Macaroni Salad

If you invite my dad to a picnic, barbecue, housewarming, or block party this time of year, odds are good he'll show up with a macaroni salad. He'll wheel it around in a cooler and when the time is right, he'll flip the top and pull a cornflower blue bowl from the ice. The bowl is what I notice first, ceramic with a flower detail on the inside rim, it's part of a set of three my grandma left when she died a few years back. This one is medium-sized, and makes its appearance with plastic wrap across the top, secured with a rubber band. I love those bowls, and I'm extra careful when I wash them.

Macaroni Salad Recipe

I've had my dad's macaroni salad twice in the last ten days, and instead of sharing his version, which is the classic take on it - I was inspired to take a stab at my own version. I ended up making a sauce from lots of sauteed green onions (scallions). Pureed with a bit of pasta water they're creamy without the cream or mayo. Beyond that, I added diced apple, lots of black pepper, arugula, and lemon juice as well. And I stopped there. But I suspect any number of other additions would be good - Marcona almonds, dried apricots in place of the apple, and if you can't be convinced macaroni salad is worth eating without mayo in the mix, a dollop would do the job. An alternative to the mayo would be a bit of salted plain yogurt, or creme fraiche. It works great on day-old macaroni salad, when you need to moisten things up a bit.

The last thing I'll add here is this. You really need to taste and adjust as you toss this salad. I've shared general amounts, but keep adding pepper, or lemon juice, or salt until the flavors really pop off the pasta. It'll happen. Under-season and you end up with a flat-tasting salad. :/

Continue reading Macaroni Salad...


Pop Stars

Ive just added a bunch of cake pop photos to the Pop Stars section to the site. Yay! Its something productive I can do on the site while Im still recovering. (My mom and I are doing great by the way.) You probably already know about this section if youre a cake pop fan, but if you didnt, let me tell you about it. I love cake pops. Obviously. I could never have expected the first ones I made to have started such a craze. But they did and its been amazing to watch. For a while now Ive been receiving cake pop photos and stories from readers. Great photos. Creative photos. And I wanted a place to showcase them. There are so many of you doing such fantastic work. And every time I see a new photo or a new pop idea I just smile. I feel so proud of you guys.

To navigate the Pop Stars section, theres an index with links. Each pop star has its own page. I did it this way instead of one page with a slideshow so each person could link to their own page if they wanted to (if they had a blog or website). But you can also use it like a gallery. Each page has arrows to the next pop star to make viewing easier.

Here are a few pops I picked out to give you an idea of what people are doing.

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Pop Star Jackie in California makes Justin Bieber pops. Love the hair.

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! This is such a great use of baking cups fromPop Star Veronika in Australia.

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Cupcake pops in pink and blue are another great way to celebrate a baby shower. Check these out fromPop Star Erin.

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Pop Star Natalie in California made these Brides of Frankenstein. Love the hair.

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Pop Star Karla in Mexico made Bert and Ernie pops. Perfectly done.

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How about some Halloween pops? Such a cute assortment fromPop Star Wendy in California. Wendy has been a pop star more than once. Check out her pokemon po! ps, too.

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Pop Star Stephanie and friends in Canada celebrate her bridal shower. Hi everyone. You guys are so cute.

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Pop Star Melanie in New Jersey really outdid herself here. Chewbacca kills me.

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Yo Gabba Gabba cake pops fromPop Stars Jenna and her mom in Arkansas. These guys are perfect characters to turn into cake pops.

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Pop Star Nadia in Toronto made snowglobe pops. Super creative.

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Check out these cute Mario mushrooms fromPop Star Kerstin.

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Umm Diet Coke? Yes. Yes. Im in love with these fromPop Star Vivy in California.

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Pop Star Faye in New Jersey made cake pops celebrating her anniversary having diabetes and the medicine that keeps her alive. I love your attitude Faye.

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Pop Star Monica made Boston Terriers. Whos not smiling right now?

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South Park Cake Pops fromPop Star Christine in California. Spot on.

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Check out these sea life cake pops fromPop Star Cody-Ann in Nevada. Fantastic!

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Pop Star Becky in Virginia made Noahs Ark cake pops. Love the elephants.

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Cake pops dont always have to be cute.How about some gourmet bakla cake pops fromPop Star Lea & Jodi in California.

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Pop Star Melissa in California made these adorable Dora the Explorer pops. Swiper is my fave though. Wow.

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Okay, this is just too cute. Such a great way to use cake pops fromPop Star Jennifer.

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Pop Star Audrey in Illinois made these. The sprinkled pops are just as beautiful to me as the most intricately designed ones. They make me happy inside.

Thats just a sampling of the cake pops you can find in the Pop Stars section.

There are quite a few more you can view.

If you click on the graphic below, it will take you to the index page.

Have fun!

pop-stars


Review: Pho Pasteur @ Chinatown, Boston MA

I was always missing in action when lunch and dinner time arrives (My lunch hours range from 11pm to 1pm. My dinner hours are rarely later than 6pm). Sometimes, I would just vanish into thin air, leaving some of my tour mates worrying about me. Today, one of them actually phoned me up to ask about my whereabouts. I felt a little naughty but really, I have to do commit to my role as a food blogger. I do not want to drag anyone down to have meals with me or have to put myself in a situation where it goes against my "dining plan" (I actually HAVE a master list of places I should go).

Anyway, this would be my first review on a restaurant in Boston, MA and judging from the name, I guess most of you could tell it was a Vietnamese eatery. The reason why I picked this establishment and not some place that serves Buffalo whatever was:

1. I am deprived from vegetables!! I need it so bad, I have to find a place to get my vegetable cravings fixed.
2. Not a huge fan of anything deep fried, fast food and the likes. I did not grow up eating them and as an advocate of the "cook-your-own-meals" movement, I actually prefer having slow food.
3. Pho Pasteur was rated one of the top restaurants on Urbanspoon, which I am affiliated to (The Victoria branch), was listed in the Zagat Survey and was actually rated 12/20 in the Zagat Survey. To be able to make it into the Zagat Survey, IMO, is a pretty big deal.
4. Pho Pasteur is cheap and serves MEGA portions.



Pho Pasteur
I see no Fish Sauce!
Cat Fish in Hot and Sour soup
Ginormous plate of greens - good enough to keep my veg cravings abay for days! (Maybe not)
Combo Vietnamese Coleslaw
I visited Pho Pasteur twice. Both was around early dinnertime. In my first visit, I had the Cat Fish in Hot and Sour soup, served with rice. It lived up to its name. When I had my first spoonful of soup, it felt like I was really drinking boiling water. I actually burnt my tongue for drinking a little too quickly. The bowl of soup was very deceiving to the eyes. The layer of oil blocked the rise of the steam, keeping the heat in the soup. The oil bit was not my favorite part because in my experience with Vietnamese cuisine, they were about clear broths and very subtle flavors. The soup was pretty two dimensional in terms of taste. It was just sweet and sour. There was enough greens and generous amounts of fresh cat fish but not enough Thai Basil. On the whole, it was edible but not mind blowing.

In my second visit, I had the Coleslaw. The Coleslaw reminded me of the ones I had in Mekong on Swanston and Mekong did not actually serve the best Vietnamese Coleslaw because, in spite of the fish sauce, herbs, nuts etc., it was not half as exciting as the interesting coleslaw one can easily find at Thanh Nga 9.

I hope that I could head back there to try the pho but I had other better things to eat. ;)

Little things:

-Cuisine: Vietnamese (It was not as authentic I wished it to be)

-Ambience: Noisy, typical Vietnamese restaurant setting

-Service: Prompt and efficient

-Portion: HUGE. Took me an hour and a half to finish up what I was eating. Usually, I had to starve myself for lunch to be able to finish what I eat.

-Budget: 8-10 USD per dish.

-More information:

Pho Pasteur on Urbanspoon


Note to lovers of Steinway and Sons:



There is a Steinway reseller next to where I am currently residing! Mad awesome! I went in to check out the place and saw this incredibly beautiful piece of art.




Hopefully, one day, my sister can own this. I am sure she can. She's such a good pianist! Man, I should upload her chamber music recording and her pop composition to youtube to share with you guys!

blueberry yogurt multigrain pancakes

new blues: wholegrain blueberry pancakes

I had a little crisis on Fathers Day, and unlike the week that proceeded it, it did not relate to a feverish toddler who landed himself in our bed (and proceeded to be well enough at 5 a.m. to stand up and announce the different parts of our face as he poked them NO EYEAR AYE MOUF), the gutting of our (single) bathroom so that plumbers could access a wayward pipe in the building or the thin film of dirt left on every surface of every room when they were done working. No, by Fathers Day, most of those things had thankfully righted themselves, leaving only crises of less grave proportions: the blueberry pancakes Id always known and loved no longer worked for me.

all ready to go
batter, berries, separate

I mean, they work, in terms of technically executing what theyre supposed to. Theyre a bit runnier than I remembered, thus making it difficult to flip and bake them through cleanly, but theyre hardly worth complaining over, or so felt the Dad of Honor who found themas he is contractually obligated todelicious. We ate our pancakes, showered him with gifts and set off for the playground. But I couldnt stop thinking about them; they didnt sit right and I realized that it ! had less to do with the recipe and more to do with me. Ive changed.

studded with blueberries

... Read the rest of blueberry yogurt multigrain pancakes on smittenkitchen.com

smitten kitchen 2006-2011. |permalink to blueberry yogurt multigrain pancakes | 27 comments to date | see more: Blueberries, Breakfast, Photo, Summer


Summer Heat



I love summer.

Asfar as I can remember, it has always been my favorite season (well... maybe right after autumn). I love its colors, the fruit, the long and lazy days, sunshine, water... But Florida is hot. Really hot, which means outdoor activities are kept to a minimum. Instead we try to find ways of staying busy indoors and take abundant trips to the pool.

We also make lots of ice cream.

I will share this recipe with you soon, but in the meantime, I wanted to say hello.

Hope summer is good to you!

Le Bistro (French Restaurant)

Le Bistro is a charming French restaurant in front of Sari Pan Pacific hotel, near Sarinah. It is a real gem and one of my best discoveries so far in Jakarta.

Le Bistro is actually the oldest French restaurant in the city, since 1976. It is owned by Rima Melati, a famous Indonesian actress, who is also behind Jaya Pub and La Bodega Grill in Cilandak. The inside looks quaint, with many antiques, probably bought in France. The tablecloth had old stains on it, but it was clean and adding to the atmosphere (that's my opinion). With some famous French songs playing (Brel, Souchon, Brassens, etc.), it is among other things perfect for a romantic dinner. There were a few customers that evening, all expatriates (Japanese and European).

The menu features classic French dishes, with a strong Mediterranean influence. It rem! inds me of another French restaurant in Jakarta, l'Escargot-Caf de la Bastille, but more expensive.

We had the Salade Provenale (Rp38,500k), the NZ Lamb Chops (Rp135,000), the Bouillabaisse (a seafood and fish soup from Southern France, Rp75,000++), and Crpes Suzettes for dessert (Rp30,000++). An average 2-course meal should cost you between Rp150,000 and Rp200,000.
Lamb Chop (Rp135,000++)Bouillabaisse (Rp75,000++)
The food was not fine dining, but nevertheless we really enjoyed it. Among the things that could be improved: The Salad Provenale was served with American "French Dressing", and it would have been much better with just olive oil and vinegar. The bouillabaisse was delicious (it is the Chef's specialty), but a little too heavy on the pepper. At last, the ice cream with the Crpes tasted average.

Overall: In spite of that, I strongly recommend Le Bistro if you like independent restaurants managed with heart. Entering this place feels like stepping into someone else's world: More than a customer, you feel like a guest in Le Bistro. All the staff were among the friendliest I've seen in Jakarta, and we even had greetings by Rima Melati and her husband. Next to Le Bistro, you also have the Casablanca bar, an old-fashioned pub with a pool table and a piano.
Opening Hours:
Everyday from 11am to 1am (2am on weekend nights)

Le Bistro
Jl.MH.Thamrin Kav.1-2 (Gedung Jaya)
Jakarta, Indonesia
Phone number: +62-21 390 92 49

Facebook: Le Bistro
Website: Le Bistro French Restaurant

Queen's Tandoor (Indian Restaurant)

Queen's Tandoor is an upscale Indian restaurant on Jalan Thamrin (DBS Tower, next to Hotel Nikko). Often praised for its authentic food, it has received numerous awards, including the "best Indian restaurant in Jakarta" award by NOW magazine. It is part of a chain with branches in Bali, Singapore, Manila and Saudi Arabia.

We visited Queen's Tandoor on a Monday evening at 6pm. There weren't so many customers, except for a table of Indians and another one with an expat couple.

The prices are quite high, double that of another Indian restaurant previously reviewed here: Bombay Tandoori. A full meal should cost you at least Rp120,000, excluding drinks.

We had the Chicken Tikka (Rp64,900++), Mutton Vindaloo (Rp80,900++), Chane (Rp29,900++) and Basmati Rice (Rp51,900++). Here are some pictures:
Mutton Vindaloo
Chicken Tikka
Compared to Bombay Tandoori, the food in Queen's Tandoor is clearly better, and in particular, the ingredients used are of much better quality. The meat was tender and cooked perfectly, and the seasoning excellent. I will need to try a few other Indian restaurants in Jakarta, but in my opinion it would not surprising if this one was among the best. They also serve Chinese dishes but I did not really look at this part of the menu.

Overall: Recommended restaurant: The food is perfect, and while it is pricey, it remains affordable. I must also say that the waiters were very friendly and professional. Considering the interior, it feels a bit old-fashioned and it lacks creativity in the design. It is also too bad it is located in the basement of a tower because there are no windows.
Opening Hours:
Everyday. Lunch from 10.30am to 3pm and Dinner from 6pm to 11.30pm

Queen's Tandoor
Indian and Chinese Cuisine
Permata Plaza
Jl. M. H. Thamrin Kav. 57
Jakarta 10350
Phone number: +62-21 390 3287
Fax: +62-21 390 3286
Mail: info@queenstandoor.com
Website: http://www.queenstandoor.com