8th Anniversary of Cuisine Paradise

Today Cuisine Paradise adds another year onto the blog stats where we celebrate our 08th Anniversary. Time flies and it's seems only a few weeks ago when I wrote about our 07th Anniversary flashback post and yet now we are into the eighth years of blogging.

Although there were ups and downs along the way during these 8 years but I am thankful for a group of supportive friends and readers who are always there to show us full supports as well as their kind words and encouragements which makes us grow stronger each year.

[i-Love Mama Healthy Meal] i-Love Mama Bento

Photo Credit:- iWeekly (I周刊)

Finally after a few weeks of preparations (like designing and preparing of bentos for approval, practicing, lasing and etc) we managed to complete our two i-Love Mama Healthy Meal recruitment roadshows; 1st (Tampines Giant) and 2nd (Sheng Siong Supermarket) that were hosted by Mediacorp artiste Pornsak and Y.E.S 93.3FM deejay Siau Jia Hui!

Although in between there were some hard times dealing with the coordination and etc but eventually we were all thankful that everything went on smooth and we did have fun to be in part of their i-Love Mama Healthy Meal recruitment roadshows. More photos of the roadshows could be found at our Facebook Page HERE.

Mother's Day Cake From Icing Room plus Giveaway

Photo credit: The Icing Room

This coming Mother's Day, The Icing Room introduce two special design cakes to pamper all mothers who plays the most important role in their family. These two elegance cakes are known as Perfect Mum (top) and Say It with Love (bottom) at a regular price of S$29.00 each which can be served up to 6.

And if you place your pre-order of the Mother's Day Cake(s) mentioned above from 02nd - 09th May 2013, you could also enjoy a 20% discount off plus received an adorable lollicake from The Icing Room.

Photo credit: The Icing Room

Perfect Mum - Strawberry cake made from classic vanilla chiffon and layered with strawberry mousse and jelly. 

Photo credit: The Icing Room

Say It with Love - Made from light and fluffy vanilla chiffon that filled with cocktail fruits and heavenly Chantilly cream which represent the tender sweetness that a mother showers on her children.

On top of that from 12th April 2013 onwards, lovely treats from The Icing Room would be made available from their new delivery website @http://theicingroomdelivery.com.sg/ so that it would be a breeze to order your cake(s) and get it delivered to your doorstep.

MOTHER'S DAY CAKE GIVEAWAY

Thanks to The Icing Room, we are giving away a voucher worth S$29.00 to 1 Lucky readers/followers of Cuisine Paradise to redeem the "Prefect Mum" Cake starting from 02 May - 09 May 2013.

To participate:-
1. LIKE and SHARE this photo on Facebook. (remember to leave a comment that you have liked and shared)

2. Leave a comment at this post sharing one of your favourite homecook dish that you wish to learn from your mum?

Terms And Conditions 
* This giveaway ends on Monday, 29 April 2013 (2.00pm, Singapore time).
* Only for readers living in SINGAPORE.
* Participants must follow the instructions mentioned above to be eligible for the giveaway.
* Please leave a valid email address when filling out the comment form so that we can contact you immediately if you are the winners.


[UPDATED ON:- 30 April 2013]

[i-Love Mama Healthy Meal] Panda Bento Set

In conjunction with the i-Love Mama Healthy Meal Contest which is organised by Mama Lemon and i-Weekly, I was invited to do bento demo at the recruitment roadshows to promote their upcoming healthy meal contest. To register for this contest, grandmothers/mothers with child aged 12 years and below can team up to create a healthy meal and stand a chance to win attractive cash and prizes worth S$4,000. (more details here)

Doing the Panda Onigiri together with Pornsak (Mama Lemon ambassador)

The host and Pornsak were sharing the nutrition values of the ingredients used while Shiting and I were busying assembling the Bento.

Shiting (Lobsterpaint.com) and I busying at the i-Love Mama Healthy Meal bento demo roadshow

Samples of the Kid's Panda Bento Set during the i-Love Mama Healthy Meal roadshow demo

Adult Bento Set with same ingredients used but without cute "make-over".

PANDA BENTO SET
(i-Love Mama Healthy Meal)

This is my Kid's version of healthy meal whereby a normal homecook meal is being transform into a Panda Onigiri with accompany dishes such as asparagus bacon roll, baked honey chicken, panda quail, steamed corn kernels and some grapes. I am sure this fulfills the 2 servings of veggies plus plus to balance out the nutrition intakes for kid.

Beside you don't have to spend extra time preparing additional dishes for the bento. You could just use your creative mind and re-assemble your daily homecook dishes into something more attractive for the kids. Blow is a quick bento recipe which shows how I turn simple homecook dishes into a cute Panda Bento Set.

(Serves: 1 | Preparation: 15 minutes | Cooking: 10 minutes)

Ingredients:
6 - 8 Thai Baby Asparagus (泰国小芦笋), trim and cut into half
2 Strips of Bacon
3 Tablespoons Of Cooked Rice
1 Slice of Sandwich Cheese
Nori (seaweed) Sheet
Baked Honey Chicken Mid-joint
1 Quail Egg
Some Cherry Tomato
Steamed Sweetcorn Kernels
4 Blueberry / Dried Raisin
Fresh Fruits
Some Fresh Lettuce, optional

Tools Needed:
Bento Box
Side Dishes Food Casing
Heat Resistant Cling Wrap
Food Cutters
Seaweed Puncher (for facial expression)
Food Tweezer
2 Toothpicks
Bento Food Pick (optional)
Small Scissor
1 - 2 Dry Spaghetti Noodle

To Make the Asparagus Bacon Roll:-

1. Blanch the asparagus in boiling water for 20 seconds, remove, pat dry and cut them into half of equal length.

2. Arrange half of the asparagus near one end of  the bacon strip, roll the bacon strip forward to wrap the asparagus then secure the end with a toothpick shown on the photo above.

3. Preheat a frying pan with 1 teaspoon of oil, cook the asparagus wrap over low heat till slightly golden brown in colour (about 5 minutes). Remove and set aside.

To Assemble the Panda Onigiri:-

1. Spoon about 2 - 2.5 tablespoons of cooked rice on a piece of heat resistant cling wrap. Using hand, shape it tight into oblong shape to form the panda body.

2. Open up the cling wrap, wrap a 1cm wide nori (seaweed) sheet near the bottom the rice ball to form a belt (refer to the photo above). Next place the rice ball with nori sheet back onto the cling wrap and shape it tightly so that the nori sheet will stick to the rice ball.

3.With another piece of cling wrap shape 1/2 teaspoon of rice into a triangle shape to form the nose of the panda.

4. Using Scissor, cut out 2 oval shapes from the nori sheet to form the black eye circles of the panda.

5.With either a food cutter or drinking straw cut out smaller oval shapes from the sandwich cheese to form the white part of the panda eyes.

6. Next using a facial seaweed puncher to punch out facial express from the nori sheet and assemble it on the panda (refer to the photo above).

7. To decorate the "belt" below, you can use any small shape cutter like star, heart, flower or etc, cut out shapes from the sandwich cheese and place it on the nori belt.

8. To fix the panda ears, use either blueberry or dried raisin and connect it to the rice ball with the help of the dry spaghetti noodle in between.

9. Above shows the close up look of the Panda Onigri plus the asparagus bacon wrap.

10. When done, assemble the bento box together with the rest of the side dishes and fruit shown above.

For this coming Saturday i-Love Mama Healthy Meal roadshow, I would be doing a similar bento which I hope it resemble the Lion Mascot of Mama Lemon  shown above. Also I would like to delicate this MAMA bento to all mothers on coming Mother's Day and wish everyone a fruitful and healthy Mother's Day! Between if I would to conduct Mother and Child Bento Workshop(s) (like what i did previously here) during this coming June school holiday, I wonder would there be anyone interested to join?

Lastly I would like to thank ShiTing from Lobsterpaints.com who takes her time to come and support plus assist me during the bento demo roadshow. Thanks sis! More photos of the roadshows could be found at our Facebook Page HERE.

Matcha Cherry Blossom Chiffon Plus Giveaways

I love Cherry Blossom (Sakura) and it is always my dream that one day I would be able to enjoy a family picnic under the full bloom cherry blossom trees like those Japanese family do during the Cherry Blossom Festival (Hirosaki Sakura Matsuri). Although last year we went Tokyo during November (read more here) which it impossible to see any cherry blossom but we are bless to have Joyce who visited Osaka last week and shared her trip photos with us at Cuisine Paradise facebook page here.

Other than photos she also helps us to loop back some awesome cherry blossom products like Salt Pickled Cherry Blossoms which are pickled in salt and umezu (ume vinegar), Sakura Leaf Powder and etc which I am going to share with TWO lucky readers as our blog 8th Anniversary Giveaway #1. (refer to the participating details at the end of the post)

Singapore's First Pop-up Lipton High Tea Bar @ Plaza Singapura Atrium

For those who are around Dhoby Ghuat or Plaza Singapura this week, you might have already seen the set up for the Singapore's First Pop-up Lipton High Tea Bar which would be available for public from 16th - 21st April 2013 from 11am to 9pm (daily).

During these six days event, shoppers at Plaza Singapura who spend S$25.00 and above or purchased any S$15.00 worth of Lipton products (at the Lipton High Tea Bar) will be able to redeem and enjoy a set of Complimentary Lipton High Tea Set specially customised by Canelé's Executive Pastry, Chef Mr Christophe Grilo.

Here is the preview of the Lipton High Tea Bar interior setup and each day there are only 420 high tea passes available for redemption on a first come first serve basis. And the redemption is only valid on day of purchase and each customer is entitled to one redemption a day.

Interactive Tea Menu which is available at the counter for members of the public to select their desired High Tea Set based on their mood of the day.

The High Tea Bar serving counter which is near the entrance of the Pop-up Tea Bar.

Welcome Speech by Miss Susanne Arfelt Rajamand, Market Manger of Unilever Singapore

During the Lipton High Tea Bar media preview Lipton tea expert, Food Technologist, Miss Wong May Chee (in red) and Canelé Chef Christophe Grilo introducing to us the 6 High tea Sets as well as how tea-pairing is done for these sets.

LIPTON HIGH TEA SETS

So here are the 6 different High Tea Sets available at the Lipton High Tea Bar for your choice depending on your mood of the day where you could select it from their Interactive Tea Menu. And on top of that, THREE out of the 6 sets are new exclusive High Tea Sets customised for the Lipton High Tea Bar.

[Customised for Lipton High Tea Bar] If you like something fruity with refreshing blend of berries like strawberry, raspberry, redcurrant, blackberry and cherry perhaps you would like to try the Lipton Forest Fruit Tea with Chicken Mini Burger set. Enjoy the mini fluffy brioche that enclosed with healthy poached chicken, tomatoes, fresh lettuce and drizzle of mayonnaise sauce.

[Customised for Lipton High Tea Bar] Macarons lover should not miss this pairing of Lipton Yellow Label Tea with Lemon Macarons. Each bite of the macarons is filled with smooth butter cream-infused with lemon zest and it definitely goes well with a cup of aromatic Lipton Yellow Label Tea.

[Customised for Lipton High Tea Bar] Lipton Citrus Tea with Traditional Salmon and Cucumber Sandwich set is suitable for individual who love citrus flavour of tea that consists combination of refreshing lemon, orange, lime and grapefruits taste.

Other than the three customised high tea set, customers can also choose from the all-time favourite pastries available at Canelé such as Lipton Asian White Tea with Chestnut Cassis Sponge Cake which is soaked with vanilla syrup and topped with chestnut cream. And this cake goes well with Lipton Asian White Tea that is a blend of white and green tea, mingled with real rose petals for a lighter floral fragrance. Very Japanese feel.....

{Must Try} Personally this Lipton Blue Fruit Tea with Classic Cheesecake is my favourite set out of the 6. I love the light fruity fragrance of the blackberry, blackcurrant, blueberry and raspberry combo in the Lipton Blue Fruit Tea which perk up my day. Moreover I am a cheesecake lover so the smooth vanilla cheesecake make it a great pair with the fruity tea.

{Must Try} Lipton Russian Earl Grey Tea with Le Chocolat Croustillant makes it another great pair for their high tea set. With crispy chocolate praline wrapped around the 70% Vanini Cocoa mousse layered I am sure you would fall in love with this like what we do. So enjoy your set with the pairing Lipton Russian Ear Grey Tea that release its unique taste on each sip.

Beside enjoying the High Tea Sets, Instagram lovers can also take shots of their experience at the High Tea Bar and include a hashtag #liptonmomentsSG to stand a chance to win a 3D2N Bali trip.

LIPTON HIGH TEA BAR
Plaza Singapura, Main Atrium Level 1
Date: 16 - 21 April 2013

Operating Hour:-
11.00am - 9.00pm daily (last redemption at 8.30pm)

FREE LIPTON HIGH TEA SET PASS GIVEAWAY

Thanks to Lipton, we have 2 pairs of Lipton High Tea Bar free pass to giveaway to 2 lucky winners who would be able to enjoy their favourite Lipton High Tea Sets with their loved ones or friends this coming weekend. To participate:-

1. LIKE and SHARE this photo on Facebook. (remember to leave a comment that you have liked and shared)

2. Leave a comment at this post stating which is your favourite Lipton High Tea Set and also sharing with us which is the Happiest Day in your life?

Terms And Conditions
* This giveaway ends on Friday, 19 April 2013 (2.00pm, Singapore time).
* Only for readers living in SINGAPORE.
* Participants must follow the instructions mentioned above to be eligible for the giveaway.
* Please leave a valid email address when filling out the comment form so that we can contact you immediately if you are one of the winners.


[Updated on 19 April 2013]

This post is bought to you by Lipton.

i-Love Mama Healthy Meal Contest

[Tea-Break] Cheesy French Toast with Cute Bunny and Granola

Hi Morning! It's mid-week again and I am sure everyone is looking forward to weekend to have some family time or gathering with friends and etc. Here I have four different design of Bento Meals which I hope it would bring in some ideas for you while preparing your daily meal for your kids or loved ones.

Also two days back while flipping through the iWeekly(I周刊) and 8Days, I happen to see an interesting advertisement on i-Love Mama Healthy Meal Contest which I would like to share with you. But before that, let me run through some of the bento meals which I have made for my boy.

[Tea-Break] Mini Milk Bread with Assorted Cheese and Fruits

Cheese and milk are important for growing up kids to provide them with calcium that needs for growing bones and teeth. Furthermore cheese is also a source of protein, vitamins and minerals which are essential for growing so it would be good to add in some cheese while preparing your snacks or dishes in a way to encourage your your kid(s) to eat them.

[Lunch] Lovely Garden

For lunch I made a lovely garden theme using sweetcorn for the flowers and assemble the garden with mushrooms and butterfly from the ingredients in the stir-fry choy sum. With this lovely layout it actually turns the "boring" green vegetables into something artistic which I am sure your kid(s) will be delighted to try them out.

My boy who loves underwater world creatures always get excited when he see an ocean theme deign for his lunchbox. Here by adding some fish and star cutout carrots to my stir-fry broccoli with mushroom, I managed to assemble something that he likes with sausage octopus and baked cheesy salmon to complete the healthy meal.

So if you love to cook, have creative ideas to assemble your healthy meal, perhaps you could consider to join this i-Love Mama Healthy Meal contest and form a team with either your kid or grandchildren (12 years and below). Come friends,  let's try our luck and send in our healthy meal recipe :) Who knows any of you might be one of the lucky winner to win the attractive prizes shown above!

To participate:-

1. Send in your healthy meal recipe (in Chinese or English) with ingredients list and step by step cooking instructions;
2. In less than 100 words share the nutritious value and design of your concept behind the dish;
3. Attached a photo of you and your child/grandchildren with the dish along with your full particulars (Name, Age, NRIC, Contact Number) to mpbcontest@mediacorp.com.sg (indicate in subject header: i-Love Mama Healthy Meal) or VIA;

Snail mail:
i-Weekly Marketing Department
i-Love Mama Healthy Meal
Andrew Road Caldecott Broadcast Centre, Singapore 299939

In line with the i-Love Mama Healthy Meal Contest, there are also 4 recruitment road shows to demonstrate how to make a healthy, tasty and creative meal on the following dates and locations shown below:-

Saturday, 20th April 2013
Time: 1 - 3pm
Venue: Giant Tampines, Level 2

Time: 4 - 6pm
Venue: FairPrice Xtra, NEX, Level 3


Saturday, 27th April 2013
Time: 1 - 3pm
Venue: Sheng Siong Supermarket @ Block 88 Tanglin Halt Road

Time: 4 - 6pm
Venue: FairPrice Xtra, AMK Hub, B2


On top of the cooking demonstrations, you could also take part in games to win prizes or enter the grand lucky drawn when you purchased S$6.00 worth of Mama Lemon Anti-bacterial products on the road shows.


*Photos taken using Canon EOS M, M18-55 lens on Manual mode

[Day 5] Kaminarimon (雷門) @ Asakusa

Asakusa (浅草) is located in the center of Tokyo with Sensō-ji Temple (金龍山浅草寺) as its main attraction. Kaminarimon Gate (雷門) or also known as the "Thunder Gate" is the outer of two large entrance gates that leads to the Sensō-ji Temple. With its Giant Red Lantern and statues this attraction is popular with tourists as well as hot spot for photos taking too.

MELODY, the latest Automatic System by Nescafe Dolce Gusto

NESCAFE Dolce Gusto is having a roadshow plus launch of New NESCAFE® Dolce Gusto® MELODY from from 11 - 14 April 2013 at Marina Square level 1 Atrium! At the roadshow you could also be among the first to own a MELODY and enjoy exclusive machine and capsule promotions plus sampling of their three new variants such as Cafe Au Lait, Espresso Intenso and Grande Intenso.

NESCAFE Dolce Gusto roadshow @ Marina Square level 1 Atrium

At the roadshow there are a few service counters where you could  make enquries on the different types of NESCAFE Dolce Gusto Automatic Systems like MELODY (Retail Price @ SG$279.00), Genio, Circolo and etc.  On top of that, there are also THREE newly launched single capsule variants such as:-

3 NEW Variants: Espresso Intenso, Cafe Au Lait and Grande Intenso 

1. Espresso Intenso produce a 50ml short black coffee with an extra strong intensity which similar to 8 on the strength scale of Espresso range to give you that perk-me-up effect.

2. Cafe Au Lait which is the first and only capsule product that offers coffee with frothy milk in one single capsule in less than 1 minute.

3. Whereas for Grande Intenso, it has an intense and bold flavour that makes a 180ml long black coffee for a slow slips enjoyment.

Making Latte Macchiato with NESCAFE Dolce Gusto MELODY

Delicious Hot Chococino in less than a minute.

With the convenience of the NESCAFE Dolce Gusto single capsule variants and their automatic machines, it is so easy to prepare a premium cup of cafe-style beverage at time of the day either at the comfort of our home or office and create enjoyable moments with family or friends.

Other than launching of MELODY and new variants flavours, there is also a "member's lounge" area whereby NESCAFE Dolce Gusto members (to register, refer to this link here or you could register manual at the roadshow) can access and get to try the Tiramisu Cupake made using Espresso Intenso or some Mocktail using Vanilla Macchiato or Peach Tea variants.

Espresso Intenso Tiramisu Cupcake by Tiramisu Hero. The cupcake is light, not to sweet nor creamy but with a hint of lovely Espresso flavour that perk up your afternoon. Best to go with a cup of Cafe Au Lait or Chococino.

For non-coffee drinker or something light to go with the cake, you could try Tropical Spritzer which blend with NESTEA Peach Tea, Apple Juice and S Pellegrino.

Beside the Cupcake and Beverage, we also get to try the Baci Chocolate which is one of the Freebie given when purchasing any 8 boxes of NESCAFE Dolce Gusto capsules.

Capsule variants are available at the roadshow

Some of the freebies given for the exclusive capsule promotion.

Just for your information, if you are not able to visit the roadshow this weekend, NESCAFE Dolce Gusto MELODY Automatic System and the range of Beverage Capsules are available in all electrical chain stores, selected departmental stores, supermarkets and hypermarkets too.

From 15 April - 31 May 2013,  there are some SPECIALS gifts for customers who purchase the followings:-

1. Receive a complementary Parco capsule holder worth S$55.00 for any Automatic systems purchased - Genio Automatic (SG$259), Circole Automatic (SG$339) or MELODY Automatic (SG$279).

2. Received an additional 2 boxes of Capsules (Latte Macchiato and espresso) with purchase of MELODY Automatic.

3. Receive a complimentary Latte Macchiato Glass with any 5 boxes of capsules purchase.


Lastly I would like to thanks NESCAFE Dolce Gusto and Emily from Asian PR Werkz for the media invite.


*Photos taken using Canon EOS M, M18-55 lens on Manual mode