Surviving on a quid Was reading my blogger mate's article a couple of days ago about the welfare system in UK. The post is right here. That brought back a lot of memories I have about my years in London. Being born in Singapore and was living with my family all those years, I never knew how to manage my finances. So even with two jobs at that time while I was schooling, I was struggling to make ends meet. The hardest week when I was down to only a quid.What can you get in London for a quid (one solid Great Britain Pound Stirling)? I couldn't get chicken and chips which would cost me 2 pounds. Frozen meals are less than a pound and that really saved my day. But still it couldn't last me for 7 days. In the end, I discovered bread rolls. My kind teacher spared me some old bread rolls to bring home. And some teabags. And that was the best thing for me at that time! One could never imagine the fragrance of a bread roll in the hungriest times to be that heavenly!I will always remember those days and not to waste the food on my table. What about you? Have you any experiences like this to share? Click on "Comments" and type yours down. I will be glad to hear it. Fancy a Tuna Biscuit? Not the most attractive sleeping position eh?Was watching our cat munching on his food last evening and I wondered... how tasty can those crunchy and strange smelling cat food be?I never tasted any cat food nor dog food in my life but I've heard of people who do. They commented that it is indeed delicious. Hm.. probably only the chicken-flavoured biscuits.Someone has suggested that I should consider opening a pet bakery since it is the latest trend with one of the first shops in tiny Singapore island. Well.. I'm still not convinced about this whole Pet Bakery thingy because I'm the type who likes to test my products. And yeap, I'm not too keen to try a dog cookie.I've tried to google for dog biscuits recipes online. And there's not too much variety really. I reckon not too many domestic cooks are eager to bake a dog cookie. Anyway, how would you rate how good the biscuit taste? Human vs Dog sense of taste. Hm...Well.. I will do another lazy search and attach some pet food recipes here. Have a good weekend and don't forget your pets! An Inspired Confection: Lemon & Lavender You thought I've stopped creating new Lavender confectionery? You are wrong. Before I start getting lazy for the weekend, here is the post about more Lavender!This is an extension of the idea of incorporating Lavender in confectionery. Do take note that Lavender has been a popular herb in the French kitchen for the longest time. Heard of Herbs de Provence? Yes, Lavender is one of the ingredient. Lavender cakes are pretty popular in Jersey (Channel Islands) and Tasmania (Australia). So they are entirely a whole new creation of moi!Speaking about Lavender cakes, I was in the mood for some muffins. The image that I have of any Lavender confectionery is light and have a very pale colour to show off the beautiful purple flowers in there. So a nice light ingredient that doesn't impart any colour to the cakes is required. I chose Lemon this time. And it was a lovely marriage of Lavender + Lemon.When I first baked off these muffins, they didn't scream "I'm a gorgeous confection!" to me. After tasting one muffin, I decided to top it off with a nice light icing. And Butter Icing that we used to coat Fairy Cakes in London with came to my mind. It's not that hard to replicate Butter Icing which consists of: Butter (just a spoonful to impart texture and flavour), Icing Sugar (sufficient quantity to produce the whiteness of the Icing that you desire) and a few drops of Water to get everything going. Whisk all these together till you get a lovely consistency for coating. If you want a little more flavour, add a few drops of Vanilla Essence.And there you have it, add a nice half tablespoon of Lavender to a basic muffin recipe (that yields 6), add zest of ONE Lemon and you will have another beautiful Lavender confection!Till the next creation, have fun baking!!! Arsenic link to Diabetes! Resorting to bottled water?According to the latest research, arsenic exposure (drinking water being the main suspect) could be linked to Type 2 Diabetes.How does Arsenic find its way into drinking water? Dissolved minerals or pollutant from Coal Burning and Copper Smelting.Although how Arsenic is linked to Diabetes not clear, new standards for drinking water are required.Read this article here.This is not the first case of Arsenic contamination of groundwater which leads to our taps. If you search in Wikipedia, you will find an entire article about it (link here). The worst case occurred in Bangladesh causing many fatalities.Type 2 Diabetes (non-Insulin dependant Diabetes) is a type of metabolic disorder. The number of sufferers has risen significantly in developed countries and has reached epidemic level. Read more about it in this Wikipedia article.This is indeed worrying for many of us and we will see many mothers rushing out to get a home water treatment kit. Before you decide to do that, do read up about those kits as many of them could pose possible problems to health in the long run.Take care and stay healthy! Prepare for Fay! The predicted tropical storm Fay will make a landfall at Florida's southwestern coast this Tuesday. Although the storm is not as huge as expected, it was still blamed for 14 deaths across the Caribbean.For those affected, they were preparing for this storm by stocking up on their food supplies. Shelves in stores throughout Florida were left empty as millions of Florida's residents braced themselves for the storm. Read the news here.Fortunately, this is not affect the oil prices which left a big relief for many across the globe.However, due to escalating prices of fuel (being one of the factors), cocoa prices are soaring as the demand outstripped the supplies. The upward spiral of the cocoa prices begun in 2006 and have since doubled by June this year. Here's the article for those who are interested.Getting back to the topic of food crisis, it's no wonder that Food is seen as the new Oil. In this article, the writer Mike Stones has highlighted the prospect of Russia using Food as a political tool. The Russian government has announced its plans to form a state-run grain trading company. This will have significant global influence as Russia is the fifth largest grain exporter in the world. More details in this article.So remember the simple statement: Stop Wasting Food! Trans Fat - free Margarine I'm golden and innocent. Hey peeps, I'm not making this up. The scientists are.How are they going to do that? Well.. a blend of Canola Oil, Palm Kernel Oil and Palm Stearin say the US researchers.Not convinced? Read this article then.I insist on my stand against the Margarine, the plasticky trans-fat of all time. Have you ever hold a block of Margarine close to your nose before? Notice the resemblance in smell to your son's/nephew's plastic toy car?Being really plastic (a term we used for fats that do not melt at room temperature), it is an excellent choice for pastry production. If one is not too particular, he can opt for a Pastry Margarine in the lamination of his puff pastry. But for me, the difference in taste puts me off totally.Back in those days when vegetable fats were raised to the point of sainthood for being low in cholesterol, the innocent fatty Butter was cast away from the dining tables of the health conscious as spreads for toasts. I stuck to my Butter.Now with all the Hoo-Ha going on about Trans Fats, I'm sticking to my Butter. I believe it's natural flavours outshine whatever is cooked up in a science laboratory. Trans fats, cholesterol or not. It's a matter of personal choice really. So who do you cast your vote for? Margarine (ignoring the Trans fat part) or Butter? Sorry peeps... All right I apologise for all the slipshod work here. I was trying to make up posts daily and I was only given an hour to sort all the stuff on internet.. including reading emails, visiting blogs, reading posts, leaving comments, EC dropping and visiting forums. Before I realised it, I had only 15 minutes left to write up a post for the day.My sincere apologies to those who come here to read my posts only to find some 2 liners on my blog daily. I promise to do better posts for the next few days. Please do come back for I cherish all your comments and hits! A Gazillion Thanks to all of you! Ta ta! Be back tomorrow bright and early!Now it's off to supper. A few cookies and a cup of Cold (yeah someone was lazy to heat it up for me) Milk. What's for supper? Cravings? Was watching Little Britain on DVD last night. And the scene about Fatfighters left an impression on my mind. According to the lady running the diet programme, if we halved all our food cravings by half, we will cut the calories that we consumed by half. Sounds logical?But we all know that it's not true. We still consume the same food and the same amount of fats goes into our body. But it's such a tempting concept isn't it?How do you keep your calories down? Watch your diet closely or simply eat whatever you deem healthy? Share with us your Fatfighters plan! Ta! Going nuts? Have you wondered why when we say a person is going crazy, we refer to them as NUTS? Why Nuts? And which one in particular?As you see there are many types of Nuts in this world, Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Peanuts (Groundnuts), Hazelnuts.. the list goes on. How does any of the above relate to a slightly eccentric state of mind?You have an answer? Like something exotic? Have some smoked Reindeer!!! Eeks!! You might say but hang on a minute. Do you know that Reindeer meat is the fastest growing sector in the Finnish food industry?According to a certain website, Reindeer meat has a unique taste of the wild (yeap.. it's classified as Game meat) and yet it has a fine texture and is tender. On top of that, it has extremely low fat content!All right, before you start shooting me down for eating Rudolph, I have to put the blame on my dear brother who was blogging about the Reindeer meat he tasted (Yeah Brother I'm pointing my finger at you! Hahaha..). Check out his post (scroll a little down the post to catch a glimpse of Smoked Reindeer!).For those who are feeling adventurous and do have some Reindeer meat stashed away in your igloo somewhere, check out some recipes for Reindeer Steak!Just in case you are not convinced, Reindeer meat is a staple of the Sami (who inhabit the Kola Peninsular in Russia, Northernmost Finland, inland region of Northern Norway and parts of Sweden from Idre onwards) . Read it here.Ho ho ho.. oops. Who took my reindeers??? Those wicked Caramel Bars As I go about sitting here, surfing the web and typing my post, I grabbed a Twix bar and began munching on it. Not that I was hungry but the sight of this golden pack of caramel bars sitting in front of me was simply irresistible. I know it's evil but...Have you succumbed to temptation? An Inspired Confection: Lime Cake This is not exactly an original idea but it was inspired by my fiance's love for citrus. He likes all confectionery with limes, lemons or oranges. So I have two limes left in my fridge. And usually Limes only pair off with White Chocolate. So I hesitated about the union between the Dark Chocolate with Limes. In the end, the result was more refreshing than expected.As you know, White Chocolate is technically Cocoa Mass and contains no cocoa solids. Therefore, it lacks the signature Chocolate taste. But because of this reason, it is easy to mix with most ingredients to obtain a relatively subtle flavour.So do bear in mind when mixing any other Chocolates with other ingredients that you are not familiar with. The Chocolate taste can sometimes be overbearing and conflict with its partner. In the case of Lime, it lends the citrus flavour to further lift the Chocolate in the cake. Add in moderation. Just the zest should suffix.Have fun trying out other combinations! Be back for more Inspired Confections! Vegetarian Omega-3 Yes! There is a vegetarian alternative to fish oil.It is known as Incromega V3 which is an extraction from the Echium plant grown in UK. Here is an example of an Echium. Read more about it on this company's website.Read about the health benefits of Omega-3 at this wikipedia link.Click here to access the article. Happy Belated Birthday to my Singapore!!! I am late in this posting because I didn't have any internet access till now. Anyway, with all my love from a faraway land to my precious homeland.. HAPPY 43rd BIRTHDAY SINGAPORE!!! Olympic Snacks! So it's time for Olympic Games watching. So what snacks come tops on your list this few weeks of intensive TV scrutinizing?Don't forget the Olympic Games promote Health. So you need to forget your Ready Salted Crisps and beer. Just crack your brain a little and you will find a list of snacks that are great for your couch-potatoeing and yet won't clog up your blood vessels.Still have no idea? Try this article. Stop wasting Food!!! Today is the opening day of the Beijing Olympics. China is the world's most populated country ..current figures standing at billions. When there are so many people in a country, there will be many mouths to feed. How many of them actually made enough money to feed the entire family?Food shortage is not a unique Chinese problem. It is now considered a world crisis. There are far too many hungry people out there that we, the ones that can afford to sit in front of computer monitors, should help alleviate the current crisis by doing our little part.STOP WASTING FOOD!!!Read this article to find out ways on how to reduce food wastes. The Basic White Sauce Bonjour toute le monde!It's been a while since I introduce some cooking tips. Here is one that I made recently the famous Béchamel Sauce (pronounced BAY-Sha-Mel). I was making Lasagna for my fiance and I decided to snap a picture of the fundamental part of making a good Béchamel Sauce. The flavouring of the Milk. You will see the ingredients that I've added to the Sauce add flavours to the Milk. Thereafter, everything else is easy.Just a little background on this mother sauce (suggesting it is one of the basic sauces in cooking). The recipe was brought into France from Catherine de Medici's Tuscan cooks (Italy). The Italian name being Balsamella. To read more about how the French name for this sauce is obtained. Read this Wikipedia link. Of course there are many variations of this greatly acclaimed sauce which is the foundation of many other sauce. You can read more about them in this other article.Now back to the kitchen, you can dunk in all the herbs that you can put your hands on to obtain the ultimate flavouring of the Milk. They can include: Parsley (stalks), Onions, Garlic, Peppercorns (if you crack them, you'll get a spicy sauce!), Cloves, Bay Leaves, Rosemary, Thyme, etc... Bring the Milk to boil. Strain.In another saucepan, prepare the Roux (equal parts of Butter and Flour). Whisk them together. Add the hot Milk slowly, whisking it into the Roux. This is thicken up the sauce as the Milk cooks the Roux. If you are satisfied with the consistency, you can stop adding the Milk to the Roux. For all of you lovely people out there, here's the recipe that should make a saucepan full:Béchamel Sauce2 cups Milk60g Flour60g ButterI found that it tastes much better in Lasagna if you enrich the Sauce into Mornay Sauce. Whisk in Shredded Cheese (Gruyère, Parmesan, etc).. whatever Cheese you can get your hands on.**One most important point: Don't BURN your MILK!** beep...Have fun cooking!! Relieve your stress? Try Coffee! This is another post about the divine Coffee!According to research, coffee is consumed by 70 to 80% of the world population. This makes coffee the most popular drink internationally.Recently, several health benefits of coffee are identified by scientists, for example, reducing the risk of ovarian cancer by 20 %.Latest studies of the brain activities in sleep-deprived rats found that coffee might possess stress-relieving (antioxidant) properties. It suggested that the aroma of coffee itself alone can help to keep one awake all night. Further research is required.Read this article, it might help you relieve stress. A creation with memories from Hvar Know what I'm talking about?? If not, let me tell you... Hvar island is also known as the Lavender island. Remember my mate Amy from Hvar gave me a big bag of Lavender. I then promised to make her Lavender cookies and she couldn't wait. The cookies were baked off on Thursday and posted to her in Hvar!Baking Lavender cookies is no tough job. It is harder to get used to the taste when you first bite into the cookie. For some people, they couldn't help associating that smell to their washroom so they'll never even give the Lavender cookies a chance.For me, it's not the first time I'm baking Lavender cookies. I've made Lavender chocolate truffles before! I'm in love with the subtle fragrance of this purplish humble flower. The first recipe I tried was too much of a killer..having sourced it off the web. There was too much Lavender flowers and cookies were too dry. If you are interested in Lavender confectionery, remember subtleness is the key. You don't have to kill your food testers with the smell! I find that ONE teaspoon should suffix for a batch of cookies even for muffins.This is my recipe which is a combination of the basic cookie and shortbread recipes!Hvar Lavandula CookiesIngredients:3/4 cup Butter1 cup Sugar1 Egg1 1/2 cups Flour1 tsp Lavender Flowers (you can adjust this according to your preference)1/4 cup MilkMethod:1. Cut Butter into Flour and Sugar till a nice crumble is formed. (If you realise that there are till lumps of Butter remaining, add more flour till a nice crumble is obtained. DO NOT Overmix!)2. Add Milk, Egg and Lavender Flowers into the Crumble.3. Mix to a clear dough. Roll into a log shape, cling film and chill till dough if hard enough for cutting.4. Bake at 170 to 180 degrees C. Serve with a hot cup of Earl Grey! Lovely! Mini snacks are making you FAT! Remember how the consumer trend went from normal size to supersize and then to mini-snack size treats? And you are thinking that the change in the packaging actually help you to snack less? According to the latest research from Tillburg University in Netherlands , this may not be the case.Wonder how this plays tricks on our mind? Well.. when we see a smaller pack, most of us have convinced ourselves that we are snacking less. But we do not realise that we do not usually stop at one pack! So there you have it, snacking in moderation? Try buying a normal size individual pack!Read about the research in this article here. Our 3 day summer holidays! I'm relocating all my travel posts onto our Travelheart blog where they should belong. Here's the first post that introduces the town that we've visited en route to Hvar.Introducing SenjDon't forget to check out our Travelheart for more articles about Croatia, Europe or simply travels! Cheers! SOS Food! Wheee..... I finally got my food supplies from Singapore arriving in the form of two excess luggages flown in from Thai Airways attached to two Singapore ladies!And on the very first night, the food to satisfy my craving for Singapore food is the one featured above. My Maggi noodles (Assam Laksa flavour)!!! I love this flavour but I’m not a fan of the actual Assam Laksa. And from all the other flavours in the Maggi instant noodles range, this is the most unique as no other brands cam successfully replicate it!A little history about Maggi.. yes it’s a family name and it originates from Italy. Julius Maggi, an Italian-Swiss was the founder of the Maggi name, being a pioneer in industrial food production. The popular Maggi sauce (a dark sauce that we can often find in supermarkets) was a cheap substitute for meat extract and it became widely used in culinary dishes worldwide especially Germany.To read more about the Maggi brand, go to this page.I know Instant Noodles are “evil” as they are made like an industrial product which give the impression that we are eating cooked cardboards. They contain almost no nutrients that is essential to the daily diet except Carbohydrates. Want to get a week’s sodium intake in a single serving? Try eating a pack of Instant Noodles Although brands like Maggi has introduced noodles that contain no MSG, no transfat and less salt, it did not go down well with Instant Noodles lovers such as me!Back to my craving, and yes, this is the number one item on my shopping list that I sent to my two mates. I call it the SOS food. Yay!! I can survive this winter in Croatia now! What’s your SOS food? Artichokes - the healthy Thistle For those that who do not know this, the not so appealing Artichokes are known as Globe Artichokes. And not to be confused with the Jerusalem Artichokes which are much smaller and bear not much resemblance to the famous Globe Artichokes.The Globe Artichoke belongs to the Thistle (flower) family. And at first look, the hard green exterior does not help us associate it to a popular Roman dish fit for the royalty. Once most of the thorny exterior is removed painstakingly (though I would not expect it to be very popular with domestic cooks), the much appreciated core can be cooked till tender, simply tossed in olive oil and served as a salad. The hard leaves can also cooked till tender and eaten individually with dipping sauces.This Wikipedia link will show you what is known as the Jerusalem Artichokes. How does it differ from the Globe Artichokes? First the Jerusalem Artichokes belong to the Sunflower family. Secondly, in the restaurant, Jerusalem Artichokes refer to the root or tuber version of this plant. The skin of the Jerusalem Artichokes are peeled off revealing a smooth white flesh which remind me more of Horseradish. These are then cooked till tender. It makes a great savoury pastry dish!Wikipedia has also documented how the rest of the mediterranean enjoyed this "flower"(?). The French preferred it deep fried, the Italians can serve it as part of the Four Seasons (Mushrooms, Proscuitto and Olives) Pizza or dressed it up the Espagnol style with Olive Oil.To accompany this dish, I serve you a piece of health news from the UK researchers. Artichokes have demonstrated its cholesterol-reducing ability in healthy adults. To read more about this research, go to this link.Enough said about Artichokes, remember to Eat Healthy and Stay Happy! How do you handle the heat? In Singapore, the hotter the weather, the spicier the food gets. Have a bowl of HOT Chilli Crabs and top that off with a nice bottle of Tiger Beer. Or when my plate of Chicken Rice looks bland, request for the extra spicy Garlic Chilli Sauce!My fiance found it really odd that we can handle all those spicy food in our all year round hot summer weather. But I guess the amount of perspiration generated from those spices washed down with a nice cold beer is truly a good way to finish off a meal.Over here in Croatia, everyone is trying to cool themselves in this hot summer heat by dipping in the sea. It's no wonder there are hoards of locals + thousands of tourists hanging out at the beaches.However, it's unusual that Iced Coffees are not a common sight during the summer. The closest thing to Iced Coffee in caffee bar is Nescafe Frappe. Most locals opt for the usual Macchiato (Espresso with a splash of cold milk or foam). Hot coffee in hot weather? That's the Croatian way.In my home, I have a supply of fresh fruits and not forgetting to freeze a tray of Granita in the freezer for my fiance. Granita (or Granité) are really flavoured ice very similar to their counterparts in Singapore. However, it's mostly natural flavourings using simple ingredients like lemon juice or a little more exotic lemongrass in my restaurant. Most recipes do not require gelatine but our little patissière trick is to add sufficient gelatine to set the ice without turning it into Jelly. Yet it helps to slow down the melting process. For those interested in the Granita recipe, drop me a comment and I'll gladly send you one.Speaking of summer fruits, we found this really sweet summer pears in our supermarket. Less than half the size of an average pear, these little cuties have nice juicy flesh without the usual crunch of bigger pears. Like them? Come over to Croatia to try them out in the summer! What do you do with lots of fresh Blueberries? Thank goodness my in laws went to Gorski Kotar and brought home loads of fresh vegetables ranging from Swiss Chard to Potatoes. Lo and behold when we saw the big tub of Blueberries!!! Wow! It's the size of one baby's bathtub! I've never seen so much fresh blueberries in my whole life. They were so fresh that the berries didn't bleed when I roll them around in my palm!My Father-in-law insisted I took a small tub full of them back to my flat.And I was inspired to make some of our favourite Blueberry Muffins! Guess what I even added Lemongrass to one batch! Simply delicious!!!The nice shiny glaze on the muffins in the picture can be achieved by brushing on some boiled Apricot Jam. It's our bakers' trick to make the confectionery look more appealing!Have fun trying this out at home! Till the next post, happy baking! A promise, a view Here's the picture from my living room windows. Hope you like it. Will type longer posts soon. Now trying to get the momentum back since I haven't wrote for a long time! This view sure makes me lazy you know. Loving memories from Hvar Lovingly Homemade Lavender Souvenirs by Amy from HvarFinally made my way to Hvar Island on 18th July. Met the nicest people there... Amy and Matko, Amy's Mum, Tea and Dad .. oh no forgetting the cutest dog on earth, Xena!Sorry this post has nothing to do with food. But hey.. I'm inspired to cook up some nice Lavender creations. Do stay tuned.Here's a picture to show off my latest hunt from Amy's Lavender stall! Hooray to Lavender!!! Am loving it! The End is the Beginning Goodbye to my dear mates who came to visit me for a couple of weeks in Croatia. Hope you have enjoyed the trip and have a feel of Croatian life. All the best for your Great Italian Escape!For my dear readers and blogger mates, hope you will come back to read my posts daily. As posting will resume. So does the baking! Don't forget me! Misleading labels on food could be history soon! The UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has revised its new guidelines for the labelling of food that may be misleading. Marketing terms carrying "natural" or "fresh" are strongly discouraged and alternative labellings are suggested by the FSA.Check out this article for further information.It's about time that consumers are buying properly labelled products. Three cheers for FSA! Hope more regulatory bodies around the world are taking similar actions to protect the consumers like us. Filler Picture from Ur Resident Chef's Garden Here's my little Chilli plants sitting on my window sill at my new flat...They are going strong! Hoorah! Currently there are new additions to my patch... Introducing the Turmeric and Lemongrass.. hope they will survive the Croatian summer like my chilli plants. Till the next update... take care!