Afternoon Tea

Afternoon Tea

I was in the supermarket last weekend and wanted to grab some mini-pancake for my breakfast when i was this caviar on the shelve. There are two types, orange and black, and i have no idea which one to buy. I thought i can spread on my pancake with the orange one so i got that. 


In the morning, i bring out whatever in my fridge that can be spread on the pancake and toast bread. And here i start my creativity to display my work. After spreading everything on the pancake and bread, i sit back and enjoy my creation. Different pieces taste differently. There are a few mistake i made, which is too much caviar and salmon spread that make the piece too salty. Other than this, the rest is ok. Is better to put small pieces of cucumber as it give a crunchy bite.


Ingredient used :
Cherry tomatoes
Cucumber
Caviar
Smoked salmon
Cream cheese
Kiri Kiri cube cheese
Garlic spread


Based used:
Mini-pancake
Toast bread

Dune Du Pyla

At the foot of the Dune

We went to Dune Du Pyla last Sunday with some friends and colleagues. This is the highest dune is Europe. The place is quite near my house, i think it is about 10 to 15 mins. It is located at Arcachon.
We are supposed to go there last month but the weather wasn't so good. This time round, the bright sunny day welcome us at the dune.
We are allowed to bring our dog there so my friend and i bring our dogs along to have some fun.

On the way up

The dune was quite tall, and by
the time we reached, there are lots of people climbing up the dune. When we are at the foot of the dune, there isn't any nice scenery except the dune. So like the others, we take off our slippers and start climbing. The sand are so soft, its quite difficult to climb. It's like you move up 2 steps and the sand bring you down by 1 step. When i was half way up, i was so exhausted. I lifted up my head and view up the dune, i wondered how much longer then i can reached the top. At this point, we found a better and smarter way to climb. Step on others footsteps. As there are only footsteps left by those who climb passed, the sand has already been more stable and compact, therefore when we step on it, the sand will not be loosen.

At the top of the Dune. This is left side of the view.

 When we are suddenly up there, the scenery was so beautiful. The dune run parallel along with the sea coast. On the left side of the dune, i can see the big green forest and on the right side is the sea.

Dogs are allowed

Sea view at the top of the dune.

When we reached the top, we stop and enjoy the beautiful view of the surrounding. The view at the foot and the top of the dune has such a great difference.

My hubby trying to do a star stunt.

When we finished taking pictures, somebody come out with ideas to do stunts. As the dune is very steep, we saw lots of French trying to roll down the steep dune from the top. Then our friends start the idea of running in the air stunt. We will run and when we reached the edge of the dune we jumped. I will be the one squatting at the edge to help capture the shots when they are in the air.


All of us tried the stunts together and we really have great fun.

Rolling down from the top.

This is so steep and this is where we have the stunts.

All stunters

My hubby and me doing the stunt together.

Prawn Crackers in France - Asia Tibits

I start to miss all the tibits in Singapore. Here i think the french hardly eat tibits as the selection in the supermarket is so limited. And i think the reason why most french are so slim is due to the low consumption of junk food.

My friend passed me some crackers the other day, and i was so excited when i saw it as i did not know i can get it here. She told me i can buy the raw one from EurAsie and fry it myself. So i went to EurAsie with my hubby to get it. There are a handful of different brands and the price is about 1 +/- Euro per packet. I didn't know which one to choose so i picked one from the shelves that is most sellable. How do i know which one is most sellable..hahaha based on the brand that has lesser packets on the shelves.

Its quite easy to cook this. When i opened the packet, the raw crackers is small and very hard. I heat up the oil and put one piece to see how much it will expand. It will actually expand to about 4 times from its original size. I was using a small pot, therefore it can hold about 3 piece at a time. Do not overcrowd the pot. If you allow enough space for the crackers to expand, it will form a flat piece otherwise it will curve up and you get all the uneven shape. One packet can yield about 1 big tin and more.

This tasty prawn crackers is just as nice as the one in Singapore.

Layer Latte

I have break too many glasses during wash and clean so last weekend i went to Auchan to get new ones. I bought 4 glasses for about 5Euro.

Just now where i was making coffee, "Tink Tink" i thought i should try it out on my new glasses to see how it looks like. So i try out the layer latte which i watched from YouTube the other day. Actually i try doing this a few times after watching the YouTube on other glasses, but it either failed or not very perfect. So today my luck is here.

I watch a few video from YouTube, and they all say the same thing. The trick of making nice layer latte is to pour your latte into the glass very very slowly.

Here is my step.

1. Prepare the milk in Nespresso milk maker
2. Prepare your espresso
3. Pour in the liquid milk without the foam and cream into the glass with half filled
4. Use a spoon to scoop the cream on top of the liquid milk at about 3-5 cm thick
5. Pour in the espresso into the centre of the glass at very very slow rate. (you may use a spoon to help cos if you are pouring the espresso from a cup into the glass, it is quite hard to control).
6. Now you see your layered latte. Pour the cream milk and foam on top to finish.

Types of milk in France

The first time when i buy milk from the supermarket, OMG i don't know what's the difference and i just grab one and go. When i reached home, then i started to google it to find out.

Easy if you cannot remember the French word, just memorise the color as all the milk are mostly bottled in these three color irregularless of brand. So just choose your favourite brand or in-house brand. Usually i buy Auchan in-house brand.

Lait = Milk
Blue color = demi-écrémé = Low Fat Milk
Red color = entier = Whole Milk
Green color = écrémé = Fat Free or Skim Milk

Finding Chinese Ingredient in France Bordeaux

I did not shipped much Chinese food ingredients with me when i came France, and this is the worst nightmare i have. So how to i survived.

EurAsie is my survivor. I not very sure if this supermarket is owned by a Thai or Vietnamese but they do sell all kind of Chinese ingredient that we used back in Singapore. They have familiar brands like Yeo's, Prima Taste, Panda Brand Oyster Sauce, etc. They also have wide varieties of products, ranging from canned food, flour, beans, Thai rice to fresh pandan leaves. I can find most of the ingredients i need for cooking our Singapore style Chinese food here. But one thing for sure is the price is double when converting back to SGD.

I will visit this place about once a month to stock up all the necessary ingredient. If i go there, is a "Confirmed with Chop" sure got things to buy. That's why i try not to go too often otherwise i am sure to exceed my grocery budget again. I think on average i will usually spend around 80-100 Euro there, this is excluded other grocery i need to purchase from Carrefour. That's the reason why this place is my hubby No. 1 most hated place. Not only i will spend alot but also i will shop for very long, going through every shelves browsing what i don't have at home. Hahaha.

Website
http://www.eurasie-bordeaux.com/

Address10 Avenue de Tourville 33300 BORDEAUX


Opening hoursMonday to Friday: 9am to 730pm
Saturday: 920am to 730pm 

A walk in my neighborhood

This is the first week that we moved to our new house. After unpacking all the boxes, i decided to walk nearby my place to see the area. First dog friend i know is this little brown and black doggie of the name Lucky, his my neighbour's dog. He likes to jump onto the fencing wall outside his house and do a catwalk over to my house. He is extremely friendly and lovely.

When i walk further down the road, i saw this big white dog meeting his girlfriend at her house seperated by fence. They are so cute, they just stand there looking at each other for a long time. This is when i quickly took out my camera and snap a picture.

In France, i was surprised to see dogs everywhere, on the road, at the beach, in the resturants and shopping malls. I think the french love dogs. Having a dog here and able to bring them anywhere anytime is a luxury. Back home, I can only make my three doggies stay home to play with themselves as dogs are not allow anywhere except home and void decks.

After meeting the doggies, i saw a large field with few horses inside. I was so excited to see this, i mean just near my place, there are real live horses staying there. What a joyful day.

Quality Suite Hotel in La Test De Buch

We stay for a week at Quality Suite Hotel at La Test De Buch before settling on our new house. Heard from friends that this is a new hotel and is considered one of the best around. I quite agreed to this. Before i came, i did a little research on the hotels in this region and from the photo post on the website you will be really disappointed. So i think we are quite lucky to stay here.

The room decor is kind of modern with white and purple as the theme color. There is a balcony with nice white cane chairs and table. I like to stand at the balcony in the day as the weather was really cool. And you get to see the beautiful sunrise and sunset.

The best thing about this hotel is they allow dogs. So my lucky little NiuNiu get to stay with us at this hotel for a week. There isn't any places nearby for us to shop or eat, therefore i was stuck at the hotel with her for the whole week. Each morning, i will bring here to the hotel resturant for breakfast together and then we will have walk round the hotel building. That's how we both suvive.