Happy

I'm happy now cos I managed to successfully do 2 recipes which I wanted to do and have recieved positive feedback from my family yaaayy. Life's simple joys haha.

The first is one that I mentioned yesterday, jacket potato with tuna fillings.  I made it for last night's dinner, and luckily I did as my dad initially wanted to order pizza ( he was lazy to cook) but we'll probably be having loads of greasy unhealthy fast food next month so we should be as healthy as possible meanwhile :)

oh and the chinese dessert of the day was red bean soup! Somehow the beans were softer and fluffier than usual ^^

The potato family

Rubbed them with coarse sea salt and poke holes all over em' , then pop em' in the oven to bake at 220C for about 1 hour!

'Gourmet' sea salt used don't play play

Next for the toppings~  used leftover tuna mayonnaise light 

Also used the leftover salad veggies from lunch, chuck em' in a food processor 

Did I mention my 'stand mixer' also comes with a food processor ;) heheheh

Before pulsing^

After processing^ 

Actually wanted to leave it as that but I felt that something was lacking... so I boiled some packet corn!

to add that 'crunch'

After an hour the potatoes were done!

Crinkly crispy skin, you can see that the skin darkened where I poked my fork in before baking :P

Split open the potatoes and dished out the fillings on top

told my dad about my 'poached egg' made in the afternoon that he didn't get to try, so i made for him for dinner! ( he requested for 2 :) )

I accidentally broke the yolk of my first one so only the second one is fit for photography ):

Close up on the fillings!

My family liked it and my dad described it as 'sinfully good'... it isn't sinful at all!! Much healthier in fact ,( and cheaper) compared to pizza >)

Jacket Potato:

Ingredients:

1 floury potato per person (e.g. Maris Piper, King Edward, Estima, Desiree)

About 20g coarse sea salt

1. Pre-heat your oven to 220C.

2. When the oven is up to temperature, wash the potatoes well, and prick each in a couple of places with a fork. Allow to dry slightly, while you tip your salt into a shallow bowl. Roll each potato in the salt to give an even coating, and then place on the middle shelf of the oven, preferably directly on the rack.

3. Cook for around an hour, then give them a squeeze – the potato should just give, and the skin should be distinctly crisp. If not, leave them for 10 minutes, and check again – if you overcook them, the insides will be dry, so it's important to be vigilant.

4. Take out of the oven and put whole on to plates: they shouldn't be opened until you're ready to eat, and then preferably by hitting them sharply so they burst, for maximum fluffiness. 

*Recipe from: this site

Fast forward to this morning. I woke up filling pretty grumpy for some strange reason and got even grumpier when I saw there was only wholemeal bread left for breakfast ( cos my family aims to clear up most of the 'stock' at home before leaving for USA). So I was complaining to my mom about the lack of food and she offered to go buy what I needed/ wanted: butter ( we had no more left and without it I can't bake anything!), pumpkin/sweet potato ( had no idea but I craved for either one of them, so i wrote down in the grocery to buy either one but my mom bought both in the end heh<3), and tau kwa aka. firm tofu ( craving for the air-fried version of this as well!) 

I decided to make lunch for 3 of us again today with all the new groceries bought, so pumpkin wholemeal ham-and-cheese pancakes were born! (whew such a long name) Keep pestering my parents to bring my bro to the new branch of Strictly Pancakes at Siglap, which are having a half-price off for all pancake stacks till end of november as #1 they have never tried the pancakes there and #2 siglap is much nearer to my house than prinsep street and #3 HALF.PRICE!!! But at this rate they'll never go so I better make my own version of savory pancakes for them heheh ;)

one bowl with the flours ( wholemeal+self raising), salt and sugar, and the other with oil, egg and milk

And the 'secret' ingredient hoho ^^ ; steamed beforehand

Before mixing everything together I added in a good-sized chunk of pumpkin

This is how my mixture looked like in the end, I thought it was a tad dry so I added in a splash of milk more

I wanted my pancakes to be 'stuffed' with ham and cheese so I cut em' up, but in the end i gave up with the 'stuffing' part and just mixed them all in

These are ugly pancakes! But who cares, its the taste that counts and its all going into my tummy in the end anyways~ Look at the cheese oozing out!

My first pancake! Abit browner than I'll have liked it to be cos I turned the fire on too high... next time must use low heat!

This is me trying to be ambitious and cooking 2 pancakes at once (i know both are ugly haha)

Sorry for the blur picture but I just wanted to show the oozy cheese!!

Done! My stack of pancakes which look horrible but whatever don't judge!!

At least I didn't burn any!

Just wanted to show the gorgeous natural orange colour of the pancakes from the pumpkin! 

Thumbs up!  I wasn't counting on it to be much of a success but it was, and my mom and bro liked it :) The sweetness of the pancakes ( from both the sugar and pumpkin) complemented the saltiness of the ham-and-cheese perfectly. Yummy and filling ( I was VERY full after this, ham and cheese kinda does that to me ;P )

Pumpkin wholemeal ham-and-cheese Pancake: 

(recipe adapted from Nasi Lemak Lover)

Ingredients:

120g Self raising flour

30g Wholemeal flour

50g sugar

1/4 tsp salt

130ml milk

3 Slices of ham; cut into smaller pieces

3 Slices of cheese; cut into smaller pieces

50g-100g of pumpkin ( up to personal preferance)

Method

1. Mix flours, sugar and salt in a mixing bowl.

2. Mix egg, milk and corn oil.

3. Add into flour mixture along with ham, cheese, and pumpkin, stir well. Do not overmix.

4. Spoon batter onto a non-stick pan (without oil) to pan fry until golden brown on both sides

.5. Serve hot with maple syrup/ butter ( optional)

Countdown: 5 days to USA. Wish time will go by faster ( ok wait, scratch that)

kbyez~

Shanghai Pancake

I'm glad to say my chicken pox is getting better! ( i think) I don't feel as itchy as I felt when I first got it, or maybe cos I'm already used to it. Anyway the recipe for today is Shanghai Pancakes! I actually have no idea whether it's from Shanghai, and it isn't really a pancake per say, more like a crepe, but it has red bean fillings which my mom keeps asking me to use up so I made them last night as dessert/supper after dinner :) which by the way was my favourite mee sua:

So colourful I had to snap a pic- look at those vibrant yellows and greens

I'll like to draw you attention to this deliciously spicy yummy air-fried fish otah! Love otah, especially thick juicy ones like this~

I think I'll post pictures of home-cooked meals more often, so that I can keep track of what I eat and cos my family does whip up some yummy dishes occasionally ;) 

Back to the recipe!

What you would need for the crepe ( ignore the cluttered up mess behind the ingredients)

Mix up all the dry ingredients, the add the water and beaten eggs and stir ( make sure there are no lumps and the end product should be quite thin and smooth like ^ )

Then heat up a non-stick frying pan and dump a ladle of that mixture in!

Ugly looking but it was my first attempt! It got much better subsequently ;) Spread it out as thin as possible!

Done with my pancakes/ crepe! Check out the huge amount of red bean and just a teensy bit of lotus paste used for the filling ( I didn't use all the red bean filling though)

Flatten the red bean paste and fold it up with the crepe!

All done :)

Sexy black airfryer my parents bought a few months ago! Really easy to use and much healthier than a regular deep-fryer, no need to use oil at all! :)

After 15min of 'frying'- sizzling and golden-brown crispy goodness

Cut it up into strips~

look at that red bean filling enveloped in a thin crispy crepe!

Great movie snack for the movie we were watching

My family really enjoyed it and we finished everything in one night! Will definitely make this again when I have leftover red bean paste :)

Shanghai Pancakes: (Recipe from this blog )

Ingredients
90g plain flour
30g rice flour (not glutinous rice flour)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon of castor sugar
2 eggs beaten
180ml water
1/4teaspoon salt

Filling
2 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds ( didn't have this so i didn't use it )
250g red bean paste

Steps

1.  Mix the dry ingredients together, then add in the eggs and water gradually, making sure the batter is not lumpy. You should obtain a relatively thin mixture.
2. Heat up a non-stick pan over medium heat and pour about a ladle of batter each time to form the skin. The batter should start bubbling up before you turn it over on the other side. You can sprinkle some sesame seeds at this point and remember not to cook the skin till golden brown, just slightly brown in order to set it would be sufficient, preferably soft so you can seal the red bean paste in. Otherwise, the red bean paste may spill over to the oil when you are frying it and affect the appearance of it somewhat.
3. Spread sufficient red bean paste on one half of the pancake and fold it into half.
4. Heat up the pan again with oil covering the base of the pan as you will be shallow frying it over medium heat again. This time, fry it till both sides are golden brown.
5. 20 minutes before serving, place the pan cakes (sliced or as a whole) on a baking tray at 180 degrees celsius so that it will be crisper and less oily. Serve it warm.

** Last 2 steps for people without airfryers~

                                                                          

P.S really stoked for US in a week's time :)

                                                                byez~

                                                                         

                                                             

Triple S ( Suprise, Strictly Pancakes and Skyfall)

The reason for my title is that the highlights of my day all start with a letter S: Suprise, Strictly Pancakes and Skyfall, which i will further elaborate in this post :) ( Warning: lengthy post)

Today met Lynette at tanah merah mrt station at 12, as we planned to meet Alyson at Dhoby Ghaut to try out the much talked about Strictly Pancakes. I was really excited for it was the first time trying savoury pancakes :) The restaurant was located at Prinsep Street which we had no idea where it was, so we had to rely on the very confusing google maps to find our way around which took up quite a lot of our time. But finally we managed to find it whoohoo!!

See that orange sign, that's the sign for Strictly Pancakes!!

We had to cross an overhead bridge to get here~

When we reached the shop, there was a queue in front of it ( which i kind of expected as i had kiasu-ly read some reviews before coming to this place and they all report the place to be full house at lunch time)

This humble looking store ( with alyson at the side haha)

It had a 2nd storey though :)

At first the waitress asked us if we mind sitting outside, and since Lynette was hungry and the queue wasn't budging I actually didn't mind, but Lynette said she wanted to wait to go inside as there was air-con, which kind of suprised me but I didn't say anything. 

After a while the waitress came and said something about 'table of 5...we have a place for 3 people upstairs' and gestured us to follow her upstairs. I was suprised as there were still people waiting in front of us in the queue so I didn't understand why we could go up first.

So up the stairs we went~ When we reached the 2nd level it turned out to be quite cozy, with a few tables and chairs lined up against the wall along with some cushions and chairs. There was also a huge mirror at the end which i was just staring blankly into when I heard laughing. So I turned around and.. saw Shihui and JianYi on one of the couches!! ( with a stack of pancakes already in fron of JY) At first it totally did not occur to me that they were intending to suprise me, i thought it was such a concidence to bump into them here!! But I noticed that Lynette and Alyson didn't seem suprised at all and when Lynette mentioned something about a cake i understood.. it was supposed to be a belated birthday suprise for me! :P Dumbass me, I can't believe I didn't suspect A SINGLE THING but on the other hand, you guys are really good suprisers and planners <3 I'm really touched that you all went to such lengths to plan this!!!<3 :'))

And here are a few factors that contributed to this successful suprise:

1) It was such an unassuming date, and it was even almost cancelled due to my chicken-pox scare

2) I didn't hear it when the waitress ( who is a bad actress) said ' oh are you the group with the table for 5...', I only heard the back part.

3) My birthday is almost 1 week over so i thought there would be no more celebrations till next year

So anyway, back to the food. We were supposed to order a set which came with maple syrup and choice of butter:

1) Salted (Alyson and I ordered this)

2) Unsalted (Lynette ordered this)

3) Herb and garlic (Shihui ordered this)

4) Rum and Raisin 

Our group tried all except the last one, which is weird but maybe I'll try it when i come again~

Butter and maple syrup~ 

In case you're wondering why the cup for the maple syrup appears like it's falling, it's actually made that way which makes it seem artistic and cool! :)

Before we came, JianYi already ordered Strawberries and coulis to 'stall for time'

$10

Shihui also ordered before we came, the highly recommended Garlic buttered prawns

$14

She let me try a bite and I must say, the thick and fluffy pancakes pair suprisingly well with the garlic and herb sauce! The garlic taste is pretty obvious but not in a bad way :) Shihui spammed hers with maple syrup and even ordered extra! It tastes better with maple syrup though suprisingly :P

Shared a chocolate oreo shake ($5.50) with Lynette and Alyson

The shake is REALLY thick and creamy and as oreo-ish as one can ask for. It's like someone blended oreos and added milk into it, too sweet for me but great for oreo/chocolate lovers ( ie. Lynette)

Potatoes Leeking Cheese ( $12) that Lynette ordered. If you're wondering where the potatoes/ leeks/ cheese are, they're stuffed into the pancake itself which makes it thicker that usual! Comes with a side of sour cream and mushrooms :) 

Tried a bite of this too and it's not bad at all!! :) The cheesy taste is quite obvious but its a good combi~

Shared Crabcake Pancakes ($14) with Alyson, we were debating between this or the pancake-wrapped hotdog ( snuggle up) but decided this was more unique :)

Well the pancakes are the thickest amongst all, hence the small size, but still manages to retain its fluffiness :) There's nothing very special about the crabcake though, although it tastes good with the pancakes, and i won't order this the next time i come ):

*RANT ALERT*While we were waiting for the food to come, the couple in our neighbouring table left and their pancakes were left half-eaten!! Plus it still looked so tantalising and edible, and the waitress who cleared the table threw all the leftovers into a nearby bin right in front of our eyes.( not blaming her though)  The wasteful attitude of Singaporeans really irks me. If you can't finish it, share/ don't waste your money by buying it lah!! Geesh.

Ok rant finished. Overall Strictly Pancakes is quite worth it and I won't mind visiting it again, just to try out the other interesting flavours. But I think reservations must be made prior for larger groups of people, otherwise good luck queuing up for a table inside~ ( Thanks so much guys for the treat<3<3 :* )

the wall deco of Strictly Pancakes nyehehe

Next up, we went to The Cathay to watch Skyfall!!

Many of my friends had watched it and it has recieved raving reviews so i was quite excited to watch it. Purchased our tickets and thanks to Alyson's ntuc card, we got a discount for 4 tickets ( $9.50 instead of the usual $12) and 4 free portions of popcorn!! Whoohoo~

Funny notebook from Totallyhotstuff, one of the more interesting stores in Cathay

Popcorn!! Really small compared to normal popcorn portions but its free~~

Lynette ordered this whooping huge cup of Fanta grape which she shared with Shihui ( for a whooping $4.90!!!)

Da ticket

THE MOVIE WAS FREAKING AWESOME!!! At 143 min ( 2h23min), i initially thought it would be draggy but it totally isn't!! Action-packed practically every second and though this is the first James Bond movie I've watched, it doesn't matter at all and I was still able to get the plot perfectly well. An awesome exhilarating movie where the plot just fits together perfectly and the underlying themes remain constant throughout the whole movie. I am so in love with it and have nothing but praise for it, great movie choice!! <3 <3 My only complaint is that James Bond looks so old hahaha. But even then its just a comment, not a complaint! His skills and loyalty are commendable~Two thumbs and two toes up!! ^^

Movie ended at about 6+ pm and we went to the steps outside SOTA to cut the cake bought for Lynette and I by the rest :)

Brownie from Polar Puffs and cakes!! 

It may look small but its actually really thick at the sides O:

Birthday gals~

<3

The inside of the cake!! It's really yummy and has walnut bits inside, pity Lynette doesn't like brownie/ nuts ( ikr, what a strange person) but the rest of us enjoyed it all the same :) ( though more than half the cake was left over)

Sigh sigh are they bored or bored ( and they threw the cup away!! ): )

Then finally went home whoohoo where i had some sushi waiting for me ;)

Awesome day spent out and thanks so much guys for planning the suprise!!! <3 Really really appreciate it and I'm glad & honoured to have friends like you :') I'm sorry if I haven't celebrated your birthdays this year but we MUST MUST next year :) :) and I'll get mega nice presents to compensate hehheh

Thanks Shihui for the homemade chocolate+ marshmallows !!! :)

And the mini cutlery set hahaha they're really cute!!!<3

And the pretty box it came with <3

Thanks Jianyi for the cat ring and the card, I'll use it as often as I can!! :)

kbye~