Turquoise and Roses

My darling Silky Smooth Chocolate Pudding with Hazelnuts and Fresh Strawberries on top!

Now really, I don’t need to talk about how amazingly fun that afternoon in Casa Esperanza was. Or how awesome it was meeting these foodies so passionate about making kitchen creations. Or do I even need to mention how ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS every single dish was there!

You’ve salivated over the pictures from Pablo. You’ve drooled over those on AnakBrunei. Heck we even made it to Ranoadidas! We’re everywhere!

Now it’s your turn to show your selflessness. It’s your turn to turn passion into charity. Come to the Special Olympics Carnival on Sunday, 3rd May and purchase a copy of the Foodie Bloggers’ Recipe Book.

The recipes are soooooooooooooooooooo delicious and so easy to follow! I’m really just gonna say itout here: get a copy quick! Because, babe, we have already bookings piling up.

Makes me all warm inside to know…. all proceeds will go to charity.

Find out more about the Walkathon and Bazaar at Facebook event here.

This is turning out to be a delicious April indeed! I am so much looking forward to the ULTIMATE Foodie Bloggers´ Challenge this Sunday. Nyum!

Tentative cover for the recipe book. Sexy right? Thanks Mr Funnyman!

Just some updates with regards to the recipe book:

• We received a grand total of 47 recipes! About 17 more than our initial target of 30! Thank you very much for your support and contributions. I have been told that the quality of recipes are very high and looks like there´s going to be some very stiff competition this Sunday.
• They have been edited and now sent off to our very generous friend Yana to do the layouts.
• As soon as a sample is printed, we´ll also be securing an ISBN number. Well, I´m not sure what it´s for, but I definitely want it!
• Then it´ll be off to the oven for mass production in time for the Special Olympics Carnival. This first edition will be limited to 300 copies only!
• As for pricing, stay tuned for now! But whatever the price, every cent will all go to charity.

With regards to the fabulous foodie event:

Foodies are expected to arrive at Senor Pablo´s Casa Esperanza at 4pm sharp!

HAVE YOU SEEN THE PRIZES?

I wouldn´t mind winning one of these: Some of the prizes is a designer-inspired ladies´ handbag, a mobile phone, a darlingly cute chocolate fondue set, designer platter from the I WANNA GO HOME shop in Singapore, coffeepot and mugs, scented candles, kitchen utensils. So exciting!

Prizes are lovingly sponsored by AnakBrunei, Arabfamilies and Simpur Blogging Nation and will be offered to the TOP TEN MOST POPULAR RECIPES!

Winners will be determined using a simple voting system: each attendee will have until 5pm to vote for their top 5 dishes.

Exciting things to look forward to: Chef Nash from Brunei Creative Chefs will be doing a live cooking demo before we announce the winners. His recipe will also be included in the recipe book.

Omigosh, I´m so excited! Bobby Chinn should´ve come to Brunei a week late. Heheh. I bet he would´ve contributed a recipe.

I am so excited about this! In a nutshell, basically we all have this flashmob on the 26th April, 2009, at Pablo’s house bringing dishes whose recipes we’re willing to share. Then the recipes will be compiled into a recipe book and sent to the printers.

The recipe book will be sold during the Special Olympics Carnival on the 3rd May, 2009, and best thing about this event, ALL PROCEEDS WILL GO TO SPECIAL OLYMPICS! Isn’t that awesome!? Why not join for a good cause?

Can’t wait! For more information please go here.

After all the hype of Ahad’s home made beef and chicken burger patties, I knew I had to have a try. He was in UBD for a bazaar and Ches & I strolled over to the Central Lecture Theatre for a taste of this so-called Ahad’s Burger.

It didn’t take us long to find. There they were, with that huge bright yellow banner. The founder of Ahad’s Burger, Mr Ahad, was there flipping the square beef patties. As I watched from a distance, I was enamored by the square beef patties. They just made sense; less wastage during production and easier to fold into eggy envelopes during cooking. I can’t help but think.. what a great idea!

I placed an order for maximum indulgence Beef Burger with Cheese & Egg (extra vegetables). Chester was full.

I watched while my burger was prepared. Maybe a little oily, but no butter or margarine was used. He used vegetable oil. Mr Ahad was very friendly, twinkling and obviously enjoying what he does, indulging me and my questions.

I can smell as the square beef patties hit the pan and sizzled, that they were made of lean meat. Cracked open one egg then wrapped the patty in it.

I started making burgers for his family, but then it eventually became a business. We’ve been making the burgers for a long time, since 1982. This boy here is my son, and that one there is my nephew. They’ve been helping me out.

It is then placed inside a warm toasted sesame burger bun, topped with a slice of cheese.

We have a semi-restaurant gerai in KB, at the Simpur-shaped building, he said. They also make noodles of various kinds, ayam penyet, and many other kinds of food, but his top best selling item remained the burgers.

Then it is given the obligatory spoonful of mayonaise and finally squirted with an dark amber coloured liquid they claim is their secret sauce.

No preservatives. And our secret sauce is also home-made and hand carried all the way from KB. It’s what makes our burgers special. Please enjoy, he said.

My first bite into the warm beefyness was yum. I savored the secret sauce, which tasted smoky, rich and reminiscent of barbecue sauce and complimented the egg and beef. The lean meat beef patty is a little smaller than what I would like it to be, I wouldn’t mind paying more for a bigger patty, because it tasted very good. I’m sad to report that despite the extra vegetables, the Ahad’s Burger is still lacking in the fibre department.

And hmmm, did I order cheese? I didn’t taste any in the bun.

But all in all, uniquely yum! Wouldn’t mind having another. Maybe next time I’ll try chicken.

A few days ago I placed an order for a batch of brownies through Facebook. On Saturday, at a clandestine brownie pickup location very much reminiscent of Niagara Falls, I finally had my hands on these deep brown babies.

In the car I sneaked a peek into the box. As promised, crackly crust. I was satisfied, I knew this was going to taste awesome. I put the box, filled with the still warm brownies, in the passenger seat of my car and rushed off to work.

After work, me and my bestfriends had organised a secret getaway and I brought the brownies as an offering. I counted. Gone in 30 minutes. I was right, they were awesome and scrumptiously fudgey! And though Miss Syazwana warned me that they’d be sweet (she included a disclaimer for “sweet pee”), I didn’t think so. I’m really happy to report that they were just right. Yum, in fact. I only wished I had some creamy milk to wash it down with.

So here I am highly recommending the Monroe brownies to everyone. If you are interested (model not included), do click here for more information. She only bakes limited amounts and only on Saturdays, so book early!