expose to beer.. I never like beer at all previously... But I learn to take Hoegaarden, which is now 1 of my fav..
So of cos i have a mini bar at home... thou its not really consider a bar.. since its all shelved up...
I love to collect vodka.. maybe cos its always coming up with new ones and the colourful bottle just make it looks nice... and of cos its a Swedish product. they have a limited editon black bottled ones which i haven gt a chance to buy.. of cos many other flavours which i wish to have too... thou i tink more than half are unopened... the pear one taste good... if u mix some 100plus with it... while the plain ones i love to make my vanilla extract with it... currant ones will goes so nicely w my ribena... and vanila.. perhaps can go w my root beer float... hehe
Other collect also consist of the Grand marnier, baileys, kahlua, rum series.. which I link them w my baking passion.. for my tiramisu, fruit cake, chocolate cake and even mooncake making etc...
My vrey rare Amaretto which I got 2 precious bottles of it... and Kirsch which is my 1 and onli taxable local bought hard liqueur cos i cant find it anywhere at DFS... Yes all my alcohol are fr DFS.. thanx to my gfs/their hubby who help get them.. and when i go overseas..
My Malibu ones are a great help to mi when I make cocktail like pina colada, which dear and I used to entertain ourselves on some nites esp when he does go on long leave.. I will mix cocktail everynite...
then there is my Win carnis, which faithfuly helps mi in my cooking esp when I want to make chicken with it..
Then there is dear supplies of red wine... this is only 1 portion of it.. the bulk are all stored in the cupboard... most of the time he will drink 1 glass every nite.. i hardly join him unless i got the mood hehe
And these are our back ups--- Beers at 1 corner... err just for the 2 of us to drink and drown in them...
And this is my very precious from Prague.. 1 of them is the cherry liqueur.. but I REFUSE to use it for my black forest haha.. of cos U should know why.. .
and im too embarass to show all my barcadi in the cupboard and fridge hahahaa
well.. im no alcoholic.. but i love alcohol.. what irony... heehee
Happy Birthday Serene
Its my sis Serene's birthday today...
I baked her some Black berry cupcake... topped with orange butter cream
With my headache... I really havent got any good mood to do decor.. thus the simple ones...
Butter cream recipe as follows:
250g butter
40 g icing sugar
whisk till light and use as desire..
I use this recipe as i do not like shortening in my butter cream..they give a funny smell in my opinion.. this is the best one i have try so far...
Simple Breakfast By Dear
Being with dear together for 7 yrears.. he have rob never did bf for me despite he always buy me breakfast esp durign courtship days where u kknow he wun b ard for that 1 or 2 days.. he will start of fmy day with breakfast... (oh ya i dont have a habit of having bf hehe)
Prob the 1 and only time he cook me somethg fr scratch was more than 5 yr ago at his mum's pl where he cook me mee sua (with chicken cubes as soup base).. Other times its prob instant noodle(once in long long while)
Today, he MADE bf for me... haha.. im touch.. thou its very simple
..
Half boiled eggs with bread toast... the 'amazing' thg is.. he even bothr to slice the bread into half to make it thinner jus like YA KUN's bread... the only thg that was lacking was kaya since i din make any... (mayb i shld train him to make kaya?)
Thanx dear for the simple but special bf hehe... I look forward to the nxt one hehe..
Mayb I should just start trainign him to cook now in case nxt tiem if I give birth and no ppl cook for mi he shall be the one hee
Beef Burger
Dear and I are BIG fans of beef.. and so anythg beef that is juicy and nice we will like it..
The other day Lindfa was showing her beef burger and it really do look good... so with a little tips here n there from her, I made my version of beef burger...
The bread is from Deck.. Tomato bread... Very soft n fluffy... and I made a total of 8 beef patty... we had it for dinner and supper.. slurp...
very easy to make
500g minced beef or other meat
sundried tomatoes
gherkins
jalepeno peppers
rolled oats (half to 3/4 cups)
mozarella cheese (half to 3/4 cups)
4 basil leaves
1 large yolk
Mix all together.. season with salt n pepper, form into patty and pan fry or grill them till the doness u want... serve piping hot..
I put a pc of cheddar cheese ont he bread, MV it for 8 sec to melt it and sandwich the patty in between.. YUMMY.. oh yes its spicy too due to the jalepeno peppers...
Hubby Pie
Hubby PieCan be prepared 20 years ahead.
Ingredients:
Crust:
1 hard-skinned hubby
1 comfortable sofa
Filling:
1 TV remote control
6 pack of beer
1 hot dog
1 bag chips
1 family size pizza
1 large serve nacho
1 grilled cheese sandwich
15 years patience
Lifetime of loving care
1 ounce of resignation
Method:
Cram one thick-skinned hubby into a well worn greased and comfortable sofa and leave to set (probably will take length of one sport show), remove from family room and bring to kitchen to finish filling.
Mix TV remote control, chip bag, pizza, hotdog, nachos and cheese sandwich on a large tray.
Add six pack of beer slowly (to avoid excess gas), bind with a lot of patience, loving care and resignation.
Be careful to place hubby and filling carefully back in front of the TV so as not to disturb the view of the screen and leave to solidify indefinitely.
Head back to your computer and have a marvellous time chatting with your online friends UNDISTURBED!!!(Or, go SHOPPING!)
Yummy Sandwich
Last week when I went for my body combat class.. I knew I have to grab something to eat after class since Dear was on duty.. he cant buy me snacks or supper if im hungry at night.. so I went to Taka basement 2 and take a look at their food... this bakery attracted me alot.. I tink its call Deck.. nxt to St Leaven... int he chiller sectionw as this bread that looks ever so soft and with my fav bacon and black pepper on it... so so so so I bought it home...
I ate it as I walk my way to PS with Serene.. My goodness it was real good... and so yesterday I bought it again before I went for combat.... and got a chance to take a photo...
Its really good... i bet I cant make a bread like this at home.. any body can do it???
last minute
Dear's friend Stanley called mi up from office yesterday.. he ask mi to do a cake for his wife Alicia Birthday. after much discussiong.. we are back to square one...
Pralet
Put in soem extra effort for he is dear's logn time friend.. extra effort as in more decor hehe...
Donut
Singaporean been crazy bout donut recently... In fact the q is so long.. I think these ppl are insane.. 1 of the insane ones is my sister who q for 3 hours plus for donut factory donut... i tried one of them.. the strawberry one... its kind of too sweet for me...
Actualy i dislike donut.. mayb mum is not the kind who will buy us donut when we r kids.. and we dun like sweet stuff... so i tink as old as I was 23 yyear old.. i had eaten less than 2 donut in my life.. when we were back packing during our summer holiday in Europe, i rem we passed by this dunkin donut outlet.. nice 2 storey dunkin donut shop yeah... since we are back packing.. most of the time our food is very budgeted.. im the kind I willing to giv up nice food so logn as I can buy more things and see more when Im on holiday... and Dear got a dozen donut for us to eat fo rthe whole day.. I tink we had like 4 to 6 donut per pax... gosh.. its as good as killing me.. but i did not protest of cos.. cos I wan to spend the money elsewhere hahahaaa
I ever q once for the donuts at vivocity for say mayb 45 mins... hopin tis as nice as those i had at Batam.. but they disappoint me too much...
Dear's donutSo I spent a bomb gg for donut class back then.. and have not gotten a chance to make any.. finaly today is the day
Since it needs sourdough as the pate fermentee... I have to get down to making it last nite and leave it to ferment. As the longer u ferment the pate, the softer is the bread, I have no choice but to do so... despite i know i hate the sourish smell... perhaps the fermentation is not as long, so it din stink so much
This heap of plain donut is all my hard work.. phew.. when I finaly fin fryign them... I gave a sign of relief.. cos I hate to fry thg... thou it onli takes me 1 min to fry 4 pieces of donut in my deep fryer.
Wasabi mayo donut, strawberry centered donut, cinnamon sugar donut, braided donut, as well as donut balls
Dark chocolate coated with 100s and 1000s, white chocolate with crispy valrhorna jewels, satay donut coated with dark chocolate.
Bought some boxes last week, and they are the precise height I need to pack the donuts off for kelvin to bring to mum's house to feed my family as well as to give away to friends.. hehe
This is my favourite... strawberry pregel centered donut... the pregel is not too sweet.. so it do not stink my throat... and its sourish sweet taste makes the whole donut fantastic... for that price of pregel.. of cos it should taste good rite?
now.. my donut score for the year...: 2 from batam center, 2 during donut class, 2 from dout factory which caca buy, 2 from the donut shop at vivocity and 2 today.... total of 10 donut this year.. I tink for th enext 5 yr prob .. or maybe even more.. im not eating donut... just making them hehee
Chantilly Crepe
I had some kind of funny flu going on alst nite.. woke up today feelign v tired ... went ont o sleep for 2 hours in the afternoon... and no mood to bake... to add fuel to fire, Dear said he is gg to be on duty tomorrow, monday and friday... WTH...
I cant cook anythg for him to brign to work since his stupid office have no fridge or MV.. and so I tot i shall do a loaf of bread.. Guess my mood isnt there...
Anyway, with the trip to Giant later on, I tot mayb I shlooud jus do some crepe for supper since we had early dinner today... and im stupid enough not to buy ice-cream there.. tsk tsk.. Im hopeless... end up gg down tot he supermart to buy againa ft i got home... when I got home the 2nd time.. to my horror... I realise im outof cornflour which is needed in the recipe.. damn.. off i went to buy again...
With my perserverance despite my flu...
I churn out these yummy crepe... topping it with the vanila icecream as well as my strawberry pregel... the result its YUMMY... Dear like the pregel I guess..cos when I had a 2nd serving w/o the pregel he commented that it wun b nie w/o that already hehe...
Anyway here is the recipe which Annie kindly share with me.. taken from The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum.
Ingredients:
3 large eggs
1 cup (242g) milk (I use sparkling water instead)
1 t vanilla
3 T (43g) unsalted butter, melted
1 T Grand Marnier (I added far more than 1T but the smell is GREAT)
3/4 cup (90g) cornstarch/cornflour (I use 110g)
1/8 t salt
1 T sugar
1 T clarified butter (to oil the pan)
Notes on ingredients: you can increase the cornstarch to 1 cup if you prefer a thicker crepe but I liked it as it was.
Method:
The easiest and fastest way to mix the batter is in a blender. Place ingredients in the order given in a blender and blend at high speed for 10 seconds. Heat the crepe pan on med-high heat until hot enough to sizzle a drop of water.
Brush lightly with clarified butter and pour a scant 2 T batter into the center (this is if you're making really small crepes using a 6" pan) but I just ladle on enough to make a nice coating on the pan. Swirl batter until it covers entire pan thinly. The first one normally doesn't turn out so good but it gets better as you keep going.
Cook until the top starts to dull and the edges begin to brown. Flip it over and let it cook for another 10 seconds, or just until lightly browned. Invert the pan over the counter and the crepe will release.
Happy Birthday Singapore
To celebrate Singapore's birthday.. these are the stuff I made for everybody's consumption today.
2 Tiramisu
Chocolate pralet
and
Chocolate mooncakes!!!!!
yes everything chocolate.. why??
Because.. Singapore is our motherland.. motherland means Singapore is a SHE and most SHE loves chocolate...
Happy Birthday to our dear Singapore...
Tinas' Book
Tina is a errmmm swedish lady who host cooking show on SVT (a swedish channel). Frankly I dunno anythg bout this show at all.. why? because I live w/o a tv 90% of the time in sweden. yes no tv... we brought a tv thr.. and after 3 mth Dear and I realised that we dun need it... well.. I dun need tat tv to survive.. in fact i on the tv for the sake of utilising it ... end up we loppis it off(loppis=garagesale)
Just before we came bk home, my swede friend Lis told me bout Tina's book.. at that time there were 3 different copy of her books... I always see it at maxi or
Åhléns but I never bother to buy nor refer... but somehow somethg got into me... and I bought 1 book just before I came bk... and Lis knowing I only got 1, got me the remaining 2 as well... So sweet of her.. well not that i dont want to buy it.. but its freakign ex.. I tink 200Kr for 1 book.. and its in swedish... no doubt i do understand a little if i really wan to read it.. but somehow im just lazy...
Anyway I haven really got the time to do anythg from those books.. but as I flip thru.. they do look pretty interesting.. not anythg similar to the fare we have bk then.. this look much more appetising hee...
1 thign why I dont want to read is becos I have try v had to shake off the swe-glish(swedish+english) kind of spellignand talking over the years.. and i dont want to hitch bk that bad habit.. unless i really can speak swedish well of cos i dun mind.. just dun want another version of singlish.
Ok enuff bout that.. look at what the book offer...
from Croq Au vin, to some nice cakes, and even coffeeshakes... ahh reminds me of O boy actualy hehe...
and oh yes they have got a section in 1 of the books where they show u diff kind of herbs, roots veggies, and even fish... frankly.. all ic an rem is lax and torsk back then.. who care bout other fish? i dunno hw to handle them hehe...
They have a few kottbullar recipe too... I tink i better get my butt down to tryign them.. guess I gotto flip out my dictionary soon
The other book that i got, is this
I rem I paid a rather high price for this.. maybe like 380Kr? Its in english and I got it from a shop in Stockholm while I was there to join dear when he went up there for training. As I roamed and saw this bok i cant help but to buy.. only becos its in english and Im willing to part my money with it... quite a bit of nice recipes too.. oh yes semlor recipes int hr too.. YUM
Thats about all... of cos the very last swede cook book is the oen from Ikea which i guess noone will need me to show a pic hhee... I love all these books.. they r my treasuresssss
Swedish crawfish / Svenska kräftor
The KING of crawfish on top of the rest
Using the crab fork to dig out some meat
Dear pulling out the meat slowly
Large it may seem.. but the meat is actualy quite small
The craw ha quite a bit of flesh u noe...
Kräftor or crawfish we call in english is definitely somethg which both Dear and I missed very much bout the Swedish food.
We 1st came across this right after we went over to Sweden. It happened to be we needed soemthg to celebrate our ROM ceremony back then. There is no caterer for such a small scale party of perhaps 10 pax. And So our wedding cekebration was purely pasta carbonara with loads of this kräftor. I tink 1 box have about 22 pcs of them depending on what brand u buy.. some even have more. and our housemate then got us like 1 dozen boxes of this as gifts.
Well that was how we got hooked. Anyway, this is only available between the season of Aug to october... and the kräftor sale is always accompanied by the sale of this cutie huge sun-like lantern.. Now u see.. not onli chinese have lantern festival.
While I have never really got my butts down to figuring out the custom behind eating this seafood. We already fell in love with it. I guess its gotto do w some autumn festivaltoo given its only available ard that time.
We missed this so much that we always wan to stock them up when we do go to Ikea. However like the seasons, its only available at same period as Sweden does. And to my disappointment I did not managed to get any at Ikea last year.
Couple of weeks ago, when we went Ikea Tampines to shop I was happily telling dear we must look out for this again since the season is near... when I saw the huge huge lanterns disaplying near the freezer... I knew the day have come... I grab 3 boxes of kräftor and happily paid for it.. no doubt its really expensive... about $20 per box, its still worth it... It reminds me of the very special ROM we had over thr in the cityhall.
This kräftor are soak in some salty brine, which after defrosting, u can eat it straight.. but being asian, we still heat it up together w the brine and eat the meat.
Found other ways of eating it too...
Anne have kindly posted this recipe from the ICA(ICA is one of the local supermarts) magazine
Crawfish Bulgur SaladServes 2 generously
200 ml bulgur wheat
400 ml water
1 leek, white part only and finely sliced
170 g crawfish tails, ready to eat
1 orange
1 avocado
pat of butter
salt black pepper
Yogurt dressing
100 ml thick greek yogurt
1 tbsp water
1 teaspoon french mustard
1/2 - 1 teaspoon sambal oelek
1 small garlic clove, crushed
Boil the bulgur - according to instructions on the package, or just use twice as much water as bulgur, put in a pot with the bulgur, bring to a boil, put on a lid, turn down heat, and let stand for about fifteen minutes. Start by mixing the dressing - very easy, just stir it all together. Thin with some more water if you need to. Fry the leek and the crawfish tails briefly in butter, add salt and pepper. Peel and dice the orange, dice the avocado. And then the magic happens. Take a big bowl. Add everything - the avocado and orange, the leeks and crawfish, the bulgur. That is it. Add the dressing. Enjoy.
U notice sambal olek is used in this recipe thou its swedish, This is because there are loads of asian over there and the supermart carry a huge range of such spices there.
This is from Anne too!
Crawfish Cous-Cous with HalloumiServes 3200 ml cous-cous (about 0,8 cups)
250 ml water (1 cup)olive oil
200 g crawfish tails or shrimp (cooked)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
250 g halloumi cheese
neutral oil for frying
a handful of fresh or frozen edamame (soy) beans, podded
1/2 cucumber, diced
pickled red onion (mix thinly sliced red onion with a pinch of sugar, some salt and white wine vinegar)
a tablespoon of vinegar from the onions
Put the cous-cous in a bowl. Bring the water to a boil, add a small splash of olive oil and pour this onto the cous-cous.
Cover with plastic foil and leave it for five minutes as you prepare everything else.
Cube the halloumi, and fry in the neutral oil on medium-high heat. As it colors, add the crawfish tails and the minced garlic, and fry for a minute or two.
Combine everything on a large plate or in a pretty bowl, and eat at room temperature, or cold. Leftovers make a great lunch.
As we alwasy eat the meat, the shell are always thrown out.. now I realise the shell have got its uses too.. anyone gamed to try yeah??
Crawfish SoupDry the shells in the oven at 400F.
Crush the shells by rolling a bottle over them.
Fry the crushed shells in 3 tablespoons of butter together with 4 sliced tomatoes, 4 garlic cloves and 1 dl tomato paste.
Pour in 3 dl white wine, 1 dl cognac and 6 dl fish bouillon.
Cook for 30 minutes.
Strain and add milk to make 1 liter.
Whip 2 dl cream with 0.6 dl flour and add to soup.
Boil slowly for 5 minutes.
Add cayenne pepper.
Will have the kräftor as supper tonite.. shall take pic then..
