~ Sweet Potato

Left sweet potato:
"Hey kiddo, lemmi share with you some tricks of the trade... "

Right sweet potato: *puzzled look*

Left sweet potato:
"Ahh.. the young innocent yam.. You should make yourself stand out of your crowd of cousins, then the human hand will choose you... to complete our clan's most ultimate and noble task - transforming into soul-lifting delicacies!

So to start off with, you really have to get loads of water, and feel heavy for your size so that more nutrients can be packed in those creamy yellow flesh of yours. Then try not to bruise yourself with some senseless fight with your near cousins; bruises are detrimental to your health and may allow some unknown pathogen to wreck havoc in you! Lastly, get out of the sun so that you don't sprout so quickly, since sprouting can generate very very toxic substances."

Left sweet potato: *nodding head*

Right sweet potato:
"Now, do you know why we are so sought after?"

Left sweet potato: *puzzled look again*

Right sweet potato:
"That's really cute. Ok, let me enlighten you further. As starchy non-fat beings like our savoury white cousins, the potatoes, we impart bulk and keep the human satiated for hours. However, we beat our cousins flat when it comes to nutrition! We are packed with additional nutrients like beta carotene, potassium and vitamin C! This means that we have the potential to guard against diseases like cancer and heart diseases, as well as inflammation! How cool is that?"

Left sweet potato: *nodding head*

Right sweet potato:
"Ok, now you appear to know more about our clan.. Hurry go do your stuff!"

Left sweet potato: *puzzled look once again*

Right sweet potato: "..."

Right sweet potato: "Now, have you had your fix of goodness from us yet?"

~ Scandinavian Almond Bars

Modified from:
Allrecipes

Description:
A cake-like almond cookie bar with a hint of Scandinavian tradition~

Ingredients:
100 g butter
3/4 C 2 tbsp sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 C flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C sliced almonds
2 tbsp milk

Directions:
1) Cream butter and sugar.
2) Slowly whisk in egg and almond extract.
3) Stir in flour and baking powder.
4) Divide dough into 4, and place onto baking tray. Flatten the dough and brush with milk, followed by sprinkling of sliced almonds.
5) Bake at 165 deg for 12 -15 min or until edges are slightly browned.
6) While cookies are still warm, cut them into bars.

Remarks:

Seriously, I had a huge headache deciding which picture to choose as the main picture, since all of them look so good being photographed. So what I did was to give up, and post the remaining below! In no particular order of preference:











On first bite, the bar seemed to be oxidised and absorbed moisture i.e. lacking the crisp nature that one expects upon taking a first look at it. Well it's supposed to be cake-like I guess.. And I should have used roasted almonds, as the almonds didn't brown enough before the cookies were ready.

Taste-wise, I found that the almond taste lacked substance, so perhaps adding ground almonds may do the trick.

The cookie bars were packed into such plastic sachets, sealed with a golden wire, and affixed with a small sticker with my heartfelt wishes to the receiver :)

~ Toasted Cheese and Almond Bread

Tip of the day:
Always keep an eye on food in the toaster.. If not your food will end up like mine always does!

~ Spicy Soba with Shiitake Mushrooms

Modified from:
Epicurious

Description:
Tongue-burning soba~

Ingredients (1 serving):
60 g soba
1 tsp oil
1 tbsp minced ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 dried mushrooms, soaked and sliced

2 tbsp chilli sauce

4 chilli padi, sliced
1/4 C mixed vegetables
1 carrot, julienned
1/2 head lettuce

Directions:
1) Cook soba according to package instructions. Cool with running water and set aside.
2) Heat up oil with ginger, garlic and mushrooms, frying till fragrant.
3) Add in chilli sauce and chilli padi, and fry for another 3 min.
4) Stir in vegetables, and simmer with the lid closed till lettuce has wilted.
5) Toss with soba, and serve warm.

Remarks:

As per the description on top, this dish really burns the tongue! This is probably due to the fact that I've added in 4 chilli padi since I was feeling rather peckish. I would have added in some starch to thicken it so that the sauce would coat the soba for more taste. Overall, the dish was just alright. Mum didn't like it though she found the presentation intriguing, so much so that she wanted to try which is kind of rare. Oh I've added some toasted chicken corn sticks over the soba, nice!

~ Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Butter-coated and roasted for 45 minutes in the oven at 150 deg. Could do with boiling with brine and then drying out for one day before roasting.