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No-Bake Cookies n’ Cream Cheesecake

July 27, 2012 – 4:08 pm

 

Can you believe, this is my third rewrite? Every time I keep deleting the whole post and starting all over again.

I made this cookies ‘n cream cheesecake for my then-fiance. Just to give you a bit of a background, very recently we decided to remain “good friends,” as for the past months the relationship hadn’t been really what you’d call “healthy.”  But I’m keeping my fingers crossed because I know that we still love each other, though he say’s right now he’s happy to have time on his own to review.

 

cookies n' cream cheesecake
Cookies n' cream cheesecake with a Graham base

So umm… the first time I made this, I went with the original recipe and turned against my common sense, ended up using too much butter that made the Oreo base almost rock hard (though still yummy). I enjoyed scraping the base with my spoon, but apparently it’s not the same with the rest of the family — who kept asking teasing me why I made it that way. I’ve adjusted this one and the result is delightful.

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Banana Madness: Banana Bread with Walnuts

July 19, 2012 – 12:43 pm

What’s your comfort food?

Mine is banana bread with green tea. Or any other bread with green tea or hot chocolate. Or CHOCOLATE, that’ll be very, very good. Remember Barbara Novak in the film Down with Love? She says men can be replaced with chocolate, and she might have a really good point there.

But anyway — hehe — the real hero today is banana bread. It’s yummy, easy to make, and you can fold in nuts or chocolates for an added treat.

 

banana bread with walnuts

Honestly, I’ve had banana breads that are just bland, very minimal banana flavour, or too dry. Now, this banana bread with walnuts recipe is dense and moist (just saying for those who prefer a lighter cake), but it’s also delicious and very banana-y. Also a good way of using all those over-ripe bananas you might have at home.

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Blellow Sunday: Matcha Cake

July 17, 2012 – 12:44 pm

I wanted to make something blellow* for my six-year-old niece and decided to use my stock of matcha powder. If you’re not familiar with matcha powder, it’s a fine ground green tea powder found in local Asian supermarkets (not to be confused with simple green tea powder).

I’d already listed green tea ice cream, pancake, and cheesecake (I know, never even thought about making green tea-flavoured cheesecake!) and decided to settle for a green tea cake.

 

green tea or matcha cake

As someone who likes green tea and sponge cakes, this is really a treat for me.

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Slow Cooker Winter Food: Chicken and Dumplings

July 5, 2012 – 1:01 pm

A slow cooker is the kind of kitchen equipment most cooks would think twice first before buying. Obviously that should apply for every purchase we make, but with a slow cooker the question is always “Do I really need one?” or “Is it worth it to buy one?” As if we need another space-hugging machinery in the counter top.

Well, a slow cooker has its pros and cons, but personally I happen to like slow cookers. The reason is probably the same for everybody else who decided to buy one: I just have to dump in ingredients in the pot, leave home and go to work or run some errands, arrive at the doorstep with a ready meal waiting for me (or at least, an almost-ready meal). A slow cooker… let me just summarise it from a comment I’ve read somewhere in the archives of Internet, “it’s the busy girl’s dream.”

So, as it’s been cold lately and I want to contribute something relevant, here’s a recipe for delicious chicken and dumplings, a recent addition to our household list of winter food.

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Oriental Shrimp Fried Rice

July 4, 2012 – 11:16 am

shrimp fried riceThe good thing about fried rice is that you turn leftover rice into a new, flavourful meal. This is probably why it’s a staple in many Asian kitchens, where a meal always consists of rice and meat or veggie dish. The leftover rice doesn’t go to waste because, the next morning, you can still use it to make fried rice. It’s convenient, and as history tells us, ancient as ancient goes.

It’s also a very versatile dish. You got pork barbecue, ham, scrambled eggs, or whatever you have left from last night’s dinner, just throw these into the wok with the rice. Add a few chopped vegetables like carrots, green peas, bell peppers, zucchini, green onions and seasonings (oyster sauce, soy sauce, tomato sauce, etc.) according to taste, and presto, you’ve got a delicious fried rice.

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Rich and Creamy New England Clam Chowder

June 28, 2012 – 4:15 pm

Hi guys, like I said last time I’d write about a winter recipe. : ))

This one is New England white clam chowder, which I liked better (as of this moment at least) than its clear or tomato-based variants. Creamy and warm, perfect when you’re comfortably snuggled in heaps of blanket in a chilly weather, watching the telly a movie or series in your laptop or reading a book. Or, you know, just plain eating with the rest of the family.

So after a couple of tries and a bit of researching for other tips, I’ve ended up with this recipe:

 

creamy clam chowder

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How to Make an Ice Cream Sandwich

June 27, 2012 – 1:09 pm

To be honest, I was on the first line of my post about a soup recipe, but I got sidetracked by this beautiful gif set of making an ice cream sandwich from Tumblr. I knew I should post this first.

 

ice cream sandwich

ice cream sandwich

ice cream sandwich

ice cream sandwich

This is how a treat should be! Simple and easy to do. Even a kid can do this.

Caution: It’s strongly suggested not to read this if you’re on a diet.

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Chocolate Porridge: A Homely Winter Recipe

June 19, 2012 – 1:54 pm

cocoa powderIt has been cold lately.

Not that it’s a bad thing per se. I like it when it’s cold. It’s basically blanket weather, warm-soup weather, feel-good weather for me. Aside from getting better sleep, it’s comforting to stay at home and indulge yourself with something warm (provided you have no work that day).

When I was a kid my mom will cook all sorts of soups for us when it’s this cold — carrot and ginger soup, wild mushroom soup, or a creamy chicken macaroni soup, you name it. We were kids and we want variety, and that’s what mom gave us.

There’s also an old favourite of mine: chocolate porridge. It’s nothing fancy, just a homely dish to eat at breakfast when it’s cold. My mom cooked just enough portion for all of us because, if you leave for a couple of hours, the rice will absorb the liquid.

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Asian Bites: Pork and Shrimp Siu Mai Recipe

April 20, 2012 – 6:56 pm

Yey, welcome. :)

My first post is a delicious pork and shrimp siu mai recipe, in line with my Asian heritage and a recent episode from MasterChef Australia that I truly enjoyed — mainly because of Debra and her constant interruption of her team mates’ work lol, but we’re getting off the topic.

pork and shrimp siu mai

Siu Mai is a traditional Chinese dumpling served in dim sum. This dish has many variations and can also be found in other countries, namely, Japan, Indonesia, and Philippines. You can read more about siu mai in Wikipedia.

Siu mai is encased in wonton wrappers and steamed, but unlike other dumplings, it has an open top. It’s served with soy sauce as dip.

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