Black sesame buns with goji berries

I'm still currently stuck in limbo between houses. I've just received news from the Dad that our new house renovations are going to be completed soon and hopefully we'll get to move in soon. (next week perhaps?)

I really miss pottering about in the kitchen. Cos there's just so many things that I really want to make. One of them being a really chocolate-y chocolate cake to celebrate a new chapter. You can bet that that's gonna be one of  the first things I'll be making when I say 'Ello to the new oven.

One of the last things I baked before we made the move was bread. I made a matcha chocolate loaf (posted previously) using the tangzhong method, and after making the matcha choc loaf, there was still half a portion of tangzhong leftover. Needless to say, I had to use it up. More bread? Of course. Black sesame buns.

Black sesame buns

Tomato aglio olio

Sometimes all we really want to cook is just a simple lunch. A no-frills, fast and tasty meal. Pasta is a good choice. I like it done aglio olio style, not much ingredients are required and you don't even have to spend extra time whipping up a sauce to pair with the pasta. How simple can it get?

Tomato aglio olio

Steamed milk with egg whites (variations)

After the previous attempt at making steamed milk with egg whites, I was really keen to try out different versions of the really simple yet delicious treat.

Steamed chocolate milk with egg whites

Matcha chocolate loaf

Whoops, the half written post got posted last night before I could actually finish with it. I was going to finish it up yesterday night and post it accordingly. As it was so, I spent the whole day out yesterday.

I woke up and we were all ready to head out furniture shopping  at Ikea for the new house. After an awesome lunch of Ikea meatballs, fried chicken and Diam cake, we continued walking around a bit before heading to the Furniture Mall. Then after a whole day of walking, we went for an early dinner at Da Paolo at Rochester (and ordered the super yums mushroom truffles pizza again...).

And my day didn't end there. I had plans for the night too. It was Beerfest 2011 - it was effin' hot and super packed but I had a mad rockin' time there, and then got persuaded by my girlfriend to head out clubbing afterwards. But in the meantime, I had to head home for a quick shower cos I was so sticky from the Beerfest. The final cab I took home from the club got me home at around 4 in the morning. Mad tired.

Thus, do pardon me for my half-completed post prior to this. :)

Matcha chocolate loaf

Dual coloured sweet potato chakin shibori

After my last post regarding the use of purple sweet potatoes, I immediately went to get more of it the next week I was near the market. In fact, I got two bags of it. Can't blame me - they were really sweet!

Sweet potatoes -  a mix of yellow and purple fleshed

Au Petit Salut

I've been to Au Petit Salut once a few years back for their affordable lunch sets, and then to their sister branch, Bistro Petit Salut at Chip Bee Gardens a coupla times since. The food at both restaurants were quite good, so recently, I found myself revisiting Au Petit Salut again for lunch while I was around the Dempsey area.

Au Petit Salut

Lemon almond cake with vanilla buttermilk panna cotta and lemon curd

Before I do my little prelude into my baking post, I must say that I'm currently in a major phase of my life. I'm gonna be moving. And that's from the place that I've stayed for as long as I can remember (say, perhaps a good 17, 18 years?). There are certain reasons for the move, but all I can say is, while on one hand I'm excited about planning a new room, on the other hand, I'm a bit sad cos I've grown up here and I've never actually thought about the possibility of myself ever moving out of this home of mine cos we've just been rooted here for ages. Oh well, guess that's about to change.

And since I'm currently deep in the midst of packing/moving (it's sorta a last minute rush thing going on here that's quite hard to explain), I'll not be able to bake much in the coming few weeks! Reasons being - no time and I don't think the oven's gonna be set up so soon yet anyway. But it's okay, I have quite a few backlog posts, so by the time I get baking, perhaps I'll actually be more up to date with the posts? ^^

Lemon almond cake with vanilla buttermilk panna cotta and lemon curd

Da Paolo Bistro Bar

A few weeks ago on a Friday, I met up with my girlfriends for dinner at a quiet spot. On a weekend night, the place was relatively free of crowds (ah, the bliss!). Where am I talking about? Shhhh. Don't tell, but it's actually Rochester Park.

 Da Paolo Bistro Bar