Happy Easter

I've been really busy at work recently. Project issues, development delays and testing problems.. Nothing new except... a few key people in my team are also leaving.. and that means I'm busier and more stressed out than usual.

I've only been back at work for about 2 months but it feels like forever already.

Anyway, it's Easter today and I thought I should eat some hot cross buns to celebrate. Easter is a time of hope and new life.. and a reminder that God is in full control.

This hot cross bun is from one of my favourite bakery at Serangoon Gardens food centre. This bakery in the food centre sells rustic, old-school favourites like potato curry buns, luncheon meat buns, kaya buns and good old banana cake. Every year around Easter, the store will put up hot cross buns for sale.

These aren't as good as the ones J usually orders.. but as they are good enough for me. I had them plain with cold milk today.. Would be much better toasted with butter but I was too tired to even do that..

Happy Easter!

Serangoon Garden Bakery & Confectionary
Serangoon Garden Way Food Centre
Stall 45

Tea time

Recently, I have some time occasionally, in the midst of baby caring, piles of housework and other things to do to have some time for tea in the afternoon.

It's a nice treat to be able to make myself a cup of strong tea and enjoy a pastry by myself at home.

Sometimes, I'd go out for tea in the late afternoon with Little N in tow when she can't nap.

Here are some of the nicer pastries I've had recently..

Rare Cheese Mango (from Patisserie Glace) - Nice and light and slightly tart

Red Velvet Cake (Cedele) - a little drier than I expected but quite rich in flavour..

Carrot Cake (Cedele) - one of my favourite cakes

Almond cookies (Four Leaves) - Really yummy crispy and thick cookies. 

I've been eating lots of these. The chocolate chip ones are really good too..

Black Forest Cake (Fruit Paradise) - very light cream and lots of fresh cherries..

Best Omiyage from Japan

Omiyage, お土産 is the Japanese word for souvenirs. Japan is a country where souvenir giving is important. Hence, there are lots of options for souvenirs when you travel to Japan.

A friend of mine is working on a project at the moment in Japan. When I first heard that she was going to be working on a project in Japan, my first reaction was - "Whoopee, I now have a stable source for my favourite omiyage, Yoku Moku".

What is Yoku Moku?

It's a company that sells butter cookies from Japan.. You can find them in the food level of most major departmental stores in Japan.

Yoku Moku is famous for their "cigare" - These are delicate rolled cookies with a light butter-vanilla taste.

Like most Japanese souvenirs, they come beautifully packaged. Each cookie is individually wrapped and come in a beautiful box. I've been eating them since I was 18 and I've kept all the boxes I've bought.. The basic cigare always come in a blue box, although the shape and size of the box have changed over the years.

The "cigare" also comes in other flavours like chocolate and coffee.. They are all great, but I like the plain vanilla version best.

They are my favourite omiyage from Japan. Whenever I travel to Japan myself and have to think of a gift for friends or colleagues, I'd end up buying these. Whenever I have good friends going to Japan, I'd ask for a box of these as well.

I got a box of these in September and they served me well during my confinement. I'd treat myself to one whenever I got stressed out. Needless to say, they ran out pretty quickly!

Best Strawberry Shortcake

I like eating Strawberry Shortcakes. The name itself makes me feel a little happier. It reminds me of the cartoon character of the same name and other cartoon characters that used to be so popular in my days (Carebears, Smurfs and all)

Surprisingly, I think the best one in Singapore is from Four Leaves, a bakery chain with a store in almost every major shopping mall. The cream is light and slightly sweet and the sponge cake is nice and fluffy. Most importantly, it's available in almost every mall so it's easy to get your hands on one.

Tampopo Deli (at Liang Court) also sell a very good one. I like their strawberry shortcake and Scoop Cake. Some think they sell the best strawberry shortcakes in Singapore. I think their cream, which is milky yet light, is indeed nicer than most other places.

Patisserie Glace (at Icon) also makes a pretty good one. It's one of their best sellers and the cake indeed looks very pretty. The plus side about their strawberry shortcake is that they don't stinge on the strawberries. But I find the cake a tad too moist and hence not as fluffy as I'd like it to be.

If you know of any fabulous strawberry shortcakes, do let me know!

Four Leaves' creation

Tampopo Deli

From Patisserie Glace

Drinking Coconut Water During Pregnancy

It may be an old wive's tale, but I've been told by many that I should try to drink fresh coconut water in the last month of pregnancy.

It is supposedly to help with the baby's complexion - some say for a "clean" and smooth complexion, whilst others say for fairer skin.

Some think that one should drink coconut water daily.. others say it's too cooling and one should drink it only twice a week. Others say one should drink it only during the last month of pregnancy, whilst some think one can start anytime in the last trimester.

Whatever it is, the consensus seems to be that coconut water does help with a baby's complexion.

I don't know how true that is, but I do know that coconut water is rich in nutrients.

Coconut water is one of the richest sources of electrolytes. It is high in chlorides, potassium, and magnesium and has a moderate amount of sugar, sodium and protein.

It is a natural isotonic beverage with similar levels of electrolytes as the human body. It helps in replenishing lost fluids and salts lost by the body naturally, thus can prevent dehydration and exhaustion in a tropical climate.

Coconut water is a natural diuretic and so increases the flow of urine, so it helps prevent urinary tract infections (UTI). It also improves intestinal function and promotes digestive health, thus helping with constipation, sluggish digestion and heartburn, common problems during pregnancy.

Coconut water contains high levels of lauric acid which is what is used by the body to make monolaurin -– a disease fighting fatty acid derivative. Hence, drinking coconut water can help strengthen one's immune system. (For lactating mums, coconut water helps too because the lauric acid will make the breastmilk even more nutritious for the baby)

It is also essentially fat free and has zero cholesterol. Some studies even suggest that it can have some effect on improving "good" cholesterol levels (HDL) in the body.

With all the above benefits, there is no reason why I wouldn't drink more coconut water.

Coconut water is easily available in Singapore. You can order it in most restaurants or food centres all around the island.

I like to drink it at home too and I find it more convenient to buy "cut" ones from the supermarket. These ones have a deep cut on their shell all around the top of the coconut. The coconut is still sealed because the flesh is not cut through. All you have to do before drinking is to use a little sharp knife to cut through the coconut flesh to get to the drink.

Fresh Turkish Apricots

The Husband likes to eat dried Turkish apricots from a gourmet food store from Hong Kong (Bon Bon Bon). Both of us think the dried Turkish apricots selected by the owner of the food store are the best we have eaten.

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised to find fresh Turkish apricots at the supermarket we often go to.

I've previously never eaten fresh apricots.

I find these fresh Turkish ones really quite sweet. They have a velvety skin and the flesh, whilst not extremely juicy, is smooth and sweet. It take like something between a peach (though not as fragrant and sweet) and plum (though not as tart).

Apricots contain Vitamins A, C and lots of fiber. They make great diet food, since they contain large amounts nutrition and are yet very low in calories as compared to other fruits. Dried apricots have an even higher concentration of vitamins and nutrients, but are also slightly higher in carbs.

They taste good eaten on their own and when added to salads. I also think adding them to yogurt and muesli make a great morning or afternoon snack.

Kouign Aman from Tiong Bahru Bakery

Usually, once I find something I like from a restaurant, I tend to stick with that "something" for a bit and it usually takes a while before I'd try out something new from the restaurant. It's the same with bakeries, cafes and hawker stalls.

However, it was upon my second visit that I decided to try the Kouign Aman instead of buying a croissant.

Oh, I wanted to order their croissant, which I think is the best I've eaten in Singapore. But my colleague insisted I try this pastry instead.

It was VERY GOOD.

Very sinfully buttery and sweet.. but oh.. so good.

It was crispy, even more crispy than their croissant because of the caramelised sugar coating all over the pastry. It was also more buttery than the croissant and much sweeter.. but it went so well with a cup of hot, strong tea without sugar.

The pastry is crispy and flaky all around the sides and as you bite into the centre, it gets more pillowy and moist. It is also slightly (very slightly) salty and that balances up the sweetness of the pastry.

This pastry is called Kouign Aman (Or Kouign Amann, with a slightly different spelling). I later on learnt that Kouign Amann is not strictly a pastry but a crusty cake. It is made with bread dough containing layers of butter and sugar folded in, similar in fashion to puff pastry albeit with fewer layers. The resulting cake is baked slowly until the butter puffs up the dough and the sugar caramelizes.

This blog details out how this cake is made.. it is really a complicated cake to make.. and the amount of butter and sugar used is slightly disconcerting. This cake is from Brittany and ‘Kouign’ means cake and ‘Amann’ means butter. Well, considering the amount used, it's a very good name for this cake.

Tiong Bahru Bakery by Gontran Cherrier

252 North Bridge Road #B1-11/12
Raffles City Shopping Centre

Blueberry Cookies from Cookies Quartet

Cookies Quartet is a shop that specialises in handmade cookies. It is based in Hong Kong and is located at Kowloon City.

I love their cookies and most of the flavours in their assorted mix box are good. Their "Devil Chocolate Cookies", "Almond Butter Crisps" and "Hazelnut Pepper Cookies" are the most popular flavours and usually the first to finish in the assorted box.

The Husband also like their Palmiers.

I like their Blueberry Cookies a lot. These crisp cookies come with a tinge of lemon taste in the background and very chewy dried blueberries. You have to buy these separately as they do not come in the basic Cookies Quartet assorted box. I find these quite hard to stop eating and usually eat 4 - 5 each time. (Actually, I don't usually like cookies that very much so I can't quite understand why these appeal so much to me..)

I was reading an old post of mine on Cookies Quartet when I suddenly had cravings for these blueberry cookies. I posted my cravings for these cookies on Facebook and a few days later... guess what? Dear, sweet Ting messaged me to let me know that she has a packet of these for me! All the way from Hong Kong! CH was in Hong Kong and his friend knew how to get these... and so they got a packet for me.

Wow! It was such a lovely surprise to receive this yummy gift! I was really touched by this gesture. Thank you again, Ting and CH!

I like the gold paper clip used to seal the packaging..

Cookies Quartet

Add: G/F, 9A Lion Rock Road, Kowloon City
Tel: +852-2382 2817

Weekend Lunch

When we stay at home on the weekends, I usually do not have much of an appetite for lunch. Especially when the weather is really hot.

Nothing works like yogurt with muesli and fresh fruits though on days like these.

Last Sunday, I had some strawberry yogurt with some very juicy cherries and store bought museli. 

Sometimes, I also like a very tangy salad when I don't have appetite for anything else.

What do you like when you have little appetite?

Croissant from Dean & DeLuca

Dean & DeLuca is a chain of upscale grocery stores from The Big Apple. They recently opened in Singapore and The Husband went there to have tea with a friend today. He brought home a croissant for me as we have been trying out croissants from different stores in Singapore.

So far, I've found the one at Orange Thimble surprisingly good.

The dough of a croissant is layered with butter, rolled and folded several times in succession, then rolled into a sheet, in a technique called laminating. The process results in a layered, flaky texture, similar to a puff pastry. A good croissant should be slightly crisp and flaky on the outside, yet soft and fluffy on the inside. It should be fragrant with the taste of fine butter, yet not too buttery such that it leaves an oily after taste.

This particular one from Dean & DeLuca is really very nice. It is surprisingly not oily yet it isn't dry at all. The croissant is flaky and crispy, yet relatively fluffy on the inside. I am really surprised at how non-oily it is.. It is an almost perfect croissant.. Almost, because I would pretty it slightly more crispy with a slightly stronger taste of butter.

But it is a really good croissant. One that I would fork out SGD 3 for if I visit Dean & Deluca.

Actually, I can't wait to visit the store soon to get my hands on some of their private label products.

Dean & Deluca Singapore 

#04-23/24 Orchard Central
181 Orchard Road
11am to 10pm

Carrot Cake from Cedele

I have been feeling tired easily of late.

And as such, I can't bring myself to power up my laptop and write about all the posts I've been thinking about... of our Swiss trip (eons ago now) and of food I've eaten recently.

Work has been busy.. and stress has been creeping up to me in a very silent but real kind of way.

The stress comes from having to make sure I do a good job closing out issues or planning ahead for the next half a year by the end of August. My usually full to-do list at work just got fuller because planning for the next half a year isn't an easy thing to do.. not when there are so many other things to be done in the meantime.

I don't get stressed out easily so this isn't good. 

So anyway, I do feel very sorry for being such a lousy blogger of late.

I will try my best to post more frequently.

In the meantime, let me share that I think I've found my favourite carrot cake in Singapore.

I used to think that the ones at Coffee Bean are great, but now I think Cedele sells the best baked carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and walnuts. The cake is moist and not too sweet, with bits of carrots, pecans and spices.. and the cream cheese frosting is sweet, yet not over powering. They are really generous with the walnuts.. and I must admit I'm not a big fan of walnuts. But these are crunchy walnuts that The Husband seemed happy to eat.

So a nice slice of carrot cake shared between the 2 of us makes for a really nice supper. I would think that it would go beautifully with a cup of strong coffee. But it went really well with a glass of cold low fat milk as well.

Yangmei

Yangmei (杨梅), sometimes also called Yang Mei Berry, Chinese Bayberry or Waxberry, is not a fruit frequently available in Singapore.

This is an interesting fruit the size of a large cherry with a knobbly surface. The surface of the fruit is a deep red, almost purple. The flesh color is similar to surface color but somewhat lighter. The flesh is tart but sweet, with a single seed in the centre of the fruit.

I first came across Yangmei as a child, when my late grandfather brought home some fresh and dried ones from China. I was initially put off by the fruit, because Grandfather said it was prone to have worms and needed to be washed properly, with salt water.

But then Grandfather said they was delicious and gave me some to try. I remember they were pretty good!

After that time, the next time I had Yangmei was when I was living in Beijing. These were usually available in summer, and not for very long periods of time. Yangmei has a short shelf life just like raspberries, and has a very short growing period of just 2-3 weeks.

The Husband and I came across Yangmei quite by accident on Saturday and decided to buy a box home.

I wished we brought home a few more boxes.

These are the best Yangmei I've ever eaten - fleshy, juicy, tangy yet very very sweet.

Yangmei is a really healthy fruit - loaded with vitamin C and high in antioxidants. Do give them a try if you come across them!

Fresh on the tree. Photo from here

How Yangmei looks like on the inside. Photo from here

Waffletown at Balmoral Plaza

I am a little crazy about waffles.

There's just something about the little squares and maple syrup that attracts me to it. And of course the ice-cream.

So when we drove by this place called Waffletown, I asked The Husband if we could turned back to have lunch at this place.

Waffletown is a small cafe at Balmoral Plaza along Bukit Timah road. I think it must have been around for a long time now, since a friend of mine said she has been there since she was a student. It's a very simple cafe - more like a school canteen with aircon really. The place sells fast food, local style. Items on the menu included the usual western food choices like burgers, fish and chips, fried chicken.. and more local choices like chicken chop with rice and chilli fish with rice.

We ordered the Fried Chicken and Sambal Chilli Fish. Both were pretty good. Many other bloggers raved about the fried chicken but I thought it was just alright. It wasn't bad - crispy and piping hot as any decent fried chicken should be, but not fantastic. (Well, I supposed they could serve it cold like 4 Fingers and so maybe deserves a little more than "just alright..)

The Sambal Chilli Fish with rice and coleslaw seemed like an odd combination but it was surprisingly good. The dory fish fillet was nice and tender and the sambal chilli was fiery enough to sting just a little. The rice had a bit of butter that made it slightly more fragrant and the coleslaw helped neutralized the spiciness from the chilli.

The highlight for me was the waffles. I opted for the plain waffle with ice-cream. The ice-cream is your basic, run of the mill Magnolia ice-cream but the waffles were crispy and yet slightly fluffy. It's probably the closest to A&W waffles I've tasted so far in Singapore.

I would probably visit this place a lot more if it were nearer my home. Sadly, it is a bit out of the way for me and there isn't much nearby for me to travel all the way for chilli fish and waffles..

Waffletown

271 Bukit Timah Road
#01-02 Balmoral Plaza
Tel: +65 6836 6536

Ragusa and Nutella

I have been feeling rather tired of late - work has been really hectic and I haven't been sleeping too well. That's why I'm up at 5+am on a Saturday morning!

Well, since I can't sleep, I might as well turn my attention to my neglected blog. I have been reading Ting's posts on her latest trip to Italy recently and one of her posts on this place called Ragusa reminded me about this chocolate bar The Husband picked up for me in Switzerland.

Trying out photo effects with Picasa

Yep, this chocolate is also called Ragusa and I LOVE it!

Ragusa Noir is the dark chocolate version and boy.. it is so delicious! It is not some fancy chocolate that you get from a high street chocolatier. Nope, you can buy Ragusa from almost any supermarket or convenience stores in Switzerland. I wished I ate it whilst I was in Switzerland because then, I would have brought home a luggage bag full of it. Sadly, I only ate it when I came back home and now, I'm waiting for the next time some Swiss colleagues come to Singapore, so I can beg them to buy me a luggage full of it.

Hmph.

Now, I have to describe the taste so you can understand why I like it so much. It's a soft chocolate bar with bits of hazelnut in it. Taste-wise, think of Nutella, the yummy breakfast spread, only in a soft chocolate bar form and less sweet but more chocolatey. Or think of the soft centre of Ferrero Rocher, slightly harder, darker and with nice crunchy hazelnut in it.

Yums.

I haven't been that crazy about a chocolate bar for a long time. I feel like a kid peeling away the tin foil wrapping the soft chocolate bar as I ate this. It really put a smile on my face afterwards and that's a lot for a tiny, inexpensive bit of chocolate.

Speaking of being a kid. Another interesting snack I had recently was from Italy. My parents went to Italy for a holiday recently and came home with a pack of this for me. I felt like I was 10 again. This Nutella snack is very interesting. It comes with some finger biscuits and a Nutella dip for the biscuits, as well as a drink (I think it's lemon tea). All in this compact little container.

Another interesting snack that put a smile to my face. In this case, almost a grin.

Sometimes, small things like these can really brighten up one's day.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake at Toa Payoh

Taken with iPhone

Fried carrot cake has to be one of my favourite breakfast. Now, fried carrot cake has got nothing to do with baked carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The carrot cake we are talking here are the steamed types, not unlike steamed yam cake but generally softer. The steamed carrot cake is cut into pieces and fried with some chai-poh pieces (these are "salted turnips" - deliciously salted and yet sweet tasting) and egg. Some people add sweet dark soya sauce to the fried carrot cake and that is commonly called the "black version" of fried carrot cake. Others add only seasoning like salt and pepper and this is commonly called the "white version" of fried carrot cake. In both versions, chilli sauce is an option.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake at the Toa Payoh Lorong 1 Food Centre sells one of the best "white version" of carrot cake I've eaten. The carrot cake came looking like rosti. It was crispy on the outside and also looked like someone was lightly brushed it with a thin layer of chilli sauce.

When you bite into it, the contrast of the soft carrot cake and the crispy egg layer makes this a winning dish. The chilli sauce and "chai-poh" pieces adds to the flavour of the dish.

Apparently this store closes promptly at 1pm daily (except Monday when the store doesn't open at all). The owners looked rather fierce (they were telling off a customer before me that he had waited for 45 mins as they informed him and not the 1 hr he insisted he had waited) and yes, the wait is a little unbearable (I was told the wait was 45 mins as well. I waited for 40 mins).

But it is a very good fried carrot cake and one that I'd probably be willing to wait for 45 mins at some point in the future again.

Chey Sua Carrot Cake

Block 127 Toa Payoh Lorong 1
#02-30
Open Tues-Sun from 6am to 1pm (Closed on Mon)

Luxemburgerli from Sprüngli

Forget the French patisseries and Japanese bakeries.

Sprüngli (pronounce it like spru-li), a confiserie in Switzerland sells the BEST macaroons ever.

According to me anyway.

These mini macaroons are airy and not as dense as most macaroons I've eaten. They are also surprisingly not as sweet, which the main problem (for me) for most macaroons. I'm not sure why they don't taste as sweet, but I think it's probably due to the way the filling in the middle is balances the sweetness of the shell. For example, the chocolate macaroon has a slightly more bitter filling and the raspberry one a slightly more sour filling. Together with the airy shell, they taste just perfect.

They call these mini macaroons Luxemburgerli.

And I bought quite a few to eat whilst I was in Switzerland and  alsobrought home a box of them all for myself. (Yes, I told The Husband explicitly that all the macaroons were for me and me only. Hahahaha.)

They come in great variety of flavours ranging from chocolate, pistachio, raspberry to Bourbon vanilla and Champagne Gold. They also seem to have weekly specials. I had a rhubarb one which I thought was pretty good. Another one I tasted was extremely delightful - it was a raspberry and chocolate mini macaroon with a very tart raspberry jam in the middle.

I'm salivating now at the thought of the macaroons and wish they would set up a store here in Singapore.

Apart from these irresistibly macaroons, Sprüngli also sells amazing Swiss chocolates. Their Truffles Du Jour are very good - they are made from chocolate ganache (chocolate, fresh cream and butter) every day and sold within 24 hours of production. Yum.

They also sell a wide variety of pastries and I ended up gaping at all the different products in each store I went into.. so much so I did not take a single photo of any of the stores.

Well, I'd leave you with the Sprüngli website to marvel at the pictures there. (There aren't too many pictures on their website though.. Nothing like the shops..)

I'm truly sorry that my photos do not do any justice to these amazing mini macaroons

 I only remembered to take a picture of the front of the counter at the airport. 

Once I ventured near, I forgot all about photos..

Notes: A bit of background on the word Luxemburgerli I've found over the internet. Luxemburgerli is a registered trademark by Sprüngli. Similar to the French macaroon, the Luxemburgerli is smaller in size and is lighter and more airy in consistency. It was invented in 1957 by confectioner Camille Studer. The term "Luxemburgerli" was derived from her nickname a colleague gave her based on her country of origin.

Food and Drinks in Switzerland - Part 1

Food is always a big part of travelling for me.

The Husband and I like to seek out good food whenever we travel.

My expectations of Swiss food wasn't particularly high (sorry to my Swiss friends for saying this), so I didn't really plan to visit any particular restaurants during this trip to Switzerland.

Hence, it was a quite a pleasant surprise whenever we managed to have some really good food.

One particular restaurant we visited during the trip stood out. The  restaurant's name is Echo and it is located at the Zurich Marriott Hotel  (Neumuehlequai 42). It was the first meal The Husband and I had together in Zurich and so, we chose a restaurant that specialises in Swiss food to kick off our vacation.

The bread that came with herb butter and sun-dried tomato paste was really good. I could have easily wolfed down the entire loaf if I had a better appetite that day. The Husband enjoyed his order of veal in cream sauce with rosti. Since I had my share of Swiss food during the training session the week before, I opted for a vegetarian pasta which was also pretty good, although not spectacular. The "trio dessert" came with 3 parts - a very interesting Rivella sorbet, a creme brulee and a fried chocolate dessert which was so good I wanted more!

In general, I thought the food at a lot of the Italian restaurants were good, even though we were visiting the "German part" of Switzerland. There was a random restaurant in Lucerne where we had our dinner - and the salmon linguine was so good we talked about it for the rest of the trip.

This salmon linguine was so simple, yet sooo delicious!

I also liked this fettuccine with tuna and olives. 

I thought there were too much tuna and too many olives though..

I also liked all the wood fired pizzas we had during this trip. I don't think I've ate so much pizza in a week before.

This calzone we had was pretty good - with spinach, mushrooms and cheese inside. 

Look at the size of this thing though!

Most of the salads that we had were also fresh and good. Many of the salads we had came with fresh flowers as decoration, which I really liked.

A pretty mixed vegetable salad with a cheery flower on top

One of my favourite salads during this trip - 

paper-thin tomato slices with mozzarella cheese, topped with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing

Most of the meals we had were alright - they didn't blow us away but there wasn't too much to complain about. Eating out is generally expensive in Switzerland. A normal meal without wine usually comes up to about at least 50 CHF for two. For fancier restaurants or 3 course meals with wine, the bill can easily come up to about 150 CHF for two.

I don't mind the cost of food in Switzerland as much as I mind the cost of drinks in restaurants... but I'd leave that to my next post.

Bird's Nest in a Bottle

I've been having a bottle of these almost every morning for the past few weeks.

Since her retirement last December, my family has benefiting from plenty of home cooked food.

My mum have been making lots of bird's nest for me. She'd make a batch of four to five servings and then put them into little jam bottles so that I can refrigerate them. Then, I'd have one every morning for breakfast.

Bird's nest (燕窝) literally translates to "swallow's nest". These are harvested from swifts' nests - which are made of their saliva and whilst it sounds really gross, bird's nest is a delicacy highly valued by Chinese. It is often cooked as a kind of sweet dessert and has a gelatinous texture.

Bird's nest is believed to be useful in maintaining youthfulness and enhancing complexion. It also supposedly stimulates the appetite and aids in digestion, and is supposedly high in proteins and nutrients to help speed up recovery from chronic illnesses.  It is considered a very good tonic for women.

I usually do not like tonics of any sort. But my mum's version of bird's nest is slightly sweet and is a dessert I like a lot. Tonic or not, this is something I don't mind having it often.

And of course, I don't mind anything that supposedly helps with my complexion too!

Korean Strawberries

Korean strawberries seem to be in season now. You can find them in almost all the supermarkets in Singapore. These are really reasonably priced strawberries. I even saw 4 punnets for $10 in a neighbourhood fruits store at Aljunied.

They do not look that sweet - a bit on the pale side and not as red and huge as the strawberries from the US.

But they are pretty sweet and I find the size just nice for popping into your mouth.

I have been having them with everything.

From yogurt and muesli for breakfast..

To fruit salads for lunch..

The Husband used these to make desserts..

And I've made many a delicious smoothie out of these pretty little things..

Mixed Berry Smoothie with Mint

Ice-blended strawberries

Korean strawberries are really quite good! The only strawberries I like much better are the ones I had in Japan - very small and very red, these are so sweet you'd stop to wonder if they are artificially sweetened.

Chocolate Rum Balls

We lived next to my grandmother for a few years when I was younger. I was going to the kindergarten at that time and my grandmother would fetch me to school every morning and then pick me up from school in the afternoon.

I remember tagging along when she does her marketing before I went to school, and on some days, tagging along whilst she ran some errands in the afternoon.

Grandma used to sometimes buy me little bribes me to keep nice and obedient whilst I tagged alongside her. One certain days, it'd be a packet of drink, on others, it'd be a chocolate coin. My favourite was when she would let me choose a little treat from the confectionery shop. I would always choose a little cake shaped like a little mouse. It was a dense chocolate cake covered in chocolate rice, with almonds for its ears and cream/ chocolate for the eyes.

A couple of years later, the confectionery shop near our place stopped selling them in a form of a mouse and started selling them as regular, round rum balls.

Rum balls are still one of my favourite snacks after all these years. I even learnt how to make these little babies (leftover chocolate cake, heavy cream, chocolate and of course, rum). But it's always easier to buy these and there are a few shops out there that sell them just the way I like them - with a strong taste of nostalgia.

One of those shops is Le Cafe Confectionery & Pastry - the shop that also sells those famous golf-ball sized pineapple tarts and bean curd tarts. Their rum balls come coated with a layer of chocolate and are very dense indeed, with a slight hint of the rum.

Perfect with a cup of coffee or if you are not having any caffeine (like me), a hot drink of lemon, honey, ginger and lemongrass.