Clarins Beauty Flash Balm and Welcome Kit

After hearing all the rave over the Clarins Beauty Flash balm, I got very very curious but it is rather expensive to shell out $70 to try.  I got the $20 Beauty voucher from Tangs and accumulated some points on the Tangs card so thought I can give it a shot.  M also redeemed his credit card points so I got this free!!!  

  I was pleasantly surprised by the welcome kit given for newly joined members.  The SA gave me the new double serum for 7 days of application (looks like it can possibly stretch to 14) and 10 satchets of their best-selling products.  I haven't been hanging out at the beauty counters after years of buying my stuff at the warehouse sales so I'm rather happy with this purchase.  

  I'm trying out the balm as I writing this.  The makeup still look fresh after 3 hours of wear.  I shall see how it perform later this evening at the wedding dinner.

Crazy doll lady look for Halloween

I've been feeling rather inspired by the halloween makeup this year.  Some were beautifully done, some cute, and some downright scary!  I love them all!  With no party to attend though, what should I do with making up?  Well, you only live once and only young once, I did this makeup after a long day.  It was done in under 30mins and the pictures took another 1 hour to take and process!  I was in a hurry to get this done cos the dude at the back was getting rather disturbed by me!

  I watsapped the pics to a few friends to test-run it uploading.  Glad to hear positive feedback and someone said, "ewwww!" Oh well, can't please everyone.  Next year, I shall be better equipped and do a better job at this!

Mini MAC haul

Ruffie alerted me to a MAC sale on thu and we made our way there for the 2nd day of the sale. The lighter foundations and brushes were snapped up on the first day, I heard. It's ok, I'm only aiming for some lip products and this should keep damages to the minimal.
Here's the haul:
2 x Iced Delights Lip and Nail set (Rocking and Drama)
1 Eye pencil in indigo
1 sheen supreme lipstick in Korean Candy
1 Lipglass in Curvaceous
1 nail varnish in Al Fredo (ello yellow!)
All S$10 each!

 

L to R: Curvaceous, Korean Candy, Kanga Rouge, Hang-up

  The iphone cam managed to capture a colour-true image of the swatches of he lipsticks.

Curvaceous is easy to wear on its own as well as over another nude lip colour.

Korean candy is orangey red but not over the top orange as it is sheer and buildable.  

Kanga Rouge is a deep berry colour which applies evenly and smoothly without much bleeding at the edges.

Hang-up is a blue-tone red, almost fuschia. (By now, I have given up taking lip swatch using the iphone cam as its just can't capture the red properly)

Mama's flavour

My mama used to make this for us when we go on school excursions. She would wake up early and pack us off with this before 7 am. She hasn't made this for a long time and I wanted to let M try what I have been reminiscing about. He gave this the thumbs up!

Incredible Portobello Mushrooms Fries

I saw this on The Chew while I was on MC at home.  Ah, the luxury of afternoon TV talkshows!  We love mushrooms at home and no one I know doesn't like shrooms.  It's up there with on my top 3 favourite food list.  Next time, when any friend who ask me what do I want for my birthday, I might just as well request for shrooms!
  I modified the recipe and cooking method slightly.  Instead of deep frying, I panfried them in my Happycall pan.  It's not because it's healthier, I just don't want to use up my oil too fast :P  I'm not shy of fat and you shouldn't be too :P

Ingredients
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
5 average-sized portobello mushrooms

For the Panko mix:
1/2 cup panko (I used Korean bread crumbs)
3 tablespoon grated cheddar cheese
3 tablespoon of garlic powder (unsalted, if you are using the salted ones, just cut your salt later)
A few generous dashes of Cayenne pepper powder
1 teaspoon salt
- Mix well

Steps:
1. Clean the shrooms with a kitchen towel.  Do not rinse or soak them!  Unless you like soggy fries and oil splattering everywhere, including very possibly, your eyes.
2. Cut into 1.5 to 2 cm sticks.
3. Coat the shrooms sticks with flour.  This will help in adhering eggs to them.
4. Dust off excess flour.
5. Dip in the beaten eggs.
6. Dip in panko mix.
7.  Pan-fry with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil (don't let it smoke!!) on medium heat.  You may need to top up the oil as it gets absorbed by the batter.

Oh, don't waste the shrooms stalks. We never waste food at home.  Trim off the exposed ends, cut into strips. Just dip into the leftover eggs and panko mix for frying too.

  Try it!  You can try baking it instead of panfrying.  I like a bit of oil and want to save on electricity bills too.  Oh this is my very first recipe posted here and actually, ever!

Curious bunny

BB having a go at the new chair while (he thought) I was away.

I love Soy Beansprout

Fried with black fungus and wee bit of sambal belanchan.

 I love the crunchiness and the "green" taste of the soy beansprouts more than the mung bean sprouts that are more commonly seen.  I can fry a bag of it and have for dinner, all by myself. 
  This time, I took on the challenge of making beansprout kimchee since I love it so much.  I followed the recipe from the lovely Beyond Kimchee blog.  The recipe is very easy to follow once you managed to get all the ingredients.  Not a problem since there are many Korean grocery shops all over town. 

  I made about 1.5 kg of the kimchee and gave away some to my parents and friends.  It didn't last more than 1.5 weeks because it was so delicious, I had to have it at every meal at home.  It's been more than a month since I last made it, so I'm drooling at the thought of it.  Any volunteers to help with picking out beansprouts??

My first attempt at making beansprout kimchee.

Ingredients for the kimchee

Garlic chives kimchee