Wishing you all a very happy Chinese New Year... and Valentine's Day!
There will be more posts to come involving these two events. We had 22 people at my place last night bringing in the year of the tiger, with food coming out the wazoo! I will also be cooking a romantic meal for Hamsley as I for Valentine's Day, as part of the cookbook challenge's "love" theme.

I was going to make a few things for the new year's eve feast. I wanted to make coconut chicken wonton cases; but they seemed more work than they were worth. I was going to make Poh's coconut lace pancakes after seeing them on Not Quite Nigella... but mum was no longer making curry. Then there were a few desserts I wanted to try, but had never made before. I didn't want my dessert to fail, and I really just wanted to make some Chinese New Year cupcakes. I thought I'd make tiger cupcakes, but I didn't want them to be tragically ugly. So after a bit of google-ing around, I stumbled onto Simply Cake and found my solution. I was already planning on baking red velvet cupcakes for Valentine's Day, so I just thought I'd whip up a double batch whilst I was at it. I've made them before, and the recipe can be found here. I couldn't find buttermilk at the supermarket for the first time ever, so I made my own with 1 tablespoon white vinegar (or lemon juice), then fill it up to the 1 cup mark with milk. Leave it for 5 minutes, then use as the recipe requires.

The red represents health, the gold represents prosperity.

I did however steal Not Quite Nigella's idea of putting Aldi jam hearts on top of red velvet cupcakes. I baked the cupcakes in heart shaped moulds I picked up on sale at Sportsgirl just before Christmas!

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Since it's egg week, I had endless possibilities. I settled for one of Mum's and Hamsley's favorite egg dishes; eggs benedict.
I followed the recipe, and my poached eggs came out perfectly. I am still chuffed with myself!
I however, prefer my eggs scrambled.

The hollandaise sauce was beautiful and creamy.
It was a very quick and easy meal to make. I can see myself making this dish quite a bit in the future!



Eggs Benedict
Australian Women's Weekly

Get your hands on:
8 eggs
4 english muffins
200g shaved leg ham
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives


1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 egg yolks
125g unsalted butter, melted


1. Make hollandaise sauce: combine vinegar, juice and peppercorns in small saucepan; bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until liquid is reduced by half. Strain through a fine sieve into small heatproof bowl; cool 10 minutes. Whisk egg yolks into vinegar mixture. Set bowl over small saucepan of simmering water; do not allow water to touch base of bowl. Whisk mixture over heat until thickened. Remove bowl from heat; gradually whisk in melted butter in a thin steady stream, whisking constantly until sauce is thick and creamy.


2. To poach eggs, half-fill a large shallow frying pan with water; bring to the boil. Break 1 egg into a cup, then slide into pan; repeat with three more eggs. When all eggs are in pan, allow water to return to the boil. Cover pan, turn off heat; stand about 4 minutes or until a light film of egg white sets over yolks.
Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and drain on absorbent paper; cover to keep warm. Repeat with remaining eggs.


3. Meanwhile, split muffins in half and toast.

4. Serve muffins topped with ham, poached eggs, sauce and chives.


Serves 4.

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Misty's Diner had been on my list of places to try after hearing about it on the radio, and seeing it on SBS's Food Safari.
I was organising a surprise party for Hamsley's birthday with some friends, and scratched my head at where to have it. I knew he had wanted to return to Misty's for a meal; so I scratched my head no longer, and picked up the phone to make a booking.

Misty's is located next to The Works car wash. There must be a special deal when getting your car washed to eat at Misty's, as quite a few people were getting their vehicle washed, and eating in the diner whilst they waited.
I can't remember American diners very well. I was only about 10 years old when I went to America. I can still vaguely remember the diner near Disneyland we ate at a few times. It had the same kind of retro decor Misty's has, most likely less on the pink side though.
It was a lovely day. We sat inside, looking out onto the deck with the open doors providing a nice breeze. The menu was extremely comprehensive; about 8-10 pages long if I remember correctly. Thus making it very hard to decide on what to eat. All day breakfast is available. I was a bit disappointed I couldn't find the thick shakes on the menu, as I had looked online and drooled over a few milky options. I could have asked but I opted for something less thick and shaky. You can view the menu online here.

Each table comes with standard diner sauces: tomato ketchup, BBQ sauce, steak sauce and American mustard. So there are not complaints about not receiving enough sauce. I liked the little caddys they came in.


First burger to arrive at the table in traditional diner form, was this nice big juicy burger. I didn't hear any complaints from Pandy about this burger, other than the fact he was under the impression it came with onion rings (multiple, not singular).

The great thing about the burgers at Misty's, is that you can turn any burger into a vegetarian burger. I found this a great option for my vegetarian friend Dave. He did end up going for the veggie burger in the end, along with Chris; and both were very happy with their choice.

To accompany their veggie burgers, the boys got a side of these fries. I had a taste, and they were deeeelicious.

Hamsley nearly entered a food coma after eating this. Mind you, he didn't have enough room to finish all 'dem chilli fries. He had wanted to get a hot dog at Costco before hand, and I'm glad I had told him not to; or he would have eaten even less. He was extremely happy with this dish.

We all had a bite of a Twinkie to see what all the fuss was about. We all came to the conclusion that it was just all right, nothing special we could see ourselves craving.
Apart from Twinkies, you can buy a selection of famous American candy, also available at the USA Food Store.

Good service, Misty even came up to our table to check if everything was okay. I thought it was cute how every dish had an American flag. With such an extensive menu, I will be back; for sure.

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