a prêt-à-porter glass bottle

i remember once upon a time in shanghai when i was flipping through a magazine that i chance upon an evian print advert featuring a glass bottle with intricate flowery lace patterns designed by christian lacriox. the design gives the bottle a wintery feel reminiscent french alps. the runway bottle was launched in due cause for the 2008 spring/summer collection of haute couture fashion. and just when i wanted one for myself, my friend back in singapore couldn't find it anywhere.

and yet months later i chance upon it at a wine fair.

roast pumpkins and red pepper

a simple recipe of roast pumpkins and red pepper, garlic and julienne of spinach. the garlic cloves were roasted without peeling and then pulp is then pressed out and mixed into the risotto as it slowly simmers. the aroma of roast vegetables is really sweet smelling especially red peppers. for those who dont know, vegetables and fruits with colours like red, orange, purple are more nutritious and naturally sweeter than green ones.

drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, sprinkle some rosemary and thyme. give it a good toss and it will come out beautifully. i love my roast vegetables to show some signs of over roasting as it gives it a peculiar contrast. the risotto is awfully simple and normal but when eaten with the roasties its delicious. nature's vegetables at their best.

i have decided to give this plate a name and its called risotto plate. somehow that pinkish purple line works well with the risotto. on the other hand a white china bone dinner plate makes the photo less pretty. i adore my wooden chopping board, it was a surprised find at robinsons and for your information i do not use the board for culinary purposes, its solely bought for photography.

cookies from italy

chocolate hazelnut biscotti from the oven. and these italian fellers are really simple and easy to make. but what really tempts me into making them is the variation that can be derived through the mix and match of ingredients from nuts to dried fruits and even herbs. perfect for coffee in the midst of summer.

the looks of these biscottis are somewhat rough and tough but hey its my first time making them and it seems that i have to improve on their looks. the nuts tend to fall out as i slice the log, maybe i should have chopped the nuts instead of throwing them whole into the dough. but anyway i will be making chocolate and hazelnut ones again once i get my hands on more hazelnuts.

since they look rough and tough i shall be easy and have an anything will do kinda presentation for the photos.

a night of prata and arts

caught up with friends whom i have not seen for quite some time already. everyone was busy with final projects and exams and then work, sigh i should be feeling damn carefree and relax but oh no i am not gonna let it be this way for long. i finally took the effort to remember the name of my favourite prata shop along circular road, shah alam restaurant. they serve awesome pratas and briyani.

poor ruben, caught a flu. but anyway it seems he's the one that is always organising these meet ups with people from the shanghai cds. the plan was to attend some study fair held by idp singapore but i was like fck studies now man we still got ns to go through. and so we ended up with prata, followd by some arts performance along the river at boat quay/acm/uob building, you get the idea yeah.



the performance was really interesting although i am clueless about the meaning and all. but i really liked scene where a lady dressed in those old fashioned english dress pushing a baby pram. the scene was somewhat dark and creepy as the lady floated pass down the river. the performance was amazing in such a way that all the performers are all standing on small platoforms that kept them afloat.



there was the guy with the trash bin scooping up trash and setting up lamp posts with lights that really work all over the river. imagine those street lamp. its like the water was of real tarmac. there was a yellow taxi. some girl in a bed and gondolas with people and fire. but my favourite was a lady in red who sat untop a huge water wheel with an umbrella. her skirt covered most of the wheel but when she pulled it up there was a guy inside who actually paddles the whole thing.

but anyway it was a great sunday night out not forgetting chillin at tcc for some refreshing beverages after the performance. the weather was just humid and warm, gosh.

sometimes its difficult

sometimes when i feel like penning down those thoughts of mine that has been nagging at me, i pause and think about the consequences of making it known. seriously i find myself at times truly a strange person. no one knows me thoroughly through and through, i have afterall kept a distance while donning a mask of smiles, but yet i yearn to find someone who will see through me and understand, soul mate

a conflicting feeling, i am alone at times and the sadness and lonely needs get to me sometimes but yet somehow i love being alone too. i do what needs to be done and what i love. in contrast to some of my friends who always hang out with their usual click and all i differ by having none and somehow going out with the same group of people just isnt my cuppa tea. i prefer different circles of friends who when put together can become a greater circle.

when i thought about furthering my studies and the career i wanna embark on, i pause to consider. i have always wanted to take on a job that allows me to fly, the option of being a pilot is out of the question ignoring the fact that i do not have the eyes of an owl. i just thought that those hours in the cockpit just isnt gonna be satisfying enough. a cabin crew is more ideal, i get to travel, meet people and serve people.

but then again after investing all those money getting a degree, i am sure my parents will make a fuss if i went to apply the job of a cabin crew and what happens after. an initial two years contract, then what; to continue for the rest of my life or to settle for a real job. by then i will be nearing twenty eight and that's not a very nice age to start all over again. oh well...

i have a craving for japanese cuisine, give me a pot of nabeyaki udon and maguro sashimi accompanied with a cuppa hot green tea. black seseame ice cream for the ideal ending note. i look forward to them.

however please do not stare with such piercing eyes and really, that air of nobility needs to change.

graduation time

le temps is atsui

oh gosh the weather is really treacherously blazing hot. i can practically melt even at home and the whole house seems like an oven. just a few days ago my friend commeted that my blog was not exceptionally interesting, and i knew what she was getting at, my blog is missing in all those daily rants on gossips, bitching about others or my different feelings over people, situation etc etc etc.

haaaah but i mean if you do not want others to know who you fell in love with or who you gonna plan a grand revenge on, then why blog it. secrets are meant to stay with you or in your personal journal, the same goes for things that you wouldn't want others to know. therefore there is no way that i will blog on those issues since it indirectly means wanting others to know.

i really miss school.

Chocolate tarts and expressions

Dinner at sheryl's place today, and i had the honour to make the dessert. i have been wanting to try some chocolate tart recipe for some time now and what better dessert then a chocolate and viet coffee tart. the rich smooth satin like feel of chocolate ganache and the aroma of coffee. although i used italian roast as i didnt have viet coffee powder, the tart came out as i expected.

i was pressed for time in the afternoon as i had to get the tarts ready and i had my running to do, therefore as soon as the tarts came out of the oven it was onto the cooling rack, a quick draw of nice paper from prints and snap snap snap goes my camera. didnt have time to dress up the tarts or have pretty plate presentations.

personally i have improvements to make from the consistency of the dough's thickness each time i roll it out to the adjusting of flavours more greater harmony. this batch had a strong coffee aroma which kinda overpowers the chocolate a little, plus the crust is a sort of too thick. ut oh well at least everyone enjoyed it and i am glad for that.

a game of taboo and lotsa photo taking.

italian sounds delicious

mushroom risotto with italian herbed sausages garnished with sprigs of thyme. with just the basic recipe for making risotto, one can play with the ingredients as one pleases to whipped up different kinds of this simple delicious italian dish. today it's mushroom and sausages, tomorrow it maybe pumpkin and grilled chicken and then probably scallops and prawns. delightful.

i used some swiss brown mushrooms and italian herbed sausages i bought from the supermarket but really, just mushrooms alone i have decided to attempt with shitake due to its aroma which these swiss brown's lack. i'll probably get some other kinds of sausages the next time round too.

it's amazing how the use of rice differs from countries and regions, from sushi and onigiri in japan to risotto in italy, paella in spain, fried rice from hong kong and even briyani from india. languages may be different but the soul speaks cuisine and the heart feels it.

blazing afternoons and prata

my baking tools and oven worked no wonders, for these blazing afternoons and unforgiving heat practically made me lethargic. with butter and milk getting dear, baking sometimes seems a little scary. but the cry of the crikets when the sun is at her highest made the days staying home more summer like but the warm breeze the sweeps in seems to help little in easing the warmth.

staying home with no purpose, awaiting the day of enlistment is agonising especially when i am kinda particular about getting a job. well the thing is that i can certainly find a part time job easily but doing something that i have no interest in seems useless as i will simply quit before long, spare me the lecture about endurance and to bare with it. i rather stay home and bake and do things that i will soon have little time for.

it does bug me sometimes how the days go by with no significant happenings or in another word purpose but to just wake up and go about doing things as they come to mind. it does bother me that at times i am simply not making proper use of the generous amount of time that i have to do something productive.

but hey i am afterall searching for a job and with just the right amount of luck i might find a company willing to take me in just for that few months. sigh, often people find themselves in the opposite situation of others, say i would love to travel and go on a backpacking adventure for months since i have the time, but there's the issue of financing the trip. while those who have the financial capability to do so simply have no time or no interest at all.

anyway i had a great night out yesterday celebrating peilin's birthday with some of her co-curriculum activity friends. although the hour wait for out table at gyu kaku was horrendous even though we had a reservation, the atmosphere at chijmes was fortunately nice enough for we sat outside chatting away. dinner was good and i just love the barbecued beef and mushrooms, simple and delicious.

then came the drinking at timber, just along the perimeters of the parliment house, ACM grounds along the river with boat quay at the backdrop. a manhattan was surprisingly enjoyable despite it being dry as the live band played on, this is what i call chillin although the weather, arggg the weather could have been more cooperative that night.

i seriously believe that the prata at jalan kayu is overrated, there's this one shop somewhere near circular road just behind boat quay that's seriously better. prata at two in the morning with lotsa curry, i just couldn't resist. when i think of those supperless nights that i will have to exerience when i am studying overseas after my ns, i feel utterly depress.

haaah...

cheesecakes and jam

new york cheesecakes sitting in cupcake liners, these fellers turned out delicious. the rich creamy texture that makes you crave for more, the light cream cheese taste that's welcoming yet sinfully delicious. well the only flaw that was unexpected was that when these are baked, the cake shy away from the cupcake liners. oh well i guess i will bake these again some other time.

i have been spending so much lately on grocery shopping, each time i drop by the supermarket i just seem to get things that i do not need but my mind just tells me that some day i will use it, maybe in a few days time i will be needing this or that for some baking/cooking, who knows. but that's not all, i love to stand looking at the biscuit section and wonder should i indulge myself in some luxurious danish butter cookies or should i just get the commoner raisin cookies by kong guan. ahhhhh dilemmas...

lychee love

adapted from dessert's first, a love for lychee. i am not a lychee person and the only times where i enjoy the fruit is in my martini but this cake was an unexpected love affair. a simple butter cake with all the sweet aromas of butter and honey thanks to the lychee. not forgetting a generous cup of sliced lychee swirled into the batter for some extra texture.

however i think that i was a little too generous with the sliced lychee as the cake was too moist from the juice that got extracted during the baking. i guess something like a pound cake will be ideal with the honey sweetness of lychees just splashing gently as you enjoy the cake in simple bliss with my usual cuppa tea.