Anyone who knows Marcel Proust or madeleines will connect the two, so I don't have to do join the dots for you. I haven't read the novel. 

I tried, but I figure rather than run the marathon, I'd just show up at the finish line with a madeleine in my mouth, er.... half dipped in my cup of tea, and I'd get what the guy was going on, and on, and on........and ON about. And no, I'm not sure I do, but maybe it's because mine taste of pandan and take me to a whole other place ;)

Today I ha...

Last week I was in another country, and this may be out of place in a foodblog, but I always think the measure of a country is best judged by the state of its public loos. *Ahem*  Every single public loo I was in last week was absolutely pristine and each commode had a multi function bidet attached! Without exception. In one mall washroom, there was an attendant who entered every cublicle the second it was vacated and spruced it up lightning quick before inviting the next person in line to en...

Quickies Noodle Challenge Update : I am pleased to announce that we've now received  6  very interesting entries! Thank you very much and remember this is open to everyone, worldwide, so keep them coming! As this may be the last Quickies Challenge for a while,  we really hope there will be a fantastic turnout. Of course, if you really want more challenges, let us know and we'll do our best to oblige! Send in as many entries as you like, just remember to get them in by midnight of  December 14...

When you hear "lavender", I'll bet the first thing that comes to mind is soap, air freshener or floral water. Quite fitting since the word comes from the Latin lavare which means "to wash". For centuries lavender has been associated with cleansing and purifying as it's believed to be anti bacterial, anti viral and anti microbial. Not the first thing you would associate with things you want to put in your mouth ;)

If you think about it in the remotest culinary sense, it may be herbes de Pro...

I was intent on getting some tender, sweet and dense Bosc pears for a dessert that had been running round and round inside my head and wouldn't leave me alone; a pear and candied ginger cheesecake. The family had been complaining about the dearth of desserts lately. Mutiny was in the air and I honestly had run out of ideas for tarting up vanilla ice cream.

After trawling three markets and two supermarkets and coming up empty, temptation presented itself in the form of canned pears. Ordinaril...

Quickies Cocktail Challenge Update : I am pleased to announce that we've now received  8  great entries! Thank you very much and please, keep them coming guys. Send in as many entries as you like,  just remember to get them in by midnight of  September 27 2010 (ET)  - we're looking forward to shouting out the winner and showcasing a fantastic line up of entries on September 28 2010 (ET)  !! What's your motivation? A gorgeous cookbook! (take a detailed peek here) And now for today's post....


St...

First let me thank all who have emailed me about my week long absence, you know who you are and you have my gratitude for your touching concern - I guess I should've made some sort of announcement instead of quietly slinking away, hoping to go unnoticed. I've been immersed in a personal project which I hope to wrap up soon, so I can return to my regular posting schedule of Mondays and Thursdays (Singapore time). Until then, I will post at least once a week, probably on Wednesdays (yes, Singap...

Becoming a food blogger and rubbing virtual elbows with so many like minded souls, has opened up my food universe and introduced me to things I might otherwise have never known, existed! Take instant pudding for example. This wonder of food science (some may  say culinary abomination, but, potayto potahto..... meat, poison) requires no cooking and sets instantly on contact with water! I might actually be spooked, if I were not so curious and amazed.

I'd read about it on Rick's blog, Bitter...

I'm so glad today, to have my son Joseph, doing another guest post for me! We were thrilled that his maiden post was so warmly received and when his Father's Day treat turned out so well, we thought we should share it with all of you. I hope all you lovely dads out there had a wonderful time with your families too, on Sunday. Now, without further delay, I give you Joseph!

My son and hopefully, protege, Joseph, turned 12 two days ago and he requested his all time favourite dessert, Oreo cheesecake, like he's done every year, since he could speak.

I usually make a single large 23 cm (9 in) cheesecake. It's big, beautiful, and such a temptation, though I don't favour it above all other desserts, that I often will skip at least one  meal when I know cheesecake is coming to dinner ;) Then, I wantonly have three servings of it! For shame, for shame, except, I'm to...

It gives me great pleasure today, to present a guest post by  Biren from Roti n Rice. Biren was one of the first bloggers I befriended and I was from the start, very impressed with her devoted following eventhough she was, in her own words,  not a very experienced blogger. If you've ever been to her blog, you will understand why. Her recipes are as authentic as you could hope to find anywhere, whether from a cookbook, your favourite great aunt or the internet - a place notorious for haphazard...

I hesitate to call this a recipe but I thought I'd share it as this sparked a craze at home, and all because I left some juice in the freezer longer than I should have.

I don't know how many of you have pre-teens and teenagers at home, but if you do, have you ever attempted to get them to do even a modicum of housework? Try it, if you really want to know what a losing battle actually is.

We have this problem at home with ice. There's never any. I make it and everyone else, especially my...

I hate talking about the weather -  the final destination for any conversation on its last legs, drawing it's last, choking, rasping... breath. I can hardly believe though, how crazed the weather here has been. In the last 3 weeks, I've felt like a jetsetter, going through 2 or even 3 countries in the space of a day. Scorching afternoons have given way to blustery evenings, followed by torrential 30-second downpours that have finally settled into muggy, sweat-soaked restless nights. Would y...

I'm not Irish, though every year around this time, I can't help wishing I were. If you're a member of any foood site or community, you will very likely see a torrent of recipes and pictures of food of every guise and name, coloured green and shaped into shamrocks or doused in Guinness, ale, or, numberless permutations of corned beef and cabbage, all in the name of St Patrick, most beloved immortal of the Irish, in and out of Ireland.

The Irish, real and honorary, go all out to mark the day,...

I hadn't intended to post this today, but as is usually the case with these things, there's a story here. I've lately become quite obsessed with low fat, healthy cakes because mum loves cake but has to watch her cholesterol intake, so every time I see a  healthy or vegan cake recipe, I perk up like a Doberman getting a whiff of burglar.

This time it was banana bread by a bewitching cook named Stella, who has a clutch of alluring but healthy cake recipes in her repertoire (I don't use those t...

I am a cake fiend. I can't go two days without baking something and lately, my husband's been grumbling about a thickening middle (his of course) and the amount of sweet treats the children have been scarfing down owing to my baking mania. I thought of how to cut down both the butter and sugar in a cake recipe, as well as reduce cholesterol, for my mum's benefit, without sacrificing taste to the point that it's no longer worth eating. I've never liked prunes - their very name inspires depress...

Having missed posting a recipe for World Nutella Day, there was no way I was going to let Valentine's Day slip away from me. To be on the safe side, I decided to test these babies out ahead of the day itself and they turned out so well, I couldn't wait a minute more to post this. If you're planning to stay in this Sunday and are looking for something delectable but undemanding to make for your sweetheart, may I suggest these? 

Ironically, Valentine's Day was never on my list of annual highl...

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may know that I've been devoted to Nutella for most of my life, so, I felt a little disloyal, for not posting something themed on it, for World Nutella Day (5 February) and decided that today would be the perfect day to make up for it. Being the avid baker I am, I often have shortcrust (sweet and plain), bread dough and sometimes even danish pastry in my freezer. If you're not similarly inclined, by all means use commercial frozen pastry - I hav...

After weeks of being a shadowy presence, my kitchen "mojo" seems to be returning, judging by the number of times my eyes have strayed to my pantry cupboard door and the mounting desire to use my KitchenAid mixer. So, yesterday, I made the very easy peach and blueberry crumble you see up there. I saw some slightly bruised blueberries going cheap at my usual supermarket and vaguely recalled a clutch of rose-flushed, yellow peaches rolling around in my fruit drawer. True enough, when I got home,...

I made this a week late, but still, better than never, as they say. This is a quickie version of the candy my mother used to make when I was little. She used freshly grated coconut which gives phenomenal flavour and aroma but takes tireless stirring over a low flame and well that's just not what we're all about here. I use dessicated coconut and this is truly very nearly as good as my mum's, but she would have a fit if she knew what I've done to her recipe, so, "shhhhhhhhhhhh!" Serve this a...

No, bells don’t go off every time I bite into a slice and while the British nursery rhyme may be loaded with sexual, historical and political insinuation, this is just a simple cake that is damned near divine for its beguiling scent and moist, tender crumb, studded with fresh orange slices, rind and all. As you close your mouth down on a forkful, your palate and nose are hit with, in quick succession, the sweet, juicy burst of orange, then the sharp spike of lemon and finally, the softly al...

The double part refers to the mousse and the meringues both being chocolate. Don’t be put off by the relative length of this recipe, it really is easy and can be made hours ahead and even be stored for a day or two before final assembly. Once put together though, it must be eaten quickly as the delicate mousse doesn’t take long to deflate, out of the refrigerator and the meringues will quickly turn soggy once in contact with the mousse. The main attraction apart from how pretty this is wo...