Pesto sauce (basil pesto)is a paste made by blending together fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, extra virgin olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt. This sauce is ready for use without the need for cooking. If you love the aromatic smell of basil leaves, then this pesto will surely suit your palate. You can either DIY at home or buy the off the shelves ready packed ones at the supermarket. If you...

  Quite often I heard from some mommies that they always run out of ideas when it comes to preparing teatime snacks for their preschoolers. I consider myself lucky as my son’s kindergarten provides teatime snacks. So far, he hasn’t complaint anything about the snack served in school. When I “interviewed” him on his preference between mommy’s cooking and school lady’s cooking, he cheerfully...

  Come every Lunar New Year, you will find pineapple rolls/tarts being sold like hot cakes here in Singapore and Malaysia. It ranks top in the list of popular baked pastries among Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese celebrating this festive season. While they come in many variations (and ranges in taste, texture, and sweetness), we can simply place them into either the open, closed or rolled types. The...

Popcorn is high on fiber, low on calories, but also packed with energy. Compared to sugar-filled candy or chocolate bars, popcorn is still a better (if not the best) choice for snack. If prepare correctly and eat in moderation, it can be considered a healthy snack for kids. You should consider making your own popcorn rather than buying from outside. Firstly, the corn kernels are inexpensive. Secondly, it’s...

  I have a few must-have ingredients in my weekly grocery shopping list. They are mushrooms, tomatoes, eggs and tofu. Given that they are highly versatile and can be cooked in a variety of ways, I regard them as my “last minute savers” when circumstances called for whipping up a 30-minutes meal.   For mushrooms, I prefer to use the fresh ones in my cooking. Unlike the dried ones, they...

  “LEARN, TOUCH and TASTE” are the three key steps I strongly recommend parents to follow if they want to get their kids to love food. Of the three, “TOUCH” is considered the most challenging. With the thoughts of all the potential mess and disaster kids can create in the kitchen, most of us parents would cringe at the idea of letting their kids help out in cooking. To me, much of that can be avoided...

Time flies. Tomorrow we bid farewell to Year 2009 and welcome Year 2010. Someone casually asked my opinion about the 2012 doomsday prediction. Well, my answer is whether it will come true or not, life still goes on. Why should I fear about it if I can choose to be presently happy. Be joyful and healthy, that’s my personal goal in life. It has been my New Year resolution for these years. What’s yours? Since...

I have been making scones quite often as they are extremely easy to make. Without having to bring out the electrical beater, I can easily whip up a batch of warm scones in no time for breakfast, brunch and teatime. The key to the making of a good scone lies in the technique itself.  Do not overwork the dough as it can make the scones hard.  This cranberry scone recipe is adapted from Farmgirl’s Cranberry...

  Avocado 酪梨 (also known as butter pear 牛油果or alligator pear 鳄梨/) is rich in the antioxidants beta carotene, vitamins C and E, magnesium, potassium and monounsaturated fat which can boost your immune system. Not only does it bring many health benefits to adults, it is an excellent weaning food for babies too. I introduced this fruit to my son when he got past 1 year old. He enjoys very much...

  I love eating all kinds of tree nuts. Once I start munching them, I can never put a stop to it. Yes, I can go nuts on nuts! So too is my hubby. We are “NUTTY” people!   During festive seasons, we see wide selection of processed nuts at the supermarkets. We will be spoilt by choices. For the premium brands, the prices are not cheap as well. Because of that, we only consumed them sparingly and...