Chye Seng Huat Hardware

Well, this place didn’t really rock my socks actually, however I must say that the coffee served was pretty good.

Perhaps it was the waaaayy too many blogposts that were already up about this place prior to me going, where many of them sang praises for the food and the beverages here.

Anyway, it was quite a few weekends ago, when the husband and I visited this place, could have been earlier this year I reckon, don’t exactly recall. “150 Tyrwhitt Road,” we told the taxi driver. “Si mi Tyrwhitt ah?” was the retort. So after searching Google Maps, we aided him in locating the place. At that point, it was an exciting moment for me because the place is new, people have been talking about it, and naturally I was very curious.

Chye Seng Huat Hardware menu via cherylhanying.blogspot.sg

Had to sit outside in the searing heat

It was close to lunch time so might as well order some bites. I chose the Seared Dory Fillet while the husband ordered the Parma Ham Sandwich.

Seared Dory Fillet

It wasn’t the best version of a Seared Dory Fillet in my opinion, as the batter was soggy and quite oily as well. Potatoes were pretty good and the salad on the side made up for it. I felt that I could have done better with my S$15 (I think it was S$15! Can’t recall precisely now).

The husband’s Ham Sandwich was a better option, bread was pretty tasty – was it homemade CSHH? Or did you get it from an independent baker – I remember that it was pretty good, so kudos to your supplier. Ham is ham is ham, and what makes a difference is the bread, the butter and the ratio of the meat & bread. From the pics, it does look like the ratio isn’t great – very little ham and too much bread. All in all, this was a good choice still. However, the chips on the side were soft and not crunchy anymore, well, not like we eat chips anyway.

Parma Ham Sandwich

The coffee didn’t disappoint us of course, it was really very good and I think, if I’m not mistaken, we ordered a Latte and a Cappuccino as well as an Espresso after. Here are some pics:

Coffee at CSHH

 

Cappuccino

 

Capsules are Dead

Dissatisfied with the lunch, I ordered a dessert, maybe to see if it’s going to be their saving grace. I would rate it a good one, the Creme Brulee. Liked it, and they had this set of Espresso + Creme Brulee at S$14 (I think).

Creme Brulee + Espresso

So the question is, would I head back to CSHH anytime soon? I think not. The first impressions here wasn’t the best and it would probably take a bit more time for me to think about coming back  to this place for another cuppa joe.

 

The Anniversary Surprise

This year April, the husband and I celebrate 12 years of being together (yes we met in college, let’s all go “Awwwww, college sweethearts…” ) and so he had made some really, REALLY secretive plans since Dec ’12 – Jan ’13 for a trip in April. I prodded, I poked, I asked, I put on these eyes (see below) to no avail, his lips were sealed with a very big twinkle in his eyes.

So there I was, 8 AM on the morning of 13th April, led “blindly” to Changi Airport, and I gave him my word that I will not sneak a peek at the flip boards for any flights leaving at around 10 AM that day, while I made my way to the Starbucks at the other end (his orders). Midway I got a call from him saying that he needed my Krisflyer number so I headed back to the counters, still refusing to look at the boards. the SUSPENSE WAS KILLING ME, but I held on. It was my surprise anyway, so I thought that I had better savour every nanosecond.

After receiving our boarding passes, I would like to assume that the husband couldn’t tahan any longer, and that’s why he said to me: OK, let me tell you where we’re heading – and proceeds to show me the boarding pass – MALDIVES! The sudden impact of the news hit me and sent me whirling in my mind, I let out a huge gasp and if I remember correctly, I punched him.

And that wasn’t the ONLY surprise:

Oh My God!

The above wasn’t made known to me as he wanted to hug the secret closer to his heart a little longer, until we arrived at the Male Airport where the transfers took place. All passengers were directed to their respective waiting lounges as well according to their resort of choice and fly via sea taxi to their resorts.

Maldives Sea Taxi

W Retreat & Spa is literally heaven on earth. Sandy white beaches, glistening shallow & deep waters greeted us as our plane neared the destination – Fesdu Island, where W is situated.

What greeted us was just beautiful and I was lost for words:

W

The walkway leading up to the individual retreats. We had one of  that faced the open ocean rather than the cove. W Retreat & Spa has a total of 78 retreats. Here’s a gallery of the rooms, resorts, spa etc: http://www.wretreatmaldives.com/gallery/guest_rooms

Panoramic View

View from our room, open deck

The other side…

A not-so-little hole in our Resort, hello fishies!

We were greeted by some specially prepared snacks by the W Talents – lovely citrusy cupcakes in little shot glasses filled with salt, black pepper corn & coffee beans.

Cupcakes

The husband pulled out all the stops this time and opted for a full-board. Full-board meant that all our meals are taken care of, we can head to Kitchen for our breakfast & lunch (and sometimes dinner), or to Fish (seafood galore and 20% discount off the menu), or last but not least – Fire – for grilled items. There’s also 15 Below, W’s own underground bar-club which has some signature cocktails.

Let’s start with breakfast.

Egg white omelette

Smoked salmon, ham, croissants, beans, sausages, wide selection of cheeses

Congee, fried rice, vegetables, meat

Sexy poached eggs

Smoothies with tropical fruits like mango, pineapple, papaya etc

Fruit juice with a view

Food wasn’t the only thing I/ we were excited about. We loved the facilities that W had as well. Here’s a glimpse as well: http://www.wretreatmaldives.com/gallery/services

Game of pool anyone?

Jenga! We had fun playing this

SWEAT – the gym here at W

Main pool at the relaxation area

Snorkeling outside our own resort, right into the Indian Ocean

SWEAT upstairs, Bar downstairs

The main meals of the day – lunch and dinner – were my favourites. Let me share with you why:

(The below are the dishes found on the Kitchen menu, and because we were on full-board, we had the luxury of ordering whatever we fancied on the menu. Drinks not included.)

Seafood Bouillabaisse served with croutons

This beautiful medley of slightly salty seafood, mix of mussels, prawns, fish, scallops, was to-die-for. If I’m not mistaken, it is a classic French shellfish and fish stew, originating from the port city of Marseille (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouillabaisse). Completely in love with this and I had this a grand total of 5 times throughout our stay, to a point where the W Talents already knew what I was going to order by the 3rd day.

Exquisite Seafood Bouillabaisse at Kitchen

Overview of the bars and restaurants: http://www.wretreatmaldives.com/w_retreat_spa_maldives_island_best_restaurants_dining_overview

The second “best-seller” here at Kitchen was the scallops appetiser. I think we had this at least 3 or 4 times.

How on earth can we say no to these beauties?

Here are some pictures of the Restaurants: http://www.wretreatmaldives.com/gallery/restaurant

Every lunch & dinner, each table was served a loaf of foccacia with different condiments or pairings each time. One dip that has been stuck in my mind is the beetroot yogurt dip which was bright pink in colour and was very delicious.

Fresh foccacia loaf with tuna dip

Onion capsicum foccacia with beetroot yogurt dip

Creamy seafood chowder

Tuna carpaccio

Smoked salmon carpaccio

Vietnamese prawn roll

Caesar salad with chicken

Now, to some of the mains that we had. I may not remember all the names, but I’ll let the photos speak for themselves.

Lamb rack

Duck breast

Seafood flat bread – squid, prawns, tuna & artichokes

Another flat bread, with parma ham

Eel

Aglio Olio pasta

Chicken

Naan with curry

Sauteed mushrooms

On one of the nights, Kitchen was closed and for all full-boarders we were given the option to head down to Fire, and dine by the sea.

Dining on the white sands

This marks the end of the food part of the trip, there are more but like I mentioned, I did have the Seafood Bouillabaisse about 5 times so some things were on repeat mode.

I’ll leave you with some other pics to enjoy, mainly the surroundings and the sunsets.

View from Whenever, Whatever

View of the main pool, while lounging around

Dining by candlelight at Fire

Enjoying a glass of white

Are you a coffee or a tea person?

Freshly squeezed mixed fruit juice

Walkway

Resorts

Sunset

Sunset

Supermodel – ah so grainy!

Beautiful

Island life

Infinity pool

Kit Kat ice cream, Nescafe coffee, Milo, water etc at strategically located snack shacks around the island

View from our bed

Sipping cocktails and waiting for sunset

My favourite Italian restaurant (Yes I’m biased)

This is a long overdue write up considering that I’ve been patronising this restaurant for about 6 years now. Worked there as a humble waitress years back and had loads of fun working with Alex and his team. Learnt a lot from Gigi, Alvin, Cindy, Georgette and the rest back then and I will always, always be biased to this Italian restaurant here in Singapore.

Had the opportunity to go to Al Forno East Coast once again in March earlier this year to celebrate CL’s birthday – well, it wasn’t a “planned” birthday celebration because CL had no inkling about it *snigger* – CF and I are mighty pleased with ourselves to have managed to pull it off.

The must-have here (I always have it, and I always recommended it to patrons back when I was working here) is the Saute Vongole – white wine, olive oil, chili padi, garlic, seasoning with clams – and this is my absolute to-die-for starter. Eat it just like that, slurp up the clams and the broth, or ask for some sourdough slices to soak up the juices to eat, any way you want it! This is the perfect “opening ceremony” for the entire dinner, in my opinion. We also had some bruschetta to share, topped with juicy tomatoes and drizzled with olive oil etc.

Saute Vongole

Bruschetta

CF, CL and I had some difficulty choosing our pastas and pizzas as there were quite a few that I would personally recommend but eventually we settled for 2 pasta dishes and 1 pizza to share.

Our pastas included the very popular Farfalle Salmone, or butterfly pasta with salmon in pink sauce. This is actually quite a good dish for those who do not like the very creamy ones like Carbonara or Alfredo, and would like a tinge of tomato as well. I would opt for this if I felt like having a little cream but not too much.

Farfalle Salmone

The second pasta dish that we chose was the Spaghetti Cicale – Crayfish pasta, and the spaghetti was cooked perfectly al dente. This is obviously a tomato based sauce but it was certainly an appetising one, especially for those seafood lovers.

Spaghetti Cicale

Other pastas that I would personally recommend – the squid ink pasta with prawns & squid; Spaghetti Cartoccio for 2 – seafood medley of prawns, squids, mussels, clams, and I think even crayfish as well that comes wrapped in foil; the plain but delectable Aglio Olio; the Arrabiatta (spicy!!). The Carbonara here is a hit with the kids.

The pizza chosen that night was a house favourite and popular amongst guests – the one with parma ham and mushroom toppings. Al Forno’s pizzas are woodfired and it gives the pizzas a really awesome smokiness to it. YUM.

Parma ham & mushrooms thin crust pizza

PIZZA!

Ahhh… We are reaching the end of this post.

What’s a birthday celebration without a birthday cake right? Behold, here’s the award winning TIRAMISU!! A fabulous, melt-in-your-mouth, sweet ending to the surprise for CL as well as a lovely Happy Birthday rendition by the Al Forno staff for her.

Award winning Tiramisu

 

 

 

The Humble Loaf

First of all, I must say a big Thank You to Dillon Ng and The Humble Loaf for getting me to restart on my blogging. There is has been a long lapse mainly due to procrastination and laziness, but I am determined to have this post published by end of today.

Chanced upon The Humble Loaf the day before – passed it after having my Yong Tau Fu lunch at Katong Shopping Centre basement food court and I remember kicking myself mentally because my stomach had already reached 90% capacity and no space for anything else. Made a mental note to come back to The Humble Loaf (situated at #B1-92) very soon.

The Humble Loaf

Sure enough, the next day was the very day I made it a point to this establishment as I was very curious as to 1) why Katong Shopping Centre and 2) what is it all about

Small, quaint cafe in a very hippie setting, The Humble Loaf stood out among all the other businesses in this mall. Loved the feel of the area which was inviting and simple, greeted by the whirring of the coffee machine, gentle beeping of ovens etc. Perhaps this will be very different during the weekends, as Dillon shared with me that The Humble Loaf is pretty packed during the weekends and they’re busiest then.

The Humble Loaf is merely 2 months old, but in just one hour sitting there sipping my Piccolo Latte and having a dish from their Sides board, many regulars have already popped by and ordering items without consulting the menu board.

Piccolo Latte

Dillon is the owner of The Humble Loaf and this is his second venture in setting up something on this own. A master of many things, he is now picking up skills along the way, growing alongside this newest venture of his, baking & creating delectable food for his patrons. His passion for The Humble Loaf exudes from every pore and I must, must, must compliment him on The Humble Loaf’s signature Sides – Not-so-Humble Eggs:

Not-so-Humble Eggs

THIS was WORTH EVERY SINGLE CENT and if I could I would have tilted the bowl in order to slurp up every morsel. It was the perfect complement of eggs, cured ham, pickled celery (and I really dislike celery) as well as olive crumble. I felt like I died and went to heaven (and came back again).

The proteins of the white had set but not as much as a poached egg, but the yolks of the eggs were still runny. Egg white was silky and creamy, and the yolk gave it a burst of slight saltiness. When paired with the cured ham, it was a medley of wild flavours on my palette and I wished for more. The mixed textures were pleasing & teasing to the tongue at the same time, with yummy itty bitty crunches from the pickled celery and olives.

The Humble Loaf prepares their bread, buns and loaves every morning and Dillon comes by really early every working day to ensure that the loaves are ready by the time the cafe is open for business. Looking for artisanal bread? You cannot go wrong here. The Humble Loaf uses only unbleached flour for all their baked goods, which is a gigantic tick in my books.

Dillon preparing sandwiches

The Humble Loaf’s Sandwich menu board, more to add in June 2013!

The Humble Loaf, located within Katong Shopping Centre, at the cross-roads of Haig Road, Mountbatten Road, Amber Road and East Coast Road, looks set to be a new hangout place for all ages in this area, and definitely for me as well, since I am nearby. Great for casual meet ups, a quick lunch or tea time meeting, or just to hang around to try all their sandwiches. Do note that NEW MENU is set to roll out in June and Dillon had shared with me some exciting stuff that I cannot wait to try!

The Humble Loaf’s opening hours

Do check them out at http://www.facebook.com/thehumbleloaf or on their currently-not-so-active Instagram account: thehumbleloaf

Absolutely recommended, and I cannot wait to bring the husband there this week!

Updated!! Tried their Grilled Cheddar, Ham, Herbed Butter sandwich as well as the Humble Potato Salad today! They were lovely!

Sydney – revisited

As part of our grand plans to visit many cities/ countries this year, the husband and I picked Sydney for a week-long relaxing vacation in late September.

First of all, we wanted to have a whole week of relaxation by not forcing ourselves to pack in as many places at one go, so Europe was out of the question. Secondly, the previous time we were in Sydney back in 2005, we were on a student, shoe-string budget. Hence this time, we wanted to experience Sydney in a much more “affordable” manner – if you get what I mean…

One place that all visitors should never ever miss, and we went there twice during our stay there, is the Sydney Fish Market (details here: http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au ) It’s VERY easy to navigate the Sydney maps and we walked from the Maritime Museum on Darling Harbour to the SFM.

Sydney Fish Market

Sydney Fish Market

More directions on the website: The best way to get to SFM is via public transport. Catch the Metro Light Rail, bus, park and ride or walk to Sydney Fish Market. Bus services 501 and 443 regularly depart from the city. For route and timetable information visit www.131500.com.au.

The first time we went there this trip, we got our lunch from Peter’s (No. 13 on the SFM map) and we weren’t satisfied at all. The seafood was extremely oily, bland and wasn’t tasteful at all.

Sydney Fish Market Map

Thankfully we had some really awesome oysters to make up for it. AUD$2.50 for one jumbo oyster. YUM.

Gorgeous oysters

Eating out on the grass, facing the dock

Oh yes, we bought our own Tobasco sauce, from shop No 1: Blackwattle Deli

The second time we came to Sydney Fish Market during our one week stay, we made sure we came at a more strategic time, aka not during lunch peak hour. That was indeed a smarter move so were able to find seats easily and did not have to share tables with others. Well, I guess it was good we didn’t share, judging by the amount of food we had between the two of us.

Seafood platter from Fish Market Cafe – BBQ Grill

We were more satisfied with our cafe/restaurant choice VS the first meal we had here earlier in the week. Fish Market Cafe – BBQ Grill (shop No. 5 on the SFM map) was our pick and we were contented. Food was prepared well, a very good mix as you can see.

LOVE

Meal for Two

And even after all that, it was enough for me!! I still wanted my sashimi fix. I mean, it’s right in front of me, fresh and calling out to be eaten. We headed to Nicholas Seafoods – Shop No. 11

ALL THE FRESH SASHIMI!!

Huge lobsters

I picked some salmon and swordfish and we headed out into the sunshine to have our sashimi. It was a very lovely sunny day with a temperature of about 20-22 degrees – guess no one can complain about that!

Fresh sashimi out in the great weather

Great weather!

Little birdie is hungry too

Sydney Fish Market is a not-to-be-missed place when one is visiting or staying here in Sydney for some time. Highly recommended and surely a place I will go again & again every time I visit Sydney.

Read more about SFM and its history here! http://www.sydneyfishmarket.com.au/OurCompany/OurCompany/tabid/98/Default.aspx

Pasta, Scallops, Parma, Lamb dinner – Pampering!

While I was at the gym this morning, gritting my way through AO’s grueling 60 mins body pump class, the husband went to the Cold Storage nearby to stock up on groceries. Have been extremely regular in going to the gym group exercises lately and am feeling so much better about my body. Significant changes are taking place and am very happy with the progress.

With regards to the dinner, the husband did go all out once again in getting some really good stuff for tonight’s meal. Here are the photos as proof:

(Photos taken with iPhone 4, so do excuse the grittiness and also the lighting)

For appetisers, we had parma ham with honeydew. You might be wondering why on earth are we eating it with honeydew, but that’s because rock melon wasn’t available at Cold Storage, too bad.

Honeydew – cos there was no rockmelon

Parma ham

A whole chunk of lamb was baked in the oven till really tender and just medium done. Extremely juicy and not as salty as I thought it would be.

Baked lamb

However the highlight of the night was really the main dish. The husband was really sweet and extremely supportive of my health quest and bought gluten-free pasta for me, which I truly appreciated his encouragement. He made a spicy pasta dish with birds eye chilli, pan-seared the scallops till slightly charred and plated it together with smoked salmon.

Simple, but yet exquisite.

Gluten free pasta, scallops, smoked salmon

Thoroughly enjoyed this evening’s dinner!

Real Food – nothing fake about it!

Two of my favourite girls and I met up for lunch today for a catch up and chit-chat. CF suggested that we head to this place along Killiney Road called Real Food, and try the stuff there. Ever eager to go to new places, we all agreed.

All about Real Food: http://www.realfoodgrocer.com/ taken from their site:

“Rest assured that we prepare our food using only the finest organic ingredients, in the best possible way, to lock in all those precious goodness. It may take a little longer but we refuse to compromise on your well-being.

We’re more than happy to tailor our dishes to suit your special needs be they vegetarian, vegan, wheat/gluten-free, no garlic/onion or sugar-free. Just let us know.

Take your time to browse through our bookstore and sift out gems of information on eating and living well. Then pick out those nourishing food right inside our grocery store.

From time to time, we may host cooking demos or health/nutrition related talks, so check back in. We’re also available as an event space for personal/company gatherings”

Ooohh I am assured! Especially when I am now on an “eat clean” or “clean eats” quest. Follow me on Instagram: suannc to see progress, food, fitness tips, quotes and fitness inspiration or “fitspiration” as Instagrammers call it.

We settled down and proceeded to order our drinks and food.

Intrigued by everything on their menu, which features absolutely no meat and only organic ingredients, we wanted to order everything, but that will mean a lot of food will go to waste, I guess.

We settled on our drinks: (from left to right) Pineapple + Orange, Banana + Berries, Avocado + Coconut. Interesting that last one. CF and CL both agreed it was a pretty acquired taste and CF finished it all…

Smoothies

Honestly, Real Food can be a little bit more generous on their smoothies sizes. We were quite surprised by how much it was versus the amount it came in. Also, a mug of alkaline water costs you 50 cents as they do not serve tap water here.

Down to the mains/ shares:

We thoroughly enjoyed these and wanted more at the end of the meal although we were already full to the brim.

First up for sharing was the Sautéed wild mushrooms with melted mozzarella cheese and fresh parsley Bruschetta. This was a lovely medley of taste on top of crunchy, baked bread.

Mushroom & Cheese Bruschetta

Next up for sharing was the Genovese Pesto Pasta, which in my books, was the winner for the meal. This came with fresh mint leaves, feta cheese, olives, potatoes tossed in homemade pesto sauce. Check out the lovely picture:

Genovese Pesto Pasta

Now this is CL’s favourite, the steamed dumplings that also had CF and I gushing all about it. It was done just right, with also the right amount of sesame oil & sauces that created a burst of flavour on the palate. Honestly, it tasted as though there was meat in the dumpling, but it’s actually the mushrooms and other ingredients that gave it the crunchy, crispy and meat-like textures.

Steamed dumplings

Lastly for sharing we had a Brown rice with beans & cheese dish. The rice prepared today was still on the rather hard side and I think it should have been a little softer. However, the taste was good and I tried not to touch too much cheese although it was really yummy.

Brown rice, legumes, cheese

There was actually a Kombu Soup which we ordered later on that consisted of vegetables, kelp, toufu, cherry tomatoes but in our eagerness I had forgotten to take a photo of it.

This is a place I will definitely recommend for people who consciously opt to eat healthily, want a different environment, try out vegan and organic food. I will be back and definitely bringing the husband along the next time round.

Hopefully they can increase the smoothie size – it is delectable but just a little disappointing.

The Killiney branch here even has a grocery section which stocks baking goods, pastas, rice, fresh produce, juices, cooking ingredients, even make up!

Real Food is found at 2 places here in Singapore:

6 Eu Tong Sen Street

The Central #B1-52/53

Singapore 059817

T: +65 62244492

Mon-Sun 10am – 930pm

(Last Order 9pm)

110 Killiney Road

Singapore 239549

T: +65 67379516

Mon – Sun 10am – 10pm

(Last Order 930pm)

Chocolate, Cream Cheese, Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

That’s a lot of Cs in the title!!!

Got into this baking frenzy lately and have been keen to try out recipes just for the heck of it. I am not comfortable with sharing last night’s recipe although the outcome of it was pretty good (well, according to the husband and the housemate) but I will share pictures.

The other reason as to why I am not comfortable sharing, it’s because I tweaked from the original so much that I do not remember the exact ingredients that went in.

Roughly, for the cupcake dough:

1/2 bag (4 oz) Van Houten semi-sweet choc buttons

1/2 pack SCS butter

4 tbsp raw sugar (original recipe asked for 8 tbsp)

3/4 cup water

1 medium egg – whisked

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 1/4 cup Health Origins organic unbleached flour

1 1/2 Hershey’s semi-sweet cocoa powder (original recipe didn’t have this)

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp organic Himalaya rock salt

For the cream cheese “filling”:

3 oz cream cheese (original recipe required 4)

1/2 egg (recipe wanted 1 whole egg)

tiny choc chips

First of all, I had to get the chocolate buttons and butter melted – used the microwave for this on low heat till I could stir the spatula smoothly in, and until there were no chunks left.

Melted chocolate buttons + butter

With that done, the brown sugar, unbleached flour, whisked egg, vanilla essence, water, cocoa powder were slowly mixed or folded in. I methodically sifted the flour and poured the water in gradually, so as not to make the dough either too chunky or too watery at one go.

Whisking the egg

Sifting the unbleached flour

Folding the flour in slowly

When that was done, I used a spoon to scoop the mixed dough and filled approximately 1/3-1/2 of the muffin cup.

The tricky part was the cream cheese. I believe I did not understand the recipe OR the recipe was a bogus one, seriously. What the recipe asked for was to soften the cream cheese, mix it with 1 egg – which ultimately made it SUPER WATERY, and toss in choc chips.

When that mushy wet concoction appeared, I had the instinct that it was definitely not what it was supposed to be. Nonetheless, I spooned it into the muffin cup (which already had chocolate batter) . After that, another spoonful of choc batter went on top of the cream cheese, effectively ‘closing it up’. Inevitably since it was so watery, the cream cheese kind of flowed over the first layer of chocolate batter, but it didn’t affect the taste.

Batter ready to be baked

Was eating a banana during the baking, and had a brilliant idea to just throw a chunk or two in, just to see the effects. It was a hit with the husband! The housemate liked it too. I think I should mash it up next time into a pulpy substance or puree, and use it as proper filling next time. Or, use it as part of the dough.

Baked it for about 3o mins at 180 C, and because the top layer was still a little moist, but the top had cracked, I lowered the temperature to about 170 C and checked again every 5 mins with a stick to ensure that the middle is cooked.

In the oven…

Done!

Tried it again today, and lo and behold, the overnight taste was much better than last night’s. The sweet chocolate went very well with the slight saltiness of the cheese and it gave it a very nice blended flavour.

Cupcake!

Mummy are you proud of me? Hahaha.. You have no idea how many times my mother’s voice actually echoes in my head while I’m baking and the years of helping her out in the kitchen while she baked Chinese New Year goodies or Mooncakes, has not gone to waste. Each and every step I take while baking, while mixing, while measuring the ingredients, remind me of my dear Mummy in KL.

Love.

Homemade Peanut Butter, Organic Baby Oats Cookies

In a baking & cooking frenzy lately and decided to try out a very straightforward, no-frills recipe today. The result is not too bad I must say though I don’t really know how to judge cookies or biscuits as I don’t really eat these things.

What you need:

1 cup of of oatmeal/ 16 tbsp – I used Origins Healthfood organic baby oats – these are more finely cut compared to the normal oats we usually buy

1 cup peanut butter – Skippy’s is my choice, a mix of creamy and chunky

1/2 tbsp butter – this is for blending purposes only, not to be mixed in directly

3/4 cup sugar, approx. 12 tbsp or less – I used raw sugar, granulated – you may lessen this to about 1/2 cup really

1 tbsp vanilla extract – if you wish – I didn’t use

1 medium egg

1 tsp cocoa powder – optional

The ingredients – I eventually didn’t use the chocolate chips

First of all, I preheated the oven to about 350F or 180 C and prepared the cookie trays. I purchased baking sheets (baking paper) so I didn’t have to worry about greasing the trays or cookies sticking later on.

Baking paper

In a big mixing bowl or perhaps your salad bowl – whichever’s convenient – mix the oatmeal, sugar (or its substitute), peanut butter and egg altogether. What I did was mix the oatmeal and sugar first and then used a spatula to “cut” or “fold in” the peanut butter – much easier. In between, I added the egg, which I had whisked a little beforehand in a small bowl. You may add the cocoa powder and/ or vanilla extract now if you wish. Gently…

Origins Healthfood organic baby oats

Once that is done, I rolled the cookie dough into small balls, perhaps the size of a walnut or slightly smaller than a bottle cap, and placed it on the baking paper. I had to place them about 1 1/2 to 2-inches apart. You will see why later.

When all that is done, I made exactly40 small balls lined up nicely & alternately on the trays. I believe I could have stretched to about 50-55.

After washing my hands off the oil, I used a small fork, dipped it into some sugar and flattened the cookies crossways, like how you sometimes see it on cookies. This gives the cookie a bit more character and will cook more evenly.

Bake it for about 10-11 mins at the temperature of 180 C but do check at the 9th minute or so.

The cookies turned out crunchy but yet chewy at the same time due to the oats and the peanut butter mix. I felt that I should have gone ahead and used the chocolate chips anyway and perhaps some chocolate sprinkles too. Next time!

Cookies!!

Instagrammed

Really enjoyed making this and I believe it will go really well with a strong cup of coffee on a rainy afternoon.

Cheers!

P/S: can make and sell ah?

Make and sell?

Some tips from Mummy: use a bit of cornstarch, add a tad bit of flour or baking powder… egg doesn’t really need to be whisked but OK to do so too.

Homemade Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Am going on a healthy rampage and it doesn’t just stay in the gym. My motto is (taken from some fitspiration sites) “Eat Clean, Train Mean, Live Lean” and I want to ensure that I do all that I can to achieve that. No excuses.

Another thing that I have begun living by is “What you eat in private, you (eventually) wear in public” – this is so true. For every mouthful of sugary, oily, deep-fried, unhealthy thing, I am putting extra stress on my body to break it down, and eventually, extra hours in the gym to burn it off – to what end?

Why shouldn’t I be mindful of what I eat, so that I don’t have to waste extra time burning it off, when I can wisely use that time for scuplting, toning, trimming and other more useful exercises?

More on this next time.

I had some time on my hands today because 1) it’s a public holiday 2) I am feeling sick & crampy from the monthly thing 3) I am also restless as home. So I raided the cupboards and made this fairly simple cake!!

Super Moist, Flourless, Gluten-Free, Guiltless Chocolate Cake

(my own recipe, modified using gut instincts)

6oz (approx 175-80g) Chocolate Cubes/ Squares/ Buttons – I used Van Houten’s Semi-sweet chocolate buttons

115g unsalted butter (half a slab) I used SCS unsalted – so called No.1 in Singapore

6 tbsp sugar – I used SIS granulated raw sugar

3 – 3 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder – I used Hershey’s unsweetened

1 tsp vanilla essence or extract

3 medium eggs – beaten

8-inch pan – I bought a Wiltshire silicon 8-inch

1) Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius

2) Grease pan with a bit of butter and dust with cocoa powder, to ensure that cake slides out easily later

3) Melt chocolate buttons/ cubes with butter using double-boil method or in microwave under low heat till a thick, consistent liquid

4) Stir in sugar, cocoa powder (you may sift this first), beaten eggs & vanilla essence

*you may add coffee/ espresso powder

5) Pour into greased pan, ensuring it’s evenly spread out. Place in pre-heated oven and bake for 30 mins (check at 25 and if your cake is very moist, you may need an extra 5-7 mins, especially if you only used Chocolate Squares/ Buttons and no cocoa powder)

6) Let sit in pan to cool for about 10 mins, overturn and let cool completely.

Melted chocolate buttons & unsalted butter

Some of the ingredient used

Beaten eggs x3

Wiltshire 8 inch silicon pan

Mixed batter

Mmmmmmmmm….

Can’t wait to taste it

Success!!! Moist, rich, chocolatey but not overpowering

Enjoy!! If you do follow this recipe, do reply to this post and tell me how it goes!!!

UPDATED!!!

This is a photo of the Super Moist Chocolate Cake after a night in the fridge… The cake is richer, denser and I am SO GLAD it doesn’t have the jelak taste of some other chocolate cakes that are toooo dense or powdery. I am extremely satisfied.

Overnight