Wednesday, February 29, 2012

29 February...

 "I am still determined to be cheerful and happy, in whatever situation I may be; for I have also learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our dispositions, and not upon our circumstances."
- Martha Washington

29 February comes only once every four years and we are now approaching the end of the day. The end of February. Two months have gone by again, so super fast. I really do not know what happened to them. Everyday has been been about planning things out, working things out, dealing with problems and work, having guests, cleaning up and more guests. So there goes the time!


March is arriving in hours. We don't have Spring to look forward to in this island, but everyday is a new day that we ought to be grateful of. Let's move forward and enjoy life and do not let anyone ruin our happiness, including the very cold, miserable and unfriendly staff of the company that I am dealing with at present! (wink!) See you in March!


Monday, February 27, 2012

15 Minutes Away...


This picture was taken approximately 15 minutes after I walked rather briskly away from home, trying to exercise aside from having an active lifestyle. I always like the colorful buildings there with the water and the boats on the side. Lovely scene. I have not been back since, shame on me! I have been failing to prioritize it. But then again, I don't really have to walk there to exercise. Other forms are accepted too. I know, it's just my lame excuse!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Behind The Fried Noodles....


Eating Fried Rice Noodles is so homey to me. It reminds me of my childhood when  my older siblings cooked them for the family. It also it reminds me of my sister who left this world to a better and more peaceful place. When I slice the green onion, I remember her helping me in the kitchen in my previous place. When I pack the leftover, I remember packing the noodles for her in the hospital. Occasionally I also bought bananas for her too, they were from Seven Eleven at Singapore General Hospital. Sometimes she asked me to eat her hospital food as she rather ate the food from me. Sometimes I sigh when I think about that, once in a while, I need to grab a piece of tissue paper to dab my teary eyes. To this very day, I still think of her and wish she had stayed around a bit longer. But God has a different plan for her, he is The Boss!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Fried Wontons


As much as we'd like to, we can't completely avoid fried food. Occasionally, I indulge myself and make my family do the same, into making some deep fried food and soaked up the goodness of them....  Here are some fried Wontons that I made on Tuesday with homemade dipping sauce. The filling was a combination of minced chicken, minced shrimp and water chestnut.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Cheese Swirls...


I think I have fallen in love with ready-to-use frozen puff pastry, they are so easy to use and the result looks so good, as if they came from a professional bakery. For these Cheese Swirls, I used a combination of grated Cheddar, Colby and Parmesan cheeses and brushed the side with egg wash. They are good for snack or breakfast on Sunday morning when the weather is cool or simply when you are hungry.


Monday, February 20, 2012

Sunday Dim Sum!


We went out for Dim Sum yesterday, I don't know why but I longed for it. We went to Vivocity and had no reservation anywhere, thinking that it should not be a problem to get a table for three over there. Of course we were wrong. The first place that DH wanted to dine in was Crystal Jade Dining In, and we were informed that we had to wait for around 45 minutes. I asked him to leave our phone number anyway. The second place we tried to go to was Tunglok Signature. There was a man (staff) on the table looking down at the appointment book and ignored us. I asked and he looked up to us and said that the place was fully booked. "The whole day?" "Yes!" Hhmmh... no wonder he was snobbish.


So we went to look again, there were so many restaurants there, it just happened the first two that we picked were booked. It's a bit unusual. We walked and walked and suddenly got a phone call from Crystal Jade, informing us that there's a table for us. We went there, and yes, there's a long table shared by a party of two men and another party of three adults and two little girls with runny nose.  We were seated in the middle. Beggars can't be choosy! We took it.


We had roast pork, the first picture above. Miss K who was full to begin with, ordered Egg Tarts (above) and Lo Mai Kai. We also had Char Siu Soe (below), which is  pastry filled with barbecued pork and Shao Mai. I guess, we were quite hungry, we ordered Fish with long beans and Penang Fried Kway Tiaw (see below) too. Thinking back, that's a lot of food for three people. one of whom ate so little because she was stuffed from late breakfast!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Lemon Meringue Tart

It's Saturday. We had a couple of workers coming over in the morning to work on the drain in the garden. We then had afternoon dentist appointment that started a half an hour later that the appointed time. How annoying! The dentist apologized and blamed the earlier patient  that came late. This came from a clinic that would call us when we are not there yet on the dot, for our appointment. Anyway. It was quick cleaning for the three of us, it was practically 10 minutes spent on each, we got clean teeth to begin with and the damage was still full price at $235. That's a quick way to make money, study to become a dentist!



We were starving by the time we finished with the dentist and headed to Da Paolo Pizza Bar again. DH seemed to long for the place since we had pizza there less than a month ago. This time, for dessert, Miss K chose Lemon Meringue Tart that she loved so dearly. I helped her out and found it just okay, but I want to make them at home myself. I think it will be more satisfactory.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Got Them All, ...

I got the fire inside of me. To start going to the gym. I got my new trainers out, the one pair that I got months ago. I had no running shorts, a shocker. So I ran to the mall nearby and got myself a pair. I got my shirt, I got the gym and I got the special playlist in my iPod ready. Too bad I ran out of motivation today. No exercise.  I got dinner to prepare!


Sunday, February 12, 2012

Ahi Taki Salad


We had lunch at Skinny Pizza after church today. I had a very late breakfast that actually was still kind of full. Since I sat down anyway, I opted for a plate of salad to fulfill my dietary requirement. My pick was Ahi Taki Salad. The tuna was nicely done, it tasted good and was the right size. Enjoyable.

Thursday, February 09, 2012

Serene Looking...


6:55AM, beautiful Wednesday morning sky.

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Nutella Chocolate Scones


I am a wee bit late in celebrating World Nutella Day on 5 February. Only yesterday, I managed to make something with Nutella. I decided on making Chocolate Scones with a Nutella layer inside. They turned out better than I anticipated. Miss K who reinstated that she did not eat scones to remind me that she would not eat what I made, ended up eating some and loving them. I adapted this recipe, omitted egg and hazelnuts.

Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Brazilian Cheese Bread: Pão de Queijo


There are so many versions on how to make this delicious bread and I have baked them in the past before. It had been a while and I could not remember exactly why I was not too crazy about making them. But out of love, I made them again today. I think I found my way around and getting more comfortable with the process. The result is a yummy, chewy, light, a bit cheesy and addictive snack that keep on making us wanting more. One is just not enough. 


Sunday, February 05, 2012

Daily Affirmation Repost

I have posted this Daily Affirmation by a little girl named Jessica, back in 2010. I came across the same video, except this one is dubbed with a song called "New Soul" by Yael Naim. The music seems  to fit well and this is a good reminder for me to get myself going.

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Cinnamon And Cheese Rolls


With a half recipe, I made 12 rolls of them. At the last minute, I decided to make 6 pieces of Cinnamon Rolls and six pieces of Cheese Rolls. I did not need to make too many of them, because there would not be that many people around anyway. We were having a couple of guests over.


I only started with the process at around 1 PM and I was expecting them to be ready by 3:30PM. I was aware that the time was really tight for bread making, but I was able to raise the dough in shorter time, thanks to a bowl of hot water! Instead of putting them together in one large round pan, I put them individually on muffin pan. As a result, each of them had a nice golden brown bottom, side and top. They also required less time to bake.


The result is as good looking as always. There's joy seeing newly baked goodies from oven. Very inviting!

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Chinese Gold Ingots...


I dropped by at one of the bakeries at Ngee Ann City and found these little buns with interesting shape.  They are small in size, one piece would not fill anybody up. The filling is barbecued pork. The bakery named them something Ingot.


They do look similar to the Chinese Gold Ingot we received in the box with oranges around them for Chinese New Year.  What a creative thing!


Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Adding Colors...


Over the past two months, I have been adding more silicone molds to my collections.  I do not really need them, it's a matter of wanting them much more than needing them. How could I resist the above from a local store here, called Lemon Zest. They were so adorable and they were on very good discount.


My excuse for getting more Madeleine molds? Well, they are slightly have different shapes than the ones I already have and they are bright red! I did not have any red ones yet! These molds were purchased from Amazon. So was the one below. I liked the shapes of these Mini Bundt molds, They are pretty! And I am weak. So what?