Thursday 27 December 2012

Happy New Year 2013!

Teh:

Dear readers (yes all 5 of you!),

we are coming to the end of 2012. Time flew by very quickly when you look back and reflect. Around the same time last year, i made some resolutions. Let's take a look at them and see if i managed any!

2012 Resolutions:

1. To get 1000 hits at our blog (go spam bots!) before 2013 - I'm proud to say we are at 4000+ hits now!
2. To weigh 54kg by 29 Feb 2012 - 54kg never happened =(
3. To go  _ _ _    _ _ _ _ this year - Neither did this =(


Ok so i got one out of 3. Not too bad! 

Just the other day i had a revelation. I felt very strongly that 2013 is going to be a year where DREAMS COME TRUE! Without further ado, these are my 2013 New Year Resolutions:

1. To get 10,000 hits at our blog (spam bots and readers, combine and double your efforts!) before 2014.
2. To weigh 56 kg by 28 Feb 2013 (yeah let's be more realistic this time around!)
3. Get attached and stay attached for happily ever after!


Happy New Year to everyone!



Monday 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas 2012!

Dear All,

it is that time of the year again where we are thankful for the all the good things that happened to us and glad that we tide over the bad ones!

Lim and I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Whichever way you are celebrating Christmas, have a blast!

Monday 10 December 2012

Singapore Food Industries Warehouse Sale! - 15-16 Dec and 22-23 Dec

Teh:

Singapore Food Industries is having warehouse sale again! 15-16 Dec and 22-23 Dec, 9.30am - 1.30pm. Those of you who are preparing for a feast for Christmas, you should go! Check out their facebook for more details - Facebook Link

The last time i went, i blogged about it as well (previous post link). Not too sure if they are selling the same things but i don't think it'll differ that much.

By the way, i tried their farmpride popcorn chicken the last time, it was rather disappointing. I prefer "Tasty Bites" popcorn chicken. It is available at Sheng Siong. They taste exactly like KFC's! Except your's will be piping hot and crispy when you bite into them! Add some KFC's chilli sauce and ketchup to have the "real" KFC's popcorn chicken!

Do not buy the IJ's fish fingers! You have been warned.

The frozen salmon fillet is a great buy! Tempted to buy some scallops next!

I'm becoming an auntie.....

Friday 7 December 2012

Boston Seafood Shack

Teh:

Yesterday we were at Boston Seafood Shack (http://www.bostonseafoodshack.com.sg/#home-page-block). There was a promotion going on from now till end of Dec - 1 for 1 fish and chips from $9.50 onwards! We have never been there before so we decided to give it a try. Office ladies are always looking for good bargains!

There were 4 types of fish to choose from. Cod ($12.50), Red Snapper ($13.50), Barramudi ($13.50) and Catch of the day ($9.50, which obviously was Dory/Sutchi fish). It is a self-service ordering place. You place your order and pay at the counter. They'll give you this thing that lights up when your order is ready (similar to the ones Aston uses at their coffeeshop stalls). For any order of sandwich or fish and chips, top up $2.80 to get a canned drink and a cookie. Please ask the staff for the cookie if they forget about it. That happened to us.


The fish and chips came wrapped up in paper.


And inside, it looks like this. 2 pieces (or more) of battered fish with fries and a wedge of lemon. To be fair, everything came piping HOT, just the way i like it. But my colleague said her fish wasn't hot enough. Maybe they fried her's first? If you are wondering about the portion, i think it is quite similiar to Long John Silver's. Except the batter here is much lighter and crispier. Since it was 1 for 1, 2 sets for $9.50 is not expensive for this quality. But i don't think we will want to pay $9.50 for one of this.

Our search for good food at Star Vista continues....


Boston Seafood Shack
1 Vista exchange green #01-12 Singapore 138617
Tel: +65.6694.3984
Email: mail@eateries.com

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Ondeh Ondeh!

Teh:

Ondeh Ondeh


I made these ondeh ondehs 2 weekends ago. I went overboard and cooked too many! I think at least 50 pieces. So please cut down the recipe if you want less. Please only use good quality coconut sugar if you want great tasting ondeh ondehs!


Ingredients (makes at least 50 pieces):
1.2kg sweet potato
350g tapioca starch
300g grated coconut
300g coconut sugar powder

Method:
1. Remove the skin of the sweet potato, cut them into pieces and steam until soft.
2. Mash the sweet potato while they still hot. It is easier to mash them while they are hot.
3. When the sweet potato mash is cool enough to handle, mix in the tapioca starch until it combines into a dough that does not really stick to your hand.
4. Next, roll a small piece of the dough in your hand, flatten it, cup it and put some coconut sugar in it. Seal it and roll it up.
5. When you are done rolling all the dough, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the balls (maybe 10 at a time) to the boiling water. When the sweet potato balls float up, they are done! But i suggest boiling them for awhile more make sure the sugar inside melts.
6. Drain the balls with a sift. Throw them immediately into a bowl of grated coconut while they are still hot and slightly wet. The hot balls will help stick the grated coconut onto them!
7. Viola! Ondeh ondeh ready!

* Note - If you want to keep the ondeh ondeh overnight, do not coat them with the coconut first. Do not put them in the fridge. They should be fine if left outside. Coat the coconut only when you want to eat them. For coconut to last longer (for the day), you can add some salt to it and steam it for 10 minutes. This will prevent them from going bad. Mine was good to eat even the next day, after spending a night in the fridge.

But of course these gems are best eaten on the day they are prepared! Enjoy!

Monday 26 November 2012

Auric Pacific Warehouse Sale! 29 Nov - 1 Dec 2012!

Teh:


Lam Soon Warehouse Sale 2012

Teh:

Lam Soon is having a warehouse sale!

Date            :      1 Dec 2012
Time            :      9am to 5pm
Address       :      63 Hillview Avenue #04-18 Lam Soon Industrial Building Singapore 669569
Telephone    :      67687139 / 140

Lot of offers on their famous house brand like Knife, Naturel, Drinho, Del Monte, Zip, Paseo and MasterFood etc.  There is food sampling and free gift for minimum $30 purchase.  No GST.

Wednesday 21 November 2012

MacDonald's BLT Burger

Teh:

A couple of days ago, we went to MacDonald's for lunch. Of course i must try the new Chicken BLT burger! To break it down, it is essentially a McChicken with a slice of tomato and some bacon strips. Although there were quite a few strips of bacon, but they were like freeze-dry bacon. Thin, not exactly crispy and not 100% my idea of a bacon. How does the burger taste? No harm sticking to the $2 McChicken.

Recent visits to Mac no longer gives me the same satisfaction as it used to. In contrast, for abit more money, i can get real chicken meat from a burger at Texas Chicken or KFC. Or when we get older, we began to wonder which parts of the animal go into those fast food patty. Eye lids? Cheeks? Nostril? Give me the Zinger any day!

Thursday 8 November 2012

Mayer Grand Expo Sale @ Singapore Expo 9 – 11 Nov 2012


Teh:


Maybe an early Christmas present for myself - Kitchenaid!!! But i doubt it'll be within my budget. Any kind soul willing to do a little sponsoring? Yeah, guess not. lol.

Edited after making a trip down on Friday evening:
- Kitchenaid $599 (still not within my budget!)
- Ice cream maker $299
- There were juicers, coffee maker, kitchen hoods, stove hobs, built-in ovens and even washing machines for sale.
- Not a whole lot of things to see if you ask me unless you are looking for those stuff.


Mayer Grand Expo Sale @ Singapore Expo 9 – 11 Nov 2012

Starts Tomorrow
 Download iCal Calendar Entry View Events Calendar
Starts
9 November 2012
Ends
11 November 2012
Venue
Singapore Expo
Mayer2j will beGvaS having aJ MayerQumu 7Expo SaleGMd kevent at Singapore Expo Hall1y 3B from 9Bp5VNovember Vto y11 November 2012, 10.30am to 9pm
There will also6 be Ya special sampling iv2and purchaseHM for 6ZPin Yup Bird’s Nest at the event.
See ad image for more details

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Singapore Food Industries Warehouse Sale Up To 70% Off 10 – 11 Nov 2012


Teh:


Who wants to check this out? Me! Me! Me!


Edited after making a trip there on 10 Nov 2012 morning:
- There were frozen food as well as dry goods.
- Off the top of my head, here are the things i saw:

Frozen Food
frozen scallops (500g @ $18.50, 1kg @ $33), calamari rings (1kg @ $12), skin on salmon fillet ($13.50 per kg), Liv butter (250g @ $2.50), frozen boneless chicken leg (1kg @ $5), frozen boneless chicken breast, chillded striploin, chilled tenderloin, frozen oxtail ($10 per kg), chilled lamb rack, beef shabu shabu, I&J fish fingers (450g @ $4.50), Farmpride popcorn chicken (400g @ $4), shredded morzarella cheese (2kg @ $18), sutchi fillet, apples, pears, mushrooms, Farmpride chicken nuggets, Farmpride chicken patties (for burgers), hotdogs, frozen cod, frozen chicken (800g @ $3) and many more!

Dried Food:
Ben & Jerry ice cream tub ($13.50), heinz ketchup, nutella, dried bee hoon, bibigo korean meat marinate ($2.50 and 3.50), leggo's tomato puree, magnum ice cream, a variety of nuts from "Nature Wonder" and plenty of UCA cassava chips and more!


Singapore Food Industries Warehouse Sale Up To 70% Off 10 – 11 Nov 2012 - Singapore Food Industries 5 Nov 2012

Coming Soon
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This image is from the article Singapore Food Industries Warehouse Sale Up To 70% Off 10 – 11 Nov 2012. Click the title to view the original article and more images, where available.
Singapore Food Industries 5 Nov 2012

Tuesday 6 November 2012

Holland Village Coffee Bean - Omelette

Teh:

We had the chance to drop by the newly renovated Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf at Holland Village. I must say i quite like the deco inside. Pity i forgot to take a picture of it. It is also a good place to people watch, whether you can seated inside or outside. I'll definitely be coming back!

Along with the new deco, we were presented with a new menu. I'm quite an egg person so i ordered an omelette (Yes again!).

Omelette @ Coffee Bean Holland Village

To be fair, there was only 1 person working in the kitchen. There must be at least 10 orders (5 belonging to our table) outstanding during the time i placed my order and when the dish actually came. This omelette comes with turkey ham, mushroom and tomatoes. The ingredients were diced and the ham cut into small strips. The only way to describe how this omelette is cooked is to ask you to imagine ordering an omelette at a hotel buffet breakfast's egg station. The ingredients are stirred fried briefly, the beaten eggs are added to the pan and everything is mixed together. When the egg is cooked, it gets rolled up. Needlessly to say, the one at Paul's was much better. But it's cheaper at coffee bean. This omelette cost $11.50 nett. It also came with free coffee or tea or ice tea. I think there are at least 3 eggs in this omelette because i felt really full! However, i don't think i'll order it again. My colleague's egg benedict looked alot better. But that's another story for another time.

Thursday 1 November 2012

Brotzeit @ Star Vista

Teh:

Brotzeit - Pork Knuckle
I finally went to Brotzeit to try out their famous Pork Knuckles!!!!! The skin was unbelievably crispy. However every bite into the skin yielded at least half a teaspoon of oil in your mouth! I could only stomach 2 small pieces of skin. Next i tried the meat. Although it was not hard, it could be more tender. Unfortunately, i think the meat was not seasoned at all. There was no taste and it was abit on the dry side. The pork knuckles did come with a sauce on the side but it was nothing to rave about. I suspect they didn't use the lard to make the sauce. The large knuckle came with 2 sides - potato salad and sauerkraut.

The 6 of us shared 3 other set lunch meals (Seafood Salad $15++, Meat Skewers $19++ and Beer Batter Fish and Chips $17++) along with the order of pork knuckle ($36++). The set lunches came with a choice of soup of the day (cream of tomato on the day we visited) or a medley of starters.

Brotzeit - Cream of Tomato

Brotzeit - Medley of Starters

Brotzeit - Medley of Starters


Brotzeit - Seafood Salad
My favourite was the Seafood Salad with it's generous serving of smoked salmon and sundried tomatoes. Plus the salad was much needed to compliment the meaty knuckles. 


Brotzeit - Meat Skewers
The Meat Skewers was odd. The meat was slightly tough and overdone. The cocktail sausages were normal. It is not something I will order again.


Brotzeit - Beer Batter Fish
 The Beer Batter Fish was disappointing. I'm not sure why the batter was kind of wet and got separated from the fish very easily. Maybe i was disappointed because my own homemade Beer Batter Fish tasted much better. (Sorry for the blur picture!)


On the whole, it was an enjoyable meal. I will be back again to try out the other dishes as well as to have some german beer! I must ask my friends for a "lim jiu" session there.


Brotzeit
The Star Vista, Singapore
1 Vista Exchange Green
The Star Vista, #02-11,
Singapore 138617
t : (65) 66943652


Wednesday 31 October 2012

Paul @ Taka

Teh:

I was with my friend at Paul, the bakery on the 3rd floor of Takashimaya. I got there early enough to avoid queuing too long for a table. There were only 2-3 group of people in front of me and i got seated fairly quickly. It was 12.30pm on a public holiday.

Whenever i walked pass Paul, it was always crowded. After having a meal there, i would say it is decent but certainly not somewhere i will queue to get in. Maybe i didn't eat the right food? I jokingly told my friend Paul is a bakery but we didn't order any bread nor cakes nor tarts.

Paul Bakery @ Takashimaya
I had the Omelette ($14.90) and my friend went for the Salmon Salad ($18.90). The omelette came with turkey ham, sauteed white button mushroom and 2 bits of potato in them. It also came with a side salad full of fancy garden greens. Yes, the expensive type of garden greens. I found the dressing to be too sour. The omelette looked as if it was hastily put together and dished up. Something i would cringe to serve if i were the chef who had with too many orders, hence there was really no time to beautify it and secretly hoped the customer wouldn't think too badly of it. Yup, that probably went through his mind. To be fair, the egg tasted creamy and nice. Pity on the presentation. Apparently they used the same dressing on my friend's Salmon Salad. Although the salmon serving was generous, she found the dressing too sourish for her taste and could not finish the greens that were soaked at the bottom.

Will we be back? Maybe not between 11.30am and 3pm because they do not serve the breads during that timing. Maybe after 3pm on a lazy (or rainy) weekend or weekday afternoon to sip hot tea and have some dessert.


Paul 

391 Orchard Road
#03-16/16A/17 Ngee Ann City
Tel: 68365932

Thursday 25 October 2012

Le Creuset Family Sale Up To 70% Off @ Traders Hotel 25 – 27 Oct 2012


Teh:


Look what i found! -

Le Creuset Family Sale Up To 70% Off @ Traders Hotel 25 – 27 Oct 2012

aLe ObL9Creuset will be havingpn4T a FamilyW SaleF from 256Q October XEto 27bBJ g52October 2012, w6fx10am to 6pm at Traders Hotel (1A Cuscaden Road), PenangYVS Room Rwith up lto 70% off
ThesES sale Mifeatures OELe Creuset kitchenwareQot products going Uwhat up toh0sJ 70%WaEL off.qYmp No xAH delivery service is provided. WhileB stocks lasts!

Monday 22 October 2012

Leggo's Carbonara Sauce

Teh:

My sister has been pestering me to cook pasta at home. I finally obliged when i saw Leggo's Carbonara sauce on sale at Sheng Siong. 2 bottles for $7.40 (1 bottle for $4.50). The twin pack came with a free pack of fusilli.

I figured 1 pack of pasta makes 7 portions. 2 bottles of ready made sauce will probably provide enough for 7 portions. That means it's around $1.10 per portion without ingredients. Even with some mushroom and ham thrown in, a portion is still cost less than $2. A good deal! If i were to make my own sauce, 1 litre of greenfields whipping cream cost $10.80! It makes 5 portions. On top of that, i still have to get my own pasta and paramesan cheese for flavouring. The premix won this round.

Depending on how thick you want the sauce to be, 1 bottle of sauce is good for 3-4 portions with some water added. I did not need to add any more salt, just abit of ground black pepper for flavour. The sauce turned out to be surprisingly good! It was a little sourish (not that it has turned bad) which is weird for carbonara but still tasty nevertheless. On the whole, it was pretty effortless. I boiled the pasta until just before it is completely cooked. I chopped some garlic to stir fry with whatever ingredients i wanted to add to the pasta (mushroom and ham in this case). When the ingredients are cooked, i added the sauce and some water to heat it up. The pasta goes in last for a quick mix and the meal is ready to be served! If you are in the mood for baked pasta, do all the steps as above, put some morzzarella cheese on the pasta before baking it in a hot oven. You are in for a sinful treat!

Leggo's Carbonara Sauce

Leggo's Carbonara Fusilli

Thursday 18 October 2012

Cinnamon Buns

Teh:

Sorry for my period of absence! I'm back with this fantastic Cinnamon Bun recipe! I came across this at Chef John's website (www.foodwishes.com) and he came across it at Allrecipe.com. Here is a youtube video to show how to make the buns! I just learned how to put youtube videos on the blog! How cool is that?!



Here's the recipe to these delicious buns! Those words in brackets are some of my own additional notes.


Sticky Cinnamon Buns
·     1 teaspoon white sugar                                8g instant yeast
·          
1/2 cup warm water (45 degrees C)               1/2 cup milk
·          
50g white sugar                                           57g butter
·          
1 teaspoon salt                                            2 eggs, beaten
·          
500g all-purpose flour                                   170g butter
·          
165g brown sugar                                         1 cup chopped pecans, divided (optional)
·          
165g brown sugar                                         1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
·          
57g melted butter

Method:
1.    In a small bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon sugar and yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Mix in 50g sugar, 57g butter and salt; stir until melted. Let cool until lukewarm.

2.    In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, milk mixture, eggs and 180g  flour; stir well to combine. Stir in the remaining flour, 50g cup at a time, beating well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. (You may need quite abit of flour for kneading. If you are using a kitchen aid, this will be a breeze~~~)

3.    Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

4.    While dough is rising, melt 170g butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir in 165g brown sugar, whisking until smooth. Pour into greased 9x13 inch baking pan. Sprinkle bottom of pan with 1/2 cup pecans; set aside.

5.    Melt remaining 57g butter; set aside. Combine remaining 165g brown sugar, 1/2 cup pecans, and cinnamon; set aside.

6.    Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, roll into an 18x14 inch rectangle. Brush with 2 tablespoons melted butter, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered; sprinkle with brown sugar cinnamon mixture. Starting at long side, tightly roll up, pinching seam to seal. Brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. With serrated knife, cut into 15 pieces; place cut side down, in prepared pan. (I used the dental floss to cut the dough. It is much easier. Put the floss under the dough, bring up the two ends and criss-cross them to cut. Repeat steps until you finished cutting the dough. Place the dough on the tray. Mine were not spaced out nicely because in my excitement, i cut and placed at the same time. What a bad idea. lol.) Cover and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in volume (They may take less than 1 hour to double in size. Watch out for it!) Meanwhile, preheat oven to 190 degrees C.

7.    Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown (mine only took 15 minutes to become golden brown! But for fear of the buns not cooked through, i lowered the temp to 160 degrees and cooked for another 5-10 mins. I guess how fast they brown depends on your oven). Let cool in pan for 3 minutes, then invert onto serving platter. Scrape remaining filling from the pan onto the rolls.


Here are some pictures i took. Although my end result did not look as delicious as the video's, the buns were still very well received! Give it a try!


Dough before proving

Cinnamon Buns - After cutting

Cinnamon Buns - After proving 2nd time

Cinnamon Buns - After baking

Cinnamon Buns with glaze


Monday 24 September 2012

Breakfast at Breko vs Breakfast at Prive

Teh:

What is it with me and breakfast? I think breakfast food are comfort food. No idea why. Maybe i just like eggs, bacon, sausage, toast and hash brown all in one. I was at Prive and Breko for breakfast food recently. Can't help but do a comparison of the two. Let's take a look.

Breko - Brekofast $8.90 ++

It was a Sunday morning and i was at Holland Village's Breko. I was there before 10am. The place was already half full. Upon surveying the menu, we decided to eat here instead of at Hatched because my sister thinks its cheaper at Breko. She's right. I ordered the Brekofast. It came with 1 sunny side up, scrambled eggs, bacon, 2 small sausages, English muffins and half a grilled tomato. I didn't understand why they wanted to serve 2 eggs done in different ways. My guess is it's for people who cannot decide between sunny side up and scrambled eggs. The sausages were normal. They serve the same ones at Coffee Bean. Even the scrambled eggs were oddly familiar to Coffee Bean's. Same supplier?  My favourite part of this breakfast is the muffin arrived piping hot and the bacon was crispy. Not only do you get what you see for $8.90, all breakfast meals come with free refill of hot coffee or tea (only until 12pm). There was variety of tea flavour to choose from. The only thing missing from this breakfast was HASH BROWN! You gotta have hash brown please!




Prive - Ultimate Brekkie $20 ++

For $20++, i was thinking this better be good! Of course you have to deduct $5 for the view at Keppel Bay Marina but still? This breakfast came with eggs, a sausage, bacon, sauteed button mushroom, grilled tomato, a small salad, toast and hash brown. You can choose the type of eggs you want. I was deciding between poached and scrambled. Poached eggs because Prive is popular for their Egg Benedicts. But after that said, poached eggs are fairly easy do. Scrambled eggs require some technique. So i decided on scrambled eggs. It was nicely done with a hint of cream that made it smooth. The rest of things were only ok. One thing i realised was everything that came was lukewarm. Why? It felt like everything was already pre-cooked and assembled in the kitchen (except the eggs of course). The sausage was barely warm, the bacon was not crispy, the mushrooms were understandably cooked before hand, the hash brown has been left somewhere for awhile, the toast was toasted too early. I was disappointed.

Verdict - I prefer Breko's breakfast on the account that the muffin and bacon were exactly how i liked them. I cannot stand lukewarm stuff and for a $20++ (or $15++) Prive breakfast, i felt short changed.

I was tempted to order french fries at Breko to make up for the missing hash brown. Good thing my sister talked me out of it. In the end, i stopped by Wendy's and got myself a real hash brown. A piping hot one at $1.10. Mission accomplished.

Maybe next weekend i'll go Hatched. Do they have hash brown?