This is what real grape juice looks like

Airport juiced a bunch of grapes which looked like Red Globe but didn't have seeds. Compare the rich colour and cloudiness with the processed, additive-rich, preserved juice-like drinks you find in the supermarket shelves!

Kenny Rogers Corn Muffins

Kenny Rogers Corn Muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup frozen yellow corn

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream together butter, sugar, honey, eggs and salt in a large bowl. Add flour, cornmeal and baking powder and blend thoroughly. Add milk while mixing. Add corn to mixture and combine by hand until corn is worked in. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan and fill each cup with batter. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins begin to turn brown on top.

Verdict
The Goose said that of all the muffins that I did up till this time (she hasn't tasted the banana ones or Nigella orange ones yet) - this was the best. However, I would use real cornmeal (I substituted this one with my organic coarse cornmeal which made the muffin crunchy.) - because I felt that this one tasted more like a honey muffin than a corn muffin.

Hanabi Trip

Sashimi Sampler

Lasik and Timberlake were very kind to celebrate my birthday with me at Hanabi. I had been wanting to visit this place for the longest time - and going with Tin Hang Zai wasn't a good idea because I eat so little of everything - and he gets repulsed by rawness, and the aroma of seaweed and stuff. Bless the Pink Couple!

Anyway, despite the service being rather lacklustre - we had a great time talking. The food was VERY fresh - and the variety was amazing. It was quirky because it's not a REAL Japanese restaurant - waitresses were mainly from China and I think a couple from Myanmar or something - not all of them understand English.

Overall, I'd give this place

8/10 for food quality - if you want a value-for-money buffet and ultra-fresh food (which is critical in Japanese cuisine) - this is the place to go.

4/10 for service - it's brusque at best. One waitress preferred to converse in 'item codes' whilst another insisted that we order by 'item name' instead. Another could not understand simple English. We were also 'chased out' 15 min before closing time so that they could all go home in time. For sure this is not a "real" Japanese restaurant.

Awesome Banana Muffins!

Good Ol' Banana Muffins

I must say that I have never been a fan of banana-stuff because it's considered too "cooling" for my constitution in TCM. Plus, I do not have a sweet tooth.

My ultimate food fantasy is a mountain of keropok, not some sweet dessert. Most of the stuff I make or bake is for Tin Hang Zai or Little Pixie or friends or family. However, these muffins were so good that I could not resist finishing a couple for myself.

I let MZ try some, and she said they were good enough to sell!! (MZ is a self-confessed picky eater who has very high standards for desserts).

As usual, this recipe is from a pretty reliable source - the Joy of Cooking. Check out a similar recipe here. These days, I try to stick to tried-and-tested chefs rather than odd recipes scrounged from the Internet - the results are far more consistent if you stick to a chef, IMHO.

Recipe:
Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached organic flour from NTUC)
1/2 whole wheat flour / wheat bran (I used leftover wholegrain spelt flour)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon (of course I was too lazy to add)
1/8 tsp nutmeg (of course I was too lazy to add)
2/3 coarsely chopped walnuts (omitted so that Little Pixie could enjoy it)

Wet Ingredients
1 large egg
3/4 cup packed brown sugar (I didn't bother to pack, and used only 1/2 cup)
2-3 mashed ripe bananas - I used 3 ripe, Del Monte ones
6 tblspn vegetable oil (I substituted with melted butter - cuz I had extra)
1 tsp vanilla.

Mix according to the usual Muffin method. Baked in a preheated oven at 375 deg F, for about 15-18 min. Makes 12. Rack should be in centre of oven.