Hanami Dango ("Flower Viewing" Japanese Dumpling)

This recipe was inspired by an outing made with my friends to view the cherry blossoms (Sakura) at The Gardens by the Bay, a few weeks ago. The cherry blossoms were so beautiful. I also found out that the cherry blossoms season in Japan is ending soon too. By making these hanami dango, I hope that it will prolong the season for a little longer.

Home Made Passion Fruit Curd

Bright, citrus, sweet, smooth and rich tasting. This passion fruit curd takes 30 minutes to make and it is wonderful with scones, on toasts and sandwiched between vanilla cookies or macaron shells.

Home Made Pumpkin Cream

My sis-in-law shared this cold dessert recipe with me after I enjoyed the ones she made. The taste of pumpkin with cream is so delicious and a cold dessert is most welcomed in the sweltering heat that we are experiencing now in Singapore.

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Autumn squashes such as butternut and pumpkin have thick skin that can only be peeled with a knife and it can be tedious and at times dangerous. This roasted butternut squash soup recipe requires no peeling, not even the onion that was added needed peeling.

Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Chips

This bake was by far the simplest, both in terms of effort as well as ingredients. You basically just need 1, one, uno ingredient, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Since it is the only ingredient, get your hands on wedge of good quality cheese, it will make a great difference in taste.  

Quick Mixed Berries and Cheese Scones

Mixed Berries Scones

Cheese Scones

I have just returned from a family year end vacation. A lovely trip to Australia's Port Macquarie, NSW and Gold Coast, QLD. We spent 2 weeks between the 2 places and yes...it was a lot of time to spend in just 2 places. Our family likes to  make self drive trips on vacations and spend enough time to get to know the place and culture like a traveler rather than a tourist.

Dark Chocolate Brownies

 

My kid and I made these dark chocolate brownies. She is in the midst of her preparations for her year end examinations and we decided to make brownies during her break time.

Snow Skin Moon Cakes (Uses Olive Oil)

We do not get to enjoy the changing of seasons in tropical Singapore but the festivals that we celebrate do remind us of them. 

Winter Solstice Festival (冬至) ushers in Winter. Lunar new year ushers in Spring. As for Summer, we have that all the time (not complaining though) and Mid-Autumn festival ushers in Autumn.

Mid-Autumn Festival falls on 27th September this year. Last year, I tried making my first batch of Olive Oil Snow Skin Moon Cakes using all natural flavors and coloring that I can find in fruits, nuts, vegetables and teas. It is a quest of mine to find healthier ways to consume this calories laden treat. 

Chcocolate Pudding

This recipe is an attempt to replicate the pudding made by an expensive cafe here in Singapore. My youngest child loves having it. And the last time I it bought for her, I told myself that I am going to try making it on my own. It is very easy to make and the ingredients are very simple. 

Cranberry Scones

These cranberry scones are delicious eaten on their own. They paired very well with the homemade strawberry vanilla jam and not forgetting with clotted cream (I did not have clotted cream at hand) or a great deal of butter.

The scones are crunchy on the outside, from the coarse sugar sprinkled on top of them, tender and buttery on the inside.

Homemade Strawberry Vanilla Jam

I am embarrassed to mention that I made this jam because I left a punnet of strawberries sitting in the fridge for too long. They turned soft due to the dehydrating effect of refrigeration and was too icky to eat on its own. 

Mint Dark Chocolate Truffles

Mint Dark Chocolate with Feuilletine Truffles

Chocolate truffles are luxurious little treats that does not take too much effort to make. At least, no baking involved. You can play around with the different flavors that can be infused into the chocolate, either by infusing the cream or adding it when the chocolate balls are being formed.

Maple Glazed Bacon and Egg Muffins

I chanced upon this recipe by RecipeTin Eats and decided to make it for breakfast. Breakfast, on weekday mornings, is always 'mad rush' moment - rushing for school and work. I wake up early to pack the children's lunch boxes and try to fix them a healthy breakfast. Most of the time, breakfast was half eaten and that left me feeling 'so much effort but so little went into their stomachs'. They are not to be blame as it is just too early to work up a big appetite. 

Sambal Ikan Bilis (Chilli Dried Anchovies)

 

My sis and I practically grew up eating this sambal ikan bilis made by my auntie. It is a 'comfort' condiment for us. It tastes spicy, savory and chewy. I minimize the mess by making this in a bread maker, using the jam making function.

Homemade Butter Caramels

It is 2015! Happy new year to one and all. I ended year 2014 candy making - caramel. The process was very fun and the end product was delicious. I followed the recipe of David Lebovit.

I used golden syrup (leftover from mooncake making) instead of corn syrup. I also used crème fraîche instead of heavy cream. 

Beans Stew with Quinoa

 

Beans are very good sources of protein as well as dietary fiber. This stew have many layers of texture as it is made up of a mixture of 6 different types of beans and lentils. 

Mango, Pear and Parsley Salsa

This simple salsa is a great side dish to a meal that consists of roasted meats, such as a roast beef or roast rack of lamb (which was what I made as a side for). It refreshes the palate in between eating the rich, tasting roasted meat.

English Muffins

 
I like to eat English muffins. They are crusty on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. They are like bread but they are not baked in the oven, rather they are dry fried over the stove top in a pan without the use of any oil. They are not commonly found in our supermarket like the loaf bread. 

Fresh Figs

 

Singapore, a place that I live, is a small island state that imports most of our food. I am blessed to be able to eat the food around the world without having to fly to the country of origin. 

I found these black figs from Turkey recently in the supermarket. They are so beautiful. Their dark, shiny, purplish skin with a reddish interior. What a contrast of colors! How can we not be amazed with God's creations?

I usually have fruits without cooking them as the cooking process will destroy the vitamins and minerals in them. This is how I had the figs for breakfast over 2 days:

Macarons - The Italian Way

Front clockwise: Matcha sprinkled shell with bitter sweet chocolate filling, Chocolate shell with bitter sweet chocolate filling, Vanilla shell with passion fruit curd, Cocoa powder sprinkled shell with
bitter sweet chocolate filling, Raspberry sprinkled shell with white chocolate raspberry filling.

It was quite a fearful first attempt for me a few years ago to make macarons. I wanted to make them and was reading as many blogs as I can on the subject matter. (such as this blog)  I was so impressed at the passion of these bloggers as they went to the extend of very systematically showing the hows and whys in making and breaking one's macarons. I am thankful for all their effort and finally pluck up my courage to make them.