notebook cookbooks

I personally think this gift pack from Singapore is brilliant! A pack of recipes of best menus most popular found in Singapore. The whole bundle is fun! One book holds one recipe. The first page gives you a brief description of the dish, followed by the ingredients needed, how to cook, and then the illustration of how the dish should look like. The rest of the pages are blank for you to use to take notes. I just love the whole idea! Two thumbs up for The Ministry of Information, Communications and The Arts who produced this notebook and FARM who designed it.

Last, this looks like this is my last post in the year 2011. Have a great new years eve. BIGLOVE!

a day at dufan

Dunia Fantasi amusement park at Ancol is still as fun as the last time I visited (approx 6 years ago) :) Last Tuesday was a nice sunny day and we thought it would be nice to take Fabian here and see what rides he could enjoy. Not much though, having his height be below 100 cm, whereas most rides have restrictions that the minimal height is 100cm. Not to worry, he still got a chance to ride the Gajah Mlbedug (Elephant Ride), Komidi Putar (Carrousel), Perahu Air (Water Boat), Istana Boneka (Doll Palace), and Rumah Miring (Crooked House). The husband tried some extreme water rides, but I myself have either grown to dislike a few (or maybe most) rides or am just plain 'chicken'. Overall it was a great day. We enjoyed the fun and heat!  

kimono coasters

When my husband asked what I wanted from Japan, nothing specific came up in mind so I just asked for something unique and cheap. I didn't want him spending a lot on something I might not like, right? So when he came back and pulled these out, I couldn't be more happier... Yeah, I'm so easy to please :D I was wowed by the beautiful prints on each of every coaster and the shape couldn't be more Japanese, a Kimono! So it says on the box, the coasters are made from Washi (Japanese Paper) which is handmade of vegetable fiber. It is very strong and age resistant, full of softness and warmth. Nevertheless, I'm not going to use them as coasters. They're too sweet. I think I'm going to frame them in a deep all-white colored frame. I'm not going to risk them getting ruined by coffee spills or tea stains. Also, the other box of coasters my husband intended to give to a relative just might not reach the address. Naughty me. Oh well, I'll trade them for some Japanese Marshmallows. How's that? ;) 

Oh, it's Christmas and holidays! Have a joyful time today with your loved ones. 

christmas lights

I love lights. They send an instant magical vibe, even through pictures. These pics are part of the Christmas scene my husband shot on his brief trip to Tokyo this December. Lucky geezer :p I hope your Christmas will be just as bright as the lights. Have a merry one and happy holidays!

spring rolls #CPP1

To be honest, I've made spring rolls several times already,  also for my Icip-icip article at CosmoGIRL! once, but never got them looking just right. This time I did *big grin*:) I found out that you have to put in quite an amount of filling to make sure your spring roll stays a solid round tube shape. Before, mine always turned out a flat rectangle shape - not fun. Now, because of the camera being unavailable, I made use of what I captured with my phone camera, played around with it on photoshop and made my own spring-roll-set-image. A clap or two for the effort, please? :) Here's my most preferable recipe after former attempts:
My filling: 
- 2 big handfuls of beansprouts
- quarter of a cabbage, thinly sliced
- 2 large carrots, thinly cut into matchsticks
- 4 onion leaves, chopped
- 1/4 kg Minced beef
- oyster sauce 
- 12 spring roll/ lumpia sheets (available in the frozen section in supermarkets)
How I make: Put in two table spoons of oil in to a pan and stir the minced beef until cooked. Add in all the veggies until soft. Season with oyster sauce and mix well together. Taste. You can add salt and pepper to meet your taste, but usually oyster sauce does it right. Transfer mix in a bowl to cool. Prepare the wrappers and one egg white. When cool, add a table spoon and a bit more of filling to the wrapper and slowly roll into a tube while tucking the sides in and securing with egg whites. While wrapping, prepare oil in a pan to deep fry so the rolls can be immediately fried once done. Easy and tastes even more delish with this specific chili sauce, Sambal Bangkok. Happy munching!

spicy tofu #CPP1

I shall say this dish is great in many ways. It's healthy, simple, tasty and cheap :) I'm glad I found and mastered this recipe. Here's the video along with the recipe. I cut my tofu bigger than the ones in the video as I used the softer kind of tofu rather than the really firm kind. That way, the soft tofu would not easily break in to pieces. Both I'm sure taste as yum. At least now I can assure you that my tofu dish will not be the ordinary fried version. Many must agree with me that sesame oil and seeds makes it extra lovely.
Note: The image is not mine. My camera was snatched away by my husband to accompany him on a duty abroad. Won't be back in two weeks *sigh. The pics I attempted to take with my phone camera were awful - no bright sun light as well today. I hope I get better (phone camera) pics with the next two dishes. 

breakfast casserole #CPP1

My next attempt was seriously easy *show off* :p All you need to do is watch this video, then change the filling to your preference. I used sausages, sweet onions, and corn. I also sprinkled bread crumbs on the top just before put in oven. Here's the ingredients I used:
- 7 slices of bread, crust removed, cut into cubes
- 2 large sausages, thinly sliced
- 1 big onion, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup of milk
- cheese, grated
- salt & pepper & a pinch of oregano
I didn't leave it to rest overnight since I had lack of patience and made it this morning just before breakfast. Me too wandering whether the herbs would absorb thoroughly enough or not? It did and tasted delish! Maybe next time a sweet casserole with raisins and fruits might work out just as yum!

xmas in new york

Christmas is always magical in New York. How do I know that? Not because I've ever been to NY (will always be on my where-to-go-before-i-die list), but because of all those dreamy christmas movies located there. Hahaha... the movie makers must be really happy that at least someone has been hypnotized by the atmosphere captured within the pretty decoration and mellow Christmas carols. My all-time favorite Christmas movies are probably Home Alone, Serendipity, and While You were Sleeping but I'd love to watch these old Christmas movies listed to be some of the best christmas films. On my list I have Four Christmases, Mixed Nuts,  The Perfect Holiday, I'll Be Home for Christmas. They are mostly family-romantic-comedy-rated films. I love the light stuff ;) What's on your christmas (movie) list? 
image from imdb.com

soto ayam #CPP1

I chose Soto Ayam to be my first recipe of my Cooking Project Part 1 (#CPP1) and I nailed it! I started cooking in the morning so we had this for lunch and dinner today. I followed this recipe and watched this video for a picture of how to get things started and so on. I did make a few substitutes to the recipe according to my preference. It wasn't as hard as I thought, but then maybe because I got a hand from my helper in grinding the spices. She grinds spices like a high-speed food processor :) Thanks so much, Mbak Mar! So, my kind of Soto Ayam consists of rice noodles, sliced cabbage, bean sprouts, a boiled egg, and chicken. To top the dish off, I cut in half and thinly sliced potatoes and deep fried them to go straight on top of the Soto when about to serve. It gives a crunch in every bite and potatoes goes best with Soto. Oh, don't forget the shrimp crackers! It just makes the dish even more complete. I'm glad I passed this recipe satisfyingly.  What a tasty 1st of December!