Archive | October, 2009

Tai Lok Meen (Hokkien Mee)

27 Oct

i had a craving for tai lok meen for the longest time.
and whenever i think about this noodles.
i think about my dad.
and how much he loves this.
or how he would rather sit in a coffee shop in KL while we shop
just so he could order a plate of the best tai lok meen ever.
and slowly enjoy it for the night.
it makes me smile. and it makes me wanna spend more time with my family (:

so i’ve been looking around and I found the recipe on my love.my food
and it looked really yummy.
i went to BoxHill to buy the ingredients
and got down to cooking it for dinner tonight!
and boy was I a happy girl.
it wasn’t as yummy as the one in KL
but it was YUMMY enough! hehe
We enjoyed it so much we almost finish the whole pot. haha

so here’s the recipe!
give it a go cause it was really easy to cook it.
and it was really yummilicious!
more photos and recipe

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creamy seafood spinach pasta

25 Oct
it’s Sunday! (:
and Sunday normally means either a baking day
or cooking something that I love. hehe
just to end the week on a high note.
so tonight.
I decided to cook creamy seafood pasta
which I haven’t made in ages!

baby loved it! (: hehe
good to see him happy. hehe
espcially cause he is doing his assignments and studying for his papers.
this meal was to cheer him up a little! hehe

it’s really quick to cook.
easy as well,
you will get delicious pasta in 30 mins or less!

so here’s the recipe
hope you guys enjoy it as much as we did!
recipe and step-by-step photos

breakfast at Issus

25 Oct

Cafe Issus
8 Centre Place
Melbourne Vic 3000

Tel : (03) 9663 8844

We just couldn’t get out of bed this morning
so we were late for the 10am mass.
we decided to go for breakie
before going for the mass at 1230pm. (:

we’ve been to Issus before
but this time, we both ate something different!
and their food is really pretty good I must say.
the portion size is quite huge!

today.
i decided to try the Mediterranean Meat Balls with baked eggs!

and it was so good.
the thickness of the tomato sauce
just made such a good dipping sauce for the bread! hehe
it was yummy!

the eggs were done just nice.
in between the runny and the overdone. (:
together with the meatballs and the bread.
a perfect match!

and with the rocket salad
everything just went really well.
i loved it. hehe

baby had the big breakfast!
and it was really quite big! hahaha

it came with bacon, mushrooms,baked beans, hashbrown sausages and bread!

we were all stuffed by the time we finish our breakfast. hehe
been a while since we had breakfast out on a Sunday (:

and with chai lattes and each others company
what could be better?

loves.

turning 4!

22 Oct

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! (:

how cute! (: hehe
apparently, sky doesn’t pose for the camera anymore. haha
drummer has taken over that role!
hehe miss those two rascals so much!
hope they had an awesome birthday!
 

vote for Emma!

22 Oct

hey guys! (: help "like" the video and leave a comment
so that my friend could win the competition! THANKS!
 

hanging on to my dream

22 Oct

Roasted Black Sesame Macarons

22 Oct
 

my second try
and it’s still not successful.
i dunno what’s wrong anymore. haha. (:
but i will give it another shot another time!
my shells just not rise like they should!

oh wells. hehe
if u got tips on this please feel free to let me know!
cause I really wanna get it right. hehe

got this recipe from a blog i regularly read (:
Muffins are Ugly Cupcakes
how cute is the name of the blog? hehe

so before tryingit for the second time
i read around to see if people could help me not fail. haha
so I microwaved my egg whites for 10sec in a medium heat microwave to get all the water out.
I also toasted the almond meal and the grounded black sesame in the oven at 140 C° for 10mins (:

besides that.
i followed Felicia all the way.
(Thanks for the recipe btw!)

Recipe :

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup finely ground black sesame
6 tablespoons egg whites (I just used 3 egg whites)
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar

i processed the icing sugar to make sure there were no lumps.

then I added the toasted almond meal and black sesame and processed it as well.

I whipped the egg whites and slowly adding the sugar
until you get soft peaks.
Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites and start folding.
I put my dry ingredients half at a time. Makes things easier.

mine seems too thick now (the first attempt. it was too thin haha)
i should have a flow-like-magma consistency.

Pipe the macaron batter onto baking paper.
Top off with some sesame seeds to make it prettier

Bake at 320F (160C) for 12 mins.
and let it cool (:

cause it was a fail attempt
i didn’t make any buttercream to sandwich it with.
I will hold that till I get the perfect shells. hehe

help anyone?

 

Chocolate salted-caramel mini cupcakes

22 Oct

I promised myself that once all the school madness is over.
I will bake something to unwind (:
and I did! hehe
been wanted to try this recipe for ages.
and i did.
mine didn’t turn out as yummy as I thought it would be.
though it looks pretty haha.

i think the icing just taste of butter, sadly.
and my salted caramel didn’t stay in the middle of the cupcake.
it got absorbed by the cupcake for some reason
maybe it was too thin haha.

ah wells. (:
it’s still quite good.
baby said he likes it.
hopefully it taste better when it’s been put in the fridge!

so here’s the recipe! 
(adapted from Bake or Break)

Cupcake

1 1/2 cups of plain flour
3/4 cups dutch cocoa
1 1/2 cups of caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
3 tbs vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup warm water

Steps : 

1. Preheat oven to 350° (175 C°).
Line mini muffin pans with paper liners.

2. Whisk together flour, cocoa, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add eggs, buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and water. Using an electric mixer on low speed, mix until smooth.

3. Fill muffin pans about 2/3 full.
Bake about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Cool in pans on wire racks about 10 minutes. Remove cupcakes to wire racks to let cool completely.

4. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature or frozen in an airtight container for up to a month.

Salted-Caramel Filling

2 1/2 cups sugar
2/3 cup water
 1tbs light corn syrup
3/4 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 tsp sea salt

Steps : 
 

1. Heat sugar, water, and corn syrup in a heavy saucepan over high heat.
Stir occasionally until syrup is clear. Attach a candy thermometer to side of pan.
Stop stirring, and cook until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush as needed.

2. Boil, gently swirling pan occasionally, until mixture is caramelized and temperature just reaches 360°.

3. Remove from heat. Slowly pour in cream and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth.
Stir in sea salt. Use immediately. If caramel begins to harden, reheat gently until pourable.

4. Use a paring knife, cut a cone-shaped piece, about 1/2-inch deep, from the center of each cupcake.
Spoon 1-2 teaspoons of warm filling into each cupcake. Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt over filling.



Dark Chocolate Frosting

 

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon boiling water
2 & 1/4 cups unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 pounds semi-sweet chocolate, melted and cooled

 Steps :

1. Combine cocoa and boiling water. Stir until cocoa has dissolved.

2. Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter, confectioners’ sugar,
and salt until pale and fluffy. Reduce speed to low and add melted and cooled chocolate.
Beat until combined. Beat in cocoa mixture.

3. Frosting can be refrigerated up to 5 days or frozen up to 1 month.
Bring to room temperature and beat on low speed until smooth before using.

4. Fit a pastry bag with a medium open-star tip (Wilton #18).
Fill pastry bag with frosting. Pipe onto cupcakes, swirling tip and releasing as you pull up to form a peak.
Garnish with a pinch of sea salt.

5. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are filled and frosted.
Store at room temperature in an air-tight container until ready to serve.

i think it’s the prettiest I’ve made.
just wish it was yummier and made me go WOW. haha
but it was still good! (:

 

 

 

Cheok’s Birthday

22 Oct
 
It was good timing.
my papers were over
and I really needed a break! hehe
so Cheok’s birthday celebration was a good time for all of us to unwind (:

I had to skip dinner though
had to finish up another draft for my thesis
so i joined everyone for drinks!

our first stop was the container bar at lonsdale street.
in this small little alley.
really nice place!

the birthday boy (: hehe
and one of the love of his life – whiskey haha
many many photos!

My brother’s on Youtube!

20 Oct

WHEEEEE (: