Tis' the Season

to be jolly. fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la.

I am still trying to feel more jolly about the festive season first, before 12 Jan comes along... SCHOOL REOPENS. what a bummer ):

But i must say, this hols have been so fruitful/ eventful/ meaningful.
and there is so much to thank god about.

plenty of new friends from vietnam trip- the facilitators group, CJC ocip team, vietnamese volunteers, and the LOVELY ORPHANS!

greater exposure of my foodblog. apparently i'm now friends with a bunch of renowned food bloggers in singapore, who are such nice people (:
(in case you still do not know, i keep a food blog of reviews and personal food recounts. please visit http://divinejoybites.blogspot.com/ for more info. please do support and give comments there, haha)

consistently successful bakes, and more adventurous tryouts! i'm currently offering dessert tasting sessions for groups of people. started out with my sister's JC mates, and more to plan out. this is to offer testers of my bakes and promote for my future bakeshop: DIVINE ESSENTIALS. All earnings would go into funding my future Paris' dreams and the sch fees.

(unofficial bake-orders for any of my successful creations are currently negeotiable, just drop me an email at elaineng_121@hotmail.com to enquire)

this christmas, mum made an order of about 200 disney cookies as gifts for her colleagues and relatives>>>


complete with packaging and labelling.

lastly and most excitedly,
dad gave me a dslr!!!
it may not be the latest but i am uber contented with it.

CANON EOS 400d. love it to bits and pieces.
now you know why i have been click, click, clicking away~

Christmas, Christmas!
-what elaine's been up to-

Christmas Eve, 24 December 2008
Dessert Tasting Session for Sister's Party
(photos by dad's Canon EOS 50d)



3-tier stand...
Mini Fruit Tartlets w Vanilla Custard
Dark Chocolate Frosted Walnut Brownies
Raspberry Crumble Cake
Vanilla Panna Cotta w Rasperry Coulis




individual portions of Bailey's Tiramisu






eating, explaining, & feedback time.

I was on cloud nine that night, feeling so satisfied with the outcome and appreciation from them. Seeing people indulge happily into my creations is a huge sense of satisfaction, really! they were interested to place future orders too, yays (:

Christmas Day, 25 Dec 2008
Family Party @ my place



It was a night of fun and interaction with the relatives... everyone was present! The usual gift exchanging took place and this year, we had more out-of-the-ordinary gifts (haha!) to evoke laughter.


two chocolate logcakes i rushed out in the wee hours.
first attempt!





bringing out the platter for a 2nd time, heh.
raspberry crumble cake.

mini fruit tartlets.

disney butter cookies.

response was good (:





my loyal supporters, thankyou all so much!


the chap-a-lang potluck,lol.


surprise gift from the kids, super sweet of them..


awww..grandma look so cute!



we planned a few rounds of mass games too, which was utterly fun! ben offered me his wide angle lens so i could shoot, super cool! nothing beats bonding with a crowd of family members on christmas day (:

Boxing Day, 26 Dec 2008
Party @ Hector's- Potluck again!

Before that, the animal family Hog's Breath-ed at Vivocity...




the cow, the fish, the pig, the goat. Love them.

Then huiling and i made our way to Hector's place.


in process of making my Bailey's tiramisu..


FOOD x)
Notice the yellow-speckled ham? Oh man, i had sooo many pieces of it.. was cheese-stuffed and too thick to resist =D


playing indian poker


happy 17th birthday, georgina~


greedy-looking brandon & ian with their sundaes, haha!

more updates soon!
i've still yet to report about hokkaido & vietnam, hah. currently more active on facebook and extremely eager to keep divine joybites updated.

Merry christmas & a happy new year to all~

Updating Soon!

My com's back!

got the faulty thing sent to sim lim for repair & its finally working and alive again, heh. thank goodness the problem didn't lie in the hard drive so no contents were lost (:

currently in the midst of editing the trips + post-trip photos before i could update. plus rushing out christmas bakes like crazy.

So little time.. so much to blog about! arrgh.
look back soon alrites?

ARRGH.

i'm finally back from the 11-day draggy trip in vietnam, cam loaded with photos to edit and post up... but the computer had to die on me!

i am so HATING this.

now using my dad's macbook as a makeshift internet resource. i am so not used, hence slow, in using this and editing photos in here is almost impossible.

I LOVE PROJECT EXODUS + cjc group

& im missing hue so much.

plus im really affected by this fateful com breakdown.

two words : PEK CHEK.

Leaving For Japan

Hokkaido!

i'm leaving on a midnight flight today, will be back in 8 days time. Following that it'll be prom night then my vietnam ocip trip.

yes, 4-15th Dec is Vietnam time.

oh and i finally bought my prom dress.
i splurged on it. total madness!

updates when i'm back!

drooling for hokkaido icecreammmmmm...

Makes Makes Makes

once again,
*elaine's Bakes N Makes.

Special: DAD's BIRTHDAY CAKE.




Raspberry Mousse Chocolate Fudge Cake.
(approx 3.5-4kg) *more in dad's birthday entry.

Bentos.

#3: Sunshine Hokkaido.




yakisoba, flower omelette, teriyaki scallops, sushi rice, kani sticks, quail egg, choc almond cookie

#4: Sandwich Savy




(two-tier lunchbox for sis! =D)

disney pooh & dale Ham N Cheese sandwich, bunny duo-colour tuna mayo sandwich, bearie duo-colour peanut butter nutella sandwich, cheesy fish fingers. watermelon cup, mayo dip

#5: Something Fishy


poor dad's one had to be squeezed due to space constraint


fishy omelette-wrapped tomato fried rice, strawberry tail, sesame seasoned spinach, hoki fish nuggets, pucca mini fish biscuits, tartar sauce dip.

Bakes.


Frosted Mini Blueberry Muffins


Chocolate Eclairs
choux puff fingers filled with vanilla cream & chocolate ganache-glazed



Disney Butter Cookies




Pandan Kaya Custard Cake
specially for grandma! (:


Sausage Prata Breakfast Rolls


Honey Pineapple Prata Parcels (vegetarian substitute for mum)

Post-Deepavali Indian Dinner.
haha!

indian food is also tedious! began from scratch and it took quite some time to complete. results satisfied (: (:


100%-Handmade Naan


Ovenbaked Tandoori Chicken, Mint Mayo, Naan Bread.


Snapper Fish & Sweet Potato Red Curry w Turmeric Yellow Rice.

Au Petit Salut

my birthday dinner with him.
finally, finally.

In line with my current french fetish (after-effect of aspiring to enrol into Le Cordon Bleu), we did French this year.

Au Petit Salut @ Harding Road
somewhere ulu-ated in the vicinity of dempsey.

indoors were full, al fresco was our only choice.
Set Dinner Menu, $98++ per pax.


compliementary bread: baguette, typically french


clam & saffron starter

a buttery froth in a cup with invigorating yet untellable flavours, i could not trace it sources until i asked the waiter.

Amuse Bouche

1st Entrée.


Salade de homard.
Steamed ‘’minute” Boston lobster salad of raw crunchy vegetables and mixed greensaged Cabernet Sauvignon vinegar and olive oil dressing

the waiter cared to emphasized that the lobster's netted and killed upon order. fills us with slight guilt that we had decided the poor lobster's fate. but BUT, it was certainly fresh.

2nd Entrée


HIS.
Foie gras de canard poêlé au vinaigre de Xeres
Pan-seared duck foie gras served with baby spinachred onions and Xeres vinegar

i took a tiny portion. whoa, now i finally understand the controversies of this deemed "wonder". goose liver is such a you-either-love-or-hate-it drama.. its a complete melt-in-the-mouthly piece of FAT. pleasure or guilt, you decide!


MINE.
Coquilles St Jacques aux endives caramelisées à l’orange
Seared large scallops with caramelized Belgium endives in orange juice

tender and succulence paired with a heavy citrus base.



Mains.


HIS.
Filet de boeuf sauce moutarde et herbes fraîches
Pan-seared beef tenderloin (150gm) served with mashed potato,mustard and fresh herb sauce


MINE.
Filet de daurade Royale de l’Atlantique au four
Oven baked Atlantic Royal sea bream served with roasted eggplant and zucchini, pumpkin coulis.

to be honest, this was way too under-dramatized for me. i saw no sensational sparks in the underseasoned fish.



Then there was the funny part.

while dan was in the gents, the waiter approached to extract some feedback from me (the heavy photo-snapper who's obviously invovled in blogging haha).

waiter: so mam, how was the food tonight? was it good?

elaine: hmmm, i guess it was okay.

waiter: *chuckles, in disbelief. oh you mean it was just okay, just average, and not good?

elaine: *rethinks about the courses. yupp its just alright. we had some minor issues with the main courses.

waiter: *laughs. alright sure, i'll feedback to the kitchen about that. let me clear your table for desserts.

elaine: haha thanks.

LOL. i could be really frank and state my real opinions of each of the dish but i thought i had better not offend their reputation. i'm no connoiseur or chef as yet but i do know my stuffs about food, heh.

Dessert.


Soufflé au Grand Marnier
Orange and Grand Marnier soufflé with chocolate truffle

lovely. souffles are love and this one is alcoholically enhanced plus a decadent ruffle center to woooh about (: thumbs up.


i look absolutely.ghostly.here

French cuisine is undoubtedly rich and learned, but i still do prefer the simplicity of italian flavours. thanks so much dear for the chance to experience!