Takoyaki

Got these from some tiny stall on the corner of a street in japan. Freshly made, they were hot and fluffy. Delicious!!

Airplane Food

Breakfast in the skies

Thai Curries

My birthday (or the excuse of getting to do/buy/eat what I want because its my birthday!!) doesn't officially end until:

1. Everyone that knows its my birthday has reminded me how unbelievably old I am now, or
2. Scott takes me out to eat whatever it is I'm currently obsessed with

I had french crepes on the mind this week (business as usual), so I based my final birthday celebratory dinner around having crepes for desert. I was not too fussed on dinner. It turns out though that there is a thai restaurant a few shops down (thanks google!) from the french crepe place, so we tried it out.



I had a chicken massaman and Scott had the green chicken curry. Both were very nice and filling. It was a perfect partner to crepes (not pictured, since fresh crepes (especially birthday crepes) do not wait for slow camera phones with no flash).

Because its my birthday

Birthdays are fun, especially when you are able to pick what to eat for an entire week. Because its my birthday.

On my actual birthday, I had dinner at Docklands. The photo made the eye fillet look a bit dry, but it was cooked perfectly medium.

Then came deserts

I had the chocolate pudding. Filled with warm rich chocolate goo.

Scott had some apple pear pie with rhubarb. The rhubarb was untouched.

Yay for birthdays!

Chocolate Eclairs (attempt numero uno)

This was my first time making eclairs - and i was inspired by watching Poh's Kitchen last night when the reknowned French pastry chef, Emmanuel Mollois made delish eclairs.
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/pohskitchen/stories/s2838069.htm

I used another recipe because Mollois' recipe is way authentic and i couldn't be bothered going to buy cream or 70% dark choc bits. Instead i used the recipe from a book called 'Easy Desserts' which i also received as a gift from some friends. This is the first recipe tried and tested from said book. (i also had all the ingredients at home...)

fraudulent profiteroles - i was trying to make some cool shapes, but failed - obviously.

btw, they taste delish!

food music for thought - Pennyroyal Tea - Nirvana (cos a cuppa would go down nicely with these mini eclairs.)

Birthday(s)

This is what you want for a family get together. One large and very asian birthday cake to celebrate three birthdays (efficient).



Food to feed everyone for three days.

Vic Market and torrential rain

Went to Vic Market for a quick grocery shop and a quick snack. Fresh spanish donuts, yum!

Whilst trying to get some fresh vegies (to balance out the snack), Melbourne weather decides to go absolutely nuts and started hailing like crazy. Everyone just stopped what they were doing to cover their ears over the deafening noise of hail the size of ping pong balls hitting the tin roofs.

Then the rain started. And the power went out.

Since it didn't look like it was going to stop any time soon, I ran back to the car (getting absolutely drenched in the process) and spent the next hour trying to get home by driving in knee deep water (very dangerous in hindsight). I made it home only to find that the kitchen was FLOODED. Not happy. We had no power and a very very wet kitchen. I had to hand dry everything in our cupboards. One thing is for sure, I do not need any more saucepans or bowls. We will probably need a new microwave and toaster though, since they were saturated.

Birthday Surprise

Meet up with friends for a friday night dinner and movie. Oh, and to celebrate my upcoming birthday!

How awesome does this look?

No wonder the girls were not ordering large meals for dinner, they knew this was coming up for desert! A HOMEMADE choc mud cake. It was so rich and moist. Very professional indeed!

Not only did I get this wonderful cake, but a GIGANTIC bouquet of flowers and a cookbook. I'll be sure to post my attempts at the recipes. Thanks ladies! What a lovely surprise :)

Lunch in Richmond

Dumplings

Steamy hot xiao long baos

And for desert a milk yoke bun.

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

Another amazing recipe from my trusty sweet treats book i received as a birthday gift. So far, almost everything in there is pretty good (bar the uber-moist orange cake).

Spongey, not dry - it may have something to do with using the leftover juice in the pineapple tin as the liquid instead of the traditional milk.
Pineapple piece was sweet with a hint of sourness - perfecto mundo no?

Food for music thought - The Bunting Song - The Good, The Bad and the Queen

(cos the cake is like a bundt. haw haw.)

POACHED EGG, man.

my first ever poached egg!! served with toast, pepper cheddar cheese, mustard and baby capers

done with a wide saucepan of water with about 4cm height of boiling water, 1/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of white vinegar.
create a whirlpool in the pan and slip the egg into the centre and leave for 2-3 minutes for runny yolk (3-4 if you want a more cooked centre).
take out the poached egg and soak in cold water before draining it on paper towelling.

recipe: http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/8820/basic+poached+eggs

VIETNAM '09 - '10 (part 2)

the amazing traffic on the streets - taken in the safety of a taxi

Back again with some more wonderful pictures!

the dessert house which my mum used to go to when she was a kid.
30 years and still booming!

dessert w/ seaweed, longan and other tasty treats

blurry red bean dessert

almond jelly - it's there! just very clear.

egg cooked in tea dessert with longan

crispy egg noodles with pork and veggies
this restaurant was literally a table in an alleyway where people lived and drove their hondas to connect to the next street

beef 'char gwai teow'

cake-shop/bakery

hardcore cake complete with dragon

chocolate cake - vietnamese style

pastries galore!

cake slices!

pastries
[l-r] lotus paste, mung bean paste, taro paste (with yolk)

almond jelly in a cup!

mini bitter melons

'cool tea' in oversized bongs....