Mixed Nuts Biscotti

Biscotti must be the easiest thing to bake.

(Well, almost the easiest thing. The easiest is definitely chocolate brownies. I'd share my recipe another day)

But biscotti is easy to bake and rather healthy too.. so I'd definitely be making more of them in future.

The Husband made these some time back - using the recipe by Baking with Julia. The only variation I did this time was to add some leftover almond silvers to the biscotti, so I ended up with Mixed Nuts Biscotti, rather than Macadamia Nut Biscotti..

Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
2 large eggs
2 tsp liqueur
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar

What I did
1. Preheat oven to 150 deg C
2. Mix all the wet ingredients together
3. Mix all the dry ingredients together in another bowl
4. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together (The mixture will be really thick). Then, add about 2/3 cup of nuts (I used macadamia and almond nuts)
5. Use 2 spoons (or your hands) to scoop up half the mixture and spread it into a log across a Silpat or a lined baking sheet. Just try to as neat as you can but don't worry about smoothing the dough too much.
6. Do the same thing to the other half of the mixture, leaving the 2 logs about 3 inches apart.
7. Bake for exactly 35 minutes then transfer the logs to a cooling rack and let cool
8. Cut the logs into 1/2 inch slices and then bake for another 10 to 15 minutes

Biscotti is really really easy to make. The "hardest" part in the part where you have to cut the logs up into slices.

They go really well with a strong cup of tea or a fragrant cup of hot coffee.

I'd be more adventurous next time and try out other flavours. Currently, I'm thinking chocolate and green tea flavour.

Dim Joy - Part 2

The brother wanted to go Dim Joy as a Part 2 celebration of my dad's birthday, so I reluctantly agreed to give the place a second chance.

Apart from some of the stuff I've tried last time, we also tried the "Stewed Pork Belly and Mui Choy Bun" , "High Calcium Pork Rib Congee" and "Pork and Chives Fried Gyoza". The first 2 items are pretty alright.. but the Gyoza was a real disappointment. It looked really good.. but the taste was like that of frozen gyoza, if not worse..

Oh, one thing interesting they have at Dim Joy - Small glass bottles of Coke!

Stewed Pork Belly and Mui Choy Bun

High Calcium Pork Rib Congee

Pork and Chives Fried Gyoza

Small bottled Coke

Well, all I can say is.. I'm still on the lookout of a good dim sum restaurant in Singapore.

Dim Joy

Address: 80 Neil Road, Singapore 088842
Telephone: +65-62206986

Something passed me by..

I have started working again for more than 2 weeks now.

Work is fine. Confusing at first but things are getting clearer.. Right now, work is very manageable and not too stressful. Not yet anyway..

It's been about 4 years since I've worked in Singapore.. I have been meeting up with many ex-colleagues for lunch since I started work. Many are working in the same company.. the others are all located pretty nearby.

After lunch last week with some of my ex-colleagues, I felt a little depressed. Not depressed depressed.. but a little reflective depressed.

You see, I felt a little out of place... as if something has passed me by over the last 4 years. Outwardly things are still deceptively similar.. We still chat, joked and laughed together.. But somehow, things have changed.

Some of my colleagues dress differently - dripping diamonds and branded handbags... Others lament about their "low" pay.. An athletic friend who was always the kind to go hiking and marathons talked lovingly about her young daughter - the last time I met her, she was single.

Over lunch, it was very obvious that everyone has changed somewhat over the 4 years. Everyone seemed to have "moved on". Except that I seemed to be in the same place. It was still the same old me at lunch with my friends.

But perhaps that is how we all feel when meeting up with some friends we have not met for a long time.. Perhaps when some of my friends look at me, they think that I've "moved on" too.

I wonder if anyone else out there feels the same when meeting up with old friends?