Memories Treasure Chest

Procrastinating as usual....  I bought my groceries in the morning and this 1 kg packet of rolled oats is 'sitting' on my chair tempting me to open it! I know, of all things, oats as temptation? Too late for breakfast at this time of the day, I decided to bake some oatmeal cookies. Recipe  Ingredients A : 1 1/4 cup of plain flour 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 2 cups of rolled oats 1/2 cup of muesli (since I don't have any dried fruits) Ingredients B : 100 g butter 1 cup brown sugar (but I used white sugar, I ran out of brown sugar) 1 egg 2 tsp vanilla extract Method: Beat butter and sugar until mixture is quite fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla extract and mix. Now, add ingredients A into the mix until the dough starts to come together. Put about a tablespoon size of dough onto a pan (greased or lined with baking paper). Bake at 180 C for 15 minutes. Bake longer if you want the cookies to be crunchy. Oatmeal Cookies I pressed the dough wit...

I had a sudden urge to bake something! Checking my fridge, I have two oranges and spontaneously decide to make orange muffins. Rather than studying, I procrastinated by baking... Recipe (adapted from Best Recipes website) Makes 6 muffins Ingredients: 2 oranges  2/3 cup of caster sugar 1 egg 100g butter 1 1/2 cups of plain flour 1 tsp baking soda Dark chocolate pieces Method : Boil one orange (unpeeled) in boiling water for 15 minutes. Squeeze the other orange and keep the juices. Cut the boiled orange into quarters, then each quarter into four and remove the seeds. Put the chopped oranges into a food processor but I used a blender since I don't have a food processor. In a bowl, whisk the butter and sugar until dissolved. Add the whole egg and mix them. Now, add the blended orange and squeezed orange juice into the mixture. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients (plain flour and baking soda) into the wet ingredients and mix well. Option: Add chocolate chips, choco...

The menu...   B and I visited a vietnamese restaurant, 'Mints Vietnamese & Asian Cuisine' in Paddington last Thursday. It was packed with people even though it's only the weekdays! Many people = good sign = good food?  Maybe because it was a busy night, service was not particularly good. It took quite a while to be seated, to have the menu and have our order taken. Anyway, food arrived pretty past after the ordering... Transparent prawn and pork roll (3) - $11 We ordered the prawn and pork vietnamese rolls for entree. They were all right. It seems that most people ordered the 'wrap your own rice paper and salad wrap'. Rice Vermicelli Salad Bowl with grilled marinated beef - $ 13.90 B had the vermicelli with marinated beef. B said that it tasted pretty good although I still think that the vermicelli in Tan Thanh tasted better since there's spring roll and it's cheaper there too! BBQ Pork with noodle and wanton soup - $13.90 As for me,...

An individual with drug addictions has a recurrent psychoactive drug abuse and consumption of drugs will eventually disrupt the person's ability to function normally. The rewarding effect such as euphoria due to drug intake positively reinforced the individual's addiction. So, why am I talking about this and how is it related to leg bracelet?  Where should I begin? It all started on Chinese New Year's Eve in 19xx ( I can't remember how old I was, maybe 8 or 9 yo). Our family had steamboat for dinner in grandmother's house. All family members will usually congregate in grandma's house for Chinese New Year Eve's dinner where everyone will sit around a big table standing eating steamboat. Fun times! After dinner, my family will usually go to the Chinese temples for prayers at midnight. Let's assume I was eight that year and it was not an ideal age to carry burning joss sticks around, trying to squish yourself among sweaty, eager people in the temple. So, ...

I thought I should start writing up this post while waiting for the cake to be ready (still in the oven baking!). I can already smell the chocolaty aroma in my room and I am salivating right now. =) Life must be miserable for anosmic individuals. Recipe (from  The Little Teochew ) 200g dark chocolate (Nestle Premium Dark) 1 tbsp strong espresso coffee 1 tsp rum essence  1/2 cup caster sugar 150g unsalted butter 1 cup ground almonds 5 eggs, separated (but I used only 4 eggs) Icing sugar for dusting Pinch of salt 1. Melt the chocolate, coffee, rum, sugar, salt and butter in a bowl and sit the bowl on a pot of boiling water. Stir until all has dissolved and remove from heat. 2. Add the ground almonds and mix well. Following that, add the egg yolk one by one, mixing them together. 3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff. I have to use a hand whisk and that was so tiring. Then, add the egg whites into the chocolate mixture and gently fold the egg whites. 4. Pour the batter into a...

Szechuan cuisine originates from the Sichuan Province of the southwestern China famous for their bold flavours, particularly the use of garlic and chili peppers (Szechuan peppercorns). Szechuan peppercorns produce a strange tingling, buzzing, numbing sensation and its flavour is not hot like black or white pepper. I totally agree after having tried some dishes in China's Kitchen, Toowong. My housemate, G told me that China's Kitchen produces authentic Chinese food and they specialises in Szechuan cuisine. I read the reviews beforehand and found that the reviews weren't too good. Hmmm, I am a little skeptical but my housemate told me otherwise. We got there at about 12 pm and there was no customers yet. The layout and design of China's Kitchen Special Noodle with Pork Mince - $ 16.90 This dish was the first to arrive. I haven't had this noodle for ages. I think this special noodle is also known as glass noodles, chinese vermicelli or bean thread noodles....

Ave and Cucina Coffee Bar, Coorparoo Cooking and food shows have become so popular in the recent years. I think the hype really started from MasterChef Australia by Network Ten and then followed by 'My Kitchen Rules' from Network Seven. My housemate, G and I decided that we are going to visit the cafe opened by the Season 1 winner (Veronica and Shadi) from My Kitchen Rules. The day has come and both of us were very excited! We went there for lunch and it was already quite packed with people. It took quite a while before being served and during that time G and I were busily taking pictures. Later, we were being told by Veronica that she prefers us not to post up the menu. No problem! [I was actually shocked and suprised when I saw her!] Shadi's Breakfast Wrap - messy eggs, bacon, grilled haloumi and herbed mushrooms wrapped in Lebanese bread with ave made tomato relish - $14.90 Marinated Grilled Chicke n - $18.90 Flat White - $3.50 G had the grilled chicke...

Final Pit Stop: Chouquette, New Farm I have been craving for desserts for quite some time and I had read that Chouquette produces good French pastries and bread. Time to give it a go! After work, my housemate (G) and I were on the way to New Farm and got there about 10 am. There was already a queue but luckily we managed to find a seat inside.  Should have seen my face when I walked inside! I probably looked so 'pathetic' smiling so widely that time BECAUSE I was really excited! There are couple of things that will make me really happy, for example dogs or food (especially good food!)... While queuing, you better decide quickly what you want before paying at the counter. We ordered these: Shades of Chocolate - $6.90 Layers of light mousse - dark, milk and white chocolate with a crunchy base Cappuccino - $3.50 Macaroons - strawberry and chocolate $3/each Chocolate eclair - $4.90 Almond croissant - $5 I liked the almond croissant and chocolate eclair the ...

Stop 8: Mecca Bah, Fortitude Valley I had a lunch date with two friends from the same hometown. Well, both of them are sisters and they are my mom's best friend daughters. =) It was decided early that we will be having Turkish food and Mecca Bah was one of the choices. Finding a parking spot in The Emporium on Saturday and during lunch time was a hassle. Finally, we found a spot somewhere two streets away! Mecca Bah dips (Hummus, Labna and Baba Gannouj) and bread (3 pc) - $15 The dips were good! You probably need to order extra bread because there were some leftover dips. Spicy Morrocan Tagine - Chicken with tomatoes, almond, sesame & honey $23 I think this dish was all right only. The flavour was quite mild and I was wishing for something more. For $23, I think it's pretty expensive. There was only two pieces of chicken (leg and thigh) with couscous. Turkish pizza - Spit roasted lamb, rocket, yoghurt & sumac - $22  The three of us agreed that the p...