Christmas Special: Potatoes Au Gratin

Hi guys. This might be my last post for this year and predictably, I wanted to do a Christmas special.

I came out with back-to-back posts at the start of this month so I felt a little burned out on the blogging front. I turned to my trusted culinary sidekick (aka husband 😆) and asked him to take over the Christmas special. I had a few ideas in mind - I was thinking of something on the lines of festive gingerbread cookies or a brioche bread pudding. I shared this thought with him but did not receive the kind of enthusiastic response I was expecting. 

A few days later, he informed me that he was going to make a savory casserole kind of dish. Now I know that when I ask for a favor, I need to refrain from being an ungrateful jerk even when I'm not on board with how the favor is being executed 😄 In general, I trust his judgement and so I decided to go with whatever he had in mind. He told me that he was going to make a Potatoes Au Gratin and that it would contain caramelized onions, fresh herbs, béchamel sauce and Gruyere cheese. We love all forms of potatoes in our house and it sounded pretty good to me. I figured that this dish will complement a traditional Christmas lunch or dinner especially if it was served as a side dish with a meat-based entrée. 

That being said, if I were to make this dish for a dinner party at home, I'd probably serve it alongside an asparagus frittata and Mediterranean salad, washed down with raspberry lemonade and end the meal with a simple dessert such as chocolate brownies topped with vanilla ice-cream. 

Please do not ask me to put a vegan spin on this dish because I wouldn't know where to begin 😝

The Au Gratin turned out yummy. We are all-out carbs and cheese people here 😀 The kids enjoyed it too. I just love the nuanced flavor of gruyere. It opens with full bodied fruity tones, the flavors slowly journey towards an earthy nuttiness with a soft finale to finish. The inclusion of gruyere elevated this dish from what could have been a bland and boring cheesy baked potatoes to an extravagant and extra-hearty side dish. The potatoes were fork-tender, creamy yet retaining their shape and acting as a perfect canvas for the the cheese, the caramelized onions and the creamy and subtly flavored béchamel sauce. The parsley added some color to an otherwise not-very-attractive dish.

I've got to start wrapping up this post you guys coz I have lots of stuff to do. Tomorrow, I'm off to India for the year-end holidays. As much as I love to cook, I'm delighted that my kitchen will be closed for 3 weeks 😆 I've already drafted a shopping list, planned to spend quality time with family, scheduled a list of catch-ups with close friends and listed a bunch of restaurants that I want to check out. I know it is going to be amazing and I can't wait for the madness to begin!

Advance wishes for a Merry Christmas & Happy New Year folks. Handing over the reigns of the blog to my husband now.

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Greetings readers,

I don't even remember the last time I was here. I must be back here on the blog after a gap of more than a year. It hasn't been intentional though. I've been cooking as often as I usually do - mostly on weekends but I've mostly stuck to what I know and haven't been experimenting that much.

Megha wanted to me make a dessert in time for Christmas but desserts aren't my forte and so I wasn't confident of pulling it off. With time ticking away, I settled on a savory side dish thus reeling myself into my comfort zone.

We usually make roast or mashed potatoes at home as part of a hearty English-style breakfast on weekends. For this blog post, I wanted to do something a bit different. Au gratin potatoes are one of the most popular casseroles of all time. Tender, fluffy potatoes are bathed in a rich and creamy cheese sauce, then baked in a hot oven until bubbly and crisp. The terms scalloped potatoes and au gratin potatoes are often used interchangeably, but technically the difference between the two lies in the fact that scalloped potatoes should not have cheese. Scalloped potatoes are also cut thicker and stacked higher than au gratin potatoes.

Gruyere is a delicious medium-hard cheese that has a nutty taste and hint of sweetness. It has excellent melting properties and so I chose it along with creamy béchamel, fresh thyme and caramelized onions to envelop the potatoes in which I knew my family would like very much.

I'm glad I made this dish. We now have a new style of potatoes that we can enjoy. Making this dish does take some time but with a little planning and prep, you won't feel like you are slaving away in the kitchen.

See you next year...

Eat, Drink & Gallop! at Cheval Cafe, Bar & Bistro (Singapore Turf Club Riding Center)

This blog post has been in the pipeline for almost a year. I’m happy I’ve finally gotten around to publishing it.

This is unlike my usual restaurant review where I visit a restaurant with an agenda to talk about the décor, ambiance and service, rate a select few dishes based on their presentation, portion-size and taste and finally give you an overall summary of my dining experience. This post doesn't follow any set format rather provides a general overview on a place that has gradually become our go-to spot for quality family time and to unwind after a busy week. 

The prelude to this post has some background for context...

Before the children were born, my husband and I used to dine out a lot. And when I say a lot....I mean, A LOT. We would make our way to either a café, bistro, ethnic eatery, pub, casual dining restaurant, or fast food, several times a week with occasional visits to fine dining establishments. The location seldom mattered since both of us can travel great distances for good food. Most of the times it would be impromptu dinners brought on by a sudden impulse to go out or else boredom of having to cook at home but also after an evening of shopping or after catching a movie or meeting up with single friends or fellow childless couples. Orchard road, Clarke Quay, Robertson Quay, Arab Street, Holland Village, Bukit Timah and Dempsey were among our haunts.  

Once our twins were born, all that came to a screeching halt. We still did eat outside food (although considerably lesser) but it was mostly in the form of home delivery. Back then, we didn’t have the option of leaving our offspring's home and going out by ourselves. Lugging around an elephant-sized baby bag while wrestling two squealing toddlers into their car seats is something I never looked forward to doing. Not to mention, I barely could enjoy my food (and even forget to photograph it....gasp!) what with all the fussing over the little ones. And once our children started growing older, we realized that they were less human and more pint-sized tornadoes so venturing out of the house with them was always going to feel like an epic adventure. 

Going to an enclosed indoor restaurant invariably translated into table banging, cutlery clanging, spilling beverages, knocking things over, tugging tablecloths, ear-splitting shrieking, running into service staff, crashing into glass doors (I swear this has happened a few times) and the rare but dreaded chants of “I’m bored”. Our daughters like to draw or color only when they are in the mood to do so and keeping them preoccupied/distracted with electronic gadgets during mealtimes is my biggest parenting pet peeve so on principle, I obstinately refuse to do it. To add to that, we could never take them too far because the barfy duo tend to get sick in a moving car. So, to summarize, going out for a meal as a family was not much fun at all (for us adults mainly 😝) until the past year or so. 

The solution for us was quite obvious - going to nearby family-friendly restaurants with al fresco dining where the little ones have room to run around without being a nuisance or which have designated play areas, preferably a kids menu and most importantly, where being noisy doesn’t elicit looks of annoyance. Although we still prefer home delivery, we have been going out more and there are a couple of restaurants that our girls really like going to such as Cheval, Marche, BLooiE's Roadhouse, Carrotsticks & Cravings, Wildseed Cafe or Wheeler's Estate at Seletar Aerospace Park, Open Farm Community, Bistro Gardenasia, Pasarbella and Jamie's Italian. 

  

Naturelo Premium Supplements - From Nature With Love

 Product review

I firmly believe that there is no substitute for a balanced and healthy diet. But having said that, in today’s fast-paced demanding world, a busy lifestyle and/or a limited food budget doesn’t allow everyone to enjoy nutrient-dense foods on an every meal basis. 

Take my family for example - as full-time working professionals and parents of two young children, me and my husband make it a priority to cook fresh home-cooked meals, 85-90% of the time for the family. But there are sometimes 2-3 meals per week that translates into us ordering take-out, going out to dinner or else the lack of time or energy results in us rustling up quick-fix meals that sometimes relies on processed ingredients. Also, being a couple of complete foodies, we do not restrict ourselves when it comes to the food we love, so indulgent meals, deep-fried food and desserts are made in our household without any guilt. Eating balanced and healthy doesn’t figure in the scheme of things during such instances 😆

Even though we do embrace a variety of foods and cuisines, incorporate whole grains, low-fat dairy products, fresh vegetables and fruits in our meals and make it a point to include healthy dishes in our weekly menu, it always seems like we could do just a little bit better. I do check nutritional labels before buying ingredients to minimize the nasties but honestly speaking, everything I buy from the grocery store is not certified organic. Our children are small eaters by nature and although I feel like they get enough carbs, enjoy several servings of fresh fruit per day and love dairy, they do not get enough protein and they have to be coaxed (make that begged) to up their daily intake of vegetables and greens.  

To top it, my family as a whole, is pretty active and we get plenty of exercise so our energy demands increase as a consequence of that. So, in our case, there is a high chance that we do not get the recommended amount of all the essential nutrients from food alone. As a person ages, the body’s ability to absorbs nutrients decreases so I am well aware of how mine and my husband’s food habits needs to evolve as we grow older. Not to mention, pesticides and herbicides used to farm our food, chemicals found in our water supply, food processing and external environmental issues like pollution drastically increase our need for extra vitamins and minerals.  

Nutritional supplements can be useful for filling in gaps in an individual’s diet. 

When I was approached by NATURELO to review their products, I took the time to check out their philosophy, products and overwhelmingly positive customer reviews and thought – why not? 

The only time I had ever taken supplements in my life before this was while I was trying to conceive and during the entire length of my pregnancy and breastfeeding duration. 

I started thinking more about it and in addition to our (sometimes) bad dietary choices, I am aware that I have (and have always had) a low haemoglobin count so an iron and folate-rich diet could be beneficial for me. Unlike me & the kids, my husband prefers to stay indoors most of the time (owing to Singapore’s hot and humid weather) so he could do with more Vitamin D. 

NATURELO Premium Supplements Inc is a small privately-funded company established in 2013. The company believes that the best vitamins and minerals come from nature and not a lab. They take what nature has to offer – organically-grown fruits and vegetables and package them into powerful high quality supplements that work in sync with the human body. As of today, they offer a line of 40+ natural vitamin products. 

NATURELO products do not contain genetically-modified plants. All the nutrients in their supplements are said to be derived solely from nature. There are no artificial colors, stabilizers or preservatives. The supplements are vegan-friendly which is good news for vegetarians and vegans. Also, the supplements are free of common allergens including soy, gluten, dairy, corn and peanuts.  

The supplements are made in the United States in an FDA-approved facility. The company meets and exceeds the cGMP standards and each ingredient is tested for purity and potency. 

I was sent three of their products - One Daily Multivitamin for Men, One Daily Multivitamin for Women and Whole Food Vitamin Gummies for Kids. This review is coming to you after two months of consuming the supplements. 

Baker's Corner: Caramel Pecan Cheesecake

Does it feel like the holidays already? To me, it sure does. A little over two weeks before I pack my bags and head home with my family to visit the rest of my family 😊

December is usually not the month for restrictive eating, what say folks? 😁 I've had sugar on my mind lately and when it comes to dessert, my mind never strays too far away from cake. And when we are talking about cake, the visual of my favourite cheesecake is the first that bombards my senses. 

I've blogged different kinds of cheesecake recipes. The classic New York Cheesecake, the exotic White Chocolate-Yuzu Cheesecake, the pillowy soft Japanese Cheesecake, the chocolate infused American Chocolate Ripple Cheesecake and even a berry-infused cheesecake sitting on a brownie aka Blackberry Cheesecake Brownies.

I told you I had a thing for cheesecake, didn't I? 😉

I had no idea what variation to attempt next so I asked my husband. He thought for exactly 10 seconds and blurted out "Caramel Pecan Cheesecake". I love caramel, I love pecans and I love cheesecake so my immediate thought was - that's such a great idea. Alas! it hardly turned out to be original coz I found out that there are several recipes already out there. I took inspiration from a few of them but trust me when I say that this carefully curated recipe for the cheesecake is my own. 

You must know that I don't like my desserts cloyingly sweet. I've said that over and over again. While making this cheesecake, I wanted to control the amount of sweetness in the cheesecake filling because I was going to be topping the finished cheesecake with a homemade caramel sauce which, let's admit, is sugar incarnate. I also didn't want to go the salted caramel route because the cheesecake naturally tends to be a tad salty thanks to the cream cheese. I added only a dash of sea salt to my caramel sauce to offset the sweetness without rendering a salty taste. 

With the toasty crunch from the pecans, the buttery sweet caramel sauce, the mildly sweet and salty luscious cheesecake filling and the flavourful graham cracker crust, this dessert came together perfectly. 

Christmas and New Year is coming up so what are you waiting for people? 😃

A Letter to my Daughters on Their Fifth Birthday

*Exhales deeply*....okay....this birthday letter is going to be the hardest one yet. I have so many things to say (as usual) and yet so ill-prepared. I should have learnt my lesson from two years ago where I found myself in a similar predicament. But back then, I pulled through just in the nick of time (or so I think). It'll be interesting to see how this birthday letter is going to fare in comparison 😛

You know the Hindi movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai? The one in which the dying mother left a bunch of letters for her baby daughter and then years later, the daughter had those precious memories to remember her mother by? Now, don’t get any morbid ideas....I’m not going anywhere (I hope 😝) but that gesture moved me to my core even though I was just a teenager back then.

But on a serious note, we are all living on borrowed time aren’t we? Nobody knows how long their journey in this world will last. Nobody knows if they have enough time to make sure their loved ones know just how much they are cherished. In the end, it is only the experiences and lasting relationships we form with people during the course of our lives that matter.  

Birthday letters to my daughters have come to mean much more than a mere tradition. Each letter is a tangible expression of my love and pride, my reflections combined with my hopes and dreams I have for their future. It serves a reservoir of memories and my emotional constitution locked in passages of time. The most heartfelt emotions can be conveyed more meaningfully in writing rather than everyday spoken words and stories have the ability to communicate actions and events in a way that is more valued than any singular compliment. We prudently think about taking out a life insurance policy to ensure our children’s financial future is taken care of but how about setting aside an “emotional insurance policy” that may cover their emotional needs? To convey those things one might forget about as time goes by or have trouble verbally expressing or the little things that might otherwise go unsaid while children grow up.

I want my children to have these letters so they can feel like they are close to my heart even when I’m not around and to be reminded of their importance in my life. And it is not just the highlights of their early childhood years but my own experiences on motherhood, being a twin mom and the challenges with choosing to be a working mom that I have painstakingly documented so that they can see my life as it has unfolded so far and view me as someone other than just mom 😀

On this sunny Sunday, my girls turned FIVE.

Five, is a milestone that in my opinion, merits a celebration. This is the first birthday that a child will probably remember.

This year, for the twins birthday, we planned to throw them a Shimmer & Shine themed birthday party with their friends at one of their favored indoor play areas in Singapore followed by a trip to Disneyland in Hong Kong. The latter plan had to be cancelled (you know with Hong Kong being recently rocked by a spate of mass anti-government protests and all) but the party went on as scheduled.
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On Friday, we put together goody bags for their classmates but unlike the previous two years, skipped the cake cutting ceremony at school.

The party at the indoor play area took place yesterday evening. I didn't trust myself to bake the birthday cake for the party so I outsourced the job. With some of their favorite people in attendance, the girls had a marvelous time and true to their nature, were still full of beans hours after the event ended.
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To keep the birthday cake baking tradition alive, I baked a no-frills vanilla cake with white chocolate buttercream and fresh fruits this morning and as a bonus, made the girls best-loved poori-chole for lunch. Today on their actual birthday, it is going to be just the four of us. Dinner will be a casual affair at a café that the girls love but they don't know that yet.
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As I'm editing this post, there are two little (sorry I meant big) girls with wide grins, full tummies and contented hearts, gleefully ripping into yesterday's birthday loot 😀

So, with that, here are my musings from the year gone by,

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Deepavali Special: Chocolate Burfi

Yes, I know this post is coming in a bit late. I would have liked to publish this post on Friday but considering I only came around to making this sweet dish yesterday, that would have been out of the question 😀

So, you may know that me and traditional Indian sweets aren't the best of friends. In my more than 10 years of blogging, there are about 4 Indian/sort of Indian sweet dishes that have found their way to the blog. I probably eat them only 2-3 times a year and that is only because of a festival or special occasion that necessitates the action and definitely not driven by any kind of craving 😛

Every year when Ganesh Chaturthi and Deepavali rolls around the corner, my social media feed gets flooded with beautiful images of homemade Indian sweets. Beautiful burfis, luscious laddoos, pleasing puddings and dainty desserts.....it is a treat for sore eyes. Visuals and aromas of ghee, saffron, cardamom, pistachios, rose water and coconut start flooding my senses. Even though I am not a big fan of these sugary treats myself, the fear of missing out does push me to at least make an effort.

This Deepavali, I chose an easy (of course it HAS to be easy otherwise I wouldn't do it) sweet to celebrate the occasion. Whenever I start making an Indian dessert, I never sure if it is going to turn out decent or not. I have had a considerable share of failures that have made me weary of the whole exercise. So I told myself that if it turned out good, I would put it out there. If not for anyone else but my future self.

This chocolate burfi is easy to make, has only a handful of ingredients, tastes nice and is great for gifting.

If I can pull this off then literally anyone can.

Happy Deepavali folks. Let there be light 💥

Book review: The Wayward Pines Trilogy by Blake Crouch

I had heard about Wayward Pines several years ago (from the husband....no surprise there) so it had been on my reading list for a while. Before I read the books, I made the mistake of watching a few episodes of FOX’s TV adaptation (which in hindsight, hasn't stayed completely true to the books) so I had a basic idea about the premise. If you are a mystery buff or a lover of science fiction, I feel like you will be able to enjoy this series much more if you have no idea what it is about. Trust me, for the uninitiated, the shock value will be pretty high. Now, if you have never heard of Wayward Pines, that statement may deter you from reading this review but I promise not to ruin it (too much) for you.

This is the first book of Blake Crouch that I have read. Blake Crouch released the Wayward Pines trilogy over the course of three years.  Pines in 2012, Wayward in 2013, and The Last Town in 2014.

***Plot***

US Secret Service agent Ethan Burke wakes up with transient amnesia in a strange town after a near-fatal accident. He is injured, disoriented and has a sinister feeling about the bucolic town of Wayward Pines he finds himself in. It feels oddly familiar yet so disquieting. The idyllic town of Idaho has clear blue skies, pristine Victorian houses framed by white picket fences, quaint stores, picture-perfect mountains and verdant pine forests all of which scream paradise but it is impossible to ignore the gnawing feeling that in this quintessential small American town, something is very off. With no one to help him or answer his questions and his memory failing him, he is completely alone. Where is his ID and cell phone? Why hasn’t his wife and son come for him? Why do the residents of the town view him with such contempt? Why are there no cars on the road? Why does nobody ever leave? Why do the phones not work the way they are supposed to? Why does the main road that leads out of town loop back right into town? And most ominous of all, what is the purpose of the huge electrified fence circling the town? Is it to keep residents from leaving or to prevent someone or something from entering?

Once his memory comes back to him, the burning questions on Ethan’s mind - how has a mission that began with tracking down his missing colleagues ended up like this? And more importantly, how does he get out of this place? 

Ethan has to battle with the complexities of the human psyche, conflicting personal feelings, a hostile environment, the constant risk of death, a murderous psychopath and a controlling megalomaniac before he can arrive at some answers and uncover the frightening truth.

One that no one wants to hear.

Recipe of the month: Vegetarian Pad Thai

Victory is finally mine. After months of experimenting with this recipe, cooking far too much of it in the process while making major and subsequently minor tweaks, I'm pleased to present (what I think) is pretty authentic Pad Thai albeit a vegetarian version 😁 And yes, you can legit argue with me that Pad Thai isn't authentically vegetarian but this is a good recipe okay. Trust me on this because over the past decade, I've eaten Pad Thai innumerable times both in Thailand and outside, some good and some bad so I know a thing or two about it. 

Pad Thai is my most favourite Thai dish and I don't see that changing any time soon. This is the dish that I evaluate all Thai restaurants by. I prefer it over a Thai green or red curry any day. I know I've said this before (read my previous post on Thai Green Curry) but I am very predictable when it comes to Thai food. I love the usual crowd pleasers - tom yum soup, spring rolls, raw mango salad, papaya salad, pad thai, khao pad, and mango sticky rice pudding. I do like the Thai-style curries but unlike my husband, they don't figure in my most favourite dishes from the cuisine. I prefer eating a small portion of rice and curry only occasionally. 

I've been failing miserably to make Pad Thai since my second visit to Thailand back in 2006. I have made more blunders making this dish than any other dish 😝 I've used fettuccini instead of the typical rice stick noodles (*hangs head in shame*), on the occasions I've used rice noodles, I've overcooked them and turned them into mush (uh-oh!), I assumed using peanut butter would be a good idea and have been heavy-handed with it (ugh!), I've shied away from using tofu (big mistake), been woefully ignorant about how important tamarind is (*rolls eyes*), I've used tomato ketchup in the sauce (*shudders*) and either used too much or too less of soy sauce resulting in either an overpowering or bland finished product (*sighs*). Getting that perfect balance of flavours and textures seemed like an unattainable dream. Blunders aside, I convinced myself that not using fish sauce or shrimp was never going to make my Pad Thai taste authentic anyway but I soon realized I was mistaken. 

Let me tell you what I learned during this recipe testing endeavor, 

• You need to use the right kind of noodles folks. It has to be flat rice noodles. Not rice vermicelli or any wheat-based noodle. My two cents - if you don't have the right kind of noodles then its not worth making this dish. If you do, please don't call it Pad Thai coz that's just insulting 😆 It is critical that the noodles have to be cooked until pliable but al dente. They have to be drained, rinsed with cold water, drained again and tossed with a little oil until use
• Aromatics like fresh ginger and garlic provide great flavour so don't skimp. The Thai bird’s eye chilli is not mandatory (you can use dried red chilli flakes) but it does give that tantalizing fiery kick which is commonly associated with Thai food.
• I have found that tamarind is the  magic ingredient in this recipe. It gives the required sourness and also helps to impart some color. I have the concentrated bottled extract which I dissolve in hot water but even better if you can use it in its dried fruit form and soak it in hot water until you get the extract
• I like to use the Lee Kum Kee brand of premium light soy sauce because it is really good. I’m not sure if dark soy sauce will work as well. Regarding the other sauces, fish sauce and oyster sauce are commonly added but you can either skip them or buy the vegetarian substitutes 
• You just have to add eggs (if you consume it). I believe that eggs in Pad Thai are an important ingredient.They add a kind of creaminess to the dish which makes it so delicious. In case you are vegan, use soft tofu
• Bean sprouts and roasted peanuts are an absolute MUST. Incorporate them into the noodles and even add some more on the side while serving. The crunchy texture makes for a delightful addition.
• Brown sugar adds that much needed mellow sweetness to round out the flavour. You could use jaggery powder instead as well. White sugar is not a good enough substitute so if you don’t have brown sugar, please go to the supermarket and get it 😛
• The addition of tofu is important too. Use an extra-firm tofu and shallow fry till brown on both sides.
• Greens like spring onion (or chives) and cilantro not only add color but also add freshness and flavour
• I find that I don't really need the lime but my husband disagrees so by all means, squeeze away.

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This recipe doesn't have too many ingredients (and none of the ingredients are expensive) so make sure you have everything before you start. From start to finish you can easily be done in an hour so this can feature in your weekly or weekend menu. 

If you have made up your mind to try out this recipe, I'm excited for you! Let me know how it goes 😊

Plushopedic Memory Fluff Pillow from SleepWiz

Product review

So if you remember, not very long ago, I had done a product review for the ErgoLush Mattress Topper from SleepWiz. I am still using the mattress topper and it works great. I mostly have my good sleep days (6+ hours) and the rare bad sleep days (≤5 hours of sleep) but insomnia hasn't reared its ugly head since the past few months. 

The good folks at SleepWiz asked me if I would review a new product which has just begun garnering retail presence. Considering the pleasant interaction with them in the past, their professionalism and how beneficial their last product has been for me, I obliged without second thoughts.

Let's face it - most pillows suck! I've lost count of the number of pillows we have disposed over the years because they just weren't serving their purpose effectively. They are either too soft, too firm, too big or too flat. Waking up with a crick in your neck or not feeling truly well rested has a lot to do with the kind of pillow you use.

Most classic pillows are either overly bouncy (especially those overfilled synthetic ones) or unsupportive, and they often bend your head in an awkward manner. This is because they rely on fiber "crimp" for their plushness, which act like springs when the fibers are amassed together as in a pillow. The resistance it provides increases very rapidly when depressed, so they end up overly bouncy when overfilled, or just collapse when the filling isn't dense enough. Fibers also lose their "crimp" quickly, which will cause pillows to lose their volume and support. On the other hand, memory foam pillows are great for neck support, but many users may feel that the weird contoured shapes these pillows are molded into simply do not look comfortable, especially since most of them do not need very specialized support.

The Plushopedic Memory Fluff Pillow combines the adaptive support of memory foam and the plush comfort of a classic pillow. Sounds good right?

A little about the science behind it - the Plushopedic pillow is filled with "memory fluff", which is an interlocking cross-cut memory foam. It cradles your head and neck to optimize the supportive pressure just like one-piece molded memory foam pillows, but is luxurious and cuddly just like a classic pillow - basically the best of both worlds. It'll feel plush to lie on when you head first hits the pillow, and feel buoyant and supportive as the memory fluff slowly absorbs your head. It may be likened to lying on the tummy of a giant teddy bear. The memory fluff is blended with a small fraction of conventional responsive foam to increase the plushness of the pillow when you first lie on it. This filling can also be shifted around to achieve your desired pillow loft and shape, just like a down pillow.

Outdoor Fun at Admiralty Park, Singapore

Saturday mornings in my household has been designated as mother-daughters time for a while now. It is a solid 4 to 5 hours of me and the girls spending time with each other. The man of the house, who is a night owl and prefers to sleep at unearthly hours on the weekend does not figure in our plans 😂 

How it usually goes is that after dragging ourselves out of bed and getting freshened up, me and the girls run some errands. We first go to the ATM, then to the vegetable market and lastly, to the grocery store. We get home, have a simple breakfast of cheese omelette, fruits and juice and then head out somewhere close by to make the most of the weekend. It is usually to one of the outdoor parks in our neighbourhood, an indoor play area located a short distance away, to one of the three waterparks housed in nearby malls or else, one of my twins favourites, Admiralty Park. 

I do look forward to these Saturday mornings partly because I'm temporarily relieved of the unceasing working-mom guilt by spending quality time with the girls but also because it is a fun endeavour for all three of us and is an opportunity to forge precious memories. They tell me so many interesting things, share funny stories and express their views on topics ranging from fashion to future careers 😆 These little details are often lost during the weekly routine of rushed mornings, dinnertime conversations and bedtime rituals.  

Admiralty Park

Located in Woodlands, Admiralty Park is the largest park in the north of Singapore. The 27 hectare park is situated on hilly terrain with Sungei Cina river running through it, and houses the largest nature area within an urban park.  

Much of the park is mangrove swamp. Three boardwalks cut through the mangrove, providing places for observing and appreciating the flora and fauna with minimal disturbance of the habitat. The park works closely with neighbouring Republic Polytechnic, which is also the adopter of the park under the adopt-a-park scheme. 

I first heard of this park from my friend who works in Republic Polytechnic. The park is a 15-minute walk from Woodlands MRT Station. My kids love taking the MRT and since they rarely get an opportunity to travel by train, I make it a point to take them on it and that could be another reason why they love going to Admiralty Park.

On our first visit, I was impressed with the pleasing location, multi-tiered design and variety of play structures of the park. The girls were completely blown away too. Soon it became one of our go-to spots for outdoor fun.

The photos in this post is a compilation of a few visits so don't be surprised by my kids change of outfits.

The park apparently features 26 slides – the most number of slides in any park in Singapore! The widest slide and the longest slide in a public park can be found here. The playground capitalizes on the undulating terrain to site the three main play areas – Junior Play, Adventure Play and the Family Terracing Play – catering to children of all ages and featuring diverse play equipment that encourage group and multi-generation interactions.

Restaurant review: La Braceria Pizza & Grill, Singapore

So a few weeks ago, I met up with three of my batch mates from dental school. Whenever any of us from the batch meet (it doesn’t matter how big or small the gathering), the event never fails to evoke pure nostalgia and is guaranteed to bring on roars of laughter. It has been 14 years since we graduated but in a lot of ways, it feels like time has stood still. Today, most of us are married, many have children, a significant percentage has relocated to other countries and more or less everyone has carved a successful career for themselves. But despite our busy and conflicting schedules, we do try our best to meet and it always is a hoot. Everyone has precious memories to share and hilarious stories to tell. We share snippets of our lives and get updates on those we are not frequently in touch with. We fondly remember our professors, our seniors, our juniors and even the college attenders of those days.

I honestly have so many happy memories from that time in my life. I'd go to college everyday with my two besties on our motorcycles, donning dark full-face helmets (apparently we were nicknamed “Charlie’s Angels”). Our batch would aggravate the anatomy professor to tears, stage mass bunks, melodramatically mimic professors and hang out by the college café (when we were not supposed to), drinking way too much coffee and gorging on all sorts of deep-fried junk food. My friends and I would often visit the girls hostel which was always fun. My batch mates frequently dropped into my home and ate too much (especially the boys). Then there was the time we went on a disastrously college trip to Kerala which to this day, is the butt of many jokes. There are so many other memories - climbing Chamundi hills on foot (while fearfully looking out for the legendary leopard), taking an insane number of group photos and photobombing at every given opportunity, editorial team discussions for our very own publication Mid-Day Masala, going on rural postings, attempting to cook food on a self-made campfire, the never-ending department parties and the numerous food outings that we would make any excuse to go on. These are a few that come to mind off the top of my head and never fails to light up my face with a smile. Ah! Those were the good old days indeed!

So to revive some of those memories for the mini reunion, I chose La Braceria, a hidden gem in Bukit Timah serving up authentic hearty and rustic Italian food. I usually go to either Capri Trattoria  in Binjai Park or Caruso Italian along Bukit Timah road when I'm looking to chill with friends or enjoy a nice dinner with my husband but this time I wanted to pick another restaurant. I wanted a place that was cozy and quiet which had vegetarian options and much like the other two, this restaurant fit the bill.

Tucked away in a residential corner on Greendale avenue, the restaurant actually looks less restaurant and more house. There is absolutely nothing commercial about it. You wouldn’t even guess that there is a restaurant in the area. Big points from me for that 👍

With a predominantly white color scheme, the interiors are minimalistic and chic. Neutral toned comfortable seats, warming floor lamps, rusting light fixtures and simple wall mounted mirrors add to the relaxed and intimate appeal. You have both indoor seating and al fresco dining options. In sultry Singapore, I rarely feel like going for al fresco dining so we headed indoors for the comfort of air conditioning.

I was surprised to see the restaurant quite full even on a weekday and was glad I had made a reservation the previous day. We were attended to immediately and even though the focus of the evening was more on company and less on food, we ordered a few dishes to share along with Barossa Valley red wine.

Baker's Corner: Fudgy Chocolate Cake

The introduction to this post is going to be (kinda) short and sweet 😊 The National Day long weekend is on the horizon and I have a bunch of plans that I want to execute and blogging does not happen to be one of them.

It was my FILs birthday last week. We went shopping on Orchard road and then enjoyed a lovely family meal at Tandoor located within Holiday Inn. I still wanted to bake him a cake because age notwithstanding, who doesn't like having cake baked especially for them right? 😜

I asked the twins what cake I should bake for their beloved ajja (grandfather) and pat came the reply “Chocolate and Raspberry Cake”. Chocolate is the little ones favourite flavour (ties for first place with strawberry) and raspberries are one among their favourite fruit so I wasn't the least bit surprised.

I was looking for a cake recipe that was simple, had easily available ingredients and that would result in a really moist cake. This recipe checks all the boxes and how. This is an oil-based cake so how you go about it is you mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together in another medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients into the dry and BAM! Cake batter done. No sieving of dry ingredients, creaming of sugar and butter or any of that fiddly stuff.

The cake turned out moist, fudgy and chocolatey. The addition of a little brewed coffee enhanced the chocolate favour. The only gripe I had with the finished product was that the cake was a tad too sweet for my liking (the others thought it was just right though) so I fine-tuned the recipe and it should be perfect now. Since this is a blended cake, the sugar is not required to build volume so it can be reduced with no significant change in outcome of the texture. Follow the recipe below and you should be fine. I suggest you take a look at the notes section at the bottom of the recipe before starting for some tips, tricks and suggestions so you will be guaranteed to get a good outcome for this cake.

 That's it folks. Make this cake the next time you have a loved one's birthday or for a special occasion and you will be glad you did.

Update: I have made this cake innumerable times since this post and it works perfectly for me every time. I have tweaked the recipe quantity to make 12 cupcakes and a smaller 6-inch cake. Please refer to notes at the bottom for more details. 

Happy birthday Daddy (to my husband), mava (to me) and ajja (to the kids). We love you loads 💗

Recipe of the month: Maggi Pakoda

You know what I do when I have my mom or MIL around? I usually bug them to pull out one of their  much-loved signature recipes from their personal recipe repertoire and make it just so I can document it on my blog 😁 A sure-fire way of getting a winning post with minimum effort from my end. I believe I am not a true daughter if I don't make full use of these two women in such an obviously shameless manner 😂

I have several of my mom's and MIL's recipes on the blog. Today I'll talk about my MILs recipes since she is the contributor to this particular blog post. 

My MIL is a very intuitive and resourceful cook - one that can judge what ingredients go together well and can give ordinary leftovers a makeover to transform them into something unexpectedly delicious. Check out the recipes for Bread Pakoda, Vegetable Cutlet, Vegetable Samosa, Vegetable Pulao, Rice Shavige, Chitranna Shavige that are all her contributions to my blog. From her to me and subsequently my children, these treasured recipes will be a part of our family legacy and that brings me a profound sense of satisfaction 😊

Okay, so let's get one thing straight. Although these pakodas are called "maggi pakodas", they taste nothing like the ubiquitous maggi noodles. And that is because we don't use the masala tastemaker while cooking the noodles. Instead, we cook the noodles plain and then mix them with lots of fresh ginger, bird's eye green chillies, fresh coriander leaves, red onions, gram flour and cooked rice. So the obvious question would then be - do we need to use only maggi noodles to make this snack? The answer is NO. You can use whatever wheat-based noodles that catches your fancy. Kapish?

Coming back to maggi, I know that there are people who absolutely love maggi (like me) and people who don't enjoy it (both my in-laws). One thing is for sure - whether you like maggi or not, you will certainly devour these  flavourful and crispy maggi pakodas.

Since I have my in-laws at home, things are pretty busy around here. You can tell by the quality of photos in this post (for the record, I almost never take food pics using my camera phone and in artificial light but I had no choice so kindly excuse). 

I'm signing off now folks. Go make these ASAP (I think I ate about 20. They are that good).

Paperless Post: Beautiful Customizable Online Invitations for Every Occasion

Service Review

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I know things have been pretty quiet around here lately but I am very much alive folks. A quick trip back home kept me away from blogging for a few weeks.

So if you don’t know this already, I express myself best through words. I believe that I am more a writer than a talker (many who know me well may disagree since the latter classification matches my extrovert personality). But I’d say I am able to convey much more through writing than speaking and that is where I am most at ease. If you are wondering where I am going with this, today's post is all about expression and communication. 

I was recently contacted my Paperless Post, an e-commerce company based in New York City that focuses on design-driven online and printed stationery. Paperless Post partners with leading fashion designers including Kate Spade New York, Jonathan Adler and Oscar de la Renta. The company kindly credited my account with coins to try the Paperless Post service in exchange for a review on my blog.

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Let me start by saying that I was (and probably always will be) a fan of snail mail. I still have treasured stacks of hand-written letters, birthday and holiday greeting cards from my exchanges with friends and cousins during my teenage years and early adult life. Even for my own wedding, the invitation card that I distributed to my closest friends, colleagues and teachers was carefully hand-written in my signature cursive style. I am a huge fan of the old fashioned approach.

But ever since the internet took control of our lives, this tradition is slowly fading away. It isn’t really surprising. Let’s get real - in today’s fast-paced and busy world, time is a precious commodity. Sending traditional print cards requires multiple steps from selecting and buying the card from the local store to writing  a personal note, buying a stamp and then delivering it via mailbox or post office. The whole shebang takes time and money, not to mention effort.

Online cards on the other hand come at a fraction of the cost (or sometimes even free), saves on paper, are easily accessible, can be personalized, only requires an internet connection and can be sent to anyone, anywhere in an instant.

I’ll admit – as a mom of young girls, I receive a fair amount of birthday invitations. A few of them printed invitation cards and most others, digital cards (mainly sent through WhatsApp). It has happened a few times that I have misplaced the printed invites and spent a considerable chunk of time turning the house upside-down in order to find them. Digital cards on the other hand are easy to recover - all I have to do is whip out my phone and quickly re-confirm the date and time. Although printed cards do look and feel beautiful and convey a more personal touch, not too many people look back on the days of tedious envelope folding and stamp sticking with fondness.

The original artwork at Paperless Post is created by a collaborative group of artists, designers and letterers. Every year, over a thousand unique invitations and cards are designed in their in-house studio.

Using this platform, you can design & create your own invitations using an impressive selection of designs for birthdays, weddings, holidays, celebrations, parties, announcements and more.

Book review: the Century trilogy by Ken Follett

This is the most time-consuming and tricky book review I have ever written. Reviewing three novels (each around 800-1000+ pages long) is not a simple task as you can imagine. I can't even wrap my head around the hours of extensive research, painstaking effort and revisions the author Ken Follett took to complete them. But this is one review I just had to do it because these three books come together to form a literary masterpiece that I believe everyone should read.

Reading the Century trilogy is akin to taking a history lesson - only far more interesting than anything that comes out of a classroom! The author takes the reader on a vivid journey back in time to the events preceding World War I. Through the lives of five fictional families, he recounts the most important historical events of the twentieth century namely,
1. World War I that followed after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary with Germany and Austria-Hungary on the one hand, and Russia, France, and Great Britain on the other
2. World War II that arose from the political takeover of Germany by Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party, Italian Fascism, and Japanese militarism. The principal belligerents were the Axis powers - Germany, Italy, and Japan against the Allies - France, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union and
3. Cold War, the open yet restricted rivalry that developed after World War II between the communist states and capitalist states.

***Plot***

The novels narrate the story of five inextricably linked families - American, German, Russian, English and Welsh - as three generations navigate through almost 80 years that sees wars, hardship, suffering,  tyranny, uprising, political unrest and revolutions. The lives of the characters illuminate the violent and world-changing vacillations of the 20th century. The author has inserted real historical figures into the story, and their interaction with the fictional characters has been skillfully executed.

World War I was a significant turning point in the political, cultural, economic, and social climate of the world. The war and its immediate aftermath sparked numerous revolutions and uprisings. Despite the creation of League of Nations, a body that was intended to prevent future wars, the Second World War followed just over twenty years later. World War II included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, and the only use of nuclear weapons in war. The high-octane storytelling moves the characters through these series of events offering unique perspectives and experiences. Additionally, the reader is given insights into anti-communist uprisings, such as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution and Czechoslovakia's Prague Spring in 1968, and the botched US Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba in 1961.

Aside from the obvious history and politics, the rich story Ken Follett weaves sheds light on women's suffrage, the nuclear arms race, condition of soldiers in the trenches, American civil rights, interracial relationships, conscription, opposition to the Vietnam war, activism for freedom of speech, alternative media, sexual revolution, the changing music scene, rise of the hippie and alternative lifestyles and even experimentation with drugs.

Cafe review: Choupinette at Bukit Timah, Singapore

So, this is how a typical Whatsapp conversation with my friend Hwee Teng goes,

Me: (Getting straight to the point while skipping all the greetings, social niceties and polite small talk) 

Hey HT, I want to check out X Café. I've heard the X they serve is good. 

Her: Okay

Me: When you free?

Her: Anytime over the weekend

Me: Great. Let's catch up this Sunday morning. Can? 

Her: 👍👍

That's how simple it is and possibly the main reason why despite working together for barely two years back in 2011, we have remained good friends ever since. Apart from living in the same neighborhood, being former colleagues and sharing a common love for food, coffee, quaint desserts, food photography, travel and hazelnuts, now that she is married, we have more to jabber about.

I have a tendency to seek no-filter friendships quite similar to the relationship I share with my sister. The kind that creates a safe space for me to be my real and true self, even the waspish, self-absorbed, petty version of me that won't win any popularity contests. I believe that the friends who have stuck by me the longest, overlook my failings in favor of my better personality traits such loyalty, integrity, reliability and accept/love me for who I am.

Friendship is like any other relationship - it takes time and effort. If the feelings are mutual, the effort will be equal. I can honestly say that for the two of us, this has always felt organic. We have always been able to make time for each other despite work and family commitments and I can only hope that it stays the same. She is my first choice for an accomplice when I get an invitation to review a particular restaurant or when I voluntarily want to check out any food establishment. Over the years, I’ve probably influenced her a little bit which is noticeable when her response to food evaluation is a much more thoughtful and articulate description rather than a customary nonchalant shrug accompanied by a “not bad” 😂 She is a self-confessed glutton (much like me) and so when I'm with her, I never feel conscious on the amount of food I can tuck away! 

She was the one who suggested Choupinette after I wanted to catch up and hear all the details of her recent registration of marriage. I'm not going to bore you with how much I love brunch (I've already highlighted that many many times on the blog). All I'll say is that I will never ever say no to a place serving all-day breakfast. 

Choupinette has been around since 2002. It is a little piece of France in Singapore that you can go to for breakfast, brunch, lunch, coffee/tea, all-day dining.

The café is quite small (a hole-in-the-wall kinda deal) with a rustic homely décor yet popular and predictably crowded on weekends. Note that they don't accept reservations on weekends so you will get a seat if it is your lucky day.

As we made our way to the café at 10am on a bright and cheery Sunday, I noticed that the place was filled with a mix of both locals and expats, mostly families. We were fortunate that there were two tables left.

Be sure to check out the baked goodies they have on display. They are really hard to ignore 😄

What struck me was even though the café was crowded, it wasn't noisy and we were able to relax and chatter the morning away.

I had heard that the eggs benny was good and so I had already decided what I was going to order. The menu at Choupinette is limited but they do have some well-loved breakfast items as well as all sorts of savoury and sweet baked goods on display that I mentioned earlier.