Another brownie recipe which the people in my cell group approved of.
They're so easy and quick to make and you can use any nuts you like. I had walnuts in them which give a nice crunch to the top. Again, i used paper cases instead because they're prettier, and less fuss involved. saves me the trouble of having to line and grease the baking pan and cut the brownies into slices later on to serve.

Caramel Brownies

1. sift 1/2 cup SR flour + 1/3 cup plain flour in a bowl.
2. In a large bowl, use an electric beater to beat 150 g butter and 1 cup soft brown sugar until light and creamy. Add 1 egg + 1 tbsp of flour mixture and beat well. beat in another egg, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbsp milk.
3. Fold in remaining flour then fold in 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts. spoon into paper cases [I used an ice cream scoop for this, very easy]
4. mix another 1/4 cup chopped walnuts with 1 tbsp brown sugar, scatter this over tops of each brownie.
5. bake at 180C for 20-25 mins

past adventures/ nostalgia

I miss australia. i miss it so much it hurts. so i couldnt bear to look at my aussie photos ever since i came back coz it only fueled the deep deep bitterness and longing in my heart. yes i was bitter about having to come back here. i was sad. i missed my friends there and missed my life there, i missed the food there.

but looking back at these pictures.. i realized i had some interesting food adventures to share. so here they are! in June 2004,
Leon, shaun and i went on a road trip around Victoria and landed at some trout fishing farm place.

we fished for the trout. we each caught one [not very difficult since they're all starved!!!]

so we barbecued them in foil at the park with lemon, salt and butter. simple and tasty.

who'd have thought freshly caught trout would taste so good with such minimal preparation?

then we drove along to sasafrass and found a quaint little teahouse.

there's the teahouse. on the right of this picture.

it had a "christmas in July" theme going on so the christmas decorations were on. quite fitting since it was winter time.


here're shaun and leon looking at the menu.

very cozy little place, and i loved the fireplace since it was so cold outside.

shaun ordered the current scones with clotted cream and strawberry jam [yum!!] with earl grey of course, keeping up with the whole English thing.


leon had leek and potato soup. very comforting and warming on a cold day.

I dont remember what i ordered but this looks like a shepherd's pie. delicious.

i miss Australia :'(

chocolate brownies are sinfully rich and indulgent. they're like chocolate cake but denser and richer.
i decided to make these in paper cups instead just for fun. makes cleanup easier and easier to give away since i don't have to slice them.

first, melt 150g butter and 125g cooking chocolate in a heatproof bowl in the microwave in short 20 second bursts.

until it looks like this: stir it around nicely.


next, get ready 3 eggs and 1 1/2 cups caster sugar in a bowl.

whisk them together with a tsp of vanilla.

whisk them up real good.


sift 1 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of cocoa powder.

pour the melted chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. whisk that up real good too!

fold in the flour mixture. do not overmix. just fold in until combined.

pour into a pan lined with baking paper, or just put into cupcake cases as I've done here.
bake at 180C for 40 minutes if using a pan, or 25 minutes if using cupcake cases.
let cool before cutting because the insides will still be slightly wet when u take it out and will continue to set while cooling.

i threw in some walnuts coz i had some in the fridge. the tops are so nicely crackled. like molten lava....

i have some random food pics here in no particular order.

the noodle station in SS15 [opposite old town kopitiam] is really nice. the ambiance is quite agreeable, clean, air conditioned, nice tables and chairs. the waiters have high tech PDAs in which your orders are transmitted wirelessly to the kitchen.

prices range between RM5.90-13.90 so it's reasonable. the portions are good too.
this thai friend rice was ordered by a friend of mine and it was yummy.

for CNY i had some friends over for steamboat. we steamed up various processed meats like these fishballs, veggie balls, foo chuk and tofu.


these meatballs were from a random trip to IKEA last Wednesday. the gravy was delish. it's what makes it special. i cant appreciate the lingonberry jam though. i think that jam should stay on toast/tarts/cakes.


this was a random experiment i had with pasta. trying to make carbonara. it was from jamie oliver's recipe. here's a tip : make sure the bacon's nice and crispy before mixing it in or it'll go soggy.