whine & dine

I find it a little disconcerting that I’ve never posted about les croque monsieurs et madames before. I’m not the hugest fan of sandwiches but I don’t think the words exist to adequately describe my love for these. Stripped back to its core, you really have little more than a glorified ham and cheese sandwich, but oh what a difference that little makes. In one of my most recent food posts, on Mac & Cheese, I waxed lyrical about the joys of pasta, cheese and bechamel. Here, that same heavenly combination of cheese, bechamel and carbohydrate perform in an equally loved sequel, only with ham making his debut. Keep reading →

Happy birthday, grownup! I guess now that you’ve crossed this threshold, I really don’t get to call you siew pang yao anymore, eh?

It took me a while to figure out how to write what I wanted to say here, but I think I’m just gonna go with the pictures. Suffice to say that these are some of the best memories I’ve got of Hong Kong, to date, and probably will be in the Top 10 no matter how long I end up here. And I’ve got you to thank for them. So thank you, for letting me claim that chair on your balcony, for coming with me to hunt down my elusive, unreachable park-in-the-middle-of-a-flyover, for scarfing down scones (and everything else I’ve put on a plate in front of you) until you felt so ill (and really boosting my ego there haha), for the neverending drives, for being in Hong Kong. :)

So here’s wishing you a delightful birthday! I hope it’ll end up being one of your plusplusplus-es. It pisses me off that this is the first time I’ve been able to wish you happy birthday (and I’m not even there in person), but it’s okay, ‘cos I know I’ll be around for the next gazillion. Gettin’ rid of me ain’t as easy as leaving the Kong!

PS: Someone else misses you too.
Keep reading →

So our holiday in May to San Francisco + Napa Valley (which really was meant to be a pilgrimage to all things Thomas Keller) got cancelled, but following the recent holiday to Tokyo, and the reservation to Per Se in New York for our upcoming trip in December that I’ve just secured, I think we’re gonna make up for it after all. :)

I’M GOING TO PER SE! :D (And DB Bistro Moderne, and Balthazar’s, and Bouchon, and all the FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD!)

/happy

I’m a huge fan of macaroni & cheese. I mean, what’s not to love? Perfectly cooked pasta (I quite casually use whatever shell, tubular or twisty short pasta I’ve got lying around interchangeably), creamy béchamel, and – swoon – oh, the cheese. I also really love that it’s one of those dishes you can eat unadorned, but it stands up so well to additions of protein, vegetables, or whatever leftovers you’ve got hiding out in your fridge. Keep reading →

I don’t even want to know how many cherry-dish posts have been so titled. But it’s alright, I’m not gonna think about it. Nor am I going to think about how I didn’t even actually make Cherry Pie, but Cherry Clafoutis.

I first became a little obsessed with making a clafoutis over a year ago, when I kept seeing recipes popping up in the food magazines I often flip through, and for some reason none other than one filled with ripe, sweet, nuggets of cherries would do. I’m not even sure why – considering my aversion to cherries (chalked up to one too many sour ones that I’ve over-enthusiastically bit into). Then the season passed, and the idea was pushed to the back of my mind, lost in a tangle of all the other ones filed under “To Make”. Keep reading →