EARL Canteen

Ground level,
500 Bourke,
Lt Bourke St courtyard,
Melbourne 3000

I have always wanted to try Earl Canteen. I’ve read about it from reviews and people raving about their sandwiches. So I have been dying to try! And since baby had a lunch break before his evening shift, I met him for lunch at EARL Canteen! Yay!

I was so super happy when we arrived at this small and cosy little cafe. We were greeted by the friendliest waiter ever. Seriously! Service was really really good. No doubt that I will be a returning customer!

We were introduced to try this pressurised cold juices and they were really yummy! He was right to say the pink lady apple was the best! I had the passionfruit and apple one. Really good on a hot day!

there were so many to choose from but we decided to choose what hit our minds first!

the crispiest skin, and meat that will just melt in your mouth. With the combination of apple, cabbage and fennel coleslaw it was perfect! The only thing that baby wasn’t too happy about was that his baguette was not toasted proper. So was a bit tough! But other than that, the flavours were really good! I do prefer this to what I had.

I had the duck confit sandwich! hehe I have a thing for duck confit. haha so I had to order it when I saw it on the menu. When it came, I must admit, the colour of the duck meat isn’t that attractive. But let me tell you, never judge the food by only it’s looks! It was soft and also melt in your mouth. Together with the caramelised fig, walnut and onion jam, it was SO GOOD! sweet and savoury all in one bite! LOVED IT!

Will definitely head back to try the other sandwiches or even just to have the pork belly sandwich again. haha yes. that’s how much I loved it! (:

and im sure from this picture, you can see why!

and also from my baby’s super clean plate! (:

So what is your favourite kind of sandwich?

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Stephie’s Visit : Food Galore !

Whenever friends come over to Melbourne, the only thing I want to really do is to bring them to my favourite places to eat! and that’s absolutely what I did when Stephie came over! (: of course, we didn’t finish all the food in one day! haha

First stop : Dumplings Plus

Unfortunately, I didn’t take the main dish for the meal, which was the stewed belly of pork cause we were too excited and too hungry! haha but we also had a few starters, which I did take.

this is a house favourite : beancurd with century egg. but there was a little too little century egg for our liking!

of course we can’t not order a serve of pan fried dumplings at Dumplings Plus! haha these were yummy with alot of vinegar! slurps.

The Beatles vs. U2

Oh! we also had the crispy chicken which was really good! (: haha once again, too hungry and forgot to snap photos! 😛

Stop Two : Roule Galette

CREPES! hehe and not just any kind of crepes, NUTELLA crepe!

that’s how happy we were that Stephie is back in Melbourne! hehe

wouldn’t be complete without hot drinks on a cold day! (: hot chocs, flat white and espresso!

Steph is super happy with her hot choc! (:

Stop Three : Lord of the Fries

I will always bring friends here. cause they do have the best fries and the best topping ever. Those who are weight conscious… this might not be the best choice. haha but it’s SO GOOD. really. I kid you not!

of course I was talking about FRENCH CANADIAN! hahaha this deserves a close up shot!

how good is that? sinful, but good. Isn’t that always the case? haha

Stop Four : Verb Cafe

We had to bring Steph to our favourite brunch place at Newmarket and she loved it! hehe

She ordered the Field Mushrooms, which had a portobello mushroom, caramelised onions, spinach and goat’s cheese on toast! YUMMERSS! but too much spinach left a tart feeling in Steph’s mouth haha. took a while for it to go away!

I had their special : corn cakes with bacon, chilli and sour cream. Absolutely divine. I go back every week hoping it’s still on the special board. haha (: definitely my favourite!

and Baby and Cheok had the big breakfast! This was baby’s usual Sat morning brunch hehe

Chai Soy latte for me and a large cup of latte for my baby hehe

Stop Five : Greens @ Brunswick

We wanted to bring Steph to Minimo’s but it was close on Tuesdays. So we brought her to Greens instead! Crowded as usual, we sneaked in and found ourselves a seat next to the kitchen haha. so here’s what we had!

Steph loves pesto. Ever since we had the weekly dinners I knew she loves pesto. haha so she ordered a pesto, veg and ham panini which was huge and good! hehe

I ordered the potato stack with haloumi, bacon, tomatoes and a poached egg! this was so good. I tell you, anything in a stack. haha just order it! 😛

So in the span of 2 days (yes just 2!!!) we finished all these food. haha we’re GOOOD. hehe See u next year back here Stephie! (: oh but i will see u in Spore real soon! hehe

Braised Pork Belly with Yam

If you’ve been reading my blog, you know how home sick I always get. One way to make myself feel better is to cook. Not just cook anything, cook something that reminds me of home. So that’s what I did, I made something my mum makes best – Braised pork belly with yam. (: You usually eat this with a bun and some salad leaves. But it also goes super well with rice!

The recipe I found is a little time consuming, but all the work and effort put into the dish is definitely worth it. By the time it’s done steaming, the yam would be broken down and it would have absorbed all the flavours. The pork too will be melt in your mouth! Of course the happiest person when I said I was going to cook this was my baby. hehe He and pork belly are very good friends. hehe

Click here for the recipe! (:

Beef Stroganoff : Masterchef Recipe

Have you been catch Masterchef when it was on tv? I have! I caught as many episodes I could when I’m home and if I missed one, I would load it on the Masterchef website and watch it at my own free time! (: One dish that caught my eye and tummy was the beef stroganoff! the orangy creamy texture of the dish, topped on pasta, I think it’s a match-made in heaven.

so I got down to business. I didn’t have creme friache or the usual substitute of sour cream, so I “cleaverly” used thickened cream which wasn’t too good an idea, cause it became very starchy. But other than that, the flavours were really yummy and my baby really enjoyed it! (:

Click here for the recipe! (:

Comfort Food : A Recipe Post

Winter. Cold winds, rain, super low temperatures. To conquer all these, to me, only means one thing : comfort food.

what’s better ya? the ultimate comfort food for me is mash. The creaminess and butter-i-ness texture of the mash just makes everything seem better. (: So everything with mash, would just be a kind of comfort to me. Last night, I decided to make Shepard’s pie!

Shepard’s pie has always been a family favourite. So of course, I immediately went to source for a recipe so that I could cook it for everyone to enjoy! (: I was pretty worried the first time I made it, and I remember my brother having to always taste my mash to see if it’s buttery enough or salty enough. And my mum would stand next to me to make sure the mince is in small pieces and not in chunks, and if my meat sauce is thick enough.

alright, did I say I miss my family and I’m home-sick? I didn’t? Well, I am. That’s why I needed comfort food, pronto.

So here’s my recipe.

hopefully, it will be as comforting to you as it was for me! (:

Acardia : New Breakie Place !

Arcadia

193 Gertrude Street

Fitzroy 3065

Tel: (03)94161055

When I was home for the last couple of months, baby told me about this breakfast place he came to with his supervisor. Us being huge fans of pesto, baby said I had to try their Italian eggs and their chai latte (but of course)! So the day after I arrived, baby immediately brought me there for breakfast after Mass. (:

Weekends are PACKED. We had to put our names on the waiting list. But service was pretty good and efficient, so we got our tables in less than 5 mins! So we quickly settled in, and chose what we wanted and ordered. But for some reason, our coffee and chai latte took ages to come and so did our food. Maybe they forgot our order? I hope so.

that aside, how cute are the things that they use in the cafe? It’s so english somehow and just feel like you’re relaxing outdoors. love it!

and my chai soy latte came in this cute little pot with a side of honey! (:

i, of course, was a very happy girl. (: especially when the food came!

my Italian eggs : scrambled eggs, pesto wrapped with slices of prosciutto.

my eggs were cooked to perfection, creamy and smooth, super generous with their pesto and everything just goes perfectly with the saltiness of the prosciutto.

Baby’s Mexican eggs : poached eggs, with avocado, tomato and coriander salsa! It was good! (:

the eggs were poached to perfection.

Baby had to finish my portion cause it was huge! haha (: lucky for me, he has a bigger appetite during winter! hehe

I had a chance to play with Cheok’s Nikon D40X. It’s quite fun and cool! haha my hands are itching again. *breathe* Need to find a part time job and save money! (:

and what makes it even better? Everyone gets a complimentary Green & Black’s organic chocolate! (: Never tried organic chocolate before, and I must say, this is good chocolate. And the bits of butterscotch within every bite, AWESOME.

Thanks for bringing me there sweetie (: love you!

one more shot of the food, just because.

Graduation!

“Graduation is only a concept.  In real life every day you graduate.  Graduation is a process that goes on  until the last day of your life.  If you can grasp that, you’ll make a difference.” – Arie Pencovici

I was both looking forward and dreading this day. Of course after all the studying, crying, complaining and all the hard work and sweat put into the whole year, traveling for hours, I was really looking forward to wear the gown, the hat and walk down that stage and get my certificate. But the thought of not having my family there to see me graduate, did make me dread the day. Thankfully, I had baby with me. And bless him for his willingness to skip 2 hours of his lecture to attend my graduation, so I won’t be alone. (: And thank you Cheok for coming after to snap some shots with and for us!

I was really nervous before the ceremony cause baby was running a little late (cause the dearest went to get flowers! hehe) and I went in not knowing what time he will arrive. and soon enough, he did! (:

and when I saw him, I couldn’t stop smiling (:

thank you for making my day !

(sorry that some of the photos are grainy, reduces size is not good when using the bigger cam. haha)

THE stage!

shaking the hands of the Chancellor.

front view. NOT GOOD. haha

I’m a Graduate! (:

Thank you both for coming (:

going back to the stage to snap some shots

hehe switch the hat onto baby’s head!

the never give a proper nice smile guy. haha

going down to the first level to take photos! love the colour of the flowers!

love this shot. hehe

see my heels? this is the second time I’ve worn them. The first time was during my first graduation. haha

thanks again sweetie (:

BIMBO moment. hehe.

At the end of the day, I did enjoy myself. Though still a little sad the family wasn’t here. But they were in spirit and they will be here for my next graduation. (: Yes I know. 3 grads, 3 unis. Nice.

There is no one else I want to thank but my parents, my brother, my family, baby and friends who have supported me throughout this long and stressful year. THANKYOU.

Potato Gnocchi : Masterchef Inspired

Gnocchi. Little pillowy potato magic that when made and cooked properly would make you smile, and make your tummy very happy. (: Baby and I recently watched Masterchef Australia and saw Matt Moran’s dish of Gnocchi with burnt butter and sage and just couldn’t stop thinking about it. So we had to make it, and we had to make it for lunch today. hehe

Being ANZAC Day today, it was really difficult to get the ingredients we needed cause the supermarkets don’t open until 1pm. So we had to go to all the small marts to gather the ingredients and already that took a long while! There was a lot of prep work, and by the time we got lunch ready, it was already 230! But I think all the effort preparing the gnocchi was worth it! It was pretty yummy! hehe though we haven’t really had gnocchi at restaurants before, so there wasn’t a benchmark to compare it with! hehe But for a first attempt, it was pretty superbly yummy! hehe

so instead of the quail that Matt Moran had with his gnocchi, I made Nando’s roast chicken! (: It went pretty well! hehe although I’m very sure the quail would be better. But we had to substitute since we couldn’t get hold of the quail, plus, one quail would not be enough protein for the boys. haha

For recipe, Click Here !

Not So Traditional Moussaka

My first time having a Moussaka was a vegetarian one and I had it at the best place to have vegetarian food, Original Sin. I have been wanting to make my own moussaka for ages, and finally got down to it! (: I’m so glad I did, cause even though it was time consuming to grill the vegetables, it was all worth it! It was yummy!

Eggplant-Potato-Ricotta-Cheese-Meat Sauce-Eggplant (you get the idea!)

It’s very rich when you have it on it’s own, but have it with a cucumber raita, and it’s just one of the best combination you will ever have on a plate! With this combination, you would never feel too overwhelmed and could just keep eating!

My moussaka, however, is not the traditional kind you find at Greek restaurants. I improvised it a little, adding a little bit of mexican flavour (in a tin) to the dish. I was afraid the flavours might clash, but instead, it gives the dish just the slightest bit of spiciness and the kidney beans gave a good bite with every spoonful! I do apologise if you think it’s not the right way to cook it, but I do enjoy this version quite a bit. hehe

so give it a shot, and let me know if you still do prefer the traditional way of cooking it or the taste (:

Click here for the recipe !

Faith.Hope.Love.

i did it (: With God’s grace and encouragement from every one around me!

I’m a happy girl when I woke up yesterday morning.