Upsidedown apple cake

Having a few granny apples from baking apple crumble the other day I decided to try an apple cake but it reminds me of an upside down pineapple cake because the apples are on top of the cake when inverted at the end.
Here's my not so good looking cake but taste better than it looks cake lol

Place the sliced apples, cinnamon and sugar at the base of the baking tray


Covered half the batter on top of the apples and topped the rest of the apples on the batter


Topped the remainder of the batter on top of the apples and smooth with a spatula


Baked the cake for only 35 - 40 mins because the top was cracking and looked slightly burnt but inside was cooked


but when I turned the cake upside down, the apples were nicely placed and steam was creeping out of the cake


Finished and hubby enjoyed this cake and so did I!


We also tried this cake with vanilla ice cream thinking it will be similar to apple crumble and agreed that this cake is better eaten alone served warm!

Italian Kitchen

We were trying to find an Italian restaurant that wasn't too far away and it was hard because we went on the net and just picked one without any recommendations on the food.

This place was rather quiet with only 3 tables of customers but the service was very friendly and welcoming. The atmosphere was quite intimate & it was warm and cosy for a nice dinner out. I think they do good pizzas although I'm not very familiar with what qualifies for a good pizza...to me it's the taste, the bread texture and thickness and the toppings etc etc....so I'll have to try more pizzas somewhere else to compare!










Their other dishes such as the ones above was quite dry and I didn't really enjoy them but the pizzas I was really pleased with and will definately come back again for pizzas if I wanted somewhere near home!

Sinma

Another Malaysian/Singaporean place to try out here is Sinma...we've been here a few times after church because it's close by and there's carparking and the food is pretty good.

I quite like the choices they have and you can choose from the food cabinet as well and they have curries and vegetables that really hits your taste buds!

The Laksa is not that spicy and their food is honestly not that bad at all. I've always forgotten to take pics when i'm here but this time I manage to take two...
Chicken and mushroom kolo mee, this was our first time trying this as their house special and it wasn't bad


Prawn and chicken laksa

Kam Fook

Kam Fook is one of the more famous chinese restaurant to eat as recommended by cheapeats in sydney. We visited the chain in Chatswood and inside was pretty grand. The food was not bad but the price was towards the high end. Too many choices to select so here were a few dishes we ended up with.

They gave us complimentary soup at the start which was deliciously sweet.

Superior tofu with seafood claypot


Mushrooms and vege


Fried duck with mashed taro




There were a few couples that dined in there and only ate half their dishes and tapao the rest home. I think it is rather common for couples to do that because it is quite hard to cook for 2, however, with the price of this place I dont think anyone can come in everyday! At the end when we got our bill we also found out that we were charged $2.5 per bowl of rice and about $2.50 per person for tea! There's so many extra cost that we were amazed by....

After dinner they gave us some free desserts such as fruits, cookies and my fav red bean soup =)

Vietnamese

Here I am again in Cabramatta but this time with my mum & auntie who's visiting us! We had our first vietnamese food since we got to Sydney! There were so many stores to choose from we just chose the second one we saw that had people in them hehe...

The waiter approached us with menus and spoke to us in vietnamese which we had to reply in english and he got the drift that we weren't vietnamese. Thank God the menu is in english and there were pictures to help.

Food here was not bad and i'm glad that we experienced a little taste of vietnam finally!

Springrolls


Seafood and fishcakes think noodles soup


Fried Springroll and pork vermicilli


Chicken rice


Staff here were friendly, but if u're busting to go to the toliet you have to grab a key from the counter and make ur way to quite a smelly dodgy toliet just by the cafe

Definately will come back again but with the many choices avaliable it may take awhile =)

Crumbles

Today I think i've found an apple crumble recipe that i'll definately keep! Despite my oven acting funny and burning and overcooking ALL my baking since I've been using it i'm glad that my apple crumble turned out good.

Made this apple crumble today from seasaltwithfood blog and I love the aroma and sweentness of the apples mixed with cinnamon and sugar


The finished product topped with smooth crumbs, the texture of the crumbs are fine and smooth and apple crumble cannot be finished without vanilla ice cream!


Recipe
Base:
3 Big Granny Smith Apples, peeled cored and sliced (I cut mine into cubes)
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon

(mix and set aside in a baking tray)

Topping:
1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

1) Mix flour and sugar together
2) cut butter through flour mixture and rub together till crumbs like
3) Sprinkle flour mixture onto apple mixture
4) Bake for about 30 mins or till top is golden brown

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream!

Enjoy!

CeCi Korean

Last night we had dinner at a korean cafe called ceci. Upon arriving into Strathfield where this place was located, we were welcomed with korean signs and people everywhere! This place reminded me of seoul! It was full with korean restaurants and I was impressed at how you can find a little bit of korea in Sydney so at least when you are craving for korean you know where to go!

Here's what we tried thanks to Charis and Andre who introduce this place to us.

Side dishes with the usual kimchi, bean sprouts, jelly, and potatoes


Spicy tofu vege soup which had bean spouts, mussels and tofu inside. Very nice soup especially in a cold winters night!


Spicy pork


Fried beef potato noodles which i really enjoyed


Fish


This place definately have a range of choices to choose from. The portion is definately quite big and you will feel quite full after i promise you!


Will definately want to check out other restaurants along this road as they all seem so fasinating!

CeCi
37 The Boulevarde
Strathfield, NSW, 2135
Ph: 02 9746 7710

Temasek

Everyone has told us to try out Temasek, another Singaporean Malaysian restaurant in Sydney. So we decided to give it a try.
It was mother's day and we didn't book so we were told to leave at 630pm which was fine as there was only 2 of us. This place was fully packed at 6pm!

The menu is extensive with a range of Singaporean local food like mee siam, mee rebus, chicken rice, har mee, etc etc. I think their special dishes are the chicken rice, laksa, rendung as we saw them on other tables.

Singaporean style Kuay Teow:


Har Mee with a very delicious soup base:


Chendol which had too much coconut milk and made us sick afterwards:


Definately would come back again and try their other signature dishes but price is rather on the high end.

More desserts

We were having a hard time to think of where to have desserts after church so we decided to stay in the city. We headed over to Passion Flower in Capitol and there was a few people waiting for seats..definately very packed. Thank God we didn't have to wait long to get seats for the 4 of us.

There were so many choices to choose from it was definately a hard decision. The price here is towards the high end and it pays to have more people so that you can try a little of everything. We decided on this platter: Black sesame, lychee and green tea ice cream with pancakes, green tea mousse, grass jelly, and mini sticky riceballs at the side:


Ice cream flavours were yummy, and I quite liked the green tea mousse topped with red beans, but the other side desserts were only OK...nothing that I will crave about...

Definately will come back again if ever I wanted to have desserts.

Be happy think happy!

I deal with many customers on a daily basis at my work at the bank. I really enjoy the different cultures and ages that I talk to. The young ones teaches me about ambition and how they want to work and study so that they can get a job, the working ones reminds me of how they need to work in order to pay bills, support family and the more advanced in age often teach me about how life has changed so much over the years, and how they just simply enjoy the same simple routine everyday.

During my many interactions with the elderly customers, I ask one of the lady what makes them so energetic and healthy at the age of 90 (or if their over 70). I remember this lady telling me the key to her health and longevity is to be happy.

TO BE HAPPY....................

WOW

I just stood there shocked by how simple her answer was and yet it's so true! Being happy means we have a healthy heart, to live simply, to not bear grudges against others...

It reminded me of the verse

Proverbs 17:22 which says a cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

So, I have to put in more effort to make sure that I am happy by examining my actions, and the things that goes on around me and weather they are neccessary to be "stressed" or worried about!

Day trip

Kiama 90 mins drive away from Sydney

Blowholes:




Simply a beautiful little town with a row of cafes and shops surrounded by the waters and the beautiful sound of the waves making their music along the rocks