Red Velvet Cupcakes

I love sugar. It’s a known fact. Friends who have dined with me are always tickled as I usually check out the dessert portion of the menu first, before I choose my meal. This is just so I know how much space I need to leave in my tummy. If I really like the description of the dessert, I order a smaller main course and skip the appetizer to justify to my conscience.

That said, burning calories is difficult. Hence I cannot always bake sweet stuff. So these days I bake and eat a little bit; then I share the rest with our colleagues (half for the bf’s team and half for mine).

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Last weekend it was snowing a lot and I didn’t feel like going out so I hid in my apartment making these cupcakes instead.

According to the blog from which I got this recipe, it’s supposed to be similar to the Red Velvet Cupcakes that are sold at Magnolia Bakery. I think it’s quite true as the taste is definitely there (and the recipe is adapted from a video that epicurious posted of a chef baking the cupcakes and making the frosting). Magnolia Bakery does not use cream cheese frosting, but a creamy vanilla one instead.

I don’t think it’s nice of me to re-post the recipe so you’d have to go to the original blogger’s page for that.

Swirling frosting is not one of my skills so my frosting looks a bit…sad. I also made a minor error by stirring in the flour and milk paste into the butter, sugar and vanilla mixture a little too early. In hindsight I probably should have let the paste cool awhile more.

Red Velvet Cupcakes

That said, these were delicious and the colleagues who ate them were very, very happy .

Jo Malone's Colognes: Vanilla & Anise and Pomegranate Noir

When I was in London, the bf and I were sampling colognes and he thought Vanilla & Anise smelled really good. Since I didn’t have a cologne with that type of fragrance I got it.

Here’s the official description of Vanilla & Anise:

“This fresh and modern cologne blends the delicate scent of the vanilla orchid with vanilla bourbon and envelops the skin with an aromatic richness that truly blooms with the warmth of the body. Sensual and unique.”

I’ve had that bottle for awhile now but I haven’t used it much as I had read that Jo Malone’s fragrances are nicer when combined with another fragrance.  I’m no expert but the idea of layering fragrances sounds like fun so when I was in New York, I checked out the Jo Malone store on Bleecker Street. I asked the retail assistant to recommend a scent that will layer well with Vanilla & Anise and she recommended Grapefruit and Pomegranate Noir. After smelling both of them, I chose Pomegranate Noir instead as I liked the slightly darker, woody fragrance than the fresher one that Grapefruit gave.

Jo Malone's Colognes: Vanilla & Anise and Pomegranate Noir

This is the official description for Pomegranate Noir:

“This iconic cologne is uniquely composed around an intensely fruity pomegranate accord that warms on the skin to reveal an incredible sensuality through the combination of patchouli, frankincense and spicy woods. Seductive and utterly compelling.”

Now I wish I could describe what this combination smells like, but the best I can do is a cross between fruity and flowery but also slightly dark (probably due to Pomegranate Noir). I know, I know, that description is not going to make you run out the door to get these fragrances, but I tried

I really like the combination as it doesn’t smell very feminine. I really don’t like smelling like a flower. It’s so not me. But a combination of something not quite floral, fruity, and woody is much better.

Further reading

• Fragrantica’s review on Jo Malone’s Vanilla & Anise and Basenote’s reviews on Pomegranate Noir.

Clock Tower Building

So the bf and I spent a week in New York. I have to say this was the best vacation of my life. It even tops San Francisco and Venice.

You’re probably thinking it’s a bit cliché to say that about New York and I would have agreed with you had I not been to New York. But after standing on the observatory deck of the Empire State Building and looking out at this beautiful man made city, I have to say there’s nothing cliché about it.

New York city is proof that anything is possible. You can tell that so many people with so many dreams moved all the way there to make something of themselves. As you walk the streets of New York and feel the hustle and bustle, you also understand the meaning of “in a New York minute”.

34th Street, New York

We had a list of places to see/things to do that we had prepared a few months in advance, after purchasing our tickets. We were quite sure that we didn’t want to do all the touristy stuff and miss out on just being in the city and getting a feel for it.

When we reached there, we realized that the city is humongous and there was no way we could cover everything we had on our list. So, we figured we’ll wing it and try to see some of the items on our list. After all, we just might be able to make another trip here someday in the future *fingers crossed*

Sights

1. Empire State Building

We tried to get to the Empire State Building after 10am once, but the queue was just too long. A passerby asked one of the entrance workers how long it would take with that queue to get into the building and she said “3 hours”. We realized we could accomplish a lot more in 3 hours so we decided to postpone the visit. The next day we tried again, this time at 8am, when the building actually opens. Success! There was no queue at the entrance, a small queue at the security check, and a small queue at the elevator.

We went up to the Empire State Building’s observation deck on the 86th floor. Our ticket (the City Pass) included a free audio guide that was very, very informative. It’s basically a phone-receiver-like device that you place against your ear and you can choose which portion of the city you are looking at, and Tony (the voice) will tell you a little bit about the sights there with some interesting anecdotes.If you have the opportunity to visit the Empire State Building, please do.It’s a really nice building that was built in 1931 but it looks so ahead of it’s time.

View from Empire State Building Observatory

Lesson of the day: If you’ve traveled to New York from the East, use your jetlag to get you there early

It was a slightly foggy day, I believe, but the weather was quite pleasant.

2. The Museum of Natural History

The Museum of Natural History is another sight we visited. This is the museum where A Night at The Museumis set. I’m normally not very keen on museums because they take a long time and sometimes it can be a bit eerie with all these strange relics and artifacts around. However, I must say this museum was wonderful.

I was very impressed with their Dinosaur exhibits as they were so upfront about what they wrote and how difficult it is to find scientific information about dinosaurs. For example there was an exhibit where they tried to explain whether dinosaurs were warm-blooded or cold-blooded. That was interesting. Another one that was interesting was also how they claimed that birds are dinosaurs. I tried to get a photo of that one here:

Museum of Natural History - Birds are Dinosaurs

It’s funny because as a kid I was told by a teacher at school that lizards were the descendants of dinosaurs and since then I’ve developed a phobia for lizards. I’m still not sure how I survived two years in Brisbane with the chameleons walking around *shudder*.

Here’s a peek at the fossil they have there, it is huge. I’ve placed the bf in the frame for size comparison only

Museum of Natural History - Dinosaur Fossil

3. Central Park – We walked around central park (West) for an hour or so one particular morning. Central Park is huge! It was nice to see the location where so many movie scenes were shot. The park was quite empty so we took some photographs and continued walking. The weather was wonderfully sunny and quite warm for winter. Here’s a photo of me in Central Park with the lake behind me.

Lady Feeding Birds by Central Park

Me in Central Park - Excuse the windblown hair

4. Grand Central Terminal - I’ve seen some train stations but this one takes the cake. It’s really beautiful. I kind of wish we had taken a train from New York to somewhere just to be able to use the station. If you watch a lot of Hindi movies like I do, you’ll have a certain attachment to Grand Central Terminal as it is pictured in some of the movies lately, especially if the movie was shot in New York. I had to go to the Apple store within the area, which is like an open store.

Grand Central Station

Inside Grand Central Station

5. Flatiron Building -  This building was built in 1902. I was a bit annoyed with myself the first time we walked up to this building because I realized I had forgotten my camera’s zoom lens. So I couldn’t take a proper photograph of the entire building. The bf, who’s always too kind to me, brought us here again the next day so I could get a real photograph. Here’s the evidence:

Flatiron Building

Near the Flatiron District

Shopping

1. Woodbury Common Premium Outlets - We spent most of one particular day walking around here. Technically it’s a 1.5 hours drive from New York City. I’m a little bit of a shopaholic and I love bargains. Woodbury has wonderful outlets like Lululemon, Calvin Klein, Coach, Michael Kors, L’Occitane, etc. The upside of the outlet is the somewhat discounted prices.If you happen to be there at the right time of the year, you can get some good bargains. The downside is usually lack of size and colour.I’m common sized so it’s quite difficult to get my size items at outlets.

This time it was successful. I picked up some workout gear at Lululemon (They make the best workout clothing ever; I mean if you’re going to sweat, you might as well sweat in style, right?), a bag from Michael Kors along with a matching wallet, a biker style wool jacket from Calvin Klein, nothing in Coach (it was way too crowded, you’d think they were giving away bags for free!), and a  pair of short winter boots from Timberland (I paid roughly 1/8 of the price in Norway). The bf loved the deals at Timberland as they had down filled jackets for $100 and Calvin Klein Merino wool sweaters for $30. Definitely a steal for those of us paying an arm and leg for winter clothing in this corner of the world.

2. Bleecker Street - If you like Covent Garden in London, then you have to walk around Bleecker Street. The only reason I went to Bleecker Street was to visit the NARS store on 413 Bleecker Street.The store was wonderful. It was too much fun, standing there and swatching NARS blushes and lipsticks. Here are some photographs of what the store interior looks like. I didn’t take photos in the store as I was too busy swatching. Now, what did I get? Not telling I will blog about it at … some point.

Now my fascination for NARS products is a little bit crazy. When the Bleecker Street store opened last year, they released a limited edition lipstickwhich I loved so I ordered one by phone from the store, had it shipped to San Francisco where a friend lives and had the bf pick it up when he was there for work. The things we do for love. I won’t be doing this anytime soon though, as the bf is going to travel less this year

Bleecker Street also has a branch of Magnolia Bakery. The first time we were walking along here, there was a long, long queue outside the bakery. Now the bf and I have little patience for queues as we live in small Oslo where there is never a line for anything beyond coffee in the mornings. (Norwegians drink a lot of coffee, have you heard?)

3. MAC Pro Store – I’m a huge fan of MAC cosmetics and I had heard about a Pro store that is near the Flatiron district. We tried looking for it but couldn’t find it. Then we asked at another store (that is within the Flatiron building itself) and was told that the Pro store is right across the street. Finally we did find the store but it looks like you have to buzz the intercom to be allowed entrance. Now the Pro store is in a league of its own It’s a makeup lover’s dream come true. They have literally everything. If I wasn’t pressed for time, I could have spent the whole day there!

4. Union Square – There are some really nice stores around Union Square. If you like London, like me, being here might remind you of Regent Street; except for Regent Street having slightly narrower streets. The feel is quite similar. I checked out Banana Republic, Lululemon, Uniqlo, Loft, and Sephora. The bf actually got a haircut somewhere on this street while I was shopping Talk about multitasking!

Food

The food, the food. What can I say? It was so delicious. We were spoilt for choice. Usually I read a lot of restaurant reviews and sometimes even make reservations by phone, before hand, to be able to secure a table for the two of us. This time we kind of played it by ear as we knew competition for food in New York had to be high and most restaurants had to maintain a certain level of quality. We tried the following restaurants/cafes:

• Momofuku - The best thing to come out of the kitchen here is: The pork buns. Just kidding Try the Kimchi Stew. The bf had that and I had the Spicy Chicken Ramen but it was not very spicy. We also ordered a serving of the pork buns. We loved the pork buns so much that the bf and I actually tried to make it the next weekend, after we came back.
• Buddakan - We met an old friend of mine, from highschool, and her boyfriend here to have dinner for New Year’s Eve (This is the only restaurant for which the bf made reservations before hand). Later we went to a wine bar to countdown.
• Olio - On our last day in New York we had lunch here. The pizza was really good and so was their coffee.
• Magnolia Bakery - We shared a Red Velvet cupcake as well as a Vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing. Both were really good. I was really eager to eat my cupcake so much so that I actually forgot to take a photograph of it. This rarely happens to me
• Financier Pastries- We were looking for a nice cafe for breakfast and saw this quaint little place. Let’s get to the important part, this is their pastries display:
  

  Financier Pastries Display

  I had their Egg on Brioche for breakfast and it was very, very good.

  

  Egg on Brioche at Financier Pastries

• Nyonya – Whenever I travel, I dream of eating Malaysian food but I worry it might not be a pleasant experience as my taste buds are influenced by homesickness which can result in two outcomes: either I’m completely in love with the food or I’m sitting there comparing it with what I remember. Now the food at Nyonya was pretty good. I had the Nasi Lemak and the bf had their Kuay Teow. We also ordered some side dishes like Steamed Popiah and Roti Canai. Unfortunately the restaurant’s service was a bit disappointing. I’m not sure if I would go there again during the peak dinner period.
• Wall & Water (W&W) – This is a restaurant that is part of the Andaz hotel. We had breakfast here once and it was very good. I had the Eggs Benedict and it was delicious. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photographs.
• Sushi Samba - This is what I would call a fusion restaurant that serves cuisine that is a blend of Japanese, Brazillian and Peruvian food. We stumbled upon it by chance as we were nearby and were almost starving.
  

  Sushi at Sushi Samba

• Dean and Deluca – We had soup and sandwiches at their branch near Times Square. It was delicious on a cold day. I was too hungry to take photographs
• Kyotofu – Kyotofu is a Japanese dessert bar. They make desserts like green tea chocolate, black sesame flavoured tofu pannacotta, and serve delicious tea. If we had not known about this dessert place in advance, we would not have been able to find it. It’s cleverly concealed.
  

  Kuro Goma Sweet Tofu at Kyotofu

  I really liked their teapot:

  

  Hoji-cha at Kyotofu

  This is me at Kyotofu. I look so chubby :/

  

  Me at Kyotofu (I look so chubby!)

• Chipotle - A chain of Mexican grills that serve very fresh burritos (and other stuff but I always end up picking a burrito). They’re fairly laidback and have a bit of a fast-food feeling but they make your food in front of you so you get to see how they make it and it gives me, at least, some peace of mind.
• Devi – We dropped by here one evening. The service was impeccable and the food was extremely good. We had the Ragda Pattis Chaat, Abha Aunty’s Baingan and Pav “Indian Sloppy Joe” Bhaji. All three were excellent.

Overall it was a wonderful trip but New York is one of those places where one visit is just not enough – at least that’s what I’m telling the bf to convince him that we need to go there again. I’m still going through photographs. I might add a few more in later.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Thank you very much for reading my blog

Can you believe the year has passed so fast? I found 2011 so challenging. I was rolling with the punches constantly, trying to grab every single opportunity that came my way.

So..what happened in 2011?

• I switched jobs and am quite content with my current one. I don’t think there is such a thing as a perfect job – you just have to learn to change what is within your influence and tolerate/accept the rest. Though, having said that, I feel very grateful for what I have, career-wise.
• I travelled a whole lot more than I expected: Trondheim, Berlin, Malaysia, Indonesia, London, India (Chennai), Washington State, Ueberlingen/Konstanz, and New York. I had so much fun on these trips and actually accumulated so much frequent flying miles to retain the benefits my favourite airlines provides me with. I guess the only “person” who did not enjoy these trips is my bank account I’m really grateful for being able to travel so much and experience the world. The travels have inadvertently contributed to some serious packing skills
• The bf and I still get along really well. Seriously he’s the only person with enough patience to deal with my crazies. He’s also a lot of fun to travel with. If we miss a flight or have to run to our boarding gate, we don’t get angry about it. Usually we just laugh it off or sooth our anger with chocolate [though these days it's Larabars]
• I’ve managed to increase the intensity of my workouts at the gym – though with some minor setbacks like tendinitis and muscle ache. It’s gotten much better though I’ve also become quite strong lately; having to carry my laptop to and from work is no longer an effort these days. Even luggage lifting is less difficult.
• My skin has improved to a certain extent. I’m not acne-free, but I get a lot less pimples than I used to. I’m also less obsessed with it, seems to work better that way.
• I’ve become a much calmer person. I remember getting angry more frequently years ago. These days I’m more sad and annoyed, rather than angry. I guess the years are definitely catching up
• I have a much more pleasant relationship with my sisters: seriously we almost never disagree or argue any more. It’s precious to me as I barely get to see them. I guess we just got older and learned the art of patience
• I’ve found make up addiction. Sometimes the simple thought of ‘What eyeshadow to wear?’ actually gets me out of bed. It’s that much fun. I’ve also met some really cool women out there who have wonderful tastes in make up and although they are enablers, I couldn’t ask for better online make up experts. I’ve also noticed makeup is a great way to start a conversation. A lot of retail assistants at beauty stores have started talking to me because of a particular eyeshadow colour/look I was wearing.

Overall, I couldn’t  ask for more. I hope you had a good year last year and 2012 will be just as good or even better. Here’s some food for thought

It is true when they say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.

Yesterday I almost danced in the supermarket – almost – because I saw that they had a small pile of French butter. After a few weeks of empty butter shelves, I’ll take anything. Not margarine though, I don’t think that’s a good substitute for butter.

So this morning, since I’m on leave half of December, I thought I’ll make some French Toast and ask the bf to stop by for breakfast on his way to work.

French Toast with French Butter

I was mildly inspired by this recipe but here’s what I did (for 7 slices of white bread):

• Heat a skillet on medium heat.
• In a wide bowl, mix 3 eggs, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and approxiamately 1 3/4 cup of milk. The mixture’s consistency should be slightly runny.
• Add butter to the skillet; as the butter melts, swirl the skillet so the surface is evenly coated.
• Dip a slice of bread into your mixture, ensuring it’s coated evenly.
• Place the slice of bread onto the skillet and fry it. Flipping the bread will require a bit of patience as it might be a bit soggy.
• Repeat for the remaining slices.
• Serve with fresh fruit and maple syrup. Powdered sugar is optional.

I do have a wonderful picture of him in my mind – drinking his motor-oil-like coffee and working on debugging really difficult parts of code. There are few software engineers who are friendly and helpful with newbie technical writers who speak really fast (in a strange accent) and write even faster. Mr. K was one of them. You could always count on him to explain the same concept a zillion times patiently, without getting angry at all. In fact, I’ve never seen him angry in the 2.5 years that I worked with him.

RIP Mr. K. It was wonderful working with you.

Minestrone Soup Minus Macaroni

So this is a bit of a hodgepodge Minestrone soup. It definitely added some fire in the belly on a cold, cold evening.

Now this dish, Chili Prawn Linguine, is something I love making. In fact, the bf and I make it at least once every two months. We start to miss the juicy, succulent prawns if we go for awhile without eating this dish.

Chili Prawn Linguine

I couldn’t find wholewheat Linguine so I used wholewhat Spaghetti instead. I also added some rocket leaves to add some “greens” to the dish. I also skipped parmesan to reduce the salt content.

You can get this recipe from my older blog here but for convenience’s sake, I’ll paste it here too

Ingredients:

Prawns, approximately 500 grams
About 200 grams of linguine (I usually estimate half a packet)
Zest of half a lemon (according to taste)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 red chillies sliced (according to taste) [I used bottled chili paste]
Salt, pepper, and parsley (according to taste)
Garnish with grated Parmesan (optional)

Method:

Boil linguine according to instructions on the packet.
In a separate frying pan, heat olive oil and fry garlic.
When the garlic is fragrant, add in prawns.
As the prawns start to go opaque and curl in, stir in chili slices for a minute or two. (Prawns cook very quickly so you’ll have to watch closely.)
Once the prawns are done, switch off the stove.
Stir in the lemon rind.
Toss with linguine.
Season with salt, pepper, and parsley.
Top with grated Parmesan.

Here’s our version:

Homemade Ravioli

We did make some modifications though:

• We couldn’t get fava beans so we used butter beans instead (the filling is a mixture of walnuts, green peas and fava beans with parmesan, mint and lemon juice)
• Instead of lemon and basil flavoured oil, we used a tomato and onion sauce as we are both big fans of sauce

It was an awesome dinner, just what we needed on a quiet, relaxed Sunday.

I hope you had a good Sunday