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Treat me NICELY and I'll be NICE to you. SCREW up my life and you'll be SCREWED too.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

beauty blackhole

Been on a buying spree recently… oh well, since when am i not?

I got these fabulous Sigma brushes last weekend after waiting for 2 weeks or so after I placed my order with Sigma USA. They are absolutely lovely. So soft and nice on your skin…

I got myself the Make me Crazy brush set which comes with 12 cosmetic brushes! Love the soft bristles! Been using them since I got them washed and dry. It’s things like these that keeps me going with the makeup regime. Teehee… >.<

Recent buys also include a bangle set from Forever New , the purchase was purely induced by the sheer encouragement of my lil’ sister. To think about it, I don’t really wear these sort of bangles to work and considering, I have been rotting at home on weekends, I wonder when will I ever get to wear them out.

Sigh… but they are really quite a lovely lot.

Got myself some new skincare from Tony Moly as well. The latest addition to the whole range of Korean beauty shops in Singapore.

It comes in an interesting egg-shape packaging. The white one is supposed to help remove the blackheads, whiteheads and whatnots. The brownish egg is a pore tightening mask to be applied after you finished with the blackheads removal step. I have given it a try but I didn’t scrutinize my problem areas well so I don’t really know whether there’s any difference. =( Next week, I will use it again and this time, with the before and after pictures! 

A few weeks ago, late one night when I couldn’t go to sleep, I decided to look through my lip color collection. And guess what greets me?

Terrible terrible lots of lip stuff! My goodness! I told myself that I really really need to stop buying these lip products because they will most likely end up in the trash way before they are all used up. =(

But I failed miserably. The very next day, I got myself the perfect neutral nude lipstick. :S

Revlon Colourboost Lipstick in Soft Nude

Lovely colour and texture. It is really creamy and easy to glide on. Feels moisturizing and not too dry. My lipcolor is quite dark so pale colours like nudes doesn’t really show up on my lips. But this, is totally amazing! It shows up perfectly. Do note that the picture don’t really do the colour justice. It looks more peachy and darker in the picture when in reality, it looks more nude and pale. Loving this~~


amor,esperanza y fe 5:30 PM.

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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

ice-cream, pls?

Went to an ice-cream making workshop a couple of days ago and I am trying out the recipe on my own at home today! 

I will be making mainly 2 different ice-cream flavours – Green Tea and Chocolate. Then, I will try to make a variant of Chocolate ice-cream by adding cashew nuts bits into it. You can use other types of nuts just follow the same steps.

I will try my very best to explain the recipe, showing step-by-step pictures. Good thing is I won’t be appearing in any of the pictures because I looked too shag and ugly!!

First up,

INDREDIENTS

Here I am using (you can use any brands, it will serve the same purpose),

1. Green Tea Ice-Cream

To serve 170ml of ice-cream (equivalent to 1 small cup from normal ice-cream parlor)

1. 1 egg yolk (Tip: You can just crack the egg into a bowl and use a tablespoon to scoop out the egg yolk if you do not have an egg separator)

2. 100ml whipping cream (Tip: REMEMBER,THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM WHIPPED CREAM!! It comes in a packet like your milk instead of can and it is actually in liquid form. You can find it at the refrigerated section of the supermarket where you get your cheese, butter and whipped cream etc.I am using Greenfields whipping cream.)

3. 20g sugar (For a variation, you can use brown sugar or honey. For honey, replace the 20g of sugar with 30g of honey)

4. 75ml FULL-CREAM milk (If it isn’t fattening, it isn’t ice-cream! ;) Once again, I am using Greenfields full-cream milk. This sort of baking milk is using found in the non-refrigerated aisles)

5. 1 teaspoon green tea powder (NOTE: When I say powder, I really meant powder. Please do not cut open a green tea satchet and pour its contents out because I don’t think they are in fine powder form. I bought this green tea powder from NTUC Fairprice’s tea section. It’s not difficult to find. I am using Ten Ren Tea Co Ltd’s green tea powder)

2. Chocolate Ice-Cream

To serve 170ml of ice-cream (equivalent to 1 small cup from normal ice-cream parlor)

The ingredients are pretty much the same so I will just be lazy and copy some the points above. :P

1. 1 egg yolk (Tip: You can just crack the egg into a bowl and use a tablespoon to scoop out the egg yolk if you do not have an egg separator)

2. 100ml whipping cream (Tip: REMEMBER,THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM WHIPPED CREAM!! It comes in a packet like your milk instead of can and it is actually in liquid form. You can find it at the refrigerated section of the supermarket where you get your cheese, butter and whipped cream etc.I am using Greenfields whipping cream.)

3. 75ml FULL-CREAM milk (If it isn’t fattening, it isn’t ice-cream! ;) Once again, I am using Greenfields full-cream milk. This sort of baking milk is using found in the non-refrigerated aisles)

4. 50g to 75g of Baking Chocolate depending on how chocolaty you want your ice-cream to be. I am using the maximum (i.e. 75g) as I love strong chocolate ice-cream. ( Tip: In order not to make overly sweet chocolate ice-cream, I will not be using any sugar. Instead, I will use semi-sweetened baking chocolate. I am using Aalst cooking chocolate in semi-sweet)

Right, so now I will start with the Green Tea Ice-cream.

(My mixture will look slightly more in quantity as I am making 340ml of ice-cream instead of 170ml. Just double or triple the ingredients’ amounts accordingly. However for consistency, the measurements in the steps below are according to the 170ml ice-cream ingredient list that I have provided above.)

Step 1: Making the Green Tea Mixture

Step 1: Put your 1 teaspoon of green tea powder and 50ml of whipping cream (the rest of the whipping cream will be used later). Mix until mixture is even and runny with as little lumps as possible such as the 2nd picture above. Do note that green tea powder wouldn’t dissolve completely hence, it is absolutely normal to have little lumps. (you can add slightly more green tea powder if you like strong green tea taste. But do note that with more green tea powder, your ice-cream will be more bitter and harder in texture. Will recommend to add more sugar/honey.)

Step 2: Making the Sugar-Egg yolk Mixture

Add the egg yolk and 20g sugar in a bowl and mix well till the mixture is of a pale yellow color as in the 2nd picture above. I use a whisk here but you can use a regular spoon or fork. It doesn’t matter.

Step 3: Making the ice-cream custard

I know the heading for this step is a little deceiving. There are more than 1 step to create this mixture.

This step is pretty similar to how you make custard. Just without the flavouring essence.

Pour the 75ml of milk into a pot and heat it on low heat. Stir continuously using a wooden spoon for a minute or so till the steam appears. Once steam is spotted, turn off the heat. DO NOT ALLOW THE MILK TO BOIL.

Although I am using a regular porcelain pot over the gas stove. I will highly recommend cooking it over induction cooker with a double bottom pot (actually, I am not sure what is the correct name for this kind of pot. So, here is a picture of it.

Not sure whether this is clear, but can you see that there is a engraved line around the bottom of the pot? It looks as if the pot as second base. This kind of pots will ensure that heat is evenly distributed throughout the base of the pot. You can get a small double base pot from Ikea at quite a reasonable price.

After heating the milk, slowly dribble the milk bit by bit into the sugar-egg yolk mixture, stirring the mixture constantly. Once the milk is well-mixed with the sugar-egg yolk mixture, pour the final mixture into the pot. This is your ice-cream custard – 2nd picture in the above collage.

Heat your ice-cream custard over low heat, stirring constantly. It usually takes about 3-5 minutes and the process is usually faster if you use the gas stove. Turn the heat off when the mixture thickens and coats the back of your wooden spoon like that (below). It’s quite obvious when the mixture thickens because it will become smoother and more silky.

Step 4: Making the Green tea custard mixture

To obtain the mixture in the above picture, slowly dribble bit by bit into your green-tea mixture in Step 1. As you pour with one hand, stir the mixture thoroughly with the other hand until the mixture is smooth and has a consistent color.

Step 5: Making the Green tea ice-cream mixture

Add the remaining 50ml whipping cream into the Green Tea custard mixture. Stir continuously until you have an even and smooth mixture like the above picture.

Step 5: Finishing touch

Lastly, use a fine sieve to get rid of lumpy bits in your mixture in order to make smooth ice-cream. Put the mixture in a stainless steel bowl along with a whisk into the freezer for 45mins.

Step 6: The first churn

After 45mins, your mixture will harden or solidify, akin to the top picture (minus the liquid). You will then need to use the whisk and churn the mixture by hand. Churning means you mix the mixture using the whisk until it is of a consistent texture which is like cream – semi-solid form. Churning helps to mix air into the ice-cream mixture, resulting in smoother ice-cream. The 2nd picture is how my ice cream mixture looks like after the first churn. It is slightly more fluid because I didn’t freeze it long enough. :S

After the first churn, put your ice-cream mixture back into the freezer for another 30 mins.

Note: The following are possible reasons for harder ice-cream mixture that are more difficult to churn

1. If you like stronger green tea or chocolate taste, you would have added more of the two, resulting in a mixture which is harder.

2. You may have over-freeze your ice-cream mixture

3. If you are making larger amount of ice-cream, your mixture will be harder to churn resulting solely from its volume.

If you are determine to make your own ice-cream and for a large number of people, you can consider purchasing an ice-cream maker which will help you churn your ice-cream. Do note that ice-cream makers are to help with the churn, the rest of the cooking and mixing, you will have to do it on your own. =)

Step 7: The second churn

 

Sorry for the bad lighting. The first picture was taken after taking out the green tea mixture. The second one was taken after the second churn. I know it look ghastly but rest assured, it looks brighter in real life. :P

After the second churn, put it back in the fridge for another 30mins and it is ready to be served! =) I didn’t have time to take a snap of the finished product today. Will try to do so soon!

Next up, Chocolate Ice-cream 

Step 1: Making the custard

The custard for chocolate ice-cream is slightly different because as I have mentioned earlier, no sugar will be added. So here, we just add the egg yolk to milk and stir the mixture till smooth. Thereafter, we will put it over low heat and stir constantly. Once again, DO NOT ALLOW THE MIXTURE TO BOIL. Similar to the green-tea ice cream’s custard, cook till the mixture thickens and coats the back of the wooden spoon.

Step 2: Creating the chocolate fondue

This is how you make chocolate fondue, just with more chocolate and less cream. ;)

Add 50ml whipping cream to 50g to 75g of chocolate, turn on the low heat  and stir constantly till you obtain a chocolate fondue like mixture.

Note: Chocolate tends to burn easily, hence, you really need to be careful and keep stirring!

Step 3: When fondue meets custard with cream

Dribble the custard mixture bit by bit into the fondue, stirring and mixing till you have a consistent mixture like the top picture. Finally, add the remaining 50ml of whipping cream into the mixture and mix well.

The subsequent steps are pretty similar to the green tea ice-cream making.

Step 4: Sieve the mixture to obtain a smoother texture without any lumpy bits. Put the mixture in a stainless steel bowl together with a whisk in the freezer for 45mins.

Step 5: After 45mins, churn the mixture and put it back into the freezer for another 30mins

Step 6: Finally, churn the mixture again and put it back into the freezer for another 30mins before serving.

For the nutty version of Chocolate Ice-cream, 

You can add nuts into the ice-cream, as you can see from the picture above, I am using Cashew Nuts.

To obtain nut bits, I put about 10 cashew nuts into a zipped lock bag and use the handle of the chopper to crush the nuts into bits. Not sure whether you can see clearly from the rightmost picture.

When you are doing your first churn,

 

Add in the crushed nuts and mix well. Proceed with the other steps as per the above!

Woo! This is such a long post and such a long day. I am going to post without checking!

Oh! Before I forget,

Learning Points:

1. Please check your freezer’s temperature is set to the lowest possible. I didn’t check the temperature and only realized that my freezer’s temperature is at its maximum after an hour. =(

2. Remember if you are making more than 170ml of ice-cream, the time taken to freeze the ice-cream will be longer

3. For the chocolate ice-cream, remember to use a lighter pot for cooking the custard so that it is easier to pour the mixture into the chocolate fondue, mixing it at the same time.

Right, that’s all! =)


amor,esperanza y fe 11:12 PM.

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Tuesday, April 26, 2011

call me ice-cream mama~!

Whee~ Went for ice-cream making workshop as part of teambuilding.

My chocolate ice-cream~!

Can wait to try making ice-cream at home! =)


amor,esperanza y fe 8:43 PM.

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we have the brains!

I just heard the most Absurd  news report ever!

It was reported that someone from PAP (I can’t remember who!) said that it wasn’t coincidental that Singaporeans could now buy flats that are below market rate and sell them at a much higher price 5 years later. And, the value of the same type of housing in Singapore is at least 5-10 times more valuable than the same type of housing in Malaysia or Indonesia.

This, he attributed to PAP’s good governance, planning and policy making.

OMG! Do you really think Singaporeans will buy this crap?

1. I don’t think you need an economics student to tell you that when a particular resource is scarce, it’s price will automatically go up. Considering, Singapore is way smaller than both Malaysia and Indonesia, isn’t it logical that land is scarce in Singapore and therefore, so is housing? And by logical deduction, the valuable of our flats are supposed to be naturally more expensive than theirs?

2. I don’t think PAP should be proud about housing prices being so high. Doesn’t that signify that the cost of living is climbing up fast as well? The cost of living in Singapore is suffocating people and citizens are getting increasingly disgruntled about it. And you are still emphasizing this sore point? Trying to shoot yourself in the foot??!! Oh well… Good Luck and God bless!


amor,esperanza y fe 8:29 PM.

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Sunday, April 24, 2011

Tiffyiffyiffy
Just discovered Tiffyiffyiffy on youtube. She is one of the most amazing vocalists that I have seen on youtube. I will have to say she is better than some of the singers out there. Wonder how come no record company sign her up. =(

Anyway, some of my favourite songs from her...




Love the way you lie (Original by Eminem ft Rihanna)



Meet Me Halfway (Original by Black Eyed Peas)



Sweet Dreams (Original by Beyonce)



Russian Roulette (Original by Rihanna)
You might need to turn this up a little. This video is a little soft.



OMG (Original by Usher)

Other than Tiffyiffyiffy, I really like the verison of "But I have a man" by Song Ga-In from Brown Eyed Girls - the Korean girl group that sang "Abracadabra"




amor,esperanza y fe 4:13 PM.

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Saturday, April 23, 2011

mustard

Missed this out!

We went to Mustard to celebrate my sister’s birthday. It is located at Race Course Road and it has amazing Indian food. Be it north or south.

Great food and nice ambience!

A MUST TRY is the fried cottage cheese~ Great taste! Although they could really work more on the naan and tandoori chicken. ;)


amor,esperanza y fe 3:35 PM.

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INCOMing : food overload

Despite work being hectic and suffocating, I didn’t seemed to stop enjoying good food for the past few months.

Work seemed to have gotten better with my new role, that’s why you see me surfacing again! :P

I hope this is not a delusion.

Anyway, i am going to put the pictures up in more or less chronological order with some non-food pictures. HEEHEE…

Here goes

Shanghai Crab Pretz

From a speaker who talks about global manpower trends at my previous division’s quarterly review.

Skinny Pizza @ Raffles City

We had the Squid Ink Pizza and Bay Prawn Capellini with Teh Tarik and a champagne-like drink . I highly recommend both the pizza and pasta although many are put off by the blackish appearance and name of Squid Ink Pizza! The champagne-like drink is alcoholic and nice but the Teh Tarik is pretty normal in my opinion.

Would also recommend the Smoked Turkey Swiss Pizza and Lobster Linguine which are amazing as well! =)

If I have to state my preference amongst the options, I would prefer Smoked Turkey Swiss Pizza and Bay Prawn Capellini. Love the combination of blueberry sauce and Cheese on the Smoked Turkey Swiss Pizza. As for the capellini, it’s the spicy taste, succulent prawns and fine strands of capellini which makes me crave for it!

 

Tokyo Deli Cafe @ Raffles City

Perfect place for people on diet! Quite like the pasta dish, the prawn with broccoli and smoked salmon salad! I am not too sure about the pricing and whether the promotion is still on. But I had a set of 4 dishes (like the above) for slightly below $10. =)

Double Bay @ Raffles City

Had dinner with Isaac at Double Bay on one of the friday evenings. Although they seemed to pride themselves on their fish and chips, I don’t like their fish and chips at all. However, their black pork rack is heavenly! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Lunch @ Handburger @ Raffles City

Calamari and Duck Confit burger. The duck confit burger is good but i don’t really like the green sprouts that they put on my burger. Calamari else, please don’t order unless you are absolutely craving for it.

 

Gingerbread cookies baked by my buddy – Melanie. Really pretty!

Delicious alcohol infused chocolates from Germany, given to me by my ex-boss.

Drum rolls…Put your hands up for

 

Da Cheng Teochew Restaurant @ Chinatown

Totally unbelievable!!!

All 4 dishes are MUST TRY! I will start with the top left corner. Frozen Crab, great taste and i haven’t had any frozen crab without roe at this restaurant before! The roe is the best! I don’t take crab roe when I have chilli crab, black pepper crab, butter crab etc. But when it comes to frozen crab, you ain’t eating frozen crab if you haven’t had it’s roe!

At the bottom left, it’s shark’s fin soup! At first, it looks like such a small bowl. I was a little disappointed by the size. But when I dig into it, I can’t be more satisfied. The whole bowl is filled with fins. I can guarantee, every single scoop you take has pieces of fins in it. And I mean pieces when I say pieces!!

Bottom right, it’s something like cold pig’s trotters’ jelly. Nice! It’s one of my favourite dishes. Tried this at other teochew restaurants but still find that Da Cheng serves one of the best.

Top right we have the braised goose meat! Another great dish but because I am not really into braised meat, I can do without it. Heehee… but I must say it is one of the best braised goose I ever had! =)

Group dinner @ Cedele Wheelock

Oh man! This must be ages ago! I can’t even remember when this meal took place. It was to celebrate Jiunn’s birthday.

 

My Solemnization @ Mariott’s Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant

Their food is great, service is good! Will highly recommend this place to all! However, it doesn’t come cheap… =(

More pictures of the solemnization will be put up soon! ;)

Ramen Culture @ Tanjong Pagar

This is located at the shopping street of the new condominium. Not bad but really, i had better ramen.

Cousin’s wedding @ Raffles Hotel

Food was below expectations!! My gosh, I rather go back to Wan Hao @ Mariott. It was a disappointment. Only the cold platter and Shark’s fin soup were good. The rest was mediocre. I don’t even feel like taking pictures of them…

Random sign @ Marine Gallery

We went back to IPPUDO SG for ramen. The menu was a little different from the last time but the ramen was as delicious! But since we didn’t try anything new and amazing, no pictures. However, this funny sign at one of the public seating areas caught our eyes. I really wonder whether it is there for laughs or really as a warning sign?

Dinner @ Santouka @ The Central

The pork cheek ramen is a MUST HAVE! Notice the word HAVE instead of TRY? It means you have to order it everytime you go! After I had it, I can’t imagine myself ordering something else the next time I visit them!!! The best I had so far. I would say, it’s better than the kakuni @ IPPUDO SG. If I would to choose, I would take Santouka anytime over IPPUDO SG.

Aerin’s @ Raffles City

It’s Christmas Dinner with Baby and Mark! Remember, I took the remains of the duck confit the other time? This time, I took a shot before we started. Still love the duck confit! The smoked salmon pasta isn’t fantastic though. The taste was too rich for my liking.

Other than the duck confit, the calamari is a MUST TRY! I must say it is one of the best that I had. The Coffee Club also serves good calamari.

High Tea session @ The Rose Veranda @ Shangri-La

It was my parent-in-laws’ wedding anniversary. They decided to just have nice and quiet high tea at The Rose Veranda. The food was normal, mostly South-East Asian Cuisine. Desserts are good!

MALA Grilled FISH @ Bugis

Finally found my beloved grilled fish from Chongqing! Super nice! Spicy and it has a bit more sauce than what I had in China. Highly recommend to add in rice cakes and enoki mushrooms!

Absinthe @ Bukit Pasoh

I must apologise for this collage as it is a misrepresentation. The top left hand corner picture is not from Absinthe. I can’t remember where I had this dish cause it’s not fantastic.

Top right hand corner is black cod fish and the bottom pictures are Wagyu beef steak! Super nice!! Their foie gras is terrific! There is not liver taste and it melts in your mouth! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

High Tea @ Cova @ Paragon

Went there with my mum and Isaac on 2 separate occasions. The high tea is so relaxing and delectable!

Recommend this place for a lazy afternoon to chill out with friends and loved ones.

White Beehoon @ Opp Sembawang Shopping Centre

Took this picture for Isaac to make him go crazy because he has been deprived of this! Teehee… ;) Whee~

Dinner @ Empire State @ Iluma Bugis

Look at the humongous potato salad!! It’s healthy and nice! Currently, they are celebrating their 2nd year anniversary and having 30% off bill! =)

Ending off with me and my new haircut! :)


amor,esperanza y fe 11:31 AM.

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