My Christmas Eve

So not only has our living room been halved in size for renovations, our christmas tree has shrunken considerably. Despite the immediate instinct to complain about the lack of space, somehow a smaller home feels cosier and more christmassy. Who needs chestnuts roasting on an open fire or snowflakes falling poetically on your window pane when you have a table full of good, hearty food? 

Mutant ham leg studded with cloves 

And to balance the insanely huge ham with something nutritious: 

Apple and walnut salad dressed with olive oil, walnut oil, honey and balsamic vinegar

Oregano lemon potato salad

medium rare argentinian beef

Mummy slicing the ham 

homemade pineapple apple chutney to go with the ham

 

Prive log cake

fruit cake from a friend 

SINGAPORE: Artichoke cafe + bar

I was never much of a lamb person to begin with but I have to say, this is lamb at its pinnacle.

What draws me to Artichoke is the genuineness of it's food. They have no fixed menu - it changes according to what's fresh in the market. As comforting as familiar dishes can be, new flavours, or even a quirky combination of old ones, can be just as satisfyingly delicious. 

Why stick to the same menu when you can experiment with all the different flavours of the season? That to me is what cooking is all about. Artichoke is, therefore, the very essence of what a restaurant should be: no fixed menu, just whatever the ingredients of the season inspire them to cook. 

Beetroot tzatziki: garden beets, homemade yoghurt cheese, pistachio dukka & garlic breadcrumbs, $15

smoked carrot and walnut dip

I love dips. Whether it's hummus or some kind of butternut squash puree, the subtle blend of natural sweetness and mouth-watering savouriness in a healthy dollop of creamy dip is pure joy to me. These dips were refreshingly different and went beautifully with the freshly oven-toasted bread.

Moorish dips with delicious, oven toasted breads imported from Australia 

Wagyu Beef - Persian mince meat skewer, grilled tomatoes, blistered pepper and dirty onions, 150 grams

As much as I try to resist it, I'm a dessert person through and through. Every mouthful of each one of the desserts below was a burst of sunshine on my taste buds.

their all-famous sticky date toffee pudding soaked in smoked milk custard and caramel

Definitely one of the best in Singapore, but my heart still belongs to the sticky date toffee pudding at Prive Bakery Cafe.

Freshly baked, luxuriously banana-ey banana cake 

One thing I never tire of baking is banana bread. If I could steal the recipe for this one, I would. 

Artichoke cafe + bar

161 Middle Road

Singapore 188978

Inside Sculpture Square

LONDON: Tiffany & Co. SKATE

I won't lie, sometimes it's fun to indulge in a bit of blatant consumerism. Tiffany & Co's skating rink may not have been large but their skates were extraordinarily well-cushioned (coming from Nike) and the ice deliciously smooth to glide on. Walking over to Somerset House after my tort tutorial, it was a joy to see the place bathed in baby blue. Pastel blue hues of the preciously sunlit sky melded seamlessly with the happy bright blue of The Tiffany Shop. 

 
The best time to get Tiffany & Co. mochas or Tiffany cupcakes is just before the end of one cycle of skaters (they rotate on an hourly basis) so you get a seat before the queue of post-skating customers line up. 

mince pies! 

Christmas is pervading the streets of london, right down to the reception downstairs. With extravagantly endowed Christmas trees and mesmerizingly sparkly fairy lights popping up everywhere, how can anyone be expected to get any serious work done? 

Chloe and I outside the rink, enjoying a warm cup of coffee after an hour of skating.

I'll be home for Christmas in four days (: