Little Joy Factory

Lately, Singapore has seen an explosion of new French/Italian restaurants.  I am lucky to have French and Italian colleagues around when looking for restaurants that serve good and authentic French/Italian food. These restaurants are tested and tasted by native people like my colleagues, offer really good deals.

My family have always been a big fan of eggs in all their forms, steamed, boiled and fried. We consume almost 3 dozens of eggs evey week. The most common home-style dish is stir-fried eggs with vegetables such as spring onion, garlic chive, capsicum, tomato. We don't usually add cheese to the eggs except for omelette. Frittata is an Italian omelette with cheese and vegetables with or without meat. It's partially cooked on the stove top then grilled in the oven. The idea of making a frittata at home came from Donna Hay's Roast Vegetable Frittata recipe . Since I don't have a pan that can be used on both stove top and in the oven, I decided to bake it in the oven.

When I first came across this zucchini tomato casserole recipe a few days ago , I realised that zucchini has not reached my plates for sometime. Maybe because it's a seasonal vegetable, not commonly sold in the local market,  I simply forgot the existence of zucchini.

Today, it's the last day of final semester exams for my daughters. Though there are 3 days till weekend,  and one month till year end school holiday, we are already in the holiday mood. So, what's for dinner tonight?  

1-2 dishes and soup is the common way to serve our dinner.  Sometimes we get a bit bored , that's when my weekend cooking kicks in.  On Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, I would try to cook something different from the daily meal, such as dumplings , baozi (steamed buns) , pizza , pasta , steamboat etc. In a more relaxed mood, we often have brunch and high tea instead of the normal 3 meals during weekends. I made this delicious breakfast bread as our brunch last Sunday.  To me, it's similar to pizza,  but tastes more flavourful.

Today is Hari Raya Haji , a festival celebrated by Muslims.  It's also a public holiday in Singapore. I love holiday in the middle of the week, it makes me feel more relaxed than Saturdays cos there is no enrichment class for my daughters.  With alarm clock turned off, everyone just sleeps until awake naturally. Slowly get up, and then starts to think what's for breakfast. On this lazy morning, I chose Chicken, Tomato and Mozzarella Pasta Salad from Donna Hay 's breakfast menu. My family don't have the habit of taking salad in the morning. It simply gives me a "cold" feeling.

I was searching for herbed bread recipe, and discovered Sally Lunn rolls from Williams-Sonoma's website .  Intereting to know that, Sally Lunn buns are made from rich yeast dough,  and have a strong association with the city of Bath in the West Country of England.       The origin of Sally Lunn buns remains a mistery.

Fish fillets are quite popular in my house. My mom often uses "Happy Call" double pan to grill them, while I make breaded fish fillets occasionally.  Baking fish fillets in the oven is a wonderful alternative to fried or grilled fish.  Donna Hay's baked fish fillets beautifully displays array of colors with tomatoes, garlic, lemon and capers. I have all the ingredients in my pantry except for capers. Well, it's not difficult to find it from local supermarkets like Fairprice Finest.   The healthy baked fish fillets taste so unique. It's an explosion of sweet, savoury and sour flavor that we have never tried before. I am glad that my family love the fresh taste. Through this dish, I get to know that capers have long been a favourite in the Mediterranean region. The small, green herb buds lend a piquant sour and salty flavor to salads, dressings, sauces, vegetables and a variety of main dishes. ...

Ever since I baked my  big blueberry muffins last year,  I have been using the same recipe again and again. What have been changing are the fillings and toppings,  not the ratio of the basic ingredients. To make sure the muffins rise beautifully, I always use self-raising flour.  Until I saw Joyceline's chocolate chip muffins a few days ago, I think it's time to give plain flour a "chance".   

Yesterday was Singapore Children's Day. As a working mom, I did not take one day off to celebrate with my daughters.  Instead, I baked this Apple Slice early in the morning,  as a post-Children's Day gift :). The recipe is adapted from Donna Hay 's website.  I Heart Cooking Club   is introducing this Australia leading cookbook author as a featured chef . Members are encouraged to cook up her recipes for the next six months. Both IHCC and Donna Hay are new to me.  Since I decided to bake something for my daughters,  I browsed Donna Hay's website and opened the category " For Kids ". All her recipes look gorgeous with beautiful photographs.  My daughters happily chose Apple Slice . I like simple recipes. Donna Hay's recipes are simply prepared, all the ingredients are easily accessible.  This Apple Slice tastes flavorful, absolutely a wonderful dessert to lighten up our Saturday mo...