ILF: Cheesecake

When I was in Canada, I love tuesdays. Tuesdays were toony tuesday in which I can get 2 pieces of chicken plus a small packet of fries for $2 (excluding gst). It was a real deal because it meant that I could break away from the routine dorm food which was often over salted and deep fried.

From now on, every tuesdays will be in memory of the food days I had. It’s going to be I Love Food day! I love to cook food. It is thereapeutic and I feel a great sense of achievement after I conquer the kitchen to make myself a decent meal.

One thing I got out from my days in Canada, is my love for cheesecake and my love in baking them. Surprisingly, cheesecake is really easy to make.

Here is Valerie’s version of the cheesecake:

Portion: Fills 2 rounded pans of 40 diameters. Time taken approximately an hour dependent on your oven.

Crust:

• 6 - 8 pieces of digestive biscuits crushed per tray (or 1 cup of graham cracker crumbs)
• 55 grams unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• A dash of salt (optional)

Filling:

• 2 blocks of Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature
• 150 grams castar sugar
• 230 grams sour cream (200 grams would suffice as well)
• 5 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 120 grams heavy cream

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
• For the crust, mix the biscuit crumbs concurrently with 1) the melted butter and 2) the sugar till you obtain an even moisture mixture. For taste, add a dash of salt. Though do this only after you have poured all the sugar into the butter mixture. Press the mixture evenly on the pan. Bake the crust for about 15 minutes. The crust should be golden brown. Ensure that the baked crust is hard and not soggy. Cool the pan.
• Lower the temperature of the oven to 162 degrees C.
• For the filling, 1) cream the cream cheese at medium speed using a hand held mixer or standing mixer. The product should be smooth and would appear moderately heavy. 2) Gradually add the sugar into the smooth cream cheese. At medium speed, beat the sugar till light and fluffy. 3) Beat in the sour cream. 4) Add the eggs. Beat the mixture every time you add an egg. 5) Stir in the vanilla and heavy cream. The final product should be slightly thinner and fluffier than in step 1. It should appear white-yellow.
• Pour the batter into the pan. Bake the cheesecake for about 45 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and upon probbing the cake should jiggle slightly. Though if you stick a stick into the cake, the stick should be relatively free of any cake mix. Do not bake the cake till it is totally hardened. Cool the cake. Place a plastic wrap over the pan and refrigerate it overnight.
• Serve with fruits or as it is. Enjoy!

Egyptian Food

It has been some time since I blogged about Egypt. Being one of the oldest civilisations in the world, Egypt sure stands out for retaining its traditions and culture. If I were to put on Egyptian outfits, wrap my head with the 25 pounds and stay in Egypt for a little while longer, I might really brainwash myself that I’m living in the ancient world. In short, Egypt sure has not changed much.

Till this day, the Egyptian diet is pretty much similiar to those 2000 years ago. It consists of pita bread, beans and soup. My friends and I ate pita bread daily. Pita bread can be eaten with jam, dipped with sauce or accompanied with soup. Once in a while, sand might get embedded in the pita bread (since Egypt is really sandy) and you’ll get the extra crunch in your bread. Traditional Egyptian food is really healthy.

In the eight days that we were there, we never once saw an obese Egyptian. We were so privilleged to be on the traditional Egyptian diet for the entire trip (except we indulged in macdonalds once) that the two things I look forward to the most at every meal is a hardboiled egg and watermelon.

Oh, though we did drink soda water daily to quench our thirst.

Out of the Egyptian diet, I loved their soup. My friend Limin looked forward to the Kosa soup everyday. Kosa soup consists of potatoes, tomatos. It really is that simple, but it tastes better than spinach soup (in my opinion). I am still very much in love with my mom’s homecook food.

BR: What’s Love Got to Do with It?

My third book from the Little Black Dress Series. Written by Lucy Broadbent, “What’s love got to do with it?” entails Hollywood glamour, money, and the high life.

This Hollywood fairytale is spun around Isabella Spires, a British blonde beautiful bombshell. Orphaned as a child and having her last assets taken by her aunt, Isabella grew up to be a tough lady inspiring to marry a rich husband.

Her lucky break came when she found job as a nanny to Stephen’s children. Stephen is the most powerful agent in LA. Offending Stephen would mean “the end” for an aspiring actor. As it turns out, Isabella fell in love with Stephen’s first son, Jamie (an aspiring film maker). Unfortunately for her, she did not realise that the one short date with Stephen (in which he gave her a Cartier watch) meant that he liked her. After finding out that Jamie and Isabella wed in a spontaneous wedding ceremony in Las Vegas, in a rage Stephen chased the couple out of the house and cut them both off from power Hollywood.

Struggling to keep her marriage afloat and to pay rent, Isabella turned to Bill (rival of Stephen) for help. Isabella was redefined, remodelled and re-presented. After clinching a job in television, top advertising deals arrived. Unfortunately, Jamie felt that Isabella was two-timing him and had already left her. But, like the previous 2 little black dress series I have read, it is happy-ever-after for Isabella. Jamie made his film without the help of his father, and the couple got back together after a long year.

As I was reading the book, I felt like I picked up a gossip magazine more than a book. It had numerous Hollywood names and events. But how much are these facts or fiction? I guess only those who are living in Hollywood Tinseltown would know. =)

BS: M.A.C Powerpoint Eye Pencil

I love MAC cosmetics. I love them for the drama mama eye make up. I love them for their easy applications and most importantly, actually extremely importantly is that they do produce make up that is very easy to remove yet are waterproof. So, at the end of the day, your make up remains intact regardless.

I have used countless of eyeliners thus far - liquid, kohl, pencil. Yet, thus far, MAC eye pencil wins my heart. It does not itch my sensitive skin, it does not smudge as much (which is rather important to me because I am lazy and I hate to touch up my make up at any point in the day). My favourite is buried treasure for the tint of

Fetus in Fetu

This is a bizzare medical fact - Fetus in Fetu. The definition is an encapsulated, pedunculated vertebrate tumor. It occurs when one of the twin do not develop past the fetal stage and is enveloped into the body of the other twin.

Imagine that you were part of a twin, but you never knew that you had a twin. Nor does your mother know that you were part of a twin. But your other twin has always been with you ever since you were in your mother’s womb. Reason? As your twin and you were developing inside of your mother’s womb, you were the stronger twin and your growth enveloped that of your other twin’s. So, since birth your twin was in you (literally speaking) and have been growing slow but surely within you. This twin does not have a brain nor any organs, but can develop bones, toes, fingers, nails, hair and even private parts. This other twin feeds off your blood to stay alive.

Actually, fetus in fetu usually occurs in mothers in which they become pregnant but the baby stop forming into a full grown baby (loosely put). It could be that the mother is unaware that she has fallen pregnant and thus did not undergo procedures to remove the fetus and thus the fetus continues to be in the mother’s womb. Also, like in the story of the other twin, it is possible for a man to be “pregnant” with his other twin baby in this situation. Additionally, it is also possible for someone to carry the other twin who is of the opposite gender.

Sources for the pictures: 1) Journal of Medical Reports: fetus in fetu case report Khalifa et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd; 2) ABC News; 3) The Sun UK.

Muji Rubberband Ball

Having been packing my things for the past few days, the neat freak val kicked in and I have been browsing through the Muji site once more and lusting after their clean cut storage boxes.

This time round, I found a rather cute product of theirs. A rubberband ball! In Singapore, unless you do business, you need not specifically purchase rubber bands, for you can easily obtain them from your packet of packed food. This rubber band ball looks like a min rattan ball!

Abba Mania

I love musicals, for the glam, the glitz and the fun. This is the first time though, I attended a production that got me standing for most of the show. Presenting Abba Mania.

The set for Abba Mania is simple. A stage, the main cast and a band. No fuss, no frills, just plain old singing. If you are an eccentric Abba fan, you should catch this show (though, they just left Singapore). They sing all the Abba songs you could possibly imagine. You get to dance along with the cast (in your seat of course) and scream and shout - just like a groupie. My favourite songs were dancing queen and I had a dream.

Quench the body

It is such a treat to sip a cup of warm ginger tea whilst looking at a lush forest and hearing the pitter-pattar of the rundrops. Nature is really beautiful.

The scene took place at Spa Esprit located at House @ Dempsey. An old barrack brilliantly refurbished into a spa, dine and party all in one. It’s the new Holland V except that it has a true blue not-in-singapore feel to it.

I tagged along my sister for a spa treatment. For the month of October’08, for treatments $180 and above you would get a 10% off, bring another friend and both of you will get 25% off. I did their Body Thirst Quencher today. Unfortunately, I don’t think it was really worth it. The Turkish Granny scrubbed me cleaner. I prefer their Slowgo massage though. Good news, there is a November promo for the Slowgo massage. Ahhhh….

I love oysters

I love oysters. I love them in the form of 蚝煎 (fried oysters egg) and baked with cheese. But I ultimately love them in the raw form. Just squeeze a little bit of lemon, scoop it out with a spoon. Slurp it down. In an instance, you are on a joy ride through the ocean.

It is difficult to find raw oysters in Singapore that has a fresh taste to it. Most are mired with a slight tinge of the muddy sea base. Though, if you need to satisfy your oyster cravings, The Line buffet at Shangri-La Singapore serves up decent raw oysters. So does the Ellenborough Market at Merchant Court Singapore.

But the freshest tasting raw oysters I have tasted so far hails from a petite seafood restaurant tucked in the quiet residence in Bukit Timah. They have oysters special every Tuesday with oysters going at $1 each. Also, they do serve some delicious fish & chips. Introducing, Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro!

Greenwood Fish Market & Bistro 34 Greenwood Avenue
Singapore 289236
Tel: 6467.4950

The House Bunny

The first thought that popped into my mind when I saw the advertisement was Mingren. He nicknamed his girlfriend bunny.

Acted mainly by Anna Faris as the bunny and with cast like Emma Stones, Katherine McPhee, Hef & the 3 real playboy mansion girls, this show is sure to tickle your bones.

Bunny is kicked out of the house due to a scheming other playboy girl. She is left homeless and signs herself up to be a house mother of Zeta (a soreignity house who is losing their rights). She starts teaching the outcasted girls how to doll up and be the hottest girls on campus. In the end, Zeta really turned popular and it’s horray for house bunny!

I really loved the way Faris played stereo-typed dumb blonde. Her lines sure got me laughing from the start to the end of the movie.

Let’s go girls!