Congratulations to William and Catherine!

(photo taken from DailyMail)

Today is the royal wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine ~ I celebrated the special occasion in true British glory with homemade blueberry scones and freshly brewed tea.

I wish the beautiful newly-weds all the best and a great future!

 

  

 

Spring is well and truly here ♥

You know Spring is here when you see cherry blossoms or Sakura (cherry trees) in full bloom.  A friend of mine Hannah, currently living in Namwon, Korea, sent me an email of her recent activities and told me she has seen these amazing flowers for her first time.  These short lived flowers are so beautiful, the Japanese culture eagerly anticipate the arrival of these flowers at their best every year, but there was no media build-up this year for the annual celebrations. What happened on the 11th March has been a shock to the world, the traditional cherry blossom celebrations aren't so important - to rebuild the country, heal fragile souls and damaged spirits is this year's wish.

Next year's blossom will hopefully be more magnificent accompanied by higher spirits.

The perfect chocolate brownie

After a stressful week I was suddenly hit with the urge to bake, calorie or fat content is not an issue, as long as each satisfying mouthful of calorie-intake is worthy and delicious.

A cold water bath finishes these moist, intensely chocolatey little cakes off perfectly

 

Fudgey, crumbly and earthily chocolatey. Perfect.

Happy Year of the Rabbit

My 2011 started off with a visit to Hong Kong, which involved plenty of eating and drinking.  HK people love food and are spoilt for choice with the vast array of endless cuisines and a spectacular mix of authentic, traditional, modern and western restaurants.  I was fortunate enough to try different types of foods whilst I was there - something we should all try to achieve, as they say the more different foods you eat, the more different types of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients consumed... Happy New Year all!

 

Mango and grapefruit sago dessert

The best plate of 'You Zha Gui'

Selection of meats for a Japanese meal of Shabu-Shabu

Melt-in-the-mouth Kobe Beef