Apple and Pear Pancakes with Cinna-butter

Apple pancakes with cinnamon-butter... my greatest takeaway from my high school years as a waitress at a small breakfast and lunch cafe on Long Island, Oak Plaza Cafe. After every shift, I ordered eggs, bacon and an apple pancake with cinnamon butter (a mix of butter, cinnamon and powdered sugar) and it never got old ... and not only because I can eat breakfast for every meal. The trick is to the cut the apple slices into about 1 by 1 cm triangles that are only a mm or 2 thick. Stir them into the pancake butter and fry up golden brown. Make sure they cook through! Then lather in the butter. I could eat this butter with a spoon...and admittedly have, shhhhh. 


I had a leftover pear and apple from my weekly pack lunches so treated my roommates to a variation on this end-of-shift-breakfast-feast at Oak Plaza. I cooked silver dollar pancakes with the chopped fruit and used brown sugar instead of powdered for the cinna butter. I usually won't eat maple syrup anyway on pancakes but some like it and we didn't have so I served warm honey with toasted almonds as a reaplcement. Not a bad way to start your lazy sunday.

Raksha Bandhan

Ruchika, my roommate, cooked dinner for her "brothers" in honor of Raksha Bandhan. On this day, Ruchika ties rakhi (bracelets) on the wrists of her good guy friends who have been like brothers to her over the years here in Singapore. It's an old Indian tradition started back when men used to go off to fight battles and their women would tie rakhi for protection. She invited her bros over for a delicious veg dinner with cauliflower, dal, chapati, and paneer with peppers. For dessert, she made halwa (a pudding made of clarified butter, wheat flour and sugar which is damn good for a seemingly simple mix of ingredients) and a light ice cream made with almonds, cool whip and milk. She also bought soan papdi (my new favorite sweet) which is a layered, flaky Indian sweet that she is supposed to feed to her brothers as she ties the rakhi. Yea, I'm so spoiled...! 

Bund 外滩 This

One of the most touristy parts of Shanghai, the Bund area was absolutely CRAWLING with people on the Saturday night we were there for dinner at Mr and Mrs Bund (http://www.mmbund.com/) for contemporary French cuisine. You can't beat the location of this place with a view of the Bund and the Pudong, or the east bank, skyline. The restaurant decor was quite chic and playful, with oversized chairs lining our long, dramatic table. The windows to the kitchen are bright orange allowing for a warm view of the inner-workings if the sleek and modern workshop.... check it out if you can and are willing to pay an arm and leg (or if your work is... bingo)

Shanghainese

Lunch at Xin Tian Di for real Shanghainese was great. Lots of round tables with spinners in the middle to encourage the sharing of large portions amongst family and friends. Spin me that Shi Yu please, xie xie!

High Up in Shanghai

When I say high in Shanghai, I mean it literally... we were really high up there. With a population of 21 million people, it's no wonder there are some really tall buildings. Our hotel was on the 87th floor of the tallest building in Shanghai... check out some of these views!   

Now down to business.. my business, the food! 


First up, lunch at Charme with lots of good choices of different Chinese provinces dishes and some other Asian-inspired ones too

Wish there wasn't mayo in it, although a lot
of other people would disagree with me...

My favorite - minced lamb that you wrap
 in a thin pancake with leek, garlic,
cucumber and a  sweet sauce

Charme's signature rice... a basic 

fried rice with lots of other 

veggies and meat thrown in,

can you go wrong? (that's rhetorical)

A BBQ roast... the ribs were 
great, the rest, not so much

Hong Kong beef brisket ho fan in soup, a nice light start to the meal

Yup, it's good

Stuffed Butter Squash with 
black bean, Kelly's fav - if you 
like mushy textures
 you'd be all about this too 

Thai Basil with chicken and veggies....
simply yet delicious flavor 

Toast Box with Ice Cream...everyone had this on their table for dessert 

What's in the toast box?
You guessed it, bread squares

Anshul digs the bread box