Christmas: Sex on the beach

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I was originally thinking of posting something festive, something that has a huge link to the traditional Christmas celebration: cookies, turkey and other stuff.... but I just can't be bothered. What do we love to do in this holiday season? Nothing beats a party where people are tipsy and having fun. Alcohol is a must. Here's a nice drink for you guys.

SEX ON THE BEACH!


1 part vodka
1/2 part melon liqueur (Midori)
1/2 part vodka raspberry
1 1/2 parts ounces pineapple juice
1 1/2 parts ounces cranberry juice

Simply mix and stir.


And for the chocolate lovers - here's a chocolate martini recipe

1 1/2 shots Tia Maria Chocolate liqueur
1 1/2 shots Creme De Cacao
1/2 shot vanilla vodka (the vanilla gives it an extra kick! Trust me)
2 1/2 shots half-and-half (Equal parts of milk and cream mixed together)

This chocolate drink is seriously smooth! Mix well and pour into chilled martini glasses. Decorate with shaved chocolate.

Enjoy the drinks and happy holidays! I'm off to Labuan to buy more types of "ingredients" for mixing. If you want to learn more about mixing, I suggest buying different types of glass for different drinks.

Banana Pancakes with caramel sauce

Lately I have been making pancakes so much and I think I must share this recipe. Bananas are pretty cheap in Brunei and sometimes we were even given some by friends. We usually have too much bananas which will spoil if we don't use it.

Most people would make Cucur Pisang, or banana fritters with it. I usually use them to make muffins, cakes, bread and of course - pancakes! It's really easy to do and it goes really well with the caramel sauce. Yum!

Ingredients

1½ cups pancake flour mix 1½ cups fresh milk 2 tbsp melted butter 1 tsp vanilla essence 1 large banana, diced 2 tbsp raisins A little extra butter for greasing the pan Caramel sauce 1/2 cup soft brown sugar 40g butter 150ml whipping cream Method Sift the pancake flour into a mixing bowl. Combine milk, melted butter and essence in another bowl. Whisk with a hand whisk until soft, then add to the pancake flour mix. Stir until well combined. Add bananas to the batter. Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat. Lightly grease the base of pan with a little butter(I used a silicon brush). Working in batches, pour about a quarter cup of batter into the pan for each pancake. Sprinkle a few raisins over. Cook for a few minutes until bubbles appear on the surface and the base of the pancake is golden brown. Carefully turn the pancake over with a spatula to cook the other side until golden brown. To prepare the sauce: Put ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over a moderate heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 7–8 minutes until sauce is fairly thick. Pour into a jug and serve the sauce with the pancake.

Bon Appetit!

Cinnamon Crusted Ice Cream

While watching a cooking show one day, I came across this interesting way of serving ice cream. First, you mix cinnamon powder with some sugar. Then,you scoop out one ball of vanilla ice cream. Roll the ice cream on the sugar-cinnamon mixture to coat it. Repeat with other ice cream - making sure you are fast with the rest. Then pop them all into the freezer. Take out only before serving them.

If you love cinnamon, this will be a unique way to serve your ice cream and it has a nice look and feel to it, also the crunch of the sugar as well.

I'm feeling tired lately, so thats all for this post. Give this a try :)

The Perfect Hardboiled Egg

The Classic Hard Boiled Egg

The simple, classic Boiled Egg, is indeed one of the finest and easiest edible delights known on earth, with just 70 calories, and full of nature’s most perfect form of protein.

While there are many ways of preparing Boiled Eggs, we suggest below the directions for making eggs which are the easiest to peel and which will not have the dark green discolored coating on the yolk (see step 2 for tips to help avoid the green discoloration).

Extremely fresh eggs will not peel easily. In fact, an egg that is just a day or two old is almost impossible to peel. As eggs age, the shells will peel more easily. It is advisable that eggs used for hard cooking (including Easter Eggs) be at least 2 weeks old before cooking for easiest peeling. Hard cooked eggs that are cooked slowly over low heat (and not ‘boiled’) will be more difficult to peel.

Warning: This is not the best way to make hardboiled eggs!

Directions for Large Eggs:

1. Place eggs in a saucepan with enough COLD tap water to cover completely by 1 inch. Bring to a ROLLING boil over HIGH heat. Once the water is brought to a rolling boil, PROMPTLY reduce heat to a lower medium boil and cook an additional 10 minutes for a “hard boiled” egg. For a “soft boiled” egg reduce the time by a few minutes, probably 6-7.

2. Remove from heat and IMMEDIATELY place eggs under ice cold water or in a bowl of ICED water to chill promptly to help yolks stay bright yellow. Chill for a few minutes in the cold water until the egg is completely cooled. This is an extremely important step which prevents the greenish “ring” from forming on the surface of the yolk over time. If the egg is not chilled immediately after cooking an unsightly dark greenish ring will eventually appear on the outside of the yolk.

3. To peel...crack on all sides, roll egg between hands to loosen shell,and remove shell. Enjoy while still warm, with a light sprinkling of salt if desired.

To serve in egg cup, place egg in cup small end down, slice off large end of egg with knife or egg scissors and eat from shell with spoon.

Refrigeration is necessary for hard boiled eggs if they eggs are not to be consumed within a few hours.

Refrigerated boiled eggs, kept in the shell, can be kept for up to 1 week.

Frozen Yogurt Ice Pops

Many of you probably like to make the Ice Cream pops using milo, milk, some wooden sticks and a few plastic cups. Today, let's try something different and cool. Frozen Yogurt Ice Pops. They are dead easy to make and it's healthier than ice cream.

Frozen Yogurt Ice Pops

2 cups yogurt (can be fruit flavoured)
1 1/2 cups orange juice (or any other fruit juice you prefer)
1 teaspoon vanilla (this adds a nice flavour to the ice cream)
small paper cups (If you have those special moulds to make popsicles, use them instead)
wooden sticks

1. Put yogurt in mixing bowl.
2. Pour orange juice and vanilla on top of yogurt. Stir until well mixed.
3. Pour mixture into the paper cups until the cups are half full.
4. Put paper cups in the freezer. Leave in the freezer until the mixture starts to freeze.
5. Put sticks in the cups for handles. Put back in the freezer and let the pops freeze until hard.
6. Enjoy. If you find it hard to take the frozen yogurt out, just peel the paper cups.

If you prefer the non-fruity yogurt, here's a Chocolate Frozen Yogurt Pop recipe too.

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt or reduced-fat
3 tablespoon light corn syrup (find in supasave - can find one)
2 tablespoon chocolate syrup (Herseys would be good)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup low-fat milk


* In a small bowl, use a fork to stir together the yogurt and corn syrup.
* Stir in the chocolate syrup and vanilla until well-combined. Add the milk and mix well.
* Pour the mixture into 8 ice-pop molds or paper cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Cover the molds with their lids or the paper cups with foil. Insert the sticks (use wooden ice-pop sticks if using paper cups). Freeze until solid. To serve, remove the pops from the mold according to the directions that came with it or peel the paper from the cups.

* NOTES : This is a healthy, inexpensive version of the frozen yogurt pops you will find in the supermarket. For fruit pops, use strawberry or raspberry syrup instead of the chocolate.

If anyone of you guys make your own versions or variations, feel free to post pictures or recipes in the comments. Enjoy those delicious frozen yogurt pops!