2011 Tropical Christmas ..

Time flies. We are now on our second tropical Christmas. I like the tropical showers which cools down the temperature and the blue skies that follows. It's been another great year for the family and we're looking forward to the exciting things 2012 will bring. In the meantime ~ eat, drink and love.

Merry Christmas everyone!! xoxo

Holiday baking experimentation continues ...

Alex and I need to work on our thumbprint cookies ~ an adaptation of the Cranberry Thumbprint (we used blueberries instead).

Work

I'm in Bangkok this week for work. Apparently eating, shopping and going to the spa are the things to do when one is in Bangkok. But since I'm in meetings all day, I will have to be content with just the eating. Not too bad for a work week.  

 Bangkok at night, from the 37th floor

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'Tis the season ....

..to be baking ...lalalala..lalala...

Alex said the other day, when he grows up he wants to be a chef. Yippeee!!!! I am one happy mommy :) Gingerbread cookies by Chef Alex courtesy of  101 Cookbooks .

Happy New Year 2011

2010 was an amazing year for us -- a new baby (now 11 months old), a new job posting, a new country (as of Aug 2010) .. a new experience for the family.

So here we are on January 1st, 2011. Not sure how committed I'll be with blog entries .. but I'll try anyway.

Here's to a new year!
xoxo

..while you were incubating..

Dear Baby #2,

I know you'll show up when you're ready, but just to let you know, I am ready for you to join the family (plus, lugging this big belly around is exhausting!). So while you're curled up in me, tonight we had fish in a paper bag. From your kicking, I think you liked it as well.

White fish in parchement paper
On a piece of parchment, stack thinly sliced carrots, cherry tomatoes and white fish fillet. Season with salt, pepper and dried bay leaves. Add a piece of garlic butter. Wrap paper like a parcel. Cook in pre-heated oven at 200 C for 20 min.

And here is big brother AJ imitating my big belly...

Adaptations...

According to one of the definition from the Free Online Dictionary, adaptation means "something, such as a device or mechanism, that is changed or changes so as to become suitable to a new or special application or situation".

I've been craving for a dish of Singapore chicken rice, so I tried to make it as our good friends, Sandra & Mae, were coming over for lunch. This post is all about adaptation, which actually means that I would use whatever I have available in the fridge and cross my fingers that it'll turn out edible. Luck was on my side today, as this was the only shot I managed to take after we polished off my adaptation of the Singapore chicken rice.

what's left of the chicken rice

I first saw the Aebleskiver pan in William-Sonoma when I was in Boston last October on a work trip (important note: I only stopped by at William-Sonoma AFTER I left work on my way back to my hotel). I meant to bring it back with me, but somehow it just slipped my mind. Since Aebelskiver is a Danish delicacy, I assumed it would be easy to find it online in Europe. I was wrong. At the end, I ordered this Aebleskiver pan from Amazon US; however, it wasn't available for delivery to Italy. Lucky me, Mae was going over to the States and was so kind to be my Amazon US extended delivery person. As dessert, we decided to give the pan its first run. I followed the recipe that came with the pan, substituting buttermilk with yogurt, sour cream and milk (those were what I had in the fridge) and forgetting to add baking powder, salt & sugar.

Aebleskiver pan

We tried one batch with no filling and gave it a dusting of vanilla powder sugar (a left over from the Pandoro box) and another batch with fig jam filling. Despite the butchered adaptation approach to the recipe, I think the pancakes turned out to be pretty good.

Danish Ableskiver pancakes

To top off the yummy lunch, we sipped the artisinal Vin Santo brought by Sandra.

artisinal vin Santo from Sandra

After a fun afternoon of eating and catching up with everyone, AJ retired to his igloo-covered blanket.

adaptation of a penquin in the livingroom