I've started my little online shop on Carousell.

Featuring what else but food themed. Lol. Miniature food, that is. Click on and check out out if you will, at this link: http://carousell.co/p/11136112.

Apple Bread Pudding

My mother in law gave me a bag of apples to clear before she flew off to Korea for her holiday, and although she had suggested that we make apple soup, I wasn't too keen on it because Daryl hates drinking soups.

Thinking of a way to clear out produce sitting in my fridge, I made apple bread pudding.

The Apple bread pudding was very well received by him and we loved it so much we ate all of it. (It technically serves 4).

Ingredients:
*4 slices of bread cut into small pieces
*1.5 cups of milk
* 0.5 teaspoon of vanilla
*1  teaspoon of cinnamon
* Pinch of nutmeg
* 1 egg beaten
* 0.5 cups of raisin
* 2 large green apples or 3 small green apples skinned, cored & thinly sliced
* 2 × 1/4 stick of butter
* 1/2 cup sugar

STEPS:
1. Preheat your oven at 180 degree celsius for 15 minutes.
2.On a hot pan, put in 1/4 of butter and thinly sliced apples and raisins. Cook until apples are softened.
3. Strain the contents onto your baking dish, letting the melted butter grease the dish so that you wouldn't need to melt new butter to grease it.
4. Pour the strained apple and raisins onto the shredded bread pieces in a large bowl and give it a good toss.
5. Layer the bread, apples and raisins into the baking dish.
6. In the same pan used earlier, put in the remaining quarter of butter onto the pan to melt it under low heat, then pour in remaining ingredients. Stir it constantly until sugar is dissolved. Make sure egg doesn't get cooked by the heat!
7. Pour mixture onto baking dish and bake for 45 minutes until golden brown.

Sticky Lemon Chicken with fresh Rosemary

Sticky Lemon Chicken with fresh Rosemary

Serves:  4
Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

6 Drumsticks / 1 Whole Chicken Chopped into Pieces
Salt & Pepper
Cooking Oil
1 head of garlic, halved horizontally
A few thyme  / Rosemary / mixed herbs sprigs 

2 tbsp dark soy sauce

3 tbsp honey or more to taste
1 lemon, finely sliced 
Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped (optional)

Method:

1. Score drumsticks and chicken breasts evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large pan.

2. Brown the chicken pieces, together with the garlic and herbs, over a high heat for two to three minutes on each side until golden brown.
3. Drizzle over the soy sauce and honey and shake the pan to combine the juices.
4. Pour in a good splash of hot water and add the lemon slices. Let the liquid bubble and reduce down until syrupy, which will take about 10 minutes or so. By now the chicken should be cooked through.
5. Transfer the chicken to a platter, spoon over the sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley if using. Serve with Sweet Potato Mash or Potato Mash if desired.

The French Stall

Chivalry isn't dead. At least it is still alive in D.

He treats me like a princess.

We had dinner at The French Stall, and he let me order Foie Gras (+$16) for starters because the Duck Confit I wanted was sold out.

We had the Formule for 3 set.

For starters we had Escargot in butter garlic sauce and Foie Gras with Spinach.

Main was Lamb Shank and Oxtail Stew.

Dessert was Tiramisu and Thin Apple Tart in Caramel.

I had a glass of Riesling that was tart. Not very nice.

Half way through the dinner, LTA came by to complete their monthly quotas. Most men stood up to shift their cars almost in unison. For that moment, I though chivalry was present. Until the reality of escaping the LTA to avoid a fine as the cause hit me.

Daryl was pretty angry. For he had to drive in circles in search of a parking lot and he was really hungry by then.

As they say, a hungry man is an angry man. But the delicious lamb shank I had ordered for him, calmed him down soon enough.

The Thin Apple Tart vanquished the last bit of anger and a kiss sealed it away. :)

He surprised me by bringing me out to Sunset Bay, a beach bar at East Coast.

I had a lychee martini and him, a long island tea. The lychee martini was strong enough, and he liked the long island tea. Though I felt the long island was too Limey for my liking.

The drive home was soothing, and I guess his ploy to make me stop thinking too much worked.

I wish my life was simpler. With enough money and less stress for me to build a family with him.

La Fondue

Was craving for cheese fondue the other day, and did a quick search online for Cheese Fondue places. Chanced upon La Fondue located at Dempsey Hill.

Upon entering the premise, the smell of fermentation and cheese hit us. A really strong pong of odorous cheese. The Pinoy wait staff allocated us to a seat at a corner behind a bunch of very loud and obnoxious Chinese ladies that screamed a potential destruction of a quiet night out with Daryl.

I asked for a seat change to the other corner near the bar counter, but was denied the choice of seats. Instead, the waitress insisted that we sit diagonally across from the bunch of cackling females with little space to shift our seats.

We were hungry, so decided not to push too much of a fuss since we've already travelled so far just for cheese fondue.

But our disappointment wasn't ending just there.

The seat, which we sat on, was very, very old. The leather and upholstery was cracked and our butt sunk right in the middle, made seating really really uncomfortable. I wanted a change of seat, but the chairs were all the same.

I wondered if it was just me or are the other diners feeling the same way, because there were other fatter diners around me shifting in their seats.

So it couldn't just be me.

The ambiance was designed cosily. It reminded me of visits to an auntie's house for tea. I liked that. 

But the ventilation was really poor. The air was choking.

I looked up at the ceiling and there was an air con vent but no smoke vent or hood. And when you're doing odorous fondue and grills, you can't operate without a vent or hood over the grill stove to facilitate ventilation!

We were choking to death by then. Even before ordering food.

BUT! I HAD TO HAVE CHEESE.

And the food was the last redeeming factor to save this place.

Given the experience thus far, I would never want to step back in again.

I ordered for us, an Indulge set for 2, at $40 per head.

The menu was misleading. At the bottom of the menu, it wrote. 

(Served with Corn on cob, Mashed Potatoes & Coleslaw.)

I couldn't get a proper picture of the menu. The lighting in the restaurant was too cosy for my iPhone Camera.

SO anyone would have thought that the food came with all three items served with. BUT NO!

The Pinoy waitress, whom I suspect was NEW, told us that they had run out of corn on cob, and we were to choose between Mashed Potatoes OR Coleslaw, EACH.

WTFBBQ.

Did I fail English or is Pinoy English different from Singaporean English?!

I thought if we had to choose, it should be worded, "(Served with EITHER Corn on Cob, Mashed Potatoes OR Coleslaw.)"

I chided the waitress and suggested that she get the management to change the wordings on their menu before deluding more customers since she had insisted that we had to choose from either three and not all.

I was quite fed up.

BUT I STILL WANT CHEESE.

I tolerated.

Picked the Caesar Salad and Potato Salad for us as starters for the Indulge Set.

We had a choice of cheeses and she recommended Swiss Cheese.

Although I suspect it's because she doesn't know what the other cheese is. LOL.

We waited for half an hour before we were served any food.

The only thing that came quickly was two $5 bottle of Evians that eventually came free.

 ( I think because I made a lot of noise.)

The food finally came after about 45 minutes or so.

The food was really NOT OMFGBBQFONDUE FANTASTIC. And the portions were really really tiny for even Daryl, who has a tiny stomach.

And when we eventually started grilling and dipping, the bad ventilation got so bad, even the waitresses were choking and had to open the windows for more air flow.

$80 for two. 

Not going back ever again.

(Pictures, if you're still interested, below.)

Mehs.

Potato Salad

Swiss Cheese Fondue

Platter for Swiss Cheese Fondue

Pork Liver, Loin and Beef Striploin for 2.

Dearest Grand,

It has been 5 years since you left us, but it feels like yesterday that you were still around.

5 years, and not a single day passes by without me missing you. I wonder how would you feel about my achievements thus far. You were always the only one who believed in me and my potential to excel and achieve.

I wonder if you would be proud of me. Life has been tough without your encouragement. You were my only cheerleader. Your belief in my potential is the only push to keep me going.

I've made mistakes along the way, but I've learnt from them.

I miss talking to you. I've dreamt of you but you didn't speak to me in my dreams. I wish I knew what you were thinking.

Grandma hasn't been feeling well. I hope she stays alive for as long as she can. At least till she gets to carry her great grand child and see me get married. I couldn't grow up fast enough for you to carry one.

I miss you dearly.

Menya Musashi

Went to Menya after work on Monday for dinner and arrived an hour earlier to get a seat as they don't allow reservations.

Ordered Fried Gyoza, Salad and Ramen. Food was really good, and I loved the salad.

Service was lacking, but overall the food was good. Just that I got really thirsty after that cuz the food was saltier and I suspect had more MSG than usual.