Dressmaking: 1st attempt!

Omg!

YESSS. I have a picture of the newest addition to the Noel-Callie family!

Drum roll + Red carpet PLEASEEEE~!

(can you feel the excitement?!)


B.E.H.O.L.D!

My sewing machine.

My new love!

I was SUPER bored during summer this year, I picked up dressmaking! I've been meaning to pick it up a few years' back but never really had the time. This sewing machine was bought in 2006/7? But I've only just begun using it. LOL! Noel helped me lug it from my mom's place in Singapore back to our home in HK.

It's currently in full display on my dining table, which serves more as a dressmaking work top than anything else (oh wait, my study desk when I need to do lotsa work!).

Haha! Lemme show you my 1st project - a shirt!


It didn't turn out the way I wanted it because the pattern that my dressmaking teacher helped me put together didn't give me the shape/effect I wanted. The basic shirt was made with the teacher, the ribbon, black fringe details etc, were added by me. Although it's a far cry from what I wanted to achieve, I think it's pretty good for a 1st attempt! I did this in under 10hours too! Super proud!!!

Not only have I learnt how to make a shirt pattern, but I've also learnt how to put them together, stitch button holes with the sewing machine, make/attach ruffles to a mandarin collar, make bishop sleeves (not billowy enough for this one, but I'll improve on it!) etc!

Watch this space! Coz I'll be adjusting & improving on this 1st attempt pretty soon, and I will be churning out more of my own designs soon!!! - I'm so bored with street fashion!

This was project #1. I've made a navy blue pencil skirt and a red dress which are currently stashed in HK. Will upload pics once I get home!

1 week from home....

Christmas is just round the corner and I'm ONE week away from HK, Noel and home.

I've been SO excited lately I can hardly sit still or focus on my readings for more than 10mins at time! Hahaha!

I've missed home and Noel (well, in my books, they're the one and same! :D) and am looking forward to seeing them both soon.

Meanwhile, I've decided to offload pictures from my overly bloated camera memory stick in lieu of the obscene amounts of photos I intend to take during the Law Christmas ball, which I'm ecstatic over as well.

Hahaa! Speaking of the Law Ball - I haven't even gotten round to piecing an outfit for that night yet, and I haven't got a party dress in my wardrobe! :S This is going to take some creativity and imagination but I'm looking forward to the challenge on Monday evening! Gambatte~!

Ok! So what have I unearthed from my huge stash of food pictures?

This: My 1st ever attempt at making my own granola. (If my memory serves me right, this was made during Spring this year... SO sometime in or around April 2010? Hahha! I KNOW... I'm pathetic at updating this blog! I promise to be more consistent this year. Kekkeke~

Maple Cranberry Crunch is what I've called it! Check it out! I love how the ruby of the cranberries contrasts so wonderfully with the rich gold of the granola bits.

Isn't it gorgeous!?

Noel absolutely ADORED it. Since neither of us has a sweet tooth, this was less sweet compared to normal granola and as I used less butter, honey and sugar, the stats on this batch was much lower and healthier compared to the average granola without compromising on the other health benefits! I'm pretty proud of how it turned out though I feel that I should bake them longer and have them crisp up a bit more next time.

More crunch, more bite! *nyom!*


2010 marks the year where I have been in a perpetual mood to bake and create. My latest hobby (I suppose) = Creating recipes and feeding people. SOooooooo shortly after the granola, I jumped right into making my first ever loaf of bread!

Hahaahahaha! This was an enjoyable/interesting experience 'coz I didn't have the right tools to make a perfect normal-bread-looking loaf, so I had to improvise and baked this in a round tray.... But anyhoo...

The process:

This was the first proofing. Such a cute tiny ball of dough huh =D

After 1 hour! @.@ My baby has GROOOWWWWN~!

Turning the dough out and punching the air out of the little lump! *bam bam bam!*

The final product!! And my first ever loaf! Woot! Proud mama here! YES.

This was scrumptious. The crust was firm and crusty... the dough was soft and supple with just the right amount of elasticity. I was pretty pleased with my 1st attempt - without ANY tools even! Hahah! Yes I know, I'm pretty jurassic in my equipment; I make everything with just a wooden spoon, bowl, sheer arm power *flexes* and my trusty oven!

We're not huge bread lovers, but we managed to finish this eventually. You probably can't tell, but the loaf was MASSIVE! Lol! We put it in the deep freezer and retoasted it before eating it... It lasted us a good month! @.@

Before I forget! This was the stash I made for that day - didn't take pictures of the cookie tarts I made (boo~) but at least there's this shot!




Look familiar? Haha! Yeah, they're my Jam Jewel cookies - the red ones at least. The green ones were coconut jam cookies - which were even more popular than the jam ones! @.@ Guess I know which ones to make more of and sell next time! I think Noel loved it so much he ended up hiding a stash for himself away from his colleague at one point! Lol!

My boyfriend cracks me up. He's my biggest fan and vice versa. =)

Ok! It's 7:47am now! And I'm off to get my customary morning run! Toodles peeps!

Chat soon!

Peace! xoxo

FYRP & Some fond Pizza memories

If you're in shock at seeing this post, can you imagine MY shock? Haha! I've been swamped with a myriad of things to do and a bundle of interesting (and one exceptionally painful) experience and so I've been incredibly tardy in my writing.

Anyhoo! Given that I've FINALLY composed a lovely, wonderful and absolutely charming title for my research paper (insert viscous drips of sarcasm), and am now able to breathe a sigh of relief, I'm in the mood to blog.

That and also coz it's my boyfriend's 29th birthday and I'm in cheery spirits and happiness makes me want to talk a LOT. Now since I live alone, you my dear cyber space, are the only thing I can yab at and not feel an inch of guilt. Kekkeke~

So so so! Let's get back to business shall we? This blog has been collecting dust for about a year now and it's time for a good shake up!

Consider yourselves warned - updates galore coming up! And NO, you do NOT want to see the massive backlog of food pictures I've got in my hard drive at the moment. :S Well, I suppose we all know what I'll be doing when I get bored of my FYRP readings!

Now on the the good stuff - FOOD PORN.

I was introduced to this charming pizza parlour (?) - Pizza Provencale - in Clifton Village by the law girlies during a celebratory dinner get-together with Alana and Jas who were on holiday in Bristol for a short few days.

Our first choice was Rustic Vine on St. Michael's but they were mean and lazy and decided not to open their doors to a bunch of hungry and absolutely delightful girls. Consider my curiosity piqued however, as I am DETERMINED to head on to the Rustic Vine at some point to grab a slice of pizza - allergies be damned!

Oh yes! Update! Since the removal of my polyp from my intestine, I am now gluten/wheat intolerant! *SOBS* PIZZAAAAAA is no more!

Oh sigh. Well, at least, I'll always have fond memories of the taste of piping, crusty, chewy hot dough slathered in decandently sumptuous cheese and garnished with an array of marinated ingredients. T^T


Gah! I digress. Ok, back to Pizza Provencale~


Here's what we ordered: PIZZAS -4 of them!


The regulars are about 12" in diameter and according to the staff, are enough to be shared between 2! Since we had a group of 8, and wanted dessert after (why wouldn't we?), we settled on getting 4:

The Diavola - the classic pepperoni!

The Hot Shot - Spiced beeef + Chillis

Today's special - The BBQ Chicken (my fav! It was soooo good! The chicken bits were juicy and succulent! Delicious!)

The Jardin - for yours (vegetarian) truly. I felt quite bad ordering this since no one liked it at all... Didn't know that I'm the only one who dislikes meat that much. :S Sorry ladies!

......Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......

The pizzas were SOOOO good - to be honest, I only had the Jardin and the BBQ chicken - not a fan of meat (and a gag reflex for red meat) so I didn't feel inclined to try the rest. But judging by how fast we scarfed down the pizzas, I'd say the food deserved a 4/5!

Now onto every girl's 2nd best friend (food can never replace diamonds, thank you.) - DESSERT!

*squeals in major excitement*

The chocolate cream pie!

Today's special - Fruit crumble

The banoffee pie!


My boring and overly sweet raspberry sorbet!

Dinner success! Not a morsel left! :X

All in all, I'd say we had a fantabulous night. :D One more time? <3

Chilli Pizza

I've been dying... D.Y.I.N.G. to have Zizi's pizzas for a LONG LONG TIME.

I'm sure most of you would've heard me whine about them by now!

One day, I couldn't take it anymore and so I whipped out my frozen bread from the freezer (yes, that's how I keep my food since it takes me 3 months to finish a loaf), defrosted it slightly in the toaster while I chopped up my fresh chillis (which were not-so-fresh since they were a week+ over due date) with pure excitement.

If I can't get that Zizi pizza. I'm gonna get A pizza.

Watch me.

Defrosted bread slice? Check.

Chillis? Check.

Sundried tomato paste? Check.

Note: Stay away from what stores call "pizza tomato base sauce" or whatchamacallits.

They're rubbish.

Just stick and invest in a pot of sundried tomato paste - the flavour is fuller and it's just divine. I always keep a pot in my fridge.... Even if it takes me 3 months to finish it!!!

Spread tomato paste onto bread; lay chillis out neatly; place a slice of mild mozzarella cheese (or any cheese you like) and pop it into the oven until it looks like this:

Fabulous!!! Who needs Zizi's now!?!?!??! Huh huh???

Now dig in.

*crunch*

So good.

The Beggar's Answer to Croque Monsiuer

Everytime I visit Pat Val, I'm always so tempted to have their Croque Monsieur.... But it's TOO large a sandwich for me to finish and so payin 5quid for half a sandwich just never seemed worth it.

Which explains this beggar's answer to the Croque Monsieur.

I don't think I need to say much 'coz the pictures themselves will speak a thousand words....

Mmmmm.

Look at the cheese! Mmmm.

For my version, I used mild mozzarella slices instead of emmenthal or gruyère cheese (a much cheaper and healthier alternative I assure you) and replaced the ham slices between the bread with spinach (just coz I love spinach so! And am not a fan of... Well, meat).

Not usually one to praise my own cooking (since I hardly eat what I cook), but DAMN, this was GOOD.

So good, I suggest you try it too! xoxo.

My 1st ever English Tea Party (pretty dresses included)

The elections for UBLC (University of Bristol Law Club) are underway and campaigns are in FULL force. Just check out our Law boards and you will understand what I mean.

This year, is special because 2 of my favourite people in law school are running for the elections!

Hena for President and Leen for Vice President.

Honestly, if you've met these 2, you'll understand why I'm a big fan of theirs. Cheery, bubbly, spritely, caring, sincere and so down to earth. So when Jas decided to throw a tea party in honour of their campaigns, I was thrilled!

So thrilled, I baked 2 cakes.

Haha. My twist on the victoria sponges.

Just out from the oven and dusted with icing sugar!

For Hena, the first thought that came to mind was peanut M&M's. I don't know why - maybe it's the yellow packaging; the peanuts and the friendly vibe I get in general from peanut M&M's (ONLY peanut M&M's).... Well, whatever it may be, it inspired a chocolate victoria sponge.

Whipped cream, chocolate sauce and dark chocolate chips.

Leen, on the other hand, is pink-lady defined. I remember she told me that her favourite colour is pink once and so I added a good dash of pink colouring into her cake! Unfortunately, as the cake browned when baked, the colour didn't show! Hahahhaha!

I should've considered that when I decided to add the colouring! Lolz!

Nevertheless, jam is red and is a couple of shades darker than pink, and like pink and Leen, is sweet and fruity and delicious! So for Leen, I was inspired to do a classic victoria - with strawberry jam. Mmmm.

Jam!

I had to walk over to Jas's place for the party and so saved the final touches to the end..... I.e. the Smarties.

Finally dressed and ready to be eaten!

Nyom!

It was a lovely tea party. It reminded me of Alice in Wonderland... Just minus the madness.






AND... My favourite...

Such an awesomely cute teapot!!!! XDDDD <3!

Of course, there was no shortage of beautiful/gorgeous people...







AND... *drum roll*


Henry.

Heee heee heee

Peace Dude.

Gah! I had such an amazing time! More tea parties PLEASE!

(Though note to self: No PJs next time! XDDD)

人人生日

It was Day 7 of the Lunar New Year yesterday and I was hosting a dinner at my place for the 1st time ever. It also marked my 1st experience cooking a savoury meal for people in UK (I normally have salad).

The party comprised of Xicheng, Makiko and Jen. And boy, was it was GREAT dinner party. We had so much fun! And I had an amazing time cooking for them.

NB: Been DYING to cook for others and am incredibly happy to have been able to do so! :DDDD

So anyway, here's the menu for last night:-


Leeks w/ Crispy Luncheon Meat

Think I should've cooked more leeks. :S

Sweet Chilli Prawns w/Bell Peppers

Raw tiger prawns were on offer at Sainsbury's! Was incredibly lucky!

Traditional Fried Egg

Mmmm. This was a HUGE egg! And I managed to keep it whole too! Woot!

And I made a LARGE pot of chicken rice rice (yes, the traditional hainan chicken rice rice) =) No picture though! Sorry!

Oooooooooooooo. And the highlight for the evening.... Makiko-san's incredibly delicious berry jellies!

Piece of art.

Look at that! It's just soooo pretty! The best part: not only did they look AMAZING but it tasted AMAZING. Mmmm.

Hontou ni arigatou gozaimashita ne, Makiko-san!

I had such a great time. =D Let'do it again!