Richard Scarry 's World of Busytown

They say that diversity is good. Different types of people have different strengths and ways of seeing things. If we learn from others who are different from us, we see perspectives that weren't apparent if we were to stick with our own kind of people.

Now to something less intense but yet runs along a similar thought. I grew up with the books of Richard Scarry and made it a point to share with my daughters the joys and diversity of his books. A worm who is best friend with a cat, a fox who is a genius in fixing anything "Fixit is my name and Fix it is my game", a dog named Sergeant Murphy who keeps law and order in Busytown, restaurants where hogs, crocodiles, leopards, cats and pigs hog it out as the most unlikely dinner companions. The diversity is endless....beavers, hippos, owls, gorillas, bears, raccons, goats, wolves and more. Millions of Richard Scarry's books have been sold, translated into many languages and even made into a cartoon series. Some kids' books are just timeless classics and thank you Huckle the Cat, Lowly Worm, Sergeant Murphy, Mr Fixit, Hilda Hippo for making my childhood and that of my kids so much fun with the wonderful and diverse world of Busytown !

Ants nest cake (kueh sarang semut)

There are lots of kuehs out there but I only have a few favourites such as ondeh ondeh, kueh ko swee (steamed rice pudding) and kueh sarang semut (ants nest cake). The first time I tried kueh sarang semut was at a Geylang Serai market and it was yummy !  I love its unusual look which looks like a cross section of an ant's nest as well as its moist, spongy texture. It has a sweet yet slightly burnt taste which is  absolutely delicious. Most of all, it is all so simple to make. Always thought it had gula melaka as a main ingredient but turned out that it was caramelised sugar.

Here 's the receipe
250g of sugar
230g of water
150g flour
2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
90g condensed milk
80g butter
5 eggs

1. Cook sugar over low heat till brown. Then add in the water, ensuring that all sugar dissolves.
2. Beat butter and milk rapidly till creamy
3. Beat egg till it foams, add into butter mixture gradually and mix well.
4. Add in flour and beat gently.
5. Pour in sugar syrup and mix well.
6. Pour batter into a baking tin and bake till skewer comes out clean (varies with different ovens)

Vintage Horlicks Mixer

Long before the days of the 3 in 1 beverage mix, things were done the traditional way. Here is a Horlicks mixer from colonial Singapore in the 60s. It comes with a plunger and gives exact instructions on how Horlicks should be made. My favourite part is point 3 - AGITATE BRISKLY WITH THE PLUNGER. It has such a nice frantic ring to it. Oh the days of yore !

Vintage bags

My favourite vintage buy of 2012 so far must be this cute white retro bag that reminds me so much of the Pan Am era. It was in perfect condition with a little word Nutri-Metrics just below its handle. I do remember this brand of lip stick on my mother's dresser way back and this bag must have been a free gift way back then. It was sold by my favourite vintage seller whom I have not seen for almost 8 months after he sold his shop. He rented a little stall just outside his previous shop and I couldn't resist some of the things he had brought.

This bag was of the perfect hand carry size. It was a petite vintage luggage just right for an overnight trip. The mirror was a little old but I could easily get it replaced. Most importantly, the green interior was in  good condition. Apparently, the bag has not been used and was just sitting in a store room for many, many years. Sounds like the store room in my mum's place which I am sure would unearth many treasures only if she let me. I wonder if my mum kept some of my old toys. She has hoarding tendencies and the possibilities are there.

My two vintage bags from the 60's. The blue one was bought a few years back.

Can't help mucking around with my pictures.

Savour food event

The Savour event happened during the last weekend of March and it was positioned as an affordable gourmet event featuring chefs with Michelin stars, chefs with formidable tatoos and chefs who are household names in Singapore. One of the latter was Sam Leong whose pumkin rice with fragrant foie gras and XO sausage was delectably good ! There was also Bo's Creation molecular xiao long bao which burst with flavours in one bite. So eager was I to taste that small little morsel that I forgot to take a picture. And as for some of the other food I tasted - the Brazilian yucca stew had a taste of palm oil which was a little overpowering for me and Saint Pierre's Menage-A-Trois didn't quite live up to its exotic name in taste. I left some space for dessert but decided to take a little tour of the gourmet market first. There I tasted some wonderful Beemeer cheese which had been aged for almost 26 months. It had an almost crispy bite due to the formation of protein bits. There was also an entire room for wine tasting . It wasn't quite the place for me so I went one floor higher only to discover the wonderful world of Windowsill pies .  They operate from a shop in Pandan Valley and if I ever were to be in the vicinity, I would love to savour one of its pecan pies again !

SAM LEONG Forest, Singapore
Fragrant Steamed Yellow Pumpkin Rice,
with XO sausages and pan-seared foie gras in sweet port wine sauce

DOUGLAS TAY Osia, SingaporeGrain fed beef short rib ,
with potato espuma, charred balsamic onion, and pulverized mushroom glace

EMMANUEL STROOBANT Saint Pierre, Singapore Menage-A-Trois
Scallop mousse, green tea smoked salmon and soy mirin marinated ikura; sous-vide ocean trout, steamed bulot, micro basil and rouille dressing; sushi rice croquette, spanner crab, salmon sashimi and edamame puree

TATIANA SZELES
Brasil Sensational, Brazil
Bobó de Camarão
Yucca stew with shrimp and pequi, served with rice

TATIANA SZELES
Picanha
Brazilian-style top sirloin cap, with farofa and vinaigrette

A cheese that has an unusual, almost cripsy bite due to the protein bits that form during the process of aging. 

Slices of Windowsills signature cherry and pecan nut pies

Second hand bread maker

All puffed up and ready in the machine

A little golden loaf ready to be sliced

Looks like a slice of lemon cake from this angle

My husband and I happened to drive past a Salvation Army Store just yesterday and my old thrifting itch started acting up again. "Don't we have enough old things in the house ?" my husband asked. Well honestly, I haven't been buying anything old for such a long time. And they are not just old , they are beautiful things from the past. At Salvation Army, there are rooms of old exercise equipment, shoes, bags, toys but he did find one of the rooms quite interesting. It came with power tools, steam boat sets, travel iron and loads of fruit juicers and coffee makers. Came across a Breville bread maker that was almost new. " Didn't you want to buy one just the other day ?" asked my husband. I did and enquired about a Japanese bread maker that costs around $200. I hesitated then as I was worried that it might become a "white elephant" appliance in the home. But my track record for kitchen appliances have been pretty good so far. The Philips air fryer, a slow cook pot, a multi-tier steamer and the Kitchen Aid cake mixer in my kitchen have been put to regular good use. Moreover, the Breville bread maker which comes with an Australian electric socket looked like it hadn't been used before. Costing only $60 with proceeds going to charity, I decided to take one home. 

The appliance was put to the test just this afternoon, filling up the house with a wonderful aroma of freshly made bread. We put some garlic spread over the cut slices and it really was a delightful teatime treat. Looking forward to making more exotic tasting bread using nuts, fruits and spices. Will attempt pizza dough with it soon but I just hope my enthusiasm for it doesn't run out before I do. This is my first recycled electric appliance and I love the idea that one person's junk can be another person's new found treasure. 

Spanish cheese, chocolates and candy

All nicely wrapped , great as gifts

Love the chocolate buttons in the foreground

Chunky almond slivers coated with either milk or dark chocolates

Local Barcelona sweet delicacies

There are more cheeses out there than I know in my limited cheese vocabulary

At least I know what's parmesan cheese

A beautiful display of pastries, donuts and cookies at a shop window

I love eye candies such as chocolates, pastries and cookies! Cannot resist taking snap shots no matter how rushed I am to get from place to place. And the choices of cheeses are staggering ! Beyond cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan, I really don't know much about the types of cheeses out there. My cheesy friends kept telling me that the cheese in Spain were really good and much cheaper comparatively and each lugged home at least a few kilograms of cheese, Iberico ham and chorizo sausages.