Belated Post - Birthdays & Dinning Out

I know, I know....I have been totally ignoring my blog for the past weeks...which has never happened before. I am really up to my neck right now with the things that I need to attend to and a little breathing space is all I get. :( FACT 1: Relocation is A LOT of work. FACT 2: Moving into and renovating a new house is no doubt also ALOT of work. FACT 3: So when you combine these 2 things together plus taking care of the kids and running your usual routine...it's ...it's...hair-pulling, blood pressure rising and sleepless situations. :( Not good I know...but I figured just a couple more months and all these will smooth out and I can get my usual, not so "crazy" routine back. :) I actually left my 2 girls in Spore with my SIL for the past week while my husband and I went back to California to settle some urgent matters. We were real glad we managed to get that 101 things done as planned and came back just before the school starts. *sigh* Much thanks to my SIL for taking good care of my girls...can't imagine anything would be done as efficient if my little ones are there! :P

Enough grumbling...bet you all can't make much sense out of most of the things I'm talking above, hahaha...*sorry*Let's get to our usual topic...food! :) To be frank, this post is really long overdue...8 days to be exact. Enough jabbering! Here it is: Just before we left for California, the whole family had a dinner gathering to celebrate my FIL and my eldest niece's birthday. Their birthdays are just a few days apart, so figured it's best to do it together. We went to Palm Beach Seafood Restaurant at One Fullerton that Saturday. We were nicely seated at the outdoor deck and the weather was nice and cooling. Although the Marina Bay Sands has yet completed their hotel, the view was still pleasant. The dinner was nice, some dishes are pretty outstanding while the rest are just pretty normal. Will show you all a few shots of the dishes we ordered.

Looks pretty normal but this Slivered fish fried rice was a big hit, my girls each ate 2 bowls each! These "drunken" prawns tasted really fresh and sweet, and the soup it's swimming in was delicious! Supposedly the highlight of the night, chili crab. However I find the crabs were not that fresh and the chili sauce wasn't that good either.
We cleaned off dinner and headed back home for desert...which is the birthday cake I managed to make with the small pockets of time I had. Not much but it still taste pretty good. ;) It's just a No-Bake Oreo Cheesecake. ;) It's funny when I saw Pei-Lin post it the week before I was pissed with myself...why am I so slow, hahaha! (nothing against you Pei-lin!) ;D So here it is ...finally!I did not have any extra time to put up nice decorations for the cake. So I just melted some semisweet and piped it over. The overall taste of this cake was pretty good. If you are a Oreo lover, this is an absolute treat for you. :) Since I knew my niece likes Oreo, making this was clear choice. :) Good thing my FIL is not very particular on his choice of birthday cake...*phew*! I got this lovely and easy recipe from Kraft Philly's Kitchen.

Ingredients for an 8" OREO Cheesecake
135g crushed OREO cookies (no cream)
65g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, room temperature
160g caster sugar plus the cream removed from the cookies used for the cake base
2.5 tsp of gelatin powder, melted in 4 tbsp of boiling water
2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
200ml dairy whipping cream, whipped
125g of OREO cookies, roughly chopped

Method:

• Grease and line with parchment and plastic wrap an 8" spring form pan.
  
• In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with the crushed OREO cookies and mix well. Then press the mixture on to the base of the 8" spring form cake pan. Place in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
• Beat the cream cheese and sugar till mixture is nice and smooth.
• Add the gelatin mixture and lemon juice mix well. Then gently fold in the whipping cream, follow by the OREO cookie chunks.
• Gently pour the cream cheese mixture into the cake pan and let chill for at least another hour before serve.
  

Do try out this cake when you have the time and craving for OREO and cheesecake. Leave it in the freezer and it will taste like OREO ice cream! ;) Enjoy!

Since I will be writing up my next post soon, I shall not make this any longer then it needs to be. Do stay tune and have a pleasant day all!