Sat, 30th June 2007

I have been a busy bee all morning since 6.30 am.

I have made this roasted garlic and anchovy dip for tonight.

I have marinated 2 chickens which I will roast and debone later and make the mushroom pepper cream sauce.

I have cooked sardine meehoon for my young friend M. Your takeaways are ready - please come by and pick them up. (I have made enough for your dinner tonight, breakfast & snack tomorrow).

I have heated up some curry and added hard boiled eggs for someone's lunch today.

I have cooked my children's lunch and dinner.

I have deboned 7 chicken drumsticks, removed fat & sinews and cut them into bite sized pieces, ready for marinating to make Pandan Chicken. Oops I have not made the pandan marinade yet.

I still have to get the weekly groceries, attend a PT meeting this afternoon, sort out flight/hotel for next week, prepare for Sunday Splash tomorrow, collect altered clothes from tailor & take my kids for their swimming lessons, wash my hair and do my nails. Thank goodness piano has been cancelled this week.
Pablo, this evening if I am late, highly strung, stressed out, lost in Rimba (and I know I surely will) or all the aforementioned, please send out a search party for me. And I'm still seating here blogging!! And I seriously need a new camera. AB, I need to pick your brains tonight.

Le Meurice Hotel

Foodies!! I am so excited to receive news that Chef Yannick Alléno, Le Meurice's renowned and widely acclaimed 3-star Michelin chef will be at the Empire Hotel & Country Club to create gastronomic delights from 10 to 14 July.

From 10 to 13 July

A 9-course Gastronomic Menu will be served at the hotel's exclusive E-Club lounge for dinner @ $135

On 14 July

The grand finale evening will feature a 6-course menu at the Pantai Restaurant with a special Phantom of the Opera theme @ $75

From 10 to 14 July

Afternoon Tea at the Lobby Lounge will feature an array of French pastries, complimenting the finger sandwiches and scones normally available @ $19.50

Prices nett/per person

I have the date 14th July firmly set in stone in my diary and I can't wait for this experience.

In the meantime, here is a picture of Chef Yannick and do pay a visit to Le Meurice's website to gaze at the gorgeous and dreamy photographs of their hotel, restaurants and f.o.o.d.....

The luscious photographs and descriptions truly transport one to a different world so do be prepared to spend a bit of time there.

(photo from Le Meurice)

Chef Yannick has a website too, here, alas in French which I do not read but there are several mouth-watering food pictures within.... sigh....

Fri, 29th June 2007

This is what I will have for dinner tonight.

I brined some sliced tenderloins and chucked them into the fridge before I went to work this morning. To make the soup, first fry some diced garlic in a little oil till light brown, add water, rinse meat well and add to soup. Skim well, reduce heat and simmer gently. Add a pinch of organic vegetable stock. Add mustard leaves and a chopped raw salted egg. Eat with meehoon or as it is!

Thurs, 28th June 2007

My first hot meal for the day. Homemade fish porridge with dried scallops and diced carrots.
I must admit adding a boiled salted egg wasn't the healthiest thing to do but it was sooooo good!It wasn't overpoweringly salty, with just a hint of salt in the soft whites and creamy yolk.

I like my porridge boiled to a creamy consistency and I added lots of shredded ginger, onions and white pepper. I fried a lovely super fresh white fish in a little oil, deboned it and threw the pieces on top of the porridge.

I'm slowly, very slowly, beginning to learn and appreciate that eating lightly does not mean putting up with tasteless, bland and boring food. I was so full and warm after the porridge but in a very comfortable way. Slept like a baby after my meds at 10.30 pm.

Mon, 25th June 2007

Another quick easy dinner for the kids. Shredded chicken with fresh mushrooms with dried herbs and cream sauce over pasta. Serve with cold sliced cucumbers.

Mark is reading this book here. Has anyone read this? I thought it was hilarious. We have most of the Adrian Mole series except this which Mark would like to read, and I would love to read this.

Weds, 27th June 2007

For Jus who left a comment on the tag board, there were two ngau lam posts in this blog.

This, was from a little corner eatery located at a block of high rise apartments. Please email me for the exact address. Bit tricky to describe location but will try if you're keen.

And this, was from:

Tasty Congee & Noodle Wantun Shop

Shop 111, 1st Floor, Whampoa Plaza, Site 8, Hung Hom, Hong Kong.

Tel: 3152 2328 Fax: 3152 2323

Although I had it without noodles, it does come with. Both were equally good, but the meat here is slightly more tender and the gravy milder in taste. Lovely tendonsssss, all gooey and sticky.

p.s If you do go, please have a plate for me and some wantan while you're at it!

Fri, 22nd June 2007

Bland food - suitable for all, from 6 month old babies to octogenerians to people like me who are trying to eat lightly.

Rice porridge with carrots, topped with fried fish and seasoned with salt & pepper, ginger shreds and spring onions. It was actually very very good, nice and simple and comforting.

I bought three of these lovely white fish from the market - they were so fresh you could have had them raw; eyes were like mirrors and lovely firm flesh, which were so delicate and sweet once cooked.

BLOGGER - STOP adding lines to my photos!!!!!!!!! PLEASE stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Weds, 27th June 2007

And I made a chicken curry with potatoes and tofu before I went to work today.

Mark asked for this for lunch as he ate a particularly good mild curry at Wm's on Sunday.

I don't think Hazel will be able to cope with a curry so she will have chicken salad sandwich from last night's roast chicken.

Tuesday, 26th June 2007

Last night I went to a farewell dinner at the Sheraton. It was a sit down event with many interesting twists and turns of the food, with a lot of play on the ingredients.

The table was very prettily set, with rose petals, and some of the ingredients used in the food; gingko nuts, chrysanthemum flowers, dates, waisan, keichi, tongkwai (I will create links later) and others.

So here is the starter which is:

Pan Seared Tarragon & Fennel Cured Fillet of Beef
& Spinach Alaskan Crab Parfait with Parmesan Garlic Topping
with Braised Gingko Nuts with Pomelo Balsamic Splash

The crab parfait with chunky pieces of crab meat was quite delicious, it paired well with the parmesan garlic topping which was mild, salty & crunchy at the same time.

The Main Course was:

Grilled Bush Tomato Nutmeg Rub Cod Fillet
& Baked Tiger Prawn with Ebiko Filling
Epimedium Tea & Bonito Cream

Another picture.

Dessert was:

Chrysanthemum Ice Cream with Chinese Dates Compote
Almond Crisp & Fresh Mango Sauce

Here is the menu:

p.s All best wishes ( & lotsa kisses xxxxx ) for you. There, you publicly said YOGA last night so don't forget to buy a mat and spanking new cool yoga gear at the place where you are going tomorrow, and see you at Nora's soon. VERY soon.....

Sat, 16th June 2007

Too lazy to cook. Here is an open faced egg salad sandwich with lots of wholegrain mustard topped with fried onions. Yummy.

Tues, 19th June 2007

So I've been having vegs and fish for most of the week. Here are two pics.

Some local fish which I don't know the name of.

I made a lemon, olive oil, black pepper & garlic sauce to eat it with.

Salmon Steak with Garlic, Lemon Slices, Salt & Black Pepper and olive oil. Grilled till charred slightly. Hazel ate more of this than I did.

Sat, 9th June 2007

Remember my meehoon putih? I really like the look of these fat juicy prawns which I fried separately with garlic, salt & white pepper and added into the meehoon before serving.

Prawns, something which I won't be having for a long time to come.

Fri, 8th June 2007

We had a girls' night out with M, S, J, Wm & me. We had a lot of fun and also a lot of wine and food. Shortly after these pictures were taken, I had to retire....as I was tired, very tired.. hehe

We ate Caesar Salad with Grilled Chicken.

And steak sandwich.

And Kampong Fried Rice.

And Chinese Beef Steak with Rice. And a huge basket of nice assorted breads.

Sorry, girls, for bailing out early and fleeing without valid reason.

Now this pic I like as the dim lighting erased a few lines.

Thurs, 21st June 2007

THIS BLOG IS STILL ALIVE!!!!!!!!

But its writer has turned semi-vegetarian (temporary) and has cut OUT protein completely from her diet and devouring this book for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I hate it when I'm not myself - I hope I get better soon as I simply can't stand being unwell.
When I told my kids the food (and I apologise for the lack of photos) at the QBP last night, Mark immediately asked for Shepherd's Pie or Fish and Chips for dinner tonight. It had been quite a while since I had made SP so here it is, with a lot of carrots, peas and corn sneaked in the minced beef, topped with golden butter mashed potatoes.

Mark and Hazel ate almost all the pie.... with Toast. (well, they'll need the nutrition for 3 days of swimming competition starting tomorrow......)...

This is the pie when it came out of the oven, still bubbling away. It was HOT!!!!! Thank goodness the gravy did not spill over in the oven.

There were 3 dishes of minced beef, and here is the mashed potato (if you look closely, you can just about see the potato skins).


And here is a pic of the half-dressed pie, and just before it went into the oven.


Here is a pic of me, S & R last night. I'm not sure if I narrowly escaped the auntie look with overload of lace/sequin skirt, corset top and wrap AND gold sandals, or did I get it just right? :D - don't know, don't care, I had a great time anyway! p.s. This very funny site may have a definition of what an 'auntie' is... Found quite an apt description here.


yes, I do have one food pic!

Mon, 11th June 2007

Experimenting with macro shots - the sleeve,

Heavily beaded & embroidered white banquet gown from Tina Tailor.

The hemline.

Neckline and sleeve.

Worn at this dinner.

Chocolates!