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Monday, January 28, 2008

Buzzing Cashier

Yes Buzzing Cashier..but not mine LOL...

Today was asked to go for this TV filming, or rather food tasting for the above mentioned show. M asked me along.. so I dragged Serene too since she is so free...

Kym Ng n Quan Yifeng are the hosts. Funnie n cute girls.. not to mention SEXY!.. later u know why hehe




We are going to taste JAPANESE food at a hawker center at Bedok.

Apparently the shop is like a restaurant makeover kind of show.. they will train the owner culinary skill due to poor biz or sth like that. Then appx 1 month later.. we r invited to go for food tasting and make coments and to pass/fail them.

Seriously speaking.. I hardly liek to eat jap food outside Jap restaurant.. i think the 1st/last I ate was recently at CP and thats becos I have nuthg else to eat... and it sucks of cos


Lets see how this one fares...


Loads of waiting since I think they need to set up the props..
While waiting.. we happily take photos... snap snap snap




The 2 pretty host and my new found friends who are all foodie like me.

Ah yes... the stall we went to..





2 dishes we tasted



Fried Salmon





Chicken Cutlet Don




And so.. what do u tink is my verdict?


Im a fussy eater if u dunno.. I eat anything..but noe anythg pleases me...

And I DO NOT eat cooked salmon.

And its a difficult choice to make...


The sauce for the fish was salty.. which is supposed to be so?? cos they wan to compliment it with white rice...

The fish was FISHY as usual since missy me dun take cook fish..

The taste of the saltish sauce linger on for hours.. despite i drank alot of water.


The Don. was ermmmmm not good either...

Chicken cutlet was cut way too big.. not dainty like the jap style.. thou I knw taste is impt.. but its as bad as the cutlet was soggy not crispy.

The rice was dry(no sauce at all) and when QYF came to ask us... she was shock that I said its dry n tasteless.. seems like some ppl got theirs with gravy.. loads of it..while some dont... standard not consistent...


heres whats left..






Nothg left it may seem.. but thats becos we are to share the portion..and we din have BF n Lunch ok... tsk tsk hahaa

Judging time...

We put a bowl on the table.. to count the amount of votes..they need 20 votes to get a pass... and 30 is the limit. U stack ur bowl on the table if u pass them... put it in the pail if u fail them..



They got a freaky 28!

WHY?? all pppl say not nice not nice but they gave thema pass.. me too... compassion??? MAYBE!




Stall owner w the host...

Now U knw why i say they sexy?? look at their pretty leggy legs... damn jealous alrite!

With the hot pants and boots.. of cos sexy!



In the afternoon we went to Tanjong Pagar for the nxt filming.

MUFFINS!

I KNOW its doomsday for whoever who is baking this hahaa...



I did not take much pic of it cos i was totaly not v confident bout it..a nd yes im right...



A supposedly hotel chef was to trained the owner to make muffin as her org cupcake
muffin was too heavy n dense that sporean did not like..

Chef job was to teach her hw to make some light n tasty cupcake
muffin...



Well.. here goes...



Can u identify what is wat??

WE CANT!! cos no one tell us wat flavour to expect.. aft a good 5 mins of debating.. we decided we shld jus pinch n try .. hoping the taste will give some clues.

U know what... out of the 6 muffins... 6 tasted the SAME.. they look diff in some way but not too diff...

Its a stingy cupcakemuffin... cos the fruits like cranberry, banana, blueberry were SOOO miserable that we can barely smell or taste... the onli easy one was oreo cos idiot knew its oreo from the colour ...

The banana one ... it was like we have to fin the whole cupcakemuffin before we c and managed to identify the banana... how terrible...

Fruits like raisin sink to the bottom of the cupcake
muffin..


The only thing.. the Cupcake muffin is v light n soft.. like cupcake.. yes CUPCAKE.. now u know why i got so many cupcake
all over the post??? cos I cant help but keep typing cupcake lar!!!!!!

and yes.. I failed them this round... cos we cant taste the distinct difference in the diff flavour at all.. too little yummies in it... Im sorry...
alot of -ve comment during the recording... everyone want to fail them...

The method of rating is by taking cupcakemuffin (SEE!Im still saying cupcake!) fr the basket.. 1 per pax.. uc an choose not to if u fail them...
30 muffin in all for us to take.

we tot they will fail.. but i also guess they will pass..reason being..singaporean being singaporean.. not nice.. free one also take! and thus.. they got a score of 25... ya the other 5 are from us!! I seriously cant believe this is hotel chef standard...
OBVIOUSLY he does not share or impart all his supposed to b skill to help this owner.

For the owner to fail or lose any votes.. i tink it reflects that the trainer themselves lose doubly hard. AGREE? Its they who taught... with no good teacher..hw can a student excel?

Ok u can catch this show soon on channel 8...

nonetheless.. I learnt alot today... and its really fun...

Sunday, January 27, 2008

CNY Goodies Part 2: Corn Flakes Cookies

Embarking ont he part 2 of the cookies making.
This round are meant for family and friends.

I bought 2 big box of cornflakes the other day. Just for the sake of CNY baking...

Trying out the fan mode today for the baking of this cookies... It sure do spee dup the baking time by almost half =)



Cornflake Cookies

I reduce the sugar this year.. and realise it migh tnot b as yummy ... LOL... but health comes 1st yea... Bet Mickey Mummy will chomp this down fast...

Friday, January 25, 2008

CNY Goodies Part 1

Started my maiden CNY baking for the year of the Rat...

R have requested for herh order to be delivered tomorrow. Thus, I need to get my butt off the chair n work...

I have grown 'smarter' over the years.. and finaly found a way to makke my work load lighter(in someway) thou the work is actualy the same..
Well, working solo means I need to have perfecr planning for everything to fully utilised the time, space, power n etc.

Pineapple have definitely increased in price.. it was a whopping $1.20. I rem last yr was only $1 and of cos the year b4 that was less than a dollar.

Not forgetting butter, flour n sugar have risen in price(what have not???!?!)
I take extra caution not to waste(OR burnt) anything.

With much patience.. and also interuption... Finaly.. my 1st batch of pineapple tart are out of the oven...

Melt in the mouth.. not too sweet or sourish...



A* Pineapple tart

I used my precious spices I got bk fr PG for the jam.. the very good cloves and cinnamon..and there is absolutely no regret for the smell linger on for days in the kitchen... and I do hope the clients enjoy my tarts as much as I do...

While I bake 200 tarts.. 10% went into my tummy.. LOL.. I couldnt control myself.. and so to make sure the tarts are safe.. I summon J over to pick them asap hehe

J pop by when I was bakign the tarts.. I know Im not in time to give her when she came.. after she left.. I tot since I wan to make some goodies for her as well.. might as well lar.. so I go tmy butt down to do my fav almond cookies.. the one that is always earn full of praises.



Melt in the mouth Almond Cookies

Managed to do up 2 recipe before I call it a day.. Took me near 3 hours to do this 2 cookies.. and hehe..

Of cos this is made for today mainly for J.. and well ...she came to pick them before dinner... LUCKY.. else I think.. bo liao....

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Of the Silvers

For the past months I had prob getting the gold leaves...

Being asian.. or rather chinese.. gold is rather auspicious for us.. let aloen to eat it in our food.. which is rare.. while I managed to get hold of it back then.. at a crazy price($1 per pc of an square inch). Thou crazy but I still wanted it. Many thanx to G who got it for me.. I used it for my Pralet topping(premium Pralet thats it)...


The other day she drop me a msg.. telling me she got the silver one for me.. wow silver!!

Very Well.. in time for CNY haha.. with gold n silver.. its a prosperous CNy indeed.
She got it at Mustafa Center. Yes Mustafa! Since indians use the silver for their dessert too hehe... I love Mustafa.. esp so since they are 24 hours operational. And theyir stuff are cheap.. thou U gotto keep a look out at the expiry date for the food stuff.


heres how it looks like in case U wanna to go n pop by to grab some.





Containing 15 sheets per pack.. can use till siao.. since its a rather big piece hehe




The thin silver leaves...


Thanx G for the silvers =)

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Toy Story

Today I had another pleasant surprise...
Well a surprise enough to make me blog again haha since I been busy with some food related stuff and no time to make myself blog here.

When I was back from dinner.. lying in my post box is a parcel.. rather big one thou small enough to fit into the mail box...

From Japan thats it.. ewwwwww I knw who!!!!! Thanx E!!

With a nice New Year card to begin with... yes I love the New Year card...
Alongside with the card.. is 2 set of new toys. Got me REALLy excited.



Guess whats these??
Yea egg mold. For the mini eggs.... yes quail eggs!!!!



Look at the cute inprint...
The size of quail egg is dainty enough for a small little dainty bento


Doesnt this shape/print looks familiar?
yes.. the regular egg mould shape also have the rabbit n bear shape hehe

If I am still staying overseas.. I will be able to fully utilise this as I can make bento llunch for dear to bring to work as per normal.. In spore.. NEVER get any chance to do pack lunch

I cna only think of bento for Mickey-Xavier baby.. but I guess it be quite some time before he need bento.. for now.. I shall bento for myself hahahaaa

oh ya on the 1st photo top right corner is the bento rice cube set maker... basicaly, u juse put rice into the rectagular tube and use the press to press.. then u get square cube.. and make them into bento style... Im excited!!!!!

Thanx E again for the pressie =)

Friday, January 18, 2008

Sweet Savoury

The other day.. my pal HK knew I was going for a bbq... and suggested an alienated thingy to me..
Bacon with Banana.

Much as I love both item... I was skeptical if thee will be any business for this item since most ppl dislike banana.. nonetheless I got mum to bring some banana from home since I knw she will always hve some from prayers.

1 other reason why I use prayer banana also is bcos.. I dont have to buy.. in case no business. throwing away is not such a waste...

But my silly sister forgot the baconf or the 1st round of bbq.. and thus we only managed to make it last night..
This round with our friends. Theguys were very curious when I tried to do this.. and despite my warning of the banana are from prayers (some ppl do not take such food).. the guys are keen to try.. Made mi surprised... and before u know it.. they are queuing for the banana while dear and I bbq-ed.



Soft n sweet banana with saltish bacon.. Yummm .. in fact.. we finish the whoel bunch of banana.. and I dont remember eatin more than half a serving

the downside is that the bacon is hard to cut off aft we cook.. and i guess nxt round we shall cut them up and wrap hehe...

Thanx Hk for the tips...

Thursday, January 17, 2008

BBQ

Out of the bluey mood.. dear decided that we should have a bbq.. and thus.. today is the day.. esp so since.. we must enjoy before mickey arrive in April.. hehe..



Took the guys little effort to start up the fire...
well... jungle trained mahz..

With all the otahs on the grill.. I thought.. why not try the berries??



The strawberry turn softer.. n juicier... Slurppp
In fact... I kind of regret bringing only 1 box of berries.. tomorrow must bring more!! ehh yes..tomorrow we q again haha

I have somethg interesting up my sleeves...

So we built this over the grill



Anf we caught some birds that was flying around the pit... trying to pinch on our food...
Dont believe??? I told u we are jungle trained rite?if not.. among the 4 of us.. 2 r trained to catch snakes (the other 2 train to eat snake haha) .. hehe..and 2 are train to catch enemy n grill them alive...

Look!!





Skin them alive.. remove the feather.. ahh the BIG black bird is sooo skinny...

After much marinating with 5 spice powder, charsiew sauce, and pepper.. I decided to dry them over the fire b4 i slow roast... hoping I get a crispy skin...

OKIE! Its a joke.. its not the big black bird.. those r quails hehe... *chuckles*

No pic of the final pdt.. cos by time I roast them nicely.. the rest have eaten them up..

Our very professionaly done wings..


Done by Mickey mummy... hehe




To make the people eat some veggies.. I resorted to making some 'kebabs'


yes.. we wallop everyth =)




A New Couple

On the 5th January.. A new couple was born... Mrs n Mrs Lionel...

I was tasked to making some wedding cupcakes for Tristine for her wedding. Mainly its a surprise gift for Lionel. And so I have to come up with a nice n meaning theme of wedding for her.

As I mention earlier I used my new toy for the very 1st time.

This is it.





Cost me almost 50SGD.. but I guess its worth every cent.. Thanx G for "tompaning" this for mi on her spree so that I can make this pretty cuppies for Tristine.



As U can see.. the design is very intricate. I like the design alot... and this is the only 1 I liked. sooo I refuse to buy any others. Guess the price was really worth it.. esp so when I did a nice kebaya with it later on

the Pic above is actualy meant to be part of a wedding gown...


Tuxedo and gown



Wedding involves the ring.. and I did a Trilogy ring forthe bride(thats my dream ring hehe), which represent the past, the present and the future and a single princess cut diamond ring for the groom.


Sweet Rose



Ready for Delivery.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Port Salut Quesadillas with Mango Salad

I been popping this Port Salut cheese to me very often ever since New Year eve wine n cheese party.. I think Im hooked n addicted to it already... Last nighth I finished my last bits (or chunks u call it) and I think I need to replenish my supply.

Port salut is a type of semi soft cheese made from cow milk.

What I found on Practicaly Edible as below

The cheese is ripened from the outside in by a smear of surface bacteria. It used to be brushed with brine while aging, which made it a Washed-Rind cheese, but this no longer happens, because the cheese is wrapped in plastic before aging.This makes its orange rind edible, though it is often not edible on Port du Salut style cheeses. Inside, the cheese is a pale yellow.

And yes.. I tink I like the rind too thou its a bit harder..

Nowadays I cut them into large chunks and eat them as tibits.. Hope I get the calcium from it and nto fats... LOLz

Found this recipe on Waitrose and I thought I will do it soon...

Ingredients

8 Wheat Tortillas
2 x 150g packs Port Salut, thinly sliced
110g pack Revillo Chorizo de Pueblo
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped

The mango salad:
1 large ready-to-eat mango, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Place four of the tortillas on a flat surface and cover with the cheese and chorizo slices. Top with the remaining tortillas and set aside while you prepare the mango salad.

To make the mango salad place all the ingredients in a bowl, toss together and season.

Heat a little of the olive oil in a large frying pan and place one of the filled tortillas in the pan.

Cook for about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown and the cheese is beginning to melt. Transfer to a plate and keep warm while you cook the others.

Cut each quesadilla into 4-6 wedges and serve warm with a portion of the mango salad.

Cook's tips
For added flavour you can sprinkle freshly chopped coriander over the cheese and chorizo before cooking. The rind of Port Salut is edible, but it can be removed before slicing if you prefer not to eat it.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Hello.. Kitty

Back with a new picture.. Thanx to L who use her camera to snap the picture hehe...

For a start... I was sooo scare of the cake order... I mean this cake order.. hehe.. cos a PINK kitty was requested.. ermmm.... scare la.. S wanted a strawberry cake.. and.. she wants pink.. how to?? esp since Kitty got very little features. And I really do not want to risk making a Hello CATTY instead of Kitty...

I was busy w my kebaya earlier on that i totaly forgot to buy the strawberries... Luckiiy I managed to get 6 big boxes of them at NTUC last night..and well they r really nice n not too sour.. T likes the strawberry so much that she managed to have 1 box for herself aft we managed to do the mousse... and oh yes.. its egyptian strawberries!! Why am i so excited? u shall know it soon...

Anyway.. after much thoughts.. and L offer to do this with me.. and wow... we managed to do it... I must say its fun to bake/decor together(of cos must see with who lar haha)



I even managed some pinky wordings which was not in my original plan...
Thanx L for the help.. and Sue for washing up.. she is really nice to tolerate my presence to do my stuff there hehe.. and willingly clean up after us.. Really a nice lady there..

Now.. I tink I really can rest in peace with no nightmare hehe.. BUT start dreaming of CNY goodies.

Kebaya

Hey... Im here... I know there is a lack of post.. but what to do.. I been too busy.. I spent some time on this order as it was a very last min order( well 1 week for such intricate design hehe)
It all started with a chat w a friend and she ask me if Im a peranankan.. nevermind that Im not one.. she still ask if Im willing to take up the challenge to do a cake for her mum 69th birthday. Well I agree... esp so when i tot the sarong kebaya could be much easier than and other 3 d figurines.. But guess wat... while I thought the sarong is easy and the kebaya needs a little more skill... I reali the sarong actualy is harder to make.. why?? Cos its too simple... so simple tat.. 1 wrong move will caused the sarong to look like table cloth... and so.. the easy part was actualy the kebaya... *chuckles*

Last nite I onli clocked 2 hours of sleep. All for the sake of this kebaya.. this is my 3rd one.. I threw away 2 pcs before this final attempt..

Imagine. I took out my own kebaya fr the wardrobe.. hang it at somewhere prominent in the room.. so before I sleep I keep staring at it.. and improve the deisgn as the nights passes... unbelievable tat I will do suchthg.. but at least I managed to improvise the design hehe...

And Im more or less satisfied... at the very least... I love the lace.. and I can proudly say its 1 of my most satisfying project among all the sugar paste work. Afterall I seem to hate sugar paste jobs... but guess my love for lace helps =)


My camera still in hospital and thus.. not much pic... so bear with my blur pic for now yea...


1st ever Kebaya Cake??

Time to catch up w my sleep.

I promise to b bk with more pics if possible... I got more project to rush for the nxt day and coming week
Thank you L for providing me with almost everything I need for the cake.. she sure is my biggest motivation hehe

Friday, January 04, 2008

Cottage Bread

I haven done bread for the lognest time.. tomorrow is a work day for dear and a work day forme too.. and so I guess its a good time to make bread again...
I need to fin up the near expiring bread flour too...

Decided on cottage bread again since I rem the last time I did it, it was really good n soft... but I was too lazy to dig out the loaf tin.. and I tot doing it in the small mould is good too...

and so... I got these


Cottage Bread

Topped them with loads of cheese..somewhat they seem to disappear into the bread.. or is my grater too fine??

With only 450g of flour left.. I could only do 6 mini bread...
Being lazy to halve the eggs... I added 1 whole egg.. The dough was too soft n sticky.. I floured my hands and table top so much that I was so scare they will turn out too dry...

Phew...


Soft n Fluffy interior

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

A Good Start

The intention was to have a good eve dinner.. But since it cant be done(actualy i had a good eve dinner thou), I promised to make it a nice new year dinner... at least for ourselves...


the other day saw the lamb shoulder at CS... temptation... and so i decided it shall be somethg for us today hehe



Lamb Shoulder with Rosemary Marinate


Dear loves crabby crab. At Sakuraya.. we got this King crabby leg.. Quite big one.. Price was pretty steep.. but worth while I guess




Meat is saltish sweet... taste liek tis really from the ocean...




Very big pc of meat from each indivudal section of the leg.. eat 1 single leg will be equal to 1 regular crab pincer...


Drinks was cocktail By Angie.. just enough for the 2 of us hehe...


With such good spread.. I hope we have a great year ahead... 364 days to the nxt new year =)

Cheers

Happy 2008!

No "Bangs" of ushering in the new year since its all indoor... old people need to R&R for such count down hehe..

With the intention of havign a quiet countdown with my dear friends... we planned a dinner outside.. and continue with some wine n cheeZe at home

Angie was in charged of e cheeze while me.. the wine of cos.. She bought quite a bit over haaa... and she did some cocktail too.. so it waslike.. the wine was neglected =p

Cocktail was nice... with loads of fruits like red apple, green apple, pineapple, pomelo, grapes, mixed with cranberry juice, rose wine n etc... slurppp .. I tink.. some mangoes will b good too for the added fragrant...





Angie's Cocktail

With 4 type of cheese.. we are spoilt for choice... we have our individual preference... hehe... really good..



Of cos.. we cant fin all the cheese.. since we were really full... I think I need to go for round 2 tonight with dear since Angie kindly made a jar for him to enjoy. Thanx Gal!!

Now. I need to hop to the kitchen for prep of my New Year dinner... Stay Tuned