A Surprise Baby Shower

A couple months ago, a few friends and I got involved in planning a surprise baby shower for our S. T and I was in charge of the dessert station, games and some deco. Both of us were semi clueless but we were very excited to be involved in this surprise. After weeks of hard work, secret meetings, decoys, white lies, etc ( you name it) we successfully pulled off a surprise baby shower for S. Boy were we glad to be able to stop lying to our friend!! =). Our friends who graciously let us use their property (and who also co-hosted the baby shower) did a wonderful job with the table settings, food, drinks and decorations!

I'm very proud of this dessert table that we put together! I think the diaper cake makes a very nice center piece (though it's the only thing which was not edible!!)

The diaper cake center piece, made from diapers, faux gerbera daisies, ribbons and of course a handy dandy glue gun.

We spent a couple hours making party favors; Chocolate covered Pretzel sticks. The "chocolate" here is Wilton's Candy Melts. We filled each bag with 4 pretzel sticks, and tie a homemade thank you tag to it. Each guest takes one at the end of the party.

We also created a little baby prediction tree with prediction cards for each guest to fill and guess the baby's arrival date, time, length,weight, etc.

For desserts; 3 types so that everyone can hopefully find at least one that they like. A very rich Black Magic Chocolate Cake with cream cheese frosting which was a big hit with the guests. A tangy refreshing Lemon Bar and a light and yummy Eclair. We used the choux pastry recipe from my profiterole recipe, filled it with Jello Vanilla Pudding (from the box - mix per instructions) which is now my favorite go to for a pastry cream substitute, and a dark velvety chocolate glaze.

I did a mini (Black Magic) cake which unfortunately this is not my best work but was a great hit. The mini cake was fudge like, while the cupcakes was light. The texture is so different that it's hard to believe they are of the same recipe!

Now that we have some experience planning a baby shower, we're ready for more parties!

PS: We got most of our ideas from my Pinterest board!

Simply June 

Trader Joe's Mushroom and Herb Risotto

I'm super happy that there's a Trader Joe's very near me. I'm a fan of Trader Joe's prepared food and produce and found that the items are not quite reasonably priced. In fact some items at Trader Joe's are cheaper than the other grocery store I frequent. So, I buy few things that I know is cheap (or delicious) at TJ, and others at the other place.  I love their selection of international cuisine some pretty good, and some just ok.

Anyway, being a sucker for Italian food and mushrooms, I had to get this box of Mushroom & Herb Risotto I saw at TJ @ $1.99. Everything is prepackaged (rice and seasoning) and all I needed to do is add the oil and water. I had expected the rice to be par boiled for shorter cooking time, but it's not. So, the cooking time took a bit longer than I expected for this risotto. There were good amount of dried mushrooms, but of course like all pre-packaged food... the picture on the box is always better than the end result! And in this case, it's quite true... even though there were lots of dried mushrooms, the picture on the box looked more tempting.

I cooked the risotto per the instruction on the box but added a splash of wine and some chicken broth to cook the risotto. I forgot, but I think I might have to add a little more water than instructed to get the risotto in the consistency I wanted. And I couldn't help but finish it off with a drizzle of truffle oil. The taste of the risotto before my addition of truffle oil was pretty good; not too salty and had good amount of seasoning for a $2 product. At least this TJ product was better than my recent mushroom & herb risotto purchase which cost me about $3 and tasted very odd. I think I would get this again in the future....it's the perfect serving for 2 people!

PS: This is my personal review and I'm not affiliated with Trader Joe's for this product review.

Simply June 

2 Rotis for Lunch

Frozen roti canai/ roti pratha is probably one of the easiest Malaysian food I can get in the US and I'm very thankful for that. I can't imagine myself trying to make roti canai; twirling and tossing the dough (almost like making a pizza I guess) and make a couple Malaysian pancake/crepe just to satisfy cravings. So, I'm very thankful to be able to get them at most Asian grocery stores and even Trader Joe's; just look for them at the frozen food sections. Some brands are no doubt better than others. Trader Joe's roti pratha are pre-cooked and not as flaky as I liked it to be......but it's inexpensive and is the most convenient option for me.. I can just walk down the street to get it. I think my favorite is Kawan brand, which comes in 5 frozen (flatten) dough that you need to cook until golden brown and will give you a nice crisp flaky delicious  result. No oil required to cooked these roti canais since they are already laden with grease.

Anyway, I "made" lunch one day and decided to fry up some Roti Canai. I was craving for some smoke salmon cream cheese with bread, and decided to spread it over roti canai instead. It was a pretty delicious choice for my limited pantry. I like this combination! I wonder what it would taste if I added some smoked salmon over the cheese? Mmmmm....

After I devoured my "entree", I decided to make dessert; Roti Kaya. No rocket science to making this, just again cook the roti canai/roti pratha per instruction and spread a thin layer of kaya (coconut egg jam). I could make my own kaya if I wanted, but since I had a store bought one in the pantry, I used that instead....and voila, dessert!

Have fun trying!

Simply June 

Spotted!

Woots! The Sambal Okra / Lady Fingers that I submitted to tastespotting is accepted and is currently posted on their site! *Smiles*.  I wasn't entire confident about the picture (but I love the color) and wasn't sure if they were going to say yes to it.... until I saw it this morning! =) ..

Here are my other pictures that have been posted in the past:

And here are the others that have been rejected for various reasons....unfortunately, one of them is my favorite picture... I guess, my photography skill is not up to par. Time to practice more!

Simply June 

20% Off at TGI Fridays

Hey guys! Here's a money saving coupon for your next meal at the nearest TGI Fridays! Click on the image or go to http://fridays.qrs1.net/pdp/cw.do?cc=HQ to be directed to the coupon to print. The coupon is just valid for US locations!

your friend their own coupon.

The coupon below is yours and can only be used one time.

I'm not affiliated with TGI Fridays in anyway, and merely just sharing a money saving coupon whenever I see them! I heart coupons! =)

Simply June 

Pulmuone Ja Jang Myun

Being in the land of Thousand Oaks, we are kind of deprived from Asian grocery stores and authentic Asian Food. The closest Asian grocery stores is about 50 minutes from us and a few weekends ago we finally ventured into the Northridge area where we were told there are some Asian grocery stores and restaurant there. We stumbled Galleria Market, a Korean grocery store which also has a food court in its premise. While the fresh vegetables/fish selection is not as impressive as H-Mart (at least in MA), it was  decent if you're desperate! 

Since we were also there, we decided to stock up on some Asian food, mainly Korean I guess. One of the items I got was a bag of Ja Jang Myun which is a kind of noodle dish, served with a thick black bean sauce. A bag serves 2 people and for less than $5 ( I think we paid less than $4) it's a pretty good deal. I like that it comes with fresh noodles ( 2 bags) and 2 bags of black bean sauce with some potato cubes I think. The preparation of the Ja Jang Myun is super easy; basically boiling the noodles until it's cooked and re-heating the bag of sauce.

I decided to fry up and egg and julienne some fresh cucumbers with my noodles. I wished there were a little more noodles in the bag as the sauce was plenty. The ja jang myun was overall ok. The sauce seem to be lacking some flavors. I'm not sure if this was because the one I had in the past has some pork in it or what but for $2 per bowl, I shouldn't complain much.  I do like that the noodles were fresh, and not the dehydrated ones! 

I might buy this again to have handy when I crave for some Ja Jang Myun. This company produces a few different kind of noodles that might be worth trying out. The noodles are usually found in the refrigerated section of the store and have a decent shelf life.

PS: This is my personal review, and I'm not affiliated with Pulmuone company for this product review.

Simply June 

Hainanese Chicken Rice

Updated December 14, 2013

Hainanese Chicken Rice is one of the best Malaysian comfort food, and most ingredients are easily obtainable in the US. Hainanese Chicken Rice is very popular in Malaysian and Singapore and it is usually served with some cucumber, soy sauce, chili sauce and complimentary soup. To make it your own, it's pretty easy although there are many optional parts to make up the delicious comfort food.

Since the husband chose to have Hainanese Chicken Rice for dinner 2 days ago, I've decided it's the perfect time to note down the ingredients, method and all of how I make my Hainanese Chicken Rice.  I usually like to use chicken thigh instead of whole chicken, but in this recipe I'll be using chicken legs (thigh + drumsticks) as that was what I had in the freezer. I usually make the fragrant/flavored rice in a rice cooker, so if you do not have one.. it's ok.. you'll just need to adjust your cooking method a little. I don't have the instructions for cooking rice in a regular pot, as I'm pretty bad at it. =( I believe there are 2 ways to prepare the chicken; by steaming it or by boiling it. I've always cooked mine the latter.

I make chicken rice (via boiling method) very often but I've never written down the recipe and exact measurements. However, due to some requests for the recipe lately, I know that I needed to put everything down on paper...and after posting a picture of the HCR on Facebook and getting an overwhelming response of "likes" and comments, I was glad I took the time to write the ingredients and steps on paper that day. My friends have requested for the recipe and I have to say I had a success story when my friend was very thrilled with the way her HCR turned out based on my over the Facebook rough instructions. I can't take all the credit as she did the cooking and made the adjustments... I just told her what to do and what to use!

The Hainanese Chicken Rice in Malaysia does not come with the ginger garlic/scallion sauce.  I first fell in love with this sauce when I ate a steamed chicken from a Chinese restaurant in Chicago. This sauce is quite commonly served with steamed chicken in Asian restaurants. So, I now always make this dipping sauce every time I make Hainanese Chicken Rice and the husband loves it! For a guy who likes spicy food, he prefers the ginger garlic sauce over chili sauce when he eats his chicken rice. As for the chili dipping sauce, I've always just gotten them from the store; most bottled chili sauce (typically from Indonesia/Malaysia or Thailand) works for me.

Here's the lengthy instruction to make some Hainanese Chicken Rice. The list will look tremendously long and tedious, but it's really not that bad...and will be oh-so-worth it once you sit down and enjoy your meal. Here's the recipe!

HAINANESE CHICKEN RICE RECIPE
*Serves 3-4

Part (A) - Hainanese Chicken 
Ingredients

• 6-8 Chicken Thighs
• 2-3 Inch Ginger, Sliced
• 10 Cup Water
• 1-1/2 Tsp Salt
• Ice Water Bath

Method

In a large pot, let 10 cups of water and ginger come to a boil over medium high heat. Trim the chicken to remove access chicken fat and skin. Gently score the meat closest to the bone to slightly detach it to ensure shorter cooking time. Do not completely remove the bone.

Once water is boiling slowly add chicken thighs and salt. Make sure water covers the chicken, if not add a little more water. Let the chicken boil for about 15 minutes over medium high heat. Using a ladle, gently remove as much of the "white foamy scum" and as much fat from the soup. Then, reduce heat to medium low and let chicken legs simmer for about 20-25 minutes or until chicken legs are cooked. To test wether the chicken is cooked, careful remove a piece of chicken, and poke the chicken (nearest to the bone). If the liquid runs clear, that means the chicken is cooked. If pink juice flows out, continue cooking for a few more minutes.

Once cooked, remove from heat and place immediately in a ice water bath for about 5-10 minutes. Then, remove from ice water bath, let it drain, slice chicken thighs (bone in or out) and set aside.

Do not discard the chicken broth from boiling the chicken as it will be used multiple times throughout the recipe.

Part (B) - (Chicken) Flavored Rice

Ingredients

• 10 Cloves Garlic, Chopped (About 3 Tbsp)
• 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
• 1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 2 Cups Uncooked Jasmine Rice, Washed
• 2 Inch Ginger, Sliced
• Chicken Broth (from Part A) sufficient to cook your rice.
• 2-3 Pandan Leaves, Knotted
• Pinch of Salt

Method

In a frying pan, heat 1 Tbsp of Sesame Oil and 1 Tbsp of Vegetable Oil over medium heat. Add chopped garlic and sauté until garlic is golden brown. Remove fried garlic and set aside. Do not wash frying pan. 

Over medium high heat, add 2 tbsp of the fried garlic (and some garlic oil) into the same frying pan. Add sliced ginger and rice and stir fry the rice for about 5 minutes. Transfer "fried" rice into a rice cooker and add leftover chicken broth from Part A. Add pandan leaves, a pinch (or two) of salt, and turn on the rice cooker and let it work its magic. 

The remainder of the fried garlic (and oil) will be used in Part C for the Soy Dipping Sauce to go with the chicken rice.

June's Comments: Add sufficient liquid to the rice, as how you would usually cook plain rice. Don't make the rice too al dente, though. It needs to be soft, fluffy and fragrant. I've been using the pressure cooker to make my rice, and do not use as much liquid. Adding the extra chicken fat and skin from the broth when cooking the rice makes it extra fragrant!

Part (C) - Soy Dipping Sauce (for rice and chicken)

Ingredients

• Fried Garlic + oil from (Part B)
• 2 Tbsp Dark Sweet Soy Sauce
• 3 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce 
• 1 Tbsp Oyster Sauce
• 4 - 6 Tbsp Chicken Broth (from Part A)

Method

Mix all ingredients listed above in a bowl and set aside till serving time. 

Part (D) - Ginger Garlic Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 8-10 Garlic Cloves, Finely Minced (About 3 Tbsp)
• 2 Stalk Green Onions/Scallion, Finely Chopped (About 3 Tbsp)
• 2 Inch Ginger, Peeled & Finely Minced (About 3 Tbsp)
• 8 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 1-1/2 Tsp Salt

Method

Mix all ingredients listed above in a bowl and set aside till serving time.

June's Comments: Must use fresh garlic. Do not use pre minced ones from the store. 

Part (E) - Optional Soup

Ingredients

• Remaining chicken broth from Part (A)
• 8-10 Fish Balls
• Dash of pepper
• 1 Stalk Green Onion/Scallion, Chopped
• Salt to tast

Method

Heat remaining chicken broth from Part A over medium high heat. Add fish balls and let them cook until they are "floating" and slightly "bloated". Season with pepper and salt if needed and garnish with chopped green onion before serving.

TO SERVE

Ahh... finally the serving and eating part. Community style would be easiest, that way everyone can take as much as they want. Drizzle some soy dipping sauce over the chicken thigh platter and serve with some sliced cucumbers. Serve rice warm, don't forget to bring out the tasty dipping sauces and simple soup! Enjoy!

*Sorry for the crappy picture. This was an older picture taken with my phone.

Simply June 

Salt

Yesterday while we discovered downtown Newburyport, MA, I stumbled upon Grand Trunk Imports selling specialty imported food and wine.. YUMS! We spent some time there and ended picking up a few yummy items to stock my always full pantry.
Among my “loot” where these 2 salt; Hickory Smoked Salt and Red Clay Salt. They weren’t cheap since a container of the specialty salt cost about twice the price of a big container of plain ol’ table salt. However, I can’t help getting some to try. I love trying out various food, and when it’s a couple dollars..I usually would not hesitate to purchase it.
So guys…..I need some help and ideas to use these 2 salts, maximizing its flavors………..  Recipes..Ideas..please? Some help guys?

Simply June 

Cranberry Apple Sauce (Jelly)

I’m sorry but for one reason or another I hate canned cranberry sauce….I think the look of the sauce when it comes out of the can turns me off. So, I never buy canned cranberry sauce and I try to avoid eating them when it’s served. =) Sorry, if I offended anyone!
Cranberry sauce is SO EASY to make, so why buy canned ones? Fresh homemade cranberry sauce might cost a little more, but hey at least you know it’s fresh and free of preservatives. The easy ones are just boiling water, cranberry and sugar all in one pot for a couple minutes. I came across this recipe from my Food and Wine magazine and added it to my thanksgiving dinner menu. It looked and sounded yummy, I just had to try it..and I love it !I enjoyed the slightly crunchy texture the apple gave…..this recipe is a keeper!
The original recipe from Food and Wine recipe is found here and knowing me, I had to modify the recipe (just a little), so my version is below.

CRANBERRY APPLE SAUCE (JELLY) RECIPE
Ingredients

• One 12-ounce bag fresh cranberries
• 1 Large Fuji Apple, Diced into 1/2” Cubes
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 3/4 Cup Apple Juice

Method
Line an 8-by-4-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap and spray the plastic wrap with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine the cranberries with the apple, juice and water in a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil and cook over moderately high heat, stirring frequently until the cranberries are completely broken down and the sauce is very thick, about 15-20 minutes. Scrape the cranberry sauce into the prepared pan, let it cool down then refrigerate until it’s chilled. Just before serving, invert the jelly onto a serving plate and remove the plastic wrap. Slice with a serrated knife before serving.

Simply June 

Easy Fruit Tarts

This is another dessert that I put out during my Thanksgiving dinner. I always love fruit tarts/fruit flans but I did not want to sweat too much to prepare it yet still want to make a presentable yummy dessert. Making a quick and easy dessert was crucial especially since I have a lot of other dishes to prepare. Well, I couldn’t make up my mind to just make one dessert. So, I ended up making 4 kinds because I wanted to make sure every picky eater (if any) have some kind of dish/desert that they will be able to enjoy.
I always feel uncomfortable making pie crusts from scratch and will defer to the help of store bought crusts whenever possible. With the help of Pillsbury, Jello and Dole, and some what minimal preparation time, I came up with a plate of semi healthy (look at the colorful fresh fruits), individual dessert tarts.
Here are some instructions to make this dessert. I used mini tartlet tins to bake the crust. This way, there’s no fear of ruining a dessert when you cut into it. Every portion is somewhat the same (bite) size. Oh yeah, baking spray was also very helpful to enable an easy removal of the baked crust from the tin.

EASY FRUIT TART RECIPE
Ingredients:

• 1 Package Pillsbury Pie Crust, at room temperature
• 1 Package Jello Instant Vanilla Pudding
• Milk (for the Vanilla Pudding)
• 1 Small Canned Mandarin Orange
• Fresh Strawberries
• Kiwi
• Baking Spray

Method:
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray tartlet tins with baking spray. Unroll pie crust on a flat surface and using a round cookie cutter (size of cookie cutter needs to be larger than the top rim of the tartlet, sorry I do not have the exact measurements!) stamp out the pie crusts. Press each “cut” crusts into the each tartlet tins. Gently prick the base of the pie crusts so that the crust does not bubble up when you bake it. Bake the tartlets at 400F for about 10-15 minutes, or until the crusts are golden brown.
In the mean time, prepare the Vanilla Pudding per the instruction on the back on the box, set aside and let it chill. Drain your mandarin oranges and cut the strawberries into quarters. Slice the kiwi into 1/2” thick slices and cut them into quarters.
Once the pie crusts are baked, let them cool before you start to assemble the tartlets. Fill the chilled crusts with till about 3/4" full. Arrange the fruit slices as you please and serve immediately! Enjoy!!
June’s Comments: It depends how big your tartlet tins are, I think I came up with maybe 14-16 tartlets with one package of pie crust. And I think I may have used up 1-1/2 package of pie crust for my purpose. The extra fruits that you may end up with; combine them together and make them into a fruit salad. Extra vanilla pudding?..Just eat it as is, or with the fruit salad! =)
There are no restrictions to the type of fruits to use. The reason why I chose those three was for color. Feel free to use raspberries, blueberries, mangoes, peaches, etc. Let your creativity run wild and have fun!

Simply June 

Yorkshire Pudding

The theme was English. The party was all about the England VS USA FIFA World Cup 2010 game. I’m not a big fan of football/soccer so I’m basically there just for the FOOD! =)
I had to make something English……easy and quick. I have always wanted to make Yorkshire Pudding and this party was the perfect reason for me to churn out some. Yorkshire pudding isn’t really a dessert like the many other puddings. This is usually eaten with roast beef and gravy. I guess, you could say this is like how you would eat dinner rolls or biscuits.
The recipe I found online HERE on www.about.com looked quite scary. It reminded of how my grandma would measure the ingredients to make her cookies/cakes. Don’t get my wrong grandma’s cakes/cookies are delicious…It’s just because I’m so used to using proper measuring cups and scale! I tried the recipe I found online anyway; couldn’t ignore the reviews it’s gotten.
Glad to say the Yorkshire Pudding turned out excellent! Everyone at the party enjoyed it! The English boy at the party thought it was pretty authentic! It looked pretty close to the ones I had at Lawry’s Steakhouse for sure….mini version though!
Here's the Yorkshire Pudding recipe by Elaine Lemm of www.about.com. LOVE IT!

YORKSHIRE PUDDING RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 4 Large Eggs, Measured In a Measuring Cup
• Equal quantity of milk to eggs
• Equal quantity of all purpose/plain flour to eggs
• Pinch of salt (or two for more flavor)
• 2 tbsp lard, beef dripping or butter

Method:

Heat the oven to the highest temperature possible, however, do not exceed 450For the fat may burn.
Pour the eggs and milk into a large mixing bowl and add the pinch of salt. Whisk thoroughly with an electric hand beater or hand whisk. Leave to stand for 10 minutes.
Gradually sieve the same volume of flour (as the eggs) into the milk and egg mixture, again using an electric hand beater or hand-whisk to create a lump free batter resembling thick cream, if there are any lumps pass the batter through a fine sieve. Leave the batter to rest in the kitchen for a minimum of 30 minutes, longer if possible - up to several hours.
Place a pea-sized piece of lard, dripping or ½tsp vegetable oil into your chosen Yorkshire pudding tin, or a 4 x 2"/5cm hole tin or 12-hole muffin tin and heat in the oven until the fat is smoking. Give the batter another good whisk adding 2 tbsps of cold water and fill a third of each section of the tin with batter and return quickly to the oven. Leave to cook until golden brown approx 20 minutes. Repeat the last step again until all the batter is used up.
June’s Comments: I used muffin tin to make mini Yorkshire Pudding and the recipe gave me about 20-24 yummy Yorkshire Pudding. I used butter instead of lard/pan drippings. Butter burn easily, so be careful not to burn it if you’re using butter instead of lard/drippings. I did not leave my butter smoking in the pan; just enough to melt the butter before pouring in the batter.

Simply June 

Tapas Party @ Home

Last weekend, the hubby and I had a somewhat spontaneous party and invited some friends over. Having a party motivates the both of us to clean up the house and making it guest worthy! I will usually take charge of the kitchen and cooking, while hubby has the whole house to himself…to clean that is!

We made everything about 3-4 hours before the guests arrived. The only thing I made the night before was the flan, which took FOREVER to cook (about 2 hours), thanks cooking the custard in a big and deep container!

Here’s what we served our guests:

1) Sangria (Bottom Left) -  What is a Tapas Party without some Sangria?  This was a concoction of merlot, syrup, orange juice and slices of lemon, lime and orange. I think all of us enjoyed this bowl of Sangria….not a drop left at the end of dinner! =)

2) Edamame Spread (Bottom Right) – Inspired by the ones served @ Solea’s, I made my own version. Pureed edamame, peppers, cheese, olive oil and seasoning. Served this with slices of baguette.

3) Stuffed Mussels (Bottom Left) – Chopped mussels with onion, pepper and seasoning in a béchamel sauce, topped with parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs.

4) Garlic Mushrooms (Bottom Right) – Sautéed cremini mushrooms with garlic, olive oil and a squeeze of lemon juice.

5) Roasted Asparagus with Red Pepper Sauce (Bottom Left) – Asparagus doused with some salt, pepper and olive oil and roasted till tender. Sauce was red pepper pureed with a splash of red wine vinegar for some zing.

6) Tortilla Espanola (Bottom Right) – Spanish Potato Omelet. One of my favorite Spanish Tapas!

 

7) Hooters Style Chicken Wings (Bottom Left) – Deep fried wings coated with hot sauce and butter. This has become hubby’s signature dish. =)

8) Garlic Shrimp (Bottom Right) – Succulent shrimp sauteed in olive oil, butter, garlic and a sprinkle of chili flakes for a little kick!

  

9) Spanish Flan (Bottom) – Custard cooked in a water bath. This is one of the easiest and yummiest desserts to make! Mental note to myself, bake the custard in smaller ramekins instead of a big container. Baking the custard in a big container took the custard about 2 hours to cook and set!! Ramekins only took about 1 hour or less.

On top of Sangria, we also had some yummy and somewhat pricey wine that our friends brought over! Good food, great wine, awesome company….it was a great way to end the week and lI guess look forward to the Monday blues? =p Will be posting recipes to the stuff I made at the party soon! =)

NYE Dinner

It’s been too long since hubby and I are out counting down to the New Years. The biggest New Year countdown event we did was about 7 years ago. We count down to the 2003 at Times Square, NYC. It was fun yet torturous coz it was freaking cold that night. We got into the highly secured Times Square vicinity at about 6-7pm and waited all night for the Countdown Ball to drop and to usher the New Years along with hundred thousands of people from all over walks of life! We’re proud that we did it once and vowed never again to go back! Just imagine holding your pee for hours, in the cold. No public washrooms are available, unless you’re dining at a nearby restaurants!!

For years now…we only celebrate New Years at home. Just us and/or with family and close friends. No NYE dinner at a fancy restaurant where prices are hiked up..….just a fancy home cooked meal at home! =) This year, like many others…it’s another at home celebration with great company, yummy food and bubbly champagne.

We invited Chris over for dinner along with my brother and his gf who are still in town. =). Dinner was easier this time as the oven does most of the work. I baked some mini frozen ham and cheese puffs from Trader Joe’s ($4.99 for 12). These were delicious and saved me time from making some on my own! =)

Don’t get me wrong…I did make my own appetizers too =). Inspired by bacon wrapped scallops and the Japanese Beef Enoki wraps, I came up with Bacon Enoki (Bottom Left) which was easy to make and was quite delicious! Enoki is a kind of long thin mushrooms often used in Asian cuisines. You can get them canned or fresh in bags in most Asian stores. For this dish, fresh Enoki mushrooms were used.

Bruschetta (Bottom Right); chopped tomatoes over toasted French loaf. Bruschetta is an Italian snack now very commonly found in restaurants and is served as an appetizer. There are many variations out there, but the basic idea is chopped tomatoes over toasted (oiled with garlic rub)French loaf slices. I made mine using some quartered grape tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, garlic, basil leaves, salt and pepper and served it over slices of toasted French loafs. I actually enjoyed eating them, which was unusual since I’m not a big fan of eating raw tomatoes. 

I made some Stuffed Mushrooms (Bottom Left) using a recipe I found on www.allrecipes.com and modified it a little. The mushrooms were gigantic, cheesy and were delightful. It was a tad spicy, so I would probably reduce the cayenne pepper next time.

For entree, it was huge stuffed Tiger Prawns (from Costco). I used a recipe I found HERE and again modified it a little and added some crab meat to the mixture. I topped the baked Stuffed Tiger Prawns with some homemade Spicy Mayonnaise and served them with some Garlic Asparagus. YUMS!

And what is a countdown without some bubbly champagne. Sparking wine (Asti Spumante) to be exact since this bottle of bubbly is from Italy and not the region of Chamgpane, France best known for sparking wine that bears its name; Champagne. Chris was generous to bring a huger 1.5L bottle of bubbly over to go with our meal. We had a great time finishing that bottle, plus another 1.5L of Muscato among the 5 of us! Thanks, Chris for the bubbly sparkling wine!!

And when I organize a dinner party, I try to include dessert(s) to complete the meal/party. It was a trio of desserts; 2 of them French origin. I stumbled upon some French Macarons from Trader Joe’s ($4.99 (I think) for 12) and just had to get them!! Especially, since I had 2 failed French Macarons baking attempts. Boo! The French Macarons were delicate, light and delectable. It was my first time eating store bought ones and I’m quite pleased. Now, all I need to do is replicate them at home – successfully!!!!

Raspberry Napoleon (Bottom Right) was the next French origin dessert. It was baked puff pastry, layered with raspberry flavored Cool Whip, topped with a fresh raspberry and a dusting of powdered sugar. This was my first time using Cool Whip. Though, it may not be the healthiest product, Cool Whip is my new best friend. =)

And sticking to something truly Malaysian was a slice of “Pulut Tekan” (Pressed Glutinous Rice) served with Kaya (Coconut Egg Jam). Recipe to make this Malaysian “Kuih” will be posted!

  

We spent the rest of the night watching movies past midnight….and actually FORGOT to countdown!! It was 12.30am or so, when we actually wished each other “Happy New Year!”. Well, at least we had great company and loved ones by our side. Isn’t that most important of all? =)

Hope your New Years was fun!

PS: What’s your New Year resolution?????

Favorite Photo Of The Day!!

Look whose picture made it to www.allrecipes.com Photo of The Day with 121 votes??????

MINE!!! MINE!! MINE!!

It’s probably no big deal to some of you, but it surely is one heck of a deal to me! I did not even know there’s a voting going on until I went to the site to look for recipes for my NYE dinner. Apparently once you submitted a photo, other readers/viewers will have a chance to vote on their favorite photo. The top 4 most “liked”/ voted pictures will be featured on www.allrecipes.com homepage the following day! Thanks to all who voted!

I think the picture will only be there till 11.59pm tonight….Boo! I wished I saw it earlier!!

Well, I’m surely thrilled my picture was featured on the website even though I was clueless about it as I was new to this food recipe website! What a wonderful way to end 2009!

PS: Thanks, hubby for getting me the dslr for X’mas! =)

Spanish Flan

Flan is another dessert I really love……..wait what am I talking about? I love desserts…PERIOD! Anyway, I’ve always thought this dessert is a toughie! And it wasn’t until my friend Chris made some a few weeks back that I found out it was super easy to make this. Chris did a good job making that dessert and told me that he used eggs, condensed milk, evaporated milk and sugar. So, based on what he told me….I googled for a recipe!

I found a recipe using the ingredients Chris described on www.allrecipes.com. I modified the recipe and the method a little after reading a few reviews/suggestions. The changes turned out great. Here’s the modified recipe, the original one can be found HERE. The Spanish Flan is and will be sweet. So, if you’re not a fan of sweet things…you might need to stay away from this dessert or change the proportion of the condensed milk or sugar I guess! =)

SPANISH FLAN RECIPE

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar
• 4 Large Eggs
• 1 (14 Oz) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 (12 Fl Oz) Can Evaporated Milk
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt sugar until liquidized and golden in color and runny. Carefully pour hot syrup into a 9 inch round warm glass baking dish, turning the dish to evenly coat the bottom and sides. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Beat in condensed milk, evaporated milk and vanilla until smooth. Sieve egg mixture and pour it into baking dish. Place baking dish into a baking pan filled some some hot water. You want to make sure the hot water fills about half way up the sides of the baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake in preheated oven 60 minutes or until center of flan is set. Let cool completely. To serve, carefully run a knife along the edges of the flan and invert on serving plate when completely cool.

June’s Comments: When cooking/melting the sugar, it will first turn very very clumpy before slowly turning into liquid. Don’t let this scare you to think that you’ve done something wrong and throw away the sugar.

To make your baking dish warm, either microwave it for a couple seconds or stick it in the oven when you’re pre-heating it. A warm dish will let you coat the bottom of the dish the caramel easier. Caramel does harden quickly when it cools down, you work quickly when you swivel the caramel around the baking dish. You do want the caramel to harden before you pour in the custard to bake.

Some sugar/caramel will remain the dish which is ok. To clean up, just soak the baking dish in  water and the sugar will dissolve.

I actually made the Spanish Flan in 6 (7 oz) ramekins. I did not use all the melted sugar and saved some to make sugar art. Making simple sugar art was easy (although it took me several tries). Simply drizzle some melted sugar onto the outside of a bowl and let it cool down. You have to make sure that the melted sugar strands are not to thick or thin and make plenty of strands so that they hold together better. Making it too thin or too thick will make the art harder to remove when it’s cooled. Remember to watch those fingers…..the sugar is hot when you drizzle them!!