Chinese New Year Almond Cookies

I love this almond cookies. I had baked once for my teachers and classmate in my french class, and surprisingly most of them thought is made from peanut. They just love it.

This is quite a easy to make but the only time consuming part is to weigh each ball to the same weight. Using 7g for each ball, I managed to make about 70 ball for 2 jars.

Ingredients
120g     ground almond (super fine)
95g       caster sugar
1/4 tsp salt
180g     plain flour (sifted)
1 tsp     baking powder (sifted)
1 tsp     baking soda (sifted)
122ml  cooking oil
1           egg yolk (beaten plus mixed with a few drops of oil for glazing

Method
1. Sifted and mix ground almond, caster sugar, salt, plain flour, baking powder and baking soda together in a big mixing bowl.

2. Combine the mixture and cooking oil in a mixer. Mix at lowest speed to form a dough for about 30s to 1 min. 
*can replace using mixer with spatula.

3. Scale the dough at 7g each and roll into a ball.

4. Arrange each ball on lined baking trays and glazed the top surface with egg yolk.

5. Bake in preheated oven at 170 deg for 12 to 15 min or until lightly brown.

*Note
1. I am using Rowenta oven, therefore I have reduce their temperature from the  original recipe of 180 deg to 170 deg.

2. The original recipe was baked for 15 to 18min.

Healthy salad

I love adding apples to my salad as it will give a sweet taste. This time I added some left over melon into it.

Ingredients
- 1 Fiji apple
- 1/2 melon
- 1 onion
- 1/4 can of sweet corn
- few pc of lettuce
- dash of olive oil
- dash of apple vinegar
- 1 Tbsp mayo

Method
1. Cut all apple, melon, onion and lettuce into small pieces and place in a big mixing bowl.

2. Add in sweet corn, olive oil, vinegar and mayo. Mix all the ingredients evenly. Serve.

Vintage luggages - part 1

This is my first collection of vintage luggages. I bought 2, one in red and brown. The brown one is very dirty and dented but I just love the way it is. 

When I ask the old french uncle for the price, he want 25 euro. And I know I will never buy. Then he start reducing the price from 25 to 20 to 15 to 10. But it's still not within my budget cos I have a long shopping list. I walked off. 

This was a big size flea market so by the time I complete my treasure hunt, it's almost closing time. So I tell my hubby, let's go back to the luggage uncle to check if he want to discount. When we reached there, the uncle and his wife are busy packing up their stuffs into their big van. The old granny attended to me so I ask if she willing to sell that luggage to me at 5 euro. And here we go, it's going home with me. Hahahaha.

Tea sets - no 2 and 3

2nd set

This is my 2nd set of tea sets that I bought. It consists of a pot, sugar and creamer jar, 11 sets of cup and saucer. I bought it in the flea market last month at 2.50 euro. YES IT'S 2.50 euro. I can't believe it. I thought my french is so lousy that I get my friend to ask again. I didn't even check if they are broken or missing items. It's still worth it even they are not complete set. I think it is a good buy not only because it is cheap but also the shape and color. 

3rd set

This is the 3rd set I bought last weekend.   This is not a complete set as it have more saucers than the cups. It's ok I don't really mind. This set has bigger cup size than the previous 2 sets I had, and the flower print on the front and  back of the cups are different. 

I was not in the rush of buying when I saw her. Cos i do not having enough shelving at home, therefore i need to consider. The french granny ask for 5 euro, so I take my time to walk around before going back to her to see if it is still there and also ask for discount. Yes, it is there so she is going back home with me then. Final deal is 4 euro. 

Second hand toys in flea markets

I started to fall in love with second hand stuff when I came to France. During spring, there are countless of flea markets around. People rent a small space and sell their unwanted items at cheap price.

I get to know from my french friend that the French hardly throw away items that can still be used. Either they sell it at the flea markets or at the second hand shops. I think this is great idea, they are recycling old items.

Some items are really old but I think they are gems. I bought a Snow White music box last month. The color is fading but it is still in good condition. And if I want to get a brand new one, I doubt I can ever find. That's why I love to buy second hand items now, cos it is no longer available in the market.

Gems in the trash....

Radish Soup

This is real easy... Just 3 ingredients... White radish, carrot and pork ribs.

Radish is not a everyday veg in the supermarket here, therefore I will stock up when I see it on the shelve.

I am using Tefal WiKook to cook soup nowadays as it helps to speed up the cooking time and retend the nutrition. The best part is the water will not evaporate off and I do not need to keep refilling with water.

One more advantage with using Tefal WiKook, is that the taste is so strong that I do not need to add salt.

Ingredients
1 large white radish
2 carrots
5pc of pork ribs
1L of water

Method
1. Blanch the pork ribs, drain off the water and set aside
2. Cut the radish and carrot into small cubes or pieces
3. Put the pork ribs, radishes, carrots and 1 liters of water into a pot and bring to boil.
4. Turn the flame to low and continue to cook for 1hr.

Note:
Above cooking time is based on using Tefal WiKook.

It take about 2-3 hrs cooking time with normal pot to achieve the same taste. But if you don't have the time, just add a bit of salt to taste.