Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Lunch At Da Paolo Pizza Bar

I had a late lunch on Saturday at Da Paolo Pizza Bar in Holland Village. It had been years since we ate there and I can't really remember whether we had been there or not. To begin with, I have to say that I was there with Miss K and it was very unusual that I picked a Pizza Bar for lunch. We were in the neighborhood and I was so terribly hungry after visiting a store there. It was around 2:30Pm and I only had a small breakfast many hours before that.

 
We agreed on Colazione Americana for starter, it was a salad with romaine lettuce, oven-baked or maybe poached egg , mushroom, shaved parmesan. By the time the salad came, DH came and joined us. The salad was simple with simple dressing that we liked. 


The pizza was called Bosco D'Inverno, it had Mozarella, Mascarpone, Mushrooms and Black Truffle. The pizza has thin crust with  slight char at the edge. We enjoyed the pizza too. Simple and not complicated taste but delicious.


With little space left in my belly, I ordered Valrhona Chocolate Cake (warm) with Vanilla Gelato for dessert. It's yummy too. A place that I could return indeed.

Monday, January 30, 2012

Marble Cake Again!


We were expecting guests over the weekend, I'd like to have something baked to serve. My choices were Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies and Marble Cake. It's hard to go wrong with Marble Cake. It's easy to make and everyone loves it.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Lion Dance Again!


The management of the complex apparently invited a group to perform Lion Dance again this year. It started with the dancers standing on top of each other building up a tall human tower, topped with a little girl. A bit frightening considering the risk should something went wrong. But it all went alright.


I stood a bit far and my view was so much limited by the people that stood nearby the dancers. The  loud music was something familiar for this type of dance, but a couple of candies throwing as well as unleashing of confetti were something rather new to see for me. Hooray for Dragon year!!


Saturday, January 28, 2012

It Is Still Chinese New Year...


Chinese New Year lasts 15 days, it begins with the new moon on the first day of the first lunar month and ends on the full moon, which is 15 days later. So we are technically still celebrating Chinese New Year, since it began on 23 January.  Decorations are still up and around, our complex is no exception. It's not totally exaggerated, but some basic simple decorations seem to do the job.


Friday, January 27, 2012

Found!


I finally found a recipe for making Ciabatta that works. These are the the results from my second time making them after the first attempt which was a success too. It is crispy on the outside, moist inside with lots of beautiful holes. It tastes so good! Use them for sandwich, slice them and dip them in olive oil, spread the butter on them.... whichever way you choose. Just good!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Brings Out The Joy...



I have some Adenium plants that survive out of that many more that I planted. I don't mind some ten plants that I have, although sometimes they are a bit much as each rather needs individual care and at times it can be quite tricky as I am not quite sure what to do. The one in the picture above is one of those that are doing very well. The caudex shape is very nice, the leaves are plenty and the flowers are blossoming. Simply a beautiful thing to have in the garden.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Cat's Tongue


After baking Layer Cake yesterday, we ended up with so much egg white in the fridge. Today, I used some of them to make these cat's tongues since it had been a while since I made them.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Mini Indonesian Layer Cake

These days, I tend to make small quantity of anything. I made 1/4 of the recipe for this one. So sad, considering the same amount of work needed to prepare and to clean up afterwards. I have justifications though. This Indonesian Layer Cake  (Lapis Legit)  is absolutely egg yolk and butter intensive. It's so absolutely high in cholesterol and it is super time consuming in making. Some recipes require 50 egg yolks and 1 pound of butter or so. If you fail, there'll be so much waste! But when you get it right, it is so good! Just eat a bit and that should do!


It happens that there are only the two of us at home, so it is so right to make a little bit of it. I don't mind using 10 egg yolks and I miss good Layer Cake that's not oily or dry as many of them are in the shops here. The last time I made them was when our second daughter was only a few months old. She's 19 years old now. 

The cake turned out well too despite some substitutions of the ingredients, because I did not have any. I am pleased that I only have a small piece of cake, but delicious.


With such little ingredients, the cake had only ten layers. Ten layers are fine as long they are yummy!



Monday, January 23, 2012

Mini Blueberry Bundt Cake

Dragon year is finally here. Happy Lunar New Year! 


I made two types of desserts yesterday, egg tarts and the above, Mini Blueberry Bundt Cakes. The batter of the cake was really thick that it was quite a challenge to put it in the mold. In the end, it's all good, because the mini cakes were served upside down anyway. 

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Mango Dessert

 
It's Chinese New Year's Eve, we're hosting the reunion dinner for the first time, a mini one, only for the relatives who live in the country. So today was a busy day to prepare everything for dinner. A few days ago, a search for what restaurants offered for reunion dinner, landed us to Din Tai Fung in Paragon. It's my second time to that particular one. We had some noodles and Xiao Long Bao and I had Mango dessert with crushed ice, above. Nothing spectacular here. I simply tried and it was just okay. The interesting part is its presentation.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Ice Cream Sandwich


For S$1, you can get this ice cream sandwich from some street vendor in many places around the Island here. Miss P got hers from Clarke Quay when she was still back home last week (only a week ago, but it feels like forever ago!!!) We had dinner at Rendezvous Restaurant at Central by Clarke Quay that day.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Put Together...


I never really intended to have this breakfast. It began with the leftover mushroom and lots of egg whites I had in the fridge. I thought of frying them together, but I remembered that a had a loaf of bread that I baked yesterday that was barely touched yet. I cut a sliced and grilled it on the pan. I put the egg and a slice of cheddar on top and waited a bit until the cheese melted. I, further, thought that I should put some vegetables on them too, to make it healthier. Prettier too. Olive oil, salt and pepper on top. Now breakfast was ready!

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Egg Tarts...


I have not been an egg tart eater, my kids apparently are fond of them. After talking about it for so long, I finally made them at home. I looked at some recipes and watched a youtube video on making them and then decided which recipe to try. It was a simple process. To make it even easier, I used frozen pastry. I made 1/4 recipe only, it's six mini pastries altogether. I would use the same recipe again, the one from the video. They are good!


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

The Rectangular And The Round Ones...


Both were made from the same dough, they taste equally superb, especially when they are fresh out of the oven. They taste so heavenly that makes it difficult to stop once you start eating one. The recipe I used is from widely known source, New York Times, adapted from Jacques Torres. Miss K was having fun and decided to have some rectangular ones. Some of the round ones were taken by Miss P for her trip back to DC. The leftover dough was stored in the freezer for future baking.


Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Window Shopping At Bugis Street...


It was the second last weekend before Chinese New Year, naturally Bugis street shops were packed. I think, to the best that I could remember,, it was my first time there.


This is all about shops and Chinese New Year stuffs, plenty of them. Unfortunately, despite all the abundance of things, we went back home empty handed. 





Sunday, January 15, 2012

Pasta Dishes They Have....

When I go to any Italian restaurants, I try to stay away from pasta. But my family members seem to be drawn to them. DH and our two kids picks for their lunch at La Nonna yesterday were also pasta dishes.


 Miss P had Spinach Fettuccine with Prawn in Saffron Cream Sauce.


 The above is Linguini pasta with Crab Meat in Tomato Cream Sauce with fresh Basil, DH's selection.


Miss K decided to have Gnocchi with cream sauce and lemon zest and Dark Chocolate Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream for dessert. Yum, isn't it?

 Gnocchi with Four Cheese Sauce

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Rock Melon With Parma Ham


We had lunch at La Nonna today. I saw some of the restaurant's Specials on the board and queried the waitress of what Rock Melon with Parma Ham was. I know what Rock Melon and Parma Ham are, but was not sure what else or how the dish was going to be presented. I was told that there would be some green salad and decided that it would be my lunch. The dish came as it was described, I don't think there was any dressing on the greens so I put some olive oil and balsamic vinegar that were on the table to give a little kick on the dish. I love the size, as I was not too stuffed by the time I finished. I was able to taste a bit of unfinished spinach fettuccine with prawns. I thought that a salad like that would be a great idea to serve at home too. It's pretty much what you see is what you get. I would dress the salad, however.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Friday The 13th!

Only one who listens can speak.
Dag Hammarksjold


This post has nothing to do much with the title, other than the fact that it is written on Friday, 13 January. It has been like any other Fridays, nothing spooky whatsoever. Yesterday, we were low with our egg stock, it was down to just one egg left in the fridge. Coincidentally, I craved for this Parmesan Cheese Crackers , which does not need any eggs to make. 


This is Mark Bittman's New York Times recipe and you can see the recipe right here! It is very easy to make, really fast and the outcome is super delicious! Yummy!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Dadar Gulung/Kuih Dadar


This snack is known as Dadar Gulung in Indonesia, while in Singapore and Malaysia, its name is Kuih Dadar. Essentially, it is a rolled crepe filled with sweetened grated coconut. This is one of my favorite snacks. The grated coconut is cooked with pandan leaves, giving the filling a very aromatic taste. The green color of the crepes also comes from pandan, although in my case, I used green colored pandan essence. The recipe is here.


Wednesday, January 11, 2012

The Gallerie


The Gallerie is the name of the food court at Marina Square. We were there last week to get a couple of shirts for my brothers as gift. It was after 1PM and most of the seats there were taken, but we managed to get a large table in the corner for the DH and me, with a nice view above and more. The food court is on the 4th floor. It's not so high but the view is lovely. People can see the Flyer, Marina Bay Sands as well as Esplanade.



I  had Nasi Padang with Beef Rendang and some Sauteed Vegetables (above), while DH went for dry Yong Tao Fu (below). The food was simply okay, but I would not return just for the food.


Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread


I made a mini Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread this morning, using the leftover brioche dough in the fridge that had been kept for a few days. I always love Cinnamon Sugar Bread and this one was also no exception. We had so much stuff in the fridge and it now has begun clearing up (sigh.....) We are working hard on using up the leftovers and it's wonderful to see the space again inside the fridge. I love space, spacious space, more than Cinnamon Bread! Yay.

Monday, January 09, 2012

I Love Rainbow!



I can promise you that I will take pictures of the rainbow, if and when I see one or double and have the camera with me. I love the colors of the rainbow. These rainbow pictures were taken two days ago. It was even prettier as the sky in the background was blue and very clear. Rainbow gives me joy and hope!


Sunday, January 08, 2012

More Chicken Rice...


Our search for the the Kuih Bahulu mould took us to Seah Street, a street that has plenty of eating places including one Chicken Rice restaurant that was visited by DH before. He always loves Chicken Rice and I did not mind having it, I was hungry. We missed the baking shop that we were supposed to go to, I think because we were so distracted by the sights of food after food. The taste of the rice and the chicken were alright, but for $4 per serving, it was a bit on the small side. I was still hungry by the time I finished the rice and we also ordered a plate of vegetables that we cleaned up. The best part was its chili sauce!