Little Joy Factory

Nuts are my favourite snack. I love pecans, pistachios, walnuts and macadamia the most.  While these nuts are not so expensive in U.S and China,  they are quite pricy here in Singapore.  One pack of 250g roasted pecans can be sold close to S$10. To enjoy pecans at home,  I usually buy raw pecans from local wholesale market, and roast them in my oven.  Toss with some salt, sugar, and Chinese five-spice powder,  homemade roasted pecans  rival the top-quality nuts brands. Store in an airtight container in the fridge, we can enjoy a handful of  crispy delicious pecans anytime of the day.  While there are many good things about nuts,  try not to consume them in excess.   Nuts contain a high amount of omega 6. It's important to maintain a balanced omega 6 and omega 3 ratio (1:1) in your diet.  Study shows a diet that is hig...

Try this oven-baked matchstick potatoes. It's fast and fabulous!  I baked them this morning before preparing our Sunday brunch.  It's a great snack and a much healthier choice as compared to traditional french fries. With olive oil, you don't have to worry about the calories. Healthy and delicious! I used 800g Holland potatoes bought from supermarket, peeled and sliced.  Tossed with olive oil and salt.  Baked for 30 minutes, added 2 sprigs fresh rosemary. Continued for another 5-10 minutes. Rosemary gives off herbal and subtly menthol fragrance, smells so fresh! Research said the smell could boost your memory and enhance the ability to remember events and to complete tasks at particular times. No wonder I texted a group of friends for the upcoming Christmas gathering, in the midst of baking these lovely matchstick potatoes! The memories of those days working in the training field kept flashing in my mind this morn...

Inspired by tasty soups from Souper Sundays , a weekly blogging event hosted by Deb in Hawaii ,  I bought a piece of butternut last week and intended to prepare a bowl of creamy pumpkin soup for my family.  One week has passed, the butternut still quietly lying in my fridge. Maybe we are really not a  "soup" family?  Nobody seems bothered to check with me about the soup.     Before the butternut started to rot, I decided to make my favorite Chinese pumpkin cake instead. I tasted pan-fried pumpkin cake for the first time during a trip to Shanghai few years ago. These small cakes were served as a dessert in a Chinese restaurant. They were orange in color, soft, chewy on the inside, and crispy on the outside. So delicious!    I searched for the recipe immediately after the trip,  and found a good simple one. Made a few times at home, they are as ni...

前几天读到一篇新闻报导，75%的本地富人们渴望有时间做自己真正想做的事，并且认为这才是最奢华的享受。 有时间做自己想做的事，其实就是自由地支配时间，随时停下脚步，从忙碌的生活中抽离开来，没有所谓金钱上的限制。都以为富人们有这种奢侈，我们因而习惯性地设想“等我有钱了，我就如何如何” 。

难得周五遇到公共假期，可以好好享受一个长长的周末。 昨晚就把闹钟关掉，早上睡到自然醒。准备了两个清爽的小菜作早餐，简单可口。自从有了NESCAFE PICCOLO， 每逢周末，早餐后泡杯摩卡或卡普奇诺，悠闲地坐在家里享受早上的时光。好惬意啊！ 要知道这份恬静在平日可是可望而不可及的。每天六点闹钟一响，就开始和时间赛跑，早餐都是在车里吃的。送了孩子们去学校，就直接驾车去公司，晚上到家已经7点了。。。“日出而作，日落而息”? 现在连小学生都做不到，更何况你我这样的上班族？ 不过，工作着，还是幸福的。在职场上摸爬滚打了十多年，经历过升职加薪的喜悦，也经历过公司倒闭裁员的无奈。任何时候，都要和自己说，这就是生活，有苦有乐，有得有失。正所谓“塞翁失马，焉知祸福？”　 想想最开心的还是第一份工作。同事们都是刚出校门的学生，单纯，热情，心无芥蒂。也有竞争，也有压力，可是那时的笑容是最真诚的。 即使现在大家各奔东西，友谊依然深厚。因为我们一起度过了人生最宝贵的年华，记忆里珍藏着彼此青春的模样 。碰巧看到下面的句子，觉得有点触景生情，贴出来和大家共勉： Friendship means understanding, not agreement. It means forgiveness, not forgetting. It means the memories last, even if contact is lost. 好了，言归正传，既然是周末，当然要好好犒劳一下自己和家人了。做了这个琥珀核桃零食，又香又甜，吃下去，真的停不了口。我喜欢这个食谱，因为核桃没有经过油炸，相对健康一点。当然外面也有卖的，罐装的，可是哪有自己做得新鲜又经济实惠？ 至于孩子们，她们又要求 Famous Amos 曲奇 ，已经在烤箱里啦！每次她们都会带一些去学校，和好朋友分享。一来这是她们最喜欢的饼干；二来，她们也想向朋友们“炫耀“她们妈妈的手艺。还好，每次都好评不断。我开玩笑说，改次学校嘉年华会或者慈善义卖，我就做这款饼干，比起棉花糖，爆玉米花之类的，多少健康一点，又好吃，保证大卖！ HOW TO MAKE CARAMELIZED WALNUTS (3 MINUTES VIDEO) CARAMELIZED WALNUTS （琥珀核桃...

  Participated in New Year Delights 2013 organised by Sonia, I am happy to "meet" so many bloggers who have passion in baking.  Browsing through their attractive posts as well as their blogs, I am like a book lover who is in a library :  running my fingers along the spines of books, stopping to pull titles from the shelf and reading them diligently.  I have saved several recipes from this event and plan to try them someday (click here for the post I submitted for this event).  Several of my cookies jars are empty now, but I have no time to bake more.  Seaweed Fish Fillet caught my eye as it appears in several posts , and it's easy to make!  I decided to bake this snack to top up my empty jars. They turned out as nice as expected. Crispy with slightly salty and spicy taste, seaweed fish fillet is a great snack you can eat when sitting on the couch and watching T.V...