Food, Recipe

White fungus, Lily bulb dessert 

Polling day. Psi reading is 111 now on a hot Friday afternoon. It’s been at an unhealthy range & Mrs Eio is sure many people are having some form of respiratory issues these few days. Mrs Eio decided to prepare dessert that will moisten our lungs & strengthen our respiratory & immune system. For sanity & beauty too! Lol. 

White fungus lily bulb dessert. 

Ingredients  are as follows (the photo shows the type of ingredients. Not the quantity.) :

  
White fungus (1 big packet) 白木耳

Dried Lily bulbs (1.5 cup) 百合

Melon strips (3/4 cup) 冬瓜条

Wolfberry (3/4 cup) 枸杞子

Dried Lotus seed (1 .5cup)莲子

Dried Longan (1.5 -2 cup)桂圆

Red date (1 cup) 红枣

Gingko nuts (1.5 cup) 白果

Rock sugar 冰糖to taste. (Depending on the amount of longan & red date added. The more longan & red date, one should reduce the Rock sugar.) 

3.5 litres of water. (Serving about 15 people )水

  Soak the white fungi & remove the “stalk” (the hard & yellowish area before use). Rinse thoroughly. White fungus is high in collagen & well known for their ability to improve respiratory functions. Lily bulb is also beneficial to our respiratory system. Wolfberry- for our eyes… Despite the haze & hot weather, smooth skin & healthier lungs, here we come!!!

  
You may use fresh or canned gingko nuts. 

 
Mrs Eio is using her La gourmet magic cooker again. Safe time & energy. Bring the water to boil. Give all the dried ingredients a good rinse before adding them (except the rock sugar) into the pot of boiling water. Boil about 1o-15 min, put the inner metal pot into the magic cooker outer cast to let the ingredients continue to cook for at least 1-2 hours. Add rock sugar to taste before serving. 

  
The longer the ingredients remain in the pot (3-4 hours) the softer the lotus seed, lily bulb & white fungus. The soup will be slightly thickened. Yummy…

If you are “heaty”, having sorethroat etc, you may omit longan & red dates. Just use more rock sugar to taste. Alternatively, you can add barley to the soup.   

Eio kids’ drinking the dessert when Psi is 170. Try it out. For our sanity, lungs & beauty!!! Lol. 

Cafe Hopping, Food, Uncategorized

To-Gather Cafe

Eios has been to this cafe many times. Eio kids like to visit To-gather & sometimes it’s for their couples time. 

To-gather’s food is good & price-wise quite decent for a cafe. Eios’ at To-gather again for their Sunday lunch. 

Mushroom soup. A “MUST-order” soup for Em when he visits restaurants or cafes. His favorite!

   

Mrs Eio likes their coffee. Err… Hope the cup can be bigger. Lol. 

  

Seafood Aglio olio. Eio kids love speghetti. This is spicy but since they were hungry, it’s a good opportunity to push their ability to tahan (endure) spicy food further. 

  

Hungry guys…
  

Very very hungry girl…

  

Long queue…
  

Eliz kept saying,” it’s very hot…” But she just continued eating.

  

And drinking water…
  

Eio kids “all-time-favorite”- French fries. Think Eliz really loves the speghetti. She’s using the fries to scoop it into her mouth. If she didn’t like it, she would not eat it at all after having an alternative. 

  

Chicken chop. The sauce on the chicken has a strong pineapple taste. Not sure if you agree with Mrs Eio. She prefers saltish sauce for chicken chop instead of a sweet citrus taste. Salad & the dressing are good. Fries… Are fries lor. Crispy. Heehee.   

First time ordering the matcha lava cake. Mrs Eio is kind of disappointed as it’s really too sweet. 
  

There’s no doubt Mrs Eio will visit To-gather cafe again as some of her activities revolve around that area. Seems like they are taking in reservations these days. If you are keen to visit, their address & website are as follows…

 

84 Bedok North Street 4

# 01-25 / 27, Singapore 460084

http://www.togathercafe.com.sg

Education, Family, Kids/Children

Eio’s election 

Today, PSI more than 100 so Eio kids can’t have any outdoor activites. How? Everyone’s stuck at home… Since election fever is running high in Singapore now, it’s time for the Eios to cast their votes & run their very own election at home. Lol. Still hoping to bring the kids for one of the rallies. Missed one this evening as the kids are kind of affected by the haze & slept very early tonight. 

Mrs Eio has been wanting to do something relating to voting & election with the kids after Em’s thousand & one questions on Singapore’s  upcoming general election. 

  
Em & El can’t come to term with the toy box they wanna play with this school holiday. So yes, the opportunity has arised for Mrs Eio to get the Eio kids to vote. 

Eio kids come up with their very own Party’s name & logo. Em’s Racing Party (RP) versus El’s Princess Party (PP). Pun? Lol.

Below is their Parties’ posters. 

  

The only area designated to put up their parties’ posters is on the shoe cabinet. 😄  
 

Impromptu ballot box & ballot paper.    

Em told Mrs Eio that Mr Eio told him voting is secret so he has to vote in the room!

Well… Frankly it’s no secret at all. Em sure vote for his own party…    

Hmm… He should fold the ballot paper into half before putting it into the ballot box. 

Mrs Eio expects El to do the same as Em but she didn’t. She wanna do it her way since she’s sleepy as she missed her nap. Hence, her vote is invalid (voided ballot). 
    
The voting result is out. Racing party win 75% of the total vote. Hence, Eio kids will be changing the train toy box to car box for this school holiday. Em’s feeling victorious!

 

Next, Eios need to elect a leader for the toy box. The 2 parties contesting for this post is… **Drum roll!!!!!!**
   

Mrs Eio’s Mama party (MP)  versus Em’s Racing Party (RP). Hahaha!! Pun again??  
This is obviously an infringement of the election rules! The RP leader & member are influencing the voter. 

Vote for Mama party!! The party logo is sexy lips. Lol. 

Drawing on ballot paper again! Wasted vote.     
Election result is out! Mr Eio casted an invalid vote! (Zzz… Telling us he’s sleepy) 

So both MP & RP garner 25% of the total votes (same percentage) so they shall have a coalition government. 2 leaders in charge of the car box. 

 

Hmm… Princess gets to “free ride”? No need to keep toys after playing? 

 Purely for the fun of it since the Eio kids have to wait for many years before they can cast their first votes during Singapore’s GE. 

Voting is compulsory.  Your vote is secret! 

May the best party win!👍

 

Education, Kids/Children

Parting the Red Sea

Mrs Eio had a little guest with the Eios weeks ago & they had a time learning about Moses parting the Red Sea. 

Firstly, Em tried sharing the story of Moses parting the Red Sea with the younger children. Well… Mrs Eio took out a basin of water to show the children what it meant to part the water (Red Sea). 

  
Next, The children made use of the recycled materials (from holding the IKEA curtain cloth) to make Moses’ staff. The children were decorating their staff. 

    

Mr Eio showed the kids a 4 min video “Prince of Eygpt” on the TV. The part where Moses was parting the Red Sea & the song “there can be miracle” was played in the video. 

After having some idea what was this story all about, the children were ready to part the sea. 

   
Mrs Eio had 2 big blue towel. Good enough to be the “Red Sea”. 

“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

‭‭Exodus‬ ‭14:21-22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 
The children took turns to part the Red Sea & led their “fellow Israelites (other children & their teddy bears) out of Egypt”.    
 

Victorious!!!
  
Hope the children had a fruitful time learning & having fun! 

Cafe Hopping, Food

Jubilee coffee house & bar

Mrs Eio’s good friend posted on Jubilee coffee house & bar on their fb during the Jubilee weekend. Yes, it’s time for her to try it out…

 Retro theme but it has a oriental feel not just because of the music they play & decor but the food as well. 

Don’t mind Mrs Eio saying… In short, she thinks Jubilee serves a combination of food one can find in a western food stall plus Chinese tze char stall. 


Well… Sad to say there’s no waffles for Mrs Eio. They serves Chinese desserts (like those you can find in kopitiam), cake & some pastries. 



Coffee is not bad…

Chicken chop portion is quite big. 


It’ll be better if they can serve the curry chicken & rice separately. 😊

  
If you are trying to getaway from the crowd in shopping malls, restaurants, foodcourt and don’t mind paying more for the food to eat in peace. This will be a good place to chill & relax. 

Jubilee coffee house & Bar

580 Netheravon Road. Singapore 508516.

Education, Kids/Children

Trapped air floats

Em comes home with a sail boat today after school. He says he wants play with it in the water & see if it can float. Mrs Eio realizes there’s a hole on the boat where he attached the sail so she tells Em the boat is likely to sink. Em is extremely excited & wanna Mrs Eio to let him try it out. 

  
Well… Mrs Eio agrees to Em’s request but they can only conduct the experiment AFTER dinner. Heehee…

As expected, Em including El finish their dinner really quickly & it’s time to try out the boat. 

   
Before trying out the boat, let’s have some theory lesson. Let’s see if the assumptions are true.

 
Mrs Eio & Eio kids decided to make 2 boats so that El could also participate. These are the materials that they use simply because they are what they have at home. 

    
 Mrs Eio just finishes using her kitchen paper towel so they can have the roll as one of the meterials. 

Em names his boat Angiri-10. It’s the boat he took when the Eios were in Maldives June this year . 

  

  
El’s boat is the control experiment. So they cut a hole underneath.

  
True enough. El’s boat sinks & Em’s boat is still sailing. They try sailing Em’s boat from school. It doesn’t sink as they have taped the hole. Strong wind from the balcony blows in & the boat moves without them touching. Em asks about the wind & sail. 

  
 El throws the toys onto the boat & so they discuss on incident where the boat sank as there’s too many people on board.

  
Not sure how much Eio kids comprehend but this experiment sure keeps them occupied for very long so Mrs Eio can wash up after dinner. 👍

Food, Uncategorized

Bosch experience with chef John See (part 3-dessert)

Chef John See is trained in French cuisine. Hence we can see from all these dishes that  he’s very particular with the presentation. Every dish is like an art form. Rich, colorful & pretty. Of course, very nutritious too! Below are the ingredients for making this refreshing & pretty dessert. 

Dessert: Chilled melon soup with avocado & assorted berry.

 
    

Ingredients

2 white dragon fruits

4 avocado

4 gooseberry

1 cup fresh blueberry

1 cup strawberry  
 Melon mix:

1 Rock melon

2 cup Ice cube

1cup fresh raspberry

  1) Combine the melon mix ingredient together in a Bosch blender, puree the ice & melon to fine. Set in the fridge & stir before serve.

2) Place one of the dragon fruit halves into a soup plate & nicely place all the fruit balls & berry onto it. Then, pour the chilled melon soup into the soup plate as shown.

Done! So pretty right?  

   

Putting the same dessert in different bowls give it a different feel…

 With the 3 “H” (haze/ hot & humid) in Singapore, Mrs Eio will strongly recommend this dessert for everyone. Have a blessed & restful weekend! 

Education, Food

Bosch experience with Chef John See (part 2- main dish)

In addition to the appetizer salad that Mrs Eio shared in her earlier post when she’s at the Bosch Experience Center, chef John See also shared his recipe on the following main dish & how he used Bosch home appliances to create this dish with ease. 

    
Main dish:

Steamed Salmon encrusted with flaxseed & walnut. Served with beetroot-tomato jam & sautéed kale with soya milk   
This is a dish with lots of superfood ingredients: 

Salmon
2tbsp Olive oil

Pinch freshly cracked salt & pepper 

8 slices lemon slices 

Flaxseed & walnut crust: 

3tbsp toasted flaxseed

Half cup toasted walnut

2 sliced toasted wholemeal fibre bread (cut to cubes)
1tbsp honey 

  
Beetroot & tomato jam:

2 cooked beetroot (peel & diced)

3 cup fresh tomato (cut to quarter)

2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

4tbsp brown sugar 

Half white onion (diced)

Kale in soya milk:

1tbsp olive oil

2 whole garlic smashed 

Pinch of salt & pepper

300gm Fresh kale leaves

1 firm bean curd

Half cup soya milk


1) tomato jam: Heat up an pot over Bosch stove. Add all the tomato jam ingredients together & simmer to boil. Keep at low heat & keep stirring from time to time for 15 min. 

Use a Bosch handheld blender (see photo above) & purée the tomato jam into fine puree & add in the cooked beetroot cube. Set aside to serve with salmon. 

   

 2) combine all the flaxseed mix ingredients (except honey ) into the Bosch mighty mix blender (see photo below). Roughly blend & set aside. Add honey, then heating it on a pan. Set aside as a crust for the salmon.   

 3) place the salmon onto a tray top with salt, pepper, lemon slices & olive oil. Then into the Bosch Series 8 steam oven (see photo below) to steam for 5-6 min. 

Mrs Eio is impressed with bosch series 8 steam oven. It’s an all-in-one oven that can steam (that’s the container to hold water for steaming function), roast, microwave & bake etc. Recent new developments have very small kitchen, this oven will help save space as there’s no need for a steamer, microwave etc. Of course, this oven is more pricey as compared to the other conventional ovens in the market. 

  

Chef stressed that we should not over-steam salmon. If we see whitish substance on the salmon, it means that the fish is over cooked. 
  4) encrusted with the flaxseed walnut crust & place it onto a plate.   (Mrs Eio loves the taste of this crust. Crunchy & nutty. Can serve the kids as snacks. Lol) 
   

Mrs Eio has tried cooking this black tau kwa. It’s delicious, tougher & taste abit like meat. Well… You can see from the packaging that it contains antioxidants. 

5) lightly sautéed the garlic to golden brown, add kale & bean curd (see photo above & below) . Fry for 2 min. Finally add in soya milk to braise for 3 min.

   

6) serve with beetroot tomato jam. 

 

The final product! 

Steamed Salmon encrusted with flaxseed & walnut. Served with beetroot-tomato jam & sautéed kale with soya milk  

Mrs Eio has not tried steaming fish with lemon! She usually used ginger & garlic. Hmm.. Something different that she can try at home. Hopefully the Eios will like it. 

Cafe Hopping

The Bark Cafe

The Bark Cafe is located next to the Changi chapel & museum.  If you are looking for a place for Al fresco dining, this is a cafe that you should give a try.   

 Mrs Eio visited the Changi Chapel & museum before heading to the cafe for lunch. Good place for an educational trip for Eio kids when they are slightly older. 
   
  

No air-con but the dining area is rather cosy despite the heat. 

  
 
Ordered latte, chapel cheesy burger & of course, not forgetting waffle for dessert. 

   
Mrs Eio was really impressed by their chapel cheesy burger. One of the best beef patty ever- juicy & succulent. One thing Mrs Eio must highlight is that the chef toasted the burger bread which makes this dish even yummier. 

    
 
The waffle tasted good but it’s kind of too thin. Hence it gets soggy very quickly with the icecream, fruits & syrup.   
 Hmm… This cafe is worth re-visiting. 😊

Website: http://www.thebarkcafe.com