The last lunch

Italian food on the Menu. Today's lunch was at La Nonna.

La Nonna meaning "The Grandmother" , serves traditional Italian country crusine, much like how a grandmother would cook it lovingly for the family. Smacked in the middle of bungalows of Namly Place, sits this quaint little restaurant. They have one at Holland Village too.

Current promotions are 3 course set lunches at $22++ and 50% off ala-carte for weekday lunches

lunchtime: 12noon-2pm

La Nonna 

http://www.lanonna.sg/

Love the literal brick and mortar feel of this cosy little restaurant. See the teletubby looking chimney in the mirror? That is where the pizzas are baked and delivered to your tummies

*swooning over the vintage lamps and crockery display*

I selected Pappardelle to feed my little tummy. Pappardelle, pronounced as par-par-day-lay. are flat pieces of ribbons, which we singaporeans would better know them as ban-mian (; 

Homemade parpardelle pasta served with truffle sauce and chicken liver sauce

The pasta was really springy, and it was an interesting mix between the truffle sauce and the chicken liver. Definitely an exotic dish that don't frequent the menus of pasta places outside. 

We also ordered Neva, squid ink pizza for sharing. It was a interesting mix, considering most places have squid ink pasta on their menu but not pizza. I like the ink, but not so much of the pizza dough itself as it was pretty tough. But nevertheless, it was an interesting dish.

I stole the sausage and cheese pizza from my colleague. And it is also probably the last lunch that I will do that. Cos today is his last day in the company.

And it is with such a heavy heart as he is such a bubbly person to hang out with.

Hello kitty painting and wolfberries

His farewell presents for me. A really really thoughtful gesture that really warmed my heart as he knew that I adore Hello Kitty. And fancy a guy doing hand painting :p 

And the wolfberries, are what I diligently eat every morning, and often, forget to. He actually remembers my complaints and bought me a can to stock up in office.

Oh well kitty, now, it is just you and me.

Mint brownie

offshoulder top. gifted. black shorts.orchard.brown vintage bag.taobao.shades.raybans.necklace.The Dancing Jewels

On days that I don't know what to wear, I simply love decking myself with accessories. My new loves in this outfit have to be the necklaces that I wear together for a double layer effect. Love the shiny diamontee that circles the pendant featuring retro background and a cute little tea cup. Not to forget that minty coloured gem.

And my new vintage bag from taobao. Simply loving it to bits. Love the cute purse shape of the bag which comes in long and short strap and it can be carried as a clutch too. I didn't manage to capture a clear photo of my new love. Shall post it next time!

Till then, toodles!

Weekend breakfast♥

I love making breakfasts every weekend 

♥

Soba-licious

Ingredients:

Eggs

Pork

Minced garlic

Soba ( from daiso)

Soba sauce (from daiso)

Teriyaki sauce ( picture not shown- for the fried soba)

Marinate the pork with abit of salt, light soya sauce and corn flour.

Corn flour improves the texture of the pork and makes it more springy

Cook the soba for 4-5 minutes according to the timing stipulated by the instructions on the soba pack

*tip: Bring the water to a boil and add in the soba. After which, reduce the flame to low while waiting for the soba to turn soft

Drain and wash the soba under running water.

It is not sufficient to just soak it in tap water as it will not bring out the springyness of the soba.

Repeat the steps until the water turns clear.

I repeated this for about 10 times

Drain the soba.

For a simple dish of soba, this dish is done! Just prepare the soba sauce with about 1:1 (soba sauce to water) and dip in (:

I also tried making fried soba  (:

Beat the eggs and add abit of salt and light soya sauce

Melt a spoonful of magarine

And pour in the egg mixture. Fry until the omelette turns golden brown

The egg is served!

Fry the minced garlic till golden brown and add in the pork

*tip: fry the garlic for a longer time so that the soba can soak up the fragrance of the garlic which makes sthe dish more tasty

Add the soba, soba sauce and teriyaki sauce.

For fried soba, the taste of the sauce has to be stronger else the soba would be tasteless.

Both sobas are ready for the tummies! (:

Nama melts

It's nice to have something to sweeten up the night after a long day at work.

Instead of the usual balls of chocolate that retails in supermarket, these squares of love taste very rich and moist and melts my heart.

 Nama (na-ma) means “raw” or “fresh” in Japanese, and in this case it’s coming from abundant “fresh” cream being used.  Therefore, it must be kept it in refrigerator all times and is best enjoyed fresh so you have to eat them within a couple of days.  

source

And guess what?

*drum rolls*

....

.....

I spotted this cool recipe from justonecookbook on how to make nama chocolates.

*drools*

Now this is a must try recipe

Book rage

Ringed Red book handbag from Mayo from mellomayness

Love the red and the polkadot

handmade vintage book clutch with locket from Monoxious


Love that awesome leather locket

Tutorial also available

Belted vintage book purse

Love that polka-dotted interior. If I am ever gonna attempt making this,

i'm so going to insert a mirror 

Zipper vintage bag clutch from dottyspeckles

tutorial available

Zips seem pretty awesome too!

Vintage Art Nouveau Altered Book Purse from erinstrauss

Love the 1960s feel of this book purse

Sense and sensibilitiy book purse from tmars

tutorial available from scribbit

Video from Chris Gadner

Shall I rip open potter or tax guidebook to make the book clutch?

The love of trainings

  

It's nice to attend training workshops once a while, and get away from all those numbers.

And not to forget, play a fool  fully utilising the materials 

Keeping roses alive

I have always loved single stalked roses as compared to single wrapped roses.

Don't you think its a pity that the pretty green leaves are snipped away and then they are wrapped in ugly plastic and finished with a piece of ribbon?

And I always try to preserve their charm whenever I receive one. 

The smile it brings to my face when I wake up on a blue monday

The memory of how le bf gave it to me when I see it

Those are enough to make me want to preserve it.

During my journey of google research, I realised that there are also easy-to-use scatchets floral food contains three additives which work together to nourish flowers and deter bacteria:

-sugars to feed the blooms and encourage buds to form.

-biocides that kill the bacteria, yeasts and fungi.

-acidifiers to help water move up the stem more easily.

But too bad I didn't know until now, so I have to DIY (:  and also to save cost!

This tip came from le bf, i.e to put it in a vase of water with a pill of paracetamol/panadol

Apparently, Paracetamol works as it increases the diameter of the vessels that carry water up through the stem to the flowers by reducing inflammation, much like aspirin's anti-inflammatory properties work in humans. It may also retard the growth of fungi and bacteria that can rot the stems of your cut flowers prematurely!

  source

*tip: it is better to use lukewarm water as it contains less oxygen than cold water, and, and reduces the amount of air bubbles likely to form in the stem's network of tiny conductive vessels, blocking or limited water uptake. 

It is vital to ensure that your vase is completely clean, as residue from previous displays can harbour bacteria which will block the tiny tubules that carry water up the stems, causing your flowers to wilt. For the same reason, you should also remove any fronds and leaves which lie below the water level.

*tip: see that the base of the stalk is cut at 45 degrees? It is said to help the rose better absorb water.

Thankfully the florist already did that step for me, if not, it is advised to cut the stem 3cm off the bottom, at a 45 degrees angle while being submerged. 

Making a slanted cut provides stems with a bigger surface area for taking up more water, and also stops them from resting flat on the bottom of the vase, limiting their water intake. If you can cut the stems while holding them submerged they will absorb even more water.

Watch that orange pill fizz.

I shouldn't have used an orange coloured paracetamol

Now it looks like horrible tasting orange juice.

Orange juice anyone?

And also spray them with gentle mist of water daily.

Remember to provide your roses fresh supply of water and cut the stem every 4-5 days to

promote better absorption of water

In short, you will need

1. Clean vase

2. Lukewarm water

3. Paracetamol

4. Spray them with a mist of water daily

5. Change the water regularly (every 1-2 days)

6.Trim the stem every 4-5 days

7. Keep them away from direct sunlight

7. Smell and admire your pretty flower (:

Information credit source

Apart from diamonds, roses would be a girl's 2nd best friend. At least for me!

From our first Valentine's day