The Food Blog

**As I’m preparing to get caught up on the blog, I’ve started looking through my pictures from the last few weeks since I like to outline our story with photos.  It is during this process that I realized that about 90% of the photos from this time period are of food – local food we’ve tried, weird food at the grocery, recipes I’ve experimented with, etc.  I mean, I know Singapore food has been a frequent topic of mine throughout the blog but if a stranger were to have looked through my pictures this week, I would have looked like someone covering a blog for The Food Network, not someone discussing their life overseas.**

Well, now that I got that little tidbit out of the way, I’ll start from the beginning of last week…Like most every week, it started off with routine cleaning of the condo and a trip to the store.  But, this trip to the store was a little different.  As I was perusing the fresh meat section of the grocery, something caught my eye that I’d never seen before and knew I would have to share it on the blog…A black chicken!  Apparently a lot of Asian chefs prefer them to traditional chickens when cooking because they have a more “gamey” flavor which leads to better soups and broths. While I’m sure that’s true, I won’t be picking one up just yet because I’m still not past the strange look!

Black chicken

After getting the place clean, getting the shopping out of the way, and recovering from the shock of the black chicken, I decided to give Colt a “dog spa day” again which consists of me giving him a bath, nail clipping, ear cleaning, and brushing his teeth (his least favorite part, as well as mine).  And he was being pretty comedic after his bath - while trying to dry himself off on his bed, he fell off!  I came in too late with the camera because he didn’t do it again but I still thought this video was cute : ) 

Colt’s been having play dates two times per week now, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 6pm, with other dogs nearby so I couldn’t have him being the smelly dog!  He gets along really well with all the other dogs and is even pretty good about not playing too rough with the smaller dogs.  All the owners that meet up with their dogs are women and this outing has slowly morphed from dog play date into wine club.  Last week and this week, girls have taken turns bringing wine for everyone so we all sip wine and chit chat until the dogs get tired.  Colt always looks like he’s having a lot of fun but now I’m not sure who looks forward to it more, him or me?!  It’s been really nice meeting more people.

He does love me! Colt and Niki

Yes Colt, I'm storing that fat there just for you!

Your weekly Colt pic!

Last week, I also had lunch with my friend Hayley at an Indian Restaurant close to both of us, Kha.  We both finished off our meal with a traditional Indian desert called Thap Thim Krwap.  It had things called Red Rubies in it which were water chestnuts sliced up and cased with a Jell-O-like texture and then was topped off with coconut milk, shaved ice, jasmine, and rose petals.  I don’t know what to say about it other than it was extremely interesting.  I wouldn’t say that it tasted really good or bad but was a unique flavor and full of lots of different textures.  

Indian food @ Kha

Thap Thim Krwap desert @ Kha

After a very filling lunch, I’m not sure how I was able to look at or even think about food but I did.  I started putting together my first ever chicken pot pie for our dinner that night.  It is a really simple recipe but I get proud anytime I make something edible that looks even the slightest bit pretty so I had to get a picture.  (Yes, I know this is sad but me cooking something pretty happens about as often as a solar eclipse so it must be documented.)

I totally didn't stage this photo. I just always add a backdrop when I'm done cooking something...Ok, you caught me...

Over the weekend, Mark and I tried Hawker food again but at a different place.  This time we went to Lau Pa Sat.  Lau Pa Sat is one of the more well-known Hawker Centers in Singapore where there are a lot of different food stalls and live music on the weekend.  It has TONS of different food; you can find everything from pig organs to seafood dishes to vegetarian dishes.  Mark and I shared a crab meat roll, duck noodles, and satay.  While Lau Pa Sat still has very inexpensive prices, you do pay a little more there than at other Hawker Centers because it’s the business district and has a little bit more (I stress the little bit) of an ambiance with the live music and Victorian-style architecture.

I can't remember what this is called but it is a veggie and crab meat roll

My pick: Duck noodles

Mark's pick: Chicken and beef satay with peanut sauce