Toulouse Petit

On the 2nd day of 2012, Bing and I ventured to our old home area ( Queen Anne) to have brunch at the much rave Toulouse Petit

It’s amazing that this place is so near our old apartment BUT we have nv tried it before. We didn’t make any reservations so we needed to wait for a table.

First impression of the place – The restaurant have really nice deco. It was really unique with interesting lamps, resembling Venus Fly Trap. haha.. we took photos outside

Fortunately, it was only a 10mins wait. Anyway, just for in case you wanna try.. it’s better to go for breakfast happy hours Mon-fri 8-11am as most of the breakfast plates were $8!

We settle down on our table which isn’t that comfy because there’s no place to hang our coats ( and the server didn’t ask if they could keep coats for us) – we just have to make do. The menu is extensive! so many types of food to choose from! I was gonna order something sweet.. I LOVE sweet things.. and I ordered the Bananas Foster pancakes and BH ordered something that have fish ( can’t rem what – but it’s a small serving, expensive for its size)

The french press coffee came first.. it’s sooooo good… now i’m wondering if I shld buy a french press!! heh.. so while enjoying the coffee.. I was admiring the nice lamps again.. hahaha

Actually our food took sometime to come… either that or.. I was super hungry… Finally….

My pancakes were delicious!! OMG.. I love the candied peacans.. so nice!!! fluffy pancakes – 2 thumbs up!!! As for BH’s food… it was ok?! hehe… The pt is… I love my pancakes!! Yummy!! But lucky BH, the portion is too big for me.. he had the pancakes too!

last but not least… a pic of me with the delicious pancakes!! wahaha… more pls!!

X’mas Bake off 2011 ( Chocolate-dipped shortbread + Steamed Chocolate fudge cake)

Outdated entry BUT still… I will blog about it .. haha

It’s kinda like our tradition that we have a bake-off on Christmas… haha.. I like it.. and we actually look forward to it every year 🙂 This year.. we made Chocolate dipped shortbread. We were at Dave and Jo’s place when they let us sample their neighbour’s cookies.. OMG.. it tasted so good!!! we decided to look for the recipe and try to bake something like that too! We were happy that it turned out very well – tasted like Danish cookies! haha.. and we gave them to our friends who loved them too!

Chocolate dipped Shortbread recipe

(From Food Network)

Ingredients
3/4 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces very good semisweet chocolate, finely chopped ( We used Hershey’s special dark chocolate bar)

Method
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough 1/2-inch thick and cut with a 3 by 1-inch finger-shaped cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. (Don’t trust your microwave timer; time it with your watch.) Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it’s completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.

Drizzle 1/2 of each cookie with just enough chocolate to coat it.

What’s Christmas w/o cake? haha.. so I attempted to try another new recipe!

For my cake, I used a 6″ round pan and used my big soup pot as the steamer. During steaming, my cake rose and the top of the cake was on the cover of the pot. I was very upset because that would mean that my cake won’t look nice/ might turn out underbaked. I allowed it to steam 10mins more that the desired time – that seem to do the trick. Cake looks very ugly though 🙁 Fortunately, I managed to slice the ugly top off.. and it looks flat and nice!!In future, I will definitely divide the batter into two 6″ pans.

For the fudge, it took forever to thicken so I added more cornflour and up the heat. Bad idea… fudge thickened too fast and became lumpy. sigh… it was not thick enough to be spread onto the cake. BH was like “let’s just pour on it?!! It will look nice la! Fudge mah!” I was just too upset that it’s not perfect – so I was “whatever lor.. anyway, it’s doomed already” and… tadah….

Topped it with walnuts and it looks so pro!!! The taste… was like heavenly!!! Chocolate overload!! 🙂 Because the fudge was lumpy, we shld have pour the fudge over a sieve before putting it on the cake. Anyway, the cake was so good that we couldn’t taste the lumps! 😀

Steamed Chocolate Cake with Fudge Recipe

(from Peng’s Kitchen)

For Cake:

Ingredient

150g unsalted butter
170g fine sugar
200ml evaporated milk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125g plain flour
70g cocoa powder (I used Trader Joe’s, a local house brand)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Method

1) Combine sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla essence and butter in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved and butter has melted. Remove from heat.

2) Add the beaten eggs into the slightly cooled mixture and stir till well mixed. Sift the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda into a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs mixture over the flour and stir till smooth. (Batter should be runny).

3) Heat up the steamer. Lined and grease a 7″ baking pan. ( I used 6″ round pan) Pour the batter into prepared pan and place into the steamer. Cover the top of the pan loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.

4) Steam over medium heat for 45 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean, it’s done. If not, steam for a further 5 minutes.

5) Cool the cake in pan before turning out for frosting.

For chocolate fudge

Ingredients

35g cocoa powder, sifted
50gm corn flour, sifted
1 cup evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
175ml water
120g sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
50g unsalted butter

Method

1) Mix all ingredients well (except the butter. stir over double boiler at low heat till thickened. (takes abt 10mins to thicken)
2) Add butter, turn off fire and stir till the butter melts.
3) Spread the warm fudge over the cake to coat evenly.
4) Chill the cake in the fridge before serving.

 

2012 .. IT’S HERE!

life is really and indeed not a bed of roses

2011 had been a year filled with ups and downs ( once again) You know.. . When all is well, something may just pop up.. I guess that’s when we learn.. and how we grow stronger.

2011 is the year I lost someone really dear to me, my grandpa. Just the thought of it makes me tear – he passed away on the very day I left SG. I know he is probably enjoying himself in a better place now – still… it upsets me that I’m not there 🙁

2011 is also a year that we finally got our HDB. If there is a reason why I am saving money/working hard.. it’s because of my home. I always thought and wanted my home to be perfect. Nice furniture and renovation. I was quite upset that all these things had to be compromised – for the greater good. I really hope that I will be able to achieve my dream home in the near future

2011 marks the year that we made the MOST friends ever since we first relocated here. haha.. we had been really contented with just the 2 of us that making more friends isn’t part of the plan. Then again, by a stroke of luck, we participated in a SG gathering ( our first in 3 yrs btw) and we met friends who intro us to even more friends. It’s nice to have friends to hang out and to share our food with 🙂

2011 also made me a good cook. I think I really enjoy cooking. I can look for recipes and get really excited to cook something new! I am embarrassed to admit it but cooking is fun! heh.. I do wish that what I like to do is something that would mk me rich in terms of wealth, rather than .. erm.. FATS?

2011 is also the year that I got my first CHANEL BAG! 🙂 I must thank you BH for his generosity! I feel very blessed to have a great hubby who is willing to spend $ on me.. haha..
Chanel WOC

2011 marks the first time I visited a doc here!! It is a bad year for me in terms of health. sigh… I went to the doc countless of times. Health is wealth! I also extracted 2 of my wisdom tooth ( the other 2 will be extracted this year)

——–
I am looking forward to 2012!! I’m also scared… but….

I can’t wait to be FREE ( out of my bond)!! I was telling BH that on the day I get my FREEDOM, I will….. BAKE A CHEESECAKE! Yes… life is just so plain simple and sweet. Trust me.. it’s not the money! The road to freedom may not be ez… 🙁 I may or may not succeed.

I also wish for GOOD HEALTH… Health is very important!!!

I hope that we could get a dog we both like too – it will be perfect if it’s a rescue 🙂 It’s nice to have something we both love and can come home too ( nah.. not a human baby!!)

Another wish is to travel MORE! I realised that we haven’t been traveling much because we are saving $. I hope 2012 will be a better year for us financially??!! haha… I know it’s weird… we will probably be quite broke..but at least the money we earned is for our enjoyment and not to save up for other purpose!!oh… I also can’t wait for our Europe trip in April!!! OMG!!! Trip of a lifetime!! I also want to go to Disneyworld during Christmas!!!

and.. come April 2012 will also mean that BH and I had been together for *drumroll* 10 years!!! 😀 can’t believe it right!! heh.. I hope we will have many many more years together!

erm.. I think that’s all I can think of for now.. haha … HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!!! and… Do take care and be happy! There’s nothing more important than being happy 🙂

fond memories of you

I’m back in the states now after a 2.5 mths of holiday in Singapore.

I left Singapore with a heavy heart. I didn’t tell anyone about this BUT I was thinking of extending my stay 2 days before my departure date. I called the airlines and was told that it’s US$100 for date change. To me, the money is a small amount to see you for the last time. However, my mum and BH told me that I don’t have to do so. Then I thought to myself, maybe it’s better that I left this way. I went to the home and took 1 last look at you – it hurts so bad, you were literally on life support with needles poking over you, the tubes were the only thing that was keeping you alive. I am helpless, you get weaker each time I visit you. I prayed to all the Gods I know to take you away peacefully, removing your pain. I was prepared but the thought of not seeing you again mks me very sad.

Shortly after I touched down in Seattle, my sis emailed me that ‘Khong Khong went to join Po Po already’ It’s no surprise 🙁 I think they will be happier together

Bye Bye Khong Khong.. Thank you for sending me to and fro school regardless of the weather.. Thank you for bringing me to the doctor when I’m sick.. Thank you for buying me the things my parents will never get me.. The BEST part of my childhood memories are with you and Po Po. I hope that you have met Po Po and is enjoying all the good food you always wanted. Memories of both of you will stay forever in my heart.

Happy day!

Phew.. after so many upset entries.. time for a happy one! I’m just glad that the major works are over!! Today, the 2 biggest (imo) problems are rectified!

1) Managed to get the lights company to fix my 1 kitchen light! Turns out that the bulb fused… I was extremely glad with their willingness to provide after service! THUMBS UP for BRIGHT HOUSE LIGHTING!

2) Door laminate pasted (Another story will update soon) *nearly had a heart attack when the worker carried the door and knock against my hanging light!!!!! gasp.. heng ah… didn’t crack or break.. and it still works.. thank God!*

[SIDETRACK]
I THINK I HAVE THE BEST MUM – really… she helped me with the cleaning of the dusty place!! I can nv thank her enough 🙂 as though she was super woman.. she came home and cooked delicious chilli crabs!! I am so touched!!!




What’s left?
-waiting for furniture ( not much) to come in
-hoping that a washer will drop from the sky ( yes.. i haven’t bought it yet.. due to WWS)
-BH to come home and do more shopping of other household stuff ( spending money is not my kind of thing.. I think BH will enjoy shopping more than me)

Valuable asset

I have been busy for the past weeks.. I think I’ll still be busy in the coming week.. need to pack and all.. well, I am looking forward to go back to SG but I’m not looking forward to leave BH behind 🙁 I think I’m gonna miss him badly especially when I see our new home, it was supposed to be our dream home.. I mean.. we planned our life in SG BUT with God’s blessing, BH is relocated here.. I still believe God have a beatiful plan for us.. maybe it’s just unfolding slowly , not how I envisioned it to be

While I look forward to the reno, did research and get excited to seek BH’s opinion, BH is reluctant and somewhat reserved to talk about it. We hardly have any disagreements.. BUT the topic of our home in SG just stirs up a whole lot of bad emotions – we always end up being upset with each other. THIS doesn’t happen when we plan our wedding.. Then I know.. BH just isn’t into our SG home anymore … ahh… it hurts because I always wanted a home to call our home.. not with anyone else but with him

Facebook is evil..it gives you insights into other pple’s lives… and that’s when u realised that how this and that person is married.. having their 1st or even 2nd child… how she/he is preparing for their new home together… that’s when I realised that though I’m married, I AM NOT SETTLED – He’s here and I NEED to be there. No, we are not talking about having kids.. but the very thought of having a dog is difficult too.. I don’t regret coming here.. I don’t regret getting married… Just regretted how I signed my life away

So, just like the GE. I wanna mk my presence felt. I have been trying to be a 101% good wife. I want to be a valuable asset, not a liability. I hope that he’ll just think of me fondly when I’m gone.

oh well… till then… next entry? maybe when i’m in SG.. I wanna blog happy thoughts…

It’s 9 years!

Shortly after our birthdays, it’s our 9 years anniversary! haha..It’s amazing how time flies.. I mean.. i don’t even think that BH and I will go this far… BUT we did!! 😀 ok… I still rem the times I felt soooooooooo embarassed that I had such a ‘useless’ boyfriend.. who have NOTHING NOTHING at all and is as poor ( or even poorer than) as a church mice.. glad we are past that phrase… and how I persevered and believed..

anyhow, we didn’t celebrate…in fact, we went grocery shopping and bought some new ingredients because I wanted to cook NEW things.. haha… so on sunday, I cooked while BH played games!!!

Sneak peak of my yummy food – can you guess what I cooked? haha…





I promised I will update my food blog with recipes soon… I had been cooking.. taking pictures BUT not updating it 🙁 Heh..I deliberately made the above FOOD extra spicy to ‘punish’ BH for ‘enjoying himself’ as I worked in the kitchen… In the end, he finished the food and had a tummyache! I was DELIGHTED.. haha.. think I’m a sadist!

Because I’m back to the ‘FREE’ me again… it’s time to catch up with things I love doing… 🙂

I was in the mood for Scrapbooking – yes, I am still working on our wedding photos…





On friday, I spent the whole afternoon scrapbooking… then I realised that I had no time to prepare dinner. Heng ah.. found a FREE pizza code and ordered pizza and buffalo wings for dinner.. Invited WQ over to help eat the pizza… heh.. and it was all gone in a spilt second! v good… I don’t like leftovers!

AND… my BABY-G reached me on saturday, on our 9 years anniversary!! yay!!! 😀
Super happy! I know it’s just a watch but to me it was like a childhood dream came true! ok… so now.. i feel so KE$HA!! (Changed my mixpod music for the effect!) wahaha





Happy weekend! 🙂 Hope u had a good one too!

101 Reasons to Get (and Stay!) Married

Chanced upon this article here

Some points are rubbish! But other points (which I BOLD are kinda true)

haha…just a few wks before.. BH and I were dining at a cafe, while waiting for our food to come and thinking about the move and to break the silence I asked BH “Do you realised that we always do stupid things together? ” then BH went ” haha.. ya!”

“What’s the MOST stupid thing we did together?” I asked ( and already knew the answer)

“The MOST stupid thing we ever did together is to GET MARRIED! ” BH replied

“BINGO!!!” I’m not surprised! heh… and we still like to do stupid things like this…

“Eh… how many of these reasons you agree with ah?”

———————————–
1. You have an excuse to throw one heck of a party.

2. You get the thrill of trying to hide gifts from your partner (and surprising them with those gifts!)
Only for the 1st yr… we don’t bother now… if there’s a gift…we are happy liaoz..

3. If you buy something yummy, you can have fun feeding it to each other.

4. You end up with twice as much awesome stuff in your house to enjoy.
That’s the prob!!! Mks moving difficult!

5. You can work on projects, arts and crafts together.
and we end up having ‘projects’ 1/2 way done and imcomplete for months!

6. You don’t have to watch movies at the theater all by yourself.
watch movie at home

7. You suddenly have an excuse to move to a bigger place.

8. You have a reason to eat healthier.

9. You have a reason to spend your nights doing something other than surfing for porn.
Playing NBA???

10. You don’t have to be bitter about Valentine’s Day anymore.

11. Your family gets bigger.
Not a good reason… esp if u don’t like the other side of the family?

12. You have someone to take roadtrips with.

13. You have someone to explore the world with.

14. You have a reason to keep from letting your messes get out of control.

15. You have someone to share your dreams and fantasies with.

16. You can listen to each other’s problems and help each other through them.

17. You have someone else to consider before you make any rash, crazy or destructive decisions.

18. You have someone to enjoy your music with.

19. Nothing cures headaches like a good orgasm.

20. There are religious benefits, if you’re into that sort of thing.

21. The group of friends you hang out with gets bigger (even if just by one person!)

22. Suddenly, you have someone who will share a pizza with you at 3am.

23. You can have a beer with someone other than your friends.

24. Your friends don’t have to listen to your complaints about being single anymore.

25. You have someone to read with (or to!)
like this silly article!

26. You have someone who will catch you if you fall.

27. You can learn to compromise.

28. You can learn to listen and be understanding.

29. You have an excuse to write love poetry (and leave it for your partner to find.)

30. You have someone you can kiss until the sun rises (and wait up for the dawn with.)

31. You have someone to talk about your past with.

32. You don’t have to sleep alone (or cuddle your pillow)

33. You can teach each other things (other than just patience)

34. You don’t have to self-shoot your profile pictures anymore.

35. That whole “just friends with benefits” thing? Yeah, never worked for me.

36. You don’t have to go out or pay for massages anymore.

37. Suddenly you can get hugs pretty much whenever you need them.

38. You don’t have to worry about being called a cat lady (or a terminal bachelor!)

39. You have an excuse to cook something more healthy (and more substantial) than just a frozen burrito.

40. You have someone to celebrate your successes with.

41. You have someone rooting for you to succeed.

42. You have someone to stand by you during the hard times.

43. Suddenly you have someone other than your pet who you get to buy surprises for.

44. You have an excuse to keep yourself in shape.

45. Married people are happier on average anyway.

46. You don’t have to go into adult shops alone (or feel creepy doing it)

47. You have someone to share a nice, romantic candle-lit bath with.

48. There are no problems, only solutions.

49. You don’t have to keep your deepest secrets bottled up inside anymore.

50. You have someone (besides your mom) to make stuff for.

51. You don’t have to travel alone anymore.

52. Someone besides you actually cares how your day went.

53. You have someone to dance with.

54. Together, you can do anything.

55. Romantic songs start to make you happy (instead of sad or angry.)

56. You have someone to hold (or who will hold you) when things get really hard.

57. You have someone to protect (or who will protect you) when faced with danger.

58. You have somewhere else to be (when you can’t wait to get out of some situation or another.)

59. You get an awesome excuse to wear an awesome ring.

60. You have an excuse to celebrate holidays even when your family isn’t anywhere nearby.

61. You have an excuse to create new traditions.

62. If you learn a new language together, you have someone to practice it with.

63. You have someone you can be silly with who won’t judge you for it.

64. You have an excuse to be a lady (or a gentleman)

65. You can do cute things (like calling a radio station you know your partner is listening to and dedicate a song to them.)

66. You have someone else’s hair to play with other than your own.

67. You have a good reason to stay positive and not be a downer.

68. You have an excuse to wake someone up with kisses.

67. You have someone to remind you of all the things you have to be grateful for.

68. You have someone you can be yourself around (instead of feeling like you always have to fit in.)

69. You have someone else who believes in your dreams and your ability to succeed.

70. You don’t have to brave the dating scene anymore (or risk ending up in a relationship with someone who is totally nuts!)

71. You can throw away that tattered memo on your desk that says “Stay strong! Stay single as long as you can!”

72. You have someone who is willing to wash your back for you.

73. A good relationship is like a cushion of air that lifts you up and keeps you flying all day long.

74. You can live all the really juicy (and dangerous) stories vicariously through your single friends instead of first hand.

75. Any children you have will have more than one person to take care of them (and for them to look up to)

76. You have someone you can be eccentric or artistic with.

77. Say goodbye to heartache, dumping, and being dumped.

78. Love is a powerful armor for your self esteem.

79. You have two brains full of knowledge to draw from in a given situation (instead of just one.)

80. You have an excuse not to spend your whole life working.

81. You have someone to come home to (or who can come home to you.)

82. Happy people (i.e. people in good relationships!) are less likely to spend all their money on things they don’t need.

83. It gives your grandparents something grand to be happy about.

84. Telling someone you want to spend your life with them (and them alone) is a powerful way to say “I love you.”

85. You don’t have to clean alone.

86. It’s easier to spot cool things in stores – – two sets of eyes!

87. Suddenly there is someone (other than your mom) who appreciates your art.

88. You get the wonderful boost of a kiss on the way out the door.

89. You have someone to call you on it (or warn you) when you make a bad judgement.

90. You have someone to try new foods with (and cook with!)

91. You get to take time off from work for your honeymoon.

92. Happiness is infectious.

93. You get to enjoy the small things, like watching how your partner dresses themselves.

94. You can experience the wonderful dualism of a partnership.

95. It is easier to see your own shortcomings through the eyes of another.

96. Suddenly, you have a reason not to walk away from it all.

97. If your work schedules are different, there’s almost always someone home (and that makes for a safer house!)

98. You can make it romantic and get remarried over and over again.

99. You have a constant companion who you can walk with, run with and enjoy life with.

100. Suddenly you have proof that happy endings really do happen (and they’re just the beginning!)

101. Suddenly, there is someone in your life who makes you really and genuinely want to be a better person.

———————

I’m blessed 🙂

The qn is…. for how long????

New home

Some pictures of our humble place 🙂 I think we can never get tired of decorating our home.. haha..

I really can’t wait for a real place we call our own… a place we know we are here for good and never need to move again..

The exterior – Picture courtesy of WQ


Cool clock which BH insisted on buying ( to replace our pathetic Ikea clock)


The lovely kitchen which we both love!


Bedroom


Workspace + Living area


Super cute decals .. mks me happy just looking at them!


Effiel Tower and BooBoo says ‘Woof!’
I’m loving this green rug.. looks like grass!


That’s all… other parts are still too messy to be pictured :X and we are still awaiting somemore cool items in the mail!