Sabbatical - The Paris Edition

My long-awaited sabbatical (five years) started with Paris being the port where we landed for our Spanish sojourn.

We had an apartment in the Bastille district and our flat was near a daily fruit and vegetable market. The riot of colours and shapes was simply gorgeous. The variety, impressive, just look at the different types of tomatoes! I ate donut peaches every day as they were cheap and plentiful. And sweet.

Even better than the fruit and vegetable market was a bakery that we stumbled upon on our first morning. The baker-proprietor was a delightful Frenchman. We visited it faithfully every single day of the five days we were in Paris, some days, twice! Every thing was made on site, every baked item delicious and beautiful. The only reason I don't have a photo to capture this highlight of my Paris trip is because everything we get our hands on from that bakery, we gobble down too quickly and then realise we haven't documented anything!

We also found this deli which had nice cheeses, pates, empanadas, quiches and cold meats. Together with a crusty baguette from the bakery, we fed ourselves well in the apartment when we did not feel like going out for dinner.

The pastries were definitely the highlight of our Parisian leg. We ate our weight in pastries I am sure, but then we also walked so much, we walked off every single calorie. I can still taste the heavenly flavours...

Sweets For My Sweet

Desserts are my Achilles Heel. When I go to a restaurant, I look at the desserts first and then try to work backwards to see what my appetite can accommodate and then figure out if I am going to get a starter and a main and what to order. As such, it was difficult when I found out that I have probably more than 50% chance of getting Type 2 diabetes in some stage of my life, because that meant cutting down on the sweets down and watching what I eat even more.

This amuse bouche that we had during the recent Mother's Day lunch was one of my favourite items that day. The pair was encased in gel filled with a chocolate hazelnut and a raspberry liquid resting on a biscuit respectively. These were the best! So interesting to have them pop in your mouth to fill it with a delicious liquid. 

This was a chocolate dessert, I can't remember much about it because I am not a chocolate fan. (Really? There are people who don't like chocolate? Yes, I get that a lot.) But the presentation was really pretty and the small bit of chocolate I tasted was not overly sweet, the way I like my chocolate (if I had to like chocolate).

Who doesn't like an apple tart? This was an unusual one in its presentation, as with all the dishes on the menu really. This restaurant does strive to put a twist on its items, a fusion of western and Japanese and definitely presented in a way that you least expect.

So with a great love for desserts, what can/should I do? "Everything in moderation" does seem to be a good mantra for everything and especially in this case. But on the other hand, the other important quote that comes to mind is "Life is uncertain, eat dessert first."

Tribute to Some of the Loaves I've Made

There is something satisfying about making your own bread, not just because you save a ton of money not paying for mediocre bread at exorbitant prices at delis and gourmet bakeries, but also the fact that you are actually making something very basic with your hands to feed your family. People feel a loss of satisfaction with the Industrial Revolution, that's a fact. Making something with your hands counts for something...

 The back story to my bread-making was when the New York Times came out with its wonderfully simple No-Knead Bread some 8 or 9 years ago, I was intrigued. Bread-making always seemed to involve a lot of hard, manual work and mysterious workings of yeast and leaveners. Until this No-Knead bread recipe burst out on the internet. The only drawback was it required a cast iron pot or a Dutch oven. I lusted after a Le Creuset cast iron pot since then, frequently checking the prices during sales. However, nothing could make me part with S$500 for a pot, Le Creuset or otherwise, not even bread.
Then fast-forward to 2010 when I started going to the US regularly for work. The opportunity to get my much-coveted Le Creuset Dutch oven arrived. For a little less than half the cost of the same at home, I could get a shiny red pot. I hand-carried my precious cargo from San Jose to San Francisco via Hong Kong to Singapore. And then the break-making started in earnest!

The bubbling of the dough mixture was most satisfying. This meant to me that the magic was working.

Leaving the dough for a 12-hour proof plus another 2-hour makes for a sourdough bread, without the need for a sourdough starter. Another shortcut! I just love this recipe. The Boy also loves this bread and would clamour for this on a weekly basis. I was also eager to cut down the cost per loaf from about $30 to a more normal $10.

I even ventured into the land of bread that required kneading after seeing a picture of the same posted by a friend. So I made these 2 loaves but as they were white bread, they weren't the hit the sourdough bread was, and so I went back to baking what the public demanded.

On a subsequent trip to the US, I even bought a second, slightly smaller Le Creuset pot in orange and I've since used that one more to bake my bread because it gives the dough a better rise because of the proportion.

I've experimented with adding dried cranberries, candied walnuts, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and dried figs to the dough. Making bread especially the No-Knead bread is easy and enjoyable and helps achieve the satisfaction quotient of making something with one's hands.

Mum's Bread Pudding

Mum used to make this bread pudding when I was little. In the old days, there weren't many eateries, bakeries, shops, hawker centres located conveniently near residences. So mum felt the need to be inventive and create some desserts for the family. This was something which was easy to make as the ingredients were things which were normally found in a household.

I remember the taste of the pudding so well, I remember helping her stir in the coconut cream to ensure that the bread was thoroughly soaked through. But it has been decades since she made her bread pudding. So I decided that I would ask her for the recipe and make it myself.

This is super easy and quite healthy (compared to other types of cakes) and I've been making several of these puddings in the last week. Even mum gave it the thumbs up and concluded that it was "not bad". I love the taste and the memories of childhood that come with this.

Mum's Vintage Hoarding

My mum is a hoarder. Hence I was exposed to a lot of vintage stuff (they were just old when I was a child as they hadn't passed the 30 year mark of qualifying as vintage then) since I was a child. I remember playing dress-up with a very flouncy, layered petticoat, pretending that I was a Moulin Rouge showgirl doing the can-can dance. I also remember playing with this wire box-purse and had quite forgotten about its existence till I saw a similar bag online and asked mum if she still had hers (why wouldn't she?). But I was really happy and grateful when she found it, and easily too.

Mum kept my first swim suit, a faded green suit with black geometric prints, I remember wearing that to swim at Yan Kit swimming pool, the first swimming pool in Singapore. Now when I hold the little doll-like suit in my hands, I feel how different the material is compared to the softer, smoother fabric they use nowadays.

She also kept a few of her 1960s mini dresses, I love her drop waist green and black dress and her orange scooter dress. She also kept the spangley vest she made herself and she also made me a little dress in the same fabric. I am sure I remember that dress to be too prickly and pokey to be comfortable, but I wish I had that little dress now. Mum's mini dresses were so short I don't know how women those times kept their modesty. Perhaps they walked very daintily and didn't raise their hands and sat with their legs crossed all the time.

All I have been wishing is that she finds my very first watch. It was a Mickey Mouse watch with a red strap, Mickey's hands were the hands of the watch and she bought it for me when I started Primary One. I love that watch and I am sure being the hoarder she is, she would have kept it but that it has been misplaced somewhere and will pop up one day...

Soup Goes With Bread

Soup goes with bread without saying of course. After resolving to put my new Le Creuset dutch oven to good use soon, I was thinking of making soup to go with it and invite some ladies over for Saturday lunch soon. A very simple yet healthy lunch of rustic home-made bread with carrot and ginger soup perhaps with a dollop of sour cream.

So when I found these 6 vintage little soup/rice bowls with the much sought-after local bunga lallang motif, I was really chuffed. I only have 4 Japanese soup bowls at the moment, 2 were lovely wooden lacquer ones which were a wedding gift from a Japanese-Australian friend, while I bought the other 2 plastic/mock lacquer ones from Daiso to make up the numbers for when we have guests. Now the stars are all aligned for me to get started on the home-made soup and bread-making with this half a dozen soup bowls. No more excuses.

Another Year, Another Birthday

A birthday celebration in Taipei this year due to work exigencies. Not the most ideal situation but still the Taiwanese team made up for it by throwing me a celebration at a rustic French bistro with really yummy food, great ambience and a gorgeous cake which got even more made over by the bistro chef who embellished the lovely cake further with his specialty of sugar shards. All considered, it was a good day - 13 June.

Christmas Highlights

This is our yummy rummy Christmas cake which Tony's mum made. She makes these delicious steamed Christmas cakes with dried fruit which she has soaked in rum for at least a month. This cake didn't last very long, I tried my darnedest to prolong its lifespan by doling out a sliver every night after dinner to G despite his pleas for more. I managed to save 2 slices till Christmas evening where after dinner, the family came back to my place and had tea, Christmas cake, B's chocolate salami and truffles which she had made. All hand-made, all yummilicious.

This was of course dessert part 2 already as we had a seafood dinner and dessert was this glutinous rice with coconut ice-cream creation topped with a mint leaf, with dry ice special effects. Very dramatic.

The pretty table setting was at the lunch I had at B and F's. Lovely festive setting, delicious food, great company. G was under the weather and stayed in bed most of Christmas day but did find the energy to get up and enjoy the care package sent back with me. Except he didn't get one of F's coffees. I on the other hand, had 2! Christmas is all about food, family and friends - 3 F's and I guess the order in which I've listed them is a bit telling?

The World Is A Smaller Place

Here is Snowy trying on the headset in order to make a Skype call. What did we do before Skype? Long-distance phone calls used to cost a bomb. We used to try to save some money by buying phone cards, and these were not the budget phone cards which cost 5 cents a minute or something ridiculous like that. This were the $2 per minute type of phone cards. Thank God for the internet and for Skype. Now we can keep in touch with friends and loved ones half across the world. Globalisation has touched all aspects of our life but the internet has made the world a much smaller place.

The New Pad

Finally after 8 months, our furniture saw the light of day and made it out of storage and into our new home. Technically we are only half moved, as we have about half a truck worth of stuff still at my mum's but since everything we need to function is already here, we are fine. (note to self: still need to get act together and move the rest of the things over)

I've only enjoyed 3 days in the new flat before I went off for another work trip. So I am looking forward to more days in my own space, enjoying my own furniture. We still need to hang pictures, decide which clock goes on which wall and put our clothes and other junk away. But I think we've done quite well with the unpacking so far.

Next step - party time!

A Well-Deserved Celebration

We figured the occasion called for a celebration. Deposit on new flat was put down in early January 2010. Legal completion of the sale and purchase was only in end July 2010. Almost 7 months of waiting - quite painful waiting at times it seems.

So when we figured handed over the cashier's order for the 6-figure final payment, we went all out to have a good meal at OChre at Orchard Central, a contemporary Italian restaurant.

This was a 6-course meal, with a sorbet palate cleanser also

counting as one course! It ended up being a rather expensive dinner, with an additional 2 glasses of wine and a limonata. We had a fresh tuna sashimi starter with tapenade and a tiny bit of salad. Very delicious even for a non olive lover. The tomato broth was next. It was light and thin with a mussel and 2 little clams. I had to add some freshly ground black pepper to take the fishy smell off. But overall it was still tasty.

I had the risotto with parma ham while G had orecchiette in a tomato-based sauce which actually tasted like the tuna pasta that he frequently makes for a quick dinner. Both the risotto and the pasta was slightly undercooked and although edible, both dishes would have been much better if cooked for a bit longer. A bit of a

disappointment in texture altho the flavours were quite good for mine.

My main course was the herb-crusted lamb chops. They weren't very big but they were extremely delicious. I like the daikon strip too for its somewhat unique and almost bitter-sweet taste.

G had the fish as his main course.

And finally it's dessert time. Mine was a pretty berry

compote on a fromage texture sort of pudding while G's was an expresso gelato on a creme caramel. Mine was very good and G tried to trade but I was generous (and too full) and shared mine with him without even a taste of his. Coffee and tea came along with the meal, G's expresso was fine but my latte was not up to standard so I didn't finish it and saved the calories!

So all in, a well-deserved celebration. Now we wait for another 3 weeks where we will treat ourselves to another celebration when we physically get the keys.

Home

This was our home in Surry Hills.

This was our home in Cammeray.

Now we are just waiting for our new home in Cassia Crescent. Another 5 weeks to go.

Penang - A Whirlwind Trip

G had almost exclusive possession of the camera on our recent whirlwind trip to Penang. My old camera had died on me some time back and we have been using his, while he's been talking about buying a wide-angle camera for the longest time but has yet to make that investment. So on the occasions when I had control of the camera, I snapped these pictures.

I like the rustic ambience of this little hole-in-the-wall cafe which was situated next to the Cheah clan house. We had a chat with the owners and they said they finally decided to take the plunge and open up the cafe. But having not very much money, the young couple decided to make-do and this was the results of it. Very nicely done and we wish them all the very best and hope their business survive and do well indeed.

We had gone off into the boondocks with my cousin and her husband the morning before we left for the airport. They normally like to take visitors on a round Penang island drive. But with the short amount of time we had, we had to pick and choose some spots to hit on the drive. This almost postcard-like photo was taken in front of the Eunuch Cheng Ho temple which is situated in a fishing village.

I could sum up the 3 main features that figured quite significantly on the trip - food, scenery and temples/clan houses. This was from one of the temples we had visited and the fuschia of the praying stools for devotees to kneel on, with the red lotus motifs contrasting with the green floor, just jumped out at me. We visited numerous temples, from the Kuan Yin Temple to the Snake Temple to the Kek Lok Si Temple up on the hill with the turtle pond and the giant statue of the Goddess of Mercy now and also clan houses with their amazing architecture and colours. The buildings were simply dazzling and a treat for the eyes.

Undoubtedly, there will be a repeat trip soon!

A New Brunch Place

It was Saturday lunch for me, and brekkie for some others at Gourmet Plus at Frankel Ave. The brekkie type dishes were priced around the mid-range while the main courses were on the high end.

I ordered the chicken sandwich with mushroom and basil pesto, it was quite tasty and I enjoyed the greens that came with. The chips were a surprise, but it bulked up the meal for the bigger eater.

Mum had the lobster bisque and the scrambled eggs with salmon. She felt that the eggs were too creamy for her but the others liked it. I am no scrambled eggs lover and gave it a miss.

J's croque monsieur looked and tasted pretty good according to her. No chips with it but she had some rocket in her greens. I wish mine had rocket.

We all shared a chocolate fondant for dessert, it was nice but could be warmer. The coffee was again abysmal as with 99.9% of coffee in Singapore.

With a return voucher for the next visit, we just might trek down for another weekend brunch to try out the other items on the menu.

Mum's Yummy Konnyaku

Mum made her very popular Japanese jellies. They were a big hit with the kids, and the adults. The lovely colours, shapes and fruit all add to their appeal.

The other thing I like about this picture is the little dish is dad's. It is so old it qualifies as an antique now. I love it and how it reminds me of my father.

Not Valentine Day's Dinner

This Valentine's Day, G is still in Sydney, spending his last few days there, tying up loose ends and saying good bye to all his friends, while I am in Singapore, stuffing my face full of pineapple tarts and other CNY goodies. VD is not really a big thing here this year as it is over-shadowed by CNY.

So on VD which happens to be day 1 of the CNY and most restaurants are closed for business, I ended up at Waraku, a Japanese restaurant with my youngest sister and her husband. I had a cold soba noodle, with a delicious sesame dipping sauce. It was light and refreshing after all the CNY goodies I have stuffed myself with.

Definitely going on the healthy-eating regime when G arrives - whether by choice or not!

Life's Little Ironies

December was a chock-a-block month.

On the job front, it was a month of ups and downs. It was a month of near offers, real offers, real misses, almost misses and everything in between.

On the personal front, especially from the perspective of settling down into a new-old place, it was exciting and promising.

Now with the job settled, we are moving. I relocate in 2 weeks' time and that means lots of hectic planning, packing and organising. G relocates a month after me. In the meantime, we got invited to the neighbour's Christmas Drinks where we got to know the neighbours better and where we broke the news that after meeting them properly that evening, we were moving. Life's little ironies once again.

Steamed Cake - Childhood Version

I've had a few flashbacks to my childhood when I would remember something yummy my mother used to make and wonder how easily I could replicate that. Thanks to the internet, googling up these recipes is a breeze and one can usually find a really easy recipe which is not too far off the mark.

Today I tried my hand at making a steamed cake Chinese style. Mum used to make these purely because of necessity as we did not live near shops or bakeries so she had to make these simple cakes to satisfy her family's craving for dessert or just something sweet. And the ingredients are so simple, just eggs, plain flour and sugar. I threw in some baking powder just in case my arm power was not enough to beat the batter to death and make the cake rise and split open with little craters on the surface when cooked. Just as well because it was really, really hard to beat that thick batter. I remember mum and another aunt beating their batter really hard, especially that aunt who had hers in a red pail and added some 7-up to it for the carbonation rising effect. And the talk of clockwise and anti-clockwise beating motions.

I couldn't find a suitable round pan and so steamed it in my loaf pan which worked just as well, standing in my big deep frying pan with the lovely steam cooking my golden loaf. After 40 minutes it was done. Delicious.

I had replicated a piece of my childhood in a dish. It was a warm feeling, a taste of simpler times.

Movies - The Good Old Days

I have a new love. It is an art deco building. A cinema to be exact, the Orpheum Hayden in our neighbourhood.

The first time we set foot in it, we were suitably awed and felt like we were transported into the golden age. I particularly love the lights.

This feeling was heightened recently when I took the inlaws to the Wednesday movie luncheon to watch "Cheri" (how fabulous is Michelle Pfeiffer and the ability to age gracefully like that?). It was not just a movie, no indeed, I was disabused of that when we entered the foyer to the cinema. There was a silver-haired gent in a suit and bow tie playing the grand piano. Lovely tunes of yonder years wafted while we went in to take our seats.

Once again, I gaped at the beautiful light fixtures and the red velvet drapes that were mechanically lifted in scallops. There was a host (yes this was not just a regular movie-going experience as I've mentioned before) who went on stage and bantered with the mostly silver-haired, Caucasian crowd. 5 pairs of movie passes were given out in a movie-themed quiz, after he welcomed various OAP groups who were there as an outing of sorts. Then he introduced the organist, as he rose up from the stage in a deus ex machina. How dramatic! And then he played some swing tunes before being lowered again into the stage and the movie proper followed.

Lunch was a sandwich basket served inside the movie hall itself. We helped ourselves to coffee and tea at the foyer where the pianist was playing again. Helen, my MIL knew all the words to the songs, I was told this was how going to the movies was in the good old days.

I am pleased that some nostalgy has been preserved in this lovely building. There is such pleasure in the past, even when one has not lived in it.

Summer In Winter

We've had a few really sunny days here coupled with some lovely warm nights which created a false expectation that Spring or even Summer is here early this year. I mean who has 27C in the winter? And people walking around in singlet, shorts and thongs? Who??? I guess Sydney, that's who.

Of course we celebrated the sunny weather with some typical summer activities. With the inlaws in town last week, we traipsed off to the North Sydney Farmers' market and got some nice spinach and fetta sourdough, lovely honey and garlic smoked trout, blue cheese, avocado and tomato and headed out to Balmoral beach for a picnic. Perched on the wooden bench with the warm sun beating down on us, it was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The following day saw temperatures soaring up to 27C and we headed down to the quaint little Southern Highland towns of Bowral and Berrima. Eating, drinking, exploring cute shops and bakeries and trawling through lots of antique shops with amazing inventory, made for a very interesting way to spend our time. I learnt a few new things including what an "anti-macassar" is. For those who are interested, it's a cloth cover placed on the back of chairs to prevent staining by hair cream (called macassar oil).

We also drove up to the Blue Mountains where Neil, my father-in-law was the only person there wearing shorts, just because he's from the South Island and was warm enough even though we were up on the mountains. Even though it was quite sunny (but still relatively cool up on the high altitude), the rest of us preferred to protect our legs with more clothing.

The lovely cooperative weather meant that it was perfect for us to take our out-of-town visitors on these day trips and to enjoy the outdoors activities. The Kiwis basked in the sun and tried to retain that warm feeling before they head home the following week into the cold.

This summery weather has also tricked plants into flowering early. I've seen lovely cherry blossom trees blooming everywhere on our street. Crowned with lovely, big, pink flowers, they were a sight to behold. Pretty blooms of orange and yellow flowers were also sprouting up on neighbourhood garden lawns. Nature's beauty is everywhere. Spring will be here soon cos it seems like summer is already!