[Day 1] Our Family Trip to Taiwan 2013

Our recent family trip to Taiwan in June (2013) was rather impromptu because when I received the itinerary I was quite hesitate to go.  Is like base on what I read through, almost half of the "attractions" mentioned were those that we had already visited during our 1st Taiwan Trip in  2010. But to think about it, going for a long trip with mum's siblings (uncle liang, aunty lily and her husband)  whom I am close with since young make it still a good reason for us to revisit those places again with them.

So on 13 June 2013, together with twenty over tour mates plus our group of six we begin our journey to Taiwan again.  And since this is a round the island trip, we will be visiting towns like Taipei (台北市), Taichung (台中), Nantou (南投), Kaohsiung (高雄), Taitung (台東), Hualien (花莲) and Yilan (宜兰) during the eight days.

Chocolate Chip Muffins - 巧克力豆松饼

Adding a handful of chocolate chips to the usual vanilla scented muffin batter always turn them into great tea snack. These moist and fluffy delicious muffins can be eaten either warm or at room temperature together with a glass of cold milk or tea. And beside the chocolate chips filling sometime we also love to sprinkle extra chocolate chips or nuts on top of the batter before sending them into the oven.

[Wordless Wednesday] Santa Claus Sushi Art Workshop

[Sushi Art Workshop] Santa Claus Sushi Art

[Sushi Art Workshop] Necessary Ingredients

Spicy Prawn Fried Rice

Belachan Chilli is one of the Asian condiment which can be used on it's own as dipping sauce or add a small amount to flavour dishes like Sambal Belachan Prawn or Fish. For a “lazy bum” like me who always goes for store bought “instant paste or sauce”, a bottle of ready-made belachan chilli in the fridge definitely makes wonder.

Below is one of the methods where we used Belachan Chilli to flavour shrimp fried rice. As for the spiciness, you can always adjust by adding or reducing the amount of chilli used.

Jolly Holly Christmas CG Party With PrimaDéli Truffle Log Cake

This festive season PrimaDéli’s has added two new items such as Salted Caramel Log Cake and their mouth-watering Chef’s Supreme Pie to their Christmas collection. And with their range of sweet and savoury treats you can pick your all-time favourite log cakes in any shapes and sizes from either standard design to Santa’s or Winter Wonderland Santa’s Cottage that made from chocolate or vanilla sponge.

Here I would like to thank PrimaDéli’s for the complimentary Truffle Log Cake (SG$36.90 (standard) / SG$47.90 per kg) and Chef’s Supreme Pie (SG$11.90; 16cm) which brings joy and festive atmosphere to our early Christmas cell group party last week.

Above shows their new Salted Caramel Log Cake (SG$36.90 (standard) / SG$47.90 per kg) which is an exquisite creation of layers fluffy vanilla sponge that covered with salted caramel cream and made perfect with an almond spread dotted with crunchy chocolate pearls. Although we didn't managed to sample this but I going to get it for our own Christmas gathering because I am a caramel fans and I am sure it will taste great with the combination ingredients too.

Orange Chocolate Pound Cake Loaded With Dark Chocolate Chips

I am sure for those who love pound cake there are always one or two safe-keep recipes on hand which you can mix and match for different flavour. For me, Lemon Pound Cake has being my all-time favourite whenever it comes to tea cake but for the post I will be sharing a recipe on Orange Chocolate Pound Cake which is loaded with mini dark chocolate chips.

ORANGE CHOCOLATE POUND CAKE

I made these mini loaves as gifts for friends who love both orange and chocolate flavoured cakes during a Tea Party last week. This orange infused cake is soft, moist and fluffy plus it is loaded with generous amount of mini dark chocolate chips inside out. Although most pound cake recipes called for equal amount of butter, sugar and flour in “1 : 1 : 1” ration but for this recipe I reduce the sugar used to 180g instead of 200g due to the chocolate chips which adds sweetness to the cake too.

Festive Brunch Menu Using Perfect Italiano Cheese

Christmas is just another three weeks down the road and I am sure most of you are busy with the Christmas menu planning. Here with some complimentary cheese that we received from Perfect Italiano, we decided to whip up some dishes from their “Food Fixes in 15 Seconds” festive menu which features tasty and simple dishes that you can learn in just 15 seconds.

Using the cheese we prepared a 5 Course Brunch Menu shown above with Cheesy Corn Chowder, Parmesan Toast, Cheese Baked Christmas Casserole, Sausage And Mushroom Baked Rice plus Parmesan Pancakes for dessert.