Tuesday, November 30, 2010

My Little Tomato...



I have planted some cherry tomatoes, again. Hoping that they would grow and become fruitful. At the start, they grew well, there were plenty of the little ones. Some grew better than the others, but they turned to be skinny plants, they are tall with some flowers and do not look good. I've got a couple of green tomatoes hanging, a couple, meaning two. Only. One of them is in the picture above. I'm not sure if I should keep the plants......

Monday, November 29, 2010

A Different Marigold...



A new and different type of yellow Marigold has blossomed in our garden. I must have gotten this one from the packet of seeds that DH got for me. The flower is larger and it has a very bright vibrant yellow color.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

It's Legal!

It happened a few days ago. With a small cake, which was still too big for the three of us that were home on one weeknight and one big candle and eight small ones being lit up and blown, our second-born turned eighteen. Two of them are legal now. Being parents of two adults make it sounds like we are almost legally old and ready for retirement.... But not quite yet. Age is just number, remember that!



The birthday girl brought back a bigger chocolate cake from her friend, a stack of brownies and tons of goodies from her friends. She has to work hard to finish them, the rest of us could only help a little.....

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Fried Cheese Flat Bread



I used to make these fried flat bread, I can't remember why I stopped making this for a long time. It might be because they are fried and we are keeping distance with fried food. It is also possible that I forgot that this thing exists. I was flipping over some pictures in my old photo album and saw this and I thought it's time to make some.



The process is simple, it is similar to making tortilla, except this one has cheese. I used a combination of ricotta and parmesan with a little dash of grated black pepper.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Turning Orange....



We bought these lime plants for Chinese New Year back around February this year. We lost all the fruits after the festivity was over but there was no reason to throw them away. The plants grew on and produced some flowers and plenty of fruits started appearing.



We still now have a lot of them. Despite their orange color, these are limes, they are not sweet like orange at all. Nice to see, but not for eating. Maybe cooking?

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Anthurium



I finally bought a potted Anthurium when I went to a supermarket one day, unintentionally. I did have my eyes on the plant from a while back, but I was trying to minimize the growth of the plants around the house. I have had more than enough things to look after and I really can't part more of my time for the plants. Anthurium made it to our house this time after I managed to trim and contain the expansion of the greens at home. Now I am learning to look after it.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Plum Galette



I was attracted to some plums being sold in the supermarket. My plan A was to eat them fresh, as they look good, but I was not sure if they would be sweet enough as normally, they are not. As it turned out, they were a tad too sour to eat just like that. My plan B was to make plum galette.



And it was Plan B came true indeed. With the plums being rather sour , I gladly made galette out of them, with extra sugar to sweeten the fillings of course.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Like Autumn...



Some leaves in our garden changed colors, giving me a tiny thrill as if I were experiencing Autumn here....

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Annual Thing?



Upon a little research, I found out that a year ago, I baked the same parmesan cheese crackers and posted the pictures on DH's birthday - which is today -, unintentionally. Weird. I have no idea what drove me into baking these and posting the pictures.



Here we go again, a year later and we have the yummy crackers in the house.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

It Begins Again...



Every year, by the end of October, they begin decorating the streets and the shops with Christmas decoration. Orchard road has started putting up and out the ornaments as I saw last weekend. I don't suppose it's finished yet, but it's a BIG reminder that Christmas is just around the corner. Jesus is coming, people! It's a much more important message than getting presents for the people that you know. Six more weeks to Christmas.....

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Porcini Risotto



If I could get some dried wild mushroom, I would love to try to cook my Risotto with them. I only have dried Porcini, which I love, don't get me wrong. But, in so many restaurants that I have gone to, or looked around at, they seem to cook their Risotto with Wild Mushrooms. I bought my Porcini from faraway places, United Kingdom and United States of America. I do not know where to find them in this country. Despite the distance, it is so much easier to get them from there, I have my people ! (wink, wink .... ).

Anyway, Risotto with Porcini is also delicious ......

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

Japanese Potato Salad



This is the potato salad from Ippudo at Mandarin Gallery. I shared it with DH over lunch, both of us like it. I am not too crazy about the rest of the food that we had there, but what I want is to make Japanese potato salad at home. I am planning to have some chopped bacon inside and a little bit of grated carrot too. I am going to formulate the recipe, one day, when the time is right and the appetite for it is there.

Monday, November 08, 2010

Tagliatelle With Meatballs



I don't make meatballs often enough, not even once a year. Everybody here seems to be avoiding meat whenever possible, so I cook meat only once a while, whenever deemed necessary i.e. the need to have iron supply or whenever I have the urge. Last like week, it was more the urge than anything else. I felt like having meatballs, therefore I cooked some. The meatballs were made from pork and beef and the gravy was a combination of milk and cream with some herbs.

Friday, November 05, 2010

Iced Orange Cake



I made a plan to bake this cake from weeks ago and finally I had the right time, the ingredients and the willingness at the same time. It's very simple and straightforward, with the amount of sugar was cut by half from the original recipe. It's sweet enough without the extra 100gr of icing sugar on the cake, all I needed was 100 gr of caster sugar, and the rest, just follow the easy recipe.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Before Leaving...

Shanghai was on Expo fever when we were there. Signs and billboards, mascots and all sort of Expo-related were in all places that went to. The city was promoting the event really well.



Just before we waited at our waiting area at the airport, our group decided on having another tiramisu from Mövenpick. Yum. Check out the expo logo on top of the cake!!

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Puff!



I made these cheese puffs yesterday, for suddenly I had the craving for them ... I simply want them made with cheese. No herbs, no black pepper. Just cheese.



I have made this type of puffs quite a few times recently and I think I'm getting a hang of it. The prep time needed is not much, it takes much longer to bake and more patience to wait. Like 45 minutes of us, waiting and looking at the oven glass window and drooling...... But it's worth the wait. Really.

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

Potted Plants

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Xintiandi is one of my few favorite places to visit in Shanghai. It is some way where the East meets the West. I love the building there, the restaurants, cafes and the shops and the whole atmosphere there.



The units there are noticeably decorated with plenty potted plants that are neatly and prettily arranged. They are simple and not over the top at all, but they give the place some sense of coolness, IMO. Here are some of them.



Monday, November 01, 2010

When She Bakes....



My little girl, who is no longer little, is good at preparing the food for herself mostly. Which is fine. The rests of us can take care of ourselves anyway. She barely needs help when she prepares her meal. Last Saturday, she prepared her own pizza using the sliced breads that her mom baked the day before.



She loved to have lots of cherry tomatoes on the base, some reasonable amount of chopped basil leaves and two to three types of tasty cheese like cheddars or parmesan . She dows not care much about putting salami or ham, but it is essential to top them up with her favorite, feta cheese. In to the oven for baking.

I am glad I do not have to do much to make her happy with her meal. I have no idea how they turned up, but I knew that they smelled so good. By the time I went back to the kitchen, all of them have vanished.