such a happy day today..i finally received my blogging by mail parcel which was sent by nic from baking sheet. i was so super chuffed because bakingsheet is one of my all time favorite food blogs!! haha its actually my nightly read before i go to sleep..coincidentally, this whole global blogging by mail idea was also started by her, a really fantastic and fun idea..and i hope it continues to take place :)

so yups heres the stuff that she sent together with a nice note telling me about the items, which are her favorite snack foods.

from L-R:

Sweet-hot soft ginger candy

its kinda chewy.. really quite addictive :P  

No pudge original fudge brownie mix

haha i love this packaging! its so cute, a hot pink box with a skinny pig in front..wow. and i cant wait to try this soon...just hearing it being described as thick, fudgy and chewy makes me want to bake it right now!..brownies are my all time favorite chocolate dessert ever. period. plus this is fat free! and apparently you can use it with low fat yoghurt or even tofu..hmm.i predict thick fudgy chewy brownies within the next few days REAL SOON...:P

Jelly beans!

another childhood favorite of mine..but is incredibly hard to find these days, especially in singapore..wonder why.

this has over 20 flavors! with really cool sounding ones like chocolate pudding (!!!), cotton candy, toasted marshmallow (yum!), bubble gum, tutti frutti etc..

yay back to nostalgia haha.

Pound plus Bittersweet chocolate by Traders Joes, which is imported from belgium..havent tried this yet but i can bet its gonna be sooo super good!..i sorta peeled the wrapper off a little to steal a sniff of it and boy, its amazingly gorgeous...

Salty, Sweet and Nutty Trek Mix

it has peanut brittle (which ive never tried before till now..really yummy stuff), natural peanuts, honey roasted peanuts (i like these alot :P) almonds and cashews.

nic warned that they were addictive..and they really are! me and kj finished almost half the packet although we planned on saving it for our parents when they come and visit next week (oops. haha nvm they would still have half a pack..i hope haha)

last but not least MILK FROTHER!!!!!!

omg! i love it sooo much..thanks nic! this is the best present ever..i absolutely love cappucinos and hot chocolate with frothed milk but the coffee machines are soo expensive and this is so dead easy to use! haha we made really awesome cappucinos that very night..

once again..thanks nic for the lovely gifts! really made my day :P and thanks to emma from the happy sorceress who did a fantastic job organising all 89 bloggers!

hope everyone had fun with their blogging by mail parcels too!

the cute brownie pack again :

and the super cool milk frother :P

 

had spring sale at chadstone today..so went with kj to koko black for a tea-cum-dinner.

ive been to kokoblack before..but that was almost 2 years ago, and that was in their flagship bourke street store..but somehow ive not had the chance to go back even though i was completely enamoured by their chocolates and especially the magical hot chocolate. so i was especially happy when they opened a branch in chadstone shopping centre, which is really near where i stay now :P

ambience wise, the chadstone branch loses out to the bourke street store. the latter is in an ancient architecture building, which gives it that luxurious tea time feeling with the laura ashley kind of cushions and books all relating to chocolate..whereas the former seems more french brasserie type, with the gentlemen club kind of leather seats..but the good part about this branch is the open kitchen concept where you see the chocolatier making fresh chocolates or melting down your 85% dark chocolate into your hot chocolate. pure chocolate ecstasy :P

ok enough words.. pics time (sorry for the bad resolution..ever since i dropped my cam..it hasnt seem to recover..haiz time to get new one i reckon..haha)

heres the gorgeous hot chocolate. its the creamiest, richest chocolate you can ever expect to taste. its pure liquid chocolate heaven. and im not kidding..i think everyone who comes to melbourne should really try this..its so much better than max brenners sucao (which gave me a major stomachache i dunno why) and better even than godiva.. which is saying alot :P

heres the grand marnier chocolate mouse that kj ordered..really good too..although mousse isnt really my thing.

i ordered the belgian chocolate platter. it comes with a shortbread, a chocolate mousse, chocolate ice cream, a chocolate cake and 2 belgian chocolates of your choice. the shortbread and cake wasnt great..ive had better, and i thought the cake was a bit dry..the mousse was not bad but as ive said ive never particularly liked it..the ice cream was really really really thick and rich. actually it got to the point of cloying tho.

anyway the belgian chocs i chose dark chocolate with baileys which is fantastic..the blend of liquer and chocolate really goes well together. i also chose a 85% coutre dark chocolate which was not too dry or cloying which can happen sometimes if the cocoa goes above 70%.

ive also tried their champagne truffles and their berry ganaches and truffles, all of which were really good too..hmm so i think..its their hot chocolates and chocolates which really takes the cake haha..the rest dont impress me much and i reckon the next time i visit (which would probably be quite soon i hope :P) id order just the hot chocolate and a few chocolates to accompany it.

 

haha this is my first entry in like AGES. haha didnt really cook much in singapore...it was just relax and slack...so i never find any inspiration or much desire to cook/bake coz theres always loads of food to eat in the fridge. anyhow..out of interest sake, decided to make some satay and it turned out really really well! so pleased :p

ok heres the recipe:

ingredients:

chicken/pork/whatever meat fillet

bamboo skewers or wooden chopsticks

cucumbers

marinade

1 tbsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

4 shallots

1tsp tumeric

1 cm ginger chopped

2tsp sugar

tamarind juice

Peanut sauce:

chillies(depends how hot you want)

2 shallots

1 clove garlic

tamarind juice

3 tbsp chunky peanut butter

half cup milk

Steps:

1. lightly toast the coriander and cumin, then add all the rest of the marinade stuff except tamarind together and pound to a smooth paste. Add in tamarind juice and the meat and marinade for at least 2 hours. The longer the better really.

2. For the peanut sauce, grind the shallots garlic finely. Stir fry under low heat, add the tamarind, peanut butter. Bring to boil then simmer. Add the milk and chilli. Stir continuously until sauce thickens then leave it to cool.

3. Thread the meat pieces on the skewer and grill it. i did about 200degrees for about 5-10 min on each side. wait till they get brown and burned. Then serve it up with cucumber and the sauce. :)

 

 

hive always wanted to try Choupinette, which is this cornerside deli along Bukit Timah Road next to Coronation Plaza. It took over Prima Deli, thank goodness for that tho haha. yups but somehow even though i always pass it on the way home, there dont seem to be enough reason to stop the car and buy something even though ive always heard raving reviews about it.

anyway, we were really feeling peckish today and lunch wasnt very filling so my mom was asking me where shall we get some teabreak and immediately i suggested Choupinette and boy was i glad. when i first walked into the stores, i was a bit apprehensive, coz they only had 1 item of each type on display and looked quite sad to have the glass counter looking so lonely, also the prices were a teeny bit high for a teabreak thingy $5.90 for a small piece of dessert when i wasnt even sure of its quality. But i decided to have a whack at it since i was already there haha and after much consideration, i bought a mocoa, which is a chocolate truffle cake, a strawberry tart and a jam donut ( they had a more fancy french name for this, but err yeah its basically a jam donut..haha) AND IT WAS REALLY GOOD!!!

the chocolate was so rich and velvety smooth, and i was in chocolate heaven, it was satisfying to the extent that i didnt even feel more-ish after finishing it. yesh. and according to my mom and sis, the jam donut was the best they have ever eaten (i personally detest donuts..i think they are weird sweet things) and as for the strawberry tart. it was also just as good. the base was almond meal and in between there was almond cream, and the strawberries were plump and juicy as you can tell from the pic yar? hmm it was DEFINITELY worth my $5.90...i cant wait to go back and try the other chocholate stuffs haha. yeah im a shameless chocolate addict :p oh and they sell creme bulee too, which they will caramelise on the spot..wow huh

oh and the reason why there was only 1 item of each type on display is coz that item is only for display, the rest are kept in the kitchen to be well refridgerated...so when you have ordered they will get a new fresh piece from the kitchen, how cool yar? :p

IT FINALLY CAME!!! IM SOOO HAPPY! haha i thought it got lost in the mail or something because it was just taking FOREVER. but here it is!





clockwise from left: lemon juice in a lemon-shaped bottle! isnt it super cute? :p then luxury fruit crumble mix..which is so timely as it was just what my sister was wishing for..then there is marmite, corned beef and onion..all interesting stuff that ive never tried before.. trifle sponges which im prob gonna make for xmas dinner haha...and bak kut teh coz daffy thought she was gonna send it to ozzy..so to help me cure my homesickness. aww so sweet right? :p then shredded beef suet. which is really interesting as it is used for savory AND sweet dishes? funny right..how beef can be used for desserts. but im gonna try it real soon then post it up when ive tried it..and last but not least, a batter mix to make yorkshire pudding! its all so cool coz ive never tried yorkshire pudding before..so i cant wait to make them all. :P THANKS DAFFY!! lets meet up soon k??

well yesterday was the first day after my first paper, so i decided to give myself a little treat and bake something :p ive always wanted to try how to make banana bread, coz i thought it was interesting as to why pple call it a bread when it has no yeast or whatsoever in it...and also coz kj has been begging me to make something with bananas and so just in luck, we had 2 overripe bananas, which was exactly what the recipe from nic's baking sheet needed! PERFECT! :) so i basically followed her recipe pretty much, just adding a tad less butter and sugar and cinnamon instead of vanilla. and it was soooo gorgeous! the bread was really moist and homely feeling, its a sorta comfort food haha, and the bites of banana chunks with the hint of cinnamon was the ultimate brekkie..haha and after eating it, i realised it isnt really the bread that i was thinking of...its more like the banana cakes that singaporeans are used to..those that are sold in like bengawan solo and the sort. but it was a really nice and simple happy baking adventure..yay! :P

(by the way, the recipe made way more than that amount of cake, i couldnt stop kj and zx from eating in time before takin a pic..haha they forgot that i had to take pictures haha so yeah imagine about twice that amount..mmhmm it was that good..so this was all i could salvage :P enjoy)

this is from the gang again..we added boiled eggs, prawn and fishballs. haha kj was pretty much in heaven :p

prata!! with chicken curry that i added cinnamon, coriander and cumin :) nice!

haha this was sent by the gang..sorry for the blurred photos. kj and zx were rushing me hehe..they were like hurry up we want to eat already..grr so no choice, had to hurriedly snap the pics.
its funny. in singapore i never cared for panda biscuits. in fact it was just one of those childhood biscuits.not something that i fancied or cared for very much.
it was cute no doubt, the little red meiji packet, with the individual biscuits with the smooth silky milk chocolate inside. my mommy used to pack it into my lunchboxes for recess in school haha. it ranks up there with the jewelled gems (from khong guan i think) and glico pokki as my childhood biscuits. but as i grew up, i went thru the OREOS phase..mm that was good. and then there was the period of shortbread biscuits, the danish kind, which i have forgotten the name, but it comes in a nice round blue tin, and my fave one would be those that had the sugar coating on the top..heavenly :p at that same time, there was famous amos no nut choc chip cookies that i would buy and share with my mommy every week before my drama class would start. haha ah i still remember, the specialist shopping centre in orchard, where john little is, and i can always smell the cookies the moment we open the door of the carpark into the shopping centre. haha we used to joke that it doesnt matter if we forget where the shop is coz our noses would always lead us to it :p haha man those were the times where calories and saturated fat was not in my vocab, i happily ate whatever i fancied, not even thinking how many runs round the track or laps in the pool it would cost me haha.

does anyone know how to add archives dates? i just realised that my blog doesnt have archive dates..i just need it to be really simple..something like those in blogspot..i dont want the calender kind..pls let me know if you know k???