Stalls on Bikes, China

I'm gradually getting used to seeing all kinds of things being peddled on the streets of Shanghai.  But just when I think I've seen everything, I see something that makes my jaw drop ... like this peddler (literally!) ... 

It was raining and this man parked his bike just outside our window seat in La Creperie so we had a good view of his merchandise.  Yup!  Those are baby bunnies and guinea pigs in the blue cage.  

I think those are squirrels in the pink cage.  Below that are bright yellow fluffy baby ducks.  And in the brown weave baskets are crickets.  Fascinating!

La Creperie, Taojiang Rd, Shanghai

I actually stumbled upon La Creperie while shopping for kitchenware next door at Lemon Zest.  As I thought the area looked very charming, and they had the French style brittany crepes I loved after first trying them in Paris, I promised myself to return with Hubby in tow to try La Creperie.

We ordered these appetisers - rolled crepes with minced pork ... (after trying these appetisers during another visit, we thought the spicy minced chicken was our fav)

 We had their Daily Special set ... I believe this was La Complete ... basically brittany crepes with egg, ham, sausage, lettuce, mushrooms and tomatoes ... yum-my!!!

The set came with dessert, which happened to be a banana caramel crepe ... dee-lish!!!!

Zen Lifestyle, Shanghai

I fell in love with this shop, Zen Lifestyle, when I first walked into their branch in Xintiandi, Shanghai. The problem with Zen is making a choice of what to get cos everything is sooooo beautiful!  I eventually decided that I wanted to get a teapot in this floral design .... but sadly it was all sold out (their  products seem to fly off the shelves!).  To console myself, I got a dish in the same floral design :) ... I love the pink trimming around the edges ...

I also wanted a small dish to place the jewelry I wore daily, and chose this design ...

Antique Indian Perfume Box

I got a surprise the other day when Hubby came back with this gift from our kind New York friend.  She knew I was decorating my apartment, and sent this antique Indian box to us.

It contains these bottles which used to hold perfume ... fascinating!

Thanks D & K!

Cinnamon Buns

After our dumpling lunch, we proceeded to bake up some cinnamon buns ... fm Nigella's How To be a Domestic Goddess  ...

Home Made Dumplings

When a friend invited me over to her apartment for lunch the other day, I never expected to pick up a new skill - making dumpling skins!  I had always simply bought dumpling skins from the store, and everyone I knew did the same, so I just assumed it required mad skills to make them.  Turns out all one needs is all-purpose flour and water!  Yes!  It is really that simple!

We mixed up some minced pork with corn and egg for the filling and I helped her to shape the dumplings while she rolled out the dumpling skins.  Our dumplings before being cooked ...

I had asked her for the recipe for the dumpling skins but she said she never used one.  She then told me that when she and her siblings were little, her mother would enlist them in making these dumplings, and that was how she learnt.  Fascinating how parents pass their skills down to their kids, and how some stuff really stick and evoke memories of family!

As we made loads of dumplings, my friend gave me some to take home.  I mixed up some vinegar with a Szechuan style chili from Shanghai, then tossed the dumplings in the sauce .... YUM!!!  (This may not look that appealing but it was so delicious! )

(Apparently, well-made dumplings should have this wrinkly kind of look ... according to my dumpling friend :))

This particular vinegar - Zhenjiang Vinegar - is supposed to be the type that's good for dipping dumplings in.

I tried this particular brand of szechuan chili sauce and thought it was really good, especially in making the above dish - dumplings tossed in vinegar and chili sauce.

I was eager to try out my new skills at home.  Here are some of my dumpling skins ... not as regular and round and pretty as my friend's, but they'll do :)

I made them in different shapes in order to differentiate amongst the fillings - minced pork with shrimp with pine nuts, minced pork with spring onions, minced pork with corn, minced pork with shrimp with chives ... delish!  I cooked them in soup, au naturelle, with noodles ... makes for such wonderful easy meals (I froze some)!

All deliciously wrinkly :)   ... one of the few times you actually want wrinkles!  :)

YUM!!!

Lemon, Rosemary & Cheddar Cheese Bread

Some time ago, I saw several bloggers posting about this no-knead bread which looked extremely simple to bake in a dutch oven.  As I was thinking of ways to maximise the use of my one and only Le Creuset dutch oven, I decided to give it a try... 

This is a pic of my no-knead lemon, rosemary & cheddar cheese bread all nicely wrapped up in my Japanese tea towel ... a fantastic way to use these beautiful tea towels incidentally ... (all above ideas inspired by simplysogood )

Dough being proofed ...

Fascinating!  Sometimes I think baking is like watching TV ... recipes that require more waiting time are just like TV in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n .............

Finally after 12-18 hours of proofing, I got it into the oven baking ....

Oh wow!  Fresh bread!

Pandan Chiffon Cake

One of my favorite cakes that my mom bakes is the pandan chiffon cake.  Somehow it's rather a Singaporean or South East Asian kinda cake, so it's hard to find in north asia.  As such, my mom tries to bake it for me whenever I go home :)

Look at that luscious sky high cake!  YUM! YUM! YUM!

Samy's, Dempsey Road, Singapore

A friend got a Groupon coupon and invited me to have fishhead curry with her for lunch at Samy's.  Naturally I agreed!  How can anyone say no to Samy's fishhead curry?!  Speaking of which, here's a pic ... 

Yum!  Yum!  Yum!

To go with the curry, we had some bryani rice, pappadums, potato cutlet (extreme right top) ...

Soooooo satisfying ....

Wild Honey, Scotts Square, Singapore

While back home in Singapore, a good friend took me for an early dinner at Wild Honey in Scotts Square.  Apparently they are famous for their breakfasts which are served all day.  We started off with some mocha coffee ... 

Pretty! ...

Naturally, we had to try their breakfast ... consisting of a couple of slices of brioche bread, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes and eggs ...

A better view perhaps(?) of our all-day breakfast meal ...

They recommended this strawberry layer cake ....

Peramakan, Keppel Club, Singapore

I was back in Singapore a few months ago, and as usual, I seized the opportunity to have one of my favorite cuisines - Peranakan food!  We decided to go to Paramakan in Keppel Club.  These are some typical Peranakan dishes which we ordered ...

Bakwan Kepeting (meatball soup) ...

Ayam Buah Keluak (chicken with buah keluak nut) ...

Beef Rendang ...

Chap Chye ...

Sambal Lady's Finger/Okra ...

Otah (fish) ...

Ngoh Hiang ....

American Curl Kitties, Tianzifang, Shanghai

When I saw these cuties lounging at the window of this cafe in Tianzifang, I promptly walked in and insisted that we have a cup of tea at this cafe just so I could play with the kitties ... 

Look at that gorgeous curled ear!

Look at that tuft of fur on her paws!  Awwwww ....

Shoes fm Tree (树), Tianzifang, Shanghai

Everytime I went to Tianzifang, I walked past this shoe shop, Tree (树).  But I never made it into the shop.  Then, a few months ago, I was with a very patient and an extremely good friend, so I dragged her into the shop and made her watch me try on these shoes :)  

I got these two pairs, which turned out to be super comfy ...

About a month or two after I got these shoes, a friend came over to Shanghai, and she and her friends went to Tree and altogether they got at least 5 pairs of shoes!  And everyone remarked on how comfy they were :)

I'm now waiting for their new collection for Autumn/Winter ...

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I was reading the cupcakesandcashmere blog and saw this post which linked to this post titled The Only Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe I Will Ever Need to Know How to Make For the Rest of My Life.  Woah .... with a title like that, how could I ever possibly resist trying this recipe out?!

So, off I went to Lemon Zest in Shanghai to get some baking supplies ...

... a silpat baking sheet 

... a new spatula 

... a rectangular tart pan (has nothing to do with baking cookies, but I couldn't resist cos it was on sale and I'd always thought rectangular tarts look so beautiful)

My cookies turned out a lot darker than those in the above weblinks ... I wonder why ... but they still tasted fantastic.

And no ... don't try to rub off those lil flecks of white on the pic ... it's actually salt that is sprinkled over the cookies just before baking that take the cookies to a whole new level!

So apparently, one of the secrets to getting the best chocolate chip cookies in this recipe is the amount of time the dough is given to chill in the fridge to absorb all the wonderful flavours in the ingredients.  As it was a huge amount of dough, I decided to bake them in stages according to the time given to them to mature in the fridge, so I separated them into packs of 4-hr cookies, 25-hr cookies (baking time 15 min) & 25-hr cookies (baking time 20 min).  I also had another pack of cookies which were around 36-hrs old.

After comparing the tastes, my friend and I figured there was indeed a difference in the 4-hr ones vs the 36-hr ones.  The latter had that nice caramel-ly taste that everybody was commenting about in the above two blogs.  But the former were nice too ... just in a very very slightly different way.

These cookies were exceedingly well received by most everyone!  Definitely a keeper!