Valentines

I was bugging hubby before Valentine's Day as to where he was bringing me on this romantic day when he let peek that he was cooking.

In my mind, I gasped... "Cooking?!?!?! So unromantic... *hmph*"

But, seeing him taking the extra effort to study the ingredients from a menu he found online, made me think that being romantic is really how you define it to be.

Everyday can be in fact, Valentine's Day! :D

And I guess, pictures speak a thousand words....

the final product?

A meal made with lots of love!

with help from recipes from Jamie Oliver

Of course I did my part for Valentines, by making mushy heart shaped strawberry flavored buttermilk pancakes with whipped cream and maple syrup for breakfast which I will spare all your eyes :D

And a recipe I stole from Channel News Asia for dessert to complement hubby's dinner...

Lime ice with pineapple

Ingredients

a slice of pineapple

20 limes

mint leaves (I didn't use fresh ones, bought the bottled one)

sugar

salt

water

Directions

1) Squeeze the 20 limes and sieve out the seeds

2) Add the same amount of water and sugar syrup (to taste) to the squeezed lime

3) freeze the mix and occassionally take it from the freezer and use a fork to scratch the ice **

4) use a cookie cutter to cut the pineapple to your favourite shape

5) coat the pineapple with sugar and mint leaves!

** to note: Do not wait for the mix to be totally frozen to scratch it as you may not get the desired texture you want. The texture should be like ice-kachang's crushed ice :)

Jump Start Bento

I haven't been cooking.

I have been lazy.

Recently, I was inspired to cook for hubby.

Then again, I was still lazy.

So the thought was left in cold storage.

Sis asked me just a week ago if I was interested in Bento making and I thought that it would be a really good jump start to the new year! Since I was too lazy to cook proper meals, maybe I should start with simpler stuff. Bento making seemed so easy!

This week, we start. I take mondays.

And finally, after a week of menu thinking and a day of grocery shopping and of course a day of thinking of what to clear from my fridge, I present to you, my bento :)



I like the colors, and I found my best pal - Broccolli :)

I don't totally agree when people tell me that Bentos are great to put whatever that's leftover. In a conscientious effort to have a balanced color meal, I think I have wasted as much as I have cooked :D

And hubby knows me best when he casually walked into the kitchen whilst I was preparing the bento and asked me "so... how much food are you going to waste this time round?"

Ok ok...
note to self - Next time I will get my portions right and not waste anything. If I do, may I turn to a pink pig with an empty stomach :) *oink*

MC3

I've been itching to try out this receipe (from L) for the longest time... and everytime I start to prepare the ingredients, I always seem to find that I am lacking something! First it was the butter, then the caster sugar. I'm quite tired of my sloppy grocery shopping!

Last weekend, I made sure I got everything jotted down and headed to the supermarket.

And finally, I managed to bake my MC3 during the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics!

Just in case you were wondering... MC3 = Macadamia Chocolate Chip Cookies :D








Ingredients:

1) 1/2 cup caster sugar

2) 1/2 cup brown sugar

3) 1 1/2 cup flour

4) 250g butter

5) 1 egg, beaten

6) 1 tsp vanilla essence

7) 1 cup chocolate chips

8) 1/2 cup macadamia nuts (roughly chopped)

Directions:

1) In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter

2) Mix the caster sugar and brown sugar into the cream mixture

3) In a small bowl, beat the egg and add in the vanilla essence

4) Add the egg and vanilla essence into butter and sugar mixture

5) Stir all together and mix well

6) Slowly stir in the flour, making sure to blend and cream it thoroughly

7) Fold in the chocolate chips and macadamia nuts

8) Drop the dough into a baking tray and place it in a preheated oven at 190 degrees until lightly browned

**Note: If you crave for Subway-like cookie, bake it for about 8 minutes. If you want a crispier cookie, bake it for about 10-15 minutes.

The verdict? Everyone liked it!!!!
As I made both the softer version as well as the crispier version, I could please everyone! Some liked it soft and some liked it crispy!

P/s: Just curious... How do ppl make cookies in the form of cute and nice shapes? My mixture melted when it was in the oven and the cookie came out in one big piece! I had to snap and break them apart! But nonetheless it was great!!

cooking frenzy

I've been cooking!!! Lots in fact.

And I think I need to generate more traffic to my blog. The main reason being my not so fantastic food shots.

So in the meanwhile, I'm honing my photography skills.

I want my photos to seem as if they are popping out of your screen. hehe

So, watch this space! :)

I Heart Cream Pasta

I never really liked pasta. It seemed so difficult just to get the pasta to be "al dente". It was rather a love-hate relationship. I hated the cooking bit but loved the taste of it... especially cream pasta.

But since my blog has hit a rock bottom, I thought that it could do with a little jump start with a simple recipe handed to me by my sister :) I think it was taken off the internet but not too sure exactly where, so I haven't given any credits.

Ingredients

100g pasta

200ml whipping cream

1 heaped tsp of minced garlic

20g butter

a handful of sliced white mushrooms

Directions

1) Boil pasta in pot of lightly salted water for approximately 8 minutes

2) drain the pasta and run it over cold water

3) Prepare the cream sauce by melting the butter over small fire

4) Add the garlic and mushrooms and fry for a while, before allowing the mushrooms to simmer until cooked and soft

5) Pour in the whipping cream slowly and stir the sauce (ensure that the fire is not too hot or the sauce may dry up)

6) Quickly add in the pasta and stir it with the cream sauce for a few seconds

7) And its ready to eat!

I boiled some beans and carrots to go with the pasta for fear that it might get a little too creamy. But my fears went unfounded. The pasta was really yummy! But my personal opinion was that the cream sauce was too little, so if you really like cream sauce pasta, you might want to add in more whipping cream!

R's verdict was that it was even nicer than restaurant standards!!! :D

What a lovely compliment to end the week!!!

*Edited 8 August 2008*

Another version of my cream pasta!!!!! Love the heart pastas :) You could add lots of ham into it!! Yums