Gingerbread men

I've always wanted to bake gingerbread men because
1) I like the smell and taste of ginger
2) It's christmas
3) I have the gingerbread men mould and
4) I wanted to decorate and make little presents to give away

So...I went to get the main ingredient, well not really but I needed the ground ginger I suppose....and colouring and little m & ms to decorate the little men!

I searched for recipes and there were quite a few but I stuck to the one from taste.com

Plain cookies needing to be dressed:

Colourings and m & m to decorate, you could also use other fun stuff to decorate your men too like raisins, cherries and the list goes on

Happy family:

Wrapping them in cellophane paper and tied it with a christmas ribbon ready to be given away:

Reciepe from taste.com.au

Preparation Time - 15 minutes
Cooking Time - 10 minutes
Makes 20

Ingredients

* Melted butter, to grease
* 125g butter, at room temperature
* 100g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
* 125ml (1/2 cup) golden syrup
* 1 egg, separated
* 375g (2 1/2 cups) plain flour
* 1 tbs ground ginger
* 1 tsp mixed spice
* 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
* Plain flour, to dust
* 150g (1 cup) pure icing sugar, sifted
* 8-10 drops red liquid food colouring
* 8-10 drops green liquid food colouring
* Smarties, to decorate

Method

1.Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush 2 baking trays with melted butter to lightly grease.

2.Use an electric beater to beat the butter and sugar in a bowl until pale and creamy. Add the golden syrup and egg yolk and beat until combined. Stir in the flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarbonate of soda. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Press dough into a disc. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest.

3.Meanwhile, place egg white in a clean, dry bowl. Use an electric beater to beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add icing sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Divide icing among 3 bowls. Cover 1 bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge. Add red colouring to 1 bowl and stir until combined. Add green colouring to remaining bowl and stir until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

4.Place the dough between 2 sheets of baking paper and roll out until about 4mm thick. Use a 9cm gingerbread man cutter to cut out shapes. Place on trays about 3cm apart. Repeat with any excess dough.

5.Bake in oven for 10 minutes or until brown. Remove from oven. Transfer to a rack to cool.

6.Place prepared icings in small plastic bags. Cut a small hole in a corner of each bag. Pipe icing over gingerbread men to decorate. Finish with Smarties.

As I was decorating the gingerbread men, I felt like a little child having fun with colours, piping, and thinking of ways to decorate the cookie. It felt so liberating to be able to play with the gingerbread men.

Wrapping the men up is fun too, looks like the ones sold in stores! I can't wait to give them away!

Merry Christmas everyone!

My Stop

I should have taken some photos of the food but I didnt...instead I was too busy eating and taking photos of my family instead =)

If you're looking for another malaysian place to dine in, check out this place hidden away inside the New Market Railway. I know, it's odd to be inside a railway station but it's definately worth the try. I only came to know about this place because mum comes here quite often and promised me she will bring me there!

We had their coconut prawns which was HUGE, their fish vermicili noodles, fried char kuay teow, marmite pork chops, and fried beans. It is definately one of the good malaysian restarants I've been to and the price is definately comparable.

The staff are very friendly and they take time to ask how we are.

The only down side was they had no more ingredients to make ice kachang which I was looking forward to!

I'm looking forward for my next STOP at MY STOP when i return!

Address: 28 Remuera Road (shop 16) New Market

J's tea

Prior to my short trip back to Auckland I heard all about this yummy taiwanese place that my sister in law really really adores! She craves about their bubble tea and their chicken popcorns, tofu and their beef stew on rice!

So, when I was there, she made a date night to bring me there!
I ordered stew beef on rice and they had pickled veges at the side as well as one very nice soft soy sauce based tofu. The beef was not fatty and the sauce was delicious although they could have provided more beef or tofu because I finished the meat with only less than half the rice!

Beef Stew:


Pop corn chicken:


The bubble tea was nice, comparable to hulu cat in the city but somehow I preferred hulu cat's bubble tea.


What's great about here is there are car park spaces available and they do have pretty decent meals not just toast or snacks which you commonly find at other bubble tea outlets. I would definately return again when Im back there!

Address: 919 Dominion Road Mt Roskill

Tau Yu Bak (Braised Pork)

I enjoy having friends over for a meal because that's when I get to try out new dishes (risking the fact that it may turn out real bad!). I decided to try braised pork because I've never really tried it but really like the taste and the fact I could add in mushrooms and tofu and basically anything that goes with the dish.

I altered the recipe I found on the net and when marinating the pork I overdosed it with pepper!!!!! (So I had to quickly give it a rinse and pray that the dish will turn out fine!)



Ingredients:

600g Pork Belly

Marination:

1 1/2 Garlic Bulb (smashed with the skin on)
3 Tbsp Dark sweet soy sauce
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 tsp of pepper

Oil for cooking
2 Star Anise
2 small cinnamon sticks
1 tsp sugar (to taste)
Water to boil

Chinese mushrooms (soaked/optional)

1) Marinate pork belly (leave in long strips) with the marination over night or for a few hours before cooking.

2) Heat up oil in pot
Fry star anise, cinnamon sticks till fragrant

3) Add in marinated pork to brown

4) Add in one cup of water and bring to boil

5) Let it simmer for about 1 1/2 - 2 hours
If gravy is drying out, just add more water. Likewise if meat is not tender enough, just add water and simmer for a longer time.

6) (optional) Add in mushrooms after 1/2 hour or simmer

7) Add sugar in the last hour and anything else to your taste

8) To serve, cut pork into slices and add gravy to the dish. Garnish with spring onion. Served hot with rice.

Summer's here

You can smell summer, you can taste it and by the number of people outside at the beach you know summer is here!

This is how packed the Bondi to Bronte walk is on Sunday! Everyone was everywhere, beaches was filled up, ice cream shops were packed! It was such a lovely sunny day you wouldn't want to be anywhere but OUTSIDE!


Although I've only done this walk ONCE I really enjoyed it because of the beautiful view and looking out towards the sea. It can get really packed which makes it sometimes annoying having to dodge people =)

Ramen Kan

I was brought to this place in China town after church one day & fell in love with the Ramen here. It's located upstairs hidden away & gets very busy quickly!


Takoyaki: Very tasty and great texture, definately beats the ones I've had back in Auckland


Tonkasu Ramen: Love thier Ramen, the soup, the simplicity of it all


Besides Ramen, they also do Don Bouri, other side dishes & a few nice drinks such as ice coffee & green tea milk.

Address:
Level 1, 90 Hay Street, Haymarket Chinatown, Sydney
+61 (02) 9211 6677

Sinma Laksa House

Simple lunch today after church at Sinma, not a bad place to go to for a range of Singaporean & Malaysian food =p

Hainainese Chicken rice: The chicken was not very tender & the rice was alright


Fried carrot cake: Not bad but not as tasty as the ones I used to have back in Singapore!


3/391 Anzac Parade Kingsford, NSW
(02) 9313 7663

Mamak in Chatswood

I have been going to Mamak in the city once a week & I still don't know why I go back there week after week when there's so many other delicious food around!

Anyway so we were in Chatswood and thought what we could try out and heard that Mamak opened its second new store there so why not give it a try! So that's where we ended up!........... AGAIN....

Nasi Lamak with Fried Chicken:


Roti Chanai:


Mutabuk:


Chicken Satay:


This photo from the wall shows the Mamak in the City:


Address:
Shop P9, 1-5 Railway Street Chatswood(02) 9411 4411

Artisan Bakery in Crows Nest

Visited a church in Crows Nest today & since I'm HARDLY out this way we decided to have a quick bite nearby on a hot and sunny day! There's definately many choices of cafes here in Crows Nest & it was quite hard to pick one to try.

However, I came across this Artisan Bakery & decided to check out what they have inside....and then i spotted scones!! Yap I love scones! They had a selection of scones that includes pumpkin and pine nut, orange with chocolate, raspberry and white chocolate and last but no least savory scone. I decided to try the pumpkin scone to go with my soy mocha and it was really light and nice. I regret not having my camera with me to take pics to show but what I liked about this scone was the pumpkin bits inside and the crunchiness of the pine nuts. Normally I would have thought that a pumpkin scone would just be orange and made with pumpkin puree, but this had actual chunky bits in it and it had a light texture as well which was great, not too heavy and too buttery!

They do a range of pies, quiches, sandwiches, breakfast, and other delicious bakery that includes tarts, cakes, croissants!

I would definately pop by again if I head out that way!

St Malo Bakery - 83 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest – (02) 9906 6256

Taiwan Cuisine

So tonight being a Friday we decided to try a new place in the city & found our way to this Taiwanese place called Taiwan Taiwanese Cuisine on 52 Dixon Street Haymarket in Chinatown.

This place was very interesting as you get to order your meal, and pay for it through this computer screen, it really amazes me the different types of concept each country embraces from the inside of the restaurant, to the types of food available - I heart this experience!


Once we ordered, it didnt take long for the food to come, so in a way, the food came out one at a time so if you want your food altogether it's better to order the one that takes the longer to cook first.

Here's a very typical taiwanese pork mince and mushroom rice:


Chicken fillet in pepper sauce that we thought it was way too pepperish for our liking! Thank God we ordered milktea coz that was the only way hubby could drown the taste of pepper overload!


There were many side stewed, grilled, deep fried dishes to ordered but we decided to give this stewed mushroom a try, it was very tasty but again on the peppery side but I like pepper! (Poor hubby)


Overall this place is pretty good if you want to order size dishes to share and can satisfy both the hungry and not so hungry. The milktea here was pretty good, I had the red bean milk pudding milktea which I really enjoyed.

There are noodles, main dishes, teppanyaki, soups, rice dishes that are available to try. It's not that cheap but I would say it's probably comparable to the other dining along Dixon Street.

Burwood

I've been very lazy with taking pictures of food lately wherever I've tasted new places. However I thought i'll just post some of the new places I've tried over the last few months of being here in Sydney and thought it was pretty yummy and would definately return again! I've tried 3 restaurants in Burwood & my favourite at the moment would have to be

Botoli Restaurant, Burwood
66a Burwood Rd, Burwood

They do a range of food & each dish that we've ordered was satisfying and we were pretty impressed with it. They do a yummy steam tofu egg dish with century eggs inside, DIY paper rice wrap springroll like vietnamese style, tasty noodles, eggplants etc etc. This place is good to come with a group of around 4-5 to really try a range of food there. The deco inside is pretty dull but have been here twice already and each time we were happy with the service and food.

If you feel like hand made noodles and dumplings here is a simple pretty decent price meal to have try:

Beijing Station Noodle, Burwood
Address: 135 Burwood Rd, Burwood

They do yummy hand made noodles and because I really like dry noodles such as mee pok, kuching mee, zha jiang mian etc I really liked the dish I ordered with is fried beef noodles. The picture will defintely do it justice because the way I just explained it was pretty boring lol!

They also do beef noodles soup which was very tasty and tasted abit like bak ku teh and the taiwanese beef noodles soup. So if you like that this noodles is definately worth a try. Being a Beijing restaurant they do also do pancakes (jian bing) which was very fresh and soft and I really liked it & thought how nice it would be with some curry! Other dishes they make include dumplings fried, pan fried, boiled and are all very tasty!

I'll definately want to go back again, it's quite a small little place & it was packed when we got there so definately seems like a pretty popular place!

I must remember to take some pics when I dine there again!! arrghh =p

Some extras in your food

Yesterday I had sushi from Asagao in the foodcourt just by our place & I was savouring each bite of the teriyaki chicken avocado rice roll when by mid way I saw a piece of dark thick hair with it! I was grossed out because it was quite big and obvious & it's my second encounter in 2 weeks with funny things in my food that I was pretty tired of it. Just to give you an example, 2 weeks ago while having one of my fav ying yang cha (coffee & tea combination) I was digusted to find a piece of insect leg floating around in my drink! I drank it anyway taking it out thinking it's just some dirt but then I found more as I continued drinking.........so I S.T.O.P and thought of cockcroaches, and all kinds of insect that the leg belonged to! ARRGGHH the image is still so vivid in my mind! Ok so to cut the LLOOOONNNGGG story short, I asked for refund and surprisingly they gave it back but I'm NEVER going back there again!

Ok so to continue from the sushi story...hubby returned the sushi asking for a refund which we got & a few minutes later a lady came from that sushi shop and gave us this:


I don't know what to make of this but it was a nice gesture for them to do so especially when we don't expect anything even a refund. It just goes to confirm how dirty Sydney is and it can exist even in what you think is a clean area!

So what extras have you found in your food lately?

Silken Tofu with soy sauce

Always wanted to make tofu dishes because it's easy and pretty healthy right? So here is another simple dish that you can make up and it was very tasty too!




Ingredients

1 packet of chilled Soft Tofu, drained
2 1/2 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Peanut Oil
3 Shallots, sliced
2 stalks Scallions, chopped

Method

In a small saucepan, fry the shallots with peanut oil until golden brown in color. Remove the shallots and place them on top of the tofu.

Turn the heat off and pour in the soy sauce into the oil and let it sizzle for a while. Pour the oil and soy mixture on top of the tofu and sprinkle with some scallions. Serve immediately.

Mini oreo cheesecakes

I'm never a big cheesecan fan and always quite afraid to try making cheesecakes because i'm not sure how it should turn out etc etc. I have made small oreo cheesecakes before which turned out fine but came across this recipe on http://kokken69.blogspot.com/2010/07/cookies-and-cream-cheesecakes.html and wanted to make them for dessert tonight! What I like about these is how they are in tiny portions so you don't have to finish a big slice and you can have them as little finger food in parties too!

Here's the simple recipe which I changed alittle because I had more cream cheese mixture to use so I could have more cookies to use:

Recipe

9 cream- filled Oreo Sandwich (whole)
4 Oreo Sandwich , coarsely chopped
227g Cream cheese (I used phildaphia)
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
1 Egg beaten
1/4cup Sour cream
Pinch of salt

Method
1. Preheat oven to 135C
2. Line muffin pan with cup cake liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup
3. Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until creamy. Gradually add in sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla extract.
4. Drizzle in egg and mix until well coporated. Mix in Sour cream and salt. Fold in chopped Oreo.
5. Scoop cream cheese mixture into each cookie filled cup. Bake at 135C for 22mins.
6. Cool down on wire rack in the muffin tray. Refrigerate for at least 4hours before removing from cup cake liner.

Oreos being placed at the bottom of each muffin cup:


Finished mini oreo cheesecakes:


I was going to drizzle some oreo sauce that I have but didn't want to oreo kill it so perhaps next time i'll give it a try!

So go ahead and try these it's so simple and yummy!

Stir Fry Spagetti with minced pork

One thing I love about left over pasta or packaged noodles is simply frying it up making it a quick and easy tasty meal!

I really my stir fry noodles with minced pork because of the fragrant smell when fried with minced garlic and yummy chinese green veges and fried eggs! I normally use hokkien noodles but I had left over spagetti so I used that instead.

I also like how I can simply put in soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame sauce, salt, pepper and very often sweet chilli sauce (because it's my fav sauce) and simply toss the wok and as if I'm making some kind of quick art and out comes colourful stir fry!

Amsterdam

During our Europe trip we also stopped by Amsterdam and really enjoyed the vibrant character Amsterdam has to offer. Apart from the red light district and the "coffee shops" which doesn't sell coffee, I really enjoyed cycling everywhere and trying new food!

Here is a few food I thought reminded me of Holland and I don't find much of them anywhere else:

Dutch Breakfast with thinly sliced raw beef on a toasted bread with eggs similar to eggs benedicts but with beef not salmon, pretty intersting:


Mini dutch pancakes called Pofferjes served with powdered sugar and butter:


Raw Herring: Dutch fast food can eat the whole fish like this man below or eaten with raw onions and/or pickles:




Dutch Apple cake/pie:


A selection of Dutch beef stews that we had in a very dutch restaurant:

Italy

I've been quiet with the blog lately due to travelling around Europe! It was an amazing trip with lots of yummy food, wine, coffee, gelatos and interesting bakeries!

One of our destination was Italy, we visited Rome, Florence, Pisa and Venice with Florence being one of my favourite! There were plentiful of pizzas, pasta and gelatos everywhere! Gelatos and caffe creme were my dessert after every meal!

The pizza was sold by grams and so they slice it up, weigh it and you pay for how much it weighs. The best pizzas I've had in Italy was in the small pizza shops that only sells pizzas with very little seating inside.

One of the many pizzas in Rome:


Unleaven bread with mushroom sauce, cheese, smoked ham and aubergines in Florence, this was one of the yummiest meal I've had which probably played a big part on why I liked Florence more than other places!


Inside:


Lagsana in Florence:


Seafood Pasta in Florence:


Pizza rolls in venice:


I really miss the tasty food there but not the price, everything is very expensive and double in price if we choose in dine in. There won't many chinese places to dine at so I'll definately miss my asian food if I was there any longer.

rocky road

I decided to make rocky roads today because it had a simple recipe and didn't need baking in the over but sadly I didnt have the camera with me so didn't take any pictures but because it tasted real good I must put it up for future.

Ingredients:

200g of milk chocolate
75 g of dark chocolate
25 g unsalted butter
100g of marshmallows cut into pieces
90g of glazed cherries
50g peanuts

Method

1. Line a 3cm-deep, 8 x 25cm bar pan with plastic wrap.
2. Place the milk and dark chocolates with the butter in a saucepan and stir till melt
3. Stir marshmallows into chocolate with remaining ingredients.
4. Spread into pan, chill in fridge for 2 hours or until hard.
5. Slice and eat!

What's so good about this is that you can put anything you want, such as raisins, other types of nuts, turkish delights and the list can go on!

I will definately make this again and probably add more peanuts and marshmallow in the mix because there was too much "brown"/chocolate or perhaps my stirring isnt very well mixed =)

Eph 3:20

This month at church we are studying the book of Ephesians so I thought I should use that as part of my reading time. Ehephians has many good verses and this one stood out to me because it is often taught but it never really sinks into my spirit...

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us!"

Wow, my God can do so much so much more x10000000000000000000000 more than what I can imagine my life to be! I am so often limited to my fears, and what my own natural eyes can see and therefore easily give up or feel helpless. God, on the other hand gives and does more than what we ask of him & it may not be what we envision it to be but if I step out in faith and not limit him in my box I'm sure what he does in my life definately goes beyond what I can imagine!

I know I have to keep putting my trust in God for the things that I do not yet see but know that it will come in his timing and even better!

90Rhodes

An italian restaurant just 2 min walk from where we live and I finally gave it a try on our bank holiday!

Veal schnitzel:


Steak:


Fried Risotto balls:


Arrabbiata:


Simple food, fried risotto balls were really tasty & the coffe here is strong lol real italian ay!
Definately come back again to try thier pizzas!

Address:
90 Rider Boulevard
Corner Mary St, Rhodes NSW 2138

The Gap

One of our many weekend day trip out of the city, at the Gap which is totally beautiful!

Baroque Bistro Patisserie

We went to this french place called Baroque Bistro Patisserie at the Rocks for Marcus birthday and they had a range of yummy looking desserts displayed as you enter. They had lots of colourful macarons on display!


The food here was delicious! They served bread in the basket accompanied with oil and keeps being refilled when its finished. Their very creative with their presentation and the food was really tasty and colourful and pleasing to both the eyes and the tummy!

Filet de Barramundi, aubergine, olives vertes, anise, sauce basquaise


Confit Berkshire pork belly, heirloom carrots, tarragon, silverbeet


I enjoyed the food here and it's at a really good location by the opera house and the rocks, would definately want to return again! Yummy!

Address:
Baroque Bistro Patisserie
88 George Street (corner of Hickson Road)
The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000

Jimmy's Laksa

Another Malaysian eatout we normally go to because it's

1) Good price
2) Quick and effiicent
3) Good portion for the price
4) Taste good to satisfy


There are all the food you would order when ur in Malaysia except Kuay Teow! Their probably more famous for their laksa hence their name. They have Assam Laksa, Ipoh Hor Fan, Curry Laksa, Prawn mee, Roti, Rendung, Nasi Lamak, Mutubak, Wonton Mee and other noodles.

Once you place your order the food is ready in 2 minutes. They don't accept cards so only cash which is annoying but it seems like it happens alot here in Sydney! It's so different to just using your eftpos card (AKA cash) back in Auckland.
Here, Jimmy is very busy during the weekdays with the working people eating there, and on Sundays after church. They are not open during nights so only lunch time! I would'nt say they are the best but in terms of price and quality I think it's worth it.